Oliver Sent For Scrap
Oliver the Great Western Engine never tires of telling the story of his daring escape from the scrapyard.
"It's legend!" he told the excavators Alfie and Oliver one day as they loaded his trucks full of gravel. "The moon was set in full, and the mist was rolling down all around my wheels. Never before has an engine had such a daring escape!"
"Wow!" Alfie gasped.
"Intriguing!" Oliver added. "How ever did you manage to do it then?"
"Oh," Oliver thought. "Well, erm, Douglas did all the rescue work, you see. He never would have found me of course if I hadn't ventured so far as the Other Railway."
"Yes," Toad sighed dully. "As did Isabel and myself."
Alfie and Oliver the excavator looked at each other and grinned, as the Great Western engine smiled back at his brake van from afront. Soon, his trucks were full of whistled goodbye to the two excavators as he made it on his way.
"If it weren't for Douglas," Oliver told Skiff and the passengers aboard the Railboat Tour at Arlesburgh, "I might have been caught trying to run away from that scrapyard, and I never would have been able to work here on the Fat Controller's railway."
Skiff and the passengers aboard him all listened with shock and awe, as Captain Joe hopped aboard.
"Huh!" Isabel huffed, looking away in reaction to not being acknowledged in having escaped, as Dulcie let out a heavy sigh.
"Come along, Skiff," Joe said. "We have Railboat Tours to give."
"Wonderful story, Oliver!" Skiff told him, before starting to roll back and forth slowly. "But I'm afraid I must get to work now. See you later!"
Oliver watched him roll slowly back and forth down the line, before sighing then smiling as he looked back at his coaches.
"So how did you both think that went?" he wondered, as Dulcie's guard blew his whistle.
Dulcie let a loud yawn, then remarked, "oh, he's never going to let us hear the end of it! Is he, Isabel?"
Isabel sighed.
"Honestly, Oliver," she scolded. "It was only a matter of fair chance for you for you, me and Toad! Nothing to constantly brag about!"
But Oliver just chuckled as he made his way along, singing:
"Oh, Isabel's a funny coach and so is Dulcie too
If I didn't look after them, they wouldn't know what to do!"
"Oh, will you just listen to him?!" Dulcie moaned. "He's proud, he's conceited, he's heading for trouble. I can feel it in my frames!"
But Oliver took no notice as he chuffed forward, taking a deep breath of fresh air.
Oliver finished his passenger run at Tidmouth Station, where Donald was just about to leave with a heavy goods train.
"Listen, Donald," Oliver began. "Have I recently told you about the time your brother saved me from the scrapyard on the Other Railway?"
"Aye! Frequently...," Donald murmured quietly.
"It's legend! I was only about to escape from Sodor myself, but control got wind of my escape! I thought I was left to rust in that dreadful scrapyard, but then Douglas showed up and…"
"Ach! On an' on ye go 'boot yer escape! You dinnae ever stop, do ye?"
"No," Dulcie sighed in exasperation. "He doesn't!"
"Well, I got news for ye!" Donald went on. "Dougie and I were lucky to escape from scrap where we came from too, and ye don't see either of us goin' on an' on 'boot it all day long. Do ye?"
"But Donald," Oliver insisted. "It's legend…"
Then Donald's guard blew his whistle and it was time for him to leave.
"Sorry, Oliver. I've nae time for yer excuses! Maybe it's time ye learnt how serious de kinda situation can be! Then ye wouldna be so boastful."
Oliver watched Donald leave the station with surprise.
"Couldn't have put it any better myself!" Isabel agreed.
"Huh!" Oliver snorted quietly.
Donald met Douglas at Haultraugh Station, though he was still cross about Oliver.
"I say, Dougie!" he grumbled. "That Oliver! He never stops talking 'bout his daring escape from that scrapyard! Goes on an' on 'bout it every time we meet!"
"Aye!" his brother sighed, thinking more rationally on the matter. "I don't mind being reminded of my heroism from time to time, but to hear 'bout every day can get wearisome."
"Ach aye!" agreed Donald. "Maybe there'd be a way to get him to put an end to his boasting once and for all!"
"Mmm…" Douglas wondered, leaving the station as soon as his guard's whistle blew.
Donald watched as his brother left, remaining in deep thought.
At the DieselWorks, Happy Hook wasn't working properly, and Diesel 10 was not happy!
Diesel 10 grit his teeth and watched as the workmen tried to operate Happy Hook, but it spun around in circles, knocking one workman off the railing when he tried to tend to it with a wrench. Several workmen rushed over at once to see if he was alright. 'Arry and Bert rolled in just in time to see the commotion, letting off a cloud of black smoke.
"Grrrr…" Diesel 10 growled, swiftly clenching his claw above from atop, as Den and Dart rolled up on both sides of him.
"Eh, is everything okay, mmm...boss?" Den asked.
"Heh!" Diesel 10 grouched rolling slowly back towards his shed.
"We did ask the Fat Controller several times if he could make arrangements for Happy Hook's repairs but he never got around to it," Dart dully added.
At last, Diesel 10 lost patience.
"That does it!" he snapped, taking everyone in the DieselWorks by surprise as he rolled slowly forward to the edge of the turntable and pointed his claw towards 'Arry and Bert.
"You two!" he demanded. "You're taking the shift at the Smelters tonight. Aren't you?"
"Eh, yes, boss," 'Arry replied.
"Good!" Diesel 10 bellowed. "Then maybe you two could do the whole DieselWorks a tinsy, teeny little favor."
"A f-f-favor, b-b-boss?" Bert wondered.
"Some of the metal pilings usually good for scrap may work wonders for Happy Hook!" Diesel 10 explained, then he smirked as he went on. "That is...if you can manage to get it here unnoticed."
"The men will be gone after dark," 'Arry pointed out. "We should be able to…"
"Good!" Diesel 10 boomed, crunching his claw tightly. "Then take whatever loot you can find! The fate of Happy Hook rests in your hands!"
"B-but…we don't 'ave hands…" Bert murmured confusedly.
"Doh!" Diesel 10 groaned.
"Come along, Bert!" 'Arry honked, reversing out of the DieselWorks with his twin following after him.
Diesel 10 grinned menacingly as they left, then rolled slowly back to his shed.
Meanwhile, Oliver had just finished his last passenger run of the day and was bringing Isabel and Dulcie back to the yard.
As Oliver reached the top station at Arlesburgh West, he continued to sing out:
"Oh, Isabel's a funny coach and so is Dulcie too
If I didn't look after them, they wouldn't know what to do!"
Dulcie yawned loudly as their passengers disembarked.
"Put an end to it. Will you, Oliver?" Isabel sighed.
"My frames are aching just listening to him!" Dulcie moaned.
Oliver chuckled, whistling as he left the station and looked for a siding to leave his coaches. Donald and Douglas arrived at the top station side-by-side, whistling and letting off steam as they arrived at the top station.
"Phew! Some race dat time! Eh, Donal'?"
"Aye!" Donald sighed, slightly bitter at having been beat by his brother. "Worth more dan listenin' te Oliver's silly boasting anyways."
"Yer not still sore I'a beat ye again, are ye?" Douglas wondered.
"Huh! I've won plenty of other times," Donald pointed out.
"I wonder why the Small Controller brought us here…" he wondered.
"Hush!" Douglas hissed. "Here he comes!"
The twins watched as the Small Controller Mr. Duncan approached them at the platform.
"Ah, Donald! Douglas! You're here!" he said with relief.
"Aye!" Douglas responded practically, then dryly remarked, "and in what way do ye owe the pair of us the pleasure for bein' here?"
The Small Controller chuckled.
"Well," he explained, "I recently spoke with the Fat Controller, and as of now, his other engines are all occupied with their own evening work to do, so he suggested I call you both down here to fulfill a few errands to the Smelters Yard."
"The Smelters Yard?" Donald gulped, shivering at the thought, though Douglas listened with interest.
"Douglas, I need you to fetch an old ship's boiler from Arlesburgh and take it to the Smelters where it can be melted down."
"Aye, sir!" Douglas whistled.
"As for you, Donald," the Small Controller continued, "your job is to pick up some trucks of metal pilings from the Arlesburgh Works nearby here to the Smelters to be melted down and incinerated."
"Scrap train?" Donald moaned, horrified.
"Good luck to the both of you!" the Small Controller said, then he headed back towards his office.
Donald was immediately appalled by the thought of having to deliver a scrap train to the Smelters.
"Ach! If any engine had to take dat train, why it be one of the pair of us? The sound of it makes me wheels wobble!"
Douglas chuckled as he whistled and chuffed slowly past him.
"If I were in yer position, lad, I'd be equally upset aboot it," he admitted, a wise smirk across his face. "But I dinna think any other engine escaping from scrap would be as brave as ye to get de job doon."
Just then, Oliver whistled as he rolled back into view, catching Donald's attention right away.
As Douglas set off to collect the ship's boiler, what he had said to Donald gave his brother an idea to help Oliver see sense.
Oliver stopped right before Donald, exchanging a glance with him.
"Turning in for the night, Donald?" he asked.
"Oh, almost," the Caledonian engine replied. "But I have'a dis scrap train I need to take to the Smelters first."
"The Smelters," Oliver thought, then chuckled. "Other engines have told me all about that place. Nothing more than just twisted pieces of scrap…"
"Aye!" Donald sighed in agreement.
"...and falling sparks illuminating as shadows creep all around," Oliver went on, smirkingly glancing over with Donald.
"Ach! Ye said it yerself! It be a dreadful sight, but only da bravest engines go dere!""
"Yes," Oliver sighed, then chuckled dully.
"Well, it's a good thing I was asked to take some ballast along for Duck's Branch Line instead. Isn't it?" he pointed out.
"Oh, really?" Donald wondered, widening his eyes with surprise. "I hope yer not scared of going to the Smelters, Oliver, given how much you talk aboot yer escape from dat scrapyard."
"Me? Scared?" Oliver wondered with surprise, then he chuckled.
"I'm not scared of going to any scrapyard, Donald," he admitted proudly.
"Oh," Donald thought. "Then how aboot we switch duties?"
"What?" Oliver gasped, his eyebrows widening with surprise.
"Ye heard," Donald went on. "I go and collect yer ballast trucks, while ye take those scrap trucks to de Smelters."
"Huh!" Oliver snorted. "Nothing to it! I can manage any scrapyard."
"Aye! Dan prove it!"
"I will! Thank you, Donald!"
Then he whistled as he set off to fetch his train.
"No," Donald corrected, smirking pleasedly. "Thank ye."
Then he whistled and rolled slowly away toward the ballast hoppers.
As the sun went down, Oliver steadily chuffed on his way to the Smelters Yard, pulling the scrap trucks from the Arlesburgh Works along with Toad behind him.
"Eh, would you please remind me again where we're going, Mr. Oliver?" the brake van wondered. "This surely doesn't look like the way to our Branch."
"We're headed for Killdane, Toad," Oliver replied. "Taking these trucks of scrap to the Smelters so it can all be melted down in the furnace!"
"Goodness me!" Toad groaned. "I don't think you should elaborate the subject on that sort of matter, Mr. Oliver. Besides, I thought we were headed home to the sheds after taking that last ballast train."
"Nope!" Oliver replied proudly. "Donald's got all that taken care of. You and me, we got the bravest job that no other engine would be as willing enough to do."
"B-b-but…I've heard stories about the Smelters all from the trucks, Mr. Oliver," Toad admitted. "And I don't think I want to run into those two naughty diesels and their tricks!"
Oliver chuckled.
"I've heard stories from other engines about the Smelters, Toad, and all about what those Iron 'Arry and Bert can be like. I'm not scared of them, nor where we're going."
"Whatever you say, Mr. Oliver," Toad sighed. "But don't say I didn't warn you if we run into trouble."
"Not to worry," Oliver laughed. "If you recall, we managed to escape that scrapyard with no trouble whatsoever. We'll be in and out of there in no time."
Toad sighed dully, as Oliver carried on, his determined expression slowly changing to a rather thoughtful one.
Oliver remained confident that they would run into no trouble whatsoever, but nevertheless took in mind what Toad said and wondered to himself if he could be right.
By the time, they reached the Smelters Yard, it had already gotten dark, and the fog began to roll in all around.
Oliver stopped right before the entrance to the Yard, fog drifting in from both sides as Oliver looked around at some sidings which remained empty and others which empty flatbeds stood on, still yet to be taken away.
"Here goes," Oliver sighed.
He gulped and took a deep breath, venturing further into the yard as two familiar faces watched from nearby.
"What do we 'bout 'im, 'Arry…?"
"Shh!" 'Arry hissed, then whispered, "follow my lead."
The two diesels rolled slowly up along the line to catch up with Oliver and his train, as Bert switched onto Oliver's line.
All around, Oliver and Toad twisted pieces of scrap metal lying about the grounds of the Yard.
"The engines sure weren't joking about this place, Toad," Oliver admitted. "It's a ghost town."
"I t-t-told you so, M-m-mr. Oliver," Toad shivered looking all around and listening to a twisted piece of scrap dangling noisily above the carriage shed nearby.
Oliver took in a breath of air then heavily released it as he looked at a rusted interior of an old car, shaped precisely like the one Oliver was was well and truly familiar with.
"That sure does look like the Fat Controller's car, Toad," he pointed out.
"Y-y-yes, Mr. Oliver. It does."
"And what about that old engine up top there?" Oliver wondered, looking up at a rusted interior of an engine looking almost like himself.
"C-c-can we go now, Mr. Oliver?"
"Not quite," Oliver decided determinedly, stopping just before the entrance to the smelting shed.
Red smoke cleared the way for the track to the shed, Oliver taking a deep breath of determination, as Toad noticed two mysterious shadows emerging from the fog.
"Eh, Mr. Oliver?"
"Yes, Toad."
"I think we have trouble."
Toad spoke too soon, as Oliver heard the revving of the two diesels getting louder as 'Arry rolled up and stopped beside him, Bert halting just behind Toad.
"Good evening, Little Western!" he greeted persuasively. "Come to join us for a little evening stroll around the Smelters, have you?"
"Actually," Oliver admitted. "I was just thinking of leaving as soon as I'm done with this job. Sorry, fellas. Not tonight."
"Why not?" Bert insisted, nudging the back of the train a little as Toad winced his eyes. "We'd love for you to stick around. Show you 'round the Ironworks a bit."
"I think I've seen quite enough, thank you," Oliver assured them.
"Couldn't have put it any better myself," Toad dully added.
"Oh," 'Arry wondered in a rather oily voice. "Is that so then? And just where were you thinking of leaving all this lovely bunch of scrap?"
"Surely it can't just lay 'round in these sidings forever," Bert added thoughtfully.
"It won't," Oliver confirmed, managing a rather solemn expression. "I'm taking it to be melted down in the furnace."
"The furnace?" 'Arry gasped. "My, my, Oliver. There's just so many opportunities to think of with this many trucks of scrap. Surely you could reconsider and let us take the lot for you."
"Now, don't be silly, 'Arry," Oliver replied, rolling his eyes with disbelief. "This lot's only old, used up pieces of machinery from the Workshop. It's worth nothing more than for scrap."
"That's odd coming from a steamer like yourself," Bert admitted, Toad glaring as he gently buffered up to the train.
"It's like I said, you two," Oliver reminded them firmly. "This lot's worth for scrap and nothing more. You're not taking my trucks and neither am I standing for any of your games tonight. So there."
Oliver whistled loudly as he ventured further into the smelting shed, the two diesels watching after him with disbelief.
"C-c-can you believe that?!" Bert grunted, as he rolled up and stopped beside 'Arry. "'e just turned us down nice an' easy! Surely those old parts will help out with 'appy Hook if we took 'em from 'im!"
"Shh!" 'Arry hissed, then whispered, "keep your voice down unless you want us to be compromised!"
He gave a confused Bert a look of reminder.
"Oh!" Bert remembered. "Yes, the boss asked us to keep a low profile, didn't he?"
"And do you understand why?"
"Uhh...no!" Bert admitted.
"Because every last piece of metal pilings that comes into this scrapyard is either left to rust to burnt down in the furnace," 'Arry explained. "And our job is to collect all the loot we can get our coupling rods on."
"Huh!" Bert snorted, understanding a lot more. "Well, that lot's no good if it's melted down into the scrap heap."
"Not on our watch!" 'Arry assured him. "This is our turf! We own it! And I think I have a plan to teach that one some sense! Come on!"
He rolled quickly into the Smelting Shed, Bert rolling quickly after him.
All around the Smelting Sheds, everything looked even spookier; twisted pieces of scrap hung from the railings and metal bars, and Oliver watched as falling sparks lit up mysterious shadows all around.
Oliver gulped and watched nervously as a shadow of a large piece of coil swung from his direction.
"I must finish the job and get out. I must," he said bravely, suddenly panicking at the creaking sound of a door closing.
"Are we there yet, Mr. Oliver?" Toad asked.
"Quite so, Toad," Oliver replied, viewing the large grabber up ahead.
Oliver slowly came to a halt just before the Smelting Shed's grabber, looking up at it with surprise.
"Wow!" he gasped, not noticing the sound of diesels revving gradually getting louder from behind. "Will you look at the size of that thing, Toad?" He went to joke, "it's lucky these trucks are going under it and not us."
"Eh, Mr. Oliver?" Toad tried to warn, as the two diesels rolled quickly into view.
But it was too late as before Oliver knew it, Bert bashed right into him, causing him to startle and pushed him right under the hopper.
"Gotcha now, Great Western!" 'Arry called, as both their drivers ran to uncouple from the front and couple Bert to the back respectively.
"You're not preventing us from taking our loot now!" Bert added.
"Let me out of here at once!" Oliver demanded.
"Suit yourself," Bert chortled, 'Arry cackling after him, as Bert took the train.
Oliver's driver tried to back away, but 'Arry's driver hopped and held him back by the throat, as Bert's driver climbed and readied the operation knob on the Grabber. He proceeded to hop back down towards his engine, Bert struggling hard against Toad's screeching brakes. His driver hopped aboard and took control, managing to overpower Toad and the train and pulling it backward as the Grabber advanced down towards Oliver.
"Help!" the Great Western engine shouted.
"Mr. Oliver!" Toad wailed, as Bert switched the points onto 'Arry's track and stopped, the other Ironworks diesel rolling down onto the front of the train.
'Arry's driver beat Oliver's driver down with the coal stoking pole, then dropped it and ran out back towards his engine.
"Ready to go, Bert?" 'Arry asked, as his driver hopped aboard.
"Whenever you are, 'Arry," his twin replied.
Then the train rolled quickly forward, Toad's guard pressing hard on the brakes, but overpowered by the force of the two diesels' drivers.
"Bye, bye, Oliver!" 'Arry cackled, Bert cackling after him as their made their way along towards the exit of the Smelters Shed.
As the Grabber pulled him up, Oliver had never felt so scared in his life.
"Oh, d-d-dear!" Oliver shivered. "This is sure worse than being in any scrapyard."
"I'm...afraid so, old boy," his driver groaned, rising up in recovery from his bruises. "I'm...sorry, Oliver. I've...tried all I can."
Oliver's driver constantly winced in pain as he spoke.
"I'm sure I'm bound for the scrap heap now," Oliver sighed.
"Oh, my," Toad groaned, still braking hard against Bert's force. "I can't bear to look!"
"I do wish I never boasted so much about that escape in the first place," Oliver admitted, as he was hoisted slowly higher towards the ceiling. "I swear, if I get out of this, I promise to never to brag the escape from that scrapyard again!"
"Only...y-you were in...control of that...before!" 'Arry groaned from the front, the train still being held back.
"Control," Oliver murmured quietly, looking at the control panel on the balcony beside him.
"That's it!" he decided. "Driver, see if you can reach onto that balcony and access the control panel."
"Fat chance, ol' boy," his driver replied. "I may miss the railing than risk having to climb up again. I may not make it in time."
"Just try it!" Oliver encouraged.
"Okay," his driver sighed, taking a deep breath as he positioned himself against the railing. "Here goes."
He jumped daringly from Oliver's cab and quickly landed one hand on the railing before gruntingly placing his other hand on it, then slowly reaching up and jumping over onto the balcony before rushing towards the control panel.
"Wow!" Toad gasped, but was then suddenly distracted as the diesels took charge and advanced towards the exit of the Smelting Shed.
"We've got our loot now, Bert!" 'Arry said triumphantly.
"Let's get out of here," Bert agreed.
PEEP-PEEP!
The two diesels shouted in surprise, as rushing straight towards them was Douglas with the ship's boiler.
"Look out!" the Caledonian engine called.
The diesels rolled quickly back, as Douglas advanced towards them into the Smelting Shed.
"Oh no," Oliver wailed, as he was tipped over toward the furnace. "HELLLLLLP!"
All of a sudden, the Grabber came to a stop, much to Oliver's surprise, then rolled gently down back towards the track.
"You did it, driver!" Oliver cheered excitedly. "You stopped it."
"Phew!" his driver sighed, running down the stairs from the balcony towards his engine. "Pulled the lever just in time.
Oliver was relieved as he was lowered to the ground and the Grabber let go of him.
"That was a close call," Oliver murmured to himself, then watched as the cavalcade of 'Arry, Toad and Bert reversed back in, and stopped as Douglas stopped right before them, looking over at Oliver.
"Mr. Oliver. Thank goodness you're alright," Toad sighed.
"How ever did the pair of ye even end up here in de first place?" Douglas wondered. "I thought Donal' was meant to be taking this train."
"He was," Oliver admitted. "It's a long story, and I'll explain on the way back."
Then he pointed his eyes towards 'Arry and Bert.
"But for a start, these two tried to have me scrapped!"
"What?" Bert gasped.
"Not true!" 'Arry denied.
Douglas shot raised an eyebrow at him, causing him to sigh and look down.
"Oh, alright," he sighed. "Bert and I only were given direct orders from Diesel 10 to take all the metal pilings we could find from the Smelters and bring 'em back to fix 'appy Hook."
"But it looks like we won't be doing any of that now," Bert moaned sadly.
"Aye! It should serve ye well for tryin ne scrap poor Oliver!" Douglas remarked.
"Couldn't have put it any better myself, Mr. Douglas," Toad agreed.
Oliver took a deep breath, noticing the sad expressions on the diesels' faces as an idea flew into his funnel.
"I, erm, know you both want to have that crane back at the DieselWorks repaired," he explained. "But taking scrap pilings when they're meant to be melted down into the furnace is not the right way to go about it, so how about I make a deal with you two?"
"A deal?" Bert murmured, as 'Arry listened on with suspicion.
"You two are going to shunt all those trucks of pilings and that old ship's boiler into place under the grabber here all by yourselves," Oliver demanded. "If you get it done by morning, I shall speak with the Fat Controller first thing and have your crane at the DieselWorks."
'Arry and Bert thought, then took a deep breath.
"Oh, alright," 'Arry sighed.
"But only if you promise to speak with him first thing...!" Bert added.
"Ahem!"
Bert looked over at Toad who raised an eyebrow at him.
"Fine, fine," he sighed.
Toad smiled, as Oliver went on.
"And if either of you ever try to play tricks on me or the other engines, I shall take it up with the Fat Controller so you can answer to him about it."
"B-b-but, that's not fair!" 'Arry grunted. "You can't just tell us what…!"
"Ahem!"
'Arry looked over as Douglas shot him a stern look and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Fine, fine," the two diesels replied.
Oliver smiled as he backed away from the Grabber, 'Arry and Bert backing down to move onto the next track in place of it.
By morning, the job was done, and Oliver, Toad and Douglas were back on their way towards Arlesdale, though Oliver was still shaken by the current series of events.
"So, Oliver," Douglas wondered, chuffing alongside his friend. "Looks like ye saved yerself from scrap dat time. Eh?"
"Only just, Douglas," Oliver pointed out.
"An act of heroism I call it," Toad corrected. "You applied your quick-thinking in time for your driver to shut that grabber down."
"Yeah," Oliver chuckled modestly. "I guess. Could've been worse though. I could've melted away in that furnace for good."
"Or," Douglas joked practically. "Ye coulda owed another for saving ye a second time."
Oliver laughed, then sighed and smiled at his friend.
"I'm at least glad to be back on solid ground again," Oliver admitted. "Better yet, this time saving myself from scrap may not be a legend worth telling."
"Aye! Why not?" Douglas wondered, as they approached Arlesburgh West.
"Because," said Oliver, "I do I've learnt my lesson about being bragging so much about my adventures. Isabel was right: escaping from scrap that first time was only a matter of fair chance, as was this time."
The two friends arrived at the top station side-by-side, as Donald pulled in and stopped alongside them.
"I say," he wondered. "Where 'ave de pair of ye been all night long?"
"Long story, Donald," Oliver assured him. "But I know one thing for sure: you won't be hearing about it nor the first time I escaped from scrap for quite some time now."
"Oh," Donald thought. "Well, are ye alright den?"
"Yes, I am, Donald. And I've learnt a very important lesson about my boastfulness. Hopefully this time escaping from scrap won't get to my smokebox like the first time."
"Phew!" Donald sighed relievedly, "well, I'm happy for ye, Oliver, and I'm glad ye learnt yer lesson too."
"Ach aye!" agreed Douglas.
"Come along, Dougie! I'll race ye to de goods yard!"
"You'll have to catch me first, Donal'!" Douglas replied, Oliver smiling as they raced out of sight.
Oliver left Toad, then collected Isabel and Dulcie for his morning passenger train.
The guard's whistle, and Oliver whistled goodbye to Toad as he left.
"Bye, Toad! See you later this afternoon!" he called.
"Bye, Oliver! I'm glad that you're okay!" Toad called after him.
"Huh!" Dulcie wondered dully. "Why ever would he not be okay?"
"Search me, Dulcie," Isabel responded.
Oliver sighed and spoke kindly to his coaches.
"You were quite right, Isabel," he said. "Being saved from that scrapyard was a matter of fair chance, but I'm at least happy to have made it out with you and Toad by my side."
"Oh, well, em, thank you, Oliver. I feel the same way, and it does sound like you've learnt your lesson."
"You can say that again," Isabel dully added.
"So where exactly have you been all night anyway?" Isabel wondered.
"The Smelters," Oliver explained. "Oh, neither of you will never believe what it was like."
Oliver couldn't help but describe what his evening was like.
"The moon was set in full," he began. "The fog rolled in and twisty pieces of scrap lingered all around."
Dulcie sighed heavily, Isabel smirking as Oliver continued.
"But that wasn't the worst part. Then there was the Smelting Sheds. There were this large grabber leading to a huge furnace, and, oh, those shadows…"
"Ahem!"
Oliver quickly stopped at the sound of Isabel's cough.
"Oops," he chuckled. "There I go again. Boasting out of my smoke box."
Oliver and Isabel shared a laugh, as Dulcie sighed and decided to chuckle quietly along with them.
From that moment on, Oliver decided not to brag excessively about matters of fair chance, even though the occasion would call for him to realize he was doing it all over again!
Down to the penultimate chapter in standard 20! I'll admit, this one took a bit of time to think through, but I was rather satisfied by how it turned. Some characters (Skiff, Oliver the excavator, Diesel 10) are given one-liner roles for the set, either listening to Oliver's stories, or maybe planning something a little bigger, and even 'Arry and Bert are given roles as our villains. One of the many problems I had with Season 5 (no matter how many people love it) was how the treatment of some characters, like the start of Toby's frightened persona coming especially out of nowhere or Oliver being treated as if he and Toad worked in the Goods Yard instead of on Duck's branch. Nothing dropped the ball for me though harder than Stepney being treated being treated as one of TFC's engines, and for a story that I think could've worked with Stepney being a visiting engine, I also thought Oliver could have worked in the role too, and that's where the idea for this story came in. Oliver's back to the way he was in Resource and Sagacity in the beginning, learning his lesson by the end, and I attempted to make his dynamic with Isabel and Dulcie closer to that one RWS story too. Toad being Oliver's conscience to an extent was also fun to work with here, as were differentiating the Scottish twins the way I did while having them appear together for a role in this set. I'm cutting close to the end of this set. The next one will revolve around a set of characters I've neglected thus far and am therefore proud to finally have thought of the chance to working with. As always, stay tuned for…
Belle Calls In Sick - Belle takes on bad water from a water tower by the Rescue Center and has to wait in her shed while the workmen inspect her.
And coming this summer: Thomas & Friends in Summertime Surprises
Teamwork (based on Teamwork by Christopher Awdry) - by the time the holiday months come, Jock has proven himself worthy and starts getting ideas above his station. However, his cockiness gets the better of him when he has to double-head a train with Mike.
Arthur And Saul - a new crane named Saul arrives at Norramby and Arthur quickly takes a liking to him and his cautious ways of going about work, though finds that it eventually starts to cause delays.
A Fishy Situation - an incident at Norramby with a load of fish causes a few fish to settle inside Thomas' boiler while he's taking on water, unbeknownst to the tank engine and his crew. It causes confusion and delay for Thomas later on while taking passengers out on his Branch Line.
The Summer of George - George tries to spend a stress-free summer without getting angry at the railway but working around Bill and Ben after they are assigned to work at the RoadWorks as punishment quickly gets him to the end of his rope.
Serenity Saul - Saul attempts to learn from his experience on his first day by rushing the engines on their way with their deliveries but messes up when he mixes up their loads!
Daisy Crosses The Line - Toby brings the workmen up to Harwick to inspect the line in case of any buckles in the hot sun, but Daisy ignores his warnings so as to keep time with her passengers and lands herself into trouble.