Summertime Surprises!
Part I: Teamwork!
Based on Teamwork by Christopher Awdry
Jock is the strongest engine working on the Arlesdale railway. He is relatively new and is still learning his way around. All the same, he was quite the communicator, never tiring of telling the bigger engines all about his adventures thus far…
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"They built me in the workshop to come along as a spare engine to help out!" he told Donald one day, as the Caldonian engine waited for his trucks to be loaded with ballast."
"I see," Donald replied, listening with intrigue.
"Needless to say, the Small Controller says that all of my tests went off without a hitch thus far," the ochre engine continued, "'and that holidaymakers are coming in near and far just to see me!"
"Ooh, that does sound like a wee lot!" Donald marveled, as his last ballast truck was filled up and he was ready to go.
PEEP-PEEP!
"Sorry, I cannae talk all day, Jock! But I must deliver these ballast trucks to Duck's Branch! It was eh pleasure meetin' ye though!"
"Take care!" Jock whistled after him, as Mike approached the platform he was on behind. "And be sure to come back any time you'd like to hear more about my adventures so far…"
PEEP-PEEP!
"Get out of the way, Jock!" Mike demanded. "You're holding up my passengers!"
"Whoops, sorry," Jock muttered, slowly switching over to the next line.
PEEP-PEEP-PEEEEEEEP!
"Hurry up, you silly great engine!" Mike whistled impatiently.
"Woah, woah. Cool your pistons there, Mike," Jock chuckled, as he switched over the points and onto the next line.
"After all," he continued, as he reversed back down beside the red engine, "stronger engines like myself require more priority over the smaller ones. As it happens, the Small Controller has arranged for holidaymakers to come visit the railway just to see me!"
"Oh, please," Mike groaned, as his passengers disembarked the train. "You're just making that up…!"
"Mommy, daddy! Look over there!" a little girl called, pulling his mother's hand further up the platform as her father followed quickly behind. "Just look at that big yellow engine!"
"He sure does look strong, Penny, dear," her mother agreed.
"Indeed," her father added, eyeing Jock with intrigue.
Mike watched with surprise as more passengers began crowding around Jock, managing a slight scowl.
"Yes, sure does seem like a strong asset to a rather small railway," a gentleman remarked, as they all watched Jock shunt ballast trucks about the yard.
"Daddy, daddy!" the little girl pleaded, tugging her father's hand. "Can we please take a picture?"
"Oh, alright, darling," her father replied, and quickly pulled out his camera, aiming towards Jock as he pushed his ballast trucks out from under a nearby hopper, and caught a quick shot of him smiling as he moved forward.
"Got it!" the little girl's father replied.
"Yay!" the little girl replied.
"Doh!" Mike scoffed, and grumbled slowly away.
"Hey, Jock!" another passenger called out. "Smile!"
All at once, passengers on the platform took several screenshots of him as he stopped and smiled right for the camera.
"Ah," he sighed, as he backed down on his ballast train and pressed steadily forward. "It feels so good to be appreciated; made for strength, built for speed. There's absolutely no other engine like me around."
At last, Mike lost patience as he watched the ochre engine leave.
"made for strength, built for speed…" Mike mocked, as he shunted empty trucks about. "Blah blah blah blah blah!"
Bert observed Mike's tantrum as the table turned him round to face the right way.
"Oh, dear, Mike," he wondered. "What's gotten into you?"
"It's that new engine, Jock!" Mike fumed, stopping right beside the turntable. "He just makes me feel cross!"
"Oh? How so?" Bert inquired.
"All he ever talks about is himself!" Mike explained huffily. "It never ends with his talk of strength and speed! He's such a showoff, and thinks he's better than the rest of us!"
Rex was pulling some trucks from the upper ramp, finding humor at Mike's tantrums.
"A showoff?!" the green engine chuckled. "That's funny coming from you, Mike! Are you sure you're not just jealous?"
"Jealous?! Of him?! Absolutely not! Besides, it's the truth! Don't you two believe me?"
Bert smiled, and whistled as he edged off the turntable, chuckling along with Rex. Mike lost hope.
"Huh!" he scoffed. "To think that they don't know what I'm talking about!"
He edged slowly forward as he made his way about the Junction.
"I'll show that Jock a thing or two about our railway!" he assured his friends. "Just you wait and see!"
Soon enough, the summer holiday months come around, and the engines began to notice that more trains had been scheduled due to the uplift in passengers!
PEEP-PEEP!
"Hi, Toby! Henrietta!" Thomas greeted, as he made his way to the platform at Dryaw.
"Hello, Thomas!" the tram engine replied. "Busy day, isn't it?"
"Phew! You said it, Toby! Annie, Clarabel and I feel rushed off our wheels!"
"It's always the same when summer comes around!" Annie added.
"Indeed, Annie! We feel so full!" Clarabel added.
"There does seem to be more passengers this time around," Toby pointed out. "But we don't mind. Do we, Henrietta?"
"Not at all, Toby!" his coach replied. "It wasn't nearly as busy on our line!"
Then her guard's whistle blew.
DING-DING! DING-DING!
"See you later, Thomas!" Toby called, as he pulled out of the station. "And I hope you enjoy yourselves. I believe The Fat Controller has asked Percy to run an extended service with Hannah for all the extra passengers…"
"Faster, Percy! Faster!"
At that moment, Percy wailed as he approached the station, passing a very surprised Toby.
"Slow down, Hannah!" the saddle tank engine called. "We're approaching a station!"
"Whoops!" the coach thought. "Sorry, Percy!"
And she immediately slammed on her brakes, allowing Percy to slow down and stop just behind Thomas, Clarabel watching him with surprise.
"Are you okay, Percy?" Thomas asked
"Phew!" Percy sighed. "Am now since we managed to stop on time."
Thomas smiled back at his friend, and left as soon as his guard's whistle blew.
Early one afternoon, Jock was at the bottom station, reconciling with his old friend Douglas, who helped pick out his name.
"Passengers say that I'm a great asset to the railway!" he told his friend. "Driver says I'm an inspiration and the Small Controller thinks so as well."
"Aye," Douglas sighed. "But…"
"I just don't know what those other three engines would do without me!" Jock went on. "Holidaymakers are coming on purpose just to see me! Am I not the smartest engine around?"
"Mmm, ye may seem like de brightest young 'un, Jock. Ye remind me much of dose bright young jocks me brother and I worked with up in de highlands, but I'd warn ye not te get too puffed up in de smokebox!"
"What are you talking about?!" Jock wondered with surprise.
"Der's more te life other dan just being de brightest and de strongest! I's teamwork that counts!"
At last, his ballast trucks were full, and he was ready to go.
"See ye later, Jock!" the Caledonian engine called, as he made his way back towards Duck's Branch Line.
"Bye, Douglas!" Jock called, and steadily made his way back about the Junction.
"I wonder," he thought to himself. "When will all the other engines just see how great I am?!
At that moment, Jock heard a large creaking sound, and looked over at a lorry carrying a load of sleepers behind it.
Mr. Duncan came out of his office in time to see the lorry arrive, and walked quickly over to it.
"Grrr! Now what?!" the lorry driver demanded, scratching his head with confusion.
"No problem!" the Small Controller called from the platform. "Just unhitch the trailer and leave it aside the rails. Jock will do the rest."
"Ah," Jock sighed, as he witnessed Frank rolling into the yard. "Now I'll show them just what I'm made of."
Soon enough, a cable was attached to Jock's tender and he was able to pull the trailer along.
"Phew!" Jock huffed, gasping for air as he pulled, his face going red as Mike arrived with a goods train.
"Goodness, Jock!" he teased, chuckling as he passed through." Your face is about as red as my coat!"
Even Frank managed to smile as he watched from nearby, Jock ignoring Mike as he tugged even harder at the heavy trailer."
"Woah! Careful!" the lorry driver whimpered, but Mr. Duncan quickly put a hand on his arm to calm him down as they watched Jock from the station platform.
"Nearly...there!" Jock groaned, Mike watching with interest.
At long last, chuffing hard, Jock managed to pull the trailer onto the tracks!
Mike watched with shock as the ochre engine triumphantly came to a stop.
"I did it!" he gasped, and whistled loudly with excitement. "I did it!"
"Well done, Jock!" Mr. Duncan congratulated, the lorry driver slowly sighing and clapping with relief along with him. "Well done!"
"Indeed," the lorry driver added. "What a fine engine you are!"
"Doh! Give me a break!" Mike grumbled, leaving the station as soon as his guard's whistle blew.
Jock took no notice of Mike; he was feeling much beyond pleased with himself!
"Did you see that, Frank?" he wondered to the diesel shunting nearby. "I pulled a trailer of sleepers onto the rails just like that!"
"Huh!" Frank snorted, and pushed his line of trucks gently forward, leaving Jock in confusion."
"Road or rail. What do I care?" Jock boasted to Bert, Rex and Mike, as he stopped by their shed later that night. "I'm the strongest engine there is on this railway. Honestly, I have no idea what the Small Controller would do without me!"
"Huh!" Mike scoffed and looked the other way, as Rex and Bert looked at each other with dismay.
"Anyway," Jock continued. "Sorry I can't sit around and chat all night. Strong engines like myself need their sleep too, you know."
Then he whistled and took off for his shed, Mike spluttering with fury as he watched him leave.
"You know, Frank," Jock began, as he rolled into the shed beside the diesel. "I'm the pride of the entire railway. No one else like me around. The Small Controller says I'm brilliant, and…"
His speech, however, was drowned out by Frank's loud snoring.
"Huh!" Jock thought, confused for a second, before yawning and deciding to head to sleep himself.
Next morning, after his fire was lit, Mike made his way out of the shed to catch his morning train, though he was still rather cross about Jock.
"What a silly engine!" he grumbled to himself. "Who does he think he is?! Going on and on about how strong he is! As if engines like us aren't able to carry our own weight!"
"Easy does it now, Mike," his driver cautioned, as they approached the top station. "The sooner you're out and about with a train to pull, the sooner you'll let this all slip right out of your funnel."
"Huh!" Mike scoffed, as he backed down into the platform. "That sounds easier said than done!"
Then he whistled impatiently.
"Hurry up, Frank!" he called, as the diesel proceeded to bring him his coaches from behind.
Mike was already in enough of a bad temper as it was, but there was worse to come!
PEEP-PEEP!
Mike watched as Jock backed down on the water tower right before the station, and the shunter coupled him up to the train as well.
"What's this?!" Mike demanded, raising an eyebrow. "Surely I can manage pulling a train by myself!"
"The Small Controller wants me to help!" Jock insisted importantly, as the passengers boarded the train. "The party on the train has asked to see me specially!"
"Oh, have they now?" Mike wondered. "Well, in that case, make sure you don't leave me to push you as well as pull the train. The passengers wouldn't enjoy that, would they?"
"No chance," Jock replied smugly. "I'm far too dependable."
The guard's whistle blew, and the two engines chuffed slowly but steadily from the station platform.
Mike's comment towards Jock suddenly gave him an idea.
Mike whispered the plan to his driver, who agreed.
"Great plan, Mike!" his driver whispered quietly. "We'll do it once we reach the green!"
"Yes! Yes!" Mike quietly exclaimed.
Jock coughed loudly from the front of the train from the front of the train.
"What's going on back there?" Jock demanded.
"Erm…, nothing," Mike replied innocently.
He and his driver chuckled quietly, but Jock took no notice as he focused on the line ahead of him.
As the cavalcade made their way along the route with a train full of passengers, Mike decided to try and flatter Jock before going ahead with his plan.
"Say, Jock," he began, "you truly are a strong engine! I can truly understand now why the Small Controller keeps you on…! Ahem!"
He cleared his throat, thinking hard of what to say next, as Jock looked back with confusion.
"...which any of us other three are fortunate for, of course."
"I see," Jock wondered, rather puzzled.
"Point is," Mike went on, "we're very grateful to have you working on our railway! You're the engine that everyone wants to see and one that any other may want to be!"
"Ah," Jock sighed happily. "Well, that's what life is like being unique from all the other engines."
Mike raised an eyebrow with surprise as Jock went on.
"And I just can't express how proud I am of it."
Mike went red in the face, and couldn't help himself from boiling with fury.
"Why, that little…! Grrrah! I'll teach him to…"
"Calm down there, Mike!" his driver cautioned. "And keep on the lookout! We're approaching our first signal!"
"Yes," Mike grinned. "We are!"
They stopped at the next signal before the green and allowed Bert to pass through his goods train.
"Ready when you are, Mike!" his driver whispered, and proceeded to stoke coal hard at his firebox.
As the signal turned green, they started on their way again, allowing Mike to gradually cut off steam as Jock pressed forward.
"Woah!" the ochre engine wailed, rather startled.
The whole weight of the train, with Mike as well, pulled on Jock's coupling, as smoke and steam shot high into the air!
"Is...everything okay, Jock?" Mike asked innocently.
Jock coughed loudly, having to work extra hard to pull the train along.
"I never recalled the journey being this strenuous!" he exclaimed.
"Oh," Mike grinned, "but I thought that you were a strong engine."
Mike's driver giggled quietly, this time Jock's driver overhearing as he looked back over at him in Mike's cab, as the red engine grinned triumphantly.
"We've been tricked!" he said.
But Jock was far too tired to notice!
They reached the top station and Jock was uncoupled from the train, though Mike was quite surprised to see him in such high spirits.
"Feeling tired, are you, Mike?" Jock chuckled.
"You're enjoying yourself!" Mike grinned. " I didn't want to spoil your fun!"
"Ah," Jock thought. "I wondered if perhaps I was going too fast for you."
"Too fast?" Mike spluttered, suddenly boiling with fury. "Silly little engine! Just you wait…!"
"Cool your pistons, Mike!" his driver chuckled. "It's not like we're boiling an egg after all!"
Jock chuckled and took no notice as he turned around so that Mike could have his turn on the table.
Mike fumed as he was uncoupled from the train and made his way over to the turntable, and it proceeded to turn him round.
"Too fast for me!" he grumbled. "And to think that that we didn't teach him a lesson. I'll give Jock what's coming to him!"
"Never mind that!" his driver suggested. "It's your turn to heed the train, Mike! Perhaps it's better you ignore Jock and focus on the track ahead of you!"
"Huh!" Mike scoffed, as the table got him facing the right way, and he made his way off after his driver hopped back aboard. "I'll show that silly engine just how fast and strong I am!"
"Now, settle down!" his driver demanded. "We've had our fun. Now it's best we get on with the task at hand."
"Huh!" Mike thought to himself. "If driver won't help, I'll just handle that Jock myself…"
He made his way back to the platform, where Jock was waiting with the train behind him.
"Are you ready, Mike?!" the ochre engine asked, as Mike was uncoupled to him.
"I've been ready long before you, Jock!" the red engine remarked.
"Oh," Jock thought, then teasingly remarked, "is that why you needed a turn on the table to get yourself facing the right way?"
PEEP-PEEP!
Mike took no notice as he pulled the train along, a plan fresh in mind.
"I'll give Jock a run for his money!" he said to himself.
As soon as the cavalcade made its way along the line, Mike gradually started to pick up speed.
"This should do the trick!" he giggled quietly, and went faster and faster.
"Steady!" his driver cautioned. "We're not racing anyone!"
"That's what you think!" Mike muttered, so quietly so as not to be heard.
"I say!" one passenger grumbled. "What is this?! An express?!"
"My hat!" a lady shouted, grasping her hat tight as it flew off her head.
"Eh, Mike? I think we'd better slow down," Jock suggested.
"Oh," Mike wondered, then said right back at Jock, "I was wondering if I was going too fast for you."
The passengers were beginning to have a rather bumpy ride, as Mike pressed on, his wheels pounding the rails quickly. At last, Jock was beginning to run rather short of breath.
"Please, Mike!" he begged. "Slow down! The passengers are cross, and I'm beginning to wear out!"
Mike chuckled.
"That's funny! How can such a strong and popular engine like you wear out so quickly?"
At long last, his driver shut off steam.
"That's enough now, Mike!" he encouraged. "Behave yourself. We're approaching the next water tower."
"Phew!" Jock sighed, as the passengers sighed with relief.
Mike smiled as he made his way towards the water tower.
At the water tower, Mike's driver immediately tried to let the water into the boiler. However, as water was poured into his tank, steam suddenly began hissing out of his sides.
Mike coughed loudly, much to Jock's surprise, as steam poured past the two engines and amongst the coughing passengers.
"Ouch!" groaned Mike, then begged, "give me a drink. Quickly! Please! I think I'm going to burst!"
Jock tried his hardest not to laugh. His driver quickly ran over to help Mike's driver and they inspected the injector together.
"Hmm," Jock's driver thought. "Seems to be dysfunctioning as of the moment."
"Oh, dear, Mike," his driver sighed. "Sounds as if your injector has failed. Must have been that trick you played on Jock. Gradually letting off steam, than going too fast."
The passengers quickly started to mumble and chatter amongst themselves, as Mike let out a sigh of dismay.
Mike's driver quickly radio telephoned for control.
"Hello?" came a voice.
"Hello," he spoke into the phone. "Control? Yes, we have an engine here whose steam injector has failed. Some of the party on our train need to go to the big station to catch their train."
There was a short silence. At last, the voice came again.
"Is this the train that both Jock and Mike took out this morning?"
"Yes, it is, and we want to make sure our passengers are taken care of by the time we make it back to the junction."
"Very well," the voice said over the radio. "We'll send for an engine as soon as possible."
The voice broke up, and Mike's driver sighed as Jock's driver headed back to his engine.
"Well, Mike," his driver explained. "There's not much we can do about your failed injector from here. It seems like Jock will have to take the train home."
"What?!" Mike spluttered. "But...but…"
"I'm sorry, old boy," his driver sighed as he damped down his fire. "There is simply no other way."
Mike sighed with dismay as his fire was put out and he was uncoupled from Jock.
Jock backed the train down, then was uncoupled before going round in front and backing down in front of Mike.
"Well, Jock," Mike remarked sarcastically, as the ochre engine backed him down on the train, "are you going to manage to pull your strength now like you did before?"
But Jock took no notice. He had already learnt his lesson and knew that this was no time for teasing.
The two engines backed down on the train and Mike was coupled up.
As soon as they were coupled to the train, Jock set off back for the top station. Little time was lost, but Jock still had to work extra hard as he made his way along with the heavy train.
"Phew!" he sighed, his cheeks going red from having to pull the weight of the train behind him. "Must...keep...going!"
Mike sighed and looked sideways as the cavalcade advanced towards the top station.
Duck had arrived at Arlesdale Junction with Alice and Mirabel when they heard some strange puffing noises from the distance .
"I say, you two," Alice wondered. "Whatever is that noise?"
"Search me," Mirabel replied.
Just then, Jock and Mike arrived, the former still pulling the heavy weight of the train behind him.
"Well, I never," Duck gasped, glancing in surprise as Jock pulled Mike and the passengers into the station.
"We can do it!" Jock groaned. "We can do it!"
Then at last, he came to a stop and let off steam.
"We've done it," he sighed with relief.
"Well, you have!" Mike admitted. "All I did was make you pull your own weight!"
"Well, I can surely see that!" Duck chuckled in agreement.
"It was nothing, really," Jock admitted. "I understand now how hard having to pull a heavy train can be."
Then he turned his attention to Duck.
"Say, what brings you here, Duck?"
"My driver was warned by control about the incident, so I was called over to pick up any passengers wanting to go to the big station," Duck claimed, as the relieved passengers boarded his train.
As the train was uncoupled and Frank pulled the carriages away, Mike scampered to the shed for repairs and Jock felt tired yet triumphant over his day's experiences.
"Mike seemed to be in an awful hurry," Duck wondered confusedly.
"Oh, all he needs is his injector to be repaired," Jock told him. "It failed at the last water tower we approached so I had to take him as well as the train home."
"Oh," Duck thought. "Well, I guess that makes you strong and doubly useful!"
"Yeah, I guess so," Jock chuckled. "But it wasn't easy, and I did learn my lesson about being cocky."
"Good on you, Jock! Good on you!" Duck whistled as he left the station, Mirabel smiling as they pulled out of sight.
Jock sighed happily and went back about his work.
Later that afternoon, Mike's injector was fixed and he was feeling much better as he made his way back to the yard. Jock was nearby, shunting trucks under a ballast hopper.
"Thanks for helping me home," he told the ochre engine. "I'm sorry I made you do all the work this morning."
"That's alright," replied Jock. "I'm sorry as well. It's silly trying to get the better of one another."
Mike listened with surprise as Jock went on.
"If I hadn't been so cocky in the first place and teased you, then perhaps your injector wouldn't have failed."
Bert, Rex and Frank all arrived back in the yard, as Jock finished his speech.
"I did learn a valuable lesson from it: every engine is equal to one another, and on a railway, it's teamwork that counts!"
"Well said, Jock!" Bert chimed.
"Indeed," Rex added, then looked to Mike and teasingly added, "even though some of us get a little, ahem, out of puff!"
The others laughed, and even Mike had to chuckle as well.
"You guys are always teasing!" he smiled, then looked at his newfound friend, Jock, who smiled right back at him.
The five friends all whistled and honked happily with another as they set back about their work.
Jock had never felt so happy to have the miniature engines as his friends, and looking at them, he was glad that he was one of the team!
And so, that kicks off Summertime Surprises!, my six-story DVD that caps off Set 2. I figured I had plenty of time during the COVID-19 pandemic to work on it, especially after school ended. Anyway, I hope my fellow readers are all doing well during this time. Anyway, this pretty much wraps the Arlesdale arc for the season. It's been fun adapting the Jock The New Engine book in the same vein as the trilogy back from S20. The Arlesdale crew is a fun bunch to write, and incorporating Frank and Jock into the team was a blast! I've enjoyed the expansions I've taken here from the original story; I've elaborated a bit upon the premise, and built more upon Mike's frustration with Jock to make the two interesting to write and play off of. In the end, they both learnt a valuable lesson about trying to better one another. This being an adaptation, the rest of the DVD is from scratch. Be sure to come back tomorrow and see Arthur return whilst meeting Saul the Container Crane in...
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.
And as usual, stay tuned and keep on the lookout for...
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.
One more thing: a special tribute to our fallen T&F icon: Michael Angelis (1944 - 2020). Even though I live in the US, I've come to love his early narrations ever since I first heard his voice on the New Friends For Thomas DVD. Figuring out his background on the show and going on YouTube to get the chance to hear his work, I was immediately impressed, cuz he had it all. His narration was a unique blend between soothing and lively and his voices for the characters were top-notch; from S3-6, he only got better by season, and even though his performances took a step back in the HIT series, I still admire his effort for staying on the show and trying his best in spite of the rote storytelling. We'll miss you, Michael. May you RIP!