Edward And The Cabbages
Written by Lee Pressman
Based on the story of the same name by Christopher Awdry
Edward's Branch Line runs from Wellsworth, the station situated at the bottom of Gordon's Hill. It runs along the coast to Brendam Docks, where cranes and ships keep busy day and night, loading and unloading cargo from the quay.
Edward whistled as he passed through the Docks with his goods train, observing the sound of the ship's horn honking and the seagulls calling out as they flew over the dockside.
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Edward and BoCo run this line, taking goods and passengers to and fro from the station at Wellsworth.
HONK-HONK!
PEEP-PEEP!
The two friends greeted each other goodbye as BoCo left the station with his goods train. Edward smiled as he waited for Philip to bring him his coaches.
Philip works as the station in the yard nearby, and helps out whenever things are busy.
HONK-HONK!
"Good morning, Edward!" the boxcab greeted, as he dropped his coaches off at the platform. "Busy day, is it?"
Edward chuckled.
"It sure is, Philip," he replied. "BoCo and I have many passengers and goods to deliver, same as usual, and I'm due to take a special goods train to the Vicarage Orchard later."
"Oh," Philip thought. "Could you…use with some help then?"
"Thank you, Philip," Edward beamed, as his passengers all got onboard. "But I think I have it all under control."
"Oh," Philp wondered, rather surprised yet puzzled.
At last, the passengers were all onboard, the guard's whistle blew and Edward was off.
PEEP-PEEP!
"Goodbye, Philip!" he greeted.
"Oh, um, bye, Edward!" Philip honked back. "Have a nice day!"
Edward smiled and sighed as he made his way along, his coaches running steadily behind.
The three friends all work happily together; their trains don't need to go fast, but it's not often to keep the bigger engines waiting. Usually, it's the big engines who are prone to delays…
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POOP-POOP!
"Sorry, I'm late, Edward" Gordon apologized one morning, as he arrived at Wellsworth with the express. "The express was delayed due to Nia's fire being slow to start. Silly little TANK engines…"
He paused for a moment, then smiled weakly at Edward.
"…if you get my meaning, Edward."
Edward smiled as he looked across at Gordon.
"Yes, Gordon" he humorously responded, though in a rather sarcastic manner. "I do."
At that moment, his guard's whistle blew, and he set off with his train, chuckling, as Gordon watched him with surprise.
"O, the indignity," he groaned with dismay.
Seagulls flew steadily over the dockside as Edward waited for his train to be unloaded.
One morning, Edward was waiting at Knapford Harbour for his last truck to be unloaded when BoCo arrived with his own empty trucks.
HONK-HONK!
PEEP-PEEP!
"Good morning, BoCo!" he greeted.
BoCo chuckled.
"Good morning, Edward. What's up? Your smile seems as bright as your smokebox."
"I'm due to take some very important visitors to the Clay Pits after this job," he announced. "I must meet them at the top station on our line as soon as my last truck is unloaded."
"Sounds like fun," BoCo admitted. "Well, I've got a pretty busy day myself. Watch out for Bill and Ben then, eh?"
"Not to worry, BoCo," Edward assured. "You and I both know it takes quite a bit to keep those two under control."
BoCo smiled, as Edward's last truck was unloaded at last, and his guard's whistle blew.
PEEP-PEEP!
"Goodbye, BoCo!" he greeted.
HONK-HONK!
"Bye, now, Edward! See you later!"
He smiled as he watched his good friend set off.
Edward made it to Wellsworth on time, and returned his empty trucks to the yard before collecting a special coach and bringing it to the top station. However, to his surprise, James still hadn't showed up yet with the visitors.
"That's odd," Edward wondered, as he arrived at the platform. "I would have thought that maybe James would have been here by now. I wonder if he'll be coming any time soon."
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Edward waited a little while longer, but all the while he repeatedly looked back and forth at the clock and the Main Line, there was still no sign of James!
"Oh, dear," he sighed at last with dismay. "I wonder what could be holding James up. Surely the visitors don't have all morning to explore the Clay Pits, and I also must keep time, so as to fulfill my later jobs."
His driver and fireman sat and waited anxiously inside the cab as well.
"Oh, dear. What can the matter be?" the fireman sang out at last. "James is so late and…"
His driver raised his hand to silence him, and then laughed.
"Never you mind about singing," he encouraged. "Perhaps you should climb atop the cab to look for him."
"Right," the fireman agreed.
He quickly climbed over Edward's cab and looked across the yard to see if James was approaching, as Edward watched with confusion.
"Do you see him?!" the driver called out from the cab.
"No!" the fireman called back. "At least not as far out as I'm looking beyond that bend before the bridge. Guess we'll just have to wait it out.
He began to clamber down, as Edward sighed with dismay when…
PEEP-PEEP!
"There he is!" the fireman called, looking over as he landed to the ground.
"Finally," the driver sighed with relief.
Edward watched with surprise as James arrived slowly at the platform, looking rather exhausted yet dismayed.
"Sorry I'm late, Edward," he apologized. "I got held up at the viaduct while it was under repair." Edward listened with interest, as he dully noted, "one may have thought the Fat Controller would have had repairs done before allowing us main line engines to cross it."
Edward smiled.
"He is taking action by having the repairs done, James," he justified. "Anyway, no worries for being late. It wasn't your fault. No trouble in it either since I am a guaranteed connection."
Then he had a thought, as the visitors boarded his special coach.
"However, I am uncertain of how much time the visitors will have to spend at the Clay Pits."
At that moment, the visitors were all onboard and the guard's whistle blew.
PEEP-PEEP!
"Bye, James!" Edward greeted, as he steadily left the station. "Sorry I can't stay and chat, but I must make up for lost time."
James smiled smugly as he watched him leave, then set off with his own empty coaches.
PEEP-PEEP!
Edward quickly hurried along so as to make up for lost time, though his driver quickly slowed him down.
"Steady, Edward," he cautioned. "We may be late, but an accident will make us even later!"
Edward sighed and pressed on further, as his driver gradually slowed him down.
Deep down, Edward knew that his driver was right. Soon enough, he approached Lower Suddery and gradually slowed down as he crossed over a set of points.
CLANK!
"Woah!" Edward wailed, suddenly startled at the clanking sound as he ran over the points. "What was that?"
"I don't know, Edward," his driver replied. "But we've approached a station. Perhaps it's time we gave you a quick inspection."
Edward sighed with agreement as he came to a stop at the platform, and his crew got off to look him over.
Edward's crew looked him all over from his wheels to his undercarriage, and all around his sides.
HONK-HONK!
"Hello again, Edward," BoCo greeted, as he arrived at the platform across from him, then looked over at him with surprise. "I say, is everything alright?"
"I hope so," Edward concernedly replied. "I should be once my crew has me checked over."
At last, his crew walked back up before him, and his fireman took a deep breath.
"Everything seems in order, Edward," he reported. "We should be fine with proceeding forward."
Edward sighed with relief as his crew hopped back aboard and his driver got him started again, much to the relief of the visitors inside the coach.
PEEP-PEEP!
"See you later, BoCo!" Edward greeted, as he left.
But as he watched his friend depart, BoCo noticed a particular rattling from his left front wheel.
"Wait, Edward!" he called out, as he disappeared with his special coach. "Your front wheel!"
HONK-HONK!
But BoCo was too late to warn Edward, as he didn't hear him and made it on his way.
As he started again and progressed further on his way, Edward began to gain speed, though his driver eventually let off steam.
"Steady now, Edward," he cautioned. "We're approaching a bend up ahead."
Edward heartily agreed, as he approached the cow field in the distance.
"Hopefully these cows don't give me any trouble today," Edward wondered to himself.
"That's why it's best not to let off too much steam," his driver suggested. "All the noise and smoke can get them in such a flurry, as you can recall from that day with the cattle trucks."
"Yes," Edward sighed dully, remembering the incident all too well.
He proceeded to pass the cows in the field, remaining as quiet as possible as he watched them grazing.
"Phew!" Edward sighed with relief, as he passed the sight of the cows and approached the bend turning away from the fence. "That was a close call…woah!"
He wailed suddenly as he turned the bend and quickly found himself back in a straight line.
Edward felt a jolt as he turned the bend, and began to wonder as he continued along.
"That's strange," he thought to himself. "Usually that bend doesn't give me a jolt like that."
"Perhaps the track's been bent or something…" his driver wondered.
"It can't be," Edward denied. "The sun's out, though the weather's too hot for it."
Edward pressed on and didn't take much notice, though it wasn't before he began to feel funny.
Edward heard a clanking sound from underneath and began slowly tilting to the side.
"Oh, my," he wondered to himself.
"What is it, old boy?" his driver asked.
"I feel strange," he admitted. "My front's all wobbly and my undercarriage sounds like it's clanking."
"Not to worry," his driver promised. "We'll have it all sorted out at the next…"
"Jiminy Christmas!" the fireman suddenly shouted. "Look at that!"
He pointed to the field behind them as the driver looked over, and they watched in surprise as a bumpy object came bouncing down beside the line.
"Woah now, Edward!" the driver wailed.
The driver quickly crossed the cab, and he and the fireman both watched in horror as a round, metal object rolled along beside them like a hoop!
"How long do you think it will go on for?" the fireman wondered.
"Beats me," the driver responded.
BANG!
At that moment, the object hit a stone hard and rolled away into a field.
"There it goes now," the fireman said dully.
The driver carefully applied Edward's brakes, and he came slowly to a halt, stopping just in the middle of the track by the field.
"At last," Edward sighed with relief. "I must say though, my front now feels very loose."
"Don't worry, Edward," his driver assured him. "We'll see what the damage is."
The driver and fireman climbed down from his cab to take a look at his front wheel, though they nearly fell back in surprise at what they discovered!
"Oh, my," the fireman gasped.
"What is it?" Edward wondered, looking down at them. "Has…one of my crank pins broke? Has a coupling rod loosened?"
"No, no, it's not that," the driver answered, looking hard. "It's just that…your left front wheel. It's not there!"
"What?!" Edward gasped.
"One of your bogie wheels has broken off," the driver went on, then expressed with relief, "thank goodness we're on a straight track, though, and not going too fast, otherwise there could have been a nasty accident!"
Edward smiled weakly and expressed a look of relief.
"Well now," he thought. "It's a good thing we stopped when we did. However, I do think we're going to make our passengers late now."
"Not unless I telephone for help," the fireman suggested.
"Wait!" Edward thought hesitantly. "I'm sure I can take these passengers to the Clay Pits myself."
"Not this time, old boy," his driver sighed sadly, and patted him on the side, as his fireman walked off to telephone for help.
Edward sighed with dismay, as his passengers waited anxiously aboard the train.
It wasn't long before BoCo came along to take Edward to the SteamWorks…
HONK-HONK!
…and Bill and Ben arrived to take his train from there.
PEEP-PEEP!
PEEP-PEEP!
Bill and Ben giggled quietly at Edward's predicament as they backed down on his train, before BoCo caught them by surprise.
"Ahem!" he coughed, raising an eyebrow as he backed Edward down onto the line nearby.
This gave Bill and Ben the signal to scamper off with their train, as Boco honked loudly and pulled Edward along.
"Thank you for showing up on such short notice, BoCo," Edward said thankfully. "I would have carried on with those visitors myself had I been able to."
"No problem, Edward," the Metropolitan Vickers diesel replied. "I came as soon as I heard. I'd just returned to Wellsworth with my goods train when the stationmaster came out and informed me.:
"It's a good thing I stopped in time," Edward expressed with relief, "otherwise I could have lost more wheels than just one."
BoCo chuckled loudly.
"Oh, I doubt so," he suggested. "I only noticed your front wheel was rattling earlier on. Yet, I wonder what did happen to it…"
This left Edward in deep thought as they pressed further on.
Meanwhile, the Fat Controller was in his office, placing a picture of Lady Hatt's garden trophy on his desk when the telephone rang!
RING-RING! RING-RING!
"Woah!" the Fat Controller wailed.
He nearly fell back in surprise, and prevented the trophy from falling over, before running to answer his phone.
RING-RING! RING-RING!
"Hello? Hello?" he answered.
He listened with astonishment to the muffled voice over the phone.
"What's that you say?" he responded. "An engine's wheel in your cabbages? I quite agree. That does seem like a great surprise."
He listened on further to the muffling over the phone.
"What's that you say? Edward passed through? It was his, you think? Is he alright?"
He listened on, then sighed with relief to the response.
"So he's on his way to the SteamWorks, is he?"
The muffle over the phone, as the Fat Controller spoke calmly into it.
"Thank you then. I'll see to it at once," he promised.
He hung up the phone, then leaned back against his desk, before rubbing his face with a red and white handkerchief.
"Well, bless my soul!" he remarked with relief. "It's a good thing Edward didn't end up in the cabbages himself!"
BoCo had Edward at the SteamWorks in no time, and the men got to work inspecting him all over.
HONK-HONK!
Edward watched BoCo set off, then watched as the men looked him over. At last, one of them walked up before him.
"One of your axles has jointed, Edward," he reported. "Must have been a result of your wheel braking off. Otherwise, though, it's undamaged."
"That's good to know," Edward admitted. "Do you think the men will find me a spare and see it to the matter soon enough?"
At that moment, the Fat Controller arrived to see him.
"Hello there, Edward!" he greeted, then claimed, "you had a lucky escape, but with little harm done. Anyway, Donald and Douglas will take it in turns to do your work while you're being mended, so that BoCo may adhere to his usual schedule."
"That is great news, sir," Edward expressed with relief. "I'm sure the twins will do a fine job. The only thing I'd warn them is passing through that cabbage field of course. Not only will the cows react to loud noises and smoke, but perhaps one of their wheels may come off if they're not careful about the bend in the track near that field."
The Fat Controller chuckled.
"There's nothing wrong with that bend, Edward," he assured him. "You just needed some repairs. That's all. Your wheels haven't been looked over for quite some time. It's time the men thought about getting you a new pair."
"Oh," Edward thought, then chuckled.
"It does remind me, though," the Fat Controller thought.
He pulled out his wheel along with the cabbage stuck to it and smiled, much to Edward's surprise and relief.
"The farmer did want me to remind you that if your driver wants cabbages in future, there are much safer ways of cutting them!"
Edward and his crew had a good laugh along with him, as the men continued to look Edward over.
Well, here was a nice short little story. Not much new to add to it that the original didn't have, other than Edward's front wheel being loose being sort of a build-up to the main conflict. It was nice to give Edward the lead role for once, and featuring BoCo in a supporting role was also fun to do. The original story had some pretty humorous moments, like the fireman's reaction to the wheel bouncing off into the field, and the Fat Controller's joke about cabbages at the end; I do believe that the phone call scene in the office was a great way to sum up on the conflict in the original story and I expanded it slightly here during a time where the Fat Controller is putting up his wife's garden trophy, which I guess I included to provide a bit of comic relief in regards to his reaction to the phone ringing. Not much more to say, I do have a couple other RWS stories I'm doing this set, though I think this one fit well where I put it, other than the Golden Jubilee being written out of it at the end. Feel free to leave thoughts, and as always, stay tuned for…
All Steamed Up - it's harvest festival time, and Isobella has to pull the float with the choir on it when Trevor breaks down. Isobella doesn't want to miss out on the fun the other vehicles have while she is off-site, but soon finds that fun is what she can make it.
Playing Ghosts - Mike doesn't believe Jock's ghost story that his driver told him and calls him silly, so Jock devises a plan to pay him out, which backfires as he also scares Bert and Rex in the process, and causes all three engines to be too scared to come out of their sheds!
Gordon Gets It Right - Gordon is often susceptible to teasing from Bill and Ben, and tries his hardest to stay wise to their pranks. However, he may find that the twins are being serious for once when it comes to warning him about the Viaduct being under maintenance!
I Do Not Like Them, Peter Sam!(inspired by Green Eggs And Hamby Dr. Suess) - Peter Sam tries to get Sir Handel to be kinder to the coaches, but he insists that they are out to get him and refuses to take any of Peter Sam's advice on how to be kind to them.
Snow Problem For Daisy (based on Snow Problem by Christopher Awdry)- when a snowfall on the Other Railway delays Daisy's return journey, she lands herself in deep trouble getting caught in a blizzard.