Be The Better Engine
Written by Lee Pressman
One morning, Philip the Diesel Boxcab was lining up to be fueled. As soon as Norman honked and set off, he rolled up into place and took a deep breath.
"Ah," he sighed. "Nothing like a bright and early start!"
A gradually speeding force snuck up on him as he spoke.
"Can't wait to get started with a useful day's…AHHHHH!"
All of a sudden, he was pushed out of place and sent wailing along the track. Diesel laughed as he rolled up to be fueled.
"Diesel! What did you do that for?"
"Out of the way, little Philip! I have to go first! Pulling freight is much more important than menial shunting!"
"But…but…" Philip stammered, reversing back. "No fair! You can't just cut in line!"
"Actually, I can! And I did!"
Paxton rolled up behind Diesel, glaring.
"That wasn't very nice, Diesel!" he said firmly. "You shouldn't push other engines around like that!"
"Who cares?!" Diesel demanded. "What am I supposed to do?! Say sorry?!"
He exaggerated the last sentence as Philip prepared to line up behind Paxton. However, the green diesel moved back and honked aloud.
"You can take my place next, Philip!" he offered.
Philip quietly lined up in place between Diesel and Paxton.
"Thank you, Paxton!" he said quietly.
"Hey!" Diesel honked. "No cutting! Back of the line!"
"Diesel!" Paxton scolded.
Diesel sniggered as he scampered off, all fueled up.
"Sorry about Diesel, Philip!," Paxton apologized. "I'm afraid he's always like that!"
"Hmph!" Philip fumed.
He lined up to be fueled, as Paxton expressed a look of dismay.
Throughout the day, Diesel continued to torment Philip everywhere he went.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Come along, Philip!" Gordon whistled. "My passengers are waiting!"
"Coming, Gordon!" Philip called hurriedly, as he bought his express coaches steadily to the platform.
"There you go!" he honked.
"You took your time with getting in here this morning!" the big engine insisted.
"I didn't actually!" Philip suggested, backing down from the coaches. "I was up right on time to get here, but you see, Diesel had to…"
Diesel sniggered aloud as he cut in front of Philip at the points.
"Ahhhhh!" Philip wailed.
Diesel biffed into the express coaches. Passengers aboard grabbed onto their seats as the server aboard the dining coach prevented plates from dropping just in time.
"Philip!" Gordon demanded. "Go easy on my coaches!"
"Yeah, Philip!" Diesel snorted, backing down beside him and smirking.
"It was Diesel, Gordon!"
"No, it wasn't!" Diesel insisted. "You're just a silly little boxcab!"
"You did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
Gordon set off, chuckling, as he knew all too well who it was.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
At Wellsworth, Philip was just hitched up to some trucks when Diesel rolled up behind and biffed them.
"Ow!" Philip winced.
Diesel watched as BoCo pulled in, having seen Philip roll forward.
"Be careful with those trucks, Philip!" Diesel feignedly reminded him. "They don't like being bounced about!"
"But you biffed them, Diesel! Not me!"
"Did not!You saw it, didn't you, BoCo?"
Philip gasped with horror, Before he could argue back, his guard's whistle blue and he was on his way. BoCo watched him with sympathy and glared over at Diesel, who was laughing out loud.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
At the Docks, Cranky was loading Philip's last truck when Diesel watched from behind the boxcab, sniggering. He rushed gradually forward towards him, then honked loudly.
"Gotcha!" he called.
Philip gasped, startled.
"Ahhh!" he cried, rolling forward.
"Philip!" Cranky shouted. "I wasn't done loading yet!"
"Uh oh!" Diesel stammered, sniggering quietly.
"Sorry, Cranky!" Philip replied, reversing back. "But you see, Diesel…"
"Whoops! Catch ya later!"
And Diesel raced off, honking loudly. Philip sighed and frowned as Cranky finished loading his last truck.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
As the sun set over the DieselWorks, Philip had just bought a flatbed of oil tins out of a siding when Diesel rolled up from behind.
"Surprise!" he shouted, biffing into the flatbeds.
"Diesel!" Philip demanded.
Oil drums went flying into the air and landed right all over Philip.
Philip coughed and spat oil from his mouth, as Diesel laughed aloud.
"Sorry, Philip!" he feigned. "I have no idea what came over me!"
He went on to laugh once more, joined by 'Arry and Bert as they reversed and pulled up beside him respectively. Splatter and Dodge also laughed from a nearby siding, glancing at each other.
"Hmph!" Philip huffed.
He scurried back home to the shed, as Sidney honked loudly at him.
"Wait, Philip!" he called after him.
But Philip was too far away to hear Sidney.
"Oh," he sighed with dismay.
Paxton rolled up beside him and they both glared at the laughing diesels.
Philip returned home to Wellsworth Shed, where his driver gave him a nice rubdown!
"He cut in front of me at the DieselWorks this morning!" he complained aloud. "He also biffed into Gordon's coaches and my trucks and made it look like I did it!"
From inside the sheds, Edward and BoCo exchanged a glance of sympathy as Philip went on.
"Then he made me almost miss my load at the Docks! And now look what he did to me!"
His driver smiled as he finished with his coat and wiped across his face with a fresh cloth.
"Just you wait! One day, I'm going to give that Diesel a piece of my mind!"
His driver laughed as he finished wiping his face, then pulled out a mirror, showing Philip what he looked like.
"Oh," the boxcab thought.
His face sparkled from the mirror, causing him to chuckle.
"Off to the shed now, Philip! You'll feel much better in the morning!"
Philip backed down into his berth. As he settled down, his friends Edward and BoCo were there to comfort him.
"Don't let Diesel get to you, Philip!" Edward encouraged.
"Simply best to just ignore him!" BoCo added. "That way, you may manage to avoid him after all!"
"Thanks, guys!" Philip yawned.
And he went peacefully to sleep.
At the DieselWorks the next morning, a fuel tin popped open and Philip looked all around with concern, but settled down as fuel was poured into his tank. He sighed with relief when…
"Ahhhh!" he wailed, as he heard a honk.
"Good morning, Philip!" Sidney greeted.
"Oh…it's you, Sidney!"
The blue diesel chuckled.
"Feeling better this morning?"
"Yes! Thank you very much! Must be off now! Gordon will be waiting for the express if I don't hurry!"
He rushed off, much to Sidney's bewilderment.
Philip was in a much better mood as he bought Gordon's coaches steadily to the platform.
"There you go, Gordon! I'm sorry for what happened yesterday!"
Gordon chuckled, but before he could reply, his guard's whistle blew.
"Sorry, Philip! Haven't much time to talk! Bye now!"
And he whistled loudly as he sat off.
"Oh," Philip gazed.
He smiled as he trundled through the station and honked in greeting at Thomas.
"Have a great day, Thomas!"
"You too, Philip!" the tank engine whistled back, as he buffered up to Annie and Clarabel.
At the DieselWorks, the Fat Controller had some stern words for Diesel.
"But, sir," Diesel excused. "I didn't bump into those oil drums! Philip did!"
"Enough, Diesel! Paxton told me that you were the one that did it! For your punishment, you are to pick up some oil drums from the Docks and take them to the Smelters!"
"But what about those pipes I was supposed to collect, sir?"
"I just sent Philip off to collect them!"
Diesel grit his teeth with frustration.
"Run along now, Diesel, or consequences will be even more severe!"
Diesel honked his horn and set off in a huff, passing Norman and Paxton.
"Oil drums!" he grumbled. "Of all things!"
"Serves him right!" Paxton confessed.
Norman chuckled.
"I'd say!"
Philip was at the Docks right on schedule, and waited till his pipes were loaded and ready to be tied down.
"Thank you, Big Mickey!" Philip called out.
"Any time, Philip!" the hammerhead crane replied. "Having a good morning?"
"Better than yesterday! At least now oily Diesel is out of my way!"
But Philip spoke too soon.
He gasped at the sound of a familiar horn.
"Oh, no!" he cried, and shut his eyes.
But lucky for Philip, Diesel was in too bad of a mood to take any notice of him!
"Oh," he thought, surprised, as Diesel lined up in front of him.
"Hurry up, Carly!" he honked. "I haven't got all morning!"
"Cool yer pistons there, chuck!" the crane replied. "These oil drums just got here and so did you!"
"Heh!" Diesel snorted.
"Ah," Philip sighed.
Philip was relieved that Diesel was no longer in his way, but unfortunately, the pace Carly was working at wasn't fast enough for Diesel!
"Come on, Carly!" he shouted.
Carly whimpered quietly. Cranky glared down at Diesel.
"What are you in such a hurry for?" he demanded.
"The sooner I finish with these oil drums, the sooner I can get back on schedule! Now, hurry…up!"
He honked even louder, three times more till Carly's hook began to wobble. Then…
"Uh oh," she stammered, as oil drums slipped from her hook.
Diesel looked up and gasped, as the oil drums fell from the sky.
"Oh, no!" Carly cried.
Oil spilt everywhere…
Diesel groaned.
and covered Diesel from cab to wheels. He was in a sticky mess!
Diesel angrily spit oil from his mouth. Philip tried hard not to laugh.
Before anyone could say anything else, a workman walked up.
"Good to go with these pipes, Phillip!" he informed.
Just then, Edward arrived.
"Good morning, Philip! Feeling any better today?"
Philip smiled.
"Never better, Edward!"
And he set off, chuckling out loud and blowing a raspberry at Diesel as he passed. Diesel glared.
All the way to the Smelters, Philip couldn't help himself laughing over Diesel's predicament.
Emily came down the line and saw Philip laughing, tooting cheerfully at him.
"What's so funny, Philip?!" she wondered.
Philip was caught off-guard as he heard her.
"Hi, Emily! Oh, nothing! Just a little slip-up with Diesel at the Docks!"
"Oh!" Emily thought, as she passed him.
She smiled as she carried on, but Philip kept on laughing, eventually approaching Thomas up ahead.
"Hello again, Philip!" he whistled. "You look happy!"
"You'll never believe what happened at the Docks just now, Thomas!"
"What?!"
"Diesel got himself all covered in oil! All because he got impatient with Carly while she was loading his oil drums!"
He carried on, laughing, as Thomas managed a slight chuckle himself.
Philip arrived at the Smelters all in good time, where 'Arry and Bert were ready to torment him!
"'ello, Philip!" 'Arry began. "Come to shunt some lovely flatbeds 'bout the Smelters then?"
"Better watch out!" Bert added. "Diesel will be along soon!"
But Philip smiled.
"Make sure the workmen have these flatbeds unloaded as soon as you can! Thank you very much!"
"Huh?" Bert wondered.
The foreman uncoupled Philip from the flatbed and he beamed as he honked and slowly rolled away.
"'e did not!" 'Arry fumed.
"'e did!"
The pair heard a familiar horn and watched as Diesel pulled in with the oil drums, gazing amusedly.
"What 'appened to you, Diesel?" Bert asked.
"Don't ask!" Diesel hissed.
'Arry chuckled.
"Looks like you got yourself into a sticky situation!"
Bert chuckled as well.
"Sticky situation! E's Mr. Oily Wheels! That's who he is!"
'Arry managed a slight chuckle.
"Mr. Oily Wheels!Good one, Bert!"
The two IronWorks diesels shared a laugh, as did Philip whilst he overheard.
"Mr. Oily Wheels!" he thought. "That is a funny one!"
He advanced towards the exit of the Smelting Shed, honking aloud at Diesel as he passed.
"See you later, Mr. Oily Wheels!" he bidded, as he left.
Diesel glared at him, than over at 'Arry and Bert as they kept on laughing too.
"Heh!" he snorted.
On the way back to Knapford, Philip was still laughing.
"Mr. Oily Wheels!" he thought aloud. "Only wish I thought of it myself! Hmmmm…"
Than, he had himself a bright idea!
"I know! I'm going to pay Diesel out by telling everyone that he is Mr. Oily Wheels! That will teach him not to bully others!"
But he said it to himself…
"Listen up, everyone!" Philip honked aloud at Knapford.
Gordon, James and Emily surprisingly stood at his attention, as he brought James' trucks to the platform.
"Diesel got himself covered in oil this morning and now he's Mr. Oily Wheels! Fitting name, isn't it?"
James laughed aloud.
"That's a funny one!" he admitted.
"Yeah!" Philip responded. "He made Carly anxious by hurrying her! Can't say it's something he didn't do to himself!"
Gordon chuckled as well as he whistled and left the station with the express.
"It is a good joke! I'm sure the engines over at Vicarstown will like it too!"
Philip laughed as he backed down, but Emily watched with surprise as the other two engines set off, before smiling and setting off with her coaches.
The story soon spread about Diesel's incident at the Docks…
"Guess what, Henry?" Gordon claimed at Vicarstown, "Diesel's Mr. Oily Wheels!"
"Mr. Oily Wheels? Why, Gordon?"
"Philip said he got himself all covered in oil at the Docks this morning! Something to do with being impatient for his oil drums to be loaded, apparently!"
Henry laughed.
"Mr. Oily Wheels!" he chuckled aloud. "Suits him for sure!"
Rosie also chuckled as she backed down on Murdoch's goods train, as did Gordon as he left with the express.
"Have you heard about Diesel yet, Percy?" Henry asked, as the saddle tank engine passed through the station.
"Diesel?" Percy wondered, confused.
"He got all covered in oil at the Docks, and now he's Mr. Oily Wheels!"
"Mr. Oily Wheels?" he exclaimed.
He laughed out loud, as did Henry as he left the station with his coaches!
"I'm on the way to the DieselWorks now!" Percy went on. "I'm sure they'll all get a good chuckle out of that one!"
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Catch this, Thomas!" James informed the tank engine at Dryaw. "Diesel'sMr. Oily Wheels!"
Thomas chuckled.
"That's funny! Would it happen to do with an incident at the Docks? I heard about that!"
"Yep!" James responded. "Had it coming to him too considering that he was in a hurry with his load!"
Thomas chuckled.
"You hear that, Annie and Clarabel? Diesel's Mr. Oily Wheels!"
But the coaches shot him a stern look.
"Now, Thomas," Annie demanded, raising an eyebrow. "Why would you want to make fun of another engine?"
"Quite right, Annie! And the two of you ought to consider how it would make Diesel feel!"
"Couldn't have put it better myself!"
But Thomas remained unfazed.
"Diesel is rude to other engines every day!" he reminded his coaches.
"It should serve him right!" James whistled, as he left the station with his trucks.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Hey, Sidney!" Percy whistled, as he entered the DieselWorks. "You'll guess what happened at the Docks this morning?"
"Ooh, ooh, I love riddles!" the blue diesel responded.
"Diesel got all covered in oil and now he's Mr. Oily Wheels!"
Sidney chuckled.
"Mr. Oily Wheels!" he grinned.
"Nice one, Percy!" Norman chuckled.
Splatter and Dodge sniggered as they passed through with a line of trucks.
Engines all over the Island were now talking and laughing about Diesel's predicament!
"Mr. Oily Wheels!" Charlie chuckled aloud at Knapford Junction. "That's a funny one, Thomas!"
Thomas laughed, as he set slowly off with his trucks.
"I know! And you know what's funnier about it?"
"What?" Charlie wondered.
"Diesel did it to himself by getting impatient with Charlie.
Thomas and Charlie shared a laugh, as the former left.
"Hey, Stanley!" Charlie called out to the silver tank engine as he approached. "What's covered in oil and runs on wheels?"
Stanley stopped and thought.
"An oil tanker?" he guessed.
"Diesel!"
"Oh," Stanley thought, then chuckled slightly.
"And catch this!" Charlie went on. "He caused trouble at the Docks this morning and got himself covered in oil! Now he's Mr. Oily Wheels!"
"Mr. Oily Wheels! Uncanny!" Stanley laughed.
Philip honked as he trundled through.
"Hi guys!" he called out. "Did you hear about Diesel at the Docks this morning?"
"You mean…Mr. Oily Wheels?" Stanley grinned.
Charlie chuckled out loud, as did Philip as he trundled.
"Guess that they got the memo on that one!" he concluded.
The word quickly went around, and soon enough, everywhere Diesel went, other engines called him "Mr. Oily Wheels"!
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Look, guys!" Henry called out, as Diesel approached Vicarstown with his train. "It's Mr. Oily Wheels!"
"Heh?" Diesel thought, confused.
Rosie laughed as she brought Henry his coaches. Gordon chuckled.
"Oh, yes. I wouldn't fancy the sticky treatment myself!"
Diesel snorted as he left his trucks in a siding outside the station.
"Alright there, Mr. Oily Wheels?" Norman chuckled, as he exited the Goods Yard.
"Huh!" Diesel scoffed.
His trucks were uncoupled and he made it out on his own way.
"See you later, Mr. Oily Wheels!" Gordon whistled, as he left with the express.
"Hey there, Mr. Oily Wheels!" James whistled, as he approached the station.
Diesel looked the other way and set off.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
Thomas was coming down the line with his stone trucks when he saw Diesel up ahead and gave him a loud toot!
"Hello, Mr. Oily Wheels!" he called.
Diesel ignored him as he passed.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Doin' all right there, Mr. Oily Wheels!" Stanley called, as he stunted Diesel's empty flatbed into place at Knapford Yard.
"Heh!" Diesel scoffed.
He set off, observing the sound of Stanley's laugh.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Hey, look everyone!" Charlie shouted out, as Diesel approached the Docks. "It's Mr. Oily Wheels!"
"Ooh, good one, Charlie!" Bill marveled.
"Watch out for falling oil drums, Diesel!" Ben taunted.
Diesel ignored the trio of them laughing and lined up beside Cranky.
This time, Diesel didn't honk at Cranky and waited patiently while his pipes were loaded.
"Later, Mr. Oily Wheels!" Charlie whistled, as he left the Docks.
"Doh!" Diesel winced.
He continued to observe Bill and Ben laughing as they shunted trucks about.
"Diesel's Mr. Oily Wheels!
Diesel's Mr. Oily Wheels!" the trucks sang out.
"Mr. Oily Wheels!" Ben chuckled. "Won't forget that one!"
"Me neither!" Bill agreed.
And they proceeded to sing out loud along with the trucks.
"Diesel's Mr. Oily Wheels!
Diesel's Mr. Oily Wheels!"
The twins were caught off guard by the sound of Edwards whistle, as he arrived at the Docks, before raising an eyebrow at them. They giggled slightly and continued about their shunting, but Diesel took no notice of the commotion as he glared the other way, secretly going red in the face.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Hey there, Mr. Oily Wheels!" Percy whistled, as Diesel had the pipes dropped off at Farmer McColl's farm.
Diesel glared and slightly frowned as he watched him set off.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Good day, Mr. Oily Wheels!" Bertie greeted as he passed him along the line.
"Hello again, Mr. Oily Wheels!" Henry greeted, passing him by the other side.
Diesel pretended not to hear, but secretly, the name-calling was beginning to get to him!
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
At the Coaling Plant, Diesel had some empty trucks lined up when James passed him.
"Well, look who it is!" he remarked. "Mr. Oily Wheels!"
Philip honked as he passed by the hopper as well.
"Having a good day, Mr. Oily Wheels?" he wondered.
Diesel growled and grit his teeth, then groaned slightly as the laughs from all the engines begin to circle around in his head!
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Those silly steamies!" he ranted to himself, as he rolled along the line with trucks full of call behind them. "And the way they speak to me after I deliver all this coal for them! I'll show them!"
He gasped, as at that point, he groaned to a sudden halt.
It seemed as if all the racing around with his work instead of going immediately to a washdown had eventually caused Diesel to come to a stop altogether, as his wheels became all sticky.
Diesel grunted as he edged back-and-forth but couldn't budge.
"Oh no!" he screamed, and cried out in agony.
BoCo arrived at the DieselWorks with a load of spare parts, when he heard other diesels talking about the incident!
"Did you hear about Diesel's little spill at the Docks this morning, Paxton?" Norman wondered.
"No!" the green replied, intrigued.
"Well, he whistled at Carly to hurry up with his oil drums! That got him all covered in oil, and now he's Mr. Oily Wheels!"
"Oh," Paxton gazed, widening his eyes, then laughed. "Mr. Oily Wheels!"
"Percy told us all about it!" Sidney admitted, grinning.
The trio laughed, as BoCo raised an eyebrow, pondering.
"Hmmm…"
He arrived at Wellsworth, where he met Edward, who tooted at him in greeting.
"Hello, Edward!" he honked in greeting.
"Hello, BoCo! Having a good day?"
"Yes, so far! But I was wondering if you knew anything about engines going around and calling Diesel Mr. Oily Wheels?"
Edward gasped.
"I had no idea till I caught the twins singing along with the trucks! But come to think of it: I did see something at the Docks this morning that might have something to do with it!"
"Right!" BoCo thought. "The sooner we get that sorted, the better!"
He honked as he took off, leaving Edward in wonder. Just then, he heard a familiar horn.
"Hi, Edward!" Philip chirped.
"Hello, Philip!" the blue engine smiled. "Everything okay?"
"Much better than yesterday!" Philip admitted. "Just come to drop these trucks off!"
Edward grinned, then coughed.
"Philip, do you happen to know anything about what's going on with Diesel today?"
"Diesel? What about Diesel? I thought he was…umm…"
"Ahem!"
Phillip watched as Edward raised an eyebrow at him, then sighed, groaning.
"BoCo told me that all the engines were going round calling him Mr. Oily Wheels!"
Philip laughed.
"It's quite funny once you think about it, Edward! I mean…he got himself covered in oil!"
"I don't think Diesel found it very funny!" Edward insisted. "You ought to consider how it makes him feel!"
"Well, I didn't come up with it! I may have spread the word but 'Arry and Bert came up with it and I just…"
Edward gasped, horrified.
"You told the other engines that Diesel was Mr. Oily Wheels?!"
"Um…yes?" Philip meekly responded.
"Philip, why would you do something so horrible? Surely you're a better engine than that!"
"But Diesel is horrible to other engines every day! It should serve him right for how he treats the rest of us!"
Edward shot him a look of concern.
"Philip, I don't get along with Diesel either! But I don't think any engine deserves to be bullied! I think it's best that you think about how the name-calling has made Diesel feel! Surely you don't like it when other engines bully you, Philip! So why would Diesel?"
Philip listened to Edward's pep talk to a point where he sighed.
Deep down, Philip knew that Edward was right.
"I must be the better engine…" he thought to himself.
"Ah! Edward, Philip!" the stationmaster sighed, walking up. "Thank goodness both of you are here! Diesel is stuck on the track! His trucks need to get to Knapford Station so that the hoppers can be filled up with coal!"
"Oh, dear!" Philip gasped. "I must go and help him! Please, Edward, will you look after my trucks for me?"
"Sure thing, Phillip!" his friend replied.
Philip was uncoupled from his trucks and rushed off right away, as Edward smiled, relieved.
Meanwhile, Diesel was still stuck on the tracks and feeling very sorry for himself!
"Why did I ever get myself into this mess?" he groaned. "I'm all covered in oil and now all the engines are calling me names! I wish I'd waited more patiently for Carly to finish with my load! Better yet, I-I…"
He sighed and took a deep breath.
"I wish I hadn't pushed Philip into those oil drums! Wouldn't have got myself into this mess otherwise!"
He heard Philip's horn honk and watched as the boxcab rolled up alongside.
"Hello, Die…!"
"Go ahead! Go ahead and laugh!" he shouted. "Surely I deserve it after what I did! None of you engines let me forget it!"
But Philip thought otherwise.
"Come on, Diesel!" he smiled, as he buffered up to him. "Let's get these trucks to Knapford so that the other engines can have more coal to fill up on!"
"Heh?" Diesel wondered, puzzled.
"By the way," Philip admitted, "I was the one who spread the rumor about you being Mr. Oily Wheels!"
"Oh…"
Diesel widened his eyes with surprise.
Philip and Diesel arrived at Knapford with the coal trucks; the engines were waiting in line by the empty hopper.
"Hey, guys!" Percy whistled. "Philip brought us some more coal!"
"Way to go to, Philip!" Henry whistled.
"Hooray!" Thomas and Emily both whistled in response.
James looked and saw Diesel behind the little boxcab!
"Well, look who it is! Mr. Oily Wheels!"
"Oh, right!" Thomas remembered, chuckling. "Mr. Oily Wheels!"
Percy and Henry also laughed, as did Gordon at the station platform. Emily expressed a look of concern, as Charlie joined in.
"Hello, Mr. Oily Wheels!" he whistled in greeting.
"Ahem!"
Philip coughed, loud enough to get the other engines' attention.
"Now, everyone, I think Diesel's learnt his lesson and has had quite enough now!" he insisted.
BoCo arrived in time to hear Philip go on.
"After all, he did go through the effort to deliver all this coal! Wouldn't have gotten as far otherwise other than me helping him at the last mile!"
"What?" James demanded, raising an eyebrow.
"I think what Philip is trying to say is that Diesel knows now what it feels like when he picks on us and has learnt his lesson now!" Percy guessed.
"Well said, Philip!" Emily congratulated.
"Think nothing of it!" Philip replied. "Only looking out for the underdog!"
Diesel expressed astonishment, before BoCo coughed at him.
"Ahem! Now, Diesel, is that something you would like to say to Philip?"
Diesel gasped, going slightly red.
"Ermmmm…thank you, Philip?"
"Ahem! For what?"
"For…looking out for me!" Diesel thought.
"And…"
"Um…and for helping get the coal here to Knapford!" he said quickly.
"Ahem! Anything else?"
"Errrrr…" he thought hard, then sighed, before hurriedly stating, "I'm sorry for bullying and biffing you into those oil drums!"
"That's alright, Diesel! Apology accepted!"
Diesel expressed a look of surprise, as Philip pulled him away. BoCo smiled, as he set about the Junction.
In no time at all, Philip had Diesel dropped off at the washdown.
"There you are, Diesel! You'll have yourself a nice washdown! And I'm…errrr…sorry that I had all those engines call you names!"
"No, don't be!" Diesel snapped, surprising Philip, then blushed. "But, errrr…why did you look out for me after how horrid I was to you yesterday?"
"Oh!" Philip thought. "Well, you see, Diesel, watching you get picked on reminded me of what it felt like to be bullied, and I decided I'd be the stronger engine and do something about it!"
"Heh," Diesel thought, puzzled.
"Best be off now! Bye, Diesel!" Philip honked.
He took off, leaving Diesel speechless as the cleaners began scrubbing him.
"Oof!" he winced. "Mind my eye!"
His driver and both the cleaners laughed.
Later that night, Philip returned to his berth at Wellsworth Shed, where Edward smiled as he waited for him.
"That was a very admirable thing you did for Diesel today, Philip!"
"Oh, it was nothing! Not like I'd do it for him any less than I would for any other engine!"
"You were very brave indeed!" BoCo assured him, as he backed down in his berth. "I'm proud of you, Philip!"
"Thanks, BoCo! I learnt a valuable lesson out of it!"
"What's that?"
"About being the better engine and supporting the underdog no matter what!"
Edward chuckled.
"That's very good, Philip! And I'm sure Diesel learnt a very valuable lesson too!"
"Mmm…yes," BoCo agreed, deep in thought.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
Diesel returned to his berth at the DieselWorks too, where his fellow diesels were all waiting for him!
"Feeling better now, Diesel?" Paxton wondered.
"Yes! Thank you very much!"
"I heard Philip came to your rescue!" Dart chimed out.
Diesel grit his teeth.
"Yes, well hopefully thanks to him, Diesel got the oil fresh off his wheels!" Sidney beamed jokingly.
"Mr. Oily Wheels!" Norman chuckled.
All the diesels shared a good laugh, but Diesel just snorted and went to sleep! Deep down, he knew the other diesels were only joking…
And that is how Philip learnt to be the better engine! I don't think I've used this theme before and I don't believe it was passed around in the show much either: even though bullies get their comeuppance, it's always best to support the underdog and be the better person no matter how someone has treated you. Basically, Diesel's behavior towards other engines in the past have caused a great deal of the cast to behave the way they did here, and his treatment was Philip was the nadir as it ended in his karmic comeuppance. On the other hand, Philip also learns his lesson after accepting how Diesel is treated by other engines, but after a pep talk by his friend Edward, he realizes that the way he and the other engines have treated Diesel reminds him of being bullied himself and decide to do something about it and put an end to the engines tormenting Diesel, since the latter has already learnt his lesson by the time he's punished by TFC and covered in oil. Be sure to leave thoughts on this story, and come back next week to watch James take on...
Rebecca's Challenge - James shows no secret for his dislike of trucks and complains about it to Rebecca who challenges him to take her passengers while she pulls his trucks. James accepts, thinking that Rebecca will realize why he doesn't like pulling goods.
Nelson Gets Carried Away - Nelson feels insecure when Miss Jenny brings in a new ballast tractor called Nigel to help out. He feels as if Nigel was brought in to replace him, and vows to prove himself worthy, even if it takes overworking himself!
Nigel Knows It All - Nigel the Ballast Tractor, the newest addition to the Pack, is tasked with numerous different jobs to do. However, he is too afraid to admit his inability to process different pieces of information, and ends up causing a great deal of confusion…
Thomas, Percy And The Rabbits (based on Rabbits by Christopher Awdry) - the Fat Controller settles a 10 mph speed limit on Thomas's Branch Line to sort out a problem with rabbits burrowing under a stretch at Dryaw. However, disaster strikes as Thomas and his crew miss the memo and runs into trouble while taking out his passenger train!
Blistering Cold! - as winter arrives, Macy and Merle The Blister Engines don't have much work to do it after the mine closes. However, when Bert's new tubes need to be delivered, it is up to the pair to strive through the cold weather to deliver it to him!