Blistering Cold!

Written by Davey Moore

Winter had arrived; lots of snow had fallen and the tracks had become frozen. The engines needed extra sand to grip the rails as they went along with their snowplows in front!

Ryan coughed heavily as he pushed a current drift of snow aside, passing Duck, who whistled at him.

But luckily they all had warm fire boxes to keep them nice and toasty!

"Ah!" Rex sighed, as his fireman lit his firebox from inside his cab.

"Mind as you go now, Rex!" Farmer Willie called.

"Thanks, Farmer Willie!" he tooted in response.

And he left the farm with his flatbeds full of wool, beaming brightly.

Meanwhile, Oliver had just bought some passengers to Arlesdale Junction aboard his faithful coaches, Isabel and Dulcie.

"My frames are freezing!" Isabel groaned.

"My axles feel chilly!" Dulcie moaned.

"Never mind, you two!" Oliver whistled soothingly. "This is our last run! As soon as the journey is complete, you'll be home in your nice dry shed!"

"Ouch! That hurt!"

Oliver looked over with surprised to see Bert limping slowly to the station, gasping exaggeratedly for breath.

"What's wrong with you, Bert?" Oliver wondered.

"I can't breathe properly!" the miniature engine groaned. "I do wish driver would hurry up with fetching my new tubes! He claims that last time he checked, they've been on backorder and delayed by ship due to the cold weather conditions!"

"Oh, dear!" Oliver gasped.

The coaches quivered.

"The sooner it gets here, the better! I've been waiting a good amount of time now and driver never seems to have the new tubes taken care of by the time winter comes around!"

Rex chuckled as he arrived with his load of wool.

"Still on about those tubes, Bert?"

Mike laughed as well while he passed.

"Will they ever come?"

Bert glared and coughed aloud.

"You two think it's all a big joke, but I go through this every winter and I get no sympathy from the pair of you!"

The two engines continued to laugh, as Bert watched them and scoffed.

"Never mind them, Bert!" Jock cheerily whistled, pulling up alongside. "Your new tubes may arrive any time now!"

"That's what driver keeps saying! And he promises it will be something special too! What could possibly be worth the long wait?"

At that moment, the engines are in a pair of familiar chuffing noises.

Oliver looked over with surprise, as Bert rolled his eyes.

It was Macy and Merle, the Blister Engines who had recently been recovered from the Arlesdale mines.

"Hi, everyone! We just cleared the tracks of snow from the mine up to here!" Macy exclaimed.

"But it did take a while!" Merle expressed. "I, for one, am surprised we actually made it!"

Oliver smiled and tooted at them as he slowly exited the station with his coaches.

"Excellent job, both of you!" he congratulated. "Now, Isabel, Dulcie and I can all get home safely!"

Macy and Merle made continuous chuffing noises as they backed down into a siding and settled down, sighing with relaxation.

"Guess we'll just have to wait till our operators return to get going again!" Merle figured.

"Oh, but there's got to be something we can do to pass the time!" Macy wondered, rather optimistically.

"Like what?" Merle thought, confused.

"Hmm…another job, perhaps?"

She beamed brightly as she finished her sentence.

Merle scoffed.

"We'd be lucky! I doubt there's even one waiting for us!"

"Ooh, but I'm sure there will be soon enough! There's always plenty of work to go round to keep these engines busy!"

"Macy!" Merle reminded her soothingly. "It's only been a few days since winter started and so far, we've only been asked to do so much as bring empty trucks to and fro back from the mine and the Junction here!"

"Oh…right," Macy expressed, rather dully, then laughed. "Forgot that bit!"

At that moment, their drivers returned with the Small Controller Mr. Duncan.

"Good day, sir!" Merle greeted.

"Do you have another job for us?" Macy asked eagerly.

Mr. Duncan sighed.

"I'm afraid not, Macy!" he informed them. "That's what I was just speaking with your drivers about! In fact, I highly suggest you two call it a day and return to the mine before the weather freezes over!"

"B-but…" Macy stammered.

Merle gently shoved at the back of her.

"Come along, Macy!" he advised.

Macy sighed, still in wonder.

"I don't understand why we just can't keep busy shunting trucks and coaches about for these other miniature engines to take out on journeys!"

Jock chuckled.

"Frank has that all taken care of!" he reminded to pair, as he set off with his good train.

"Huh!" scoffed the grumpy diesel from nearby. "You lot should consider yourselves lucky too! Something about the junction is not something you would get much appreciation for anyway, and none of the other engines will ever talk to you! Believe me, I know!"

Macy listened to his speech with awe and wonder.

Merle sighed.

"Let's get going, Macy!"

"Fine," she sighed.

And they set off from the Junction, one after the other.

Along the way back to the mine, Macy was still in wonder.

"Just think, Merle! How lovely it would be to be in it for the long-haul again!"

"Yes…" her partner agreed dully.

"It would be just like old times back in our day! You know, when the pair of us were out and about it every day, shunting and hauling loads of all kinds! Why, from this siding to that junction! Even in the cold weather, we were always able to be relied upon!"

Merle sighed.

"But those days are over, Macy! Times have changed and the more modern engines have taken over a great deal of our work! That leaves us with bare to none since the mine is usually closed off for the winter!"

Macy sighed, as they trundled further along.

"I'm sorry, Macy!" Merle soothed. "That's just the way things are nowadays!"

Macy decided to take Merle's words to heart; all the way back home, their traction on the rails caused them to slow down slightly.

"Ugh!" Macy groaned.

"Woahhh!" Merle wailed, bumping suddenly into her.

"Ouch!"

"Whoops!"

"Everything all right back there, Merle?"

"No, I'm low on sand!"

"Me too!"

Their drivers proceeded to drop sand on the rails as they continued, making it slightly easier for them to move along.

"That's a little better!" Macy admitted.

"Yeah, errrrm, a bit!" Merle halfheartedly agreed.

At long last, Macy and Merle arrived back home at the mine.

"Here goes!" Merle sighed.

They took a look around at the usual sight of their post.

"Kinda dark in here!" Macy admitted. "Lonely too!"

"Has it not been?" Merle wondered, raising an eyebrow with confusion.

"No, just stating the odds!"

"We're almost there, Macy! Then we'll have time to rest!"

"Frankly, that's something that we do a lot of!" Macy expressed ironically.

"Not that we can help it!"

"I know," Macy sighed.

She kept on the lookout before eyeing a turn that looked strikingly familiar.

"Here we are!" she called out. "Come on, Merle!"

The pair turned down the track from the set of points.

"Home, sweet home, Macy!" Merle expressed gratefully.

"Yes, I guess…" she dully agreed, as they both settled down inside their berths.

"Ah," she sighed peacefully. "Nice and warm and cozy!"

"Safe from the biting cold, too! That's what matters most!"

"Oh, yes, certainly!" Macy agreed.

She yawned and shut her eyes slowly, as Merle proceeded to do the same. The pair of them made gradually loud chuffing noises as they slept, one after the other and in turns!

Back at the Junction, Mike waited at the platform while his passengers exited the train.

"My, my!" the Grumpy Passenger complained. "Bitter cold railway!"

Another coughed.

"I can't breathe properly!" she complained.

"Even the scarf won't do!" groaned a third.

"My shall, darling, please!" begged another lady to her husband.

He gently handed it over to her.

"Huh!" Mike scoffed. "It's a good thing you're all feeling as tiresome as I am!"

He whistled impatiently.

"Hurry up, Frank!"

The little gray diesel backed up to his carriages and pulled them away.

"Be quick too!" Mike went on. "The sooner I'm headed to my next train, the better!"

"Puh!" Frank spat, leaving the carriages in one siding and pulling some trucks out of another. "The sooner the better for me too!"

He proceeded to ring the train steadily to Mike at the platform, then honked aloud as Mike whistled and left.

"Not even so much as a thank you!" he grumbled aloud. "No appreciation from those engines, I tell you!"

Mike set off without a care, smiling as he shut his eyes peacefully.

"Well, really!" Frank splattered in response, baffled.

Just then, he heard a loud wheezing noise and watched with surprise as Bert chuffed in, coughing his loudest.

"My tubes feel worse than ever!" he complained aloud.

"Goodness!" Frank expressed.

"Hang on tight, Bert!" his driver soothed. "I shall go in and have a word with Mr. Duncan right now!"

"Huh!" Bert thought, raising an eyebrow anxiously as he watched him walk into the station.

At that moment, Jock pulled in with his goods train.

"Still not 100%, Bert?" he asked.

"Not at all!" Bert coughed.

"Oh. Still waiting on those tubes, are you?"

"Yes! And I'll feel much better when I get the update! However, I doubt that I will be getting them anytime now!"

"Think again, Bert!"

Bert looked over was surprised to see his driver exit the station and walk before him.

"Mr. Duncan just got off the phone with the stationmaster at Arlesburgh! He says that your new tubes have just arrived!

"Well, happy day!" Bert expressed.

"Hooray!" Jock tooted.

"About time too!" Bert thought further.

"Now, now, Bert," Mr. Duncan encouraged, "I highly suggest you wait in the shed whilst I arrange for another engine to fetch you your tubes!"

"But, sir," his driver wondered. "Who will deliver the tubes?"

"Hmm…let me see. I have already scheduled Jock, Mike and Rex to other jobs before the call from Arlesburgh came through, and I simply can't afford to make them late!"

Bert and Frank watched with wonder as he further thought aloud.

"Hmm…I'm thinking. Frank, I wonder if you could do the job!"

"Me, sir?"

Frank raised an eyebrow with disbelief.

"Well, yes, as it happens! With all the other engines out and about, it'd serve you well given that you have no job at the moment!"

Frank scoffed, somewhat relieved.

"That'd be a nice change!" he remarked, trundling beyond the platform. "Being given a job other than something here at the Junction all day long!"

Jock returned with his empty trucks in time to hear Frank going on his rant.

"Perhaps I'll get some appreciation from the other engines for a change! Not that I'm optimistic, of course!"

"Frank!" Jock shouted. "Look out!"

Frank gasped.

"Ouch!" he groaned, as he came off at the set of points.

He opened his eyes and looked around.

"That's done it!" his driver sighed.

Frank groaned, listening to the sound of Rex's whistle as the miniature engine returned.

"I'm sorry, Rex!" Mr. Duncan sighed. "With Frank now out of commission, you'll have to shunt your own trucks to collect the wool!"

Rex sighed heavily and advanced upon the station platform.

"Clumsy old Frank!" he remarked, smiling slightly. "He's surely in for it now!"

Jock chuckled lightly, then looked down at Frank.

"You didn't mean it, Frank!" he soothed. "I do hope the Small Controller can get someone to fetch those tubes!"

"Me too!" Bert wheezed.

He coughed loudly as he limped slowly home to the sheds.

"Yes," Mr. Duncan wondered, thinking long and hard. "Now, Jock, I'll have to assign the next job to either you or Mike simultaneously while looking for another engine to fetch those tubes! Now the question is…who? Hmmm…"

Jock watched puzzledly as he walked back to his office, thinking hard.

Back at the mine, Macy and Merle were both snoring heavily away and making slight chuffing noises in their sleep when…

"Macy!"

"Merle!"

The pair woke with a start as their drivers hop the board and punched their ignition buttons,

"What's going on?" Merle demanded.

"Have we been called upon?" Macy wondered.

"Very much so!" her driver answered.

"The Small Controller needs you both to bring old Bert his new tubes from Arlesburgh straight away!" Merle's driver added.

"We're at it again, Merle!" Macy exclaimed excitedly.

"Pipe down, Macy! It'll take us at least a while to get to the old harbor before we can make it back to the Junction!"

"But we're needed; called upon! That's what's important!"

"Mmmm, I sense that we may eventually be in need of assistance!"

"Nonsense! Come on!"

Their headlamps shone towards the exit to the mine.

"Daylight, here we come!" Macy shouted out.

The pair raced out of the mine and about the tracks.

"No more snow has fallen since our last time out!" Macy pointed out.

"Yes," Merle observed in agreement, looking around at the ground around them. "But we haven't been given a weather update! Could start again anytime now!"

"Think positively, Merle! Bert needs his new tubes so we are to deliver them to him! Come along now!"

"Fair enough! Still best that we keep on the lookout though!"

"Oh, come! We should both keep going and get to Arlesburgh on the double!"

She pounded her wheels sturdily against the rails, as Merle lightly proceeded to do the same.

"Steady as we go, Macy!" he cautioned.

Macy smiled from the front and let out a sigh of relaxation.

The two Blister engines arrived at the harbor all in good time. The stationmaster was very pleased to see them.

"Ah, Macy! Merle! You're both here! Splendid!"

"All present and accounted for, sir!" Macy chirped.

"So I see! Anyways, ship got in at a good time too! However, Joe the lighthouse keeper said something about a potential storm on the horizon! Mind as you go!"

"We will!" said Macy confidently. "And will make it all in good time too!"

Merle sighed, doubtfully.

Macy and Merle waited while the new tubes were loaded into a crate and tied down onto a flatbed in between them. At long last, they were ready to go.

"Come along, Merle! Let's get a move on!"

"We have to take it easy, Macy!" Merle advised, as they set off. "Our radiators can't hold up as strongly as the more modern engines!"

"Lady Luck will depend on that!" Macy figured. "We tackled the first part of the journey, haven't we?"

"The first bit!" Merle reminded her.

Macy just grinned.

"Keep it up, Merle! Will reach the ol' Junction in no time!"

Merle expressed a look of concern as they pressed forward.

The journey started off well at first; the tracks were clear, the weather felt fine and no snow had fallen just yet.

"This is just like the good ol' days! Isn't it, Merle?" Macy expressed excitedly.

"Mmmm…" Merle replied, looking around. "I suppose!"

Merle was beginning to look more on the bright side of things and was surely confident that their journey would be a success.

"Let's keep it up, Macy!" he chirped. "We'll be at the Junction yet!"

"That's the spirit, my lad!"

The two Blister engines proceeded forward along the track. They honked the horn loudly at Oliver as he came down the line with his train, and the Great Western Engine tooted cheerily in return.

"We're making good time!" Macy pointed out.

"Better than I thought we'd make!" Merle admitted, smiling slightly.

"I feel just as fine as I did back in our day!" Macy went on. "You know, when our systems ran swell, and we made it along at express speed! We were in shipshape, I tell ya!"

"Yeah," Merle wholeheartedly agreed. "Shipshape!"

The pair honked their horns aloud at Donald and Douglas, who whistled back as they raced by with their snowplows in front and a van in between, when suddenly…

SWOOOOSH!

"GAHHHH!" Macy screamed.

"Woahhhhh!" Merle wailed.

A splash of snow drifted from Donald's snowplow washed towards their faces.

"Goodness!" Macy expressed.

Merle coughed loudly as he spat snow from his mouth.

"What was that all about?" he wondered.

Macy maintained a determined expression as she pressed forward, pushing at the snow against the tracks.

"Must… keep… going…oof!"

She gasped, suddenly caught off guard as gusts of wind flew directly towards her, piling sprinkles of snow all around towards her and Merle.

"I…(cough)… have… (cough)… a bad feeling… (cough)… about… all this!" the latter coughed aloud.

"More sand!" Macy shouted aloud to their drivers.

As the pair continued along, their drivers dropped more sand on the rails to keep their traction steady!

Macy and Merle both panting heavily as they pounded their wheels hard against the rails.

"Is more sand going to be the trick, you think?" Merle wondered.

"Surely!" Macy replied. "There's not really much of another way!"

"Mmm…we may not last much longer!"

"Have…confidence…Merle!" Macy groaned, shutting her eyes tight as she pushed against the snow. "We can… do it!"

"I-I don't t-think so!" Merle shivered. "Look up!"

Macy gasped, looking up at what she saw.

Pretty soon, the snow began to fall and the winds began to pick up faster.

"I-I-I, ermmm, wasn't expecting this!" Macy stammered.

"I was!" Merle admitted.

The pair started to cough loudly against the biting wind blowing against them, Merle coarsely and Macy more faintly.

"Must…keep…going!" she groaned.

Merle coughed and wheezed loudly.

"We…shouldn't…have gone!"

"We must keep pressing on! Old Bert needs his new tubes!"

"We…weren't…cut out for this work!" Merle coughed, as gusts of wind continued to blow against him.

Macy coughed and groaned, pressing hard against the track ahead of her.

"We must…keep…going!"

She winced and shut her eyes as flakes of snow swirled coarsely in her face. She roughly spat it from her mouth.

Their drivers continuously drops in on the rail by hand but it was no use! The worse the weather became, the slower the two engines seemed to go!

"Must…keep…going!"

"We…can't…keep…going!"

"Must…keep…GOING!"

"We…can't…keep…going!"

"W-we…c-can't…k-keep…ugh…GOING!"

At last, Macy found her self slowing down and the two Blister engines came to an abrupt halt!

Macy let out a sigh of exasperation as Merle groaned from behind. At last, the former's eyes widened.

"No! We mustn't stop now! We must start up again! Ugh! UGH!"

Their drivers worked hard, but to no avail.

Merle sighed.

"Macy…"

"We can do it!"

"Macy, please…"

"Come on, Merle! Poor Bert's counting on us!"

She pounded hard on wheels which moved vigorously, but weren't able to give her the traction to move forward.

At last, their drivers shut down the controls. Macy felt this instantly.

"No!" she cried out. "We mustn't give up!"

But it was too late. Her power died down, and Merle sighed with dismay.

"I told you so," he dully noted. "This is not the type of work we're cut out for!"

Their drivers sighed as they walked about the snowy grounds.

"It's no use!" one said. "Our engines don't have the capacity to carry on any further in this weather!"

"Surely the other engines are finished with our current jobs by now and can pick up Bert's tubes!" the other pointed out.

"Hmm, yes…" Macy's driver pondered in agreement. "I-it's best we head back to the mine, you two! We'll leave the tubes here and phone for help on the way!"

"No! We must keep going!" Macy insisted.

"But Macy…" Merle protested.

"We can do it, Merle! All we need is a good running our wheels and a little bit more sand and grip and we can get going again!"

"B-but…but…"

"We've lasted this winter so far! I'm sure we can do it!"

Macy's driver thought for a moment, then sighed.

"Macy's right!" he agreed. "Even back in their day, these two engines have dealt with much worse than this!"

"Junction's not too far down the line! Perhaps we really can make it!" Merle's driver agreed.

"Doubt it!" Merle expressed. Weather's already bad enough!"

"Think positively, Merle!" Macy encouraged. "Our drivers believe we can do it! Surely we can have faith too!"

Merle sighed.

"Fine! But one more try though! Then it's back to the mine!"

"You bet!" Macy agreed.

Then she honked aloud.

"Come on, Merle! Let's get movin'! Ugh!"

She got a good run at her wheels as Merle proceeded to do the same from the back.

"I hope…ugh…you're right, Macy!"

"Saaaaand!" she shouted out.

Their drivers started to pour sand on the rails again by hand, allowing the pair to continue traction.

"We're doing it! We're doing it!" Macy cried.

"W-w-we are!" Merle agreed.

"Our radiators are functioning nicely too!"

"Easy now, Macy! Steady!" her driver cautioned.

"We'll get there yet!" she beamed confidently. "Right, Merle?"

"Y-y-yes…" Merle shivered, as gusts of wind and snow blew towards them. "My, my, i-it's blistering cold!"

"We can't give up!"

Merle coughed and wheezed loudly, but nevertheless maintained a steady traction at his wheels.

"Well done, Merle!" his driver encouraged. "You've got it! You've got it!"

Merle widened his eyes and felt a little jolt at his radiator.

All of a sudden, Merle found strength that he never knew he had, and immediately started picking up the pace, as the drivers continued dropping sand on the rails by hand.

"Come on, Macy!" he cried. "Let's keep it going!"

"We're doing it!" Macy exclaimed.

"We are!" Merle agreed.

He was rather surprised.

Macy and Merle kept a steady pace as they progressed further towards the Junction.

"We can do it!" Macy chanted.

"We will do it!" Merle called in response.

"We can do it!"

"We will do it!"

"We're almost there!"

Merle gasped.

"We are?"

"We are! Arlesdale Junction dead ahead!"

"Hurrah!"

The two Blister engines honked their horns aloud and called and responded to each other with chuffing noises.

With one final effort, they made it to the Junction at last and stopped by the engine shed!

Macy honked loudly by the shed.

"We're here, Bert!" she called. "And we have your new tubes!"

"Phew! And on time too!" Merle added wearily.

Bert whistled as he pulled out from his berth.

"You did?!"

He looked at the crate being unloaded from his flatbed and gasped.

"You did! You bought them! They've come at last! Hooray! Thank you both so much!"

"Think nothing of it!" Macy assured him.

"All in our line of duty!" Merle sighed, gasping for breath.

Their drivers smiled at them.

"Well done, you two!"

"Fantastic efforts!"

"Yes, indeed!" boomed a familiar voice.

The trio looked over to see Mr. Duncan walking towards them.

"You two were very brave to take on that snow In such bad weather conditions! I'm very proud of you both! Bert will be back in good working order in no time! I'm very sure of it!"

"Phew! That's good news, sir!" Macy admitted.

"Sounds promising enough!"

"I knew we could do it! I have the utmost confidence!"

Merle laughed, rather wearily.

"Don't know why I ever doubted our abilities for a second!" he expressed.

"Now, now, you two," his driver encouraged. "It's back to the mine now for a rest!"

"You both deserve it after today's performance!" Macy's driver agreed.

"Yes, sirs!" they honked in agreement, as they started off.

Bert whistled goodbye to them, then looked down and smiled as the men unloaded his new tubes from the crate.

The next day, Macy and Merle returned to the Junction, having just cleared the morning's layabout of snow.

"We made it, Macy!"

"Sure did, Merle!"

The pair were caught off-guard by a loud chorus of cheers and whistles.

"Well," Merle expressed, "what's all the commotion?"

"Don't know!" Macy wondered.

Mr. Duncan walked out on the platform before the engines, smiling at the pair.

"Welcome, Macy and Merle! We all thought of starting off your day with a delightful heroes' welcome given your brave efforts yesterday!"

"Oh, sir!" Macy gasped.

"Y-y-ye really shouldn't have!" Merle admitted. "We were just doing our job!"

"Ah, but it would've taken Bert slightly longer to get his tubes had another engine come and finished the journey for you!"

"Never would have made it on time for my evening train either!" Bert gratefully admitted, as he got going at his wheels. "And besides, these new tubes work great! I find chuffing about much easier now than I did before!"

The two Blister engines smiled as they watched Bert buffer up to his trucks.

"We're just glad to have been of service!" Merle claimed.

"Yes!" Macy agreed, then sighed, having a sudden thought.

"Though we do understand that it won't be much of a habit with the winter kicking in!" she expressed admittedly.

Mr. Duncan laughed.

"Oh, I don't know about that!"

"What?" they both gasped.

The other miniature engines looked about with surprise and astonishment.

"Sit tight, Macy and Merle!" Mr. Duncan encouraged. "The mines may not be officially open again until the spring but I was super impressed by your performance yesterday and I assure you both that there may just be plenty of work to go around here in the yard to keep you too busy while the winter lasts!"

"Really?!" Merle expressed.

"Why, yes, Merle! After all, there's something to do and trains to take out! I am pretty confident now that the two of you can manage that whilst Frank and the other engines tend to other jobs!"

"Huh!" Frank huffed. "Makes me feel better knowing that I won't be the only one in the yard who is underappreciated!"

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by another chorus of cheers and whistles from his peers.

"Hooray for Macy and Merle!" Jock called.

"Hooray!" Mike and Rex chanted in response.

"Doh!" Frank scoffed, and went silently back about his work.

"I knew we'd be in it for the long-haul again, Merle!" Macy admitted. "Didn't you?"

Merle sighed.

"Deep down, I had hope! Just hadn't tucked away in my radiator all along!"

The pair honked along with their new friends as they went about the yard.

Macy and Merle could have never felt happier to be a part of the Arlesdale railway!

A simple expansion upon the newest pair of characters I've introduced to the Arlesdale crew: Macy and Merle the Blister Engines! They were fun and interesting to write for here; if you can recall, Macy is the more excitable, optimistic of the two while Merle is the rather serious, pessimistic of the pair who acts with a sense of reality and tries to remind Macy as such, but at the end of the day, needs a bit of convincing to push it to the last mile, kind of softening him up a little bit. I hope you all enjoy how I've written them here. The arc with Bert's tube was something addressed back in Set 2 when I was adapting Jock's book and I thought this story to be only fitting for it to conclude and wrap up. This pretty much sums up the miniature engines' arc for this Set. They might appear again somewhere down the line but I gotta see where it would be fitting. It's cutting close to the holidays so I hope to get the next two up fairly quickly. Next story features one of my utmost favorite characters to write for squaring off against/playing foil to probably one of the most charming characters introduced in the later years of the show. Original concept too and I'm pretty stoked about seeing how it turns out. Till then, be sure to leave thoughts on this story, and as always, stay tuned for...

Secret Santa - a Secret Santa is arranged at the RoadWorks for all the vehicles, and George and Cleo are paired up, something the steam roller is not too keen about! He decides to give her a surprise what she thinks will bring about grief, with unexpected results…

Get The Loot! - Diesel 10 instructs Splatter and Dodge with obtaining a load of fireworks for a New Year's Eve celebration at the DieselWorks; however, things don't go as planned when they struggle to find the fireworks and end up sending them to the Town Hall where they're meant to be delivered!

Old Habits Die Easy - Old Spiteful the Brake Van is brought back when there is a shortage of brake vans on Duck's Branch Line. However, he and Douglas are immediately at odds with one another and even more trouble ensues when Douglas is fed up and decides to leave without a brake van…

Swashbuckling Skiff - Skiff enjoys watching other sailboats race by in the water and wishes that he could take part in the regatta just like them, which is unexpectedly granted when high winds pick up!

Samson And The Wrong Advice - [Based on the Mr. Men book Little Miss Stubborn and the Wrong Advice] - Nia suggests that Samson takes advice from others on how to do different jobs. Samson, not surprisingly, agrees, but he takes the suggestion literally, and starts taking advice from every engine on Sodor, including taking advice on how to shunt trucks from Diesel - by bashing them from behind!