The lonely shunter

Smokey Joe is a small 4 wheeled tank engine, he is coloured black with his name written in crude letters but he doesn't mind.

He works as a shunting engine shunting coaches in the yard. He doesn't have much fun, unlike trucks you can't bump them, they're too delicate, and he found it dull.

One day he was shunting coaches in the yard when the fat controller came up to him.

"Smokey Joe" he said "I need you to come and help Thomas' branch line, he is finding work harder". Smokey Joe agreed and the little old engine puffed towards Thomas' branch line.

As he trundled to Thomas' branch line he came upon Gordon's hill and he stopped.

"Come on" said his driver "Just get over this hill and you'll be over their in no time" but Joe wasn't too confident. He was old and spent most of his time in the shunting yards and didn't get a long enough run, his accelerator was faulty and didn't do well and when he used to much steam at once, he'd breakdown and roll down and cause an accident but anyway he tried, he tried and tried and tried but he started to feel the strain on his wheels getting stronger and stronger, he struggled as he turned his wheels but then he realised, he was at the top.

He sighed and let out a whoosh of steam. Then he descended and rolled down easily feeling the wind in his funnel made him smile.

Smokey Joe wheeshed in as he went up to maithwaite station where he met Thomas.

"Hello" said Thomas "Hello" Smokey Joe said back, he was quite shy "I'm here to help you on your branch line" "Thank you, I could use a rest" said Thomas and they went their separate directions.

Smokey Joe started at the start of the line, where he cleaned tracks for Thomas to go on, he liked it getting out of the sidings helping another engine with out getting their coaches. As he rolled along the line he noticed a switch track where. Switch tracks are used for when another engine is needed to go on another line, the signalman pulls a lever and the switch track sends the engine to the other track.

Smokey Joe noticed this and told his driver, the driver told the work men and the workmen told the yard manager, "Cut away the branches and trees" said the yard manager "and see where the track leads". So they pointed the track in Smokey Joes direction and they cut away the branches and Smokey Joe followed the track.

The track wasn't very long, it was only one mile long to be precise until it came to another switch track. One track led to a shed, and the other led to a siding. The workmen came to the shed and opened it and got a BIG surprise. "Theirs coaches in here!" "what?" "There is, come here see for yourself" so the manager did, and got a big surprise when he saw the coaches, they were sleeping peacefully and quietly as if they weren't in an abandoned shed. They made a plan. First they coupled Smokey Joe to the coaches but the sudden jolt woke the front coach up "oh who are you? A vandal? QUICK ELIZA WAKE UP THERE IS SOMEONE ROBBING US" "Oh dear, take Mirgrace she's a break van" "hey" the coaches were female "girls, girls" said Smokey Joe, "I'm not a vandal, vandals break and smash things, I'm here to get you out of this horrible place". And the coaches beamed from buffer to buffer.

Smokey Joe pulled out of the bushes as Thomas was about to pass them, he pinned on his breaks just in time.

Smokey Joe told him about the coaches he found and how they where going to restore them to their natural state.

Smokey Joe took the coaches to the works to be mended and after fifteen hours they were beautiful, in crimson paint and yellow strips and their wheels were polished, they were smart. Then at that point the fat controller showed up. "Smokey Joe, these coaches you found WILL be a grand exception to our railway" "thank you sir" Smokey Joe said "and as a reward" continued the fat controller "I have decided to give these coaches to you" and at that point Smokey Joe burst out with cheers and whistles, the coaches were happy too until the fat controller spoke again. "I have been told that your parts are warned out, so you need to go to the works to be mended" then Smokey Joe went sadder as he got his new coaches but didn't get to use them, but then thought that it'll help him pull his new coaches, and this made him happy.

Fowling hard

Smokey Joe went to the works, leaving his coaches Eliza and Isabella and his break van Mirgrace, they were very sad to see Joe go, but the fat controller had a message for them. "Since Smokey Joe left us for a short time, I had rented an engine to do his work for a while, he'll also be pulling you three" the coaches didn't like that and as soon as the fat controller left they started complaining, "I want Smokey Joe to pull us" Eliza moaned, "This new engine will NEVER have the characteristics that Joe has" Isabella ranted on but Mirgrace didn't think that at all and the began to talk, "You know Eliza and Isabella this engine might do a good job at pulling us, he might be kind and thoughtful so please don't judge a book by it's title" said Mirgrace and Eliza and Isabella thought she had made a good point until the engine arrived. He was a Fowler 4F BR tender engine; he had only six medium size wheels and a quite small tender, he sniffed when he saw the coaches "Hmm, if I knew I was going to pull branch line coaches I would have stayed in my dirty old siding". The coaches were offended, "How dare he" Mirgrace said "He's not fit to pull us" Eliza ranted back, "What do you think of him now Mirgrace?" Isabella asked "he should be hauled to the scrap yard" Mirgrace said still offended.

The fat controller showed up, "now Eliza, Isabella and Mirgrace, this is Charlie, I have rented him from the other railway, as long as Smokey Joe is away he'll be here" and the fat controller went home for tea. Charlie looked at the coaches again and said in a rude way "Come here, so I can get this over with and I don't have to deal with you three again" and now the coaches were very annoyed. "Let's push him off the rails" said Isabella, "yes, that'll teach him to be rude to us" Eliza said in return usually Mirgrace would be the voice of reason to Eliza and Isabella, but she was so cross with Charlie that she agreed as well, so they made a plan.

Charlie pulled into the first station and the passengers got in quickly, the plan was to push Charlie down the hill and crash but they needed to wait till they got to the hill before carrying out their plan.

The line they travelled on goes on a slope that goes downwards, it isn't a dangerous slope but a sharp turn is what makes it dangerous so trains aren't supposed to go down those lines fast but Charlie didn't know this and the coaches knew this and took this as an advantage.

As the train went down the slope the coaches pushed "on on" they yelled as they pushed the train down the hill Charlie tried to put on his breaks but they weren't applying properly he came off the rails at the sharp turn and ran straight into a bush. Charlie laid on his side looking at the ground shamefully, the driver checked to see that no one was hurt while the fireman checked on Charlie. "Are you okay?" asked the fireman "no I'm not" said Charlie "it was those stupid coaches I knew branch line coaches were no good to us engines" and then Eliza, Isabella and Mirgrace bashed straight into him damaging him some more, poor Charlie. A near by cottage saw what happened and came down to help; they gave the passengers some water and allowed the driver to call the fat controller.

The fat controller was about to eat his chocolate covered jelly and creamed filled donut when the phone rang "oh what now?" he answered the phone "hello, yes, what! I'll send help" he then hanged up and went back to his donut "after lunch".

The passengers were yelling at the coaches sternly but the coaches were being rude and ignoring them but then Percy showed up with a breakdown crane to lift Charlie back on the rails, the fat controller was on Percy and when the mess was cleaned up he asked what happened "those horrid things" said Charlie trying to be the victim "they pushed me off the rails for no reason" the fat controller turned to the coaches "is this true?" he asked but the coaches totally ignored him and he felt very disrespected. "Well then I'll just have to shut you up in the sidings then" said the fat controller "BUT HE MADE RUDE REMARKS TO US" yelled out Mirgrace and everyone was very surprised "HE SAID WE WERE OLD USELESS BRANCH LINE COACHES" she yelled out even louder then everyone looked at Charlie and he found this very uncomfortable with everyone staring at him so he looked down shamefully, "Charlie" said the fat controller "Is this true?" "I might have said something" he said mournfully. "Well then. Now you coaches, you think you can just push your engine off the tracks and think everything is over and done with, you need to apologise to Charlie and the passengers" but the coaches said nothing, they just stood their like a statue "fine if you can't apologise I guess I'll just shut you up in the coach sidings just to show you a thing or too" Charlie just sniggered under his breath "AND YOU, YOU CAUSED ALL THIS MESS, I RENTED YOU TO HELP, BUT YOU CAUSED NOTHING BUT TROUBLE" yelled the fat controller a vein appeared on the top of his head, Charlie knew not to annoy him now, he was very annoyed as he is and didn't want to make him more angry. "I'll have to send you back while you three are left in the siding thinking about what you've done" now Eliza, Isabella and Mirgrace looked sad.

Later when the coaches were shunted back at the shed, Charlie left the railway to go back home "good riddance" Isabella murmured under her breath hoping no one would hear. "When you are good" said the fat controller "I'll consider letting you out do you understand?" the coaches did. The next day Smokey Joe came back and was hoping for a good long run with Eliza, Isabella and Mirgrace but when he found out he was extremely disappointed.

Tipple Topple

Smokey Joe stood disappointed in a shed, his coaches Eliza, Isabella and Mirgrace were shut up in the sidings for being naughty. He was also upset because he didn't have any work. The fat controller showed up, "Ahh Smokey Joe, since your coaches are being punished I'll have to assign you with different work. You'll have to work with Duck and Oliver on the little western."

So Smokey Joe went to the little western and was shy at first but soon got to know Duck, Donald and Douglas but Oliver had second thoughts about him. "He's not a proper engine" "ach, watcha meen laddie?" asked Donald "He's a shunting engine; his job is to shunt trains for bigger engines to take" said Oliver he had a tiring day, the trucks were being naughty and the coaches didn't say a word "Hes juss gettin' to know ev'ryone," Douglas said "and also Oliver, just because he's old and he's a shunting engine doesn't mean he isn't reliable" Duck said but Oliver just snuffed at that remark and on cue Smokey Joe came rolling in in his cheery way "I just met some very tiny engines," said Joe "they were nothing I've ever seen" the tiny engines he was talking about was Rex, Bert and Mike of the Arlesdale railway, but he didn't know this yet.

"Ahh Smokey Joe, how about you come over here?" Duck said in his friendly way, Joe was pleased at this and came over immediately and sat right next to Oliver, this made Oliver annoyed.

"So Joe" Donald started "what did you use' to do b'fore you came here?"

"Well I used to be a shunting engine" "and you still are" Oliver interrupted rudely, "you've been a shunting engine and you'll die a shunting engine" Smokey Joe was offended, Duck, Donald and Douglas were shocked and Oliver left the sheds.

The next day Oliver was working in the coal depot, the foreman showed Oliver the coal tipper, and this device would lift up a coal truck and tip it over and unload the truck. "Don't go over it until the all clear is given" said the foreman and he walked away; Oliver took those words seriously and didn't go over the coal tipper all day.

The day was almost over and Oliver was resting in the sidings as the foreman showed up, "Oliver collect those coal trucks" Oliver saw the trucks, they were on the other side of the coal tipper.

"Sir is it safe to go over the coal tipper?" asked Oliver "well I guess so, as long you don't stay on the tipper for a period of time your safe" said the foreman. Oliver then marched over to the trucks and buffered up to the trucks but he stopped on the tipper, before he knew where he was he was lifted up off the ground and into the coal hopper, he was also not secured to the tipper and if he was tipped over he would fall but Smokey Joe who was nearby saw this and ran and told the manager the manager ordered that the coal tipper to be turned off, it did so and luckily Oliver wasn't tipped over.

"Thank you sir." said Oliver all shaken "Don't thank me." Said the manager "thank Smokey Joe, he told us." Oliver looked at Smokey Joe and was embarrassed but thankful "Thank you Joe and I'm sorry that I said that stuff to you." "That's okay Oliver we all get everyone's trains anyway and besides, you were getting my train as well ha ha ha"

After Oliver heard that I know he'll be more respectable don't you?

Break van troubles

Smokey Joe watched as Henry puffed away with a goods load and saw he didn't have a breakvan.

"Why doesn't Henry have to take a breakvan?" Smokey Joe asked

"Because his trucks have automatic breaks if they break away and roll down a hill they stop automatically" said his driver

"Maybe I can take the trucks without a break van"

"That's not a good idea," his driver said, "someone could get hurt"

But Smokey Joe still thought about the subject and the next day Eliza, Isabella and Mirgrace were sent out of their sidings they were pleased to see Smokey Joe again and they had a run immediately.

Smokey Joe had to take a light load the next day, everything was ready but before they could couple the breakvan on the train Smokey Joe started leaving the workmen startled.

Smokey Joes run was perfect so far, the trucks of course had other ideas, as they got to a hill they pushed Smokey Joe, Joe pinned on his breaks and the sudden jolt broke a coupling and the trucks were rolling down the hill at fantastic speed and because there was no breakvan nothing was stopping them.

The driver ran to the nearest phone box and phone box and phoned the signal man to change the points but it was too late, the trucks rocketed past the signal box before the signal man could change the points. The trucks sped past some other engines before hitting a pair of buffers stopping them. Smokey Joe soon arrived at the scene and felt ashamed, not only did he let the railway down; he let himself down as well.

Later that night Smokey Joe was in the sheds feeling sorry for himself, "Maybe coming out of the sidings wasn't such a good idea after all" he said to himself sadly, then the fat controller showed up, "Smokey Joe, you have caused confusion and delay, but you are new to this kind of work so I'm gonna let you off with a warning" then he drove away.

Smokey Joe now does his jobs very well and hasn't had an accident since, just goes to show you that a little engine can make a difference in the world