Chapter 3
As a result of the major change on the railway, the engines refused to do their work. Phil realized that the engines were only being stubborn, and their drivers were allowing them to get away with such behavior. Phil decided to threaten the drivers. He said that if they went along with the engines' wishes to refuse to work, then they would not receive their paychecks. Needless to say, Phil had quite an influence on the drivers, as the engines went back to work, much to their dismay.
"We will not run if we're diesels!" they all cried. All the engines tried their best to desist their work, but they were only helpless puppets of their drivers.
Phil watched all the activity outside and smiled, lying back in Sir Topham Hatt's chair. He then pressed the buzzer for Tyler. "Tyler, please inform me of customer satisfaction."
Tyler entered the office. "Well, Phil, customer satisfaction is up 70 percent from levels last month. It seems as though your change on the railway has vastly improved conditions."
Phil then called Joe into the office for further information. Joe walked in and took a heap of papers out of his briefcase. "Well, Phil, efficiency on the railway has increased 205 percent. Also, the number of on-time trains has soared. Additionally, the number of railway accidents has sharply fallen to a 40 year low. Also, our stock price has spiked lately."
"Good news, boys," said Phil.
"But there is a problem," said Tyler.
"What?" asked Phil.
"The engines despise the changes."
"Ah, who cares? They're just trains. All they are is a bunch of metal. They don't have feelings."
"These trains do," said Tyler.
"They're just robotic," Phil said.
"I don't think so," said Joe.
"Who cares, things aren't changing, and that's final!" ordered Phil. Tyler and Joe looked rather frightened of Phil, so they scurried out of the office.
Meanwhile, Gordon, Thomas, and Percy were chugging through Knapford station, much to their dislike. They picked up all the passengers, and then, they all went their separate ways to take the passengers to their destinations. Later, when the three returned to Knapford station, they began to chat.
"I only wish we could move without our drivers," said Thomas.
"But we can't. Remember, you tried that once, and that didn't turn out too well," reminded Percy.
"Yeah, I remember," said Thomas. I must say, Sir Topham Hatt and the station master weren't pleased."
"What are we to do?" wondered Gordon. "We can't work without our drivers, and even if they work for us, Phil might even get rid of them."
"Hey, I know what we'll do!" said Thomas.
"What?" asked Percy.
"We can lock our drivers out of the cab, and then, we can refuse work!"
"Good idea, Thomas!" said Gordon. The three engines then chugged off to their sheds, feeling content with their new plan of rebellion.