KNOW YOUR LIMITS

Written by Zack Wanzer, James Riddle and Rachel Ravens

Set during Series 21

One February afternoon, Philip the diesel boxcab had brought some trucks that were needed for Wellsworth yards.

"Here you are, Edward!" he called with a honk from his horn. "One load of trucks as promised, ordered by Sir Topham Hatt."

"Thank you, Philip," the blue tender engine smiled. "You're definitely catching on from what I've taught you."

Philip smiled in return. The diesel boxcab was about to head back to Knapford yards when he heard an unfamiliar whistle, and then saw what looked to be a small green steam engine with tires crossing the road bridge above.

"What's that?" he asked, surprised.

"It's only Trevor," smiled Edward. "Hello, Trevor!" he called, blowing his whistle.

"Good afternoon, Edward," Trevor replied, blowing his own whistle back. "Who's that young chap with you?"

"I'm Philip, and I'm a diesel boxcab."

"Ah, I remember now," Trevor chuckled. "I thought I saw a glimpse of yellow and green speeding past the vicarage orchard a couple of years back! I also recall Edward saying Sir Topham Hatt gave you a lecture for abandoning your job in the yard that same day."

Philip went red with embarrassment at that mention. "Er… yes… But I did win that race…" he added, trying to claw back loose ground.

"Well, I'm afraid I can't stay and chat," said Trevor. "I'm to help saw firewood for Reverend Laxey. Cheerio!"

"How's Trevor billowing smoke and steam?" asked Philip as he saw the traction engine rolling away. "I thought only steam engines ran on rails."

Edward chuckled. "That may be true, Philip, but steam engines also ran on roads many years ago. Just like how Elizabeth and Isobella are steam lorries. Trevor here is a traction engine, a sort of tractor powered by steam instead of fuel."

"Wow," said Philip. "How long has Trevor been working here, Edward?"

"It all started when I made a trip to Crocks Scrap Yard…" said Edward, remembering.

It was on a winter's day, many years ago, that Edward was bringing some trucks of scrap to take to Crocks Scrap Yard. Amongst the piles of rusty cars and broken machinery, he saw Trevor, dirty but in surprisingly good shape.

"Hello?" gasped Edward. "You're not broken and rusty. What are you doing here?"

"Oh… I'm Trevor," the traction engine replied. "I'm here because my master doesn't want me anymore."

"That's a shame."

"My driver says I only need some oil, some new paint and a polish to be as good as new. But my master dumped me here because I'm old fashioned."

Edward scoffed. "People say that I'm old fashioned, but I don't care what they say," he said. "Sir Topham Hatt and my friends all say I'm a useful engine. What work did you use to do?"

"I would go from farm to farm," explained Trevor. "I'd fetch corn, haul logs, saw timber and many odd jobs in between. But the best day is the vicarage fete…" He closed his eyes, fondly remembering a group of children climbing on board his trailer and riding around the fairgrounds together.

"I love seeing all those smiling faces," Trevor sighed happily before opening his eyes again. "Now I'll never get to experience anything like that again."

"I'm sure I can find you a new owner," said Edward, determinedly. "How much time…" He broke off, unwilling to say the rest of that sentence.

"Next week," sighed Trevor. "That's when I'll be broken up."

"Driver, fireman, we have to work fast!" said Edward. "Let's go!" He then puffed away to get his next train.

"Thankfully, my crew and I were able to find an owner for Trevor," said Edward. "Reverend Laxey bought him for a cheap price, and now Trevor lives and works at the vicarage orchard."

"I'm glad you managed to find Trevor a new home," smiled Philip. "Whatever happened to his old master?"

"He got his bit of karma when the equipment he bought to replace Trevor broke down within the first week of owning it," chuckled Edward. "And when he heard that Trevor had been preserved, he visited one of the church fete's and apologized for being so arrogant. Thankfully, Trevor was kind enough to forgive him."

"No good came from holding a grudge," Philip agreed. And on that note, the two engines set off back to work.

Meanwhile, over at Farmer Finney's, Terence the tractor was helping the farmhands to harvest kale, onions and leeks from the fields.

"Careful not to cut those onions," Terence warned. "Last thing anyone needs to do in cold weather is shed tears."

"Ya hear that, Les?" a farmhand teased. "Means soft delicate lads like you gotta man up."

"I'd watch who you tease, Clem," said Terence. "Lest you want anyone to remember how you cried a river when you read that news article of a puppy being reunited with her owners."

The rest of the farmhands snickered while Clem tried not to be seen. Just then, Farmer Finney returned from his cottage.

"I got off of a call from Wellsworth," he announced. "They're planning to build a new hospital. They need someone to help clear part of the forest so they can make room for the supplies."

"What's that got to do with anything, Farmer Finney?" asked Terence.

"Well, Terence," the farmer replied, "they've asked me if you could help out. Don't worry; it won't be that long. We can manage by ourselves for a few days."

"Sure, why not?" said Terence. "It'll be good to get out and stretch me caterpillars."

A few days later, Toby had brought Terence to Wellsworth yards to be unloaded.

"Good luck on the project, Terence," said Toby.

"I won't need luck, Toby," boasted Terence. "I've got me caterpillar tracks to take me anywhere!"

"Is that so?" said Toby innocently. "I seem to recall a certain tractor who had a little trouble with a frozen lake a couple of Christmases ago."

"Well… almost anywhere," Terence admitted sheepishly.

As Terence was getting ready to start work, he heard Trevor's whistle.

"Hello there, Terence!" the traction engine greeted. "I see you've been called in to help out as well."

"Help?" asked Terence. "Thanks, but I'm good on my own." And he trundled away.

"Some people or vehicles just get so overconfident," sighed Trevor.

Before long, Terence was being hooked to a trailer as workmen began cutting tree branches down, and loading them.

"Off you go, Terence," called a workman once some branches had been loaded. Terence looked back at his load and frowned.

"Er, do you think you could add a few more to the cart?" he asked. "I'm sure I can handle more than this lot!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," interjected Trevor, setting off with his own load. "Carrying too much could do some damage to your engine. That's why I never take anything past my limits."

"But that would take too long," objected Terence. "This way, we'd be getting the job done in record time, leaving the Pack with extra time to finish the rest." The workmen didn't want to cause an argument, so they began loading extra tree branches into Terence's cart.

For the next few days, Terence and Trevor took it in turns waiting for the workmen to load their carts with trees cut up into branches and logs to be taken away. However, Trevor began to notice Terence seemed to be having more difficulties with his loads.

"Are you sure you don't need help with your load, Terence?" asked Trevor.

"No! I've… got this!" said Terence, but his driver could notice a rattling coming from inside.

"I think you should listen to Trevor and take a breather," he advised. "Otherwise, you'll blow your engine."

"A construction site waits for no vehicle," insisted Terence. "The sooner we help to prepare this site for the Pack, the better." And he chugged away, not letting the rattling noise bother him.

"I hope he listens to reason," sighed Trevor to Jem Cole. "I don't want to be left with doing all of the work myself."

"He'll be in trouble for sure," Jem agreed. "I think we should get a call in to the foreman in case it does happen."

Later that day, there was only one last cartload that needed to go.

"I'll take it," Terence insisted, trundling towards the cart.

"You've already done more than enough work for today," insisted Trevor. "I can take half of this load now, and come back for the other half while you get some rest."

"I can rest after this job is done," Terence objected as he was hitched up. He tried to pull, but the cart seemed to feel heavier to him than before. Then, a loud rattling noise could be heard from the orange tractor's engine. Much louder than the one from earlier.

"Terence, stop!" shouted Trevor. "You're doing more damage to your engine!"

Before Terence could say anything in objection, there was a loud bang, and he found himself surrounded in black smoke. Coughing, his driver got down to inspect the damage.

"That's torn it," he groaned. "You've overworked yourself so much, you blew a gasket. We warned you this would happen, but you were too stubborn to listen! Now we'll have to take you to the garage, which means the job will take longer to finish."

Poor Terence felt silly and ashamed of himself. Trevor could see how sorry the orange tractor was.

"You know, Terence," he said, once he was hitched up, "if you needed some help with your work, why didn't you just ask for it? I would have been more than happy to lighten the load for you and make things easier."

"I know," sighed Terence. "But I was so eager to get the job done, that I became too proud to ask for help. Besides," he added, "on Finney's Farm, I was used to working by myself."

"There's nothing wrong with letting someone help you," explained Trevor. "Everybody needs a hand once in a while, even when they don't want to admit it. But when they try to handle everything on their own, that often makes things worse, and creates more work for everyone else."

"I know, and I'm sorry, Trevor," said Terence. "I shouldn't have pushed myself too hard. You don't mind finishing the job while I'm having my engine repaired, do you?"

"Of course not," smiled Trevor. "What are friends for?"

And so, while Terence was being repaired, Trevor handled clearing away the branches and logs by himself. It was a long, slow process, but the traction made sure not to strain himself too much.

"It's not a race," he said to himself. "Patience is a virtue."

Before long, the job was completed just as Terence had returned from the garage.

"Hello there, Trevor!" the orange tractor greeted. "Did everything go well?"

"It has indeed," said Trevor. "The rest of the trees have been cleared away, and I expect the foreman will be pleased. But I hope you've learned something from all this, Terence."

"Oh, I have," said Terence. "Next time I get partnered with someone for a job, I'll let them help me instead of trying to bite off more than I can chew."

"So long as there are no more disturbances," Trevor added, "this hospital should be ready quicker than you can say 'confusion and delay'."

Over at the Packard and Company Yard, the Pack were getting ready for another day of work.

"Say, aren't we missing someone?" asked Isobella, noticing a blank space in the yard.

"You're right, Izzy," Jack commented. "Seems like a member's not here yet." Thankfully, Miss Jenny had just arrived to make a speech.

"As you all know," she began, "an old friend's been away on an overhaul for a while. "And I know you miss them, but you'll be happy to know the overhaul has been finished." Just then, an unfamiliar horn sounded. "Ah, here they come."

The Pack were surprised to see a familiar shape rolling over towards them… yet they looked completely different at the same time. It was a bulldozer painted turquoise blue with a pale yellow cab, but the number eighteen on their cabin in blue was unmistakable…

"I'd recognize that number anywhere!" gasped Alfie. He wheeled over towards the bulldozer hoping to get a closer look. "Byron! Byron, is it really y-?"

"Yes, Alfie, it's me," the bulldozer chuckled; to Alfie and the rest of the Pack's surprise, they now spoke in a feminine voice, yet the booming tone was unmistakable. "But as of today, lads, you can call me Brenda."

THE END

Author's Comments

The final standalone original story for Between the Lines: Set 2 is finally here! I'll get to why I said "standalone" in a bit, but for a while now, I've wanted to do a story starring Trevor the traction engine. Considering he'd been around in CGI since Series 15 (or 13, if you count the Island of Sodor introduction in America), you'd think that the writers would've done something with him, right? Unfortunately, he only spoke in two episodes - Three Steam Engines Gruff and Seeing is Believing - and both of them were pretty lousy. Yeah, the later seasons didn't do Trevor justice whatsoever, to the point they don't even address his backstory. That's part of the reason I included a flashback from The Adventure Carries On, akin to Terence's flashback in Terence Breaks the Ice. Admittedly, the story is a bit thin on the ground because of said flashback, but I feel as though we did alright overall, especially in having Terence and Trevor playing off against one another.

So now that we've gone through twenty regular standalone stories (or nineteen, if you view both parts of Master of the Railway as one combined story), I can finally reveal the stories for the mini-series of Set 2 - The Railway Girl!

- Nose Stuck in a Book - Barbara Jane Hatt meets with a young man known as Henry Regaby, and the pair eventually fall in love, to the disgruntlement of the latter's father, Albert Regaby.

- A Precious Gift - While riding on board one of Edward's trains, Barbara suddenly goes into labor and has to be rushed to the hospital.

- Fish Out of Water - As young Annabelle Regaby begins school, she struggles to fit in with other children her age group, and Barbara and Henry learn something rather shocking about her.

- Breaking Couplings - Addison Darnell holds a negative outlook on diesel engines following Diesel's first trial, but Annabelle believes (and sees for herself) that that's not the case.

- The Railway Connection - Annabelle has now felt more at home with Sodor's engines than she does the island's people, and this makes her a target of ridicule at school.

- Inside My Heart - Annabelle has always found herself to be extremely shy around boys, but the one she's had her eyes on for years is Paul Percival; will the two ever get together?