This is a rewrite and planned continuation of my first fanfic on this site. If you have feedback or ideas, feel free to write a review. If you want to write a story taking place in my universe, feel free to do so as long as you notify me and reffer to me in the story. Enjoy.

It is the winter of 1891. The island of Sodor is covered in a thick blanket of snow. Number one and two of the Sodor and Mainland Railway, Clive and Neil, glare at two other engines arguing loudly in the sheds at Vicarstown. "Obviously the express has priority." Norm argues. "The express is the pride of the line after all." Romy rolls her eyes at the silver engine. "Oh please, if it weren't for goods traffic and mail trains this railway would go bankrupt." "Could th' two o' ye keep quiet?! Some o' us are tryin' tae sleep!" Clive snaps at the two 4-4-0s. Norm scoffs. "I am just trying to explain to my numbskull of a younger sister that pulling express services in this kind of weather is more difficult than taking goods trains." "As if, at least your coaches have proper brakes. We need to be careful to not become a runaway!" Romy counters. "It can't be that bad." an exhausted voice comments. Thje engines in the sheds look up to see the second oldest of the quadruplets back into his berth. The green engine looks sceptical at his sister. "it is." Melody says with a small and trembling voice. "Nonsense, you get to take your time with your goods trains. Rick and I need to keep to a tight schedule." Norm claims irritated. Melody looks at Rick with tear filled eyes. "I've got to agree with him." Melody starts crying softly and takes off. "I am going to sleep in the carriage shed." Romy looks confused and angry at her older brother. "What was that!? What is wrong with you Rick!?" Rick looks over at the blue engine with an expression of pure exhaustion on his face. "Look Romy, the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway needed me for four local services, so I have been worked off my wheels today. Now if you'd excuse me, I am going to sleep."

The next morning arrives and Rick is woken up by Matthew, the SMs number three. "Where is Melody?" Rick opens his eyes groggily. "She went to sleep in the carriage shed last night." Matthew hums softly. "Th' poor lass. Yesterday must've had quite th' impact on her. Ye dinnae just recover frum running someone over." "What!?" Matthew looks surprised at the green engine. "Ye dinnae know? A man jumped in front o' her near Balladrine. She was quite upset over it." "I got to go. See you later Matthew."

Felix Adams, the director of the Sodor and Mainland Railway is looking at the relatively empty platform. He sighs before to his daughter Bella Adams. "Why did you take me with you?" she asks a bit annoyed. "Come on Bella, can't I spend some time with my daughter?" She huffs. "Yeah, as if. You are always busy with your work. You never spend time with me or mom." Felix looks away, ashamed of himself. "The railway is struggling. Belief me, I wish I had the time to do things with you and your mother but-" He is interrupted by a loud whistle. Rick comes to a rapid stop next to the SMs director. "Felix, where is Melody? I need to speak with her!" Felix looks surprised at the green engine. "She should be double-heading a goods train with at the moment. Why are you still here?" Rick curses. "What's going on Rick?" "No time for that. Where is she headed to?" Rick asks in a hurry. "She is headed towards Maron, where the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway will take over." Rick blows his whistle and speeds off down the line. "I wonder what's going on with those two." Felix mutters to himself. "Dad." The man turns to his daughter. "Yes Bella?" "I thought that your railway only owns box tanks." Felix nods. "We do." Bella looks confused. "Then who was that?" "He is one of four engines assisting us with work. To be honest, they are the only reason we haven't gone bankrupt yet."

Rick slows down two miles before reaching Kellsthorpe Road. In the distance he sees a cloud of steam and a halted goods train. He blows his whistle. "Melody! Are you okay?" He doesn't get a reply, but after a minute Lee Gray, Melody's driver, walks along the tracks to him. "She has burst her boiler." he tells the green engine. "She is conscious, but in a lot of pain. I have dropped her fire, so could you take us to the station?" Rick looks down at the man with a sad expression on his face. "I will. It is good to see you aren't injured Lee."

Rick shunts Melody into the siding at Kellsthorpe Road station. "I am sorry about yesterday sis. I didn't know what had happened. If I had, I wouldn't have acted like that. I am sorry." Melody smiles through the pain and shushes at him until he falls silent. "I know. I was in a bad state last night and you not supporting me was too much for me at the time. I shouldn't have been so upset to try to take this train on my own. Especially since I am a bit weaker than the rest of us. It wasn't your fault." "But it was my fault. If I had been nicer to you this wouldn't have happened." Lee climbs onto Melody's footplate and strokes her cheek affectionally. This seems to ease some of her pain as she looks at her older brother. "Even if it were your fault, I do not hold a grudge against you. You have always protected me. If anything, this was my fault." Rick opens his mouth to object, but Melody stops him. "We can talk about this later. We need to get this train to Maron." "Wait, you want emme /emto take the train to Maron?!" The yellow engine smiles at him. "You realise that I haven't pulled truck on my own since 1830, right? I don't know if I can do it." Melody lets out a chuckle, which is quickly followed by a groan of pain. "Ah, don't worry dear brother, I am certain you will be able to handle the train. You are the type to get along with trucks." Rick frowns. "Most engines don't consider that a compliment you know." Lee grins at him. "Trucks are misrepresented you know. As long as you threat them with respect and be gentle with them, they won't give you trouble." the man tells the green engine while stroking his moustache with one hand while continuing to stroke his engine's cheek. "Are you really sure?" Rick asks his sister. "Yeah. Besides, the railway can't afford not to deliver this train." He sighs. "Alright, I will give it a try."

Rick backs onto the goods train slowly. He notices that the trucks, vans and tankers are in a deplorable state. "What are you looking at?" one of the trucks snaps at him. "I was wondering, why are you guys in such a worn out state? I know the railway has financial troubles, but that doesn't justify neglecting the maintenance of our rollingstock." The trucks are taken aback by his caring attitude. "We are low on the priority list. Coaches are the face of passenger comfort, but us? We aren't meant to be seen." a rusty tanker explains as the guard couples Rick to the train. "Alright gents, are you ready to go?" A chorus of hesitant murmurs of agreement comes from the train, and the moment the guards whistle is heard and the green flag is shown, the green engine takes off gently.

Noor looks impatiently at the clock hanging on the station wall. "Where are those two?" she complains to her driver. "Calm down dear, you know those two, they wouldn't be late for no reason." The WS number seven groans. "It is bad enough that they work on that failed railway, but being late!" She grumbles when she hears Rick's whistle, and a moment later the green engine crawls into the station, his face red from exhaustion. "Where were ye?! Do ye know how late ye are! Now ah have… tae… Where is Melody?" Rick catches his breath before replying. "She burst her boiler." Noor's face goas pale. "Is she alright?!" "She seems to be mostly fine, aside from the damage to her boiler. I am going to take her to Bea Works."

It is noon by the time Rick and Melody make it to Vicarstown. As Rick slows to go through the station Lee steps out of Melody's cab onto the platform. He walks to Felix's office and knocks on the door. "Come in." Lee opens the door and tips his hat to the director and his daughter. "Can I help you with something mister Gray?" Felix asks without looking up from his paperwork. "Sir, Melody has broken down and can't work for some time." Felix looks up at that. "How bad is it?" "She will need to get her boiler replaced at the very least." "Isn't that very bad?" Bella asks concerned. Felix puts his fountainpen away and turns to his daughter. "Boilers are rather easy to replace, the motion of a steam engine is the most difficult and costly to replace. That said, we don't really have the funds to give her a replacement boiler." he explains to her. He then turns back to Lee. "Can you tell me what happened? Why did she take that train without Rick? I am quite sure I specifically instructed her to inform her brother they had to take it together." Lee scratches his neck. "Well sir, from what Melody has told me, she and Rick had a bit of a fallout last night. As a result she didn't want to see him this morning. She tried to take the train on her own, but it was too much for her and she burst her boiler." Felix raises and eyebrow. "Melody isn't the type to do something so reckless over something so small. What in the world possessed her to do something like this?" Lee glares at the director. "Sir, surely you haven't forgotten what happened in the evening yesterday?" Felix's face goes pale. "Oh. Oh dear. I am sorry, that was unbecoming of me." Lee gives him a small smile. "You are forgiven sir. That said, we need to discuss what we are going to do with Melody out of service for a while." Felix scratches his chin. "If only the engine we ordered last month was here already, we wouldn't have a problem with covering her trains. We don't have a problem for today, since I had given her the rest of the day off given what happened yesterday. The same can't be said for the days after that though." Lee thinks for a moment. "You could request the Obbeeys Railway for assistance. After all, this railway has a pretty good relationship with them." Felix shakes his head. "We can't do that. If we need to pay for help alongside the repairs to Melody we'll surely go bankrupt." Bella gasps. "Really!? Is the financial situation that bad?" Felix nods. Lee sighs. "I can't really do much about the financial situation, but I do know that Rick feels responsible for the incident. He told me that there is no way he is letting the S&M suffer because of him. So you probably don't have to worry about that too much. I would also suggest that you ask the Obbeeys Railway for help. They'll most likely be happy to help." Felix nods. "I will take it into consideration. Now, mister Gray, Bella, if you'd excuse me, I need to go to a board meeting."

When evening arrives, Norm and Romy are shocked to hear what happened to Melody. "I didn't think our argument would lead to this. I am going to apologise as soon as I see her." Norm says. Romy looks over at Rick with a worried expression on her face. "You shouldn't blame yourself for this Rick, you didn't cause this." Rick looks at her, guilt clear on his face. "If I were nicer last night, this wouldn't have happened." Romy sighs. "You don't know that. For all we know, if you hadn't acted like that something more catastrophic could've happened." Rick stays silent and backs further into the shed.

Felix walks to the engine sheds the next morning. "Good morning engines." the man greets the engines. "Morning sir." "I have an announcement to make." The engines murmur among themselves for a moment, before returning their attention to the director. "Give the fact that Melody is out of action, we have requested help from the Obbeeys Railway. They have agreed to loan one of their Stirling Singles to us until she is repaired." "If I might ask, who of the two will be coming over? Chloe or Grace?" Norm asks curiously. "From what I gathered, Chloe will be the one to fill in. This does mean that one of you two gentlemen will need to work goods." Felix informs Rick and Norm. Norm's face distorts in disgust, but before he can utter any complaints Rick starts speaking. "I would like to volunteer sir." Felix scratches his chin. "Are you sure? You don't have much experience with trucks." Rick smiles. "I know. That is one of the reasons I want to do this. Melody's accident was also partly caused by my inexperience with trucks. I want to prevent myself from causing something similar again." Felix nods. "Alright then, you'll cover Melody's goods trains." "There is a suggestion I want to make to you concerning the maintenance of trucks and vans." Rick adds. "Go on." "I'd like to suggest you order bulb wood for the wooden parts of trucks and vans." Felix looks confused at the green engine. "Bulb wood?" "Bulb wood is wood from the bulb trees that grow back on Obbeeys. It is very durable and relatively inexpensive." Romy informs the director. "It can last for decades on rollingstock with relatively little maintenance. I think Rick's idea is something this railway could profit from." Felix nods. "We will order some to try it out. Now, there is another thing that is important to tell you lot. The board and I have been discussing about selling a part of our mainline to the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway since February, and we decided to sell the section of track from Maron to Rolf's Castle to them. The purchase will take place in January. The money made from it will be used to clear some of our debt and pay of the engine we ordered from Doncaster works. You are dismissed."