Set: 1981
It was tourist season on the Island of Sodor, and all the engines were busy. The coaches would barely rest for minutes before being taken on another train. The freight trains were in heavy supply too, as most of the more prominent tender engines hauled coal, slate and goods trains across the island.
Neville, for example, went into the hills to get coal, took it to Brendam, where he'd take a goods train to Norramby, then take empty cars to Vicarstown, where he'd grab empty coal cars and go back to the coal mines. Nonstop.
In the same way, both Whiff and Scruff had to work hard collecting rubbish from all over the island, then making plenty of runs to the smelters and the Recycling Plant because PEOPLE CAN'T SORT THEIR TRASH!
Toby had also grown tired of moving stone from the quarries, even though he wouldn't let Mavis help him, as much as she insisted.
So it's fitting that all three's boiler expired that year.
Sir Richard Hatt, being the meticulous and up-to-date man he is, has an alarm set for each of his steam engines boiler certificates. And he was quite upset when he found out the three hard-working engines (Neville, Whiff, and Toby) were going to have to be out of service for the next months. So he had to get other engines...
D40125 was not happy to be on this scrap-heap of an island again. Last time he'd come, he'd gone through the wall at Tidmouth Sheds. Now he had to fill in for one of the engines for what, a year?
He turned around at Wellsworth like he was told to, but was less than amused at the branch line he was on.
"Are you sure this is the right track, driver? It seems like a bit of a branch line," he stated blantantly. As he rounded the bend, the township of Miner's Halt appeared, only reinforcing his argument.
"We're in the right place, ol' feller, just be glad you aren't near those filthy steam engines." His driver was also a steam hater, under the pretext that they weren't nearly as efficient as diesels, and thrice as dirty.
But when they arrived, D40125 spluttered at the sight of a coal mine! And not a coach to be seen!
"Cor! This isn't a passenger job is it? Now we have to take coal to feed those filthy steamies?"
The workmen nearby all whistled at the large diesel. The mine engineer arrived.
"Well," he examined the Class 40, "we weren't expecting such a... big engine. Now Neville isn't small, but I'm surprised you even got up here!"
"Don't underestimate diesel power!" grumbled D40125, "I can climb any gradient, the hill coming here was nothing!"
"Ah, you're strong then. In that case, you wouldn't mind taking more cars?"
"Me and my big mouth," he thought. "Of course we can," he said confidently, "I'm a diesel."
"Come on, ol' boy," said his driver, "let's show this island what diesel power can do!"
A young diesel shunter by the name of Larry was already had at wok at the waste dump with Scruff. The two spent all day biffing the trucks about, and getting all dirty. That is, until the purple diesel arrived.
D1052 "Western Viceroy" was a diesel bought by the North Western before it was scrapped. It is kind of like the envoy from Sodor, doing odd jobs around the Lake Region and delivering trains at Vicarstown when no one is about. Western Viceroy is always the first the Fat Controller calls on for secretive projects or otherwise distant trains. And now he was here. Every week he pulled in with a long train of rubbish from the mainland, and would harrass the steam engines.
"Ah, I see one of those scruffy-looking engines was scrapped. Good riddance, I say."
"Who're you calling scruffy-looking?" asked Scruff ironically.
"Steam engines are really useful, too!" said Larry indignantly. "They're just as useful as us diesel engines!"
"Ha, you've fallen to this island's propaganda, I see. No matter, a tiny little shunter like you isn't worth my time here anyway."
"Why you-" shouted Larry, and biffed the trucks hard. They impacted with Western Viceroy, and trash flew all over him!
"Pah!" he spluttered. "Why you-"
Western Viceroy chased after Larry through the yard, and quickly had him cornered against some points.
"All right, shorty, it's time for your lights to go out. No one disrespects me: I'm one of Diesel 10's main hands, and-"
He never finished his sentence. Larry had gotten away, and Scruff had shoved Western Viceroy onto the points. He skidded along the iron rails, sparks flying, and landed well a foot off the rails.
"I'll get you brats, and British Railway will too, you steamies will be scrapped I can give you that!"
But Scruff and Larry didn't listen.
"Ashima!" cried Thomas, Percy, and Flora all together.
"Thomas! I missed you all! I've been traveling the world for years now! It's good to be back at work again!
"Traveling the world? Haven't you been at your mountain railway?"
"Where? What mountain railway?"
"The Nilgiri Mountain Railway!"
"Oh! But that's a narrow gauge line! I'll explain..."
Ashima was very excited. She'd just come off the ship onto Bombay Docks. She'd been built in Winterthur, Switzerland for work in India. There were sections of track that needed rack-and-pinion engines, so the Swiss Locomotive and Machinery Co. was paid to build a few engines.
"Ah, the mountain engine. Get in steam and we'll get you a map."
"Was hast du gesagt?"
Did we mention Ashima only spoke German?
"Uh..." stammered the workman, "I have to get... something." And he ran off to find the dock manager.
"MISTERFOREMANSIRTHERESABIGPROBLEMTHENEWENGINEFORTHENILGIRILINEONLYSPEAKSGERMAN!"
"Wut?"
"The Class X from Switzerland; it only speaks German!"
"Ah, well of course. What did you expect? It was built in Switzerland."
"But the driver, won't he-"
"Indian Railways aren't complete arseholes, they've surely found someone with a grasp of German."
They didn't.
Ashima was getting a decent grasp of how the English language worked while she helped the men build the rack railway. They crossed rivers, blew through tunnels, but it was all, they'd find, in vain.
The engineer ran up from his hike.
"Stop the work! The terrace isn't wide enough for the railway!"
Ashima only understood two words of that: railway and stop.
As it had turned out, the land surveyors had, when they said a rack rail would be needed, hadn't specified that the line would have to be meter gauge. This was bad news, as they'd have to start all over again, and get a different set of engines!
Ashima's two sisters; Isha and Rumana, had been in production when the works got the message, but they finished them anyway before making the new Xs. The three engines were, as they say, all steamed up and nowhere to go. And they STILL couldn't speak English!
Ashima had been interrupted by Thomas' train leaving, so she'd kept the story for tonight. Meanwhile, D40125 was switched onto the Main Line. He would stop at Wellsworth and turn around there. But that wasn't on his mind at the moment.
"So, Old Stuck-Up! Decided you couldn't get enough of Sodor, eh?" The big class 40 grumbled at James' words.
"Well, it looks like you were so desperate to come, you accepted Neville's place. Well, gotta rush, my passengers have to get to the station on time. Tootles!"
D40125's face went red with anger.
He was still fuming when he got to Wellsworth. He uncoupled the train, but then realized there was a problem.
"Your line of cars is too long, it blocks the points, you'll have to move ahead to the next set of points," shouted the signalman from his box.
"Can't we just move it backwards?"
"Absolutely not. If you do that it'll block the points behind you, and after Gordon goes by, Edward has to cross those points. The next set of points is a mile away, you should hurry."
"What a fine day this is!" muttered D40125.
Gordon was racing along the line as usual. His passengers were singing his praises, and he was making good time.
He stopped at Wellsworth, but was taken aback by the trucks just sitting there.
"Ugh, can't Neville's replacement at least but them in a siding? The coal trucks is ruining my image. What would it look like of someone took a picture of me now? It'd look like I was at the coaling plant, and that would never do."
But Gordon finally steamed away towards Crosby.
D40125 had switched tracks and was heading back towards the station, when Gordon thundered past. The Class 40 shuddered, he deserved to be taking that train!
At Wellsworth, he coupled up to the rear of the train, and started out again. He passed Edward
"Grr," he thought, "there was plenty of time left. I didn't have to go a mile away to change the points." He arrived at the Docks in a bad mood.
"Ahoy there, me hearty!" greeted Salty. "We don't often see engines as big as you down here! It reminds me of a story..."
"Sod off, Salty," complained Cranky "we don't need to hear more of your tall tales!"
"Will you shut the **** up and let me tell my **** story! This one's real, when that ********** Gordon didn't like me so Karma decided to rain **** on him and so he tumbled his fat *** into a ****ing field!" screamed Salty, like a true sailor.
And Cranky was at a loss for words!
Western Viceroy pulled into the Dieselworks after being rescued by Diesel.
"Ah, Western Viceroy. Good news, I assume?"
"Good and bad, your excellency."
"Start with the good," said Dart.
"D40125 is on the island for Neville's overhaul. If we stage an attack now it'd be that much easier carry out."
"Ugh, we talked about this, there are no more attacks!" growled Diesel 10.
"The bad news is that a Class 6 has been signed on for Whiff's work, but he seems to be loyal to the steamies. The old teapot is gone for repairs as well, but the known shunter Ashima is taking his place."
"Splodge!" called Diesel 10.
They bumbled out of the shadows. "Yes, boss?"
"Splatter, find the Class 6-"
"Larry."
"-Larry, and invite him here. We'll fix him up. Dodge, take one of those crate disguises and spy on the pink one. Gather every thing we need to know about her."
"Right away, boss!" they chanted, followed by the large bang of Happy Hook messily putting the costume on Dodge.
D40125 had hatched a brilliant plan. He was going to hear about all the engine's most embarrassing stories, and spread them all across England so no one would take Sodor seriously. But he needed the Diesel Axis's help. He raced along the countryside with his slow hoods after Ballahoo, hoping to get a few minutes' chat at the Dieselworks.
"Ugh, more visitors? Did Western Viceroy forget his keys?"
"No sir, it's Old Stuck-Up," said Den.
"That's not my name! It's just steam engine propaganda!" he said. He faced Diesel 10. "D40125, or Picardy, and I have an idea. We find embarrassing stories about the steam engines, then release them to the world!"
"That would work, except for one tiny detail."
"What would that be, sir?"
"HAVEN'T YOU EVER HEARD OF THE RAILWAY SERIES? THE STEAM ENGINE'S ANTICS MADE THEM FAMOUS! THAT'S THE ONLY REASON STEAM IS STILL ALIVE HERE! Now get out of my sight, Pinchy gets hungry when he's sleepy."
Splatter had gotten to the Dump, and had waited for Scruff to leave. After waiting long enough for his entrance not to seem suspicious, he came in, pretending to be all happy.
"A new diesel engine! What's your name, little guy?"
"I'm older than you."
"Well, it's nice to meet you Amoldertanyu! Say, have you heard about our Dieselworks? You could go there to get a tune-up!"
"I had one before I came to the island, maybe later."
"You could have a new coat of paint!"
"I would, but it just get dirty again. I don't want to waste the railway's money on paintwork that'll last a good day."
"We're having a big party tonight!"
"I've never heard of engines having a party... and I'm busy tonight."
Splatter was fuming on the inside. He didn't like acting, and this little diesel wasn't making it easier.
"Maybe you could pick up our trash! We have lots of trash."
"Why do you want me to visit so much?"
"Because I really want to get to know you!"
"Well, it's weird. Please leave."
Splatter snapped.
"All right, you little ****, you're gonna come to the Dieselworks tonight or we'll come and get you and throw you into the scrapyards, and I have associates who'd... er, appreciate your contribution!"
"Contribute to what?" said Scruff. It appeared he'd only gone to Peel Godred and back.
"Contribute to our fantastically good-hearted fund for homeless puppies in Australia, of course!"
"Oh, I'm more of a cat person. Also, we don't have money. And why is a Sudric engine talking about an Australian pet fund?"
"Oops, gotta go, gotta see an engine about some hamsters!"
"Who's he?" asked Larry.
"I dunno. I've never seen him before."
Meanwhile, Dodge had hitch-hiked onto a train at Vicarstown and was now in the shunting yards at Knapford. Ashima and Thomas were shunting cars. Including Dodge.
"Ow!" he shouted. But all the other trucks yelped too, so the engines didn't take notice.
"Ashima, I won't be at Ffarquhar tonight, can you finish the story for me now?"
"Sure, Thomas," she laughed.
Ashima, Isha, and Rumana were being used as dockyard engines at Bombay, when an engine was lifted down. She was the same design as the other three, but a good bit smaller.
"Wilkommen!" cried Isha, who rushed to get a flatbed for them to load the newcomer on.
After they put down the engine, and she was chained down, Isha started asked questions.
"Wie heißen sie? Du bist unsere Schwester, nicht wahr?"
"Unsere? Gibt es noch mehr von euch?"
"Ja, aber wir müssen dich zu deiner neuen eisenbahn bringen."
"Oh."
The dockmen just stood there trying to figure out what was going on, as they usually did whenever one of the Xs spoke.
After their narrow gauge sister left, it was time to go to sleep. The other engines in the shed didn't really like their company, as they couldn't interact with them.
"I heard their line was supposed to be narrow gauge, and so they were sent back here."
"Shame, we don't need their help, we can shunt our own trains." Unlike their European counterparts, Indian tender engines felt no shame in shunting. However, this took tolls on the yards at large stations, as the tender engines would sloppily place their trucks and coaches into random sidings.
But all that changed when the dock manager came to Ashima, who had the best grasp of English.
"Ashima, we, no offense, are in no need of your work here. So we're sending you and some to the stations to arrange the yards."
"Yes, we understand, sir," she replied.
The next day, she left for Madras with a goods train. She enjoyed the run, it was just right for her wheels. But when she arrived at the yards, she lost hope.
"Oh dear," she announced in English because I'm too lazy to continue using Google Translate, "how will I ever organize this yard?"
"We'll just have to work as hard as we can, and not give up," said her driver.
If you climb the highest mountain,
Cross the river deep,
Maybe you'll find it's never as easy
As it first appears,
as it first appears
Just remember not to worry,
Or get down at heart
Never lose faith in positive thinking
You'll be amazed when you achieve
All the things you start,
All the things you start. So,
Never, never, never give up even though the going's tough
Don't stop trying, when you're tiring, and you're out of puff
No, never, never, never give up even though you're feeling rough
If at first you don't succeed, never, never, never give up
If at first you don't succeed, Then try and try again
Nothing in life is ever as easy
But you get there in the end,
get there in the end,
So blow your cares and woes behind you
Start a brand new day
Nothing can stop you reaching your goal
If you're determined, you can do it
You will find a way, you will find a way. So,
Never, never, never give up even though the going's tough
Don't stop trying, when you're tiring, and you're out of puff
No, never, never, never give up even though you're feeling rough
If at first you don't succeed, never, never, never give up!
The yard was all sorted by the end of the day. Ashima's work was shown, and the bigger engines thanked her greatly in the sheds that night.
Ashima was sleeping in a siding one day when the manager walked up.
"We have some new engines working at different stations around the line. We thought you could teach them how to keep a yard clean. The others will be as neat as they can while you're gone."
"Of course, sir," she said.
The next morning, she arrived at Tripetty, where a small, bubbly steam engine was waiting.
"Hello, are you Ashima? I heard you're a very good shunter!"
"Actually, I've only been in steam for a year and a half. But thank you."
"It doesn't matter how old you are," puffed the tank engine, "It's about your accomplishments and how well you do your job! That's what my driver said."
"I suppose so. Anyhow, let's get to those trucks.
Splatter rolled back into the Dieselworks with the good news.
"The little diesel's coming tonight. We'll be ready for him, won't we?"
"Uh... yes. When he gets here we'll put him on the turntable and interrogate him."
"What do we need to know, boss?" asked Bert excitedly.
"Uh, whatever we need," replied Diesel 10. He wouldn't tell them that he didn't really have a major scheme for all this. He just liked pretending they were the Mafia.
Picardy's train left Vicarstown slowly but surely. The empty coal cars giggled and rattled behind him.
"Silly Diesel 10," he muttered to himself, "I had a good plan. Those Dieselworks diesels think they're the ones with power. I'll show them, I'll show them."
Then an idea was picked up by his air intake.
"I know, I'll take over the coaling plant, then none of the engines will have coal, and diesels will triumph at last!" And he raced to the dusty, rural yard to put his flawless plan into action.
Ashima was surprised at how quickly they got the trucks sorted out, but she was even more surprised that the younger tank engine couldn't keep up!
"Are you all right?" she asked the wheezing engine.
"Yes," he panted, "it's just that you work so swiftly, I can't keep up for the life of me."
Ashima didn't understand, no one had ever Taught her how to shunt. It didn't seem fair that another engine couldn't do what came naturally to her. But she wasn't a teacher by any means, so all she could do was help.
At the next station, Ashima met another small engine of the same class. And to her amazement, she couldn't keep up either! Nor could the next engine! When she got back to Madras, she was really wondering why she was so good at shunting compared to the others.
"Ah, Ashima!" called one if the tender engines, "can you get my coaches, the cream ones?"
"Yes, just a moment," she called back, chuffing into the yards. But as she rounded the bend, she saw that the yard was just as disorganized as it was when she first arrived! Each coach was comically at different ends of the yard!
"Aaaaaauuuuuugh!" cried Ashima, and proceeded to shunt away tankers and flatbeds.
The express to Bombay was late. The passengers fumed loudly on the platform, as the engine waited impatiently at the platform.
Just then, the coaches rolled up, followed by Ashima's gray and purple figure. Once the Express left, the stationmaster came up to Ashima. He was a nice man, who knew how to speak to engines. He also knew what Ashima was capable of.
"Ashima, I'm sorry we asked you to leave today. Would you like to stay here permanently?"
"Yes sir, and tomorrow morning the yard will be spic and span, sir!"
"I should hope so," he winked.
The week the railway inspectors arrived. They inspected everything from the bottoms of the benches to the polish of the steel holding up the glass canopy. Ashima was nervous.
"What if the inspectors don't think I do a good enough job?" she whinpered.
"They won't," soothed her fireman, winking at the driver.
Th Railway Inspectors were astonished at the neat and tidyness of Madras yard.
"Stupendous!"
"Stupefying!"
"Spectacular!"
"Where is the engine and crew taking care of the yard? I want to congratulate them personally!" said the fatter inspector. The stationmaster pointed to the siding where the Class X stood in wait of more cars. The inspectors ran up.
"You have done a wonderful job, er, Ashima," said the thin inspector, looking at the nameplate of her side. "As a reward, we'd like to give you a new coat of paint worthy of a shunter like you."
"But, but..." she stammered, "I did not do anything!"
"Really? This is the cleanest yard I've ever seen! That's certainly worthy of recognition."
"Be proud of yourself, Ashima," said the driver. "we did a great job and we earned this."
"Well, all right," she said quietly.
"Come to Bombay tomorrow, we'll have you painted nice and prettily."
When Ashima returned, the other engines were very jealous of her paint, but the female engines more violently.
"How come she gets fancy paint when we barely get a nameplate?"
"She's only a little tank engine, after all."
"She must think she's better than us!"
"We'll teach her, we'll teach her!"
That night the female tender engines stood at the points leading to the sheds and blew soot and steam at Ashima when she tried to come in. Ashima had a coughing fit.
"Why *cough, cough* won't you let me *cough, cough, cough, cough* sleep here?"
"You conceited little engine, thinking you're better than us. Why din't you go sleep in your palace?"
"I have no such thing! And I'm not conceited! I didn't do anything!"
"Get out!"
Ashima began to cry, and raced away to the sidings.
"Why do the other engines hate me?" she cried, "I didn't do anything!" Then her sadness turned to anger, and she started to whistle loudly. The trucks began to wake up and complain, and Ashima started to cry again. Te incompassionate trucks fell asleep once more.
Many years later, the war had just ended, and steam was abundant. New engines had been built throughout the war, and steam enthusiasts were eager to see new models from around the world. And with that, a new event was formed: a quad-yearly competition called The Great Railway Show. The first one was an instant success, with Mallard winning the Great Race, and the Brazilian Raul winning the shunting conpetition. The best part though, was Carlos of Mexico, who won many trials in Mexico but was a bit old, facing off against massive 15Fs and 9Fs. Needless to say, he lost (followed by a lecture on how times are a-changin' and how he was the strongest in his day and he should be respected for that). But the next one was going to have to be better, no doubt. The world must know about this event!
So 3 and a half years later, the Indian Controller came to speak with Ashima. Over the years, Ashima's German accent had morphed into an Indian (because), her shunting had improved to better than it was before, and the tender engines still disliked her... for some reason. Hey, I don't make this stuff up; I just write it down.
"Ashima, would you like to go to the Great Railway Show? I think your adeptness at shunting might win a challenge, and you certainly will win the new Best Decorated Engine contest!"
"Oh, yes please sir!" she puffed, "But who will look after my yard?"
"Another tank engine will come. It's not you, but remember when yoh left for a day in the 10s? You'll be gone for a month! We can't have Madras yard be in that state, can we? An engine is bettter than no engine at all."
Ashima was about to whistle happily, but she saw the blue tender engine rounding the corner, eyeing Ashima closely.
"Controller's favorite, that's what she is!" she fumed. She rolled into the station, where her jet-black friend with brass linings stood. They talked for a bit.
"We'll show that Ashima a lesson, that silly little engine," they finally repeated together.
"Have you heard," asked one of the male engines, "that Ashima is going to the Great Railway Show! How exciting!"
The following incident lives in infamy as "The Cloud inside Madras Station," as both the engines' safety valves burst and made a cloud inside the glass ceiling, but only after trains were halted due passengers fleeing the platform and drivers not being able to see the guard.
Picardy arrived at the coaling plant, and quickly set to work. He shunted a line of trucks, and then ran them over the points. The troublesome trucks laughed and giggled at the plan.
"You silly great engine!" called out the workmen. "Now we'll have to call for Harvey or a breakdown train!" And they did.
But as they did that, Picardy climbed up to the mouth of the mine. There is a mechanism there that pulls up trucks with rope. Picardy planned to biff the trucks into the mine, but he didn't know they were attached. He sent the cars rolling down the mine. No one even took notice.
"On!"
"On!"
"Faster!"
"FASTER!" the coal cavalcade yelled.
Suddenly, the rope ran out, and the empty trucks were stopped deep in the dark depths of the mine.
"Aw, man!" they cried.
Picardy rolled into a siding, and his driver plugged his ears.
But of course, nothing was heard.
As he moved around the yard, biffing trucks, he came across a large transplant machine. It lifted up the smaller mine trucks and emptied them into a hopper, to be placed in standard NWR trucks. He decided to jam it. He shunted one of the many Fred Pelhay trucks onto the platform, and watched it go up. The workmen cried out to the operator to stop, but he couldn't see. The tall truck got smashed by the walls, and then got stuck.
"That diesel's doing it on purpose!" cried a miner.
"Stop him!"
Picardy grabbed a strange pink wagon, and pushed it into the well where the platform would be, to ensure it would be stuck. The workmen swarmed around him. That was when Harvey's whistle tooted.
Picardy raced through the yards to have a hiding spot. The workmen and the miners jumped out of the way, and Picardy sat in a small shed. Harvey was cleaning up the mess quickly, so Picardy raced forward, smashing through the rubble.
"You won't liberate your coaling plant!"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Charge!"
"Wha- er- aaaah!" Harvey raced away, Picardy in hot pursuit.
It's probably safe to say that the villagers at Miner's Halt didn't wake up that morning expecting to see a Class 40 chasing a crane engine.
Larry oiled into the Dieselworks's desolate crater. A raven squawked, and he shuddered. He stopped outside the doors of the main shed.
"Come in, come in, join the party Laaaaarry!" laughed Diesel 10 from inside. Just then, two black and yellow diesels rolled up alongside him, nudging him in. The Dieselworks was ominous, and Larry didn't enjoy it. He recognized Diesel as the engine who brought Rocky to put Western Viceroy back onto the rails. He also spotted a green 08 sleeping in the background (this island had a lot of 08s), and two other diesels on the siding above him. The ground began to shake, and Larry rose up into the air. A crane turned off the lights, and shone a light at a big claw, which began to pinch at him. The light revealed Diesel 10, who eyed Larry powerfully. The other diesels just watched.
The Warship class rolled back into the shadows, and the lights went off. Small lights illuminated who we know as Den and Dart.
"State your name and purpose," Den quoted from the then non-existent Rogue One.
"Good glory, stop playing with the lights!" called a workman, switching the lights back to bright.
"Damn it, you workmen have one job! To shut up!" screamed Diesel 10. The whole scene was ruined.
Paxton'd woken up. "Hey, no one told me there was a new diesel! Hello, new diesel!"
"Boss, there's a crate headed our way."
"Get the 06 off the platform: Dodge has news."
Happy Hook swung his hook to reveal the olive colored diesel. The turntable turned him to face Diesel 10.
"What news have you? What do we know about Ashima?"
"A spies dream, sir; she told her whole backstory right in front of me. She was built as standard gauge by accident, then was a really good shunter, but all the engines were jealous of her paint, she was sent to the Great Railway show, bullied, then was helped by a steamie named Gina, then went back to the next Great Railway show and met Thomas."
"That is something," remarked Den.
"So... she's troubled and has deep inner trauma? Splendid!" cackled Diesel 10.
"Well, not really. It sounds like she's over that now. I also heard something from the other engines about her helping Thomas get through trauma."
"We knew that!" put in Diesel. "When Thomas had a hissy fit about the Great Railway Show."
"Diesel, YOU had a hissy fit over the Great Railway Show!" retorted Paxton. The shed filled with laughter.
"Can I go now?" asked Larry.
Dodge slid into the place where he always slept. "Oh, and Thomas is gone from the branch line tonight. Who knows what he's doing?"
"That's strange," said Diesel 10, his claw grabbing the mouse to the computer. "That should be on the NWR's website, but it isn't. Let's spy on him, and see what he's up to." And they did.
Picardy, however, was not lucky today. The Fat Controller had been at Knapford, and ordered the Class 40 to be flagged down. The Fat Controller was not pleased.
"D40125! What is the meaning of this? Right after being telephoned by the Coaling Plant for your inexcusable behavior, I got called by the Crosby Stationmaster alerting me to your chase. To say I regret hiring you is an understatement." He turned to think. "I'm sending you back to the mainland, but another engine will have to be hired on. Since you cannot be here any longer, you may leave as soon as you can."
D40125 had just rolled to the fueling depot to have a long drink, when Diesel and Dodge rolled in with large trucks. They had heard everything.
"So, Old Stuck-Up, been disgraced again? Takes nerve to be sent away from Sodor twice!"
"I take it you have lots of it, then? I've lost count of how many times you've been sent away!" chuffed Thomas, rolling up alongside. "I still don't understand why you're here."
"Never mind that," fumed Diesel, "anyway, it's good you're here Thomas; these cars need to be taken to the top of your branch line."
"At this hour? I need to sleep you know! Ask Stafford to arrange them, and I might get someone to take them."
"Might? Are you saying my cargo isn't important enough for your God-forsaken branch?"
"Maybe I am? So what? It's not like you're particularly trustworthy, and neither are you Dodge. And I'm particularly wary of those freight cars. Those look like the cars you used to break my bufferbeam before Sodor's first Great Railway Show. The only thing stopping me from looking under those crates to make sure there aren't diesels under there is that I know you're devious, but not stupid. You wouldn't try a failed trick again." He turned to the other engines in the yard.
"Goodnight, Stafford! Goodnight Charlie!" He heard a whistle and a honk in return.
Diesel and Dodge went with Picardy to sleep away from Knapford Sheds.
The Hackenbeck Goods Yard has a double-berthed shed next to the sidings. Thomas and Ashima had decided that they were going to sleep there for tonight, much to the dismay, curiosity, and anger of Percy, Flora, and Rosie respectively. But as it happened, Stafford had beckoned Charlie's help to double head the train of spies to the Goods Yard. And that's when the plan came to action.
After Charlie and Stafford left, the diesels positioned themselves into different sidings, unaware that Thomas and Ashima were in the shed.
"What do you think we should do, boss?" asked Splatter.
"Should we go up to Ffarquhar?" asked 'Arry.
"No, we'll split up here and hope to get interactions of the two supposed lovebirds," said Diesel 10. His disguise was the most interesting. He had a metal shell resembling a refrigerator van. But the roof opened up to reveal his claw when it was needed. Thinking no one was around, he tested this mechanism. Pinchy loudly clicked and snapped.
"Thomas, what was that?"
"I don't know. It sounds familiar, but-"
They were both shushed by the sound of "Shh"s coming from outside.
"Must be trucks," yawned Ashima.
"Trucks don't tell each other to be quiet, something is up."
He opened the door to see the trucks from before.
"Botheration! It IS you!"
If he had any doubts, they were quickly tackled by the trucks each trying to get out of the yard. Diesel 10 stayed still.
Just then, Percy came through with the mail train.
"Get out of my way!" he yelled.
The diesels were chased down the line until they veered onto a different line at Elsbridge.
"Darn! How could we have known he was there?" said Norman.
"Diesel 10 is still there, we can shed these disguises and head back home. We'll hear from him in the morning."
Den meanwhile, was at the Dieselworks, not about to let Larry escape. Not that he was trying, both Larry and Paxton were fast asleep. When he saw the armada of diesels coming back to the sheds, he was pretty surprised.
"Er... what happened?"
"I'll tell you what happened, we went into some sidings at Hackenbeck, but it turned out Thomas was in a shed in the yard! He chased all but boss out."
"Ah, then can't-"
"Yeah, he'll be spying himself. But here's the best part: you know how Dennis' crate had a hole?"
"Yeah?"
"Turned out he saw Ashima in the shed with Thomas."
"Which means you owe me a tune-up Den!"
"What?"
"Actually," added Splatter, "Diesel'll need to do my work for one day. He said Thomas would end up with Rosie."
"And Daisy said that too! She'll be so mad!"
"Wait," asked Paxton groggily. The engines had woken him up. "You made BETS on who Thomas liked?!"
The Dieselworks went silent.
Diesel 10 returned moments later.
"The silly blue puffball found me out too," he mumbled, rolling into his armored shed without a word from anyone."
Thomas and Ashima never found out that the diesels were there for them. As the other engines figured their relationship out, lots of bets were won and lost. During this time, James was able to pull the express for a month, Henry had to do Bear's jobs for the same month, and Duck had to fork over his auto-coaches to Ryan (Isabel and Dulcie liked this. "Duck's a splendid engine, but Ryan runs so smoothly! And anyway, Duck's cheating on us with those show-off Slip Coaches!" they tittered).
And whatever happened to Picardy? He was sent away, and scrapped at the very scrapyards that he'd once sent steam engines to. The Fat Controller gave Neville's jobs to other engines, and brought in a tank engine to serve the smaller jobs that the engine's couldn't do. But I can't say more, or I'll ruin an upcoming story...