Sliding Rails
One particular day, James was pulling a goods train. This isn't really one of his favorite jobs on the railway, but he had to do it nonetheless. "Ugh, brother," mumbled James.
"Don't worry, James," his driver said, encouraging him, "You've done jobs like this many times before." "Yeah, thanks for reminding me," replied James in a dull tone. Soon, James arrived at the station that required the goods.
"Here, here," said James, uninterested, "Ready to have the trucks unloaded, please start whenever you're ready." So the men set to work unloading the trucks. Just then, Satsuki arrived with her goods train.
"Hello, Satsuki," said James dully. "Hey, James," Satsuki replied, "Down because you're stuck with a goods train?" "Yeah," answered James sulkily, "You can say that a lot of times. I have no problem with it right now. So I'll get my next goods train going really fast!"
"What?" asked Satsuki, "Another goods train for you, and you want to get that one done as soon as possible?" "Right!" replied James, "I'm going to get that job done as fast as I can!" "You'd better take care," said Satsuki, "Or you'll have an accident." "I know," replied James, "I can take care of myself."
"I'm not sure about that," his driver replied, "And I'm not sure about this strategy of yours." "Don't worry," smiled James, "I can handle it." "If you say so," said Rebecca as she left. "I will," said James, proudly.
So when James finished with his first goods train, he then set off with his next goods train. "Now I'll see how fast I can go!" said James. The moment he left the goods yards, he began to speed up a bit.
"Whoa, James," said his driver, "Steady now!" "I will!" replied James happily. "Calm down," the firemen replied, "Take it easy James!" "All right!" replied James and began to slow down.
But later, he picked up speed again. "James!" called the driver. "I know," replied James. He wanted to get the job done quickly unlike the last job. Then trouble happened. The signal suddenly turned red. "What's going on?" asked James. "Something must have happened up ahead," said the driver. He slammed on the brakes and they worked really well.
But then, there was a loud crack and a bump and James started to go fast again. Not only that, there is also a loud screeching sound. "This is impossible!" cried James. He looked down and saw that some the rails in front of him.
"I think I'm on a set of rails!" said James. It turned out that James stopped so hard that the rails his driver wheels were on had broken off and now he is sliding down the railway like a skier.
He then saw the express up ahead, being pulled by Gordon. Right now, Gordon stopped at a red signal. "I can't stop!" cried James. He ended up bumping into the express. "Oh!" cried Gordon, "What was that?!"
The coachers were shaken, but not damaged at all. Also, James and his goods train weren't damaged at all, but they derailed. "Now look at what happened!" the driver scolded. "I know," James said meekly. Gordon's crew comforted the passengers who had been shaken. James' driver and firemen walked back to where the problem had started.
They found that some of the rails are missing and there were dents at the edge of the existing rails. "How did this happen?" asked the firemen.
"Probably another engine must have pounded at these rails too hard," suggested the driver, "And it weakened the joints where the rails connect. So when James was going fast at first, then I slammed on the brakes at the signal, he stopped too hard and it weakened the rails, causing them to break free."
"Well, that's a good theory," said the firemen. Soon, Harvey and Gloria arrived with Rocky the crane to lift James and his trucks back onto the rails. Also, Percy arrived with the Fat Controller.
"Well, well, well," he said, "James, what is this all about?" "Going too fast?" answered James, "Skiing down the railway?" "Right," replied the Fat Controller, "You need to have your wheels and your brakes checked out now." "Yes, sir," replied James. Gordon was able to leave with his express very easily.
Hours later, James had his wheels checked out. "No serious damage," said Victor, "But next time, leave the skiing activity up to the professionals." "Yes, Victor," replied James. Just then, Satsuki arrived.
"Hello, James," she said, "Did you finish your job like you planned?" "No," answered James, "Had a mishap." "I head that you were great at skiing," Satsuki said in a joking tone of voice. "True," replied James, "I won't do that again." "Tell you what," said Satsuki, "You want to come and help me with my next train?"
"Sure," answered James, "Is it a goods train?" "Yes," replied Satsuki. "Hmm," thought James, "I'll go with that. Let's go together!" "Race you there!" smiled Satsuki.
Eventually, the rails where James had started his skiing mishap have been replaced and the railway had stricter and vigilant check up to make sure what James had gone through never happens again.
For the rest of the day, Satsuki and James had fun with their trains. But James only talks about skiing if they are done by professional skiers.
