Sir Handel's Bad Luck Day

Today is an ordinary day on the Skarloey Railway. Sir Handel enjoys pulling Gertrude and Millicent on the Skarloey railway. He considers them to be the only express coaches on the railway. "That's my conclusion," Sir Handel said to the other engines. The other engines groaned.

But the day was going to change for Sir Handel. An hour later, Sir Handel was about to take Gertrude and Millicent out for another round. "Let's go," Sir Handel said as soon as he was coupled up to them.

But when Sir Handel steamed off, the coupling broke instantly. "What the?" Sir Handel exclaimed. "What happened?" the firemen asked as Sir Handel backed up to the coaches. "The coupling broke," the guard called out. "Ok," the firemen said, "Stop Sir Handel. "I can't!" the driver called out, the throttle won't respond.

"Why can't I stop?!" Sir Handel cried. He ended up bumping into Gertrude and Millicent, hitting them hard. "Ouch!" they both groaned. That was when the driver could close the throttle. "What was that all about?" the driver said. The guard examined the two coaches. "Oh dear," the guard said, "Undercarriage damage."

"Sorry, Sir Handel," the driver said, "You can't take the coaches out today." "Bother!" Sir Handel shouted. So Sir Handel had to take ordinary coaches instead. "Cattle trucks, cattle trucks," Sir Handel groaned. He was quiet so that the coaches couldn't hear him. Sir Handel carried on with his job with the regular coaches like normal.

However, when Sir Handel tried to stop at the station, he couldn't. "Now what?" Sir Handel asked. Sir Handel ended up chugging past the station. He didn't stop until he was well beyond the station platform. "What is going on?" Sir Handel asked. "I don't know," the driver said, "The brakes wouldn't respond in time."

"This is weird," Sir Handel said. Eventually, Sir Handel backed up to the platform to let the passengers on board. But Sir Handel jerked forwards just before the last of the passengers could get on board. "What are you doing?" Sir Handel asked his driver. "I didn't do anything," Sir Handel's driver replied.

"Neither did I," the firemen said. "What?" Sir Handel said. Soon, Sir Handel started as soon as everyone is on board. But the journey didn't last long as Sir Handel stopped in the middle of the line. "What's going on?" Sir Handel asked. "I don't know," the driver said, "The steam is normal."

"I don't see any damage to your wheels," the firemen said, getting down to check Sir Handel's wheels. No one could find any damage to Sir Handel. "Well," Sir Handel said, "Come on, let's go." "All right," the driver said, getting Sir Handel ready to go. But nothing happened. "Now what?" Sir Handel groaned.

The passengers were starting to get worried. Soon enough, Rheneas arrived to help Sir Handel to the next station. "Come on, old boy," Rheneas said, "Let's go." "I'm not old," Sir Handel retorted.

However, as they were pulling along, the coupling between Sir Handel and his coaches broke apart, leaving all of the passengers stranded in the middle of nowhere. The engines and their crew did not notice this at all until they've reached the station. "Hello," the stationmaster said.

"Hey," Rheneas said, "Sorry we're late." "I don't know what happened," Sir Handel said, "But we've arrived with the passenger train." "Where are your coaches then?" the stationmaster asked.

"WHAT?!" Sir Handel screamed as they realized what happened. "How?" Rheneas asked. "We must have left them behind by accident," Sir Handel's firemen said, "We must go back for them." Then suddenly, hot smoke bellowed from Sir Handel's firebox. "Now what?" Sir Handel cried.

"I don't know what is happening," the firemen said, choking from the smoke, "That's it!" Immediately, Rheneas pulled Sir Handel out of the station platform and shunted him onto a siding. The Station Master decided to send Rusty to collect the passenger train stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Soon, the crew put out Sir Handel's fire and he finally cooled down just as Rusty arrived with the passenger train. "Whew!" Rusty said, "The guard said he is exhausted because he had to calm all of the angry passengers down. They were all saying this is a bad railway."

"More like an unorganized railway, if you ask me," Rusty's driver said. Soon, Skarloey arrived with the Thin Controller. "Sir Handel," he said, "What is going on with you today?" "I don't know," Sir Handel answered. "I can guess," a voice called. It is Duncan. "Sir Handel," Duncan said, "Are you having a bad luck day?"

"Looks like it," Sir Handel answered. "Enough," the Thin Controller boomed, "Skarloey, take Sir Handel back to his shed. I'll figure this out." "Yes, sir," Skarloey answered. But just as he was about to be coupled up to Sir Handel, a loud crack happened. The crew examined what happened.

"A trailing wheel broke," Skarloey's firemen said. "Bother!" Skarloey groaned. "See?" Duncan said, "I told you so!"

"Enough!" the Thin Controller shouted. "I'll do it," Rheneas said. So Rheneas took Sir Handel back to his shed. He stayed there for the rest of the day. "I don't know what happened," Sir Handel thought to himself, "If what Duncan said what is true, then this is a case of bad luck for me. Maybe I need to rest."

So Sir Handel took a nap for the rest of the day. At night, the sound of the other engines returning home had awaken him. "Hey, everyone," Sir Handel said. "Hey," Peter Sam said. "Nice to see you," Duke said. "Don't get close to Sir Handel!" Duncan said, "He has bad luck!"

"Yeah, thanks for that reminder," Sir Handel said, "Say, Rheneas, how is Skarloey?" "He'll be fine," Rheneas said, "My brother is not going to let a broken wheel stop him." "That's good to know," Sir Handel said, "I need to stop thinking about today." So Sir Handel went back to sleep.

The next morning, Sir Handel woke up to start a new day. "I hope it'll be a better one," Sir Handel said to himself. "Or not!" Duncan said as he left for work. "I hope not," Sir Handel said.

He started his first morning passenger train duty. On his way, he saw Skarloey back and running. "Skarloey," Sir Handel said, "Are you okay?" "Yes, I am!" Skarloey answered excitedly, "A new wheel and there I go!"

"That's good to know," Sir Handel said, "Glad to see you back in working service. Sorry about what happened yesterday. You too, Rheneas." "No problem," Rheneas said as he left with his first train.

Soon, Skarloey and Sir Handel had started their jobs as well. "Please don't let anything go wrong," said Sir Handel. "I hope so, too," his driver replied. Sir Handel left with his first train. And this time, nothing went wrong.

The Thin Controller was there. "Well," he said, "Sir Handel, I see that you are in a better mood today." "Yeah," Sir Handel replied, "I am going to do a good job today. Better than yesterday." "I'll be looking forward to that," the Thin Controller said as he left. "You can be sure of that," Sir Handel said.

Then Sir Handel heard a loud crash. He looked and saw that Duncan had crashed into a slate truck. "Looks like the tables had turned, Duncan," Sir Handle said. "Ugh," Duncan groaned. "Looks like today will be a good day," Sir Handel said. And the rest of the day had gone very well for Sir Handel.