Disclaimer: I do not own Thomas the Tank Engine in any shape or form.
Chapter 20: The Flying Kipper
One winter evening, as Henry was putting the fire out in his engine, the yard foreman came up to him.
"You're to wake up early tomorrow, Henry," he told him, "Sir Topham Hatt wants you to take the Flying Kipper tomorrow morning." He looked around to make sure no one else was there, then continued, "Don't tell Gordon this, but if you do it well enough Sir Topham Hatt just might let you pull the express."
"Oh, that will be lovely," said Henry, "Don't worry. Sir Topham Hatt can rely on me."
At five in the morning Henry arrived at the Harbor. The harbor is where ships of all sorts come to unload. Everything from cargo ships to passenger ships to fishing boats come here. Fishermen leave their catches at the key, where it is transported to places all over. Some of it goes to shops in the nearby town, and the rest gets taken on a train to other places on Sodor and even the mainland. This train doesn't have an official name, but the railway men have taken to calling it "The Flying Kipper."
Henry was rather impatient when he drove his engine into the docks and saw that the train still wasn't ready.
"Come on, come on," he told the workmen. Usually these workmen, who were part of the Sledgehammers, would not like being bossed around by the engine drivers and would find a way to pay them out. But it was early and they wanted to get back to bed, so they decided to let it slide for once.
At last the last crate of fish was loaded into the vans, the guard shown his green lamp, and Henry was ready to leave. With a blast of his engine's whistle, he was off.
The trip went well for a while. All of his deliveries were right on time, and he even got to see the sunrise. But danger lay ahead as they approached Barrow n-Furness. A goods train headed for London had been diverted into a siding to let Henry and his train through. Unfortunately, the points had frozen in that position and snow prevented the signalman from raising the signal to danger. The driver was in the breakvan having tea with the guard, unaware of the impending danger.
"You best get back to the cab," said the guard, "The Kipper will be passing any minute."
"Oh, we've still got plenty of time," said the driver, "Besides, this is good cocoa."
"You have a job to do, so I suggest you do it," said the guard. The driver, seeing that he couldn't win, slugged his way back to the cab. The guard was about to clean up when he heard shouting. He rushed outside to see the signalman waving a red flag as Henry's engine approached. Seeing that an accident was inevitable, he jumped clear in the nick of time.
Henry was not so fortunate. He had seen the red flag, but could not break in time, and before he could jump clear, the trains collided, knocking him unconscious. When he woke up, he found himself in the hospital. The doctor explained that along with a concussion he had caught mild pneumonia and would have to stay in the hospital until they could be sure that he had healed properly. Sir Topham Hatt came to see him later that day
"I'm sorry, sir," he began, "The signal was down."
"Don't worry, Henry, I know it wasn't your fault," Sir Topham Hatt said kindly, "Your engine wasn't damaged to badly, but I do believe it's due for a change. I've sent it to Crewe, where they'll give it a new shape. It won't even need welsh coal anymore. Won't that be lovely?"
"Yes, sir," Henry said, although secretly he was rather worried that it would not work out.
When he did return to work, however, he found that he rather enjoyed the engine's new shape. It could now work with regular coal, and it wasn't breaking down constantly. True to his word, Sir Topham Hatt did indeed let Henry take the express. He drove it so well that even Gordon was jealous. But That's another story.