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Chapter 25: Off the Rails
One day Gordon was resting in his engine's cab.
"Sometimes," he thought to himself, "It can be really tiring driving such a large and splendid engine. One must keep up appearances so." As he was about to fall asleep, however…
"Hello fatface!" Henry said as he blew his engine's whistle, startling Gordon. Henry thought he was funny, but Gordon was not amused in the slightest.
"How dare he do that to me?" Gordon said indignantly, "Me, who has never had an accident while driving my train!"
"What about the time your engine burst its safety valve?" asked Percy as he collected a group of coaches, "Or the time its whistle got jammed?"
"I wouldn't call those accidents," said Gordon, "Besides; those could happen to any engine driver. But to come off the rails like Henry's did, well I ask you: is it right? Is it Decent?"
It was Henry's turn to take the express.
"Be careful on the line today, Henry," he told him, "You're not taking The Flying Kipper now. Mind you keep on the rails today."
Henry paid him no mind, and as soon as the guard blew his whistle he drove the train out of the yard. Gordon went back to sleep, but a few minutes later the yard foreman came up to him.
"Wake up, Gordon," he told him, "There's a special going out in a few minutes, and Sir Topham Hatt wants you to take it."
"Is it coaches or trucks?" Gordon asked sleepily.
"Trucks," replied the foreman. That woke Gordon up in an instant. Gordon hated goods trains. He felt that his engine was to high class to be seen pulling them.
"Yes, trucks," said the foreman, "Best get going, now. It will be ready in a few minutes."
Gordon grumbled and got his engine ready, all the while thinking of how to get out of the predicament. The engine's fire was slow to start, so Edward had to give it a push to the turntable.
"I won't do it, I won't do it," said Gordon crossly.
"Don't be silly, don't be silly," said Edward. Soon they reached the sheds. Edward pushed Gordon's engine on to the turntable, then left to get back to his branchline. The movement had shaken the fire. It was now burning nicely, and making lots of steam. As the operator moved the turntable, an idea came to Gordon. He waited until the turntable was halfway around, and then set the engine into motion to jam it. Unfortunately he could not stop it in time and it slithered into a muddy ditch. Gordon managed to climb out, but his engine was stuck.
"Help!" he called, but there was nothing he or the turntable operator could do at the moment.
The yard manager phoned Sir Topham Hatt.
"So Gordon didn't want to take the train and got his engine stuck in a ditch? What? The special's waiting? Edward will have to take? As for Gordon? Leave his engine there; we don't have time to deal with it."
Soon some schoolboys found Gordon.
"Look at this big engine and its silly driver," they said, "They'll never get him out."
They then started to sing.
"Silly old Gordon fell in a ditch,
Fell in a ditch,
Fell in a ditch.
Silly old Gordon fell in a ditch,
All on a Monday Morning."
The school bell soon rang and they ran, leaving Gordon all alone.
"Oh dear," he thought, "My engine shall never get out."
Later that evening, workmen came to free it. Using cranes they lifted it out, and then lay down sleepers to keep it from the mud. Strong ropes were fastened to its back end, and James and Henry used their engines to pull it out.
Gordon didn't get much sleep that night, as he dreaded what Sir Topham Hatt would say the next morning.