Chapter 128: Frank

Mr. Fergus Duncan came to the engine sheds with a wide smile on his face.

"Do you all remember when The Thin and Fat Clergymen came and took pictures of our railway?"

"Yeah, and I also remember how Bert ruined their clothes. What did he call it? Tit for Tat?"

"Those two started it."

"Ahem."

Bert and Mike shut up at once.

"Thank you. As I was saying, they turned those pictures into a book, and it was just published recently, and in this bag I hold the four first edition copies of Small Railway Engines."

The three of them cheered as The Small Controller passed them out. Just then Frank arrived from a late night shift. He drove the railway's only diesel, and had been hired a month after the trip. He meant well, but was rather temperamental.

"Am I in it?"

The Small Controller shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Frank, but you hadn't come to Sodor at the time, so they didn't know about you."

"Never you mind, Frank," Bert said soothingly, "We know how important you are. You make sure the line is safe for us to work on."

But Frank did mind, and grumbled incessantly about it.

"Its not fair," he complained one evening, "I work as hard as anybody. I deserve to be in a book."

"Oh, quit your whining," Mike snapped, "So you didn't get to be in a book. Boo hoo, get over it."

But Frank wouldn't get over it. He was still complaining about it a few days later as he was getting ready for the first run of the day. Bert was in the sheds

with him, and he was at the end of his rope.

"Come on, Frank, its not that bad. Its teamwork that matters on a railway, not books."

"It has pictures too, doesn't it? I bet I'm not in any of those either."

"Well, no, but..."

"Figures. I guess I better get on with my job, that's not important to be in a book.."

"Frank, watch out, you-"

CRASH!

"-'re in reverse."

With a might bang, Frank's engine rammed right into the shed wall, hitting a support beam and making the building shake.

"Frank, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just a little dazed. Ah, man, Mr. Duncan's not going to be happy about this."

And he wasn't.

"You are a very naughty engine driver! Because of your carelessness, the engine shed may be too unstable to put engines in there."

"Yes sir, sorry sir."

"Now get to work while I see how badly you screwed up."

Frank drove sadly away. The Small Controller shook his head.

"He's a hard worker, but he needs to keep that temper in check."

Later that day, Rex was taking a heavy train to the top station. As they climbed the first hill, Rex kept a close eye on the steam gauge.

"Oh great, we've got a steam leak somewhere. I'm sure we can get past the next hill."

They stopped in the loop for Mike to pass with his goods train. It helped a little, but by the time they reached Arlesdale Green Station they had no steam left to continue.

"Bother. Mike will never let me hear the end of it."

Luckily, the engines on The Small Railway had recently been fitted with radios so the drivers could reach control immediately if something goes wrong.

"Control, this is Rex. We're stuck at the green with no steam to continue. Please send help."

"Roger that. We'll send help immediately. Just stay where you are."

"Oh ha ha, very funny."

Rex sad on a siding waiting for help to arrive. Bert soon passed with a goods train. He gave Rex a sympathetic glance.

"Overworked, that's what we are. What we need is another engine."

Another 10 minutes passed before Rex heard a cheerful toot. Frank drove his diesel along side.

"Its a good thing we have these radios. I was repairing the track leading up to the mine when Control called saying you need help. I'm to take the train and let you go home. Teamwork, Bert calls it."

Rex was relieved, and uncoupled his engine from the train to let Frank take over. With a blast of his engine's horn, Frank set off, Rex following suit shortly after.

Frank made it to the top station a few minutes late. He apologized to the passengers for the delay, but they didn't mind.

"Until you came along, we were expecting to walk home."

The Small Controller was pleased as well.

"Well done, Frank. You proved that you are really useful. And the damage to the shed was minimal, so we shall speak no more about it."

"Thank you, sir."

Frank trundled back to work. The Small Controller watched him leave, deep in thought.

"Frank cant do these rescue missions all of the time. His engine isn't built for it. We do need another engine."