Chapter 180: Duck and the Slip Coaches
It was the middle of summer on Sodor, and The Little Western was busier than ever. Emily had been brought in to help with the workload, but even with her, Duck, and Oliver working together the passengers overwhelmed them. Donald and Douglas helped when they could, and Bulgy helped lighten the workload a little, but they could only handle so much.
One evening, Oliver came into the house exhausted. Duck and Emily looked up from their game of chess to see him flop over onto the couch beat.
"I swear, if I have to take another loaded train of passengers to the beach, I'm going to cry! As soon as we arrive with one train, we're sent right back out with another. I can't take it anymore!"
"Oh come on, Oliver, it isn't so bad. Where's your Great Western spirit?"
"Duck's right. Besides, its good that we're busy so we can keep running."
"Thank you, Emily. Nice to know that someone has a positive attitude."
Oliver groaned, covering his ears with a pillow, but Emily was curious.
"Say Duck, what was life like on The Great Western Railway?"
"Oh, not too different from life here, really. In fact, summer time was almost exactly like this. We had so many holidaymakers visit our railway that they started calling it "The Sunshine Line.""
"Wow, it must have been difficult to keep up with all of that work."
"Not really, of course we did have one thing that made it a little bit easier. You see, we would use these special kinds of coaches called Slip Coaches. They could be detached while the train was in motion, or "slipped from the train," so we could carry on without any hassle. Of course, you had to know just when to uncouple, otherwise it would go bump right into the back of the train, and that wouldn't be any good at all."
"Really? That is interesting. Oh by the way, checkmate."
Emily got up and went to bed, leaving Duck agape in shock.
Emily's conversation with Duck had given her an idea, and the next morning she decided to talk to Sir Topham Hatt about it.
"Ah Emily, come in."
"Morning, sir. I think I have an idea on how to handle the passenger problem."
"I'm listening."
And so she told Sir Topham Hatt all about the Slip Coaches. Sir Topham Hatt nodded his head, thinking.
"Thank you, Emily. I will certainly take this into consideration."
"Thank you, sir."
A week later, all of The Little Western engine drivers were told to gather at the main station. When they arrived, Duck was surprised to see 3 Slip Coaches waiting at Platform 5.
"Slip Coaches! And the same ones I used to use! Oh, this is a lovely surprise."
Sir Topham Hatt was waiting for them as they approached.
"Ah good, you're all here. Since the passenger count seems to be increasing every day, I have decided to bring in something that will help us keep to a timetable. With these Slip Coaches, you won't have to stop at a station to let passengers off. Instead, they can be detached while the train is in motion."
Everyone clapped and cheered at the unveiling.
"Now, since it was Emily's brilliant idea, I think it is only fair for her to be the one to use them, starting immediately."
This made both Duck and Emily shocked.
"But sir, I-"
"That will be all. Goodbye."
And Sir Topham Hatt walked away, leaving everyone speechless. Feeling awful, Emily approached Duck.
"Duck, I'm so sorry, I-"
"How could you?!"
Emily was taken aback by Duck's mood swing.
"Excuse me?"
"I tell you about the Slip Coaches thinking you were genuinely interested in my life history, and what do you do? Tell Sir Topham Hatt about them and take all the credit. You're a disgrace to the occupation."
"Now hold on a minute-"
Now it was Emily's turn to be cross.
"How dare I? How dare you make such accusations! I didn't mean to take the credit, but frankly i think I'm a bitter fit for the job if this is how you handle rejection."
"This never would've happened on The Great Western Railway."
"Well we're not on The Great Western Railway, are we?"
"Maybe not, but there's two ways of doing things. The right way, and th-"
"The Great Western Way is not always the right way, you stuck up prat!"
And Emily stomped off, leaving Duck and the others speechless!
Emily was still cross when she took her first train with the new coaches. As she approached the first station, the last coach was detached, rolling behind them. Normally the driver would pick up speed to prevent a collision, but Emily wasn't paying attention. She was too busy thinking of what to say to Duck when they next met.
"I stole his idea? He should've told Sir Topham Hatt himself. Its not my fault he can-"
SMACK!
A jolt ran through the train, snapping Emily out of her thoughts. Instantly she realized what had happened.
"Oh no."
Almost instantly the angry passengers swarmed out. None of them were hurt, but they were none to happy about their service. Sir Topham Hatt had to come and sort things out.
"Emily, what happened?"
"I'm sorry sir. I wasn't paying attention when we dropped the coach, and it bumped into the train."
"Emily, you need to be more careful. We can't have passengers being bumped like that. Bad for business, you know."
This gave Emily an idea.
"Sir, maybe Duck would be better suited to use these coaches. He worked with them all the time back on The Great Western Railway, and he was the one who brought them up. He should be the one to get the credit, not me."
Sir Topham Hatt agreed, and sent for Duck at once. Duck had a wonderful time using them, and all of his trains ran right to time. He felt like he was back home once again.
That night Duck spoke to Emily.
"I'm sorry for accusing you of stealing my idea, Emily. I know you were just trying to help."
"Its alright, Duck. I'm sorry for what I said about The Great Western Way. Can you tell me more about your old railway?"
"Well, if you insist."
And the two of them stayed up into the late hours of the night talking about The Great Western Railway.