Chapter 279: Wired Up
The next day, Percy's engine was clear to leave the works, and he returned home to a chorus of cheers. Sir Topham Hatt was there, and had to cover his ears to block out the noise. Once the celebrations had died down, he turned to Wilbert.
"You've done well so far, aside from the dairy incident…"
WIlber blushed, and looked away.
"I swear, I thought it was a water tank!"
"It's alright, could've happened to anyone. Anyway, now that Percy is back I'm sending you to The Little Western to help Donald and Douglas. At least now I can finally shut them up about being overworked!"
This got a chuckle from everyone.
"Don't worry sir, I'm more than happy to help out."
"Good. On your way, take that train of rock from the quarry with you. It's needed for The Small Railway."
"Small Railway?"
"You'll see."
Wilbert was surprised, but obliged. The Ffarquhar crew were sad to see him go, but at the same time were happy to have met him.
Duck and Oliver made Wilbert feel right at home. Duck even double headed the train with him to show him the way.
"Say Duck, what's this about a Small Railway? Is it like a Narrow Gauge line? I thought that was at Crovan's Gate?"
"It's something kind of similar to that, but different. It's…well, you'll just have to see for yourself."
Wilbert shrugged, and turned to enjoy the coastal view. It was an experience far removed from his short line back home, and he loved it very much. But all the same, he was looking to returning home.
It wasn't long before they reached the end of the line. Duck left to collect his next passenger train, leaving Wilbert to shunt the trucks into the exchange siding. Wilbert was just about to doze off when he heard a whistle in the distance. And then, he saw the strangest thing he had ever seen. The smallest engine he had ever seen pulled up alongside on an elevated narrow track. It was yellow, and looked almost like a toy. Wilbert had never seen anything like it before!
"Hello there," said the engine's driver. "You must be Wilbert. I'm Jock. Welcome to The Arlesdale Railway!"
"This is a railway? But it's so small! You're practically driving toy trains."
Jock couldn't help but chuckle.
"Don't let Mike hear you say that. Our engines may be small, but they're still useful, and that's what counts!"
Wilbert smiled. He could tell he was going to like Jock.
Over the next couple of days, Wilbert got the hang of life on the railway. He thought the line was lovely, and he enjoyed talking to the engine drivers of The Small Railway. Likewise, they enjoyed hearing his tales, and were more than willing to share their own.
One morning, on his last day, Wilbert was getting ready to leave with a line of ballast trucks. They were very heavy, and it was tough to get going. Suddenly, a loud CLANG rang out, and Wilbert jerked to a stop.
"What was that?"
The shunter came up, holding the broken coupling in his hand. Wilbert just groaned.
"Great. Now what? We can't take the train like this."
"Excuse me, but can I be of help?"
Wilbert looked over towards the Small Railway to see Bert coming down from the chute.
"Not unless you can fix this mess."
"I might be able to. One time, I had to glue the coupling back on to one of my coaches."
"Glue? Really?"
"Yes. Too bad I don't have any with me at the moment, but I do have something that might do the trick."
Bert disappeared, only to come back with a coil of signal wire. Wilbert was incredulous.
"Are you serious? I can't pull an entire train with that!"
"Not a train, just one truck."
Wilbert sighed in defeat, realizing there were no better options. Bert wound the wire around the truck's bufferbeam, leaving long loops which he twisted into a rope at the end which he fastened to the engine's coupling hook. Once they had uncoupled the front truck from the rest
"Alright then, give it a go."
Wilbert, still doubtful it would work, opened the regulator and reversed out of the siding. The wire tightened, and for a minute Wilbert thought it would snap. But it held firm, allowing Wilbert to move it off to another siding before returning to his train. After that was all settled, Wilbert drove hard to make up for lost time, arriving at the station late but triumphant.
Later that night, the crews of the Little Western and Thomas's branchline came to see Wilbert off. They all spent a long time saying goodbye, and Sir Topham Hatt gave a big speech.
"We are deeply honored to have had you visit our railway. Please give our regards to your controller, and let him know I hope to find an engine as versatile as yours."
"I will, thank you sir. And all of you are welcome on my railway any time."
At last, Wilbert's signal dropped, and he drove off for home, his new friends cheering and whistling until long after he was out of sight.