It was evening on Sodor and all the engines were at Tidmouth Sheds. Edward was there too; he was to take a passenger train to Brendam Docks in the morning.
"It seems so long ago that you moved to Wellsworth, Edward," said Emily.
"And you were here for so long before that," put in James.
Rebecca was curious. "How long have you been here, Edward?"
"Oh, a very long time, indeed," replied Edward. "In fact, Thomas and I helped to build the North Western Railway, but even then, it was much smaller than it is now."
"How exciting," said Nia. "Were different engines here back then?"
"Oh yes. Some engines, like Glynn, were already here. Any engines that weren't bought for the new railway were either borrowed from the Mainland until more engines arrived or on trial so the Fat Controller could see if they could stay here."
"Oh, please tell us about them, Edward!" said Rebecca excitedly.
"Well, as I said, there were all sorts of engines here back then and I can't talk about all of them at once.
"Which ones didn't stay very long?" asked Emily.
"Ah," murmured Edward, "two of them were the engines that came on trial, and they could've been Really Useful from the start if they hadn't misbehaved."
And this is the story Edward told them.
A long time ago, there were many different railway lines on the Island of Sodor, but one day, it was decided that they were to become one big railway to serve the whole island. The man in charge was Sir Topham Hatt and he borrowed several engines from the Mainland to help the Sodor engines with the construction. Two of them were Edward and Thomas.
Everyone worked hard until, at last, the new North Western Railway was complete. Thomas and Edward became its first new engines and moved to the new Engine Sheds at Tidmouth. Although the new railway was smaller than others, as the years went by, trains became longer and heavier and the older engines had less work to do. Soon, the Coffee Pot Engines started leaving their Branch Line until Glynn was the only one left. So, Sir Topham Hatt, later known as the Fat Controller, set to work bringing more engines to the railway.
One day, Edward was at Tidmouth Sheds with five other engines. Henry and Gordon were the Fat Controller's newest engines, Kit was a big tank engine borrowed from the Mainland and Niles and Jasper were two engines that had come to the railway on trial. Niles was a goods engine while Jasper was an express engine like Gordon.
Edward had not been out for a long time, but soon, a Driver and Fireman came along to start work. They felt sorry for Edward, so they took him out. "Peep, peep," he whistled. "Look at me now."
Henry and Kit were happy for Edward, but Niles, Jasper and Gordon were very cross at being left behind. "A clapped-out tea kettle like him?!" snorted Jasper.
"What nonsense," agreed Niles.
Henry was upset. "Leave him alone," he huffed.
Kit stayed silent and closed his eyes. Niles and Jasper had not been on Sodor long, but he was used to their bragging.
That night, all the other engines were at the Sheds when Edward returned. "Well, if it isn't old, clanking Edward," said Niles. "Did you pull you last train today?"
"Actually," replied Edward, "I'm going out again tomorrow. What do you think of that?"
"What will you be doing?" asked Henry.
"I am to do Thomas' work while he is away."
Jasper laughed. "Shunting?! I'm not surprised. That is the smallest job on the railway."
"It's only right for an old engine like you," Niles added. "One day, the Fat Controller will see that an outdated teapot like you is of no use to this railway at all. Not even the smallest of jobs will save you in the end."
Kit sniggered. "Hey, you two," he whispered.
Niles and Jasper looked over in surprise. Edward hadn't heard what they thought. He was so tired and happy, that he fell asleep at once.
The next morning, Niles and Jasper were grumbling to each other. "Why would the Fat Controller keep such an outdated engine like Edward anyway?" huffed Jasper.
"Quite right," agreed Niles. "Powerful engines like us are the pride of the line. We'll show them."
As usual, Niles collected a long line of trucks from the Yard while Jasper took some coaches to the other end of the line, but the two engines were grumbling over Edward so much that they were not paying attention. Niles' trucks groaned as they clashed and rattled along the line and Jasper's passengers bounced and swayed between every Station.
That evening, the Fat Controller came to see the two engines. "There have been complaints," he said sternly. "Niles, your trucks were damaged between Knapford and Vicarstown and Jasper, I thought you were an efficient passenger engine. Your coaches were badly bumped, and your passengers have been saying this is a bad railway.
"It's that Edward," protested Jasper. "He-"
"No tales. If you can't behave, I will have to send you both back to the Mainland." The Fat Controller left leaving the two engines feeling discouraged.
Edward had heard everything. "Just keep your mind on the job and everything will run smoothly," he said. Niles and Jasper looked away.
That night, the two engines couldn't sleep. "The Fat Controller thinks Edward is the best engine on the railway," huffed Jasper. "Can you believe that?"
"And that old kettle wants us to follow his example? How absurd," said Niles.
"Well, if they think they can boss us around, we'll show them that we know better." Jasper quickly explained his plan. "We'll do it tomorrow."
The next morning, Niles and Jasper were up very early waiting for their Drivers and Firemen to arrive. When they did, they told them that the Fat Controller spoke to them and said that Jasper was to take Niles' goods train and Niles was to pull Jasper's coaches. Their Drivers were confused, but suspected nothing.
When Niles arrived at Knapford, the platform was crowded, but the Fat Controller was nowhere to be seen and Edward was busy in the Yard. When the passengers were onboard, the Guard blew his whistle and Niles raced away as quickly as he could.
Meanwhile, Jasper steamed into the Yard to collect Niles' goods train. "Are you sure we can manage this?" the Fireman asked. "Jasper is a passenger engine after all."
"We can try," replied the Driver. "Besides, orders are orders."
Jasper was coupled up and tried to puff away quickly, but the train was heavy, and his wheels slipped. "Come on, come on, come on," he struggled. His wheels gripped the rails at last and he was on his way.
Soon, Niles had reached the end of the line and started back. He was enjoying himself; he hadn't pulled passengers before, but the coaches ran smoothly, and the sun was shining brightly. "What a glorious day," he said to himself.
Jasper was puffing and panting along with Niles' trucks. They
seemed to get heavier and heavier as he rolled along. The trucks were cross. "These engines think they can bump and rattle us about?" they whispered to each other. "We'll show them." And they soon began giggling in their silly way. "Hold back, hold back!"
When Jasper reached Wellsworth Station, he saw Adrian waiting there. "We barely made it this far," said his Driver. "We should ask for some help."
Jasper was so tired, he reluctanly agreed. "Adrian, can you help me up the Hill?" he asked.
"Of course. I have some time before my next train." But then, Adrian had a thought. "Jasper, I thought Niles was supposed to be taking this train."
"The Fat Controller made other arrangements."
Adrian was puzzled, but made his way to the back of the train and started to push.
Niles was at Kellsthorpe Road Station. Some passengers were late arriving, and he had to wait for their luggage to be loaded. "Hurry up!" he snorted. "We should've left ten minutes ago."
At last, the Guard was ready, but Niles was so eager to leave, he started with a jolt. The coaches bumped together fiercely, the coupling broke and Niles raced away on his own. The Stationmaster shouted while the Guard blew his whistle again and waved his red flag, but it was no use. The Stationmaster quickly telephoned the Signalman.
With help from Adrian, Jasper reached the top of the Hill. Suddenly, the trucks surged forward. "ON! ON! ON!" the called.
The Driver applied the brakes, but Jasper's wheels wouldn't grip. "Help!" he cried.
Jasper raced out of control. The Shunter at Maron heard the train approaching, but was too late to switch Jasper into the Station sidings.
Niles was racing along the line when his Driver noticed a signal at 'danger.' He tried to shut off steam, but Niles wouldn't slow down. "Niles! we need to stop!" he called.
But Niles wasn't looking at the signal. "We can't stop! We're late!" he called back. As they passed the signal, Niles felt his wheels swerve onto the middle line.
Then everything happened at once.
At a bend in the track, another Signalman received two emergency calls about Jasper and Niles. The Signalman heard Jasper approaching and then saw Niles appear around the bend.
Too late, Niles realized he was on the wrong track. He raced around the bend and saw Jasper racing towards him. The Signalman quickly changed the points to get Niles out of the way and he raced over the points as fast as he could.
At Knapford, the alarm bell sounded, and the Yard Master ran up. "Edward, there's been an accident past Maron Station. You and Adrian must go immediately."
Edward didn't like the sound of that. He knew sending two engines instead of one was a serious matter. "Yes, Sir," he answered. He puffed into the siding where the Breakdown Train was waiting and quickly set off down the line with Adrian.
When they reached the bend in the line, the two engines were shocked. Jasper had crashed into Niles when he was crossing the points knocking both of them off the rails. The trucks were broken and piled behind them. Luckily, their Divers and Firemen had jumped clear before the crash.
The Fat Controller came to see Niles and Jasper at the Main Works, and he was very cross. "What is the meaning of this?!" he thundered. "Jasper, why did you think it was a good idea take Niles' trucks?! An engine like you is not suited for pulling heavy goods trains! And Niles, even you should know better than to handle coaches like that and what were you thinking going through a red signal?!
"Because of your actions, someone could have been seriously hurt!" The two engines said nothing, so the Fat Controller continued. "I am the one in charge of this railway. Engines do as I say when I say it! I have no use for engines who won't obey orders or safety regulations. Once you are mended, I am sending you both back to the Mainland." Niles and Jasper shivered and said no more.
The engines were silent. "What happened after that?" asked Emily.
"The Mainland Controller soon heard about the accident," said Edward. "He was cross too and apologized to the Fat Controller. When Niles and Jasper were mended, they went back to the Mainland with some of the borrowed engines that weren't needed anymore."
"I hope they learned from their mistakes," said Nia.
"I think they did."
"Were any of the other engines like that?" asked Rebecca.
"Oh no," yawned Edward, "they were friendly and very hard working. I promise I'll tell you more about them another time."
And as the moon rose higher in the sky, the engines were soon fast asleep.