NORMAN ON CALL

Norman is a very friendly red diesel engine.

He usually shunts or pulls trucks, and he's always wanting to help others out and be a really useful engine.

However, there is just one problem with Norman that he's never very happy about. And that is his very faulty and unreliable engine.

Norman is always breaking down, no matter how hard he tries to keep going. So he finds himself waiting around to be rescued or for repairs more often than not.

To pass the time, he reads books. His driver always brings lots of big and old novels to read, and Norman gained a big vocabulary from it, as well as being a bit of a fanatic on old literature.

Which is where Norman found himself whilst waiting for another engine to come and help him along to the Dieselworks. His driver was holding up a copy of Pride And Prejudice to read just as they heard a whistle.

"Not again, Norman!" sighed James as he slowly buffered up behind the diesel engine and began to push him past the siding. "This is the fourth time this week you've broken down!"

"My apologies, James." sighed Norman. "If my dratted engine was functioning properly, I wouldn't be causing a disturbance for everyone else."

"You need to get it fixed pronto! We're getting fed up with having to come and rescue you!"

"You are not the only one…" Norman muttered to himself. "I do wish I was the one doing the rescuing for once…"

It was early one morning at the Vicarstown Dieselworks. Norman was waiting inside the main shed on the turntable, whilst Den, Dart and the workmen checked him all over.

"No good. It's still not doing nothing!" One of the workmen sighed as he checked all around Norman's cab, calling to the other workmen outside, checking Norman's sides and undercarriage.

"Maybe you should try moving that bolt over there?" suggested Dart.

The workman shifted his spanner around one of the bolts before it twanged off and bounced onto the floor.

"No good." He groaned, reaching to pick it back up. "He'll be able to run, but for how long I can't say."

"Sorry, Norman. We're really trying the best that we can." sighed Den.

"What he means is." put in Dart. "Your engine just doesn't seem to be working at all, no matter what we do."

"Well." said the foreman at last. "If you keep your engine running for as long as you can today, you should be alright. Just keep active, ok?"

"Hmm… I suppose." replied Norman apprehensively. "I do rather wish the perfect diesel motor would present itself soon..." But his contemplating was suddenly interrupted.

"Morning all!" came a voice from outside the main building. "Let's get those motors whirring!"

"Ooh! That must be the boss!" exclaimed Den. "Ready to give us our work for the day!"

Den and Dart reversed back outside as Norman followed shortly behind them.

Diesel, Paxton, Sidney and Philip were waiting by the sheds on the turntable as Mr Renchmore, the Dieselworks Manager, arrived with a clipboard in hand.

"Right then." He said, scribbling up and down on the papers with a pen. "Pax, there's trucks of stone at the Blue Mountain Quarry going to Ulfstead Castle. Sid, the new exhibits for the Aquarium at Kirk Ronan are waiting at Brendam Docks."

Norman waited patiently as Mr Renchmore gave the rest of the diesels their jobs for the day.

"And me, Sir?" Norman asked hopefully. Mr Renchmore glanced at the papers on the clipboard and sighed.

"Sorry, Norm. You're a spare engine today. Just wait around until some work needs doing."

Norman felt very disappointed.

"Don't worry, Norman." said Paxton cheerily. "I'm sure you won't be sitting around for long. You'll find some work to do today!"

"Yeah!" added Sidney. "You'll be really… um, useful! I think…?"

"Tch! Useful? Norman?!" scoffed Diesel rudely. "All Norman does is break down and sit around waiting for repairs. How's that being useful?"

"Every engine is useful in their own way, Diesel!" Philip replied.

"Every engine except Norman! He's been waiting around far too long to have his engine repaired properly! And they say diesels are supposed to be revolutionary! Tch! With an engine like Norman's, he might have been revolutionary... a hundred years ago!"

Norman watched as the other diesels all left to go to work, Diesel's words stirring in his mind.

"Diesel's right… I wish I could be like the other engines and not break down all the time! Being on call isn't really useful…"

Den and Dart pottered slowly around the Dieselworks, whilst Norman watched them sadly. Sitting around, waiting for a job to be given to him was driving him crazy. He tried humming to take his mind off it.

"Hmm… hmm…" He mumbled to himself.

But his engine kept ticking over and he couldn't keep the thought of work out of his mind.

"I must source some sort of work to engage in." He muttered.

Across the way, he could see Den, pushing a tanker of diesel fuel into the main building from outside. Norman chuntered hurriedly over to him.

"Den! Any work that requires my assistance?"

"Um, sorry Norman… but I don't really think there is…. maybe Dart has something that needs… uh, doing."

"I see…" Norman replied as he backed away and went down towards the smelting shed round the back, where Dart was pushing a flatbed of steel beams into the siding.

"Ah, Dart! Salutations!" Norman called. "I don't suppose there is any work that I can involve myself in?"

"I'm alright here at the moment, Norman." replied Dart. "Look, don't fuse your circuits over it. A job will show up eventually, just hang tight."

Norman sighed as he reversed back as Dart watched him leave, feeling very worried for his friend.

Norman sat on a siding by the main building as his driver rummaged through the small bookshelf built inside his cab before pulling out a few lengthy novels.

"Right then, Norman. What's it gonna be today?" asked his driver. "We got Sense And Sensibility, The Grapes Of Wrath..."

"Hmm. How about we read The Scarlet Pimpernel today?" suggested Norman.

His driver took hold of the book and stood in front of the diesel as he held it up to Norman's face before turning to the first chapter.

Soon, Norman was in deep concentration with his book. He didn't even notice Den pulling up alongside him until he heard the Sentinel shunter's horn sound out.

"Ey up, Norman. What are you reading today?" asked Den.

"Right now, I'm reading about a dashing man known as the Scarlet Pimpernel!" Norman proudly declared, eager to spend at least several hours waffling on about his classic literature collection.

"Oh dear. Why's he called the Scarlet Pimple?" asked Den in confusion. "Sounds bad, poor chap."

"Pimpernel, actually." corrected Norman. "He is a wealthy English aristocrat who rescues people from the guillotine during the French Revolution!"

"Is he really?" Den wasn't always a fan of big words, but enjoyed listening to Norman talk a lot.

"I would love to be just like him!" Norman went on. "A hero, a saviour, quick thinking and daring too!"

Norman sighed. "Oh… but I'm just always breaking down and needing to be rescued… what good can someone such as myself do?"

Den and Dart felt sorry for their friend, but it seemed nothing they did could cheer him up.

At that moment, Mr Renchmore arrived, looking very pleased.

"Oh! Norm, I've got a call come through! I need an engine to go and help Emily and Rocky with track repairs at the Fenland!"

Norman's eyes lit up at this news.

"Aha! A job at last! Mustn't dillydally, my good acquaintances! I must rush away with quick haste!"

And without another word, Norman took off with a honk of his horn. Den and Dart watched him leave and tooted their horns in response.

"Good luck, Norman!" called Dart.

"Yeah! Good luck!" added Den.

Norman hurried as fast as he could along the Main Line, beaming the whole while and not stopping once. Everyone was very surprised to see him looking so cheerful and going so quickly too.

Thomas was just puffing onto the junction coming from Ulfstead Castle, when he stopped at the red signal to let Norman sail past by.

"Oh! Hi, Norman!" He whistled cheerily. "You're looking cheerful today!"

"I concur, Thomas! I may be on call today! But I have acquired a job at last! Emily and Rocky require my help urgently!"

"Well, good luck, Norman!" Thomas called as he watched the red diesel disappear around the bend.

Norman hurried around the bend and towards the site where the workmen had set up warning signs and barriers near the Fenland track. He slowed down as he saw one of the workmen waving a flag, and he rolled up towards Emily and Rocky, going in immediately with the theatrics.

"Whatever inconvenience is troubling you, no matter how large or small, I shall rid you of it and-"

"Thanks for getting here so quickly, Norman!" smiled Emily. "Could you just take these old sections of track away?"

Upon seeing the loaded flatbeds, Norman's face fell instantly, despite how hard he tried to hide his disappointment.

"Oh…" Norman sighed. "I see… n-no problem..."

Emily and Rocky shared a confused glance with each other.

"It's helpful to us." added Rocky.

"I suppose so…" Norman replied sadly. "Still, it's not exactly a rather large job or a very extravagant one either…"

He was coupled up to the train and with a honk of his horn, he set off slowly down the line with the flatbeds behind him.

"I thought I'd be called out to do a very exciting job... not this..."

Norman dropped the flatbeds off at Whiff's Waste Dump and waited whilst they were uncoupled.

Before he had a chance to even turn a wheel, Scruff clattered up beside him.

"Ey up, Norman mate! Good to see ya! We need your help!" The grimy little shunter chuffed. Norman's face brightened up when he heard this news.

"Why yes! I suppose I can assist you, Scruff! I am on call today as it happens!" Norman replied.

"Grand! Me and Whiff need to collect some rubbish left at Wellsworth. But we can't leave the dump alone for too long because some shunting needs doing! Won't take long!"

Norman watched the two friends chuffering away into the distance with their empty trucks, whilst he was left behind at the messy old dump with all the waste and rubbish piled around him.

"And this is even worse than the job before..." groaned Norman. "But I must carry on. The job must be done, and I'm sure a better and more important job will come along soon."

With that, he oiled around the sidings, marshalling the trucks of waste into their proper places, but he didn't enjoy it one bit.

It wasn't long at all before the job was complete, as Whiff and Scruff came back, pleased to find their worksite properly arranged.

But Norman was already rolling sadly away before they could say thank you to him.

"What's wrong with Norman?" asked Whiff curiously.

"He doesn't seem to be in a good mood today." replied Scruff.

Soon, Norman had arrived at the Shunting Yard. Everywhere was very busy, with engines, trucks and coaches hurrying about past him in all directions.

"There are so many engines on this railway with grand and important and luxurious jobs!" Norman muttered to himself, "And then there is me… breaking down and in the way…"

An inspector walked up to him, glancing at his pocket watch.

"Ah, Norman! Good to see you here. I hear you're a spare engine today. Stafford's fallen ill, and we need another engine to help with the shunting."

"Shunting?" Norman grimaced. "Oh… I, I see… yes… I cannot… wait…"

The shunting felt like it was taking an eternity to Norman, but he carried on regardless.

Stanley, who was marshalling a line of salt vans into place behind Edward, saw Norman look very unhappy and he puffed over to him.

"Is everything alright, Norman? You seem to be rather... confused. Perplexed even."

"Oh, Stanley. I just wanted to be seen as more than just the engine who always breaks down... I wanted to help out more often and be a hero... but I just seem to be doing lots of simple, small jobs..." Norman explained.

"I see... I can understand why you might be feeling downtrodden." replied Stanley. "I too find myself doing lots of jobs in the background, so to speak. But every job on a railway is important, no matter how small it may be."

Norman didn't answer. He sat and thought about what Stanley had said, as the silver tank engine pushed the salt vans behind Edward.

"Ah, this cargo must be heading to the motherships on Satur- I mean! They are going to Brendam Docks. yes, that's what I meant to say!" Stanley blurted out with a laugh.

"Again with the alien pranks, Stanley?" sighed the yard manager. "Sorry about him, Norman." He added. "Stanley does enjoy being his strange old self, especially when it's so busy."

"Haha! I jest, I jest!" Stanley laughed. "Of course I am a real engine like you, Norman. Not an alien of course, that would be silly!"

Norman, like everyone else, found Stanley to be a rather kooky engine, but nobody was ever sure if Stanley was playing pranks or telling the truth.

Soon, Norman found himself being called away to help push Gordon up the hill along with his Express.

After that, he helped take James' fuel tankers on to the next station when the red engine had steaming problems. And after that, he delivered cattle vans to Farmer McColl's Farm.

Each and every time, Norman heard things like. "Thank you, Norman!" and "Big help!" and "Nicely done!"

But Norman was still too busy thinking about what Stanley had told me to hear them.

"They are just small, background jobs... they don't seem that important..." He pondered.

Norman was trundling into Knapford Station. He decided to stop by the fuelling point and refuel with more diesel oil, when he saw a large line of trucks sat beside him in the yard.

They were all empty and nothing happened to them for a good while.

A few more trucks were added on and after that a brake van, and there was now a very long line of empty trucks, but still, no engine came to move them or take them away.

Norman saw the Fat Controller stepping out of his office towards the train, looking worriedly towards it and then at his timetable.

"Oh dear, oh dear! That train can't still be here?! We can't leave it a second longer! The coal will be waiting to be loaded any minute now!"

Norman saw the Fat Controller fretting worriedly about the trucks and rolled up to him.

"Any way I can assist, Sir? I could perhaps take these trucks?" He suggested. The Fat Controller looked up and pondered.

"Are you sure, Norman? It's a very big train for just you alone. But it is very urgent and very important. Without this coal delivery, we would be down a few steam engines for some time."

"Even more of a reason for me to do it!" Norman replied at last as he headed to the front of the train. The Fat Controller beamed as he watched Norman get coupled up.

"Thank you, Norman! And good luck to you!" The Fat Controller went back to his office as Norman honked his horn and set off out of the junction and onto the Main Line.

It was slow going, but the train was making its way down the line. The Fat Controller had been right. The train wasn't easy for Norman on his own. But he carried on regardless.

The troublesome trucks, seeing Norman slip back a few times and strain more than just a little, cackled together and began to try breaking his confidence.

"Only a spare engine... not a proper one." snickered one. "What's the use in carrying on?"

"No! I must do this job! It is of the utmost importance and I must keep going!"

"You'll break down, you'll break down!" cackled the trucks, as all of them guffawed with laughter.

"You just sit around whilst everyone else does your work for you!"

"You can't be really useful like the other engines!"

Norman's engine was spluttering louder than ever, coughing up huge clouds of smoke.

The noise seemed to drown out the truck's laughter, and the smoke made them cough and choke.

This gave Norman the chance to think. Everything that had been said and everything that had happened that day was churning around in his mind.

"I can do it, I can do it!" Norman clattered down the Main Line with the trucks rolling smoothly behind him.

Rosie was just finishing the last of her tidying up in the yard, as her driver glanced around.

"Just one more train to arrive." She said to Rosie. "The diesel will be here to collect the empty trucks for the coal delivery."

As if on cue, Norman strained into the yard, red in the face and with plumes of thick, dark smoke billowing out his exhausts. But the train had arrived and on time too.

"Ah... ah... y-your... train... has been... delivered..." gasped Norman, as a workman uncoupled him from the trucks.

But before Rosie could say anything, Norman was already rolling slowly away.

"Oh um… b-bye then, Norman…" She puffed awkwardly.

"He brought all those trucks by himself and in good time too." said the yard manager as he and Rosie watched Norman cross over the junction. "And everyone used to say that diesel wasn't reliable."

It was late in the afternoon, when Norman returned to the Dieselworks after his very long day.

"Phew! I'm quite exhausted after all that! But a good rest in the shed shall renew my spirits for tomorrow morning." He wheezed.

The other diesels, except for Diesel himself, were pleased to see Norman.

"Hi, Norman! You've been out for a long time! You must have been really busy today!" exclaimed Paxton. Norman frowned.

"But all I have done today is small and rather menial jobs..." He replied.

At that moment, the Fat Controller and Mr Renchmore arrived, both of them looking very pleased.

"Ah, Norman! There you are!" called the Fat Controller. "I wanted to say well done!"

"Well done?" asked Norman. "I do not understand, Sir… I have only been a spare engine today…"

"You've been working especially hard today, Norman! I've heard nothing but praise for your efforts, I'm very pleased with you!"

"Topham's right." added Mr Renchmore. "Nice one, Norm. Everyone's been saying how impressed they were with you for doing so many jobs in one day. And not one breakdown."

"Oh! I see! Well, my most gracious thanks to you both, Sirs!

"You shall have a brand new, state of the art engine fitted, and a new coat of paint!" added the Fat Controller. "Hopefully now we won't have any more trouble with you breaking down!"

"I suppose being on call is rather useful after all, Diesel." Norman beamed.

"Feh!" Diesel grunted, but all the other diesels were too busy cheering and honking their horns in celebration for Norman to hear what else he had to say.

When Norman came out of the Dieselworks a few days later, he felt better than he had ever done before.

His new paintwork was very glossy and gleaming and everyone agreed it certainly looked like a big improvement.

"Ah, wait a moment, Norman!" The Fat Controller called as he stepped towards the diesel shunter.

"Yes, Sir?" asked Norman.

"I have decided to give you a new job, to show my appreciation for your hard work yesterday. I think you more than deserve it."

"A new job? I say, that does sound rather enticing!" replied Norman. "May I ask what it is?"

"How would you like to be the island's maintenance engine? I do know how much you enjoy helping others, and I think it'll be perfect for you!"

"I think that would be stupendous, Sir!" Norman said with joy. "Thank you muchly!"

Now Norman can be seen on almost every corner of the island, helping with track maintenance or rescuing other engines, or even taking the breakdown train, Judy and Jerome, to wherever they are needed.

He does still break down from time to time. Not nearly as often as he used to thankfully, but Norman is happy now. Because he is always busy. Because he has a very important job. Because he more well known than ever.

Norman is especially happy because the Fat Controller now considers him very reliable indeed.

THE END

If there is any character that has needed something of substance to do in the CGi series, it has to be Norman.

Not a shred of personality to be seen or heard, only appearing in a few episodes for a brief speaking role or minor cameo, so fans when writing about him kind of have to make up stuff about him.

The one thing he had going for him was his apparently flawed engine constantly making him break down, though that was only mentioned in character bios and never in the actual show, which is something I wanted to focus on here.

Norman's personality here is very much like the interpretation created by Chase Thede, with his big words, theatrical personality and love of old literature.

You'll also notice Mr Renchmore included in this, who is another creation of Chase's. Just nice to add another face to associate with the Dieselworks.

But why is Stanley so strange and described as being 'kooky'? Is he joking about being an alien or not? What's that all about? Well, only time will tell, but I can say it will be focused on again in the future.

And here's what's next:

- Rosie & The Trams - Rosie enjoys her new job of working at Vicarstown Station, but one day, she meets the three electric trams who work there as well. Lisa, their leader, decides to challenge Rosie to see who is the hardest worker, but the tables turn when she gets a new route.

- Diamond In The Rough - In order to keep Thomas' cheekiness and racing around in check, the Fat Controller sends the tank engine to work with Logan and Hector at the Crosby Coaling Plant. Thomas isn't happy with this arrangement, and neither is Logan.

- Better Safe Than Sorry - After a rather bad inspection, the Fat Controller is told to start a health and safety campaign. Emily decides to make a good impression on the railway inspectors, and goes around the railway making sure everything is what she views as safe.

- Traffic Warden George - Whilst working nearby both a busy intersection and a level crossing, George decides to take on the role of a traffic warden and commandeers the road for himself, when he feels that nobody is appreciating his hard work.

- A Holiday For Sir Handel - Fed up with being 'mistreated' on the railway, Sir Handel decides that he should go for a holiday. But when he goes to Harwick for a railway gala, he finds that it's not as relaxing as he thought it would be.