PARLIAMENTARY, MY DEAR ALBERT

Written by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

One day, some men from far away had come to the Mid-Sodor Railway.

"We're looking for a couple of engines," they told Mr. Jones. "It's for a mining railway overseas."

"Oh," said Mr. Jones. "I… wasn't exactly looking on selling any of my engines. But it is up to them."

"Overseas?!" cried Gerry when the men came to the sheds. "Oh, wow, that does sound like an adventure."

"My driver and fireman have been on holidays sometimes," said John. "I am mildly curious."

"So, are you two up to the task?" asked the man in charge.

"You bet we are!" cried Gerry. "John, ready to rock and roll?"

"Sure," said John. "You guys will be able to manage, right?"

"I'm sure we'll figure it out," smiled Stuart. "All the same, we'll miss having you two around."

The engines all cheerfully whistled to Gerry and John as they puffed away.

"Don't forget to have your crews write!" called Tim.

With Gerry and John's departure, the remaining five engines had to work harder than ever to keep up with the workload, and it got to a point where Mr. Jones had bought two new engines to become numbers five and six.

"Welcome, you two," smiled Stuart.

"Er… h-hello?" said the new number six, painted green with a bronze dome. "I'm Jim… Nice to meet you."

"Are you an engine of Stoke-on-Trent origins? So am I!"

"You're my… cousin?" gasped Jim quietly. "Oh, wow. This is amazing."

"Greetings, all," said the new number five; he was painted maroon with his dome in gold. "My name is Albert."

"It is a pleasure to have you both here," said Tim.

"Indeed so," said Mr. Jones. "Falcon, you show Albert around. Stuart, you do the same with Jim."

As the four engines went off together, Duke looked on with a proud smile. "Jennings, they are growing up so fast…"

Falcon and Albert had collected Gertrude and Millicent, two of the railway's bogie coaches, as they traveled with their passengers.

"I must say, you two are very fine coaches," Albert called to them.

Millicent giggled. "Oh, why thank you, Albert."

"It is a pleasure to have you with us," smiled Gertrude.

"All of the line's bogie coaches are smooth runners," said Falcon, "but Gertrude and Millicent are my favorites."

Both coaches blushed bright red, although given their paint, it was a little hard to tell.

"We're coming up to a flat bit," said Falcon. "The express waits for no one!" With that, both engines sped up a little.

"It feels like we're flying!" cried Albert.

At that, Falcon glanced up at the sky wistfully. "Yeah… it sort of does…"

Eventually, the duo came to a smooth stop at the end of the line.

"There we are, Albert," Falcon was saying. "King Orry's Bridge; the terminus of our little railway."

"A highly fitting name," said Albert. "This is quite the station, Falcon. How long has this one been here?"

"Our old terminus was at Ulfstead Road," explained Falcon, "but several years following the line's opening, we've expanded in order to reach the outskirts of Peel Godred. It was always Sir John Norramby's ambition to reach Peel Godred by rail, but now his grandson Robert is Duke's current Grace, having inherited the title at just three years old when his father Charles died in the war."

"Wow, you sure know your stuff about the Norramby family's history," said Albert.

"Oh, Granpuff always puts us to sleep with history lessons, trust me," remarked Falcon. Albert blinked in confusion. "It's a nickname Stuart and I call Duke. Kind of a personal thing."

"Ah, understood," Albert replied. "So… now that I know the line, what do you think my main train here will be?"

"Oh, we've got a few passenger runs here," explained Falcon. "Granpuff takes charge of the Picnic, Tim works with the Bug Boxes in taking the workmen, and Stuart and I help out with the Boat Trains. Atlas works at the mines, and Smudger isn't trusted at all with passengers, so they mostly do goods and shunting. I'm not sure what Jim will be doing, but it probably won't be the Parliamentary."

"The Parliamentary?" Albert queried. "Is it important?"

There was a momentary pause before Falcon spoke again. "Oh, yes, it's very important, my dear Albert," he said, as grandly as he could. "It's a train carrying very important passengers such as the Governor of Sodor or even His Grace himself! It's in the name, you know – Parliament."

Albert didn't know if all of this was true, of course, and believed what Falcon had said.

And so, the next time he saw Mr. Jones, Albert requested to have a run with the Parliamentary.

"Well, Albert, we've been needing to have an engine permanently assigned to that service," he said. "Seeing as you're so keen, you may take it from now on."

"Oh, I would be honored, sir!" beamed Albert.

As Albert came into the yards, he looked around for the coaches for the "lavish" train in question. He quickly found Tim getting the Bug Boxes.

"Excuse me, er… Tim, I believe?"

"Yep; says so on my nameplate," the black tram engine replied. "And you must be Albert."

"Yes, that's right; I'm here for my coaches for the Parliamentary. Those in Parliament wait for nobody!"

Tim looked at Albert with a baffled expression. "I didn't know members of Parliament rode in third class coaches…"

"Oh, yes, my dear Tim, only the finest deserve to ride… third class coaches?!"

"You didn't know? The Parliamentary is for third class passengers, since not everybody can afford a ride on one of the Boat Trains or the Picnic." Tim went off with the Bug Boxes without another word.

Once the shock wore off, Albert's face quickly gained a scowl. "That birdbrain Falcon tricked me!" he snarled. "Just wait until I see him next!"

Albert pulled crossly into Arlesburgh station with the coaches, all jolting as he braked.

"Oi, watch it!" snapped the first coach.

"We're not trucks, you know," grunted the second.

"Could have fooled me," snorted Albert. "How do people even sit comfortably inside of you?"

"They make it work!" huffed the guard's van. "Ever heard of ruffing it?"

"Surely dogs have nothing to do with it?"

"Why did we end up with this know-nothing-at-all newbie?" the first coach grunted.

"Hey, if you want to blame anyone, blame Falcon!" Albert retorted. "He hyped this train up as being first class!"

The coaches groaned and rolled their eyes. "Of course the blue brat did…" muttered the second coach. Just then, the guard blew the whistle and Albert started away.

Albert found that the Parliamentary had to stop at every station on the line, and he soon found that to be rather tedious. Although the stops weren't very long, to Albert, save for when he needed to fill up on water, it felt like ages before he could set off again.

"This is taking forever!" he groaned. "Why can't this go faster?"

"I don't know," called Jim as he drew alongside with a goods train. "I like the slow pace. You don't have to worry about the rush hour."

"You should have been on the express run with Falcon," grunted Albert. "It was so much fun to blaze by stations."

"Oh, I'm not so sure if I'd like that at all," said Jim. "I wouldn't be able to appreciate the scenery if I went that fast."

"What could there possibly be to see?" huffed Albert.

"You seriously haven't noticed?" asked Jim. "Look over there!"

Albert glanced over to where Jim was gesturing to. The hills had very lush fields of grass, some trees blocked out the glare of the sun and dappled the area in shadows, and flowers of all the colors of the rainbow dotted the landscape.

"Huh… would you look at that," Albert remarked. "I didn't notice that on my first day."

"And there's plenty more where that came from," said Jim. "The Horse and Cart is a very slow train, so I'll get to see this every day!"

Albert was quiet for a moment, as the guard's whistle blew. "I wonder what else Jim means…" he said to himself.

Albert continued his slow journey, stopping at every station. As he did so, he took in the scenery surrounding each station area. One such area was near the picnic grounds, with many children playing tag and catch out in the fields. Another had a view of the climbing mountains in the distance. And don't get him started on the view from the top of the Mountain Road.

"You could see all the way to the sheds from here!" gasped Albert.

"Indeed you can," said the first coach.

"It sure is spectacular," said the second.

"You couldn't see all of that if you sped by, could you?" remarked the guard's van.

"Not at all," said Albert.

As Albert was getting more coal and water for the down journey, he caught sight of a passenger on the platform. Falcon had his express there too, and Albert noticed a third coach on the train.

"You can't come aboard," hissed the third coach to the passenger.

"Please," begged the passenger. "I have to get home! My wife and kids are waiting for me!"

"You couldn't pay the fee to get in!" grunted the coach. "You should have thought of that before trying to board." Before the passenger could protest any further, the guard blew the whistle.

"Come on, ladies," said Falcon. "Time for the Flying Falcon's return journey."

"Coming!" giggled Gertrude, Millicent and the third coach. The blue tank engine started away.

"Wait!" called the passenger. "Please, hold up!" But Falcon was too far away to hear him, and the third coach was purposely singing too loudly to drown the passenger out. "Oh… how will I get home now?"

Albert puffed over and buffered up to his own train. "Er… excuse me, sir, but I think there's an extra seat in my train."

"R-really?" the stranded passenger asked hopefully.

"It won't be as comfortable as the express," Albert admitted, "but the fee is less expensive. Plus, it's getting late."

"I'll take it," said the passenger, and gratefully boarded the first coach. With the rest of the passengers aboard, the guard's whistle blew and Albert set off.

Eventually, Albert was back down the Mountain Road, and the passenger rushed off the train.

"Daddy!" Two children rushed towards him and sandwiched him in a hug.

"Honey, there you are!" cried a woman, kissing his cheek. "Oh, I was worried when I didn't see you come off the Flying Falcon."

"It was thanks to this engine over here that I've made it home at all," he said. "I can't thank you enough for getting me home to my family, er…"

"Albert."

"Albert," smiled the passenger. "Thank you, Albert."

"My pleasure, sir." Albert puffed away as the family waved gratefully.

That night in the sheds, Falcon spoke to Albert.

"So, how did you like the Parliamentary?" Falcon asked casually.

"It was a lovely idea; thank you, Falcon."

Falcon's eyes nearly popped out. "Wait… what?!"

"The scenery along the line is superb, and the slower pace means I get to see it all the time," Albert smiled. "And it can help passengers in a pinch too."

"What do you mean?" asked Jim. Albert quickly explained what the third coach on Falcon's train tried to do.

"Are you serious?!" exclaimed Falcon. "Ugh! I should have thought twice about choosing Janelle for the train!"

"I take it she is the exception around here?" asked Albert.

"Fortunately, yes," sighed Duke. "She is the designated spare coach if no one else is available."

"If I had known that happened, I would have allowed the passenger a ride home anyway," grunted Falcon. "No one deserves to be in the freezing cold at night!"

"Don't fret, Falcon," said Albert. "I got him safely home. He's with his family eating dinner right now."

Falcon gave a small smile. "I guess the Parliamentary has some uses. Glad you liked the trip."

Albert chuckled as the group fell asleep.

THE END

Author's Comments

Before the first Awdry Extravaganza, there was a mysterious dark red narrow gauge engine in the stock box for Awdry's Mid-Sodor layout, and since then, we now recognize that engine as Albert, the Mid-Sodor's number five. He, along with Jim and Tim, was sold off in 1936 in order to keep their heads above the water, and their fates afterward are not known. This story establishes Albert's duties with the Parliamentary, and Falcon gets another joint role alongside him, tricking him into thinking that it was a train for important people only, which could be where his dislike for four-wheeled coaches comes from. But of course, Albert came to enjoy the job, completely taking Falcon by surprise; a trick that ending up working in the gullible party's favor!

There's one final story left for his mini-series, as well as Set 3 as a whole, and that's Hold Your Horses! It'll also be joined by an epilogue taking place years later, as well as an official timeline of events for Between the Lines up until this point.