Today is just a regular and average day for the engines of the Josephine Railway. After the ordeal with the two inspectors, the engines worked as hard as they can, making sure that no other inspectors would come up.
Today, Braedey was taking two coaches down the line at top speed, making good time as he travelled along the tracks. The passengers were all singing his praises, while the countryside sped right by him.
"Come on, come on. I can go much faster than this." Braedey chuffed to himself as he goes along the tracks, enjoying the wind whistling past his wheels and boiler. "I've got all the time in the world to-"
Braedey was suddenly cut off when a loud clank and hiss erupted from his cab as a cloud of steam engulfed his driver and fireman. Braedey suddenly found himself feeling weaker and weaker, his team pressure dropping like a broken elevator. His driver immediately began to apply the brakes gently, just as they passed by a signal box, the signalman switching points to allow the red locomotive into a siding, and Braedey eventually came to a dead stop.
"What happened?" Braedey exclaimed in surprise of what had just happened. "What just broke?"
After he had began to cool down, Braedey's driver and fireman began to examine the GWR 4900 engine all over to see what had happened. After a few minutes, they found the problem and walked around to the front of their train.
"Sounds like part of your valve gear and superheater tubes might be damaged, Braedey." The driver said to Braedey after doing a diagnosis. "I'm afraid you're gonna have to go to the works to get mended."
Just then, a bus' horn honking got the trio's attention. They looked over to see, to their relief, Penny the Bus driving up along the road running alongside the tracks. Braedey's guard waved a red flag to them to stop.
"Hello, Braedey. Something the matter?" Penny called, taking note of the wall of steam around the red engine.
"Yes. My valve gear and superheater tubes are now damaged, so I can't take my passengers. Can you take them to the next station, please?" Braedey asked.
"Sure. No problem." Penny replied back. "I can do that. Plus, I'll give them the ride, free of charge."
"Thanks so much." Braedey thanked, the passengers now beginning to board the red bus. He then noticed the expression on Penny's face. "Something wrong there, Penny? You look rather tense." He noted.
"Oh, it's that stubborn and stupid steamroller that's been doing roadworks around here." Penny fumed, her engine rumbling.
"George the Steamroller?" Braedey asked in surprise. He had heard about that arrogant roller from Thomas and even from the engines of the Skarloey Railway. "What's he even doing here on the railway?"
"That's what I asked him. Instead of getting an answer, he just glared at me, saying I was a traitor for helping the railway." Penny explained. "He then does his stupid "Railways are no good. Turn 'em into roads! Pull 'em up, Turn 'em into roads!" ranting, but I just drove away before he could continue on. Oh, he is so annoying." She shuddered in annoyance.
"My advice; just ignore him. Act like he's not even there at all." Braedey advised, remembering the advice that Thomas gave him. "He'll get what for soon."
Once all the passengers from Braedey's train had boarded Penny, the red bus tooted her horn, and she drove away. Fortunately, Braedey wasn't alone for very long, as Diana had come to the rescue.
"Well, I never thought I'd have to come and save you." Diana showed a tiny smile. "Are you alright?" She asked.
"I think I will be soon. Think you can shunt me to the works?" Braedey asked to Diana.
Diana showed a small smile. "I'll give it a try."
Meanwhile, Charlotte and Jonson had just arrived with a double-header train from Barrow-in-Furness, and they were now getting their tanks topped up. As they do so, they saw Penny driving up to the station carpark with Braedey's passengers.
"Penny, what happened to Braedey?" Jonson asked. "What are you doing with his passengers?"
"His valve gear and superheater tubes are broken, so he asked me to take his passengers." Penny replied as the passengers disembarked from her, now going to get another train or other transport.
"Well, hopefully he won't be in the works for too long." Charlotte said next. "We've only got a few engines and little room to spread us around."
Just then, Diana arrived with Braedey behind her. The blue Caledonian sighed in relief as she pulled up, and began to push Braedey into the works shed. After that, Diana got to the coal bunker to top up.
"Well, who knows how long Braedey will be in the works." Diana sighed to herself.
"On top of that, we've got to deal with George the Steamroller." Penny grumbled, getting everyone's attention.
"What? He's here? Why?" Austin asked, bumping a set of trucks by accident.
"I'm afraid I can answer that one question for all of you." Mr. Franklin spoke up, the engines now looking over to him. "You see, the council around this area has been proposing to me that we should extend the roadways for the travellers and those who live about the railway. But, unfortunately, George was the only road construction vehicle available at the time."
"Sir, you'll be watching over him?" Max asked, when he arrived with some tankers.
"I'll do my best. I'll have someone I trust very well to watch George." Mr. Franklin said to them. "Now, off you go now." He told the engines, and they headed off to continue their work.
Meanwhile, Benson was driving along down the roads at ease. He had been taking passengers without issue around the area, and hasn't had any issues so far. He goes along the road, humming a little tune as he goes along.
"Not a bad day today." Benson said calmly to himself. He then saw what looked to be roadworks, much to his annoyance. "Oh, great. Roadworks." He muttered. "As if this isn't bad enough to delay me..."
Just then, a shrill whistle could be heard, now getting the blue AEC Regal 'T Class' looked to see roadworks just up ahead, but he could hear the chugging of a steam engine. He looked to see an unwelcoming sight just up ahead who was flattening and smoothing out the asphalt.
George is an Aveling-Barford R class steamroller. He is painted green with red lining, gold boiler bands, and black smokebox and funnel with a brass cowl. His front-forks are painted bright red and his name is painted on the sides of his boiler in white.
"Oh, it's you." Benson grumbled. He had heard stories about George from other engines, and already knew about his antics.
"What's wrong with you, huh?" George asked bluntly.
"What's with me? What's with you?" Benson argued back.
"Me? Just don't want to see your ugly mug." Benson grumbled. "I mean, have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?"
"You're one to talk, you stupid bus." George grumbled. "And why are you even helping the railway? They are the enemy to the railway-"
"Oh, just shut up." Benson snapped back, cutting off George. "Now stay out of the way of me, Penny, and the other engines." With that, the blue bus drove away, leaving an angry steamroller behind.
"Stupid bus. Stupid railway." George grumbled as he began to flatten the asphalt. "Railways are no good. Turn 'em into roads! Pull 'em up, Turn 'em into roads!"
Back with Benson, he drove up to meet up with Penny, who was talking to Diana and Jonson, the Caledonian locomotive taking a stopping train, with the blue GWR 5100 2-6-2T engine handling some trucks.
"Honestly, that arrogant roller." Benson fumed. He felt like his oil and coolant were going to boil over.
"He got under your paint too?" Penny asked.
"Yeah." Benson sighed.
"Well, it be best for us to just ignore him." Jonson advised as he reversed past them.
"Yeah. Thomas told me that to just not give him anything to provoke his wrath." Diana agreed. "It's so easy."
"How long do you think the roadworks will take?" Benson asked.
"Well, he's got to do up till where part of the road meets with the track." Penny informed. "That section of road and track is rather dangerous for road and rail vehicles."
"Yeah. Liliana and Bulgy had that incident a little while ago on that stretch of track, didn't they?" Jonson asked as he brought some flatbeds and box wagons to the opposite platform.
"Yes. She told me that Bulgy had bumped into her and she was derailed. Fortunately, she was able to get herself back onto the rails amazingly without any help." Penny replied. "She still hates Bulgy for doing that."
"Who doesn't hate him?" Austin whistled as he puffed by with some empty coal trucks.
"Well, let's just deal with George for now, and once he's gone, we can relax." Diana said to the two buses, and she puffed away with her train.
Penny and Benson agreed with the blue Caledonian locomotive, and they both headed off to work and go collect passengers.
Meanwhile, Braedey was now sitting in the workshop, all the while awaiting for his repairs to his valve gear and superheater tubes. It was going to take some time to get repaired, much to his frustration of wanting out.
For his repairs to be done, non-faceless engines like Braedey were given a chemical like "Black Water" known as "Green Water". The difference between the chemicals is that, while "Black Water" is a euthanizing agent, "Green Water" is an anesthetic, which puts the engine into a deep sleep before the repair process starts. Their engines are restarted by igniting the form of combustion that powers a vehicle.
As Braedey was undergoing the repairs, Max delivered some parts and materials to the workshops. But one time as he does so, he felt his engine groan and clank, just as smoke erupted from his side.
"Oh, botheration." Max grumbled, now unable to move. "There goes the weekend."
"That's not good." A mechanic spoke out after seeing this incident. "Now we've got two broken engines to take care of."
"Well, don't just stand there." Max said. "Let's go to work."
Austin pulled up to help push Max into the empty berth next to Braedey's sleeping form. Sure enough, Max was now getting his straight-6 diesel engine repaired. This now left two engines out of commission, so Austin, Jane, Kieron, Jonson, Liliana, and Belle had to take up Max's work on top of their own.
Later on, Liliana was now going with a tourist train down the line. She had just exited one of the tunnels and she was making good time, the passengers not minding the calmness. However, the peace of the moment was short-lived as Liliana now saw George up ahead, and he was actually blocking the line. Liliana immediately applied the brakes, coming to a slow stop three metres away from the steamroller, the two staring one another down.
"Back off, you steam pot." George fumed.
"Look who's calling the kettle black." Liliana countered back. "Now get out of my way."
"No way. I'm busy." George barked.
"So am I." Liliana looked back at her coaches, then back at George. "I won't ask again: get out of my way." She demanded.
"No." George spoke back firmly. "And what are you going to do about it?"
"I'll take away your roller, for one thing." A sharp voice spoke out. Liliana and George now saw the roadworks manager walking up. "George, move out of the way." He ordered.
George fumed and grumbled, but reluctantly reversed off the rails, allowing Liliana to puff away. As she does so, she blew steam at George, the green steamroller growling angrily as the little green engine puffed off down the tracks with a smirk on her face.
As Liliana left, George thought about what he could do to get revenge on the railway. In his eyes, all railways must be removed. He and Bulgy, in their little Anti-Rail League, both see the railways as trouble for the roads, and they must be ripped up and all engines gone so roads will dominate all. So, while nobody was looking, George ran over a section of tracks on purpose, now flattening them to the point where the flanges on the engines' wheels won't grip and they'll derail. George smirked evilly as he reversed away, unaware of what will happen.
Liliana, meanwhile, she had arrived back at the main station of Marion. After her little incident with George, she was still feeling frustrated and annoyed by what he said and how he purposely blocked the tracks.
"You okay, Liliana?" Jane asked, the red LBSCR E2 tank engine having shunted a small goods train for her to take.
"It's George. He purposely delayed me by blocking the line." Liliana fumed.
Jane sighed. "Just ignore him, and I'm sure things will get better." She said, and with that, the red engine puffed away with her goods.
Jane travelled along at speed down the same line that Liliana had gone down earlier, and she was making good time. The signals were green, so she had a clear run through the forest. But as she goes along down the tracks, she ran over the section of line that George had flattened, causing her to derail off the tracks, go rolling off into a nearby field, then crashed through one side of an old barn and out the other side.
Jane groaned a little, but she fortunately recovered. She then glared angrily. "Someone is going to pay for this. And I know exactly who did this." She fumed angrily.
The accident with Jane and the incident with Liliana definitely did NOT go unnoticed. After these incidents, Mr. Franklin knew right then and there that George is the culprit. Thanks to a photographer by the name of Scorcher Silverback, who has taken the image, the controller of the Josephine Railway made a call to the roadworks manager to inform them of what happened.
Meanwhile, George was sitting by the workshop sheds with the other machines, feeling smug with himself. He was feeling smug about what he's been up to.
"GEORGE!" The steamroller looked over to see the roadworks manager and Mr. Franklin storming up to him. "What do you think you're doing?!" The former male demanded.
"Uh... what do you mean-" George was cut off.
"Don't act stupid with us, George. We know that you caused delays, inconveniences, and issues with the engines on the railway, especially causing Jane's derailment." Mr. Franklin now produced the images of what happened, George looking flabbergasted. "And after what you've done back on Sodor, hard to believe you would actually behave."
"After today, you can forget ever doing roadworks. When we get back to Sodor, you'll have your roller taken away from you, and you'll be put as a stationary boiler." The manager added in without feeling. "That should teach you a thing or two about your tricks."
With that, the two gentlemen left, leaving George at a loss for words and angry at himself. The steamroller fumed in frustration and annoyance as he sat there.
A little while later, George was loaded onto a well-wagon, and was put onto a goods train off back to Sodor at once. Fortunately, Braedey had been repaired in time, and he took the arrogant roller off to the railway.
Braedey smirked to himself as he blew steam right into George's face as he left for home. 'Consider this payback for what you've done.' He thought smugly.