Chapter 3: Trevor Helps Out
Trevor the traction engine was feeling depressed. He couldn't breathe properly.
"Your boiler needs mending," said his owner, the Vicar of Wellsworth, "but I can't afford it at present."
One morning, the Vicarage telephone rang. The Vicar answered it, and then hurried out to see Trevor.
"You may be a bit under the weather, but you can manage this," he said. "The farmer has a tree down, and he wants you to saw it up for him."
When Trevor had steam, they went to the farm and set to work in a field near the railway, trying to clear the fallen tree.
Thomas and Bloom passed by with Edward's coaches. He whistled cheerfully. Edward and Tecna liked freight cars, and had been delighted to let Thomas and Bloom have the coaches for a while.
When Edward and Tecna passed, later that morning, they were pulling freight cars with a sort of tent over them. These were specially for carrying china clay - the men called them 'hoods'.
"Why 'hoods'?" Thomas had asked Bill and Ben.
"The hoods are those things like tents," explained Bill.
"They keep the clay dry," added Ben. "Wet clay goes in tanks."
"I see," said Bloom. She was impressed.
But to Trevor, they were simply cars. He was enjoying himself, the only thing he liked better than sawing logs was giving children rides. He chuntered happily as the pile of logs beside him grew.
Edward and Tecna returned with some empty freight cars. As they passed the place where Trevor was working, the line seemed to wobble under Edward.
"That feels like a loose rail," he thought.
"You're right, Edward," agreed Tecna. "We'd better tell the maintenance people about this."
At the harbor, Edward and Tecna exchanged the empty cars for full ones, and set off for the junction again.
Trevor dozed. The wind had dropped, and it was comfortable in the autumn sunshine. It seemed no time at all before he heard Edward and Tecna coming back.
Trevor whistled a cheerful greeting. He was watching Edward and so did not see one of the cars, six from the end, sink, jump and shudder, just at the place Edward and Tecna had felt a weakness in the line that morning. Sparks flew, a truck wheel jammed, and with a crack, a coupling broke. The last six cars and the brakevan lurched, bumped and stopped.
The conductor, safe in his van, blew his whistle. Edward and Tecna, far in front, didn't hear it, and hurried on without realizing what had happened.
But Trevor was closer to the brakevan than Edward. He heard the whistle, and looked back to see the freight cars lying at strange angles on the track.
"Peep pip pip peep, peep pip pip peep!" he whistled in horror. "Stop, Edward, stop!"
Edward heard that. "It's Trevor!" he cried anxiously. "What's wrong?"
"We'd better stop and see," said Tecna.
Tecna's bonded pixie, Digit flew onto the tender. "Phew!" she exclaimed. "Look - it's not Trevor, it's us!"
The conductor went to protect the train, Tecna went to the farmhouse to telephone for help, and the breakdown gang soon cleared the line.
That evening, Sir Topham Hatt came to see Trevor. "Thank you, Trevor," he said. "I've heard about your boiler, and because you saved a nasty situation, you're to go to the steamworks to be mended. Would you like that?"
"Oh, sir," said Trevor. "Thank you. That would be lovely."
