Here is a little window into how I write this fanfic. I write new chapters on paper first, and up until now, I've always been one chapter ahead on paper compared to what I've typed out and uploaded. This has always given me time to reflect on what I've written and improve on it. When I was typing out chapter two, I started to deviate slightly from what I've written on paper to improve things where I saw fit, which has escalated into using what I've written on paper more as a guideline than purely copying it. With this chapter that meant that I made the chapter almost twice as long. The thing is that I've arrived at the chapter I am working on on paper as well now. As a result, it will take a while before the next chapter will be released, since I want to have some time between me finishing it on paper and starting to type it on my computer. Beside the improvements, I do this because if I am further on paper, I know what will happen and I can imply the ideas I've added immediately after thinking of them to make them seem more natural. This also means that it might be wise to keep an eye on the previous chapters I've uploaded, because they are prone to change because I am rewriting some details or adding some other stuff, like I am doing right now. Thanks for listening to me rambling and enjoy the chapter.
Eva lets out an exasperated groan as she stops underneath the coal hopper at Keeshyn Harbour. "Are you alright Eva?" Madison, the green Dübs crane tank, asks the dark red CR 812. "Ah donnae know how long Charles and ah will be able tae deal with that orange sausage. She just does nae want tae listen tae us." Madison raises an eyebrow. "She can't be that bad. Surely she's only having trouble adjusting to the island." Eva scoffs. "Ah wish it was that simple tae deal with. Ye have nae been around her as long as us." A loud whistle rips through the air as the black and orange 4-8-4 backs into the sheds behind them. "Get out of here, you miserable switchers, this important locomotive needs some rest." Erika orders importantly. Eva rolls her eyes. "Ye can't rest now, yer train will depart in a couple o' minutes." Erika scoffs. "You can't tell me what to do." she snaps at her. Eva's eyelid twitches in anger, but before she can snap at the orange engine, another engine, with the same livery as her, backs onto Erika and is coupled to her. "If ye donnae want tae listen, we will have tae take things into our own buffers." Pyty, the CR class 600, says as she begins to drag Erika out of the shed. Erika stubbornly keeps her brakes on, but to her surprise the smaller 0-8-0 has no trouble moving her despite her brakes. After she is completely out of the sheds, Pyty stops and two people walk up to them.
Sander Hodgson and the manager of the Keeshyn branchline look sternly at the orange engine. Willow Murphy, a tanned bunny woman with purple hair, blueish grey eyes, the right one of which being covered by a grey eyepatch, matching the grey suit she is wearing, points at the engine. "Erika, you have caused a lot of trouble in the time you've been on the island. You refuse to listen to the engines in charge of you, and have broken several regulations. You have one more chance to redeem yourself before we will take serious measures." Erika rolls her eyes defiantly. "What kind o' measures miss Murphy?" Eva asks. "We have put in a good word with the police for her recklessness, but if her attitude doesn't improve, she'll be put into Railgate to amend for her rule breaking." Willow explains. Erika frowns. "What is Railgate?" she asks, feeling an unexplained sense of dread. Madison looks at her bewildered. "You don't know? How can you not know?" Pyty chuckles softly. "Dear, ye are forgetting that most other places donnae have th' kind o' justice system for non-faceless vehicles compared tae us." She turns to Erika. "Railgate is th' non-faceless equivalent o' jail. Most sentences are less than a month though." Erika's face goes pale. "Is that true miss?" she asks Willow in a panic. The woman nods. "It is true. It is quite fair towards vehicles that have done worse crimes compared to the rest of the world." "Fair?" Sander laughs and joins the conversation. "Non-faceless vehicles that have committed crimes bad enough to be scrapped in other countries will be thrown in Railgate for a while before being let out again. That seems more fair, now doesn't it?" Erika looks down at her coupling, contemplating what she should do. "What consequences does going to Railgate have?" The four engines and the humans look up as a purple BR class 07 rolls onto the siding to refuel. "The consequences are that you are put on maintenance duty for several weeks and that requests for things as repaints and special jobs will be less likely to be granted." Laura explains. Erika looks at the little diesel. "Did you go to Railgate once?" she asks. Laura gets a downcast expression on her face. "Yeah, I was rough with some trucks in my first few weeks of work and permanently paralysed the left leg of one of the workmen around at the time. I spend three weeks inside because of it, and let me tell you what. Railgate is boring. You sit still most of the time and you have nothing to do. I don't recommend doing anything that will get you into Railgate." Erika sighs. "Sir, may I speak with you in private?" Sander nods and climbs into her cab. "We will talk while you take your train."
About half an hour later the orange and black engine and her controller are alone with her crew, whom came with her from the USA, as they thunder along the line with a fish train. "So, you wanted to talk?" Sander begins. "I am sorry about the way I have been behaving since I have been on your railroad. I didn't want to be mean, but back when I was younger I had to behave like that to fit in with my siblings. By the time they stopped being around me, I couldn't stop acting out. I tried before, but it resulted in me not being able to work as efficient as before. And when I became as famous as I've become, it was the only way to deal with the large number of fans I have." Sander scratches his chin. "I see. I guess pairing you with the Caledonian twins wasn't the best decision. I think Sophie could do a good job of mentoring you." "Who is Sophie, I don't think I've met her before." Erika asks worried. "She is a Union Pacific Big Boy. She is a gentle giant, so you don't have to worry to much about her. She has mentored engines with problems similar to yours before, so I am quite confident that she will be able to help you."
Henry and BoCo look around curiously around Bea yard after they've passed through the portal. Daclan smiles at the two green engines. "Welcome tae th' island of Obbeeys, lads. This is Bea yard, and him over there is Rafe, the stationpilot." Rafe comes up to the three engines. "Hello Darclan, who are these visitors?" the red tank engine greets the Scottish engine. "Hullo Rafe, these two fine gentlemen are Henry and BoCo. Ah am showing them th' way tae Bea Works. They're here fur th' agreement with th' North Western Railway." Rafe smiles at the visitors. "It is nice to meet the two of you. I am Rafe, Bea's stationpilot. I hope you'll enjoy your time on the island." The two green engines smile at the red shunter. "Nice to meet you to Rafe." Declan whistles, grabbing the attention of the two North Westerners. "Let's go."
Declan grins at Henry and BoCo as they stop in front of the main building of the Bea Works. "This is th' place where most o' us were built. There isnae a place with better steam technology than this place." he proclaims proudly. The Black Five and BR class 28 look dumbstruck at the building in front of them. "And here I thought that the Steamworks on Sodor was big. This place is massive!" Henry exclaims. BoCo hums in agreement. Declan chuckles. "We get that from time tae time frum other engines visiting th' island. Anyways, ah need tae leave now. There are trains that need tae be moved on our branch. Bye." Declan moves to the turntable to get turned around, passing a green austerity 0-6-0ST on his way. The saddletank smiles at Henry and BoCo. "Hello, you must be Henry and BoCo. My name is Miles. I am one of the engines that work here in the works." Henry and BoCo smile at the tank engine. "Hello Miles, it is nice to meet you. We are here for a tour." BoCo says. Miles smiles at the two. "So, are the two of you also works engines?" BoCo and Henry glance at each other before answering. "Not really. It is just that the two of us have had problems operating in the past, so we picked up quite a lot about how engines are supposed to work from our time being worked on." Henry explains awkwardly. They are silent for a moment, before Miles blushes in embarrassment. "Oh, I am sorry. I didn't mean to make things awkward." Henry smiles reassuringly at the saddletank. "Don't worry about it. It has been a long time since the two of us suffered from those issues." Miles sighs in relief. "Good. Well, what are we waiting for, follow me."
"And this is the articulated engine section." Miles finishes the tour. Henry and BoCo stare shocked at the two massive engines present in this section of the works. Sophie smiles kindly at the two green engines. "Hello there. Never seen a Big Boy before?" she asks them with a chuckle. Henry is the first one to get out of a daze. "Not really, no. The massive tunnels on this railway all of a sudden make a lot more sense." Sophie chuckles. "Yeah, there are some big locomotives running around on these rails." BoCo turns their attention to the big triplex that is hoisted in the air next to the Big Boy. "I can't imagine this railway needing an engine such as yourself. Are you going to be put on static display or…?" the diesel asks. "She is going to be the dedicated banker on the Canyon branch. The climb down to it is horrendous." The two North Westerners look to the left to see a purple BR class 28 with an orange claw on her roof pull up to them. "The name is Fiona, I am Miles's colleague. It is a pleasure to meet you." BoCo looks surprised at her. "I guess I have another sister." he mutters, causing Fiona to laugh. "I have a feeling many of you North Westerners will have similar experiences when they visit the island."
Meanwhile, on Sodor…
"Are you alright Rick, you seem quite tired." Emily worriedly asks the small triplex. Rick yawns. "I am fine, just had a rough night." he reassures the Sterling Single. Hanne stops her inspection of the green engine to put a hand on his bufferbeam. "Did you have another nightmare?" she asks, worry visible in her one seeing eye. Rick looks away, not wanting to answer her. The woman sighs, patting his running plate a couple of times before continuing her inspection. James gives Rick a sympathetic look. "It is probably for the best if you take it easy today. You'd put yourself in danger if you do any hard work if you are as tired as you seem to be." the red engine advices him. "Quite the solid piece of advice James. I agree with you." Sir Topham says as he walks towards his engines. "Rick, the earl has requested for you to be an exhibit for the day in his museum. Do you mind doing so?" the stout gentlemen asks. Rick smiles tiredly at him. "Sure thing sir, I don't mind. Hanne, Nore, do the two of you mind?" the green engine asks. "We don't Rick. It would be nice to have a slow day."
Melody looks sceptically at her niece. "I find it hard to believe that you were warned by a ghost. Are you sure it wasn't just a woman from a nearby cottage warning you two?" "No no no, I am sure that it was a ghost." Lizzie claims adamantly. Melody sighs, wondering how her niece could be so naïve. "Don't be so harsh on her Melody." Riley says. "Yeah, don't forget that the four of us have seen several ghosts in the time you were rusting away on that branchline." Ridley jumps in. Melody rolls her eyes. "Alright, I'll indulge you. What did the ghost look like?" she asks Lizzie. As the red engine describes the ghosts appearance to her, Melody gets an increasing feeling of dread in her boiler. By the end of Lizzie's description, the yellow engine is positively horrified. "Aunt Melody, are you alright? Did I say something wrong?" the red engine asks worried. Melody takes several shaky breaths before answering. "N-no, you didn't. Please don't tell your anyone about this without my permission." Lizzie raises an eyebrow at that. "Okay, why?" Melody gives her a stern look. "In this case it is better to not ask any questions. Trust me, if you tell him nothing good will come from it." Lizzie is surprised by the sudden change in her aunts attitude. "Alright, if you say so."
Rick backs into the big indoor roundhouse at the castle grounds. "Ah, Rick. It is nice to see you again." Glynn greets the green triplex. Rick smiles sleepily at the red coffeepot. "Hello Glynn, it is good to see that you are still around." He then looks to his right, where the Stephenson's Rocket is looking at him with a smile. "Hello Rick. Good to see you're still up and kicking." Stephen greets him. Rick smiles back. "Tis good to see you again as well." Rick smiles as Hanne and Nore walk into his field of vision. "We are of to look around the museum, see you in a bit." Rick turns his attention to the other engines around the turntable. "So, my name is Rick, and who might you all be?" A long, green, diesel-looking engine smiles at him. "My name is Tylar, I am a Bulleid Leader class." he says. The green and old-fashioned broad gauge engine sitting next to Tylar speaks up. "I am Ronan, I was designed to the plans of John Fowler in 1861." the 2-4-0 introduces himself. Rick hums. "I think I have heard of you. Fowler's Ghost, am I correct." Ronan looks sadly at his buffers. "I guess that is the way I am remembered." "Cheer up Ronan. Don't dwell too much on the past." Stephen says. "You are right Stephen, sorry." Their attention is grasped by the sound of snoring. The sound originates from a black streamlined 4-6-4 and a boxy, orange 4-6-0 sleeping on the other side of the turntable from Rick. "Those two are Stefan, the LNER 10000, and Mason, the GT3 gas turbine." a red 0-8-0 introduces the two sleeping engines. "My name is Leah, and this here is my twin brother Kendrick, and we are LYR class 31s." They turn their attention to the only engine that hasn't been introduced yet. The weird looking tank engine glares at the green triplex, staying silent. "That is Amelia, she is a Kitson-Still steam-diesel hybrid. She is new here, sir Robert has only bought her from some collector three years ago and finished restoration a month ago."
Hanne pulls Nore along through the halls and galleries of the railway museum. "Slow down Hanne, I can't keep up." Nore yells out of breath. Hanne chuckles apologetically. "Heh, sorry, I forgot that you aren't the most athletic." They go sit on a bench in front of a set of narrow gauge buffers. After a couple of minutes they hear the sound of a steam engine slowly approaching. A green Fletcher-Jennings 0-4-0T comes to a standstill in front of the buffers. His face turns curious as he sees the two girls in their uniforms and seems to recognize them somehow. "Hi, the two of you must be Hanne and Nore Hill." The twins glance at each other before answering. "Yeah, how did you know?" Hanne asks. "I was around at the time the quadruplets were on the island, so I've seen that kind of uniform before. Besides that, Emrick and Lee visited us at the Skarloey yesterday after work to catch up with us. They told us about the two of you." the green engine explains. Nore looks confused at him. "Catch up? How can they catch up with you if there barely has been any contact between the Obbeeys Railway and this world for a century?" she asks. Hanne massages the brim of her nose as she shakes her head. "Sis, have you forgotten that the crew of Melody, Norm and Romy are bound to them and don't age?" Nore blushes in embarrassment. "I did, sorry." The green engine laughs. "Don't feel bad about it, most people here don't know about it. Anyway, it seems that I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Smudger, it is nice to meet you." Hanne gets a sparkle in her eyes. "Could I look you over?" she asks eagerly. Smudger looks flabbergasted at the girl. "Huh?" Nore chuckles. "She has a huge passion of understanding the technical details of the engines she meets, especially the steam engines. She means to ask you if she may give you a basic inspection." Smudger smiles at that. "Sure, I don't have anything else to do for the rest of the day anyway." Hanne gleefully walks up to the engine and starts to inspect him. Nore suddenly has a realization. "Are you a museum-owned engine?" she asks Smudger. "Yeah, why do you ask?" "If you are museum-owned, what were you doing on the Skarloey Railway?" Smudger laughs. "Us Mid-Sodor chaps that are still able to be operated are allowed to work on the Skarloey Railway one week every month. It is a agreement sir Robert has with the Skarloey. The standard gauge engines of the museum that work properly have the same agreement with the NWR." he explains to her. "I can understand why you would want to have such an agreement. Sitting in the same place all the time must be boring after a while." Hanne chimes in. Smudger chuckles. "You would think so, but there are quite a lot of visitors that want to chat with us every day. There are also several regular visitors living on the island that tell us what happens on the island. There is also little that is as heart-warming as seeing the wonder filled faces of young children listening to our stories." Hanne suddenly stands up, having seen something that confused her while inspecting the green engine's boiler. "I have seen an engine similar to you, but your boiler seem to have some features that I have never seen before." Smudger chuckles. "I am not surprised. I have spent several decades as a generator after all." The twins look confused at him. "Generator? Why? How?" Nore asks curious. Smudger laughs bitterly. "Back on the Mid-Sodor I derailed often because I wasn't constructed properly. After some time the manager said that he wanted to make me useful at last. He took away my wheels and cab and turned me into a generator and they put me at the back of the sheds. They left me when the railway closed. I eventually was buried in a landslide, and was only discovered by accident when the earl fell through the roof of my shed twenty years ago. About a year later I was restored and put into the collection." The twins look horrified at him, making Smudger laugh. "Don't give me that look, I kinda deserved it. I was a jerk back then after all. At least I wasn't responsible for the railway closing down, like Stanley." Nore shakes her head. "Even if you were a jerk, that is just way too cruel."
"Uhm, hello." Rick looks down to see a young girl standing in front of him. "Hello there dear. Can I help you with something?" The girl looks shyly at the green engine, before speaking up. "Are you Edward's brother?" she asks. Rick smiles gently at her. "Yes, I am his older brother. My name is Rick. I am visiting the island for some time." The girl smiles shyly at him. "I am Natalie." Suddenly, a woman looking like Natalie runs up to them and hugs the girl. "Natalie, don't run off on your own again! I was so worried!" She then looks at the green engine. "Are you this Rick I've been hearing about?" Rick smiles at her. "Yes, I am." "Thank you for looking after my daughter."
Thomas reverses into the sheds at Wellsworth where Edward, Edith and Melody are waiting for him. "Why did call us here Melody? I have work to do tomorrow, I want to have a decent night of sleep." the blue tank engine asks the yellow engine annoyed. "Does it have something to do with the ghost Henry mentioned before he left for your railway?" Edith asks her older sister. Melody sighs. "Of course it wouldn't be so simple to keep this quiet. Yes Edith, it has everything to do with that ghost." Edward frowns. "I didn't take you for someone believing in ghosts Melody." "Normally that is the case indeed, but the description of the ghost I got from Lizzie is eerily similar to Bella Adams back in 1918." The three other engines gasp at that. "You've got to be kidding Melody! Please tell me this is a bad joke." Edith exclaims in panic. The two blue engines look equally disturbed. The yellow engine looks down at her buffers. "I wish I could say that it was a joke, but unfortunately I can't." Edward gets a determined look on his face. "We need to keep this ghost away from Rick. I believe we can all agree to that." The other engines hum in acknowledgement.
"Hullo there ye two, are ye finding th' works educational?" Mister Verheiden asks the two green engines. "Yeah, but we are wondering, what's going on? It seems like there is a lot more work compared to yesterday." BoCo asks. The young man smiles at them. "Something th' islands council has been bickering about fur th' last decade or sae, has been finally gone through. We've gotten orders fur engines tae be built fur a new narrow gauge railway in th' midlands o' th' island." BoCo and Henry look concerned at each other for a moment. "Is this competition for the Obbeeys Railway?" Henry asks. "Nah, the Obbeeysian Midland Railway will be working with the Obbeeys Railway to connect the entire island through rails. The roads connecting the cities are garbage after all." The two green engines look to their side to see a blue Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn 0-4-0T Crane Tank approach. "I haven't seen the two of you before, my name is Fenton, nice to meet you." The two green engines look confused. "How come we didn't see you yesterday?" Fenton chuckles. "I was needed at the lumberyard in Asney. Their cranes broke down again, so I came to assist Amber. Same thing with Max, the overseer of the international department of the works."
A month pass and Christmas is approaching. Angel steams into Tidmouth yard pulling seven flatbeds filled with steel beams, looking around excitedly. Lady smiles at her sister as the black engine comes to a standstill. "Hello Angel, it is nice to see you." she greets her sister. Angel smiles at her. "Hello Lady. How have you been?" "Good, good." Angel looks bashful before asking Lady a burning question. "How has Rick been doing?" Lady laughs at that. "He has been doing reasonably well, as far as I know. He has been a great help to the railway, and he gets along quite well with most engines he has met." Angel sighs in relief. "That's good." Angel shunts her train into the siding a workmen has directed her towards. A horn sounds through the yard and a dirty yellow class 42 with a claw on his roof rolls into the yard with a goods train. Lady seems to get a bit uncomfortable, but Angel cheerfully engages in conversation with the warship. "Hello, I am Angel. I am visiting the railway." The warship looks taken aback for a moment, before smiling. "Nice to meet you Angel. My name is Russel." Lady scoffs, causing Angel to look from the diesel to her sister. "I feel like the two of you have some history." "You can say that again." Lady snarls. Angel backs away slightly. "I see that there are a lot of unresolved feelings between the two of you. Should I leave?" Russel looks down at his buffers. "I'll leave." he says. He starts to leave, but there is a splutter and a screech, and a big flame shoots out of his exhaust vent as his engine dies. "Are you hurt?!" Angel asks concerned. Russel sighs. "I guess my engine is broken. Should have expected this. I deserve it." Lady starts to feel uncomfortable for an entirely different reason at that. "What happened here?" Henry asks as he pulls into the yard to fill his tender. "Russel has broken down." Angel explains. "Hmm, I have to take a goods train to Vicarstown in about an hour. I'll take you to the Dieselworks. Is that alright with you Russel?" "Sure."
"I am sorry sir, but it seems like he will need a lengthy overhaul." Sir Topham puts the phone down, sighing. "What am I going to do? My track maintenance engine is out of service and the main line desperately needs to repaired." He walks out of his office to see that Melody is sitting on the platform. "I am sorry sir, I couldn't help but overhear you. I might have a suggestion to fix your problem." Topham looks curious at the yellow engine. "Alright, what did you have in mind?" "Romy could come over to do track maintenance. She is quite good at it." The stout gentlemen scratches his chin. "I will think about it."
Jasmine smiles at Rick as he stops in front of her. She has been lifted into the air and her wheels are missing. "Hello Rick. How have you been?" Rick smiles. "I have been well, what about you? Is your restoration going well?" Jasmine looks uncomfortably to the side. "It has been going well for the most part." Rick frowns. "I can tell that isn't entirely true. What is wrong?" the green engine asks strictly. Jasmine sighs. "Alright, fine. They found metal fatigue in my wheels." Rick cringes. "That doesn't bode well. I take that the men here have inspected the rest of you thoroughly for it. We don't want to leave a patch of early metal fatigue to fester. It is only in your old wheels, right?" Jasmine smiles weakly. "Yeah, it was only in my wheels. I do have a question for you though." "Ask away." "I've heard that you and some of your siblings spend a hundred years rusting away on a branchline. Didn't you suffer from metal fatigue?" Rick chuckles softly. "Melody, Norm and Romy didn't have any metal fatigue, but I did have a decent amount of the disease. It took the men at Bea Works all they got to restore me because of that." Jasmine cringes at that. "I've heard from the men from Bea Works in the kind of shape you were when they started your restoration. How did you even survive for so long in that condition?" Rick looks apprehensive to answer her. "The researchers from the Research Facility wanted to know the same thing back then. They concluded that the massive magical power I possess kept me alive for so long." He is silent for a moment. "Have you told James about your metal fatigue yet?" Jasmine looks away, ashamed. "You should tell him yourself before someone else tells him. He is your brother, he will be hurt if you aren't the one to tell him such an important thing as this." the green engine lectures her. Jasmine sighs. "Alright, I'll tell him."
Angel smiles brightly as Rick backs into the sheds. "Hello Rick, how have you been? It is so good to see you again." she greets him. Rick chuckles. "Hello dear. I have been doing well, what about you?" Angel becomes bashful. "I have been doing better, it is the slow season at the steelworks, so mister Beeal has made an agreement with mister Hodgson to keep me busy. It means that I am able to meet up with the other engines more. I am not as lonely as I was before." Rick smiles gently at her. "That is great dear." Angel blushes. "Why do you call me that all of a sudden?" she asks shyly. Rick laughs heartly at this. "I just feel like it. Anyway, do you have news from home?" The black tank engine smiles at him. "Yeah, the council has finally made a decision on the midland issue. They have put an act in for the formation of the Obbeeysian Midland Railway." Rick hums in thought. "Did they decide to use the old route of the Jurnaa Railway?" "Yeah, and they have already finished building their first two engines. I was present during their First Firing. Their names are Helena and Tegan." "What classes are they?" Angel stays silent for a moment, trying to remember. "Ah yeah. Helena is a Decauville type 1 0-4-0T, and Tegan is a new class. She was designed by Daphne Peters two years ago. They called her an OMR Valley class. She is an 2-8-2 + 2-8-2 garratt." Rick hums. "I wonder if they'll run Tegan on their own rails or on the rails of another railway." Angel chuckles. "I believe that they have made an agreement with the Skarloey Railway to use their tracks to see how she performs." "Huh, guess I will be seeing her around then."
Melody backs into the filled Tidmouth sheds later that evening. She backs into the berth next to Angel, who is talking with Bear. "The railway closed down when Port Awin blew up." the black tank engine tells the diesel. "Wait, what do you mean? How does a town blow up?" Bear exclaims, ending all other conversations going on. "Oh, hello Melody. Could you please explain, you were around then after all." Melody sighs, a disturbed look appearing on her face. "This is about the reason the Jurnaa Railway closed down, right?" Angel hums in acknowledgement. "Ah, fine. The Jurnaa Railway was a narrow gauge railway that was in operation in the midlands of the island of Obbeeys from 1845 till 1885. They had only one way to properly export their goods, the harbour town of Port Awin. In 1885, someone in Port Awin was messing around with a device the size of a lunchbox made from equal parts mysterium and fowleryus. They did something wrong and the magical explosion that was produced by the device wiped the entire town from the face of the earth. With their port gone, the Jurnaa Railway couldn't continue on and close down. They hadn't been doing all that well from the beginning though. Their board of directors made many bad business decisions that crippled the economy of the railway. When their mine ran dry due to poor management, the railway went bankrupt. They lost one of their engines in the Purt Awin Annihilation, and two of the remaining three were scrapped. Ethel was sold to the Asney Lumberyard. They say that the ghost of the engine that lost their life still roams the old tracks of the railway." All engines in the sheds have become silent. "Just how powerful is your island?" Gordon asks dumbfounded. "The island of Obbeeys has access to some of the most destructive weapons in the world. We don't use that power to rule over the rest of the world though. The island of Obbeeys plays the role of being the military backbone of the UN. The threat of retaliation from our island prevented the Cold War from escalating in our world." Angel explains. "Yeah, we work the same way. Rick, Norm, Romy and I don't try to dictate how things should be done, except when it is a necessary." Melody adds. She then turns to Angel. "Angel dear, can we talk in private?" Angel hums.
After Melody has pulled Angel to a siding in the yard and moved beside her, Angel speaks up. "So, what got your coupling in a twist?" she asks. Melody sighs nervously, looking around for anyone near them before speaking up. "Bella's ghost is going around the island." Angel looks confused for a moment, processing what the yellow engine has said, before speaking. "Do you mean the ghost of Bella Adams?" she asks with growing panic in her voice. Melody sighs again. "Yeah, Lizzie saw her ghost before encountering a fallen tree on the tracks about a month ago. We need to keep her away from Rick at all costs." Angel takes several deep breaths to calm herself down, before she speaks again. "Are you sure that is a good idea? I mean, her death wasn't Rick's fault. Why would she try to hurt him?" "We don't know if Bella feels that way too. She died inside of his cab after all. She might have a grudge against him because of that. I don't think that Rick's mental health could take it if she goes after him. I am already worried enough about his mental health as is." Melody says, but Angel scoffs. "We are talking about Bella Adams. She cared way too much about Rick to ever have a grudge against him. I don't think that she would go after him for anything malicious." she admits begrudgingly. Melody sighs sadly. "I guess you are right. I guess that I was being overprotective over him, and Edith, Edward and Thomas didn't know her well enough to see that either. Thank you." She then chuckles. "Did I detect jealousy from you just now?" Angel doesn't meet her gaze, blushing slightly. "Maybe, I don't know. I don't really know why I would be jealous." Melody laughs. "I think it is about time for you to figure out what your feelings towards my brother are." she says.
All engines present at Tidmouth sheds are rudely awoken the next morning by a loud whistle. Romy laughs as the residents of the sheds grumble and complain for being awoken so early. Rick laughs heartily at the little prank his youngest twin has pulled. "You mischievous devil Romy. When did you arrive?" the green engine asks her after his laughter has died down. The blue crane engine smiles at him. "We arrived here about an hour ago. It is good to be back on the island. It will be nice to be away from Norm for a while." Rick chuckles. "The two of you really get on each other's nerves, don't you? Anyway, no matter how happy I am to see you, I must wonder why you are here?" Romy grins. "Apparently the maintenance diesel broke down here, and dear old Melody recommended me to sir Topham Hatt. So here I am. I dropped of that new narrow gauge engine of at the Skarloey Railway on my way over here." Scarlet groans. "And what are you supposed to be?" she asks the blue engine. "I am what I look like, an FR K2 with a crane on my tender."
Rick enters the Wharf with a goods train to see a blue 2-8-2+2-8-2 garratt already there. "You must be Tegan, am I right?" the green engine greets the blue engine. Tegan looks over at him and grins. "That's me, and you must be Rick. They have told me about you." Rick chuckles. "I can imagine they did. Romy must have told you some things about me as well this morning. Anyway, did you have a good introduction to the Skarloey Railway?" The garratt scoffs. "Those old timers were telling me what to do. The nerve, I am smart enough to work on my own, I don't need them." Rick frowns. "Now listen here youngster, those engines have experience. They can give you a lot of advice that would take you decades to gather by yourself. They just want to help you, and prevent you from making mistakes that could be prevented. If I were you, I'd listen to them." he lectures the younger engine. The blue engine looks away defiantly, causing Rick to sigh deeply. "Alright, ignore their advice as you see fit, but don't blame anyone else if you make a mistake." With that, the green engine steams away.
Rick and James are discussing his encounter with the blue garratt later that evening. "She has a lot of confidence in herself for such a young engine. I knew that trying to give her any more advice would only be counterproductive." the green engine complains. James chuckles. "I didn't take you for someone that complained so easily Rick. I guess this must really bothers you." he says. Rick chuckles softly. "Yeah, I guess you can say that. I just don't like it when young engines don't take advantage of the experience I have available to better themselves. Especially when those engines are particularly strong or fast. It just worries me how wrong things could go for them." The red engine chuckles. "I can see where you're coming from." Their conversation is interrupted by the yard foreman walking up to them. "Rick, are you still in steam?" he asks, a look of frustration present on his face. "Yes, why do you ask? Do you need to speak with Hanne or Nore?" The foreman shakes his head. "We just got a call from Brendam Docks. Apparently, the spare crew that took Henry with them today didn't fill up his boiler properly and his crown sheet raptured. He is in no condition to take the Flying Kipper, so the Fat Controller has asked for you to take it." Hanne and Nore walk up to them, looking curious about what's going on. "We need to take the Flying Kipper, are the two of you up for it?" The twins nod. "If we are told this late it must be an emergency." Hanne concludes. Melody and Angel exchange looks as the green engine moves out of the sheds.
Rick backs onto the Flying Kipper, giving Henry a concerned look. "Are you alright Henry?" The Black Five gives the triplex a pained look. "I could be better. Those idiots didn't fill up my boiler. We are lucky that nobody was hurt when my crown sheet ruptured. I guess that I won't spend Christmas with my friends. I am not even sure if we can afford my repairs, with Jasmine and Russel in the works." Rick releases small cloud of steam at that. "Don't worry to much Henry. If there aren't any funds for your repairs, I'll put in a good word for you with the controller of the Obbeeys Railway to get you repaired at Bea Works." The Black Five smiles at the green triplex. "You'd do that for me?" Rick smiles gently at Henry. "Of course I would. You're a nice guy, and I enjoy your company." Henry smiles before looking up at the sky. "I believe that it is going to snow soon." Rick looks up as well. "Seems like it. I better be careful then. See you later Henry." the green engine whistles as he departs in a huge cloud of steam.
"The island is truly beautiful at night covered in snow." Nore says in awe. Rick laughs. "Yeah, it sure is." The non-faceless vans suddenly start a ruckus. "What is going on back there?" Rick shouts to the vans. "Curtis has a hot axle box!" the vans tell him. Nore applies the brakes and the train slowly comes to a standstill. The girl sighs. "I am going to join the guard. Hanne, keep Rick's fire going." She hops out of his cab and walks along the train. Hanne and Rick stay silent for a moment, before Hanne chuckles. "Figures that she would be the one of us to speak with this guard, she is the one more comfortable speaking with strangers after all." Rick grins. "I know, I can remember the first time we spoke, you were so awkward." Hanne blushes in embarrassment, before she shovels a large amount of coal into his firebox and hops out of his cab to walk to his front. "Yeah, this situation would probably go different had Alyssa and Lynn been here." Rick chuckles softly. "Yeah, but she had already gone home when we were asked to do this job." Hanne climbs onto his bufferbeam and leans against his warm smokebox. "Did you notice that Melody seemed tense lately?" the black haired girl asks the green engine. "Hmm, you are right. I don't know exactly what her deal is, but she, Edward and Edith have been whispering among themselves lately. I wonder why I am not included, but if it would be anything dangerous, they would have told me already." A sudden burst of wind blows along the engine, causing the two to close their eyes for a second. The moment they open their eyes again, they freeze. A pale woman is standing on the tracks in front of the green engine. "Where did you come from, miss?" Hanne asks when she recovers. "Where does anyone come from?" the woman responds cryptically as she walks into the light of Rick's headlights. Both human and engine gasp at the ghostly sight in front of them. The woman is pale, and slightly translucent. Her eyes are huge black pits with dim with pupils and a black liquid running out of them. She is wearing an old-fashioned white nurses dress with a tattered black cape and her long brown hair is put in a braid. Rick takes a shuttering breath before uttering a name. "Bella." The ghost smiles at him as she puts her hands on his bufferbeam and strokes it. "Yes love, it is me." The green engine starts tearing up, not being able to handle the sight of his deceased lover. "You are rocking those glasses love." Rick chuckles despite himself. "It is good to know you haven't changed dear. I missed you." Bella heaves herself up onto his bufferbeam and starts hugging his face. "You do know that I never blamed you for my death, right?" Rick sobs softly, looking away from the ghost. "I knew that you wouldn't, but my heart didn't agree with my mind for the longest time." Hanne strokes Rick's cheek to comfort him. "You have to forgive yourself for my death. This is not healthy. If you can't bring it to forgive yourself on your own, at least seek help from a professional. I don't want you to live with the guilt for the rest of your life." Rick smiles, the tears finally having stopped. "I will. I love you Bella." "I love you to Rick." Bella says before she kisses him on the cheek and turns to Hanne. "Take good care of him for me please." Hanne nods and the ghost disappears. Hanne moves over to sit in front of her engine's face and puts her hands on his cheeks. "Are you alright Rick?" she asks concerned. The green engine gives her a weak smile. "I think so, I do feel better than I've had in ages. I feel a bit bittersweet though." Hanne nods and slides herself off of his footplate. "I am going to tend to your fire, know that if you need to talk, know that I am willing to lean an ear." She pats his footplate as she walks back to his cab. Nore returns at the same time as her twin, and gives her a concerned look. "Is something wrong Hanne?" Hanne sighs. "It is a bit of a story, better left for another time. Anyway, are we ready to continue on?" Nore nods. "Yeah, we need to keep to a reduced speed though." They climb back into Rick's cab.
Rick silently backs into the sheds at Vicarstown, where a red USA dock tank, a green C1 Atlantic and a blue 0-6-6-0 Meyer are already sleeping. The red tank engine opens one eye as the green engine comes to a standstill. "Who are you?" she asks after a moment. Rick smiles sleepily at her. "I am Rick, to whom do I have the pleasure?" "I am Rosie. Are you a visitor?" "Yeah, sort of. I have been on the island for about a month now." Rosie yawns. "Have you been working on one of the branch lines? I can't say that I've seen you in the station before." Rick waits as Hanne and Nore walk in front of him on their way to the station building. "Nah, I've been working on the mainland mostly. I can't say that I've seen you around the station either. I've seen that Meyer working in the yard though." Rosie looks sleepily over to the blue engine. "Preston?" Rick hums. "To be honest, I've been wondering why an engine like him has been shunting? Has he done something bad?" Rosie sighs. "Not really, it isn't his fault at least. He has been steaming badly since 2015. The workmen at the work don't have a clue what is wrong with him. Welsh coal seems to improve his steaming slightly, but it doesn't help that much and Welsh coal is increasingly more difficult to get in decent amounts lately." Rick frowns. "Haven't they tried Peesh coal yet. I believe Declan delivered a load of it to Tidmouth about a month ago. It does wonders for poorly steaming engines most of the time." Rosie looks curiously at the green engine. "Peesh coal? Never heard of it. Where does it come from?" "It comes from a mine near the town of Peesh back on the island of Obbeeys. It mines three different grades of quality steam engine coal, with the lowest quality being as good as your average coal." Rosie looks hopeful. "Do you think that this Peesh coal will resolve his steaming issue?" Rick thinks for a moment. "I don't know. I would advise him to go to the Steamworks to be examined by Ailie. She is the one whom designed my rebuilt, so she probably will be able to find something."
Hanne and Nore walk up to the green engine the next morning. Nore climbs onto his runningboard and pats the side of his smokebox. "Hanne told me what happened last night. Are you doing okay?" she asks concerned. Rick smiles gently at her. "Yeah, I feel a lot better. I slept a lot better as well." Nore smiles. "That is good." She looks at the clipboard in his hand. "It seems that we need to take a goods train from here to a place called Great Waterton."
Rick steams into the station at Great Waterton with the goods train about an hour later. "So this is the town of Great Waterton, huh. It looks like a town straight out of 1930." Hanne mentions. "I know right." Rick and his crew look forward to see a red Peckett class W4 saddle tank shunting in the yard. "Colin, it is great to see you again. How have you been?" Colin chuckles. "I have been doing decent recently. What about you?" "Good, good. At least, for the last three years or so. Do you know why the town looks like this?" The red tank engine gets a complicated look on his face. "The town, the entire branch line in fact, was abandoned in 1937." Rick winces. "That must have hurt. It would have pained me to see something I built be abandoned. What happened to you, Sonny, Lily and Adam after that?" Colin sighs. "We were put into a shed and abandoned. We stayed there until 1973, when Thomas rediscovered the town. We were found not long after the renovations started. Sir Charles had bought an engine to work the branchline before we were found, but once they stumbled upon us, he send Stanley to the Ffarquhar branchline." Rick gives the red saddle tank a sympathetic smile. "I know how that feels. At least you guys had a roof above you."
"So why does the town look so old-fashioned?" Nore asks Colin as she leans against the fence of the platform, watching the red engine shunt. "It is probably not as bad as on the island of Obbeeys. I dare to bet that everything there looks old-fashioned." the engine laughs. Nore chuckles. "You are right about that. Have you been there before then?" Colin hums. "Yeah, most of the engines from the former Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Light Railway, Wellsworth and Suddery Railway and the Sodor and Mainland Railway have been to the island of Obbeeys before, yeah. Anyways, to answer your question, the town has been turned into some type of historical site. People still live and work here, but the town has been kept in roughly the same shape. The town has attracted a steady stream of tourists since it was restored, so there is not al that much incentive to change the town." Rick returns from having turned himself around and stops at the platform. "You seem to be more cheerful compared to the last time I saw you back in the late 1910s. What has changed?" Colin asks. Rick chuckles a bit uncomfortably. "You might not believe it, but I have spoken with Bella's ghost last night, and a huge weight has lifted off my shoulders. And I seem to be able to forgive myself a bit more for her death." Colin smiles brightly at the green engine. "That is good to hear. I have been encouraging her to seek you out for the last month. I am glad she listened to me." Rick frowns. "Does that mean that you've known that her ghost was around all this time?" he asks sternly. Colin chuckles guiltily. "Yeah, she has been appearing from time to time for the last forty years or so." Rick's frown deepens. "Why didn't Edward or Edith tell me about her then?" Colin laughs. "Don't be mad at them Rick, they didn't know. Bella asked the four of us to keep her presence a secret. It wasn't all that difficult to keep hidden from the mainline engines, this branch is rather small after all, so we don't have that many interactions with them." The green engine looks blackly at the red engine for a moment. "Huh…" He then seems to focus on something. "Do you guys hear that? It sounds like Adam." Before Colin can respond, a red Adams Radial tank speeds through the station while screaming for help. Rick blows his whistle as he storms after Adam, Hanne steadying herself inside of his cab. "Hold on Hanne." the green engine yells back to her as he tries to catch up with the red engine. Hanne strokes the inside wall of his cab and grabs the radio. "Control, 18200602 here, there is a runaway on the Great Waterton branch. We are going after him."
Rick catches up with Adam just before they reach the mainline. The green engine uses his magic to couple himself up to the red engine and slows down slowly but steady. "Hanne, climb into his cab and shut off his steam." Rick orders as they come to a standstill. "Are you okay Adam?" he then asks the red engine. Adam gasps for air as Hanne climbs into his cab and shuts of his steam. "I am fine, I think." the red engine says once he catches his breath. "Thanks." Rick smiles. "Let's get you back to Great Waterton, you can explain what brought you into this situation there."
Colin breathes a sigh of relief as Rick steams into the station, pulling Adam. "Are you hurt Adam?" he asks the red radial tank. "No, thanks to Rick I am fine." Rick chuckles. "I couldn't just do nothing and let you have an accident, now could I? But on a more serious note; what happened?" "I don't know. One moment I was dozing in the sun and the other I started to run off without anyone in my cab." Nore walks from the bench she was sitting at and leans against the side of Rick's cab. "Why didn't you just stop yourself?" the girl asks Adam. Rick chuckles. "It doesn't work that way in this world. Unlike the non-faceless vehicles from Freayltys, the ones from this world aren't able to control themselves. They are dependent on their crew to move. Runaways are a lot more common in this world as a result." They hear a whistle as Lily, a red LSWR O2 0-4-4T, steams into the station pulling several coaches. "I heard that you had become a runaway Adam, it is good to see that you are okay." the tank engine says. Adam smiles. "I am happy about that as well." Two police officers disembark from her coaches and walk to Rick and Adam. "We would like to ask the two of you some questions about this incident. Would you be willing to participate?" one of them asks. Rick and Adam smile at the two men. "Of course officer Johnson." Adam replies. Rick chuckles. "I am more than willing to cooperate, sir."
About an hour later the two officers finish their questioning and leave. The stationmaster walks up to Rick. "I have some orders for you, 18200602." "My name is Rick sir." The stationmaster ignores the green engines comment. "Sir Topham Hatt wants you to take a heavy mail train from the mainland across the island. The amount of packages and cards that are being send around this time of year is immense after all." Rick hums. "I need to pick it up from Barrow, right?" The stationmaster nods.
It has begun to snow by the time Rick arrives at Barrow, where he meets Murdoch. "How are you doing Rick. I've brought Lynn with me for you." Rick smiles at the red 9F. "I am doing well, thank you for asking, and thanks for taking Lynn with you." Rick couples to his brake van and shunts it onto the mail train. "Tsk." Rick looks over at the other side of the platform where a BR class 69 is glaring at him with disgust in his eyes. "Is there something I can help you with?" Rick asks. The diesel scoffs. "Do you really think you can pull that train on your own, you stupid teakettle?" Rick cocks an eyebrow. "Yes, is there something wrong with that?" The diesel laughs. "Oh, I am looking forward to seeing you fail." Rick rolls his eyes. "Yeah yeah youngster, just wait and see."
Rick backs onto the mail train, while the diesel looks at him in sadistic delight. As Alyssa blows her whistle and waves her flag, Rick blows his own whistle and departs in a big cloud of steam, leaving the diesel in a state of shock as the green engine speeds of with the long and heavy train.