Thomas and Friends: The Retold Adventures

by The Blue EM2

Train Stops Play

Stepney and Sweetie Belle were thoroughly enjoying their visit to Sodor. They were busy talking with the others, and seemed to be very happy with their first time on the island.

"You," said Stepney, "are lucky. Your railway is long, but not too long that smaller engines cannot work there, and you have plenty to do, both passenger and freight, which again can be handled by smaller engines. I miss that sort of thing, you see."

"What do you mean?" Pinkie asked, surprised.

"On the Bluebell," Sweetie Belle explained, "we usually only come out on quiet days or gala weekends. There's rarely much work in the yards that cannot be handled by the big engines, and Stepney's just too small to pull the heavier trains we see most weekends."

Percy glanced over in astonishment. Most engines, as well we know, simply regard trucks as a nuisance, and to hear an engine saying he wanted to take a goods train was a surprise to them indeed. "If you're shut up in a shed for the most part," he said, "it's no wonder you two have been working so enthusiastically the last few days."

"Thank you," Stepney replied.

"If you'd like," Percy continued, "you can take mine. You'll need to ask Pinkie though."

"No problem!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Now you two have fun on the line!"

Stepney set off on his way, with Percy not far behind. Stepney made a wonderful sound as he puffed down the line, steam pouring from his funnel and his exhaust barking like a true Terrier (which, given he was a Terrier, was entirely apt). He and Sweetie Belle hauled the trucks to the harbour, and dropped them off in the sidings to be emptied and taken away. They then picked up some empties and headed back down the line. They steamed past beautiful fields and over great embankments, through forests and up steep gradients, with the Bluebells growing all around them.

"This is just like home!" Stepney smiled, looking around him. "Don't you agree?"

"Yep!" Sweetie Belle replied, looking out of the cab window. "It's a lovely sunny day. And look! The local cricket team's out playing too!"

And they were. Standing in the field, clad all in white (with some waiting around), were the cricket players. Some had gloves, and others had bats, and it seemed as if they had just started playing. Stepney brought his eyes up to see a red signal up ahead. "Brakes, driver!" he called.

Sweetie Belle slammed the brakes on, and the train came to a halt. "OH COME ON!" she cried. "We were going so smoothly too."

"Oh well," Stepney sighed. "Can't be helped. At least we can watch the game whilst we're here. It's just like that spot between Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes where the cricket club is, isn't it?"

As the game progressed, the ball flew back and forth. It flew towards the wicket, but then the batsman readied to strike. He saw the ball fly towards him, brought the bat back, and swung. He hit the ball perfectly, too perfectly as a matter of fact. It sailed high into the air, down, and landed in one of the trucks of Stepney's train.

"Stop!" called the umpire. But it was too late. The signal dropped, and Stepney was off on his way along the line, producing a fine cloud of steam, and vanishing into the distance.

"Let's go!" Stepney called. "As nice as it was watching the game, we have somewhere to go and places to be."

Sweetie Belle sighed. "I will never understand how you find watching men throw a ball back and forth interesting, Stepney."

"Our one and only ball!" called one of the players.

"Well, we need to improve our budget for balls, don't we?" said another.

The players then ran to an old car parked outside that was painted red, and had a large frontal grille. She looked more like she belonged in a museum than on the roads, but off along the roads she went. "Come on Caroline!" the players called. "The chase is on!"

Caroline groaned as she roared along the road. Stepney was by no means going particularly fast, and Caroline caught up fairly quickly. "Toot! Toot!" she called. "Give the players their ball back, please!"

But Stepney was too far ahead to hear them, and raced onwards down the line with the missing ball. Sweetie Belle looked back and suddenly heard the honking of Caroline's horn. "If they want a race," she said, "we'll give them a race. Floor it, Stepney!" and she reached back for his regulator, cranking it to full open and winding back his cutoff as far as she dared.

"It's not often I get to go fast!" Stepney called. "Whoohoo!"

But Caroline wasn't having fun. She raced along at twice her usual speed. "This speed is not good for my system!" she exclaimed. "It'll fuse all my circuits!" she exclaimed, as she backfired for the third time that stretch of road. Suddenly, she went round a bend, and looked confused. "Hold on a minute, we've already been down this stretch of road."

Up ahead was a tunnel, and Caroline cheered. "Hoorah!" she cried. "That silly train and it's driver have gone into a tunnel, and we can't catch them. Hoorah!"

But she was wrong, as the driver suddenly floored the accelerator, and off they went once more, flying up and down the hills and steep roads at a terrific pace- far faster than Caroline was meant to go as she flew over the same tunnel roof for the third time in a row. She raced into the station goods yard and came to a stop with a bang. Stepney looked over in mild surprise as Sweetie Belle sat on his footplate, enjoying an orange squash.

One of the cricketers piled out and spoke to them. "Excuse me," he said, speaking to the station master, "Your train set off with our ball."

"I'm not the driver," the station master replied. "The girl is."

The cricketer snorted with laughter. "Little girls driving steam engines," he said. "Whatever next?"

Sweetie Belle sighed, and got up, walking over to the cricketer. "What is it?"

"Our batsman knocked a ball into your trucks by accident. We tried to get your attention but you sped off instead."

"So that's what that was all about," said Stepney. "Well, sorry about that. It'll be in the trucks over there." The ball was found in the third truck from the guard's van.

"We must be getting back now," said the player.

"Good luck with that," Sweetie Belle said. "That car looks toasted." And Caroline was, letting off steam and fumes. "Wait! How about we transport you back to the pitch as a way to make it up to you?"

"Good idea, Sweetie Belle!" said the station master. I'll clear it with the signalman right away!"

They loaded Caroline onto a flatbed truck, and coupled a brakevan to it. They hauled the train back to the pitch, and this time enjoyed watching the game together, without causing any problems this time, and Caroline even enjoyed herself. "Thanks for bringing me back, you two!" she said. "Trains sure are useful; they can save the wear on a poor car's wheels!"

Author's Note:

Fun fact; there is a place on the Bluebell where the line runs just above a cricket pitch. I wonder if Awdry had that place in the back of his mind when he wrote the story...

Comments

[MLPThomasfan]

Aww, we didn't get to see who was Caroline's driver.

[The Blue EM2]

10126900
One of the cricketers.

[MLPThomasfan]

10127000
Yeah, but it wasn't an MLP character like I was hoping for.

[The Blue EM2]

10127048
Which MLP characters would play cricket, in your opinion?

[MLPThomasfan]

10127058
Well, maybe one of the more athletic characters, especially considering the Wonderbolts don't exist in this world. Maybe Sky Stinger.

[The Blue EM2]

10127064
Hmmm.

You're also the only person to have commented today. Thursday must be a bit of an odd day to post chapters.

[MLPThomasfan]

10127074
I'm sure the other viewers will comment sooner or later.

[The Blue EM2]

10127075
As do I.

[Wessexbrony]

10124865
It's also out of place for an engine built in Brighton.

[The Blue EM2]

10127467
I think the idea was that Terriers mostly worked in South London. But then again, given that they spent most of their lives away from London, it would make more sense if they had different accents. What does the Hayling Island accent sound like?

[Wessexbrony]

I'd say that this story had possibly the most faithful adaptation of the Stepney stories.

[The Blue EM2]

10127470
In terms of the episode, or this collection?

When I was at the Bluebell's Branch Line Weekend in 2018, our train paused next to a cricket pitch. Myself and a fellow passenger than quoted the entire story word for word accurate.

[Wessexbrony]

10127472
The episode.

I visited for the model railway weekend in June that year. Assuming all goes well, I'll be at the Branch Line Weekend on the Friday this year.

[The Blue EM2]

10127482
Then we'd just miss each other. I'm going on the Saturday, assuming Coronavirus doesn't mess everything up.

[JimmyHook19]

"OH COME ON!" she cried.

I'm always going to love that quote of Sweetie Belle from Season 2 no matter what. It's always so classic! X3

[The Blue EM2]

10127851

[JimmyHook19]

10127853
That too X3

[Wessexbrony]

10127495
Given that it's suspended European football (Premier League likely to be suspended this weekend) it looks like we may have to wait for Steaming Through 60.

[The Blue EM2]

10127866
Precisely.

[The Blue EM2]

10127886
It's like Foot and Mouth all over again. One person fails to prepare food properly, and everyone else pays the price.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

"On the Bluebell," Sweetie Belle explained, "we usually only come out on quiet days or gala weekends. There's rarely much work in the yards that cannot be handled by the big engines, and Stepney's just too small to pull the heavier trains we see most weekends."

Reminds me of another engine I know that I've mentioned before that's small and not used a lot over it not being a strong hauler. Cough cough Canadian National 89.

Sweetie Belle slammed the brakes on, and the train came to a halt. "OH COME ON!" she cried. "We were going so smoothly too."

Nice reference to this.

https://m.

😏

Sweetie Belle sighed. "I will never understand how you find watching men throw a ball back and forth interesting, Stepney."

People enjoy it SB.

But she was wrong, as the driver suddenly floored the accelerator, and off they went once more, flying up and down the hills and steep roads at a terrific pace- far faster than Caroline was meant to go as she flew over the same tunnel roof for the third time in a row. She raced into the station goods yard and came to a stop with a bang. Stepney looked over in mild surprise as Sweetie Belle sat on his footplate, enjoying an orange squash.

You were saying Caroline?