The next morning, one of the other engines was boasting. He was much larger than Edward, and had a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement. He had long, curved frames, square buffers, a very large boiler, a single squat chimney, a dome partway down the boiler, and a large, spacious cab. In addition, he had a much larger tender than that Edward was fitted with.
“Just you wait Edward,” he said. “When you are working in the yard, keep an eye out for me as I rush through with the Express. Won’t that be a splendid sight!”
“You’ll hardly be rushing Gordon,” Edward told him. “Tidmouth is the end of the line, unless you fancy going through the bufferstops.”
“What’s this about bufferstops?” asked Applejack, as she finished oiling round Edward.
“Gordon was talking about going through them, that’s all,” Edward told her. Applejack burst out laughing.
Gordon just looked cross. “Oh, the indignity.”
Another voice then floated through the shed. A raspy voice which sounded faintly Canadian. “Hi, is this Tidmouth roundhouse?” it asked.
Up the centre access path a girl walked. She looked to be the same height as Applejack, and had light blue (or cyan) skin with hair that sparkled every colour of the rainbow. She also had purple eyes, and wore white socks under a pair of red trainers with a lightning bolt pattern on them. In addition, she wore a pair of blue cargo pants, and a white T-shirt with red sleeves and collar.
Applejack turned to her, and smiled. “Well howdy partner!” she called. “Ya work here too?”
“Erm, yeah,” the girl replied. “Hey, I’m looking for a guy named Gordon, seen him anywhere?”
Applejack pointed to the locomotive opposite her. “That’s Gordon.”
The girl looked confused. “That’s a steam engine.”
“I AM GORDON!” Gordon boomed. The girl walked around the front and gasped.
“A talking steam engine?!” she asked, in surprise.
Gordon looked down his nose at her. “Never seen one before?” he asked.
The girl looked stunned. “That is so...AWESOME!” she jumped up, punching the air as she did so. “So, you’re Gordon, huh?”
“That is indeed me,” Gordon answered, sighing. “And you are?”
“I’m Rainbow Dash,” the girl replied. “That’s what everyone calls me. Well, my parents do at least.”
“What’s yer real name?” Applejack asked out of interest.
“Rayne,” Rainbow Dash replied. She walked over to the cab steps and climbed aboard Gordon. “So, what have we got lined up for today?”
“Oh,” Gordon said, as he simmered, Applejack having already lit his fire. “It will be magnificent!”
“If going through the buffers can be classed as magnificent,” Edward added.
Gordon went incredibly red. “WHY YOU-!” he spluttered, doing his best impression of a beatboxer.
Rainbow Dash took this as the opportunity to go, and released Gordon’s brakes. They came off with a hiss and a clunk, and she then sounded the whistle, which was a long, deep, chime whistle. Then she opened the regulator, having remembered to open the safety cocks first.
Gordon’s wheels spun furiously on the rails as his regulator had been opened too far. “NOT THAT MUCH REGULATOR!” he shouted. “About 25% should do it.”
“Sorry, it’s my first day!” Rainbow Dash shouted. Resetting the regulator, Gordon moved onto the turntable smoothly and with much grace.
“Poop poop!” he shouted to Edward. “Remember to look out for me this afternoon!”
Applejack shook her head. “He’s fulla himself, ain’t he?”
Edward and Applejack spent most of their day in the yard, shunting the trucks. Edward enjoyed playing a little game with them. He would move forward to a position just short of them, and then suddenly move forward and give them a bang. They would roll for a short distance and then collide with another truck, all the while screaming; “Oh! Oh! Whatever is happening?”
“Life is so cruel,” said another.
Edward laughed. “This is surprisingly fun!” he said with a smile.
“You said it Eddie!” Applejack added.
Eventually, there were no more trucks, and Applejack moved Edward to the water column that faced onto the mainline, before dropping the hose into his tender and opening the valve. It was thirsty work this, and it took a lot of water to keep a steam engine running, especially in summer.
Just then, a loud whistle sounded from the Tidmouth station direction, followed by a slow two-cylinder beat.
“What could that be?” asked Applejack.
Sure enough, they saw what it was. Rolling toward them was Gordon. But he wasn’t pulling a passenger train, not least the express. He was pulling a long, slow goods train! There were vans and tankers, conflats and open wagons, and a brake van to top it all off.
Gordon looked cross, and huffed past. “A goods train, a goods train, A GOODS TRAIN! The shame of it, the shame of it, oh, the shame of it.”
“C’mon Gordon!” Rainbow Dash shouted from the cab, “put some effort in!”
The train vanished around the curve behind the back of the shed, and Applejack and Edward laughed.
A few minutes later, a workman arrived in a car to speak to Edward and Applejack. He had bad news.
“Gordon has stalled on Marron’s Bank, and cannot get up the hill,” he said. “Can you help out and push?”
“Yes sir!” Applejack replied. “C’mon Eddie, let’s go!”
It took them a few minutes to reach their destination, but sure enough there was Gordon, stuck on the hill. Applejack hopped out of Edward’s cab and walked up to the front of the train. Gordon looked very, very cross, and was arguing profusely with Rainbow Dash.
“C’mon Gordon!” Rainbow Dash said, exasperated. “You're not even trying! You’re just being lazy!”
“I told you I can’t do it!” Gordon thundered. “It’s these trucks; not only are most of them LMS, they are silly and hold an engine back so! If they were coaches-clean, sensible things that come quietly-then THAT would be different!”
Applejack stepped in to break up the confrontation. “Eddie and Ah are here ta help,” she said.
“No good,” Gordon snapped. “That pepper pot could never get this lot up the hill.”
“Do you have any better suggestions?” Rainbow Dash asked.
They backed Gordon down to the bottom of the hill, and coupled Edward up. “Peep peep, I’m ready!” Edward whistled.
“Poop poop, no good!” Gordon whistled back.
Applejack opened Edward’s regulator, and he began to push against the train. To say Gordon was not putting any work in would be an understatement.
“I can do it!” Edward called.
“I can’t do it!” Gordon replied.
“I can do it!”
“I can’t do it!”
“I WILL DO IT!”
“I CAN’T DO IT!”
Back and forth this went for several minutes, as they slowly scaled the hill. Before anybody knew what was happening, they were at the top, and Gordon almost imemdiately forgot about Edward as he raced down the other side.
“I’VE DONE IT! I’VE DONE IT! I’VE DONE IT!” he whistled triumphantly, racing out of sight. Edward flew along behind him, desperately trying to keep up, but Gordon was soon out of sight, and raced through two stations before Edward was run into a siding at Marron. Applejack hopped out and took the opportunity to fill Edward’s tender up again, as the banking run had somewhat depleted his water supply.
“Ya did a good job,” she said to him, smiling. “Tomorra, Ah’m gonna bring a pot of blue paint from the farm, and repaint ya ta look brand new. Won’t that be nice?”
Edward could only agree.