Do you remember me mentioning the extension off of Thomas’ branch line in a previous story? Well, since we last saw Thomas’ branch line, this piece of railway has been repaired and brought up to tramway standards, so that Thomas (or any other engine with a short wheelbase for that matter) can take a train loaded with either quarrymen, supplies, or both, down to the quarry, and bring loaded stone back with him to Ffarquhar for onward transit to the main line.
The line continued for some distance, and ran alongside the road. Thomas always ran slowly here, and Twilight was careful to whistle at crossings and footpaths just in case anybody was there and needed warning of an approaching train.
One morning, Thomas rolled around the tight bend in the line, to see a policeman sitting by the side of the road. Thomas had been good friends with the policeman who had previously been on duty there, and whistled to him in a friendly manner, assuming that this policeman would also be friendly like the last one.
But alas, he was not. “STOP!” the policeman bellowed, holding his hand out with his fingers up and palm facing the train. Twilight applied Thomas’ brakes and brought him to a stop.
“Disgraceful!” the policeman snapped. “I didn’t sleep a wink last night, and now engines come up behind me and whistle loudly, breaking Rule 14 in the process!”
Thomas looked sad. “Sorry sir,” he said, “but I was only trying to be friendly.”
“Don’t answer back!” the policeman continued, clearly in a foul mood. “Where is your driver? I wish to speak to him.”
“My driver is a she,” Thomas answered. “Her name is Twilight Sparkle.” Just at that moment, Twilight hopped off the footplate and went over to the policeman.
“What seems to be the problem, sir?” she asked.
The policeman spluttered. “How old are you, ten?” he asked.
“Fifteen, sir,” Twilight replied.
The policeman shook his head. “Well, Sir Toppham Hatt must be cutting costs if he's hiring teenagers. Where are this engine’s cowcatchers and side plates?”
“But...I don’t catch cows, sir,” Thomas replied flatly.
“Are you trying to make me arrest you?” the policeman thundered. Thomas shut up almost immediately.
The policeman then continued. “According to the safety code, engines running alongside or on public roads must have their wheels covered at all times to prevent people and animals from getting pulled under the wheels. Furthermore, they must be fitted with cowcatchers to deal with any animals that may stray onto the line. You haven’t, so you are dangerous.”
Twilight looked perplexed. “There aren’t any farms around her sir,” she said.
“Doesn’t matter,” the policeman replied. “Rules are rules.”
“Besides,” Twilight interrupted, “we’ve run this line many, many times and never had a problem here.”
“Well then,” the policeman interrupted in turn, “that means you’ve admitted to breaking the law on several occasions.” He wrote ‘REGULAR LAW BREAKER’ in massive letters in his notebook.
Thomas puffed sadly away. He hadn’t expected that policeman to be so rude, and so upset was he he didn’t notice that Clarabel was facing the wrong way.
Meanwhile, Sir Toppham Hatt was eating his breakfast at home. He was having toast and marmalade, when suddenly the butler entered the room.
“My apologies sir,” he said, “but you are wanted on the telephone. Apparently, it is an urgent matter.”
“Bother that telephone,” Sir Toppham Hatt complained, as he rose from his seat. He walked through the corridor and picked up the receiver, only to receive a very strange message on the other end.
“Hold on a minute,” he said, “why are you telling me that the law is the law, and why is the fact I am sighing being reported in the third person?”
“Because,” said Pinkie Pie, suddenly appearing from nowhere, “the producers of the episode wanted to save money, so they simply took audio from later in the episode and sped it up!”
Sir Toppham Hatt sighed. “Pinkie Pie, please get out of my house,” he sighed. AS she did, the voice suddenly sped up and became unintelligible.
“Oh dear,” he sighed. He spoke to his wife as he put on his top hat. “Terribly sorry dear,” he said, “but Thomas and Twilight have got themselves into some sort of trouble with the police, and I must go at once to sort this nonsense out.”
At the station, Twilight explained what had happened. “The policeman claimed Thomas was a danger to the public, and as a result needed to have these safety features fitted.”
“A danger to the public, indeed!” Sir Toppham Hatt said, noting it had been several months since they had last had an accident. “We’ll see about that.”
He argued with the policeman, who was just as rude and abrasive as he had been to Twilight and Thomas. “The law is the law, and we cannot change it,” he said. “Not only that, I could charge you with breach of child employment regulations for your employment of those under the age of 18.”
Sir Toppham Hatt sighed. “Oh, I give up,” he said. “Sorry Twilight, Thomas, but we’ll have to get Thomas fitted with cowcatchers and side plates.”
Thomas looked horrified. “Everybody will laugh sir!” he exclaimed. “They’ll say I look like a tram!”
There was a brief silence. Then Sir Toppham Hatt had an idea. “That’s it!” he said. “Well done Thomas, why didn’t I think of it before? We want a tram engine!”
He then continued at an incredible pace. “When I was on holiday in East Anglia, I met a tram engine named Toby, and his driver. I shall send for them at once, as Toby has cowcatchers and side plates, not to mention his line is on the verge of closing.”
Toby and Flash arrived the very next day, and rolled to a stop in the platform at Knapford Junction. Twilight was there to greet them, as was Thomas.
“Peep peep! Hello!” Thomas whistled cheerfully.
“So, you’re Flash, right?” Twilight asked.
“That’s me,” he said, awkwardly. He’d never been hugely good at social interaction, and as such had a tendency to keep his sentences short.
Sir Toppham Hatt walked over to them. “I see you made it safely, and brought Henrietta with you,” he said.
“The station master at Wisbech East wanted to use her as a henhouse, and I would never want that,” Toby replied.
Flash resumed speaking with Twilight. “So, I hear a policeman is giving you trouble,” he said.
“Yep,” Twilight replied. “He’s such a bossy boots too. Hopefully somebody will put him in his place.”
“Just you wait and see,” Flash smiled. “We had to deal with one like him at a place called Shepherd’s Cottage, and we showed him.”
A few days later, the policeman waited by the line, waiting to catch out Thomas and Twilight for breaking the law again. A whistle suddenly sounded through the air, and as he looked over, he saw a big brown engine rumbling toward him, with cowcatchers and side plates, pulling a long train of trucks and a single coach!
The policeman spluttered like a beatboxer for at least 20 seconds, before bellowing “OI, YOU!” But Toby then sounded his whistle, and rang his bell, and the policeman fell off his bike and landed in a muddy pool!
He looked up, defeated. “Maybe I should get that transfer to Barrow Police,” he said.
Thomas was jealous at first of Toby, but ever since Toby scared off the policeman, they have been firm friends ever since, and the same is true of Twilight and Flash.