//------------------------------//
// Danger Points 
// Story: Thomas and Friends: The Retold Adventures 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

After a short journey from Crovan's Gate to the junction at Killdane, Douglas and his cargo headed up through Abbey and stopped at Kirk Machan. It was here that the Culdee Fell Railway formally began, and Culdee sighed as the crane was started, lowering him gently onto the rails. Twilight oversaw the delicate procedure, but also watching was a Mr Walter Richards, the general manager of the line. Culdee was soon lowered down onto the rails, and sighed as he looked about the local area.

"It's good to be home," he said happily, as Twilight lit his fire and checked him over quickly. "I'm looking forward to running up the line and meeting with some of my friends. And a run with Catherine, too! That will be nice."

"You may do such a thing," said Mr Richards. "I shall telephone the yard immediately, and tell them to release Catherine for work as soon as possible."

Culdee soon had enough steam to start his run, and rolled along the line to the shed, his rack wheels clanking as they rolled along the track. He was soon coupled up to Catherine, and they set off up the line for a short trip to Skarloey Road and back.

"It's wonderful to see you again," Catherine said, as they rolled up a viaduct from just beyond the first station and began to climb into the hills. "The other engines have worked well, but I prefer working with you, to be honest. Who's the new driver?"

"Her name is Twilight," Culdee replied. "I met her whilst at Winterthur. Her father, an American engineer, mostly works at the Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire, but he was here to see how the Swiss do things. It was suggested Twilight help me run in here, and so here I am now, being run in."

"Keep an eye out for Lord Harry," Catherine warned. "I had to go with him and his driver lately. He's a terror, but she's as blunt as a broken sword. They take risks, and scare everybody."

"I'll be sure to give him a piece of my mind," Culdee replied, as they came to a stop at Shiloh. Sitting on a siding were two old friends of his, Ernest and Wilfred. They were both of the same design as him, and their drivers both looked out. Earnest was being driven by a girl with yellow skin, purple eyes, and pink and blue hair, dressed in the company uniform. Wilfred was being driven by a boy with grey skin and black hair, complemented with blue eyes. He wore a similar outfit to the girl, but for obvious reasons wore purple slacks instead of a skirt.

"Hello Culdee!" called Ernest. "How was Switzerland?"

"Excellent, thank you," Culdee smiled. "I somewhat miss the yodelling marmots. How are you, Sour Sweet and Jet Set?" Their real names were Sarah Scott and James Smith, but Sour Sweet had earned her nickname due to suffering from bipolar disorder, sometimes causing her mood to swing mid sentence. Jet was nice enough, but could get a little full of himself.

"Oh, it's been wonderful whilst you've been away," Sour Sweet began. "Except for that Lord Harry!" she finished, annoyed.

"I agree," Wilfred sighed.

"Who is this Lord Harry?" Culdee asked. It was just then he noticed Jet Set looking closely. "Is something wrong?"

"Twilight?" Jet Set asked.

Twilight facepalmed. "This is getting ridiculous."

"Anyway," Eric told Culdee, "Lord Harry is one of the new superheated ones that arrived whilst you and Shane Dooiney were away for repairs. The other two, Alaric and Eric, are good, quiet engines, but Lord Harry's an absolute horror to work with. It's no wonder that Sugarcoat was the only person they could pursuade to work with him."

"Who?" Twilight asked.

"Susan Colt," Sour Sweet explained. "Blunt as a rusty razer."

"We'll see about that," said Culdee darkly.



Later that day, Culdee was sat in the siding at Kirk Machan station, when in rolled Lord Harry, dragging an unfortunate victim I mean, a passenger coach! Stood in his cab was a girl with light blue skin that seemed closer to a purple hue. She also had silver hair, combined with purple eyes, and wore orange glasses on her face. She wore the standard uniform that female employees wore, with the jacket and a bow tie. What was it with bow ties around here?

Lord Harry was grumbling. He resembled Culdee, just with a curved running board rather than a straight one. "These coaches are silly!" he complained. "They never want to come with me, and I can't understand why!"

"You're too reckless," Culdee replied coldly.

"That's nothing to do with it!" Lord Harry replied. "I can go twice your speed in perfect safety, being modern, up to date, and fitted with the latest safety features. Why, I could do this run with my eyes shut!"

"He is indeed correct," Sugarcoat said. "I am the one who operates all the controls and checks the brakes."

"We don't take risks on mountain railways," said Culdee.

"It's not a risk!" Lord Harry answered. "Why, with my superheat-"

"Superheat?" Culdee asked. "Conceit, more like. Why, you remind me of Godred-"

"Ernest and Wilfred stated that you made that story up to frighten younger engines, and that is the fact. There is no record of a Godred in the railway's logbooks."

Lord Harry laughed. "Ooh, you just got burned!" And he stormed away, thundering up the mountain at terrifying speeds.

"Slow down!" the coach shouted. "We're in danger, and you're taking risks!"

"Don't be silly," Sugarcoat replied. "The safety features make such danger impossible."

"Besides," Lord Harry said, "variety is the spice of life!"

Every wise mountain engine and driver knows you cannot take risks of any sort. The points, in particular, lack the guard rails that the other parts of the line have, and as such must be taken slowly. But Lord Harry had forgotten this, and was too focused on what he was going to say to Culdee when he next met him.

"Slow down!" Sugarcoat instructed, and applied the brakes.

"There's absolutely no danger!" Lord Harry snorted, as he charged up the final grade and into the top station, hitting the pointwork with a loud crash.



At the bottom station, Twilight received a telephone call, and the manager came over to see her. "That stupid engine has blocked the points at Culdee Fell summit!" he said. "Get Culdee and the tool van immediately; we're going up there to clean the mess."

"Yes sir!" Twilight replied, and she and Culdee went and assembled a supply train. The light was fading when they got to the top station. Lord Harry was stuck on top of the points, which made it impossible for trains to enter or exit the station. Wilfred sat there with his coach, unable to start his journey down, and the coach Lord Harry had been pushing sat in the station, unable to continue into the station. There was quite the traffic jam!

The manager cleared everybody away from the danger zone as Culdee buffered up behind Lord Harry, whilst the workmen lifted him up into the air. He then pulled back, and Lord Harry was back on. Sugarcoat nor Lord Harry did anything to help.

"Hey, Wilfred!" called Culdee. "Can you see this wreck behind you?"

"What wreck?" asked Jet Set. "I can only see a blocked set of points."

"Looks like Lord Harry to me," Wilfred said.

"But it can't be," Twilight said, adjusting her glasses. "This new design, and I quote, 'is fitted with the newest safety features, is fully up to date, and has superheat. Why, it can climb the hill in half the time that the older saturated versions could possibly climb!'"

Once the passengers had been recovered, Lord Harry was pulled down the hill and dumped in the shed, where Mr Richards was waiting. He looked furious.

"That idiot coach did it!" Lord Harry exclaimed. "Had she not been talking all the time, Sugarcoat and I-"

"No stories!" Mr Richards boomed. "That accident was your fault, and your fault alone. You upset our passengers and damaged yourself taking that point at too high a speed."

"Lord Harry wasn't the one who was the cheapskate and failed to put basic mountain railway safety features required by English law onto pointwork where engines could potentially derail and cause a problem like this," Sugarcoat replied.

Mr Richards stood stunned. "Do not get snippy with me, young lady, or else you can forget about working here! We cannot have engines and drivers taking risks on the railway. We shall put you both back at the shed until I decide what to do with you!" And he walked quickly away.

Sugarcoat shrugged her shoulders. "Well, that's good," she said. "Because I quit." And she walked off briskly as well, leaving Lord Harry sitting there in the dark.