The engines and their drivers were finding life hard on the Island. Ever since the viaduct had collapsed under Diesel 10's weight, the structure had been in a perpetual state of repair, and although one track had been succesfully stabilised, the other side needed work. As a result, trains between Maron and Cronk were forced to work single line, with a token being passed between the two trains at either station.
The repairs also meant that the viaduct had a strict speed limit of only 25 miles per hour, compared to the 100 it was built for originally. This meant that journeys would take ages to complete. These problems often meant that trains ran very late indeed, and rarely made their allocated arrival times at the other stations, including the junction with the Ffarquhar Branch where Thomas was waiting to collect passengers.
One morning, Henry rolled into Knapford Junction, running about 20 minutes late. As the passengers scrambled out of the coaches and into Annie and Clarabel, Thomas voiced his frustrations. "Time's time, and time's money!" he snapped. "Why should I have to wait for you big engines to simply dawdle about on viaducts whilst passengers get frustrated?"
Henry rolled his eyes. "It's not my fault!" he replied. "Considering that viaduct recently collapsed, we need to be careful whilst crossing it, or it may collapse again! Then you would have no passengers at all!"
Given Thomas had been the last engine to cross that viaduct before said collapse, you would expect him to be more understanding. Thankfully, Twilight was.
"It's not your fault Henry," she said. "It's better to be late in this life than early in the next. You would do well to remember that, Thomas."
"I'd run my train on time, same as ever!" Thomas answered. And he puffed away without another word, leaving a somewhat annoyed Henry and Fluttershy behind.
At the other end of the line, Bertie was annoyed too. He was timetabled to arrive shortly after Thomas, but he had just arrived and Thomas was nowhere to be seen! The passengers found that, instead of going straight to their train, they had to wait instead!
Spike sighed, clearly bored, and started reading a comic book.
Bertie, on the other hand, started grumbling. "Late again?" he asked, as Thomas rolled to a stop in the platform. "We may be friends, but I thought you could go fast!"
"Remember that on the mainland, 30 minutes late is basically 'on time'," Thomas retorted.
"Maybe we could race again?" Spike suggested.
"That's unsafe!" Twilight exclaimed. "Besides, we have a speed limit to stick to! We'd get into trouble if we started speeding! We'd lose points even if we were doing the speed limit, for one!"
"What?" Bertie asked, confused.
"Oh never mind."
"Besides, Spike and I could beat you!"
Thomas hissed angrily. "Rubbish!" he snapped. "It's not my fault; it's those main line engines who constantly run late because they dither about on their viaduct, and then blame it on Sir Toppham Hatt's workmen!" He was, of course, wrong, but he was so cross he didn't care what he said, and he went to run round without another word.
The next day, James arrived at Knapford Junction, running an hour late. "Sorry Thomas for the delay!" he panted.
"Indeed, darling," Rarity replied. "The signalman put a goods train in front of us, and then the viaduct held us up as the oncoming train had left Tidmouth late!"
"Good thing for you I'm a guaranteed connection," Thomas retorted, and puffed away before James could reply.
James looked at Rarity. "Didn't that get Peter Sam in trouble once?" he asked.
"Yes, it did," Rarity replied. "Mrs Cake was not pleased at all."
Thomas and Twilight clattered along the branch line, but even going at top speed they found it almost impossible to save time. They had saved five minutes by Ellsbridge, and were about to roll over the level crossing before the viaduct before they suddenly saw something at the side of the track.
Bertie was sitting there, fuming. Smoke was pouring from his engine, and around him stood the passengers and Spike, who was currently waving Thomas down. Thomas came to a stop and Twilight hopped out of the cab.
"What happened?" Twilight asked. "Bertie should be at Ffarquhar by now!"
"I feel awful," Bertie replied. "My radiator is too hot, and Spike says he cannot mend me here. We'll need a lorry to tow me to the works to be mended!"
"You try fixing a damaged radiator in the middle of nowhere!" Spike retorted. "Could you take the passengers, please? We have no way of moving them."
"It's a good thing we saw you," Thomas added. "And a good thing I'm late too. Otherwise we'd never have saved these passengers! I'll take them home for you, and get help at Ffarquhar too."
Thomas set off with a whoosh of steam and a cloud of smoke once all of Bertie's passengers had boarded the train, and he felt much happier. It was a bit of a squash onboard the train, but the passengers didn't mind, for they knew the alternative was to be stuck in the middle of nowhere. They also telephoned the breakdown company, who brought a lorry to remove Bertie and tow him away to be mended.
A few days later, Bertie was feeling better again, and was back on his old route. He arrived at Ffarquhar one afternoon to thank Thomas for his help. "I'm sorry I teased you for being late," he said. "If you hadn't run late a few days ago, the passengers would have been in a spot of bother!"
"Hey, that's what friends are for," Thomas replied. "And no problem. Sometimes, being late is actually a good thing!"
The two vehicles and their drivers laughed, exchanged some last minute pleasentries, and then set off on their way. After all, on the Island of Sodor, work never stops, and there is never a dull moment on Sir Toppham Hatt's railway.