Thomas and Friends: More Tales from Sodor

by The Blue EM2


Speedkiller

"Can we go a little faster?" Rusty grumbled. "We're going very slowly, and I'm worried we'll hold up a passenger train, or something else entirely!"

"Sorry Rusty." Sandbar did sound sincere as he checked behind him. "How's the spraying going, Terramar?"

"We've got most of the stuff down!" Terramar replied. "This weedkiller sure is messy."

"Which is why we need to go slowly," explained Sandbar. "If we race along the line, the weedkiller will fly all over the place and make a great big mess!"

"And no doubt cause confusion and delay," Rusty sighed. "Did you hear that story about a Spam Can who departed early from all her stops? Even when she hadn't been cleared to depart?"

"It sounds like her driver and fireman did a poor job of keeping her in check," Sandbar sighed, in return. "At least we won't be holding up any traffic."

Rusty's train consisted of a single tanker wagon. The drum of the tanker was painted yellow and had several warning signs on it, the largest of which read DANGER! WEEDKILLER! HIGHLY POISONOUS! DO NOT TOUCH! Quite why the signwriter had felt it neccesary to shout that information was lost on Rusty. A large pipe hung off the rear buffer beam, connected to another pipe connected to the tank. When Terramar turned a wheel, a chemical called weedkiller was dispensed onto the rails through holes in the pipe. The weedkilling train was only used once per year, but that was once too often for Rusty. He had hoped that Luke would take it today, but unfortunately Luke was out of service with wonky flues.

To make matters worse, it was the Bank Holiday season, a time of year when the people of England, Wales, and Scotland (though not Northern Ireland, for some reason) flocked to all parts of the country for a quick getaway. Mr Percival was expecting large crowds, but even he was stunned when he walked into work one morning. Standing there on the platform was a giant horde of passengers, all excited to go up to Skarloey Lake.

"We have a busy day today!" he said, as he walked into the shed. The Young Six were busy oiling their engines round (except Terramar, who was busy trying to figure out how to fix Luke). "Now then, Rheneas, it has been a while since you last had a passenger turn. Would you like to go out on passenger trains today?"

"Yes sir! Please sir!" said Rheneas happily.

"Yona delighted to be on passenger again!" said Yona, hopping about in excitement.

"How many times have I told you my footplate is not a trampoline?"



Rheneas drew the empty coaches into the platform, and was amazed at the number of people. "We'll need two engines at this rate!" he exclaimed. "You'd need a Double Fairlie to move this lot!"

"Double Fairlie?" Yona asked.

"It's an engine with two boilers and two sets of powered bogies," Rheneas explained. "They are very powerful, and can go round tight bends. Duke told me about them."

Just then, the guard blew his whistle and waved the green flag. "Right away!" he called.

"Away we go!" Rheneas called. He hadn't noticed that an extra coach had been shunted into the train by Rusty, and as he moved off his wheels slipped furiously. "This lot are heavy! We're going to need some sand."

They did well until they reached the loop outside Rheneas. As they stopped in the loop, Duncan rolled in with the weedkilling set. "Stupid weedkilling wagon!" Duncan grumbled. "It rarely works and makes a mess!"

"Nipped the weeds in the bud, have we?" Rheneas asked.

"Hopefully," Smoulder replied. "We had to go out and do it again as Terramar did such a slapdash job yesterday."

"Terramar new!" Yona exclaimed. "Terramar will learn. Yona certain of that."

"Smoulder certain Terramar won't refer to himself in the third person," Smoulder sighed. "Anyways, you can go now."

The next section of the line climbs sharply up to a small wooden bridge that crosses a stream. This section is awkward, as if a train stalls on it, they have to drop back to the bottom of the hill and start again. As a result, engines often hold back at the station until they have a clear run at the hill. Rheneas set off, his whistle blasting and his exhaust booming loudly. He thundered onto the grade shaking and rocking violently, going at speeds far faster than he was ever designed to. Soon the coaches were rocking, and swaying from side to side, but there was no bathwater splishing and splashing inside as narrow gauge trains never both with such silly things as bathtubs. Then it happened.

Rheneas' wheels began to slip violently on the rails, and his speed slowed to a crawl as he tried to get to the top. "What the?" he gasped, as his wheels kept on slipping. "This is not normal!"

Yona looked out of the cab. "Yona see problem!" she said. She hopped out as the train skidded to a halt, and looked at the rails. "Rails are smeared in grease. Grease is worse than leftover cooking fat from chippy! Rheneas also pulling extra coach, which not help him."

Rheneas rolled his eyes. "Brilliant," he said. "No wonder I was having such a hard time the whole way. That stuff isn't weedkiller- it's speedkiller!"

The guard laughed dryly at Rheneas' awful pun. "Never mind," he said. "We can just throw some sand on the rails and get on up the line. We'll have to drop back to the bottom of the hill though."

Rheneas was gently reversed to the bottom of the hill, and back to the station. Whilst they waited for him to get pressure up, the guard liberally coated the rails with sand and gripping stuff. "Right, good to go!" shouted the guard.

Yona blasted Rheneas' whistle, and switched on his sanders to add extra grip. "Steep climb!" she shouted.

Rheneas blasted his way up the slope, his wheels gripping the rails and smoke rising through the valley. Steam poured from his funnel into the air, and everybody who heard it would have told you a volcano had gone off. Although they were late into the station by the lake, the passengers didn't mind. They had experienced an altogether different adventure on the rails, and thanked Rheneas for his bravery.