//------------------------------//
// Sophie Runs Dry 
// Story: Thomas and Friends: Fun in the Sun 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

It was another incredibly hot day on the North Yorkshire Moors, and diesel traction had temporarily been drafted in to work most of the services. Sophie was waiting at Pickering, waiting for clearance to back down onto a rake of coaches.

Just then, Charles rolled in with some more stock. "Would you believe it?" he grumbled. "They held us at Goathland for a ridiculous amount of time! And all because some silly cow strayed onto the line. Why can't those silly animals stay in their paddocks like sensible things? It'd make everybody's life so much easier."

"If life was always predictable, it would be boring!" Sophie replied. "And besides, today is a very special day."

"Is it, by any chance, getting better and better?" Zipp asked.

"You could say that," Pipp noted, looking back down the platform. "In fact, if you felt so inclined, you could say 'hey', as it's probably going to be a great day."

"I don't follow," Charles said. "Was that a reference?"

"Maybe?" Sophie said. "Anyway, Pipp and I have a very special job today. We're taking some children to the seaside!"

Just then, Bellerophon rolled past, in very light steam so as not to set off lineside fires. "Good luck!" he said. "I don't think there's much of a chance of rain, though. You should have an easier time than me and Misty did."

"Misty and I," corrected somebody.

"Pedant."





Later on, the children arrived at the station. I would like to say they were well behaved and a credit to their families, but if I were to do so it would be lying. The children were terribly behaved. They were running about the platform, climbing on things, knocking over the flower arrangements, and generally being utter nuisances.

The station master emerged from his office and looked on in shock. "What the Dickens is going on?" he asked. "Who let the ruffians in?"

Lady Haven stuck her head out of the door, and looked astonished. She walked over to Pipp. "Can you make some noise?" she asked.

Pipp reached down and blasted the horn as long and as hard as she could. That got the children to be quiet.

Lady Haven then went to address them. "Now then, there's no need to behave like hooligans. Now if you could form a nice li-"

"Go home, poshface!" shouted one especially vile child, and on that they began throwing things.

Lady Haven dived back into the office to avoid the worst of the flying projectiles. Mostly things like gobstoppers and sweets whizzed through the air and made a terrible mess.

The station staff finally herded them onboard, where they shut the doors and sighed.

"I pity the poor crew who have to deal with that lot," said a porter.

The signal changed, and at last they could move off. Pipp sighed as they got underway. "I'd much rather be up here than in there," she said. "Those kids are right terrors! If I'd behaved like that at their age I could wave goodbye to leaving the house for a week!"

"That sounds boring," Sophie said.

"Our house is pretty big. It wasn't quite as bad as it sounds."





The train made its way along the line, and sure enough the scenery slowly began to shift from rolling fields to forests and moorland. It was all very pretty and exciting.

But I'm sorry to say the children had other plans on their mind. They were running up and down the corridors, leaving a huge amount of mess in the vestibules, wiping their muddy shoes on the seats, and smearing objects in paint and goo they had brought with them. The interiors of the coaches soon began to resemble an explosion in a paint factory.

Pipp was being informed of the chaos over the radio, and was worried. "I hope they can handle it back there!" she said. "I wouldn't want to be in there position!"

"Me neither," Sophie added, as they stopped at Levisham. "It sounds awful!"

Unfortunately, it was about to get worse. One of the children figured out how to open the windows. He opened one, leaned out, and produced a catapault. He then fired a big rock which bounced off Sophie's frames.

"OW!" she said. "It's not nice to throw things!"

"You can't tell me what to do!" the child shouted. "You try and do anything to us and we'll tell our parents you hit us!"

"How could Sophie hit you when she had no arms?" Pipp pointed out.

The next train arrived, and the engine on it glanced over. "Those look like right rotters," he said. "Be careful, you two, and ensure you don't get into any more trouble."

"We'll try not to," Pipp replied, and at last they could get on their way. But not for long.

As they began the climb onto the Moors, there was a strange coughing sound from Sophie's engine. "What was that?" the diesel asked.

Pipp looked down at the gauges in the cab. "What in the?" She peered closer. "This can't be right. The fuel gauge is right on the red and is dropping!"

But it was again. The coughing from the engine turned to spluttering, and the spluttering soon stopped completely. The cylinders stopped firing, and the train came to a complete stop.

Pipp put the brakes into emergency to hold the train in place, and then got out of the cab to apply the hand brakes. "Apply the hand brake in the brake coach!" she radioed. "Sophie's broken down, and I don't know how much longer the brakes will hold!"

"Understood," replied the guard. Soon the train was secured, and Pipp contacted the signal box to warn them. All signals between Levisham and Goathland were set to danger, and to be safe the staff went out and placed detonators on the track.

The passengers became even more unruly. "Why have we stopped?" shouted one child.

"This just goes to show you shouldn't have girls doing men's work! My dad said so!" said another.

Pipp's normally pink face went red with fury. "Girls can do anything a boy can do!" she snapped back. "And that includes operating locomotives! We just need to troubleshoot the problem, that's all!"

"Yeah, right."





About half an hour later, a foreman arrived in a lorry with some fuel canisters. "I've brought some fuel," he said. "Based on what was described to me Sophie may have a leak in her tank, and if that's the case we'll need to take her out of service."

"That's the only thing I can think of," Pipp replied. "I can't think why the fuel gauge would drop so fast."

The foreman took the can and tipped it to the correct position. Diesel fuel thundered into the tank...

...And came straight back out again, dribbling along the track.

"It was a leaky tank!" Sophie said. "I bet it was that rock!"

Pipp's eye started to twitch. "That ruffian ruined my engine!" she said. "I'll give him a piece of my mind."





Pipp did indeed speak to the child. He later wished she hadn't bothered.

Later on, Charles was sent up to push the train up to Goathland. He was having quite a bit of fun with this. "Get stuck, did we?" he asked. "Well, now you know what it feels like! Stalling and all that!"

"Less gloating, more helping," Sophie said flatly.

Eventually they reached Goathland, where the passengers were let off. The news of their poor behaviour had reached their school, and they had decided to cancel the remainder of the day trip as a punishment. Safe to say none of the children were laughing when their parents found out.

Sophie was taken by another engine to Grosmont sheds, where she was checked over by a mechanic for any issues. Luckily, there were none, apart from the hole in the tank, and by that evening the diesel was ready to re-enter service for the fish and chip trains.

As she moved off the depot, Ray called out from the darkness. "Don't forget to fill up!"

"Very funny!" Sophie replied.

"Ignore him," Pipp said. She took a swig of water. "After that day, I think we both need a drink!"