Thomas and Bertie
One morning, Thomas and Twilight were waiting at Knapford Junction. Suddenly, a bus pulled up in the parking lot and stopped next to both of them. The bus was red, and had an extended engine unit on one side, right in front of the driver. It was streamlined, and had many bench seats for the passengers to sit in.
“Hello!” the bus said, sounding its horn. “You must be Thomas!”
Just then, the window dropped, showing the driver. He was a young chap, younger than Twilight even. He had purple skin and green hair, with a pair of green eyes to match. He was wearing purple shoes, a pair of blue slacks, a green shirt, and a purple hoodie. He smiled. “Hi Twilight!” he called, in a high-pitched voice.
“Hello!” Twilight replied. “May I ask your name?”
“I’m Spike,” he replied. “Spike Spencer.” Upon seeing the look of confusion, he quickly added, “not that Spike Spencer.”
“Who are you?” Thomas asked, risking the entire conversation going around in circles. Thankfully, it didn’t.
“My name is Albert, but feel free to call me Bertie,” the bus replied. “I’m an Associated Equipment Company Regal T bus, originally built for London Country. When they replaced us with diesel buses, I came here for Sodor Roadways, and have been used here ever since. Say, I rescued your passengers from that snowdrift a little while back, didn’t I? Terence did a great job of rescuing you and your coaches, but I’m here to help you with your passengers today.”
Thomas snorted. “Help me? I can go faster than you.”
“Can’t!” Bertie retorted.
“Can!” Thomas replied.
“CAN’T!”
“CAN!”
“CAN’T!”
“CAN!”
“Stop arguing, please,” Twilight asked.
“We’ll race then, and settle it that way,” Spike suggested.
This race was agreed to, and the station master positioned himself with a green flag. “Ready? Set? GO!” And he swung the flag down as he did so. Bertie roared out of the parking lot whilst Thomas shot forward down the branch line, determined to win this race as best he could.
Bertie had the higher acceleration than Thomas, and as a result drew ahead early in the race. Thomas picked up speed slowly, and lagged behind as he did so. Twilight kept a close eye on his fuel and water, and also closely monitored the speedometer, as she was worried about breaking the speed limit.
“How will we know where he is?” she asked Thomas. “The road runs nowhere near here at the moment.”
“But it will soon,” Thomas smiled.
“Why don’t you go fast? Why don’t you go fast?” asked Annie and Clarabel, as they rocked and shook on the tracks.
Thomas just laughed. Although Bertie was a long way ahead of them, he had remembered something that the other had not.
Just before Torywreck, there is a level crossing. Under railway regulations, road traffic must always wait for trains to cross before resuming their journeys, a fact that some motorists would do well to remember, instead of ramming coaches on Welsh railway lines or jumping crossing barriers.
And sure enough, at this crossing, Bertie sat there fuming. Thomas simply sailed over. “Goodbye Bertie! Goodbye Spike!” he called, as he sailed away.
The second the gates opened, Spike put Bertie into first gear, and floored the accelerator-before jamming the gears.
“Ouch!” Bertie exclaimed. “I’m not a synchromesh bus, remember?”
“Sorry!” Spike replied.
The road left the railway once more, so neither Thomas nor Bertie had any idea where the other was. Thomas roared down the track, and had to drop off passengers at Ellsbridge according to the timetable.
“Be quick please!” Twilight called.
Luckily, the passengers were, and they were underway again in next to no time. “Come along! Come along!” he called to Annie and Clarabel.
“We’re coming along! We’re coming along!” the cried. Just then, Thomas saw something that shocked him. There was Bertie, as he flew over a bridge, sounding his horn triumphantly.
“Oh, deary me! Oh, deary me!” he cried, as he flew along the line to the best of his ability. But he was starting to worry.
“Don’t worry Thomas, we’ll beat him!” Twilight cried. “just you wait and see!”
“We’ll beat Bertie yet! We’ll beat Bertie yet!” the coaches added triumphantly.
But just ahead, trouble was waiting.
“Oh no!” cried Thomas. “There’s a station!” and he rolled into Hackenbeck as the signal was red and he couldn’t proceed.
“Hello Thomas!” shouted a familiar voice. He looked over to see it was Bertie. “You just be very tired, but I can’t stop. We buses have to work, you know! Goodbye!” and he raced away into the distance.
“See you later!” Spike called.
Thomas sighed. “We’ve lost,” he said sadly.
“We haven’t yet,” said Twilight, as she filled his tanks. “The last stretch into Ffarquhar has high speed limits of 50 miles an hour, and a steep gradient down into the station. If we can use those to our advantage, we may just beat him.”
“Hurrah!” cried Thomas.
Just then, the signal dropped, and Thomas got off on his way as fast as his wheels could carry him. But as they got underway, they heard a loud beeping. There, sure enough, was Bertie, held at the traffic lights which were showing a red aspect.
“Looks like were not the only ones who have to wait!” Thomas called, laughing.
The light changed, and Bertie started with a roar, thundering down the road and racing after Thomas as fast as he could. Thomas was now going at top speed, straight downhill, and Bertie roared as much as he could. But no matter what he did, he just couldn’t keep up with the tank engine, who thundered down the grade and through the tunnel. Bertie rolled over the hill and came down the other side, rocketing down it at incredible speeds and almost catching up to Thomas.
But Thomas rolled to a safe stop in Ffarquhar station. “I’ve done it! I’ve done it!” he exclaimed.
“We’ve done it, hooray! We’ve done it, hooray!” cheered the coaches, as Bertie screeched to a halt. Everyone celebrated Thomas’ victory, but welcomed Bertie as well, as a well-deserved runner-up.
Spike wound down the window. “Now that was a good race,” he said. “Congratulations on a good win, Twilight.”
“Thanks!” Twilight replied.
Bertie smiled. “You know Thomas,” he said. “In order to beat you over that last hill, I’d have needed wings like an aeroplane. But that was a good race. We should do this more often!”
Thomas and Bertie are good friends, and often help each other out on busy days. But they have never raced again, as apparently higher-ups don’t particularly like it.
Stats
Page generated in 0.035 seconds
Total duration
750 users online
648,621 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Something's occurred to me - will we be seeing Celestia and Luna?
Passengers don’t like being bounced like peas in a frying pan either.
10036052
I can neither confirm nor deny that question.
10036483
That they do not. In Victor Tanzigs' series, Thomas' crew are briefly jailed for recklessness.
10036546
I think it was Thomas and Bertie who were jailed; Thomas' crew were suspended.
10036767
Maybe. I'll watch the episode again.
10036483
Too bad nobody's ever told that to Network Rail.
10036791
Indeed. Ever ridden on the Class 717? They have articulated bodies, so passengers often get hurled around.
Luckily, I live in 444/450 territory - although I suspect I'll get a taste when I go to Alexandra Palace in March. I was thinking of the boneshakers used for replacement buses.
10036992
My parents leave near London, so I get to endure them when I see them. Up here in Nottingham, it's smooth sailing with 222s and 125s.
And that concludes Book #4 :3
10060540
It does indeed. And what a conclusion.
So Spike handles Bertie the Bus? Glad Spike's not a dog in this, other there would be a lot of questions being asked. LOL! As a human, I believe Spike is just barely at the legal age to operate a bus.
Also, I think I understand about the Spike Spencer part, as I looked up the name, and found a voice actor by that name.
10156768
That's the joke.
Huh, didn't expect Spike to be a human in this universe. Also, who's Spike Spencer?
Why are nicknames so common in these stories!?!?
A what bus?
they*
11319379
so i did a little digging on who spike spencer is and found out that he is a well known voice actor
Kinda wish there was a niche for highly engineered drag steam locomotives, with road alongside them at a distance divided by ditches, that all go straight. No turns or anything, just a stretch after the start line (which would lead to a shed and workshop and the likes). It would have to be monitored, yes, as steam explosions are no joke, but imagine people trying to engineer steam today, with new materials and modern techniques.
Heck, I learned recently of a hybrid steam/diesel engine that could take either or in order to operate in locales where both could be available, but availability might fluctuate, leaving one in deficit. Interesting concept, would like to see it remade as a steam turbine/diesel-electric locomotive for a near universal operating range. Might compromise a lot, but darn it a train that can work in any conditions wasn't appealing.
11573119
I did come across a video of a steam loco drag race somewhere in Eastern Europe a few months ago.