One place on Sodor that was barely affected by the actions of Diesel 10 was the china clay pits. They continued on with their work, day in and day out. Bill and Ben were kept especially busy that day, and the heat and the dirt resulted in the two saddle tanks becoming cranky and tired with one another.
This reached a head one morning, when they sat in front of a line of trucks. "That's my line of trucks!" Bill grumbled.
"No it's not, it's mine!" Ben shot back. "Yours is over there!"
"That's ridiculous!" Bill snorted. "They are mine!"
"Are not!"
"Are too!"
"ARE NOT!"
"ARE TOO!"
Boco rattled to a stop with some empties to hear the argument, and sighed. "If you two don't stop arguing all you'll have is-"
Moments later, Bill and Ben both rocketed forward at the same time, crashing into each other and derailing in the proces.
"-trouble."
Filthy Rich sighed. "We need to get Mavis in here. She and Diamond would get this place in order in no time."
Seconds later, Babs and Sunflower Seed emerged from the rest house, only to see the carnage before them. "Just what we needed!" Sunflower grumbled.
"Anybody seen the derailin' kit?" Babs asked.
"The rerailing kit?" said the voice of Sir Toppham Hatt, making a flying visit.
"It wasn't my fault!" Ben shouted. "It was Bill who started moving first!"
"No it's not, it was Ben! HE started moving first!"
"Quiet!" Sir Toppham Hatt boomed. "Behave, or you can sit in your sheds for today." He cleared his throat. "Now then, I have acquired another engine to help out here, a diesel. He's new (or the newest I could find), and somewhat inexperienced, but keen to make a good impression, so please do help him in any way you can." He walked back to his car.
Boco frowned. "Doing your jobs correctly would be a good start," he sighed.
"Easy for you to say!" Bill shot back. "You're on the track!"
Sir Toppham Hatt turned his back to the carnage. "I hope the new diesel's OK," he sighed. "Derek's bound to have problems."
He was right. A diesel with two long bonnets and a central cab was trying to ascend Gordon's Hill. "Grease and oil! This hill is very steep; Heavens know how my engines will cope!"
"Keep steady on the throttle and we ought to be fine," said his driver.
But then, moments later, it happened. There was a loud pop, followed by a bang, and then his engines cut out, followed by smoke pouring from the rear engine housing.
"That's torn it!"
His driver hopped out of the cab and took a look. She was a girl with greyish skin and long black hair, complemented by a a pair of purple eyes. She wore a white formal short sleeved shirt with a purple bow tie, a purple waistcoat, a purple skirt with a symbol of a treble cleff on it, and a pair of black formal shoes, above which sat a pair of white long socks. She walked along the side of the engine, and took a look.
"That's worse than I can repair here," she said, in a clipped British accent. "I'll have to telephone for help. Stay there, Derek!"
"I can't exactly go anywhere," the diesel replied.
About 15 minutes later, Boco came to a stop with the tool coach.
"Terribly sorry, old chap," Derek said. "It's these Paxman engines, you see, they don't cope well with steep gradients. Nice to see you again, Boco!"
"And you too, Derek," Boco replied. "I did enjoy that gala at Chinnor. I know how it feels to be non standard; the Class 28s were completely rebuilt with new engines, and even then British Rail withdrew us after five years. Who's your driver?"
The girl spoke up. "I'm Olivia Clairmont," she replied. "But I prefer Octavia."
"Octavia?" asked Filthy Rich. "I believe I've seen you play with the Knapford Symphony Orchestra!"
"2nd cello," Octavia replied. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir."
"Call me Rich," Filthy Rich replied. "Now then, shall we get to work on fixing the engine?"
News of Derek's breakdown soon spread across the island. "Apparently," Thomas said to Percy, "it's teething troubles associated with his design."
Percy, naturally enough, got this information confused. As Bill and Ben puffed into the docks with some loaded trucks, he raised his voice. "Good luck, you two! That new diesel's got toothache!"
"What?" Babs asked.
"Why does Percy want to wish us luck?" Bill asked, confused.
"Because we'll need it," Ben said grimly. "I don't know what the world's coming to. A diesel with toothache? That must be a nightmare!"
Seconds later, Sunflower got a text on her phone. "Orders from management," she said. "Leave the trucks here and remain at the dock overnight for a rest. Remember the oranges."
"What?" Babs asked.
"I think he meant engines and his phone autocorrected."
That night, they rested alongside Duck. "What's wrong?" the big pannier tank asked.
"It's that new diesel!" Bill said. "He's got toothache!"
Duck laughed. "No, no. Some wires have got crossed somewhere. He has teething troubles, which means he's having technical problems. In this case, it's his engines, as they don't receive enough air to cool them down. They had the exact same problem on the Class 50s, if I recall correctly."
The next morning, the twins and their drivers waited at the quarry for the diesel. They had a heavy train to take to the docks. Moments later, an unfamiliar horn echoed through the yard.
"Great, it's the new diesel!"
Moments later, Derek rolled to a stop. "Good morning!" he said. His politeness caught the twins off guard. "I'm here to help you with your trucks. I suggest you take the front, and I'll bank from the rear. That sound good?"
"If anything, it would minimise the disruption caused by potential engine problems," Octavia said quietly. Once the engines were in place, they set off up the hill out of the quarry. At first, all was going well, both tank engines snorting on the front, and Derek's twin diesel engines roaring on the back.
"Come on, push harder!" Ben shouted.
"Put yer back inta it!" Sunflower added.
But Derek couldn't push any harder. He was close to exceeding his safe operational amp limit. Diesel electric locomotives can only be operated at full power for a limited period, or else the engines will begin to overheat. Warning lights came on in his cab.
"This isn't good," Octavia said. Moments later, a series of very loud bangs echoed, followed by the sound of electric discharge. Derek's engines cut out once again.
"Oh dear," he said. "I appear to have flashed over."
"Isn't this just great!" Ben complained. "This diesel is deadweight now!"
"We'll have to move both the train and Derek!" Babs commented. "Can you do it?"
"We'll jolly well try," Bill answered.
And they did. They got the train to the harbour, and Derek was dropped off in a siding so that a fitter could look at him. Later on, Sir Toppham Hatt came to visit them. "Jolly good work!" he said. "Sadly, Derek's engines have flashed over, so I've sent him to have some Rolls-Royce engines fitted instead. Can you four manage without him?"
"We'll try our best!" Ben exclaimed.
Derek has become a regular member of the China Clay pit fleet. With his BR Green livery and crests, he stands out immediately, and his politeness marks him out amongst most diesels. He is also very eager to help, although his reliability issues do get in the way sometimes. Octavia, on the other hand, is living with Vinyl Scratch on the island. Who knows what music they'll come up with?
Does this guy actually show up again after this episode?
Happy Railway Series Day then.
You know, for some odd reason, this was always my favourite episode of Season 5. I don't know way. Perhaps the pacing was well balanced, like The Wrong Trousers, or something else, I just don't know.
10228834
Sadly I think Derek was a one time character. There's a cameo from the back of him in Calling All Engines but tend to discount that.
This was a perfect take on this episode! And I'm glad you're gonna have Derek stay
Sweet another Season 5 epsiode of T&F.
10228832
10228834
10228866
Sadly, Derek vanished after this episode. I, however, intend for him to stay.
10228841
10229027
Thanks for reading.
10228845
10228896
This is one of several episodes based on real railway history.
10229532
Your welcome.
10229549
I've got a few more S5 ones in here.
10229534
I found that rather impressive.
10229565
Especially an engine as obscure as the Class 17.
10229566
But I'm glad you're having him stay.
It's such a disappointment we've too many one-shot characters in the whole Line up of Thomas lately.
10229569
It's frustrating. Why introduce new characters like, say, Paxton when you could bring Derek back?
Or how about Class 40?
10229809
In this case, design flaws.
10229814
Sadly, the BR Diesel program was crippled by a 'make it up as you go along' mentality.
10229823
And a broken tailbone.
10229562
Like what Rusty and the Boulder, Bye George, Trouble with Trees, Better View for Gordon, Oliver's Discovery, Duncan Gets Spooked, and the epsiode that has Bertrum in it.
10230334
Bertram.
10229603
Let's not forget Molly, Neville, Hank, Flora, Hector,
And I bet you could easily make a better way to introduce most of them too
10230436
Hank's out of gauge on UK track. Not to mention Michael Angelis' voice for him was terrible.
10230457
But I thought American engines had the same size as UK engines? I mean the Flying Scotsman visited the US once and so did the Duchess of Hamilton.
Plus, I think they should've had someone else voice him
10230469
You are sorely mistaken. America has a bigger loading gauge.
10230478
But how did Flying Scotsman handle running in America?
And I guess I hadn't exactly had a proper look at both track gauges
10230482
No. The two countries have the same track gauge (4ft 8 1/2 in). The USA has a larger loading gauge (the space around the locomotive). In the UK, the loading gauge is a flat 13 feet, although most locos are well within that.
10230487
Oh, now I got it. So basically Hank wouldn't work on UK track because it's got tighter curves?
10230490
That sort of things. The tunnels are also too low.
10230499
Okay, I got it now.
10230501
Good.
10230520
Sorry if I made you a little upset, I'm still trying to find out the differences in Uk and US facts as I go on.
10230537
Not to worry. I have always believed in the increase and dispersal of knowledge/
10230341
Oh sorry I got mixed up.
10230605
Ok.
Heh, you know..... in T1E2H3's review of this episode, he described Derek's teething problems as the train equivalent of someone shitting. (Reason why: He thinks that the smoke is brown because of it.) XD
10230771
Here, Derek's engine flashed over. This is caused by the alternator brushes misfiring. In human terms, that's like suffering a stroke.
first off.
Second, process*
Feels weird hearing him being referred by his name as it was never said once in the episode.