Thomas and Friends: More Tales from Sodor

by The Blue EM2

Calling all Engines, Part 1

Those who know the Island of Sodor will always tell you how the island is at its most beautiful in the summertime. The sun shines, the birds sing, the water sparkles (much to the annoyance of a certain Twilight, tired of all the puns) and there are always plenty of flowers and trees in bloom at the lineside. The engines and their drivers know this well.

Of course, the island is incredibly busy during summer. Lots of holidaymakers, keen on 'staycationing' rather than going abroad, come to the island by train or by boat. Usually, the foreign tourists arrive by ocean liner at Tidmouth Docks, and Brtish tourists often come from the mainland via Barrow. They then join their trains, to see the marvellous sights of Sodor.

A lot of people go to visit the Little Western, not only to see one of the most authentic depictions of a Great Western branch line in existance, but also to visit the seaside. Others travel through the centre of the island, and see the great viaduct. Others still enjoy a trip to the top of Culdee Fell on the rack railway, which is also incredibly popular with hikers.

At the end of the day, the engines retire to the sheds at Tidmouth for a rest. They and their crews catch up on the day's events and cool the engines down for the night. Then they head home or rest, depending on whom you are speaking about, and prepare themselves to do it all again the very next day.

It all began one blisteringly hot morning in July. The morning had started pretty much as normal; the engines had had their fires lit by the depot staff, and one by one the drivers were making their checks.

"It's a busy few days, eh?" said Percy. "I don't know if I'm standing on my dome or on my wheels!"

"You look the right way up to me, Percy!" Pinkie joked.

Rarity whiped some sweat off her brow. "What I honestly do not understand is why it gets so incredibly hot!" she said. "This weather is positively ghastly! When I get home, I usually need a hot shower to cool off!"

"Why would you deal with the heat by making yourself hotter?" Henry asked, confused.

"It's to get some of the grime of the day off," Fluttershy explained. "I don't mean this in an offensive way, but working with steam engines can be quite messy."

Just then, Sir Toppham Hatt arrived. "Good morning, everybody!" he said. "I have some marvellous news for you. In order to ease congestion on the island's ferries, docks, and rail interchange, a new airport is being built on the Island. This will allow visitors to travel to the island more easily than ever before."

Edward glanced over. "Sir," he said, "that is good news. But I have a concern. The people of the Isle of Skye, in Scotland, were rather excited when they got a new bridge to replace a ferry. Unfortunately, this resulted in the island being swamped in tourists, mostly driving camper vans. Will the same happen here? I'd rather not be replaced by a camper van."

Douglas puffed by with a goods train, and set something altogether too rude to repeat here.

Sir Toppham Hatt coughed. "The Sodor Regional Assembly has already thought ahead on that, and banned camper vans. So there's no worry about that."

"We'll get to see lots of planes!" Percy said suddenly.

"And show even more people around the island!" Thomas added.

"When will the new airport be ready, sir?" Twilight asked.

"That's where we come in," smiled Sir Toppham Hatt. "The airport is to be built between Wellsworth and Marron stations, on a special spur that will come off just west of Gordon's Hill. And you will all help move the supplies to build the Sodor Airport Rail Link, or SARL for short."

The engines were quite excited at this, so much so none of them noticed a disembodied choir singing in the background.

Once all the singing had stopped, it was time to start moving supplies. The first engines to arrive with supplies were Thomas and Percy. Both of them were moving brick wagons. The airport terminal was to have a brick facade, as the actual frame of the building was to be steel and concrete.

"They've already started construction!" Percy said. "How exciting! I wonder how big the airport will be?"

"I suspect it won't be able to handle international flights," Thomas replied.

"Inter- internaconal?"

"International," Twilight corrected. "It means coming from overseas, or travelling from one country to another. A flight within one country is called an internal flight."

Just then, two unwanted faces turned up. "Hello," said 'Arry. "We're the allocated shunters for the Sodor Airport construction sight. We'll handle the movement of these. You four can budge off."

Twilight looked furious. "How dare you speak to them that way!"

"Or what, dearie?" said Bert. "Going to turn our engines off? Then you'd be in a right pickle!"

"What's Pickle doing here?" Percy asked.

"Not that pickle!" said Thomas, and steamed away. He was cross, and steamed away to the loading yard. He had been assigned to take some wood to the building sight, but was shocked when he saw Diesel there instead!

"Hello Thomas," Diesel oiled. "Whilst you were away, Sir Toppham Hatt asked me to marshal this train of wood. It's all very smart, wouldn't you agree?"

Thomas didn't know that Diesel and his driver, Silver Spoon, had improved themselves since their first time on the island. He thought that they were taking over. So he had an idea. A very bad idea. He rolled behind the last of the trucks that was being loaded with wood, and just as the crane began to lower it into the trucks, he pulled them out of the way and whistled loudly.

Wood fell everywhere, all over the track. "Now he'll be late," Thomas smiled.

Diesel, however, wasn't taking this train. "I'll be moving some bricks a short distance to the yards at Tidmouth, he said. "So no funny business."

Silver Spoon looked out of the cab. "I pity whoever has to clean that mess up," she said. "That's a lot of wood."

Thomas had another idea. He could see the brick trucks over in a siding, and next to them another set of trucks loaded with empty boxes. The two designs looked almost the same when looked at with the casual eye, and so he moved forward and pushed those in behind Diesel. "Here you go!"

"Thank you, Thomas," Diesel said, and went on his way, not hearing the laughter coming from behind.

---

Gordon was running light engine to the steelworks, as he had been allocated to moving some steel girders to the construction sight. "I must say, I feel so grand doing such an important job," he said.

"I agree!" Rainbow Dash grinned, whooping as the wind whipped through her hair. "We're awesome as we wanna be!"

But when they arrived at the steelworks, they saw a shocking sight. Sitting there, in the sidings, was a familiar orange diesel with a giant grabber.

"Diesel 10's back!" Gordon whispered.

"Who?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Diesel 10!" Gordon replied. "He tried to destroy Lady!"

Diesel 10's massive grabber effortlessly crushed waste metal and loaded it into the nearby trucks, so Gordon backed away. "Let's wait until he's finished!" he said.

At the end of the day, Henry returned to the sheds after a tiring run. "I am looking forward to a rest," he said, with a smile.

"So am I," Fluttershy yawned. "The heat does make me feel drowsy."

As they approached Tidmouth Sheds, they heard a great hullabaloo start up. "What's going on?" Henry asked, as he came to a stop in the yard.

"They've closed our shed off!" Gordon fumed.

"This is absurd!" James exclaimed. "They're building an extension and never told us!"

"And boxes are useless for building buildings," Diesel told them, who roared away with his trucks.

"Where will we sleep?" asked Edward.

"Well, we could go down to Wellsworth," Applejack suggested.

In the end, most of the engines were reallocated to Vicarstown or Knapford sheds. Thomas ended up next to Murdoch. "I only wanted to teach those diesels to behave," said Thomas sadly. "I never meant-"

"Go to sleep," Murdoch grunted. "I've had a long day and I'm exhausted."

"I'm certain that we can fix everything," Thomas went on. "We'll be back in Tidmouth Sheds tomorrow, and-"

"Go to bed. That's an instruction."

---

That night, a massive storm tore across the Island of Sodor. Storm Hurricane was the largest on record for over fifty years, and it wreaked devastation across Sodor. It tore down trees, and ripped slates off of roofs. It flattened fences, and damaged telegraph lines. Percy shivered in Knapford shed. "I hope we're safe here!" he said.

"So do I," said Toby. "That wind is something awful."

At Wellsworth station, Edward was suddenly awoken by a loud crash! "Good Heavens!" he exclaimed. "What was that?"

The next morning, Applejack arrived to light his fire and ready his for service. "That storm's caused a fine mess and no mistake," she said. "It were pretty hard gettin' down here. Most of the roads were blocked, and the trains ain't runnin' this early in the day."

"I just hope they can run full stop," Edward replied. "Things are looking dire."

When his fire was ready, Applejack moved him out of the yard. He was facing towards Vicarstown, so they went that way. When they reached the viaduct, Edward gasped. "Look!" he said. "The entire centre span has collapsed!"

And it had. There was a giant gaping hole in the Wellsworth Viaduct- again. Edward was worried. "We're cut off," he said. "No trains can get in or out of here!"

Meanwhile, at Knapford, several of the engines were being prepped for duty. Sir Toppham Hatt looked very worried. "The storm," he said, "has caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to the railway. Trees have fallen onto the lineside, and the Wellsworth Viaduct has partially collapsed. We're cut off from the rest of the Island, and from Britain. We need to get this damaged repaired, and fast."

"We're trapped here, trapped!" said Gordon. "Oh, this is most disgraceful."

"Stop being such a drama queen!" Rarity said.

"That's rich, coming from you," said Henry.

"Will Tidmouth sheds be fixed too?" Percy asked.

"That's rather low priority at the moment," said Sir Toppham Hatt. "Our priorities are getting the mainline rebuilt, and the airport finished."

---

Naturally, the engines were soon very busy. Thomas was first sent to take workmen to the construction site for the bridge. The sun had risen properly, and it was a nice day, but nobody was in an especially positive mood. When he arrived at the bridge, Diesel was already there with supplies.

"I'm not talking to you," he said. "This mess is your fault."

"How exactly was the storm Thomas' fault?" Twilight asked. "That logic makes no sense."

"Your face makes no sense!" Silver Spoon said suddenly.

"That statement in and out of itself makes no sense," Thomas sighed. "It's not my fault you two can't take a joke."

Scenes akin to this were happening all over the island. Arry and Bert refused to help clear the track, and Henry refused to talk to Derek at the airport construction site. "You ruined our sheds!" Henry said. "We're not talking to you!"

"Steady on!" Derek said. "That's not a kind thing to say."

"Ignore them," Octavia sighed. "They'll get over it, eventually."

The steam engines were not talking to the diesels. And the diesels were not talking to the steam engines, with predictable results. Thomas sped past Diesel 10 as fast as he could, scared of the giant diesel's grabber. Diesel 10, on the other hand, was rather confused by the entire affair.

That night, Thomas tried talking to Murdoch again. He got the exact same result out of it, so gave up in the end.

---

The next morning, Sir Toppham Hatt had a job for Murdoch. "I need you to collect a train from Tidmouth Docks," he said. "It's a long train of bricks that has arrived from a mainland brickworks, as we cannot access our own- it's on the other side of the bridge. Please be careful, as this train is over 1,000 tons in weight and will take a long time to stop completely."

"On it, sir," Murdoch replied. "Vinyl! Let's go!"

"Let's do this!" Vinyl said, lowering her shades. "I've got just the tune for this job!"

The train of bricks was very long. It ran round both curves at Tidmouth Docks and vanished into the distance. The brake van was so far away Murdoch couldn't even see it! "This will take a while to shift," he said.

Bert rolled past. "Let a diesel take it," he said. "He'll have no trouble."

Murdoch chose to deliberately misunderstand Bert. "Indeed," he said. "I'll have no trouble." He set off with a groan, the trucks jerking into line behind him as the couplings pulled taught. It was hard going, but he got the bricks to the building site without too much trouble.

"Good work!" said the site foreman. "You'll have to wait here a few minutes whilst we unload the trucks, so feel free to have a short rest."

Diesel scowled with jealousy from a nearby track.

Author's Note:

Calling all Engines was the first Thomas film since Magic Railroad, so the production team were aware they were taking a gamble when they put the film into production. Despite the somewhat uneven quality of the finished product, the film was succesful enough to warrant further sequels, which started the tradition of a Thomas movie every year up until BWBA in 2018.

Comments

[Sudrian Engineer]

Is this the big finale movie to this collection?

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

10826211
Aye

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

I honestly don't care if Calling all Engines started the movie thing, I was never a fan to it. Especially with how they put in the diesel I shall not name into the mix or how Lady was put into it.

Say what you may but CAE is still my number one hated special of the model series.

[JimmyHook19]

That night, a massive storm tore across the Island of Sodor. Storm Hurricane was the largest on record for over fifty years, and it wreaked devastation across Sodor. It tore down trees, and ripped slates off of roofs. It flattened fences, and damaged telegraph lines. Percy shivered in Knapford shed. "I hope we're safe here!" he said.

I don't know why..... but whenever I watch that scene in Calling All Engines!, it really is quite heart-pounding though. Especially when it climaxes of showing the Sodor Suspension Bridge shaking in the strong winds before collapsing completely. O_O

[The Blue EM2]

10826475
Yes.

[The Blue EM2]

10826488

10826493
Well said. Just because something does it first doesn't mean it is a good thing. Whilst a somewhat extreme analogy, the fact that Birth of a Nation basically invented modern film-making does not offset the film's unfortunate history and reputation.

[The Blue EM2]

10826536
I'm surprised you didn't comment on the reference.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

10827045
I couldn't have said it better myself.

[The Blue EM2]

10827048
Though, in fairness, CAE is nowhere near as controversial.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

10827051
Aye.

[The Blue EM2]

10827053
Just a bit dull, really. Cut the learning segments and you have 40 minutes at best.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

10827092
Yeah and I already said what I did involving Diesel 10 and Lady. Well, Lady wasn't that bad in the special. It's Diesel 10 I couldn't stand, more because it completely broke TATMR's plotline with him.
Don't get me wrong, while villain redemption isn't a bad thing, it's not easy to see a murderous psychopath instantly become a good guy just because writers say he does.

[The Blue EM2]

10827094
TATMR is no longer canon.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

10827140
I know that. I just don't see any point of using characters from it in a special relating the episodes of which have no connection to TATMR.

Besides we all know Diesel 10's claw is illegal for British Rail Regulations. On top of that, many new watchers of Thomas wouldn't have a clue of Diesel 10 and who he is.

The point I'm saying is, Diesel 10 being on Sodor in CAE makes absolute no sense. And I wish they didn't add him.

Forgive me if I caused anyone here offense

[The Blue EM2]

10827144
You didn't.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

10827200
Oh good.

[The Blue EM2]

10827390
It,xs beeb a long rod, this one.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

10827511
I would believe so

[The Blue EM2]

10827513
And we're nearly at the end.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

10827536
Aye

[The Blue EM2]

10827603
It's been a fun ride.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

10827607
Indeed.

[The Blue EM2]

10827936
And now the final chapter arrives.

[Optimus0301]

10827140
Es buena historia e increíble

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

"It's to get some of the grime of the day off," Fluttershy explained. "I don't mean this in an offensive way, but working with steam engines can be quite messy."

Mhm.

Thomas didn't know that Diesel and his driver, Silver Spoon, had improved themselves since their first time on the island. He thought that they were taking over. So he had an idea. A very bad idea. He rolled behind the last of the trucks that was being loaded with wood, and just as the crane began to lower it into the trucks, he pulled them out of the way and whistled loudly.

Oh come on Thomas!

Thomas had another idea. He could see the brick trucks over in a siding, and next to them another set of trucks loaded with empty boxes. The two designs looked almost the same when looked at with the casual eye, and so he moved forward and pushed those in behind Diesel. "Here you go!"

Your so gonna be in trouble later Thomas.

"And boxes are useless for building buildings," Diesel told them, who roared away with his trucks.

Thx a lot Thomas. 😡

"Ignore them," Octavia sighed. "They'll get over it, eventually."

Hopefully...