Thomas and Friends: More Tales from Sodor

by The Blue EM2

Calling all Engines, Part 2

Later that day, Thomas had to collect some tankers. The water main near Ffarquhar had burst, and water was being conveyed up the valley in giant tanks. Thomas rolled slowly into the yard and stopped. "Well, there are the tankers!" he said. "But they look a bit old."

"I'll ask the foreman to check them, to ensure they're safe to move," Twilight said, and she made preparations to secure Thomas in position.

Neither of them heard Diesel approaching from behind, which is remarkable given how much noise he made. "Look at those silly steam engines," he said. "They're taking our work away from us."

"Let's show them who's best," Silver Spoon laughed. She gunned Diesel's engine, and Diesel shot forward, bumping into Thomas. Thomas rolled through the yard and slammed into the tankers, derailing them. Not only that, the seal on one of the tankers broke, showering Thomas in water.

"Oof!" he said. "I wasn't expecting a wash this early in the day!"

"Oh, you're all wet," said Diesel, mockingly. "Sorry." And he backed away, laughing.

Twilight tried to shake some of the water off, to no avail. "Oh well," she said. "I'll dry off quickly in this heat. Which is a good thing, as walking around in wet clothes is bad for your health."

Thomas' face was grim. "Revenge," he said slowly. "I'll show those diesels who's boss."

So when he next saw 'Arry, he shoved him under the loading chute at the quarry, covering the diesel in dust. "Who's a dirty pile of junk now, huh?"

After 'Arry had been cleaned up, he later found James, and shoved him under the coaling plant chute.

James coughed. "Help! I'm choking!"

"Who's really splendid now, eh?" 'Arry laughed, as he quickly backed away.

Rarity looked aghast. "Just look at me! I'm a mess!"

James was fuming. "Tit for tat," he said. "Tit for tat."

Before long, this tit for tat behaviour had gotten out of control. The steam engines and the diesels were being bashed all over the place; into dirty sidings, underneath leaky pipes, and even through old sheds (Oliver was most cross). The only place where this didn't seem to be happening was the Skarloey Railway, but then again Rusty was the nice sort.

The engines all needed an incredibly thorough wash after the events of the day. James was caked in so much dust his paint was invisible, and Thomas' boiler was horribly messy, as his paint had started to run. That evening, Sir Toppham Hatt came to see the engines. "What on Earth is going on?" he asked.

"Diesel started it!" Thomas protested.

"I don't care who started it," Sir Toppham Hatt replied. "You shouldn't have let it escalate like this, or at all. May I remind you that nothing has been done, and that if we don't finish the airport or repair the bridge there will be no holidaymakers?"

Thomas looked sad. "But that'll mean no visitors, and reduced tourism!"

"And now I'll never get any peace or quiet," said Murdoch quietly.

"Assuming the railway even survives in this state," said Rarity, gloomily.

"Cake, anybody?" Pinkie offered, quite out of tone with the scene that had just passed.

"Not really the best time to suggest such a thing," Rainbow Dash hissed.

That night, the engines worried about what might happen to them if they were no longer useful, and the railway closed. James was up first. He dreamed that he had been sold to a museum and dumped on a siding, as they had no use for an engine like him. The rust collected on his frames and his paintwork was faded, and Rarity was nowhere to be seen.

Gordon's dream was worse. He had been dumped in a playground, and had lots of climbing equipment attached to him, rendering him unable to move. He also lacked his tender, which had been scrapped due to a lack of space in which to exhibit it. The children climbed all over him, swinging and sliding, and even messed about with his cab controls, pretending to be his driver. "I wish I was actually drivable," Gordon grumbled.

Thomas dreamed that he had been dumped in a riverbed, up to his tanks in mud. His boiler and water systems had been dumped deep down, in order to serve as part of a water filtration system. And nobody seemed to care that there was a sentient engine trapped in the mud, unable to move or escape from his horrific fate.

Percy dreamed his fate was to be a ride vehicle on a rollercoaster (nobody knows why, as that would be very unsafe).

But Henry's was the worst of all. To disclose the entirety of it would be impossible, as it was far too graphic to relay in an E rated story. But Fluttershy was quick to figure out the content of the dream when Henry woke up begging anybody in the shed not to scrap him.

Edward, who had been largely unaware of the shenanigans happening on the other side of the viaduct, was having a dream of his own. In it, he had finished climbing Gordon's Hill, and descended the other side. He began to get suspicious as to what was going on when he saw Duck rattle by, and as he came to a stop he saw Derek and Lady pull up.

"Hello Edward!" said Lady. "It's nice to see you again."

"How did you get back to Sodor?" Edward asked. "The bridge is out!"

"We went the long way round," said Sunset. "But we always complete our work when we work together, and I get the impression that's not been happening around here."

Edward then saw in his mind's eye all the chaos that was happening on the other side of the viaduct. He knew, right then, as his dream ended and he awoke, what had to be done. Just as Applejack came to light his fire, a foreman arrived with good news. "The viaduct's been fixed, but we've imposed a strict axle limit over it to be safe," he said. "That means only short trains and lightweight engines at the moment. Sorry for any inconvenience."

Edward noted that. "Applejack, we need to find as many engines as we can, and rally them at the construction site near Tidmouth! I have a plan to sort this mess out, once and for all."

"Ah'm all ears, Eddie."

Soon, Edward was busy telling all the engines he came across about his plan. He was convening a meeting at the Tidmouth construction site, and wanted to ensure as many engines as possible attended. Soon, he had told everybody- except Diesel 10, whom Edward was certain wouldn't want to help, given he'd nearly destroyed Sodor's railways the last time he'd been there.

Before long, the coaling facility was full of engines. Steam engines sat at one end, in a faceoff with the diesels at the other. Well, some diesels.

"I wonder what this is all about?" Derek asked Octavia.

Octavia was making a cup of tea. "I have no clue, Derek, but I can only hope they get on with it."

Gordon huffed. "I don't trust those shunters. Rather devious, I say."

The plant manager was very confused. "Why are all these engines here?" he asked. "And so many diesels as well?"

The engines glanced about. "Where's Edward?" Henry asked. "He's the only one missing, as far as I can see."

"Possibly late," Rarity said. "He can be, sometimes."

"Yet the Old Iron caught you!" Rainbow Dash reminded.

"And pushed you up a hill, no less."

The diesels were getting impatient. "Trust Edward to be late," 'Arry growled. "This whole mess is their fault, anyway."

"That's not true and you know it," BoCo told him. "Try to be civil like some of us."

"Trust the 'Metropolitan elite' to boss us about," Bert grunted.

"You started it!" shouted Percy.

'Arry gunned his engine. "And maybe we should finish it."

Just then, Edward arrived, whistling loudly. "Sorry for the delay," he said. "But there was an obstruction. Shall we start?"

Applejack hopped down from his footplate and started. "Ah'm gonna cut right ta the chase here. Steam engines and diesels have been squabblin' these past few days, and over nothin'. This needs ta stop, 'cause at the end of the day we all need ta work together to save the island! Mah own family knows the hard way that stupid squabbles get ya nowhere, but we need ta end it before it comes ta blows or gets worse."

"What if we don't want to?" Diesel asked.

"Indeed! What if one of those diesels frames a family member again?" James asked.

"The chances of that happening again are low," said Duck. "I think Silver Spoon's learned that lesson."

Edward spoke up. "If we don't work together, then the airport will never open and the repairs will never be made. Passengers and freight are the lifeblood of the railway, and without both of them the railway will close, and we shall be dispersed across the world. I don't think any of us want that to happen."

The engines and their drivers knew Edward was very wise, and that he was right. They all jumped when Sir Toppham Hatt, who had been watching from nearby, spoke up. "Edward and Applejack are right. You all need to work together to get this mess cleaned up. So go to it, and be really useful engines!"

The engines whistled, cheered, and blasted their horns as they moved off.

With all the engines working together, everythin was soon back to normal. The damage was repaired, and the airport and adjoining railway were soon finished. The airport terminal building had yellow brick outer coating, and large, spacious windows to let people see in and out. The airport was very much in keeping with local island architecture, and had a distinct art deco look to it.

The control tower was the same style, and the runway could take medium range aircraft too (no international flights). Indeed, the first flight to Sodor from Heathrow Airport was on its way.

But then there was trouble. Thomas was shunting trucks into the siding on the Sodor Airport Rail Link (SARL), when they hit some bumpy track and derailed. Thomas watched in horror as the lead truck damaged one of the water tower's legs. The tower swayed and shook in the wind, as the other trucks ended up all over the track. The tower fell onto its side and was scattered all across the runway.

Percy, who was passing by, gasped. "The runway and track are blocked!" he said. "The plane's cannot land, and no trains can get through!"

'Arry snorted. "Trust a steam engine to mess everything up," he snorted. "It's nice to know all we did the last few hours was a total waste of time."

"We need George to help fix the runway!" called the airport manager. "But he can't get past this mess, and he's too slow to come by road."

Thomas then had an idea. "He may not be able to clear this mess, but I know an engine who can," he said.

"Thomas, you're not thinking-"

"It's the only solution. The brakedown cranes are elsewhere and busy, so we need to get the help of Diesel 10."

Thomas found Diesel 10 loading fallen logs into trucks. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"What do you want?" Diesel 10 snapped.

Twilight took up the story. "The line at the airport is blocked, and you're the only engine who can clear the mess!"

Diesel 10 sat silent. "Nice sob story, but why should I help you, given what happened last time?"

"If there are no passengers, the railway will close and we'll all suffer, you included. Can you help us, please?" Thomas asked.

Diesel 10 was silent again. "Alright, I'll help," he said finally. His Maybach engine roared into life as he moved off. "Let's get this mess cleared up."

Safe to say, everybody was astonished when they saw Thomas and Diesel 10 arriving together. Diesel 10's grabber made short work of the mess, and Thomas shifted the damaged trucks away. The other engines were so amazed at how hard the pair were working that they decided to help out too, moving the damaged and loaded trucks away from the crash site. Before long, the mess was cleared, and Thomas sped off to grab George and bring him back again. George did a stellar job getting the runway ready for use.

Then Harold arrived, and he brought Sir Toppham Hatt. "Well done, all of you," Sir Toppham Hatt said. "You have completed everything on time, and the aeroplane will be landing shortly."

As they looked on, the aeroplane landed, and taxied over to the airport terminal. All the engines were very happy. They knew that, despite their differences, working together and being really useful was what really mattered.

Author's Note:

Well, here it is! The end of another compilation. I don't know as of yet whether I will be writing another compilation, but if this is the end, I feel that Calling all Engines is a good place for the series to end, with everything happy and everybody working together.

It's been a real rollercoaster ride (with this story getting off to an especially rocky start), so I want to thank you all for your support. Roll credits!

Comments

[JimmyHook19]

Noice =3

[The Blue EM2]

10827961
Thanks. Fave part?

[IllusionedDrawer64]

Interesting changes! Nice callback to Magic Railway

[The Blue EM2]

10832167
Thanks.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

Thomas' face was grim. "Revenge," he said slowly. "I'll show those diesels who's boss."

Or we could not do revenge and continue with the work to not cause confusion and delay.

"We went the long way round," said Sunset. "But we always complete our work when we work together, and I get the impression that's not been happening around here."

Yes Sunset...

With all the engines working together, everythin was soon back to normal. The damage was repaired, and the airport and adjoining railway were soon finished. The airport terminal building had yellow brick outer coating, and large, spacious windows to let people see in and out. The airport was very much in keeping with local island architecture, and had a distinct art deco look to it.

everything*

'Arry snorted. "Trust a steam engine to mess everything up," he snorted. "It's nice to know all we did the last few hours was a total waste of time."

It was an accident!!!

As they looked on, the aeroplane landed, and taxied over to the airport terminal. All the engines were very happy. They knew that, despite their differences, working together and being really useful was what really mattered.

But, what about the sheds?