Thomas and Friends: Tales from the Mainland Volume 1

by The Blue EM2

Rebecca, Bellerophon, and the Fruitful Day

Once again it was a truly splendid day in Cornwall, as the sun shone and things seemed to be fine and dandy. Rebecca was heading up the Maritime Line to Truro on a test run. She had been having some mechanical issues recently, and as such had been fitted with some new parts to check she was running correctly.

"Oh my!" she said. "What lovely countryside around here! I can see why the others like it so much."

"It's my homeland too, you know," Hitch added, as they glided through Penrhyn. "Not far to Truro now. So far, all seems to be holding up. It should do. You're effectively a new engine with all the bits we've swapped!"

Rebecca's bright green and yellow paint gleamed in the sunlight as she made her way up the hill next to the tunnel. She coasted down onto the final straight before being brought to a stop at a red signal just outside Penwithers Junction. To her left was the branch down to Newham, which was being relayed in order to help cope with the amount of increased business in the region.

Sure enough, she saw Bellerophon emerge from the branch, pulling a short train of vans. Misty was at the controls, looking as awkward as usual.

"Good morning!" Rebecca called. "Everything OK? I thought you were meant to depart a few minutes ago!"

"Had some loading that went long, and some poorly behaved vans," Bellerophon replied. "You going down there?"

"That's where orders are telling us to go," Hitch said. "We'll have to wait for a mainline train to clear before we can reverse into the harbour branch."

"Be careful with the trucks," Misty warned him. "I think they're up to something, and it's probably not good."

The duo set off with their train, which left Rebecca alone as she waited for the incoming train. Eventually, it passed by, and the signal dropped. Rebecca steamed forward into the station, reversed onto the other line, stopped again at another set of points, and then steamed down the branch and to Newham Harbour.

Newham Harbour, although small, was very busy. Ships were docking from several places and offloading cargoes of fruit and vegatables from across both Britain and the world. They were delivered in boxes and cartons, and loaded into several different types of vans. There were big vans, small vans, vans with different roofs, vans with holes for ice blocks to be inserted, and some which had yellow spots on the side.

"I wonder what those spots denote?" Hitch asked.

"Those are banana vans," Rebecca explained. "They're fitted with steam heating pipes to allow the bananas to be ripened whilst the train is on the move."

"Clever," Hitch said. "Maybe Sunny could try something similar for her smoothies."

"I thought smoothies were supposed to be consumed cold."

"No, not that. She did use green bananas once, which produced... interesting results."

Men set about putting the boxes into place, securing them with ropes and ties to hold them in place and prevent them from sliding about. At last the work was done, and the train was cleared to go. The last door banged, and the guard showed a green light. The Galloping Fruitcake was ready to go!

Rebecca's wheels dug into the rails as she set off up the line. Hitch was a lot more gentle with the regulator this time, and the engine rumbled up the line. The gradients weren't too bad on the engine, and it wasn't long before she made it to Perranwell, where Charles was waiting with another goods train.

"Morning Charles!" she called. "Can't stop! Have places to be, you know!"

"Well, of course!" Charles replied, as the last of the wagons rattled by. "Did you hear what sounded like leaking?"

"Hopefully her oil bath isn't leaking again," Zipp noted, as she opened the throttle. "That was a nightmare to fix."

---

Down at Penmere, Bellerophon was finishing putting the vans into the siding when a workman arrived. "Hello you two!" he said.

"Hi!" Misty replied, sticking her head out of the cab. "Want some tea?"

"I don't have time, sadly," the workman replied. "There's been a bit of a problem up at Penrhyn. Rebecca has failed and can't work the train. Can you go and collect her trucks?"

"On my way!" Bellerophon replied, and backed up the line. "After all, one good turn deserves another. She was part of the crew who dug us out of that snowstorm, after all."

When they arrived at Penrhyn, they found Rebecca sitting on a siding, wheeshing furiously.

"What happened?" Bellerophon asked.

"My lubricators have malfunctioned," Rebecca replied. "No oil is lubricating key parts, so it's not safe for me to run. I'll need fixing here."

Misty nodded. "It seems as though you two are in a bit of a jam. You could call it a sticky situation!"

Hitch leaned out of Rebecca's cab. "In case you've forgotten, there are trucks that need delivering to Falmouth. So perhaps make fewer bad puns and move the trucks?"

"Oh!" Misty replied. "Right! I was definitely gonna do that." With a blast of steam Bellerophon moved back and touched the trucks with a bang.

"Careful!" called the station master. "There's valuable cargo onboard those!"

"Understood!" Bellerophon said. Before long he was hooked up, and they were on their way.

---

Down the line, Sunny checked her watch. Her fruit delivery was late, and she had heard there was trouble down the line. "I hope it gets here quickly! I've got a backlog of orders to clear, and I understocked!"

Bellerophon was approaching, but was so focused on getting there quickly that he didn't pay attention to the signals. He was soon routed off the expected line and into the bay platform! "Brakes, Misty!" he called. "Sunny hasn't cleared the platform!"

Misty slammed on the brakes, but they did not good. Bellerophon slammed into the buffers and the wagons crashed into him. The roof hatched and doors burst open, and fruit flew out in all directions. Apples, bananas, tomatoes, and strawberries rained down upon the seaside town like missiles.

Virtually everything was covered in fruit in a 10 yard radius. There was fruit on the roof. There was fruit all over the platform. There was fruit on several buildings. There was fruit all over most people.

The only place there wasn't fruit was the vans, where there should have been.

"My bananas!"

Sunny staggered over to the crash scene, splattered from head to toe in stuff. "Misty! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Misty replied, "but the town's a mess. And you look like a smoothie!"

Sunny laughed. "It's OK. What matters is you're safe. But I must admit that when I hoped my fruit would arrive quickly, that wasn't quite what I had in mind." She licked some strawberry goo off her face. "Maybe I should consider a sideline in jam production."

---

That evening, Misty and the others had gathered at the Fisherman's Arms to wind down. "I think," Pipp said, "that we've all learned an important lesson from today. No matter what we do, it's possible for us to end up in a 'jam' in more ways than one. But even when friends help others, it can still result in further problems."

"Your point being?" Hitch asked.

"My point being that we all learned something from that experience. And in doing so we've all helped the community."

"That and scrubbing down all the buildings covered in goo," Misty added.

The table sounded to merriment and laughter as the six friends were, happily, able to see the funny side of the days events. And there is no better way to face the challenges of life than with your friends by your side.

Author's Note:

'James, Percy, and the Fruitful Day', whilst not a particularly realistic episode, is fondly remembered by the fanbase partly due to its inventive use of practical effects and spawning the 'I do not run a jam factory' meme that overtook the fandom around 2011.

Comments

[shining paladin]

awesome

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

Once again it was a truly splendid day in Cornwall, as the sun shone and things seemed to be fine and dandy. Rebecca was heading up the Maritime Line to Truro on a test run. She had been having some mechanical issues recently, and as such had been fitted with some new parts to check she was running correctly.

Classic case for her class.

Rebecca's bright green and yellow paint gleamed in the sunlight as she made her way up the hill next to the tunnel. She coasted down onto the final straight before being brought to a stop at a red signal just outside Penwithers Junction. To her left was the branch down to Newham, which was being relayed in order to help cope with the amount of increased business in the region.

I'm pretty sure Rebecca is mainly yellow and not green?

"Be careful with the trucks," Misty warned him. "I think they're up to something, and it's probably not good."

They're always up to something.

"Those are banana vans," Rebecca explained. "They're fitted with steam heating pipes to allow the bananas to be ripened whilst the train is on the move."

Interesting.

Men set about putting the boxes into place, securing them with ropes and ties to hold them in place and prevent them from sliding about. At last the work was done, and the train was cleared to go. The last door banged, and the guard showed a green light. The Galloping Fruitcake was ready to go!

lol, galloping fruitcake!

Misty nodded. "It seems as though you two are in a bit of a jam. You could call it a sticky situation!"

Not the time or place to do it Misty.

Misty slammed on the brakes, but they did not good. Bellerophon slammed into the buffers and the wagons crashed into him. The roof hatched and doors burst open, and fruit flew out in all directions. Apples, bananas, tomatoes, and strawberries rained down upon the seaside town like missiles.

did no good.*

"My bananas!"

How am I not surprised this was gonna be added.

[The Blue EM2]

11489462
1. Indeed.

2. Rebecca is painted in Southern Railway Malachite Green with yellow lining and Sunshine lettering in this continuity. No UK railway company used the shade of yellow from the TV show as it would make dirt and dust obvious.

3. Some things never change.

4. None of the unhygienic transportation of the Miller era!

5.The Galloping Fruitcake is a nod to a really old Thomas YTP.

6. Nope.

7. Oops.

8. Sweet and goey, eui!

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11489326
I would think so.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

I think I like how this story went compared to the actual episode. And that crash definitely is better than the one from the episode as it always bothered me that the fruit didn't go flying after the collision.

[The Blue EM2]

11489762
Not 100% clued up on the mileage. I'll add info when I've found it.

[The Blue EM2]

11489766
I suspect the unconvincing fruit effects in the episode are a consequence of budget constraints.

[The Blue EM2]

11489380
Thanks. Angelis' narration is better IMO.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11489885
Sure.

11489886
I reckon so. Funny thing is, for the part where that green fluid squirted on Percy and then that yellow fruit splattered on his face, I keep imagining Kipper and Tiger from Kipper the Dog doing that bit. Tiger - using a squirt gun. Kipper - a bucket full of fruit slop.

However, given the way the fruit ended up, I'd say it would be more like a fruit salad rather than jam. Cause most jam isn't squashed fruit, it's fruit juice heated up with sugar then cut fruit thrown in.

[The Blue EM2]

11489904
"I do not run a salad factory!" Hmm, doesn't quite have the same ring to it...

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11489959
"I don't run a fruit salad stand!" Might sound a little better.

[The Blue EM2]

11489961
That certainly fits.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11489969
Fruit puns aside, I don't understand why Percy couldn't have just pulled the train instead of pushing it.

[The Blue EM2]

11489971
Plot convenience?

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11489976
Sounds fair.

[The Blue EM2]

11489990
I mean, sometimes plausibility has to take a backseat for the purpose of drama.