Thomas and Friends: Tales from the Mainland Volume 2

by The Blue EM2

Salty's Stormy Tale

The engines of Falmouth love it when the sun shines and the sky is blue, and there is not a cloud in the sky. In fact, these are ideal weather conditions for observing railway equipment in action. Even if the footplate of a vintage locomotive can get very warm (seriously, how do you install climate control into a steam locomotive cab?), the drivers still value working with them.

One morning, when the weather conditions were exactly like what I described in the previous paragraph, Porter and Salty were working together on the dockside. Porter seemed cheerful enough, but Salty's mood seemed harder to pin down.

"Is everything OK?" Porter asked.

Salty looked at him. "It may be OK now, but there be a storm comin' later today."

Porter looked about, confused. "What? A storm will be coming, I think you meant."

Izzy leaned out. "Porter, you are aware Salty speaks in a dialect, right, just like you do?"

Porter sighed. "Yes, I am aware that no person or engine speaks 100% grammatically correctly, but I had to ditch my accent in order to get anywhere in the world! It's not exactly positive memories if you know what I mean."

"Then why not switch back?" Sunny suggested.

"Because it's been a long time since I last used it that it'll sound like a parody of my old voice. Rather like your mother, Sunny. If you didn't know you'd assume she was Canadian."

"That's a good point, actually," Sunny admitted.

"All of this be missin' the point, me hearties!" Salty said. "There was a red sky this morning. And you all know the old saying. Red sky in the mornin', sailor's warnin'. Don't underestimate mother nature. She's a cruel mistress."

"Got it," Porter said as he rolled away. "Does the weather forecast mention a storm?"

Salty felt glum. Although he knew Porter enjoyed joking about, he was worried he wasn't taking the problem seriously. He had no further chances to think when the foreman arrived.

"I've got an important job for you two," he said. "Fergus has stalled near the branch for Newham, and needs pulling down to Falmouth for some fuel. You've got the torque for the job."

"Seems a bit odd to send us up to Truro," Salty observed.

"No other engines are available," the foreman replied. "Now hop to it."

"Aye aye, sir," Salty replied flatly, and they began to reverse up the line.

Sunny leaned out of the cab window. "How about a song? I heard, I heard the old man say..."

---

Salty had to pause at Penrhyn to let Rebecca pull in with a passenger train. "What's wrong?" Rebecca asked. "You're looking awfully glum!"

Salty sighed. "Nobody is takin' me warnin' seriously. There was a red sky in the mornin'. There's a storm comin', I know it!"

"There's no reference to stormy weather conditions in the weather forecast," Hitch said. "But I am aware the weather can change very suddenly on the coast."

"Besides, there was a debate about accents and dialect," Salty sighed. "I can't help the way I speak."

"None of us can!" Rebecca said, her Lancastrian accent and northern vowels especially noticable in that sentence. "How we speak and the words we use is part of who we are, and it should be celebrated!"

Rebecca decided a word with Porter was in order.

---

Sure enough, she found him at work on the dockside. Dark clouds were beginning to drift over the skies. "I don't remember this being in the forecast!" Porter said.

"Me neither!" Izzy smiled. "Those people on the beach are leaving pretty fast."

"Beach without watch!" Porter smiled. "Approachin' the seas be dangerous!"

Rebecca glanced over. "Porter, how would you feel if somebody mocked you over your accent. You're a fellow northener. I'm certain you'd understand."

"I was built in Derby, you muppet," Porter replied. "And yes, dropping your dialect was a key way to get ahead in the world back then. Why do you think the Jubilees all spoke with received pronunciation?"

"That never hurt me!" Rebecca admitted.

"What I'd be more interested to know is how an engine built in Brighton ended up with a Lancastrian accent," Porter answered. "Besides, Izzy is from Lancashire as well, and she doesn't sound a bit northern!"

"Any clue why that is?" Hitch asked.

"It is one of life's greatest mysteries," Izzy replied. "I mean, you can see how Sunny, Pipp, and Zipp got their accents."

"But what surprises me is Pipp and Zipp's are so strong when their mom speaks with a Mid-Atlantic accent."

The conversation was suddenly curtailed by the arrival of the rain, and a lightning flash out at sea. "We'd best get undercover," Izzy said quickly. "Or we'll be very wet!"

---

Up that Newham, Salty had just run into Fergus. "Sorry for the bother!" Fergus said. "We must have miscalculated how much coal I had left! We could hardly risk damage to the firebox, could we?"

"Aye, but there's a storm comin'," Salty replied. "We'd best be movin' quickly."

Sunny hopped out of the cab and coupled Fergus up, but stopped when she suddenly felt something wet against her hand. She glanced up. "Rain. It's started raining!"

"And I have no cab," Fergus answered.

"Tempest, would you like to ride in the cab with me?" Sunny asked. "Salty's got two seats in the cab."

"Thank you," Tempest replied. "Salty, you help to keep Fergus company."

"I'll be glad to," Salty answered, as the two women hopped in his cab. "How about some singing? That's a good way to keep spirits up."

"But which song?" Fergus ventured.

And Salty began, his magnificent voice echoing off the local terrain.

"Pass around the grog me boys! Never count the storm!
Drink the good old liquid down and boldly ask for more!"

As was common in these parts of the world, Fergus and the two drivers then joined in with the harmony parts.

"For ’tis he who will not merry, merry be/
Shall never taste of joy!
Sing, sing, the Cape’s in view!
And forward, my brave boy!"

---

Darkness soon fell as the storm got worse. And things were soon to get worse still. Out at sea, a fishing trawler was making an approach to Falmouth Harbour with a large catch.

"What's our bearing?" the captain called. "Check the RADAR display!"

"We've got a problem!" one of them shouted. "The Generator's conked out! The RADAR is broken!"

"Now we have no way of navigating safely to shore!" the Captain said. "If only there was some other method of nautical navigation."

---

Salty and Fergus had rattled to a stop in the sidings at the harbour. The storm was now blowing fiercely. Rain splattered down and exploded on the ground like bombs. Thunder boomed overhead. And the wind howled like a demon, threatening to lift anything off the ground.

"This is the worst storm I've known living here!" Sunny said. Just then, the cab radio picked up a message.

"Mayday, mayday, this is the trawler Endeavour. We are without RADAR and unable to navigate to shore. Send help immediately. Coordinates to follow."

Sunny looked horrified. "If they drift any further they'll be dashed upon the rocks!" she said. "I have an idea!"

She jumped out and changed some points, before hopping back into the cab and reversing both engines back towards the lighthouse.

"Err, what's the plan?" Tempest asked.

"I'm going to activate the light from the lighthouse!" Sunny answered. Parking the two machines outside, she sprinted into the lighthouse proper and switched the generator to on.

Nothing happened.

"There's a slight problem!" she called. "The generator's not working!"

"Why not use Fergus?" Salty suggested. "He has a flywheel!"

Sure enough, Fergus was hooked up to the generator and once he was back up to temperature he set to work. It took a few attempts, but at last the generator rumbled into life.

"Now comes the tricky bit!" Sunny answered, and sprinted up the steps of the lighthouse two at a time until she reached the lamp room. She turned to her left and pulled a switch. This lifted the crystal chamber out of position and put it safely in a gap in the floor. She then threw another lever, and this lowered the lense into position and raised the light out of the floor.#

She covered her eyes at the intensity of the light, but reached along and pulled the last switch. With a whirr and a rattle the gears of the rotation mechanism fired up, and the lense started to rotate.

---

The ship's captain was most surprised when he suddenly saw a light coming across the bay. "The old Falmouth light? I thought that had been decommisioned decades ago!"

He turned to his crew. "We have a guiding light, me hearties! Turn to starboard!"

---

The light kept on running through the night to guide ships into the safety of Falmouth harbour, and was only dropped when the sun rose once more.

Salty's idea had worked brilliantly, and that morning on the dockside a number of sailors had turned out. "What be the occasion, my fellows?"

One of them looked up. "I'm the captain of the trawler back there. You saved our lives last night, and we will be forever in your debt."

"I can hardly take all the credit," Salty replied. "It was Sunny's idea to use the lighthouse, and Fergus got the generator working again."

"Great job out there," Porter said. "And sorry about the accent thing yesterday."

"All water under the bridge," Salty smiled. "Now then, let's get back to work."

Author's Note:

This is an adaptation of the Thomas and Friends story of the same name. One of the most fondly remembered episodes of Season 7, this has been one of the most requested adaptations. Given that one of my characters lives in buildings connected to a lighthouse, it seemed like an obvious adaptation. The accent element was also a suitable opportunity to insert some meta-humour; Tara Strong, who voices Goldie, has a curious hybrid accent owing to having lived in Canada and the United States, and similarly Jane Krakowski gave Queen Haven a Mid-Atlantic accent (a hybrid accent which combines elements of British and American accents that is very common amongst the American upper class).

'Approachin' the seas be dangerous!' is a reference to a poorly translated sign in Spain that went viral on the internet in early 2020. The poor translation resulted in wording that sounded like the manner a stereotypical pirate might speak in.

'Pass Around the Grog' is an adaptation of a sea shanty originally from Padstow, which is on the northern coast of Cornwall. The words here have been tweaked slightly to better fit the themes of the story, but the Fisherman's Friends did a superb recording of the original which is linked below:

Comments

[shining paladin]

great chapter mate keep it up can't wait for the next chapter

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

The engines of Falmouth love it when the sun shines and the sky is blue, and there is not a cloud in the sky. In fact, these are ideal weather conditions for observing railway equipment in action. Even if the footplate of a vintage locomotive can get very warm (seriously, how do you install climate control into a steam locomotive cab?), the drivers still value working with them.

Good question.

"Now comes the tricky bit!" Sunny answered, and sprinted up the steps of the lighthouse two at a time until she reached the lamp room. She turned to her left and pulled a switch. This lifted the crystal chamber out of position and put it safely in a gap in the floor. She then threw another lever, and this lowered the lense into position and raised the light out of the floor.#

out of the floor.*

[The Blue EM2]

11797556
Glad you enjoyed.

[The Blue EM2]

11797567
1. Apparently, steam air conditioning is a thing. Here's an article on how it works:

https://old.atsfrr.org/resources/Sandifer/SEAC/Index.htm

2. Corrected.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

11797587
huh

[The Blue EM2]

11797591
Weird stuff, eh?

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

11797735
yep

[The Blue EM2]

11797972
Oui.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

Now, this was a really awesome story! It was so nice to have a way to incarnate the Starshine’s Lighthouse for its role as a lighthouse!

[The Blue EM2]

11798080
Thanks. Given that it's established in an earlier story that it is kept in working order, it made sense to use that in the plot.