#weirdowithaquill

[weirdowithaquill]

Traintober 2024: Day 14 - Screech

Before Sodor:

When he came out of the works, James was a very different engine to the one who went in. The regular, boring, utilitarian Class 28 who had been pushed in was gone, and out came a prototype. Hughes classified James as a ‘Class 29’.

“You’re a very special engine,” Mr Hughes said, watching on as James was fired for the first time. “I’m hoping your rebuild will bring all the successes I am hoping for.” That made James feel very special. He’d been plucked at random from his shed for the overhaul, chosen from in amongst a group of twelve of his class, as well as another six Class 27s who’d been doing their absolute best to be picked. But it had been James; of all the engines on the entire railway, it had been James.

“I’ll do you proud, sir!” chirped James excitedly. Mr Hughes smiled gently, and stepped to one side to continue to watch the proceedings. James was carefully steamed up, his slightly larger boiler warming quickly. Every part of him felt new and precision machined. His firebox was large and his cylinders strong; his superheater warmed him right through and left James practically bursting with the need to get out of the workshop and prove himself. His fire burned brightly, his steam pressure shot up. The men grinned as James easily passed all their tests, the foreman marking off boxes on his list with the smallest hint of a smile.

James felt his brakes being taken off, and then his regulator being very slowly opened, prompting him to hiss steam as he inched forwards. But as the brakes were put back on with an odd screeching noise. James frowned.

“Something feels a bit off, sir,” he said slowly. “What brakes was I fitted with?” The foreman winced out of James’ view, and went to speak only for Mr Hughes to place a firm hand on his shoulder. The Chief Mechanical Engineer shook his head slowly, a dark look in his eyes.

“It’s a new design!” Mr Hughes called out. “We want to test these before we give them to other engines, and considering how much stronger we hope you’ll be, you seemed like the best engine to trial them on. They do screech a bit though, but don’t be alarmed.” James beamed!

“Oh sir! I knew I was going to be special. Look at me – don’t I look smart!” “You look very nice in our livery,” agreed Mr Hughes politely. “Now we need to start running tests. Your crew and the inspector will take it from here.” With one final meaningful look at the foreman, Mr Hughes placed his hat atop his head and strode away.

James didn’t watch him go, his eyes instead set on the trucks and coaches that littered the yard. “I can’t wait!” grinned James, feeling his driver open his regulator once more after taking off his special brakes. They started him off on some light shunting duties, testing out his response to the controls. In the distance, a foreign whistle blasted through the works as another freight train blasted through at speed. James raised an eyebrow.

“Who’s that?” he asked. “We don’t usually get outsiders here.” “The railway is trialling a foreign engine to see how they could adapt it,” the inspector replied clinically. James hummed, considering the new information before continuing his shunting. Every time he braked, his brakes screeched, and he slid just a little more than usual.

“Inspector,” James began slowly after the ninth time, “these brakes seem a bit weak. Why don’t they stop me sooner?” The three men in James’ cab shared looks out of his line of sight. They seemed to have a silent conversation in the span of several seconds, before the inspector finally responded.

“They’re a dynamic brake,” he said carefully. “They’re a little slower to apply, but they are made of an extremely strong material that won’t wear out as much.”

James felt better after that. Had he been even a little older, he wouldn’t have accepted the reply as easily – after a certain period of time, most engines grew a sort of sixth sense around their motion. They could detect if something was wrong easily, and work to fix it. James had barely seen his second year in service when he was unceremoniously picked to be rebuilt; his youth had made him a prime choice. The older engines whispered about unification and grouping in the back of the sheds, thinking their shed masters were unaware that they knew of what was brewing. In return, their shed masters did their best to hide the full extent of the truth and quash the rumours.

James was ignorant to it all as he was rigorously tested. He worked hard at everything: he banked trains some days, hauled freight on others, and even pulled a couple of fast passenger trains! Each day brought another checkmark on the inspector’s form, and each night brought a new shed with unfamiliar faces. James never slept at the same shed two nights in a row. He went all over the network, seeing all the sights and meeting many engines.

None of them said much to him.

“Good evening!” James would try, only to get a lot of side-eye and subtle glances. James thought they were too impressed with him to speak! Or at least, he did at first. As the days stretched out into months and nothing changed, James began to feel the looks more acutely. The other engines weren’t impressed. They weren’t jealous of his potentially revolutionary design or the way that Mr Hughes sometimes came specifically to see him. They weren’t envious of how James got a special number and they weren’t in awe of how smart he looked.

They just didn’t like him. They thought him an imposter, an oddity. A weird Frankenstein’s engine made of a unique boiler, an unusual pony truck and unconventional brakes that just wouldn’t stop screeching whenever James tried to stop. James figured the screeching had to be from the metal brakes clamping against his steel wheels.

The screeching came from his wheels sliding along the rails.  

Seasons changed. James wasn’t invited into sheds as often anymore, sitting out in dirty old sidings in between the endless trials. They hadn’t ended, though James wondered if that was because he was succeeding and they wanted data in the wet and cold and maybe even the snow if it dragged on long enough… or if he was failing.

The foreign engine was still around somewhere too. James never saw it, but he heard it. When down south, he’d discovered that the whistle belonged to the Great Western Railway, which ran along the distant south-west coast of England. The few engines of that railway that he managed to see looked very smart, with dark green paint and great brass safety valve bonnets that shone like spun gold in the sun. They all looked very sleek and impressive – James felt gangly next to them. But when he asked about the foreign engine, he was always redirected away from an answer.

Winter came, and with it the rumour mill grew louder. Finally, James learnt an uncomfortable truth: the railways were being grouped together into four. When he heard, he asked Mr Hughes what it would mean – Mr Hughes didn’t reply, and instead booked James in for a general service.

The foreign engine left before the year was out, but James spent Christmas in the works sleeping to stave off the cold while the men switched out his brakes. Apparently, they weren’t working as well as hoped, but the trials were being extended to get an idea on what that meant.

The inspector no longer went everywhere with James. Instead, he turned up once a week and asked James weird vague and cagey questions before leaving again. Sometimes it was even a different inspector, especially as James was shuffled around again, heading further inland and into the territory of their rival—no, former rivals. James wasn’t part of a company that rivalled the old Midland Railway anymore. He was part of a company with them.

The Midland passenger engines had very shiny paint. They didn’t have the same gorgeous brass that the Great Western engines had, but instead they had the most eye-catching red paint James had ever seen! It was glorious – it sparkled in the sun and was vibrant even in the pouring rain.

James remained in black. His lining was neglected, and it slowly faded away. James wondered when he’d get a repaint. He had been hurried rebranded as being part of the new ‘LMS’ with an equally new number, but that had been done in under a day by a trio of bored-looking men. The new number sat stark on James’ tender, and he instantly hated it.

James only pulled trucks and shunted now. He didn’t get to pull fast trains or passengers or go lots of different places now. Instead, he was assigned to a shed in the middle of nowhere along a busy line, sleeping in a dirty berth on a dirty siding in between unimportant mineral trains from one junction to another. Monotony crept in slowly, James completely forgetting about his abnormal brakes and becoming immune to the screech they made when he stopped. Every day was the same, every journey the same. The Midland engines didn’t speak to the L&YR reject, steering well clear even as they slowly opened up to their old rivals.

And then one day, a new engine arrived at James’ shed. It was a design he’d seen dotted about, and it looked like a stronger version of his old class.

“I’m here to take over,” the engine grunted. James balked. “But what am I to do?” he spluttered. “I don’t know mate,” sneered the engine. “Maybe you’re time’s up. There’s rumblings in the factory that they finally finished the mogul design.” The engine looked James over, and snorted. “Oh, you’re the rejected design they built. Poor thing, there’s not much left for you now Hughes is retiring.”

James was rendered speechless for just long enough for the new engine to shunt some of the trucks into a line.

“I’m not a reject!” he exclaimed. “I’m the prototype! The class is based on me you nitwit – my design’s the future of this company.” The engine just chuckled, looking James over once more, before his eyes darted to James’ brakes.

“Oh yes, very revolutionary indeed,” he snorted, and puffed away. James was coupled up to some vans needing repairs, and dragged away from the shed he’d been forced to come to know as his home. He went far further than ever before, making his way well over halfway across the country. He was stopped in an unfamiliar workshop that bustled with hundreds of men and machines to have his LMS number unceremoniously scraped off, before being sent on again the next day. This time, he had a short train of trucks behind him. It grew steadily as he went, as did James’ temper.

“Get in line you stupid things!” he snapped, bumping the trucks harshly as he clattered along what felt like a double-tracked branchline to James. All the engines along the line were being withdrawn and replaced with yet more of the same smug class of tender engine that had stolen James’ job and home. James wondered if he was being drawn towards a scrapyard, tucked away at the end of this line.

Then he passed by an immense empty iron train, and realisation struck. He was in Cumbria. This had to be the famed Furness Railway that he’d heard of one night while in being trialled up in the north. Despite being such a small line, it’s massive industrial traffic kept it independent from the giants baying at its doors.

And look how well that worked out.

James arrived at Barrow-in-Furness with a long line of trucks, a screech of his brakes and a furious temper. His crew stepped down. “Sorry old boy,” sighed his driver, “but this is us. Your new crew will take you from here.” James stared at his driver like he’d lost his mind.

“What new crew? What is happening, driver?! I just lost my shed, I’ve been dragged halfway across the country and I'm surrounded by these smug Midlanders! Tell me what is going on!” James’ driver sighed, taking his cloth cap in his hands and squeezing it.

“Mr Hughes is being replaced soon,” his driver admitted quietly. “He’s decided to leave the company. Mr Fowler is taking over, and he’s agreed with the directors to sell you to the North Western Railway as part of a special agreement they’re making.” James blinked, stunned.

“The What Railway?” he asked slowly. “Wait… the No-Where Railway?! They’re… they’re… they’re getting rid of me?! But I’m meant to be the prototype! What, so they’re just going to use some other mogul design?!” His driver winced. A little shunting engine nearby looked over, perplexed.

“Didn’t your lot decide to base it off a Caley design that was influenced by those Westerners? The 4300 lot.” James went silent, unable to think of anything to say. He was stunned.

A new crew clambered into James’ cab and set off. James was silent as he crossed over the points and onto his new railway. He’d been sold off. He’d been sold off because he was a failure. His brakes screeched as his crew braked to slow at a signal. The trucks bumped and clattered behind him, hissing and grumbling.

“What’s that noise?” quizzed James’ new driver. James sighed.

“Those’re my brakes. They’re made of some special metal Mr Hughes wanted to test. They didn’t end up working as well, but I’ve still got them.” The crew shared a confused look inside James’ cab, but pressed on.

At Vicarstown, an old ‘American’ design from the Furness Railway was shunting in the yard as James rumbled in and began shunting trucks on and off of his slow goods train. The old engine winced at the screech James’ brakes made, then looked up and smiled warmly.

“Hullo! I’m Edward, who’re you?” “12620,” came the bitter reply. ‘Edward’ chuckled softly, rolling over to help with the shunting. “Not your number, your name,” Edward said. “I’m James,” said James quietly. “But only I call myself that.” “Well I’ll call you that too,” promised Edward firmly. James’ crew were quick to agree with the bright blue engine. James didn’t like the colour – it was too similar to Caledonian blue. The same Caledonian that stole his classes’ future with their mogul design.

The pair talked for a little, Edward warning James about the steeper gradients beyond Kellsthorpe Road as he helped the former LMS engine reshunt his slow goods to be easier to separate as the various stations along the NWR. James bumped his trucks roughly as he prepared to set off again. Edward heard the screech of James’ brakes again, and looked down. His eyes practically bulged out of his smokebox in shock.

“James, why’ve you got wooden brakes?!” exclaimed Edward. James snorted. “They’re not wood, they’re a special metal,” he replied harshly. Edward was about to say more when the signal dropped. James snorted away, continuing down the surprisingly steep mainline towards Crovan’s Gate. And Edward had called this the ‘gentle’ part of the mainline!

Crovan’s Gate was their works station. It also had a tiny little railway on a ledge above the mainline which skuttled about its own yard before vanishing off under a bridge. A tiny little engine with a nameplate declaring him to be ‘Rheneas’ was dozing in the sun beside the line. James screeched to a stop beside the little engine with trucks to be unloaded for the little railway. Rheneas jumped!

“You sound like you need your brakes checked,” Rheneas said. His accent was thicker than anything James had ever heard – it sounded faintly Welsh, but with Manx and maybe Scots in it? James wasn’t sure what to call it. “They’re a special metal,” James replied darkly. “You all keep asking me like my designer wouldn’t give me the strongest brakes he had.” Rheneas looked confused, but said nothing until James was back at the head of his train. Then, he spotted James’ brakes.

“But… those are wood,” he said carefully. James let off steam furiously. “THEY ARE NOT WOODEN!” he roared. Birds scattered from their trees. “I am sick of hearing that! Leave me alone!” bellowed James, storming off with screeching trucks in tow. The trucks were aggravated, annoyed, tired and then James had insulted Rheneas, one of the nicest engines on the island.

They had seen James’ brakes; they knew the truth. And they knew exactly what to do to prove it to James too…

Back to the Master Post

[eeveeandme05]

@weirdowithaquill as you wished to see! :D

For context: GWR Castle Class engines, Clun Castle and Earl of Mount Edgecombe, double-heading a special passenger train to Stratford-upon-Avon, UK.

Beautiful, no? It was quite the sight to see! (And super loud...)

Gladly filmed courtesy of my dad...who of course joked about them sounding like diesels. 😂

[weirdowithaquill]

I’m morbidly curious

Reblog if you want a shitty summary of your blog in your inbox.

Always

[anonymousboxcar]

Murdoch’s glad to receive smoke deflectors that won’t worsen his migraines. He’s less than glad, however, to see Sir Stephen Hatt at the works. Now he has to explain why he avoided telling Sir Stephen about all of this. ———————— I’ve been reading The Extended Railway Series on AO3, and I was inspired to write this small fic about Murdoch and Sir Stephen Hatt.

Thank you to series creator @weirdowithaquill for your permission; I hope it’s to your liking!

[weirdowithaquill]

Traintober 2024: Day 22 - Duck!

But Who Warned Them?

When Skarloey returned from the works, he had something Rheneas had never seen before: a cab. “A cab is the latest thing for engines,” Mr Mack the manager told him. “I hope it will cheer you up after your disappointment.” It cheered Skarloey up too much! And the silly coaches made him worse. “Such a handsome engine!” they tittered. “Six wheels and a cab – so distinguished, my dears! It’s a pleasure to see him.”

He soon grew too big for his wheels. He boasted about his cab till poor Rheneas was tired. “You should get one like me, and be up-to-date,” he said. “No thank you! You look like a snail with that house on your back. You don’t go much faster either.” “Slow, am I? Let me tell you…” “Who was late three times last week?” “Oh, it’s no use talking. You’re just an old stick-in-the-mud.” The two called each other more names, and they quarrelled so bad that they ended up back to back – not speaking. It went on for days and days. Neither Mr Mack nor Skarloey’s driver Mr Bobbie could think of a solution to their quarrel, and as the days passed, it did not get any better. Worse yet, the rains came early that year.

They were heavier than usual too, making working a nightmare. None of the crews wanted to work in Rheneas, who had no protection against the elements. They much preferred Skarloey, who at the very least gave them a roof and something of a windshield on two sides. Unfortunately, the cab had no sides to it, only a front and a back. When the wind and rain so desired, it changed direction on the little engine, spraying in through the open sides and drenching his footplate.

Still, Skarloey lorded it over Rheneas. “At least I’m still getting used,” he said one day, when Mr Bobbie mistakenly forgot to park them back to back. “In the driving rain, yes,” retorted Rheneas, gazing out into the gloom. “You must feel very important, being used as a glorified umbrella.” “Umbrella?!” squawked Skarloey. The pair continued to bicker bitterly, until Mr Bobbie returned from his lunch break. He groaned when he realised his mistake. Out of sight of the two engines, a group of navvies helping to expand the big railway had gathered to place bets on who they thought would win the argument. Mr Bobbie rolled his eyes at the group, and climbed aboard his engine.

“Come on, Skarloey,” he said. “We’ve got the afternoon copper run to do.” With that, the little engine set off up the line, complaining bitterly about the biting wind and rain.

The line up to the copper mines and slate quarry was long and winding, passing by the lake Skarloey was named after before swinging around and dividing in two. One line led to the slate quarry and the first copper mine, while the other continued north, towards the base of Culdee Fell and over a deep gorge. After the old wooden bridge had collapsed, a new iron one had been built in its place, creating what looked to most of the men and their engines as a leap of faith.

As Skarloey puffed along, Mr Bobbie gazed out the cab. There was a great deal of built-up earth and mud near the top of the cutting – it looked unsafe. “We’ll have to check it when the rain stops,” he muttered to the fireman. “That could become a landslide very easily.” The fireman agreed, and the trio continued on, their long line of empty trucks clattering behind them.

Skarloey headed out across the new Iron Bridge, and arrived at the copper mine. He had hoped for a quick turn-around so he could get back to his warm shed before nightfall, but when they reached the copper mine his hopes were dashed. The heavy rains had loosened the rocks near one of the shafts, and the entire mine had stopped production until it could be safely cleared away. Poor Skarloey was used to shunt empty trucks around, and even to pull some of the more dangerous boulders down so they could be broken up.

It was tiring work, and it took a great while. By the time they had finished and loaded up Skarloey’s return train, dusk had already been and gone. The moon was steadily rising to the east, barely illuminating their return journey through the driving rain and thick fog that had begun to settle.

The little engine made his way back down the line, shivering at the cold weather. “I hate the rain!” he complained bitterly. Mr Bobbie secretly agreed. Even with the lamps he’d affixed to Skarloey’s bufferbeam, it was nearly impossible to see through the fog.

As they crossed the new Iron Bridge, the wind stirred up again. It tugged Mr Bobbie’s hat right off, stealing it away into the ravine below. Mr Bobbie felt a chill go down his spine. Something didn’t feel right, but he wasn’t sure what. They reached the other side, and began to pass through a steep gorge which had a number of jagged rocks sticking out either side.

“Duck!”

Mr Bobbie and the fireman both dropped to the floor in shock, just in time. A huge chunk of sharp, piercing rock screamed through the open cab and slammed into the opposite wall of the gorge, embedding itself in the rockface.

The fireman gave out a great yell, and practically fainted on the spot. Mr Bobbie just stared, unable to even process what had just happened. “Thank you, Skarloey!” he exclaimed. “If you hadn’t warned us… we’d be gone.” “I didn’t say anything, Mr Bobbie,” Skarloey replied innocently. “What’s going on back there? I felt something fly through my cab.”

Even as Skarloey spoke, Mr Bobbie felt his blood turn to ice. If Skarloey hadn’t warned them, who had?

Mr Bobbie didn’t say anything more until they reached the sheds, thoughts whirling in his mind. Someone had saved their lives, but he just didn’t know who. He did know one thing though: he was never driving an engine past dusk again.

Next time, there mightn’t be someone to save him.

Back to the Master Post

[skarloey-studios]

Traintober 2024 Day 3: Trust

So today I’m going to switch things up from the usual stuff I’ve been doing for Traintober, and instead of writing a short story of some kind, I’ll be sharing a headcanon (inspired by @weirdowithaquill, go check this person’s stuff out if you haven’t already).

Given the theme of trust, I thought I’d talk about driverless trains - go into a couple of deeper concepts and then round up. (Below the break)

So, how do driverless trains work in the sentient locomotive universe? There must be an enormous amount of trust involved with allowing them to basically run themselves - and it really shows how much we’ve progressed as a society that we’ve gone as far as letting this happen at all. Although, there are pitfalls, of course.

Back in the day when steam locomotives were first created, chaps such as Richard Trevithick and Robert Stephenson - household names now - wanted to experiment with how much these new iron horses could really do on their own… and it turned out that the answer was ‘not much’. They were a creation of humans, and were really dependent on them to do things - without going too deeply into a philosophical debate here, they essentially had no freedom. The driver and fireman fully controlled the engine, and engines were pretty poorly treated for this reason, just like horses were. They were there to do work.

Now, engines don’t usually mind this because they’re generally quite simple minded beings… I mean, if you look at the Railway Series, do any of the engines really get particularly complicated emotions? The most we saw was Gordon’s depression, but that’s because his own siblings were being cut up. The mindset of locomotives is pretty much just ‘enjoy the small stuff in life and be a good engine’. There were some engines who were exceptions, and sometimes it got quite scary for the humans when engines just spoke up with really deep thoughts.

“Driver?” “Yes?” “If engines are just here to do work for you, then what’s the point of everything that we enjoy? If it’s all for nothing?” “… Woah.”

It wasn’t all work work work though - drivers who ‘knew how to speak to engines’ were well regarded in the early railway companies, and given the job purely because they were good at making an engine happy. A happy engine means that more work gets done, and you also get a good reputation - the Great Western Railway was a brilliant example of this, with CME Daniel Gooch letting engines choose their own names and giving them just their names without numbers. It was when larger companies like BR came along that locomotive happiness just got thrown out of the window, and this is reflected in the mass scrapping of the 1960s which gave no regard to feelings of engines (i.e. they were often sold to private companies to be cut up as this was cheaper - these companies often cut corners by not taking the body off the frames before melting the engine down… basically meaning they were still conscious. Even some of the BR works did this to make it easier to melt down masses of engines quicker.)

Anyway, this is a VERY LONG side tangent. How does this relate to driverless trains? Well, when locomotive rights improved massively in most countries in the late 70s, engines still didn’t really have any freedom from crews because they literally couldn’t. So instead the UK Government made sure to make it a requirement that UK railways made tough choices in regard to drivers - only ones who respected engines could stay, and those who were abusive or ignorant were fired.

But as technology improved in the middle of the 20th Century, driverless trains became a real prospect. Following experiments where computer systems were tried in cabs on new build electric locos, it became clear that trains could literally drive themselves from place to place without the need for a driver and wow that is an odd concept for most people! Even with better locomotive rights, it is DIFFICULT to put so much trust in this sentient machine to do the job well - which is why most railways still don’t have driverless trains to this day, as well as it being really expensive to implement. The 1950s saw the first experimentation with this concept in France, where one of the metro lines became semi-automated. The other lines of the metro system followed in the late 1960s, along with Barcelona Metro’s own driverless system - a few London Underground lines went the same way at a similar time.

Since then, a small handful of railways around the world have tried it… and amazingly, it works. The engine is able to control their own speed, but the computer system is there to automatically override if they get too close to another train, and stop the train in question immediately. This has caused some problems in the past on the Singapore metro, when multiple trains were mysteriously stopped at random intervals, disrupting an entire city. There were some wild theories behind why this could be the case, but it turned out that one of the engines’ computer systems was acting up… and the rebellious engine didn’t say anything.

The UK mostly has trains with drivers, although there have been a couple of recent innovations that have forayed into driverless territory. The London Underground was planned to be fully automated at several points, but it has yet to happen (although as previously mentioned, a couple of lines are now automated).

However - despite all of this innovation - there has yet to be a widespread driverless train movement on main line railways. It was only in late 2021 that a train, moving by her own control, ran on a line shared by other traffic. This was in Germany, although the UK is also trying out a couple of similar options, with the trialling of ETRMS in areas such as West Wales.

The engines themselves, of course, are greatly intrigued by the concept - the closest that a steam locomotive has got to this sort of level is Tornado, who was fitted with an in-cab signalling system which is going to be trialled after she is back in steam. The hope is that NWR engines will also be trialled with this same system if it goes well on Tornado… the engines have mixed views on the subject, with some simply preferring a hand at their controls and finding it comforting.

Despite this, it is still a fascinating concept. Ask any diesel or electric engine about the concept of driverless trains, and they’ll be giddy with excitement to tell you all they know about it!

Master Post

[jobey-wan-kenobi]

WIP GAME

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPS.

Thanks for the tag @youcandalekmyballs ... (this forced me to organize my Evernotes so now i hopefully actually have all my WIPs in one place!)

--

Okay, so now (even after deleting a few) my WIP evernote tag is RIDICULOUS, i have more WIPs than i have mutuals (what a loser thing to say), so that last bit ain't gonna exactly happen like that

They're all Railway Series/Thomas the Tank Engine fic unless otherwise noted. Yes, these days i am THAT cool 😎 S'how i roll now

(ph) 9 Times Lena Ebsley's Orientation Didn't Serve Her (and 1 Time It Did) — original fiction

(ph) The Positive Truth — original fiction

(ph) Two Time — original fiction

(ph) Untitled ("It wasn't odd to hear a stray zipping siren on the Lordeway at any hour of the day or night...") — original fiction

3 and 4, con't — rws/ttte meta

'10s

125 & 36

125 fic prologue

anonymous prequelly edward

another crew #2 scenelet coz WHY NOT

baby 124 + 125

barbara/stephen + bridget

barbara + edward

Bird - autumn

Bird - wherein we unlock the coppernobs' tragic backstory

Counterfeit — original fiction

Crow

diesels deserve ghost stories too

early 20s just put it here

early 20s—Bits

early 20s—Clearing a Line #2

early 20s—detritus?

early 20s—Firelighters

early 20s—H.'s first goods

early 20s—Names and Numbers

early 20s—One Eye Open

early 20s—Railman's Holiday

early 20s—The Autumn After

early 20s—The Conspirators

early 20s—The Express Engine****** v6

early 20s—The Spare Engine

early 20s—Timetables

engine mental health ask — rws/ttte meta

Ex Condor Through the Time Machine

Geometry in Jewels/Irmafax — original novel

good place/cheers crossover — the good place & cheers

Henry Tricks the Clergyman

James prequel

James the branch line BOSS 😎

joscelyn—beginning?

Les Frenês — original fiction

oliver & boco

philip !

rocks fall lansky wins — original fiction

splendid spin-off — edward & henry

splendid spin-off — scrapyard

splendid spin-off

splendid spin-off — emily

splendid spin-off — scrapyard 2?

splendid spin-off — thomas & toad

splendid spin-off — toby & joe

Stack Alone

Steam and Light II

Suited — the fugitive

the gays can have a little gordon!angst. as a treat

The Penitent — original fiction novel

The River — original fiction

the problematicness of thomas & friends — rws/ttte meta

Taboo2 — original fiction novel

Tobeisel

Trouble in the Big Station

Untitled ("The bump wasn't so much hard as unexpected")

Untitled ("36's entire world was bitter")

Untitled ("Trusty old Dumpling was missing")

Untitled (" 'Bless my bell,' Toby murmured, staring at the receding train")

Untitled ("The return had to be the best run of Edward's life")

Ward B — original fiction

@shinygoku, @academicgangster, @angryskarloey @houseboatisland, @joezworld, @lswro2-22, @putuponpercy, @whumpster-fire, @janetm47, uhhh yeah my brain's pretty fried and i am blanking on writer mutuals, @savageandwise, @youcandalekmyballs (why not have another go? idek), @weirdowithaquill ... @anyone at all who sees this and wants to play

[fanficfish]

Ttte ranch au but its mdoern

im bored and listened to too much of the Peoclaimers again. Oops.

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None of this is canon to my au btw its all for funsies. Basically this is if the au was set in a time with like. Computers and cellphones and whatever.

Donald and Douglas have had "I'm Gonna Walk 500 Miles" throb at them so many times by both the other ranch hands (back when they first joined officially) and by visitors who heard their stories (later on). They don't mind, since they get to sing a good excuse to break out into song.

Theyre also the ones who own a shelf full of records and CDs and have a Spotify playlist for everything. They have one made for each person on the ranch that they interact with on a semi regular basis.

duck is into those true crime podcasts. Oliver is mildly terrified for his well-being but can't say anything when he himself has spent hours consumed by the Lords of the Ring. Yes he can speak Elvish, no he doesn't want to talk about if he can remeciste half the books by memory or not.

Gordon FaceTimes his brother, and even some of his cousins, all the tiem. Scott always shows off wherever he is in the world and Gordon grumbles wheneve this phone dies halfway through a call.

James has a tiktok. Undoetunatley.

Edward watches so much Maaterpiece. He's also watched Once Upon a Time. He sometimes even manages to con the others into joining him, and both Gordon and Henry hate that they somewhat enjoyed some of the series. Edward noticed and now there's three people running around on the ranch arguing over Game of Thromes and Downtown Abbey. Good times.

Tony loves monopoly. Especially with Thomas and Percy, with Daisy and Mavis for spice.

thomas has a mild kbsession with chocolate, as does Percy. On Easter and Halloween they can be found logging out kn candy. Toby enables them.

james got a tindr account and made a fiver sometime not long after his TikTok blew up. He defintiely gets small modelling jobs in his spare time, and gets it as a good chance for free cosmetic items.

Duck watches a lot of The Food Network, and some he, Percy, and Thomas have food network marathons. Duck loves Maaterchef, Perfy likes the Great British Baking Show, and Thomas thinks Chooped or Who Beat Bobby Flay are the best. (Man how did I not absorb any info when I watched so much food network? Huh....wild..-)

Duncan is a gamer and he, Rusty. peter Sam, and Sir Handel have some royal Mario kart tournaments. Compete with saltiness and a lot of swearing from certain parties when Rusty beats them all. Fred videos it and laughs.

Among Us

Henry is low-key considering becoming a park ranger. He settles for junior ranger books and the ranch life.

Someone turned the barn into both a wifi hotspot and a Pokémon go stop and everyone is denying this. Especially Donald and Douglas.

Football night is game night on the ranch and nothings stopping it from Happening, ever. Gordon's express doesn't run starting from the last minutes of the pregame show to the next afternoon, mail is delivered by either anyone not watching (usually Emily, she isn't as interested just opinionated on the matter), or alternate transport. Bertie the bus driver has his happiest and fulelst load days on these weekends.

Sir Topham Hatt joins in on the Super Bowl weekend fun too btw. If the team you cheer for wins and it's one he's cheering for, you get free rounds (read: he'll buy you abStarbucks drink.)

edward, Toby, and Duke all invest too much in Starbucks. (Adaptation of @weirdowithaquill 's thing in the ERS with engines and teabags)

Bill and Ben have too many whopper cushions and other prank items in their arsenal.

I'll add more if I think of any.

[weirdowithaquill]

This is so important, especially to smaller authors - we love your comments! We love reading them and writing replies and groaning when a commenter has an idea that’s *so much better than ours*! And that’s the point!

So give your friendly neighbour author plenty of comments, because we love them!

AO3 Comments are SO SO SOOOOOOO important because you can only leave Kudos ONCE. You add to the hit count ONCE.

So whenever someone updates their fic, the ONLY way an author knows who their regular readers are is if they comment on each chapter. And we WANT to know who's still reading.

Believe it or not, some of us think about the name that pops up constantly in the comments and go "omg I can't wait to see what they think of THIS SPECIFIC SCENE cuz I KNOW they'll say something about it!!!"

[stories-of-the-nrm]

My Deviant Art

To get an idea of what I write, my Flying Scotsman series can be found here:

Tagging @mean-scarlet-deceiver, @tornadoyoungiron, @klein-sodor-bahn and @weirdowithaquill.

I hope there's still an active fandom here.

[rexs-models]

So, ive started another project;

My own version of James The Red Engine from The Railway Series.

Im using an oxford rails dean goods that i already had, and the plan is to modify the cab slightly using 3d printing & paint (i aint messin with the damn windows).

I forgot to take a pick before disassembly, but heres one of my 'workbench' at the moment

You may notice that theres 3 0-6-0 chassis, among other things

Thats because of my other ongoing projects! A secret project that is an 0-6-0 (i dont want my friend @weirdowithaquill finding out what it is)

A pannier tank that I'm turning into a 2-6-0 because 1. I was playing OpenTTD with quill, and at some angles the pannier-like loco looks like a 2-6-0 2. I think itd be cool

And James!

The current plan to turn the Dean Goods into James is to extend the cab roof, design & 3d print a pony truck & running board extension, possibly use a schools class tender body from a static model i bought while making my Edward model, or 3d design and print a suitable body based of my Edward's tender.

I'll update as I work!

Feel free to ask any questions!

[lswro2-222]

I’ve been tagged in a WIP Game post by @weirdowithaquill!

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPS.

(I’m… fairly certain most of the people who I would tag to continue the game have already been tagged by others, though. @the-secondman, @sparkarrestor, @angryskarloey, have any of you been tagged yet?)

Anyway, here’s my titles, if anyone’s interested:

Playing Roundabouts

Brace For Impact

Unusual Patients

The Man in the Old Yellow Coat

His Grace(s)

BoCo’s Secret

Angels

[weirdowithaquill]

Y’all, we have a list!

Go out and write/draw/create for Traintober 2024 - give TTTE Tumblr plenty of love

Traintober 2024

#traintober #traintober2024 #tttetraintober

Here's my personal Traintober list for 2024! I've given it to a few people who have asked but since a lot of people are asking, I've decided to release it so people can start to plan.

I had a few ideas I wanted to get out of my head, so this list is what resulted. Feel free to use it if you want or make your own.

Good luck and I can't wait to see what you do with the prompts if you decide to participate.

[weirdowithaquill]

Let's Talk About Rebecca:

Well, I said we needed to talk about Rebecca, and here we are.

To begin with, I would like to preface this with a simple disclaimer: I am in no way telling people to like or dislike the version of Rebecca found in BWBA, but instead looking into what caused such a deep disdain for this character, one that lasted long after Henry had been departed and was fuelled not by her position as a ‘replacement’, but rather by the series itself. This is not a dissertation on why Henry is a stronger character and why Rebecca should never have been introduced - that is counterproductive and, in some ways, false. This is instead something adjacent to an essay in which I will focus on how Rebecca’s flawed introduction, characterisation and tenure in the series both represents the BWBA era as a whole, but also what led to her being notably absent from All Engines Go, the reboot of Thomas and Friends. This will be followed by me attempting to redesign her characterisation and create an alternate version of Rebecca, one which in my opinion would have done far better for herself in the series. 

Part 1: Who is Rebecca, and Why Her Characterisation Doesn't Work:

According to the former official Thomas and Friends website, Rebecca is: “...a very cheerful and happy engine. She is painted a sunshine yellow which reflects her positive outlook on life. Rebecca always sees the best in others and enjoys helping everyone around her feel good about themselves. Despite her warm nature, Rebecca is not afraid to stand up for herself or her friends. She is a big, strong tender engine who is not intimidated by the more experienced engines on the railway. Rebecca is the number 22 engine.” 

Already, there is a major issue here: her characterisation is a strange amalgamation of others, who could probably just as easily take on her roles without really breaking any of the episodes she is in. “Cheerful and happy” are characteristics held by Ryan, Stanley, Whiff, Thomas, Percy, Edward, Mavis, Peter Sam; the list goes on. There are already far too many engines whose main qualities are cheerful and happy. She is painted yellow - like Molly and Flora were, or if we go further back, like Jock, Pip and Emma were. “Sees the best in others” was once upon a time a quality unique to Edward, as well as Salty. “Enjoys helping everyone around her feel good about themselves” sounds way too close to what Emily has become in the series, without mentioning the evolutions of Mavis’ character or Rocky’s character. If we add in her clumsiness and shyness, we get Kevin and Molly respectively - and Kevin is also yellow! She isn’t intimidated nor does she have any trouble at all with fending off engines who want to be mean to her. She isn’t unique here either: Duck did this when he first arrived, and he had a much bigger and more notable impact because of how he acted when confronted with the big engines' attitudes. What all this really means is that Rebecca has already finished a character arc at some point in the past and does not need to grow further. 

And here we reach the crux of the problem with Rebecca in BWBA: she has nowhere for her character to grow into - something all the other main characters have done decades ago. This is especially problematic at this late stage in the show; Thomas & Friends has been running since 1984, and almost every character they pair Rebecca up with has had an exceptionally long time to bed themselves in and grow into the space they occupy. For Rebecca to compete, and truly qualify for her status as a main character, her character needs to make its own space - and importantly, make that space bigger than as many other characters as possible. This is a running problem in the TV series post Season 7, and something that really baked itself into the show by the time the series reached CGI: the characters do not develop. The Steam Team (bar Emily) hasn’t had any real, natural character developments since the Mitton era - not any sustained over multiple seasons, at least. If we go back to the Classic series - or further back to the Railway Series - we find that the very essence of Thomas is in its strong characters and their natural growth. Gordon grows into being more humble, Edward and Henry grow more confident in themselves, Thomas and Percy mature and (to some extent) learn their limits - the list goes on. There are characters that do not grow as much or remain the same, yes - but they still have some sort of character arc where the essence of them as a character is tested. 

Rebecca does not undergo character growth in the series, and her character itself is not tested in any meaningful way. Instead, she is overused and underutilised - by which I mean, she appears constantly throughout the series but is given nothing to define her as being any different to any of the characters mentioned above. Worse yet, Rebecca’s leads are easily interchangeable with any other Steam Team member, and this further complicates her. Rebecca takes trucks perfectly - like Donald or Douglas would, or perhaps Edward? Rebecca is too fast and leaves passengers behind - like Peter Sam did to the refreshment lady. And when she causes all kinds of delay, is that not like James did way back in Series 3? And she’s tricked by Diesel… like almost every single engine in the entire series, going as far back as Gordon, Henry and James were in Series 2. 

Would it have been better to divide Rebecca’s leads up and give other, more established engines more spotlight? Probably. Her personality is similar to a number of others, and her introduction is basically a mix and mash of older episodes - notably the eighth series episode, Thomas and the Tuba, the tenth series episode, Seeing the Sights, the first series episode, Thomas' Train, and the fourth series episode, Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady. This really doesn’t help to define her, especially when all fans think about when they watch the episode is what other, older episode it is most like. Her subsequent appearances do very little to endear her either, both due to the lack of effort put in by Mattel to ground Rebecca in the series and the low impact of the episodes she does star in. Characters like Oliver or Duke have had lasting impacts on the fandom despite their short tenures because their episodes have high impact. Duck is one of the most popular characters in the fandom of this show, despite having been a secondary character ever since Series 5, and being practically absent from the series between Series 8 and Series 16.

Rebecca also takes up a difficult spot as a replacement for Henry, which complicates her relationship with a large portion of the fandom, meaning a lot of her as a character is questioned in relation to what Henry would have done. While technically, Rebecca was slated as a replacement to Edward, her arrival coincides with Henry’s departure, and thus for the purposes of this, we will consider her to have taken the position Henry had, similarly to Nia and Edward. Whether or not Henry’s departure from the main cast is a bad thing is an issue unto itself, which dives into character assassination and to what extent the Henry seen in Season 21 is the same Henry seen in Season 1. In either case, Rebecca’s roles could have quite easily been filled by Henry or another standing character, and her characterisation is too similar to other, pre-existing characters to make her stand out amongst her costars and their longer, more notable characterisations and character growths. 

Much of this is compounded by how Rebecca was introduced and integrated into the main cast, which is clearly seen when compared with another notable case of an engine joining the Steam Team after it had been first codified: Emily. 

Part 2: Rebecca vs Emily - How to Introduce a Main Character: 

Rebecca’s introduction is extremely underwhelming, especially for a Steam Team member. Thomas and Gordon shared the very first episode, Edward established himself as a foil to Gordon in his introduction and in Henry’s first appearance, he is bricked up in a tunnel in perhaps one of the series’ most infamous and iconic episodes. James makes his grand entrance by crashing into a field, Percy nearly gets destroyed by Gordon and Toby tugs on the viewer’s heartstrings as we watch him lose his entire livelihood. Moving forward several seasons, Emily’s introduction includes her saving another engine from a terrible accident - and then lastly, Nia gets an entire movie to embed her. Rebecca just bumbles about for ten minutes and takes the final shed at Tidmouth. 

To make matters worse, Henry’s departure is equally low-intensity. Edward at least got a full episode; Henry got a single line, used to further Gordon’s character as opposed to finalising Henry’s arc and introducing Rebecca’s. And while Gordon’s character here is interesting and new and possibly the first real growth we’ve seen from any of the Steam Team since Henry, Toby and Percy regressed into children before CGI even began; it does nothing to create a satisfactory conclusion to Henry’s arc or properly build up Rebecca’s arrival. This ultimately undermines Rebecca’s position as a primary character in the series, where she has joined far too late in the series to make an impact without dedicated time and effort being put into her. 

We are expected to accept that Rebecca has simply arrived and is now a main character by the show without any reasoning behind this. There is no connection between the viewer and Rebecca to justify this promotion to main character status, and it is telling. The writers don’t have anything new or unique to say about Rebecca either and it reflects in her episodes, which are remixes of old episodes or bland and unoriginal. This is especially painful in an era when so much of the writing is like this, bar the few episodes that really manage to break through the white noise. Ironically, two of the episodes that do really stand out have Edward and Toby as main characters respectively. 

In contrast, Emily is very well introduced to her position and has a long, notable character arc that plays out across both the Classic and HiT eras to cement her as a main character before making her a permanent member of the Steam Team - a journey that endeared her to fans and helped to build her characterisation to make her unique and interesting. Emily is first introduced in Season 7, where she has a strong introductory story played out against Thomas where she steals Annie and Clarabel and then rescues Oliver from a nasty accident. I’m not entirely certain, but this might be the first time that an engine takes Annie and Clarabel without asking - prior to this, Percy and Duck both got permission or it wasn’t mentioned. And after this episode, Emily does not immediately move into Tidmouth Sheds - she remains at Knapford, despite having further notable appearances across the rest of the season. 

What is made apparent in Season 7 is her characterisation. Emily is brave and bossy, but kind-hearted. She doesn’t headline constantly either, instead playing off other characters and rolling into the background when needed. She slots naturally into a secondary role in this season and feels like an engine who belongs on the NWR. Season 7 introduces Emily to viewers and gives her characterisation to back up her unique appearance. Season 8 continued this trend, building on her more and pairing her up with different engines to settle her comfortably into being a proper presence on the island - notice how it’s an evolution over two seasons? By Calling All Engines, Emily is a main character by virtue of her cementing herself into the cast, and her berth at Tidmouth feels like a natural progression of her story, firmly planting Emily as a Steam Team member. By Season 11, she is being used as a primary character to bounce newbies like Whiff off of! 

When considering Emily and Rebecca, two takeaways make themselves known: firstly, that characters need time and effort to be cemented in the story, especially when introduced long after most other central characters have had time to imbed themselves; and secondly that characters need strong, interesting differences when compared to those they share the screen with in order to fill unfilled positions. Emily is brave and bossy, giving her a unique style that makes her work great either as the protagonist or antagonist of a story. It gives her character flexibility - she can either be the engine that the protagonist is paired up with to learn something from or it can make her big-headed and in need of being taught a lesson of her own, one which she will - in her own way - try and pass on. We don’t meet someone with a truly bossy personality like Emily’s again until Bradford, and even then it isn’t the same. Bradford is used as a comedic character, whereas Emily’s bossiness was treated seriously. 

In comparison, Rebecca’s characterisation causes her to fade where she needs to shine. By being given a personality that has already been used consistently in Thomas, she fails to have a lasting impact and the abruptness of her introduction and elevation to the Steam Team is jarring and gives older viewers no reason to be interested in her. When combining this with the few defining qualities she has, it is equally hard for Rebecca to intrigue new viewers, making her feel bland and unoriginal when compared to many of the characters she shares the screen with. Rebecca is asked to attempt and hold her own against characters who have been intentionally woven together by the series for decades - and as explained above, this is not an impossible feat. It is not an impossible feat in the CGI series either, as Hiro, Paxton and Marion have all managed to stand out in an era when characters very rarely got much character building beyond their introduction. Unfortunately, Rebecca is given none of the same care, and it is reflected in how little she is used. Despite appearing more often as the seasons continue, she gets fewer leads to the point where she has an equal number of leads to Toby in the final season.  

Emily and Rebecca are two sides of the same coin in terms of introduction, both first appearing in an episode rather than a movie and then becoming members of the main cast - the difference is that where Rebecca was shunted in and thus the writers were unsure how to use her, Emily’s careful character-building and integration into the series ensured she would always have fans, something that is reflected in her being given a proper conclusion to her character arc in Series 24, where she is given the number twelve and thus immortalised in the same way that Thomas through to Oliver were. 

Considering the above issues, it becomes quite clear that the potential best way to introduce Rebecca and have audiences become invested in her and her story is not to simply drop her into the series, but rather to build her up slowly, similarly to Emily - which was entirely possible and plausible. 

Part 3: What Could Have Been: 

If we assume that Mattel was fixated on Rebecca having her canon characterisation as well as the BWBA series, there is still an entirely plausible method that could naturally build her character into the main cast, though it is underpinned by the original intent of the showrunners to have her introduced in Series 21 and replace Edward: 

In Series 21, Rebecca is introduced and shown to be clumsy but kind. In keeping with the original episode, she messes up the express and gets in trouble, however she then redeems herself by rescuing Gordon when he breaks down with the express. She is shown to be clumsy but kind, and gets the lead in a couple of episodes, as well as several minor roles. Preferably, she stars in at least one episode with Thomas specifically. At the same time, audiences are introduced to Henry’s dilemma surrounding whether or not he should sleep at Tidmouth - be it cause of the Kipper, arguments with Gordon, or whatever. This both places Rebecca into audiences’ minds while simultaneously opening up the question of whether or not Henry will remain at Tidmouth. Edward leaves, but the shed remains open - this is filled by Nia. 

Continuing in this vein, in Series 22, Rebecca gets a couple more episodes than last season, specifically with both primary and notable secondary characters - I’m talking Duck, Oliver, Rosie, Daisy, Ryan - characters who are popular, relevant to the series and allows the series to cement her as a main addition to the cast. This is to cement her and give her plenty of characters to bounce off and develop relationships with. Meanwhile, Henry’s arc comes to a conclusion and Henry quits Tidmouth in the last episode of the season, leaving it open. This also allows the creators to build up Gordon’s reaction to Henry leaving, showing his struggle to adapt to Edward’s absence and his simmering disdain towards Nia for replacing Edward before the 23rd season. 

Finally, in Series 23, Rebecca takes the empty berth at Tidmouth, replacing Henry and kickstarting an episode - or preferably two, but this is Mattel, so it is likely to be one - where Rebecca is forced to withstand the brunt of Gordon’s anger as he boils over, being compared to Henry before proving herself. This plants her firmly as a main character, while also potentially giving her a strong reason to become close friends with Nia - who also had to deal with Gordon’s stubbornness. Henry is given a proper farewell arc as well, allowing him to gracefully retire to his secondary character status. 

By arranging Rebecca’s arrival over several seasons, she is given time to fall naturally into her position and role, developing slowly and making the connections with other characters needed to cement her position on the NWR before taking centre-stage. This would also help writers learn how to write her, creating a scenario where Rebecca has a real chance of taking off as a character and potentially even getting similar stories to Emily where she is the lead main character who is used to introduce new characters - like how Emily interacted with Whiff in the eleventh season. This would also help viewers to understand who Rebecca is and get comfortable with her presence in the show before being asked to accept her as a member of the Steam Team. 

However, I still feel like her characterisation is weak in comparison to other Steam Team members - as mentioned previously, her clumsiness has been done by several characters including Kevin and Percy, who is a fellow Steam Team member. Her “Cheerful and Happy” characterisation has been used by far too many characters to count - including Percy, Peter Sam, Derek, Stanley and more recently Ryan - and not even her bright yellow paintwork makes her unique in terms of the series, seeing as Molly and Flora both had similarly bright shades of yellow for paintwork back in the model series. Moreover, her leads place her in relatively generic situations where other characters likely would have produced far more interesting plotlines, such as Molly easily pulling trucks despite being built for expresses or James trying to prove he can still pull the express and getting into trouble. Based on this, a complete overhaul of Rebecca’s characterisation is needed. 

Part 4: How to Redevelop Rebecca as a Character: 

When designing a Thomas and Friends character, one of the first things required is a real-life basis - and Rebecca was given a very interesting and unique basis that had the potential to give her very interesting stories. Rebecca is a Bulleid Light Pacific, in particular an unrebuilt West Country Class.  These were strong, powerful mixed traffic Pacifics used by the Southern Railway from 1945 until 1967, giving them a lifetime of about 22 years. They were praised for their free steaming, excellent boilers, and had a number of notable innovations for British steam - including welded fireboxes and frames, as opposed to the traditional, riveted system. The class was also well-known for their availability, being able to pull trains on almost every line that the Southern Railway had. 

In contrast, the class was also very famous for their flaws. Remember, Rebecca is an unrebuilt West Country Class, which had many of the same problems and flaws as their larger Merchant Navy Class relatives. These issues would plague the three Bulleid Pacific classes to such an extent that many of them were rebuilt by British Railways in the 1950s into a more conventional design which utilised the strengths of the class while altering or replacing many of the issues that Bulleid built into the engines as he used them as a testing bed for some of his more modern ideas. In particular, the major problems with the West Country Class were: 

Adhesion problems: the lighter load on their driving axles meant that they were even more prone to wheelslip than the larger Merchant Navy class, requiring very careful control when starting a heavy train - there are several surviving videos of these engines struggling to start a train due to their wheelslip. 

High fuel consumption - these engines were hungry, and this was in many ways highlighted during the 1948 locomotive exchanges where the West Country Class burnt 13.5 kg/km as opposed to the 9.02 kg/km of the T9 class that they replaced - for reference, the West Country Class’ coal consumption is comparable to the Gresley A1 Pacifics prior to the exchange trials of 1925 - a number which was dropped to roughly 10 kg/km after they were modified into the A3 class. 

Restricted driver visibility due to the air-smoothed casing and soft steam exhaust from the multiple-jet blastpipe. The exhaust problem was never adequately resolved, and smoke continued to beat down onto the casing while moving, obscuring the driver's vision.

Maintenance problems: the chain-driven valve gear proved to be expensive to maintain and subject to rapid wear, which was particularly problematic during the Post War period, as British Rail focused on availability rather than high quality maintenance. 

Leaking: leaks from the oil bath onto the wheels caused oil to splash onto the boiler lagging. Once saturated with oil, the lagging attracted coal dust and ash, which provided combustible material, and sparks from heavy braking would set the lagging on fire underneath the air-smoothed casing. The fires were also attributed to oil overflowing from axlebox lubricators onto the wheels when stationary, to be flung upwards into the boiler lagging in service. In either case, the local fire brigade would be called to put the fire out, with cold water coming into contact with the hot boiler causing stress to the casings, meaning these un-rebuilt locomotives would have warped casings, the result of a lagging fire!

All of these strengths and flaws tell a notable story about the kind of engine Rebecca may have been in real life: an engine with extremely good power and speed, but with difficulty at slow speeds and design issues that could have dangerous and rather embarrassing unintended consequences. This is a brilliant basis for a character, and it really irks me how little of all of this characterisation gold that Mattel ended up using - while it is consistent with how they treat their newer characters, it is also a real shame. Especially considering that from all of this, it is really not hard to build a genuinely interesting character that wouldn’t feel too out of place in the Railway Series or Classic series. 

Firstly, based on the high coal consumption and severe maintenance and wheelslip issues, we can suggest that Rebecca is a bit clumsy and worries about how others perceive her. Her class was large enough for this to be less apparent back on the Southern, but perhaps she was one of the worst for it, so she was teased mercilessly - and so after having moved to Sodor, she fears how the other engines will treat her. To cover for these insecurities, Rebecca acts standoffish or gruff, wanting to keep the other engines at a distance so they can’t find out about her flaws and tease her for them - already very different from her original characterisation, but far more interesting as it makes her one of the few new NWR engines to actively try and push both steam and diesel engines away. Furthermore, her excellent steaming abilities and fast speeds in service could translate into Rebecca being somewhat reckless or a speed demon, wanting to use her strengths to both hide her weaknesses and as something she enjoys. Rebecca has an air-smoothed casing, and it may help her feel the wind better at speed, like Spencer with his streamlining. Quite simply, by using her basis as a starting-point for her personality, building up character-traits from strengths and flaws of the class, we can construct an interesting and different characterisation that draws people in, similarly to how the Reverend Awdry did with his eight famous engines. Better yet, it means that once the other characters crack open this more standoffish side to Rebecca, we can still see the kind and clumsy Rebecca from the TVS, but it feels more natural and rewarding to go through a journey to get there and if it’s directed only to her close friends, while also meaning that we the audience can still see her gruff side when dealing with unknowns or characters she dislikes. 

There is also the fact that by considering her class basis, show writers can find interesting stories or take other issues with Rebecca’s class to incorporate into her personality. For example, the low-visibility created by the air-smoothed casing could translate into eyesight problems for Rebecca that she tries to hide because she fears engines would tease her for them, potentially culminating in Rebecca passing a red signal and getting into a crash. Maybe she doesn’t like fire or hates the works because of bad memories, meaning Rebecca hides any mechanical faults until they cause her to break down on the main line. 

By building her character around her class basis, we can develop an alternative personality for Rebecca that naturally stands strongly around other engines - especially as there are very few other Southern Railway engines on Sodor who could see Rebecca’s gruff and cold attitude as the defence mechanism it is. It also gives Rebecca a strong connection to Henry, who acted practically the same when he first arrived on Sodor to hide his steaming problems, making him sympathetic to Rebecca and opening the two up to a long-term arc that ends with Henry having helped Rebecca grow into the happy, cheerful and clumsy engine from the series before leaving. Her recklessness could translate into a rivalry or competition with Gordon, who is far more responsible and meticulous with his express due to his experience and the pressure that has been put on him. 

However, this is not the only way to build a better characterisation for Rebecca, the other option being to make Rebecca into a foil for other main characters. 

Part 5: Rebecca as a Foil: 

The other way to build Rebecca’s character into something that flows naturally with the other, previously introduced Steam Team members with making her more unique and interesting is to build it around the concept of the foil character. A foil character is a character who contrasts with another character, typically contrasting with the protagonist - a strong example of foil characters are Edward and Gordon, or Thomas and Diesel 10. Rebecca could quite easily fall into the position of being a strong foil character to the three big engines, more specifically James and Gordon, who are without a solid foil character to be contrasted against since Edward’s departure. In BWBA, when Nia arrived, she was considered to be closer to Thomas and Percy than Gordon or James, leaving them without a natural opposite. Rebecca has all of the strengths and weaknesses to fill this role. 

For the first option, using the personality the series gives Rebecca, we get the following scenario: Rebecca arrives on Sodor and is both an express engine and a mixed-traffic engine. When she arrives, instead of fumbling her first Express badly, she succeeds, and James and Gordon become worried about their status and jealous of her high speeds. Remember, prior to the codification of the characters into one or two jobs by CGI, James was a common replacement for Gordon on the express, and having his role as secondary express engine threatened would be a major blow to his ego. Worse yet, Rebecca likes pulling trucks, and is thus both similar but also a complete narrative opposite to the pair. Other engines like her for her kindness and helpfulness, even if it does get her in trouble when she doesn’t get her own work done on time - which Gordon and James exploit to make rude remarks about her. 

Already, Rebecca is a natural foil for Gordon and James, being similar enough for viewers to compare one to the other while also being different enough that her positive traits are highlighted against their negative ones. 

Then, Gordon could discover her hidden clumsiness and wheelslip problems, exploiting them to cause her embarrassment - something that has previously happened to James and when Rebecca is reprimanded for the resulting incident, he remembers his own struggles with wheelslip. This makes him more sympathetic to both Rebecca and the audience, and places him on a path towards apologising to Rebecca for how he spoke to her - while Gordon enjoys having the express to himself again. This could follow naturally towards an endpoint where Gordon gets his comeuppance and Rebecca is accepted into the Steam Team, having been a natural foil to both and developed close character relationships based on how she is positioned in contrast to Gordon and James. The series then progresses to seeing Rebecca act in opposition to the pair, as well as trying to one-up them, being either the protagonist or antagonist depending on who the hero of the story is. 

The second option is to use the character made for Rebecca in the previous part - the one built out of her basis and its issues - to turn Rebecca into a strong foil to Gordon and Henry, as well as potentially to Diesel or Thomas. This would begin with Rebecca arriving and acting recklessly with the express, being a speed demon where  Gordon demands professionalism due to his experience. This startles CGI Henry, who is also not a fan of recklessness and places her at odds with them but also potentially makes her interesting to James, who is himself quite reckless. Furthermore, Rebecca’s standoffish behaviour and grandstanding alienates engines like Thomas or Percy, while being very similar to how Gordon, Henry and James acted during their younger years, forcing the three to be confronted with how they used to act, reminding them of their old selves (BWBA is so obsessed with flashbacks and dream sequences, so this would be a good opportunity for them to use classic series moments to help flesh out all three and Rebecca here). 

This could build into Henry recognising the traits he used to hide his insecurities before he was rebuilt, helping to shift how the audience sees Rebecca and giving Henry an arc where he helps Rebecca learn to trust other engines and accept friendships - though notably not Gordon and James, who she sees as being the most likely to make fun of her. This helps Henry gain his classic series confidence back, giving him a boost to stand up and tell the Fat Controller that he wants to move, as well as the confidence to push back against Gordon when the big engine gets angry about the change. The series then follows Rebecca as she argues with James and Gordon, with engines taking sides depending on the episode - including  Thomas potentially absolutely hating Rebecca due to his alliance and friendship with Gordon.

Finally, Rebecca’s actions and attitude could help spur Diesel into recognising some of these negative traits in himself, finally ending the character arc that was attempted with Springtime for Diesel. 

Both of these options really focus on taking these established characters and growing them using Rebecca’s characterisation and unique position as the new big engine at Tidmouth, while also building off of Rebecca’s character strengths to make her stand out as unique too. Remember, Rebecca is the same size and strength as Gordon - the series hasn’t seen a NWR engine of comparable size to Gordon since Hiro was introduced, and he was neither an express engine nor a candidate for the Steam Team, so he was never a credible threat to Gordon. And before Hiro, the last engine of that size was Murdoch right the way back in Series 7, who never made it beyond the model series era. Rebecca has a real potential to be this threat to Gordon, being the first engine of such size introduced in almost a decade - she can pull express trains as well as Gordon while showing up James and being mixed-traffic and versatile like Henry. This is what irks me - Rebecca had everything going for her before she debuted, and got none of it. 

What is even more painful is the fact that there are an infinite number of ways to further develop and build her character or other characterisations to give her that take inspiration from the source material while still being fresh and interesting - for example, what if Rebecca’s clumsiness came from her being a static exhibit, possibly one at a children’s theme park which would explain the bright colours. She could be so kind and cheerful as a way to handle the pain of watching her siblings be scrapped - something that she could bond with Oliver over. The point is that Rebecca had and still has potential but needs a lot more effort put into her than what she got in canon. 

Part 6: Characters to Pair off with Rebecca: 

This brings me to my final core part to this long, and slightly ridiculous dissertation: who to pair Rebecca up with to best build her character and insert her into this universe while feeling natural and potentially giving them some more screen time and character dynamics outside of their usual social circles. 

For this, I decided not to look at Gordon, Henry or James, seeing as they got a lot of consideration in the previous parts, where they were core components of building up Rebecca’s character while also naturally removing Henry from the Steam Team. The following ten characters are engines who I feel would be some of the most interesting to pair up with Rebecca earlier on in the series, to help her bed into the series and give a wide range of popular or interesting characters for viewers to connect her to: 

1: Rosie: Rosie is a USATC s100, a class that worked at Southampton when Rebecca would have been in service! These two potentially have history, and even if they don’t, Rosie would be one of the first engines to realise why Rebecca is acting so standoffish and breaks through to her, seeing as she would have known the class from her younger days. Maybe they become confidants once Rosie manages to break through Rebecca’s facade? Maybe Rebecca decides she prefers Vicarstown and we go back to the Classic-era ensemble cast? The opportunities here are great, and it has the potential to give Rosie some real backstory too! 

2: Salty: Salty also worked at Southampton when Rebecca would have been in service, his class having been introduced in 1962, giving up to five years’ worth of potential overlap. Though it’s less likely the pair would have crossed paths, Salty would still know a lot about the West Country Class. He could potentially even float the idea of her getting rebuilt like a number of her siblings, which would add some real-life facts to the series! It would also be interesting to see Rebecca avoid Salty because she doesn’t want to be exposed by him - remember, she was in service at the end of BR, and really wouldn’t trust diesels based on what they did. 

3: Thomas: Thomas’ class also worked at Southampton when Rebecca would have been in service! However, Thomas would not have personally been at Southampton which means the connection is a little looser. Instead, he could have heard about them from a sibling, or maybe Stepney? Imagine Thomas being really excited to meet this new engine who he’s heard all these positive things about and then it’s this standoffish, grumpy engine who Gordon says is dangerous at speed. It would make for such an interesting dynamic and we could see the cheeky and blunt Thomas from the early series again! 

4: Oliver: These two both made it through the darkest days of BR and survived, and both are also very proud of their achievements - these being Rebecca’s speed and Oliver’s bravery - which could make a scenario where the two hype each other up, much to their own detriment. It would also be interesting to see how Toad would fit into this, seeing as Rebecca is quite reckless and Toad would be opposed to such a thing - and could create a really interesting dynamic where Oliver is forced to pick which of the two he believes during an episode. I can see Oliver being someone Rebecca trusts due to their shared experiences, and it gives Oliver some spotlight. 

5: Emily: Emily was what Rebecca is - an express engine with wheelslip issues who is considered to be one of the best engines of their time. Emily is also an engine who has some issues with CGI-era characterisation and could really do with being revitalised, so why not work with it? Emily tries to be nice and kind with Rebecca, only to keep hitting brick walls and reverting to her old, bossy ways to try and force the new engine to do what Emily wants - bonus points if this is held as being the right thing to do in that situation! It could also play into her getting her number, maybe by rescuing Rebecca from an accident she got into? 

6: Sir Handel: Sir Handel is another engine who desperately needs their characterisation revitalised, and Rebecca is a great chance! Sir Handel considers himself an express engine, and meeting Rebecca puffs him up as she regales him with tales of her speed. This plays into Sir Handel’s cockiness and he gets himself into trouble - and then he decides to get payback in whatever way possible, and we see the reverse of the situation where Sir Handel’s stories get Rebecca all fired up and she gets her own comeuppance. This would not only reintroduce Sir Handel, but also could set the foundations for Duke to return, with references to the MSR. 

7: RWS Flying Scotsman: I specify RWS Scott because I want the kinder, more humble version we got in the RWS to the version we got in the CGI era. Seriously - this engine has just been saved from scrap and given a second chance and his first action is to antagonise his only living sibling? I want him trying to be a voice of reason to Rebecca, seeing as he is uniquely placed to know the consequences of wheelslip - something he also has; as well as recklessness - Scott was the first to officially hit 100mph, so he knows a thing or two! Even more, Rebecca might look up to Scott, based on his fame, though his stories may lead to her being more reckless! 

8: BoCo: Remember I mentioned that the West Country Class caught on fire? Imagine a story with that, with BoCo (a Class 28 infamous for catching fire) as Rebecca’s foil. It could begin with BoCo backfiring and Rebecca making fun of him for it due to her disdain for the diesels who replaced her class before she suffers a similar fate when her boiler lagging catches fire and it’s BoCo who has to help her get her train home. It would be a great way for Rebecca to learn that diesels aren’t all bad, as well as giving her someone new to be friends with - and it would reintroduce BoCo! This could also help draw Rebecca down the branch to meet Bill and Ben… 

9: Molly: Overtly shy Molly and secretly shy Rebecca who covers her shyness up with aggression would make for such an interesting dynamic! I can imagine Molly gathering up all of her courage to speak to Rebecca only to be shot down (unintentionally) and then never want to talk to Rebecca again, and it’s only when Rebecca realises that the bigger engine tries to hunt Molly down - possibly with hilarious consequences. This idea would really work well if you popped in Mavis, who would want to help Molly and stand up to Rebecca. It would also be interesting to reintroduce Molly, especially with Mattel wanting more gender equality. 

10: Mike: This would be a case of grumpy, standoffish Mike versus standoffish-to-hide-insecurities Rebecca! These two would be about as productive as a house on fire. Literally! These two would naturally bump heads in the worst way possible, and it would create incredible comedy and infinite story potential. This would be even better if you added some inferiority complex on Mike’s side, based on the fact he’s never seen an engine this big before - seeing as Rebecca is the only engine of this size able to visit Arlesburgh. They would rile each other right the way up the wall and it would probably never get any better. 

To conclude, Rebecca had real potential as a character - she had an iconic basis, good timing for her introduction and the role she was aiming to fill in many ways needed to be filled; Henry’s character assassination had made him hard to watch for a long time, and moving him out of the spotlight to give writers some time to rehabilitate him was long overdue. It’s just a real massive shame that they managed to fail so badly. By failing to properly plan and develop Rebecca, Mattel created a background character that they tried to have fill a major role that she simply was not able to fill. There were many better choices in the show to take Rebecca’s role, not least of all Molly - a yellow tender engine who was shy and a bit clumsy. By neglecting to properly integrate Rebecca into the series and then giving the show writers very little personality to work with, Mattel ensured that Rebecca would be a BWBA-exclusive character, an engine who never managed to gain half of the popularity of other characters who had comparable runtimes. Engines like Murdoch, Molly and BoCo have far better legacies than Rebecca, and it comes down to how they were treated by the series. All three were introduced with something that made them unique, be it through their interactions with other characters or through their own unique characterisation. Rebecca is a grim reminder to people developing characters for stories - especially characters being added later in the series to a cast of strong, notable and even iconic characters - that these late introductions need a lot of effort and carefully designed arcs to make them viable and allow them to become embedded into the series alongside those they share the screen with. 

Rebecca is one of those characters who is enough of a blank slate that it is easy for people to project onto her. In some cases, this is useful to a character’s legacy - Fergus, Molly, and even Smudger all have been remembered far more fondly by the fanbase than their limited appearances ought to warrant, however this is mostly because they were given a strong enough personality by the show that these projections had preexisting characterisations to connect to. Rebecca was given far too little, and in redesigning her character, I feel like I’ve gained a new understanding of just how far Mattel had pushed the show prior to its cancellation. By expanding the series to include new characters from around the world while also demanding episodes with new, untested characters back on Sodor, the writing team was rushed to complete episodes with a plethora of new faces that had no substance to back them up. There was no chance for these foreign engines to become anything meaningful while Mattel demanded enough new characters to fill an entirely different series, nor was there time for many of the characters back on Sodor to develop meaningfully while the writers scrambled to try and create far too many new characters from scratch. 

And it was the characterisations that suffered for it. 

Once again, this was not an attempt to convince people to like or dislike the version of Rebecca found in BWBA, but instead look into why Rebecca as a character failed to stand up against the other Steam Team members or even many of the more notable secondary faces found in the TVS at this point in the series. This can be boiled down to comparisons to her predecessor, a lack of effort from Mattel to give Rebecca a chance to develop and the decision to use cliched characteristics to create a version of Rebecca that never was going to capture many viewers’ imaginations. This was also an attempt to redevelop Rebecca into someone that can be used by the fandom to rehabilitate her image, or at the least to point out what went wrong and what could have been done to fix it. Maybe someday Rebecca will get the redevelopment she deserved, or perhaps she will be left to the annals of Thomas history, becoming just another footnote in the ever-expanding list of characters who couldn’t stand the test of time. 

Thank you for reading.

[eeveeandme05]

Dear @weirdowithaquill , after our previous discussion it gave me a lot of food for thought! So, I owe this one to you :)

For those who are wondering, this is part of the same AU I set up previously, just considerably later on than the events of my first post. Enjoy!

It was a hot, stuffy night in July, when the air was heavy with humidity that floated about the place like a film of thick, sticky spider webs that hung everywhere and ensnared whoever they touched. It had made everyone feel very hot and bothered, making it a hard day of work for the little engines on the Skarloey Railway.

Duke woke from a fitful sleep that night; one of many that were plagued with visions of familiar faces: Stuart, Falcon, His Grace, and even Stanley, all of whom stared right into his core with expressions of sympathy or concern, or burning hatred, depending on who appeared before him. Their faces and voices would then swirl and blur into a bizarre cacophony of sights and sounds that only grew louder and brighter until Duke awoke with a gasp, finding himself in front of an open shed door, Peter Sam and Sir Handel sitting closely on either side of him, sound asleep. Duke sighed.

These heavy summer nights often did that to him. The atmosphere felt too much like his old, buried shed on the Mid-Sodor.

He firmly reminded himself that he was NOT back in his old shed and attempted to go back to sleep, when he was interrupted by a strange noise. A soft humming, followed by incoherent muttering. It was coming from a short distance away, down the stretch of track he was on.

Duke squinted into the darkness, trying to locate the source of the noise. The new moon was enshrouded by black clouds, so it was nearly impossible for Duke to see beyond his own buffers, let alone into the yard.

Duke realised his fire was still warm, the embers from earlier still flickering. Carefully, as not to wake Peter Sam and Sir Handel, he gave himself a jolt that knocked some coal across his footplate and into the firebox. Steam began to build as his fire started to burn back to life. Time passed, and Duke felt steam rushing into his cylinders. He gently eased open his regulator and crept out.

As he rolled along, the muttering grew louder, clearer. It was barely intelligible, coming out in a whisper at a feverishly rapid pace, but Duke found that he was starting to make out a single phrase, repeated again and again:

"It's all in my head, get out of my head. It's all in my head, get out of my head."

It was like a twisted version of the coaches singing as they swayed happily behind their engine in the day. It made Duke feel very uneasy.

When it sounded like whoever-it-was was right in front of him, Duke forced his regulator shut and stopped to listen. The voice, though still whispering huskily, sounded somewhat mellow and unbroken, not quite a child's voice, but not an adult's, either. How they hadn't noticed Duke puffing up to them, he didn't know, but at that moment the lamp on his bufferbeam flickered to life, and the whispering abruptly stopped.

Duke found himself face-to-face with a young girl, crouched on the tracks in front of him. Her eyes, one green, the other black, were wide as dinner plates, and were staring at him.

[jobey-wan-kenobi]

Untitled fic number 66?

This one also goes out to @weirdowithaquill!

So, this is for a fic that was meant to be a "day in the life" sort of deal, a sort of spiritual prequel to Ex Condor, but this time it is Edward in 1947.

Although it's an "ordinary day" (at least—it starts as one) there are mounting clues (and Thomas coming right out and saying it) that the engines are anxious about what nationlisation is going to mean for them. (There are rumours that the Fat Director will move to Manchester to become controller of the entire Midland region! Which is actually their best-case scenario, but still a daunting prospect.) It is also helpful to know that this is in the same universe where Topham Hatt and Charlie Sand have some mutual tension that everyone tries to shove under the rug in order to carry on with things.

This scene is technically at/right after the climax of the plot. I still plan to finish and publish the whole fic one of these days but it might be years. In the meantime, we all already knew that FC1 would retain control of the North Western even under nationalisation so how much of a "spoiler" is this? I ask you.

I also ask you to consider that early RWS!Edward — eager, childlike, and wholehearted — is really freakin' cute, and you do not want to wait years to read this.

NO ANGST. ALL CLOVER. GOOD VIBES ONLY.

---

​​The return had to be the best run of Edward’s life. Clarence hushed him a good few times, when Edward absent-mindedly began to sing; the engine had no idea how the saloon could keep so calm but he did appreciate it, for without being checked he should have shouted the news from the hilltops. The joy throughout the whole train was palpable, and he felt it in his very heat-pipes. At first he didn’t have much steam to spare for self-control or rational thought… though a good eighty or ninety miles in and it all the sudden became easy. His wheels went numb and seemed to pound along of their own accord, his heart was somewhere up in the stars, and he was simply at one with the night. 

The journey seemed to merge into eternity, and yet it was all too soon that they approached old Furness territory, came to the bridge, went through the tunnel, encountered the gradual side of their own hill. When they pulled into their own station at quarter to two, Edward felt both exhausted and sure that he could have gone twice as long. It was a wonderful heady rush. Little wonder, that it had taken Gordon two decades to stop regaling them all with reminisces of when he had been run-in on the East Coast Main Line. Edward whistled for first one triumph, and then again for the other. And then again because he was laughing and couldn’t help it. 

There had never been such a night as this. It must be a dream. It was all too good to be true. 

But controller, assistants, and crew all disembarked, and they were in just as high spirits. The small party in Clarence had evidently had a drink or three to celebrate, and Mr Hatt was remarkably light on his feet. 

On the platform, he and Mr Sand accidentally made eye contact, and Mr Sand cracked, ducking his head to partially hide a slow grin. “Well done, sir,” he said, sounding as though the words were being pulled out of him against his will, “congratulations.” And then Mr Hatt smiled too, and somehow everyone collectively burst into deep belly laughs. They all clasped hands and shoulders yet again, as if they needed the touch to be sure everyone else was real. Edward whistled again, sheerly for seeing them so happy, and even Clarence went so far as to eye the noisy little gathering with a certain benevolence. 

“Good news, sir?” enquired the stationmaster, emerging from the house, in full uniform and looking harried.

“Does it look bad?” retorted the Fat Controller, all booming merriment. “I cannot announce it tonight. But conjecture, man; conjecture!” 

“Very good, sir.” The stationmaster flashed a sincere if baffled smile of his own, but went on soberly: “I beg your pardon, sir, but we need Edward down the branch line; the harbor train still hasn’t been taken; and there’s a gentleman on the phone for you, he’s been calling every hour—”

Every other man present gave a good-natured, even rather chucklesome groan. 

“Ahh,” said one of the assistants. “Right back into it.” 

“Our carriage is about to turn back into a pumpkin,” sighed the other, amused. 

“If it’s Manchester,” the Fat Controller told the stationmaster, “then never mind. I’ve taken care of it. Tell them to read the papers tomorrow.” 

“I’m afraid it’s Ulfstead, sir.” 

The Fat Controller, still smiling broadly, sighed and ground the palms of his hands against his eyes. “And to think I fought to keep this job. Very well, stationmaster. I will be just a moment. But I must overrule your arrangements for the harbor train. This engine and his crew have earned a rest.” 

“We have a relief crew at the ready. But the loaner is still laid up, and Myron was re-routed to the mainland. There are no engines in steam to be had. If not Edward, we’ll have to ask the L.M.S. to take it—”

“Give them a last hurrah,” said Mr Sand flatly. “Makes no odds now. This engine is off-duty.” 

“No, indeed,” protested Edward, only a little breathless. “I’m up for it! That train’s none too heavy nor fast. The L.M.S., indeed!” 

Mr Sand chuckled a bit, but shook his head and sounded firm. “I know you’re flying high now. But you’re going to feel this, tomorrow.” 

“I’m sorry to contradict, driver, but that just is what it is. We can’t pass off that train, tonight of all nights.” Edward whistled without even realizing it. “The L.M.S.! To-night!” 

Everyone except the stationmaster, knowing well the source of this indignation, simply had to laugh for sheer pride all over again.

“Ahem!” the Fat Controller coughed pointedly, “I believe I am the one who makes these decisions. In fact I have a little piece of paper here that says so…” 

This time even the stationmaster genuinely smiled. The outcome of Mr Hatt’s emergency meeting was becoming more and more obvious each passing minute. 

The Fat Controller, chuckling at his own joke and his own victory, held his watch up to the lamplight, and then carefully pocketed it. “Stationmaster, tell his lordship I have just arrived and will call him back on the hour. I trust I may use your phone, and, in the meantime, my men will fill you in. We won’t say no to a little hospitality, either. Driver, Edward will take the harbor train. I assure you that I shall have his morning timetable covered so that he may have a lie-in. If you insist that only you can prepare him properly I am sure the relief won’t argue with you. And Edward—” He turned around, and added with great seriousness. “Thank you.” 

Edward blushed. It was plain that his controller was referring to more than taking on the harbor job. It was even a great deal more than simply the ride he had been given that evening. 

It encompassed all the thirty-odd years of reasons that the Fat Controller had not wanted Myron to be the engine to take him, not on this occasion, and Edward was warmed through, deeply touched. “My pleasure, sir.” 

After the Fat Controller spoke another few low words to Clarence, Edward took him away to the carriage shed. Clarence yawned a little, once they were out of sight and earshot of the lit station. Perhaps the strange comment about turning into a pumpkin had shaken him out of his usual reserve.

“That was probably the last important turn of duty I shall I ever have,” he mused aloud, as he was shunted into place under shelter. 

“Nonsense,” said Edward. “You’re wanted quite often, and there’s no new saloon coming.” 

“I said important turn of duty. I know I shall take the directors and their wives to many another picnic or club, and you will never hear me murmur a word against it. But that was the last of the backroom deals where history is written that I shall ever host.” 

“The last, and the greatest, I suppose?” 

“I did not say that.” Clarence sighed his eyes closed, but he was smiling a little too, well-satisfied with himself. “But this much I suppose I may say. It has been a fine life, collecting secrets.” 

“And never telling them,” Edward said… a little too gravely. 

Clarence, being no fool, opened one sleepy eye. 

“You’re just a locomotive. You wouldn’t understand.”