Boco may be a bit out if character in this story, but it's pretty good.
The same was for Buffer Bashing.
John: It's true though: I only say it because I like to hear people's thoughts.
Anyway, here's the next story:
The New EngineThe next morning, Edward told The Fat Controller everything, and The Fat Controller scolded all of the engines that teased Thomas in the roundhouse severely, and he punished Henry and James by having them do something that Henry was not allowed to do: they would have to run on Thomas's branch line, much to Thomas's delight. "But sir," Henry tried to protest, "me and Gordon aren't allowed on branch lines!" The Fat Controller grew angry. "Well, in that case, I'll have you shunt in the yard!" he threatened Henry. Henry didn't like shunting in the yard, so he reluctantly gave in. James also stayed quiet.
Henry was more cautious while running on Thomas's branch line; he went slower than he did on the mainline, since the branchline tracks were weaker than those on the mainline, so he was often late with his passenger trains, but to Henry, it was worth being late in order to avoid derailing. Thomas always found an opportunity to tease Henry. One morning, Henry was late arriving at Ffarquhar. "Where have you been, lazybones?" asked Thomas, cheekily. Henry said sadly, "If I go too fast, then the track would be unable to hold my weight!"
Two days later, one evening, The Fat Controller came to Ffarquhar sheds. "Thomas, Percy, and Toby, I know you are having to work harder than usual," he said, "so I've arranged for another engine to come and help out." At first, Henry and James were delighted, but they lost their happiness when The Fat Controller said, "But Henry and James, you're still being punished." "What's this new engine like?" asked Thomas, excitedly. The Fat Controller smiled and said, "You'll find out tomorrow." Then, The Fat Controller left. Thomas, Percy and Toby were so excited, that they talked all about this new engine, until the stars came out. Henry and James weren't as excited; they were both getting bored.
The next day, Thomas was preparing his train. Just then, an 0-8-0 goods engine puffed in.
The engine was black, had 8 driving wheels, and the tender had a cab extension. This was because this tender engine was designed for going backwards. James and Henry, however, don't have the same thing on their tenders, so when going backwards, they had to use tarpaulins to keep the wind and coal dust out of their cabs.
"Hello," said Thomas, "I'm Thomas, who are you?" "Hello," said the engine in a rather female-voice, "I'm Sophie. I believe that this branch line needs my help." Thomas blushed. "Yes, it does." he said. Sophie smiled. "Well, what's my first job?" she asked. Thomas didn't know, but at that moment, The Fat Controller pulled up.
"Ah, there you are." he said, "and what's your name." "It's Sophie." said the black tender engine. "Ah, Sophie," said The Fat Controller, "You're first job will be to take some stone from the quarry to Knapford Harbor. Toby the Tram Engine is bringing it right now."
At that moment, Toby pulled in with the stone trucks and shunted them into a siding. "Here you are." he said to Sophie. "Good luck with your first job. Trucks can be troublesome." Then he left. Once Toby had gone, Sophie coupled up to the first truck on the train, the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag, and then she set off.
Sophie enjoyed the branch line; there were so many sights to see. But upon passing Toryreck, the trucks started to play their tricks. "Hold back, hold back." they giggled to each other. Sophie suddenly found them hard to move, but she was determined not to let The Fat Controller down, so she kept on moving. Luckily, the guard put on the brakes of his brake van. This stopped the trucks from playing their tricks. Sophie made her delivery on time, and once the fireman uncoupled her, she was returned to the sheds.
That evening, the tank engines of the Ffarquhar branch wanted to hear all about her. Sophie didn't really like to boast, but the tank engines begged her. "Why does your tender have a cab?" Percy asked. Sophie smiled, "Oh, I was built for more frequent tender-first operations." she said. When they heard this, Henry and James became jealous. "Why do we have to be different from Sophie!?" grumbled Henry. "I want one of those tenders!!!" yelled James. Thomas, Percy, Toby, and Sophie ignored them and they talked endlessly with each other about their adventures until the stars came out.
The next morning, Henry was asked to take a passenger train to Knapford Junction. The points that Thomas's fireman accidentally spilled coffee on had been repaired, but Henry was too big to enter the run-around loop, so he had to do the same thing Thomas did when the points got broken. Henry was very embarrassed. But luckily, after passing Toryreck, Henry started to feel thirsty. "Driver, I need more water." he gasped. His driver turned the injector... but nothing happened! The driver tried the other injector... still nothing! "I'm afraid your injectors have failed, Henry!" said the driver.
Henry's injectors had failed. This meant that no water could get into Henry's boiler. If unnoticed, then it can sometimes cause an engine to explode. Fortunately, Henry's driver noticed it early, so he stopped the train and passed the message to the guard. Then, while the guard ran for help, Henry's fireman started to put out the fire.
Eventually, Sophie arrived to help Henry. The first thing she did was couple up to Henry. Then, her fireman uncoupled Henry from the coaches, and because the train was running late and there was no time to look Henry over, Sophie shunted Henry into a siding near Toryreck Station. When Henry was uncoupled from her, Sophie took charge of the train.
Sophie reached Dryaw just in time, and also reached Knapford junction on time. Gordon was impressed. Sophie told him everything. "Well, I wonder how Henry's getting along on Thomas's branchline." Gordon snickered, and he hurried away with his stopping train. Later that day, Sophie took Henry to the works. Henry would be in the sheds until tomorrow, but he was glad that his punishment was finally coming to an end. ... Well, at least until his failed injectors were repaired.
That's it for story two. Oh, by the way, I know Henry's not allowed to go on branch lines. But that's why he's punished with that; The Fat Controller just wants Henry to know how hard it is to work a branch line. Well, what's your opinion?