Bill and Ben's Big Mistake

Bill and Ben's Big Mistake
Season 2, Episode 3 (#23)
Air date	January 24th, 2019
Written by	Semaj5nodrog4
Episode guide
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Bill and Ben's Big Mistake is the third episode of the second season of the Many Adventures on the Island of Sodor.

Plot

It was a bright and sunny day on the Island of Sodor and all the engines were working hard. At the China Clay Pits, everyone was busily loading trucks of china clay and preparing to take them to the docks. Marion had just finished loading some trucks. When she looked over and saw Bill and Ben shunting, but to her surprise, they looked upset.

"That's odd," she thought. "It's not like those two to look so miserable. I wonder what's wrong." So she puffed over towards them. "Hello you two," she whistled. "Nice morning, isn't it? The sun's shining, the birds are singing, and it's a perfect day for digging. Don't you think so?"

"Yeah, I guess it is," sighed Bill.

"Sure. Everything's perfect," muttered Ben.

Marion was still puzzled. "Hmmm, ah! I know what will cheer you two up! How about a game of 'Guess What's in My Shovel'? That always cheers you two up." Then Marion swung her shovel around and picked up a bucket of mud. "Alright you two, go ahead: guess what's in my shovel!"

Bill and Ben looked glumly at each other then back at Marion. "It's mud, isn't it?" they asked mournfully.

"Nope, it's actually…oh wait, you got it," Marion exclaimed. "Well uh…good guess. Now how about another round. Hmm? Second time is always more challenging and…"

"Look Marion," interrupted Bill. "Sorry to be rude, but we're really not in the mood right now."

"Yeah, we just want to work, that's all," added Ben.

Marion was surprised. "Ummm, hello. Can I speak to Bill and Ben please? I think they might be losing their smokeboxes and being unnecessarily down today. Are they around?" Bill and Ben scoffed. "Alright, you two," Marion said. "What's the matter? Why the long faces? It's really not like you two to be so upset. Is everything alright?"

"Well, no not really," replied Ben.

"And it's nothing you did either, Marion," added Bill. "It's just…well…"

"Yes, I'm listening," encouraged Marion.

"It's just that we're jealous of BoCo and Philip," finished Bill.

"Yes, ever since those two met, they've been working and spending a lot of time together and we're feeling left out," added Ben.

"Oh I see," acknowledged Marion. "Well, if you don't mind me asking, why do you two care about them?"

"It's because BoCo's one of our good friends and we've known him for a long time," replied Ben.

"And he's been pretty much ignoring us lately because of that little diesel," added Bill. Marion sighed. "I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," she soothed. "I don't know BoCo very well, but from what I've heard about him, I'm sure he still thinks about you two and cares about you as well."

"Hmph," grunted Bill. "Says you."

"Yeah sure he does," added Ben. "Just look right now."

Marion looked over and saw BoCo and Philip arrive. They were collecting china clay to take to the shunting yards.

"Ha! I won!!!" chanted Philip. "Wow let's see: first Gordon, now you BoCo. I don't know what it is about me beating you big engines, but I have to say, I'm enjoying it. Maybe you all need some exercise."

BoCo chuckled. "Well for a lot of us big engines, we're not as young as we used to be, and we're not as energetic as you younger and smaller engines, particularly you, Mr. Chatty-All-Night."

"He, he, I guess I was doing that again, wasn't I?" asked Philip.

"Well…just a bit," smiled BoCo, and the two diesels laughed.

Bill, Ben and Marion were watching. "Just watch this, Marion," whispered Bill, and he and Ben pushed BoCo and Philip's trains up to the two diesels.

"Hello BoCo," called the twins.

"Hello you two," replied BoCo, who was still laughing with Philip.

"How are you doing today?" asked the twins, but this time BoCo didn't reply. He and Philip were still laughing, then Philip spoke again.

"Well you know, since we're both heading to the shunting yards, you have another chance to beat me, BoCo," he suggested. "What do you say?"

"Hmmm, well as long as we're careful about it, then sure. You're on, Philip," replied BoCo.

"Great! Then on the count of 3, we go," said Philip. "1…2, 3!" And Philip shot off with his train. BoCo just rolled his eyes. "Oh that silly engine," he muttered, then he set off too. Bill and Ben frowned. "Good-bye BoCo!" they called, but BoCo didn't reply. He was already well on his way catching up to Philip. The twins were upset.

"Now you see what we're talking about?" Ben asked Marion.

"Hmmm, I do see how well they get along, I'll admit that," replied Marion, "but I'm sure that doesn't mean he's ignoring you and Bill, Ben."

"Huh!" scoffed Bill. "Didn't you see what just happened? He completely ignored us! Aside from saying a quick hello, he didn't even ask us how our day was or even say good-bye. I'm telling you, Marion, Philip has become BoCo's favorite engine."

Marion raised an eyebrow. "Oh come now, Bill. Even you have to admit that's silly. BoCo does not have a favorite engine. He and Philip are just good friends and that's it. And as for you two, I wouldn't worry about this whole situation because it's silly, not true, and the more you worry about it, the worse it will get. Now I suggest the first thing you do to get over this is to get back to work, and who knows: maybe BoCo will start talking to you again." Then Marion went back to digging. The twins just sulked, then went back to work as well.

Later that day, Bill and Ben took another train of china clay to the docks. They were still feeling neglected. Then when they arrived at the docks, they looked ahead and saw BoCo and Philip yet again. They were about to say something, but then they heard the two diesels talking.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, BoCo," teased Philip. "You should have been ready when I said three, otherwise you might have won that race. Now that's two races that I've won. Maybe you need to stick with taking slow trains since you're such an old engine and leave all the fast trains to younger, faster engines like me."

BoCo smiled. "You never stop with all the cheekiness, do you Philip?" he chuckled.

"Eh, sometimes I do," smiled Philip. "I'm mainly just joking and I don't actually mean it. You do know that, don't you?"

"Of course, I do," chuckled BoCo. "I had a feeling you were just joking. Otherwise, I would have to say you're being as cheeky and mischievious as Bill and Ben."

Philip chuckled. "Ha! Me? Be as cheeky as those two? Oh BoCo, even you know I'm not as cheeky as them. They're like the Kings of Cheekiness, and no one can match them, especially from what I've heard, that's the only thing their good at." Bill and Ben's eyes widened at the sound of this.

"Well, they are cheeky sometimes, Philip," replied BoCo modestly, "but they are really useful engines and work hard too."

"Mmmm, from what I've heard from the other engines," said Philip, "that doesn't sound correct. According to them, those two play tricks all the time and barely get any work done. It kind of makes me wonder why Sir Topham Hatt even keeps them if they do that so much." Philip had no idea that the twins were behind him and BoCo and were getting increasingly cross with him.

"Don't say that, Philip," scolded BoCo. "You don't know Bill and Ben like I do and also, that's not nice to say about other engines, especially since I can assume you are not very familiar with them. Also, Sir Topham Hatt knows that they are useful too and that's why he keeps them as well."

Philip paused for a moment. "Oh, I guess you're right, BoCo," he sighed. "I don't know Bill and Ben too well and I guess it is too soon to make that call about them always being cheeky."

BoCo smiled. "I'm glad you think that, Philip," he said. "Also, you may not want to say that around them too because they do get offended about other engines saying things like that to them."

"Oh okay, gotcha," said Philip. "I won't breathe a piston about it to them. Now, how about we head back to Wellsworth, hmm?"

"Fine with me," said BoCo, "but no racing this time, okay?"

Philip chuckled. "Okay, BoCo. No more racing…right after this one!" And Philip raced off again. BoCo just rolled his eyes and chuckled and followed after Philip.

After they left, Bill and Ben were furious. "Why that ignorant, selfish little boxcab!" fumed Bill.

"Who was he to say we're not useful?" hissed Ben. "He has no idea what we're like."

"Exactly," agreed Bill. "We're far more useful than he thinks we are." Then they looked at each other. "I think we need to teach him a little lesson."

"Indeed," conceded Ben. "First, he takes BoCo away from us and now, he's insulting us for no reason? I think teaching him a lesson is the perfect way to put that little diesel in his place. Now how are we going to do it?"

"I don't know," replied Bill, "but we'll think of something. Let's get back to work and think about it along the way." Then the twins huffed away.

Later, Bill and Ben were sent to take another train of china clay to Knapford Station Yards. As they were puffing along, they were still thinking about how to get back at Philip when they heard him and BoCo coming up alongside them. They were about to say something, but decided not to and just listen to their conversation and get an idea for their trick.

"You know who I think you look a lot like, BoCo?" asked Philip.

"No, who do I look like?" asked BoCo.

"Daisy," said Philip. "You two almost look uncanny alike. Are you two related in anyway?"

"Ha, ha. No Daisy and I are not related, Philip," chuckled BoCo.

"Are you sure about that?" asked Philip. "You both are big, green, diesel engines and from what I heard, you two have similar facial features. Only Daisy has makeup and long eyelashes. Maybe you could have them too, then you would definitely look alike." BoCo just chuckled and the two of them continued on their way.

Bill and Ben, however, were still cross and jealous. "Did you come up with anything yet?" Ben asked Bill.

"No not yet," replied Bill. "Have you?"

"No," grumbled Ben, "and it's bothering me. I can't come up with anything to pay him back."

"Well maybe we'll get something when we get to Knapford," suggested Bill. "We might be able to find something there since he works in the yard at the station most of the time."

"Good idea, Bill," said Ben. "Let's keep going in that case." And the twins hurried on their way to Knapford.

When they arrived at Knapford, Bill and Ben looked around. They saw Philip shunting in the yard, but BoCo had already left for his next job. The twins grinned cheekily.

"Now let's see how we can get him," whispered Bill.

"Right," agreed Ben, so as they shunted their train into a siding, the twins kept an eye on Philip and watched how he behaved.

"Alright, looks like you tankers are next," Philip puffed as he charged towards some tankers. "Here I come!" And he bumped into them and shunted them into a siding. "There we are. Now what's next? Ooh! You box cars need to be put in place." And he charged after them too. The twins kept watching.

"Getting any ideas, Bill?" whispered Ben.

"Mmm, not really," whispered Bill back. "Let's see what he does next."

Just then, Edward puffed into the yard. Philip noticed him and hurried over.

"Hello Edward!" he called. "Don't you worry. I got this entire yard under control and you are free to roam around if you want. Just make sure you don't run into any loose trucks, that's all."

"Thank you Philip," said Edward. "I'll make sure of that, but I actually came to tell you that I'm due to take a goods train later to the docks and I was wondering if you would be so kind and get it ready for me. I have a passenger train to take first, but I'll be back later this afternoon for the train."

"Oh yes, of course, Edward," said Philip. "I would be delighted to get it ready for you. You can count on me to get things done around here."

"That's great to hear, Philip," chuckled Edward. "Just make sure it's ready when I come back."

"Yep, it will be Edward, I promise," called Philip. "In fact, I'll start getting it ready right now!" And Philip rushed off to get Edward's train.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Silly engine," he chuckled, and he puffed away.

Bill and Ben were thinking about something. "Hmmmm, he seems to like rushing around a lot," noticed Ben.

"Mmm-hmm, that's true," agreed Bill. "Maybe we can use this to get back at him, but how?"

"I'm not sure," replied Ben.

Just then Stanley puffed into the yards too.

"Whoops! Careful there Stanley," called Philip, as he almost pushed trucks into him. "Almost got you those trucks. I didn't even see you coming."

"Well perhaps you need to be careful, Philip," retorted Stanley. "Rushing around like that isn't always a good idea, especially if there are other engines around."

"Yeah I guess you're right," conceded Philip. "Sorry about that. I was just trying to get Edward's train ready for him. In fact, who knows: maybe if I get it ready for him long before he gets here, I could take it for him."

Stanley chuckled. "Well, I don't know about that, Philip," he chuffed. "I think Edward may want to take it anyway even if you get the train ready early. Besides," he added jokingly, "if you happen to see Gordon or BoCo again, you might wind up racing them again and don't you think you've done enough racing today?"

Philip laughed. "Not quite yet," he replied. "I still got plenty of energy in me. In fact, if I wanted to, I could pull a heavy train and race to the docks at the same time. That's how energize I feel." This gave Bill and Ben an idea.

"Well if I were you Philip," cautioned Stanley. "I'd recommend leaving all of that energy for shunting, just to be safe."

"Yeah, I guess so," puffed Philip. "Good point, Stanley." Then they went back to shunting. Bill and Ben chuckled. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Bill asked Ben.

"I think I am," replied Ben. "We finally found our trick." And he and Bill chuckled again, and went over to talk to Philip.

"Hello Philip," they puffed to the diesel.

"Oh hello, Bill and Ben," said Philip. "Nice to see you. What brings you two up here?"

"We just delivered a train of china clay here," replied Bill. "We're heading back to the clay pits shortly."

"What are you up to?" asked Ben.

"I was just getting a goods train ready for Edward," replied Philip. "I'm trying to get it ready quickly so it'll be ready for him when he comes back."

Bill and Ben looked at each other, then back at Philip. "That's nice," replied Bill, "but you know, if you really want to do Edward a favor, you could take the train for him. It'll help save him time and I'm sure he would appreciate it."

"Oh. You really think he would?" asked Philip.

"Yes indeed," replied Ben. "He most certainly would. Edward loves it when others help him out."

"Oh, well in that case, when I'm finished shunting, I'll do it," chuffed Philip.

"Good and also," added Ben. "We heard about how much you like racing the big engines, especially BoCo."

"Oh ho, yes," laughed Philip. "We do that quite a lot, and I usually beat him too."

"Yes, but you know, BoCo's is going easy on you," warned Bill. "He's letting you win and we heard from him earlier that the next time you two race, he's going to give it his all and he will win this time."

Philip's eyes widened. "Oh really? Hmmm, I didn't realize he was doing that."

"Oh yes," said Ben. "BoCo can be pretty tricky sometimes, but if you want our advice, if you really want to beat him, then go as fast as you possibly can."

"And if you want to impress him," added Bill. "Try doing that with a heavy train too. That will show him how useful you are."

Philip was filled with admiration. "Wow, all of this sounds like great advice you two," he puffed. "Thanks for telling me. The next time I see BoCo, that's exactly what I'll do." And he went back to shunting, as the twins sniggered to each other.

Soon Philip was hard at work getting Edward's train ready, but he was becoming so conceited that he wasn't paying attention to how many trucks he was adding to the train. Bill and Ben could tell, but they didn't say anything. After a while, Philip had the train ready, but it was long, and too much for him to handle, though Philip didn't notice.

"Well, I'm all set and ready to go," he puffed, "and are you two sure about everything you said?"

"Oh yes, absolutely," replied Bill.

"Yes, we know Edward and BoCo well," added Ben. "Trust us, we know what will make them happy."

"Alright, in that case, thanks again for the advice and I'll see you two later," called Philip, and with that, he honked good-bye and made his way slowly but surely out of the yard and on his way to the docks.

After he left, Bill and Ben laughed. "This ought to teach him a lesson!" chuckled Ben.

"Yes," giggled Bill. "Maybe now he will think twice about insulting us and trying to take our best friend away." And they laughed and laughed.

Just then they looked up and saw Edward and Stanley puff up to them. "Hello Bill and Ben," said Edward. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh nothing," said Bill. "We just delivered a train of china clay here that's all."

"Yeah we were about to head back to the clay pits as well," added Ben. "Nothing's going on here."

"I see," said Edward, eyeing the twins sensing they were up to something. "Now, before you go, could you tell me one thing?"

"Sure," replied the twins.

"Why was Philip taking what appeared to be my goods train?" asked Edward.

The twins looked at each other nervously. "Uh, your goods train?" pondered Ben.

"Yes, the one that Philip was getting ready," added Stanley. "He said he was going to get it ready for Edward, but he didn't say he was actually going to take it for him."

"Oh yes, that," exclaimed Bill. "Well, you see, Philip was so eager to help out, that he decided to do you a favor, Edward, by taking your train for you, and also, decided to take a few more extra trucks for you too. Isn't that right, Ben?"

"Oh yes, definitely," agreed Ben. "You know Philip. Always wanting to make a good impression with everyone and does what he can to make us happy."

Edward and Stanley looked at the twins in disbelief. "A very likely story," muttered Edward.

"Huh?" asked the twins.

"Bill and Ben, how can we be so sure this is the truth and it's not you two trying to get back at Philip for what he said about you earlier today?" asked Edward.

Bill and Ben gasped. "How did you know that's what we're doing?" asked Ben.

"Well for one thing, you just admitted it," smirked Edward, "and for another thing, BoCo told me that he knew you two were listening in on their conversation back at the docks and he thought it made you two upset."

The twins were very surprised. "Well, since you figured it out, Edward," sighed Bill, "yes that's what we're doing."

"Yeah, Philip was saying rude things about us and we were trying to pay him back for it," admitted Ben.

"I had a feeling that was the case," puffed Edward, "and I also had a feeling it had to do with the fact that you're jealous of BoCo and Philip."

The twins were puzzled. "How do you know about that?" asked Ben.

"Well because BoCo told me that too," replied Edward. "He's well aware that you two are jealous of his friendship with Philip and you're feeling left out."

"Really?" asked Bill. "Well if he knows about that, then how come he rarely talks to us anymore?"

"Because whenever he tries to, he says Philip intervenes and they wind up talking instead," explained Edward. "Believe me you two, from what BoCo's been telling me, he actually misses talking to you."

The twins looked at each other. "Well I guess we didn't know that part," sighed Bill.

"Yeah, I thought he just didn't want to talk to us because he likes Philip more," added Ben, "but sounds like that's not the case."

"It certainly is not," agreed Edward. "Listen Bill and Ben, just because an old friend starts talking to someone new and it seems as if they like the new person more does not mean that they think any less of you. You and BoCo will always remain good friends no matter what happens and you will never forget each other and all the good times you've had together." The twins thought for a moment and smiled at Edward, knowing he's right.

"And also," added Stanley, "trying to get rid of the new person by making him do something silly is not a good idea either. Take it from me, it's true. When I first came to Sodor, Thomas was jealous of me because he thought I was stealing everyone's attention and to keep me out of the way, he tricked me into taking too many trucks at a time and it ended up with me causing an accident at Great Waterton. After that, Thomas was sorry and he realized that everyone likes us just the same and now we're good friends. So I think what you're doing to Philip is not a good idea and maybe it's wrong? What do you two think?"

Then Bill and Ben gasped. They had forgotten about Philip and after hearing Stanley's story, they were worried.

"Bill? Ben? Did you hear him?" asked Edward.

"Huh? Oh yes we heard him," replied Ben.

"It's just we realized we made a huge mistake and we need to fixed it right away," added Bill hastily. "Good-bye." Then he and Ben raced away to find Philip.

Stanley was puzzled. "What was that about?" he asked Edward.

Edward smiled. "I think that means they understand, Stanley," he replied. "That's all that needs to be said." Then they went back to work.

Meanwhile, Philip was heaving and huffing his way to the docks with the heavy goods train. He was feeling tired and exhausted, but was determined to get the train to the docks.

"I will do it, I will do it, I will do it," he chanted to himself. Then he looked ahead and saw BoCo. Philip remembered what Bill and Ben had said to him and got excited. He went even faster to catch up to BoCo.

"Hello BoCo," he honked. "Guess who?"

"Oh, hello again Philip," said BoCo. "What are you up to?"

"I'm taking a goods train to the docks," replied Philip, "and it's Edward's train too. Bill and Ben told me that Edward appreciates it when others help him out so that's what I'm doing."

BoCo frowned. "Um, Bill and Ben told you that?"

"Yes, and they were really quite helpful," added Philip. "Maybe they are really useful engines after all and I was wrong about them."

BoCo was worried. "Uh-oh," he thought to himself.

"Oh and they also told me a little secret about you too," puffed Philip cheekily. "They said you like racing against engines who can not only go fast, but pull heavy trains at the same time, so guess what?"

"I think I know what," replied BoCo nervously.

"Let's race one more time!" yelled Philip and he raced forward, overtaking BoCo.

BoCo looked at how long the train was and he had a bad feeling. "Philip, I don't think this is a good idea," he called. "That's too many trucks for you and you're likely going to cause an accident."

"Nonsense, BoCo," replied Philip excitedly. "I know what I'm doing and I can take on this train, so hurry up slow coach, or else I'm going to win again!" And he went even faster. BoCo was very nervous now.

Then the two of them came to Gordon's Hill, and then there was trouble. Philip had managed to get the train halfway up the hill, but then he began to stall. He heaved and huffed as hard as he could.

"Grrrrr, come on," he groaned, as he tugged and tugged.

BoCo watched. "Philip, go back to the bottom of the hill. The train is too heavy for you and you need help. I'll go back and push behind you."

"No--thank you--BoCo," panted Philip. "I--can--do this. I'll show you." And he gave a mighty heave. Then it happened: Philip's coupling broke, he shot forward, and the train started running back down the hill.

"Oh no!" cried BoCo as he watch the train disappear around the bend.

"Oops," said Philip meekly.

Meanwhile, Bill and Ben were still racing to the rescue, unaware of what was coming up.

"I hope nothing's happened," puffed Bill.

"Me too," agreed Ben. "I just hope Philip didn't listen to us and he knew better." And they hurried on.

Then Bill looked forward and saw a train coming right towards them. "Back up, Ben! Back up!" he cried.

"What? W-why?!" exclaimed Ben.

"There's a runaway train coming right towards us!" yelled Bill. Ben didn't have to think twice as he and Bill quickly started reversing to get away from the runaway train.

The twins were going as fast as they could, but the train eventually caught up with them.

"What do we do now?" called Ben as they continued racing on.

Bill thought for a moment. "We're going to have to stop it," he called. "On the count of three, we put our brakes on, got it?"

"Got it," called Ben.

"Alright," said Bill. "1…2…3!" And the twins slammed on their brakes as hard they could. It was harder than they both thought and they slid along the rails. Then to make matters worse, there was Gordon coming up behind them with the express. He saw them and shut his eyes and applied his brakes too. At last, with a lot of grinding and screeching, all the engines finally came to a complete stop. Luckily, no one was hurt.

"Phew," sighed Bill. "That was a close call."

"I'll say," muttered Ben. "At least we didn't cause an accident and…oh, hi Gordon," he said meekly.

Gordon was cross. "Do you two ever stop causing trouble!" he boomed. "Honestly, it's like whenever I see you two, I swear you are always up to trouble. It's almost like you're out to get me."

"Hey, at least we prevented an accident," huffed Bill.

"Yeah, you should be grateful about that," added Ben, "cause if you don't, we know a nice little spot near the sea where we could still dump."

That made Gordon stop talking immediately. "Alright you made your point and I'm grateful," he admitted hastily, "but all the same, please get out of the way of the express! You're making me late as it is." Bill and Ben rolled their eyes, then started moving out of Gordon's way.

After a while, Bill and Ben had managed to shunt the train out of the way and Gordon was able to continue on with the express. The twins felt exhausted after their little adventure, then Sir Topham Hatt, BoCo, and Philip came up.

"Uh oh," said the twins meekly. "Now we're in trouble."

Sir Topham Hatt was cross. "Bill and Ben! Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused today?" he thundered. "First, you trick Philip into taking Edward's goods train, then you trick him into taking too many trucks at a time, and lastly you nearly caused an accident with the express! I have no idea what's gotten into you two today, but I am not impressed. You have caused a significant amount of confusion and delay and you really struck out this time! Now what do you have to say for yourselves?"

Bill and Ben felt very ashamed. "We're very sorry, sir," said Bill. "We--we were--uh…"

"Cross with Philip about something," explained Ben.

"And what was that?" asked Sir Topham Hatt.

"Well, we overheard him say that we're never useful and we are only good for being cheeky and troublesome," said Ben.

"And we wanted to pay him back for that," added Bill. Philip was surprised.

"And do you really think tricking him was going to prove that otherwise?" asked Sir Topham.

"No," sighed the twins.

Sir Topham Hatt was still cross. "Honestly, you two, I don't know what I'm going to do with you, but all this troublesome behavior needs to stop now! Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," replied the twins.

"Also sir," added Bill shamefully, "there was another reason why we did this."

Sir Topham Hatt looked at them. "Alright, go on Bill, let's hear it."

"Well, to tell you the truth sir," said Bill. "We were also very jealous of how much BoCo and Philip spent time with each other and we were feeling left out."

"So we tried to keep Philip away so we could spend time with BoCo again," added Ben. "We know now that that was very silly and irresponsible and we truly are sorry for doing this sir, and to you too, Philip. We both realize now that trying to keep someone new away from our old friend is not the right thing to do and the best thing is to not worry about it because no matter what happens, we're still friends regardless." BoCo and Philip were impressed.

Even Sir Topham Hatt had to smile. "That's very wise of you two to admit such a thing," he said, "and I'm glad you realized that. I understand you might feel left out since I know you two and BoCo are old friends, but it's certainly true that that doesn't mean he's forgotten about you and you are still good friends. Right BoCo?"

BoCo smiled. "Right sir," he replied.

"There you see?" Sir Topham Hatt said to the twins. "Now that you know that, do you two promise never to pull off something like this incident again?"

"Yes sir, we promise," replied Bill and Ben.

"Good," said Sir Topham Hatt. "Now let's get this train to the docks before there is anymore confusion and delay."

"Yes sir," replied the engines, and they all went back to work.

That evening, at the docks, after all the work was done, BoCo, Philip and the twins spoke to each other.

"Again Philip," said Bill. "We really are sorry for tricking you today."

"Yeah, and for almost causing an accident too," added Ben.

"That's alright, you two," puffed Philip. "At least no one was hurt, and I'm sorry for saying those things about you two as well. I see now, despite playing that trick on me, you two really are useful engines since you prevented that accident and owned up to your mistake. In fact, I didn't realize you were behind us when I said those things, did you BoCo?"

"Well, I did, but I didn't want to say anything," admitted BoCo, "though I should have since I had a feeling that you two were cross and were going to try and get even with him."

Bill and Ben were embarrassed. "Well, you know us," puffed Bill meekly.

"Indeed I do," said BoCo, "and I also know about your jealousy with me and Philip as well."

"Yes, Edward told us you knew," said Ben.

"Though you could have told us yourself you know," huffed Bill.

"Well I tried to, but every time I tried talking to you, Philip would appear and we wound up talking," explained BoCo. "Listen you two, just because Philip and I talk a lot does not mean I've forgotten about you. You both are some of my dear old friends and I will never forget about you and all the good times we've had over the years." Bill and Ben smiled.

"And you know what else?" added Philip. "There's always plenty of more memories to make, but not just between me and BoCo, but between all of us, together. What do you all think?"

BoCo and the twins looked at each other. "I think that's great idea," agreed BoCo.

"Yes indeed," added Ben. "I'm perfectly fine with that too."

"Me too, but on one condition," added Bill cheekily. The others looked at him. "Philip, if we ever tell you to do something as silly as the things we told you today, don't listen to us!" Then everyone laughed.

"Alright Bill, you got it," chuckled Philip. "I promise that won't happen again." Then they all laughed again.

From that day, BoCo, Bill, Ben, and Philip are all good friends. They work together, they make time to talk to each other, and even Philip has gotten along with Bill and Ben better too. They all agree that they like each other the same amount and they will never pick favorites again, and they also have to admit that playing jokes on Gordon can be quite fun indeed, though Gordon doesn't think so himself!

Characters

• Edward
• Gordon
• Bill and Ben
• Stanley
• BoCo
• Philip
• Marion
• Sir Topham Hatt
• Thomas (does not speak)
• James (cameo)
• Emily (cameo)
• Porter (cameo)
• Timothy (cameo)
• Salty (cameo)
• Winston (cameo)
• Cranky (cameo)
• Carly (cameo)
• Big Mickey (cameo)
• Franklin (cameo)
• Daisy (mentioned)

Locations

• Sodor China Clay Company
• Brendam Docks
• Suddery Junction
• Knapford
• Gordon's Hill
• Wellsworth (mentioned)
• Great Waterton (mentioned)

Trivia

• A few references to the television series episodes, Wrong Road and The Little Engine Who Raced Ahead, and the television series special, The Great Discovery, are made in this episode.
• This is the first episode of The Many Adventures on the Island of Sodor in which Salty and Porter appear, but do not speak.
• Philip's mentioning of BoCo and Daisy having similar facial features is an inside joke: back in the model series of the television series, BoCo and Daisy shared some of the same face masks, with the only difference being make-up and eyelashes were added onto Daisy's faces.

Gallery

Promotional image