| True Blue | |
|---|---|
| Season 1, Episode 3 | |
| Air date | June 25th, 2017 |
| Written by | TheLocoLover |
| Directed by | TheLocoLover |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous Thunder Strikes |
Next Missing Rheneas |
True Blue is the third episode of the first season of Sudrian Stories.
Plot[]
On the island of Sodor, many engines have different origins. They come from various different railways, and they have different past experiences. For example, both Gordon and Ryan came from the Great Northern Railway (GNR), or the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). The two often talk about their experiences there. One day, though, Ryan had a question.
"So, Gordon?" Ryan asked.
"Yes?" Gordon replied.
Ryan had the question in his head for a while, "How did you come to Sodor?"
Gordon groaned. "Well, it happens many years ago..."
And this was the story Gordon told...
LNER, 1923
When the London and North Eastern Railway was formed, the Great Northern was among one of the many absorbed railways. Sir Nigel Gresley was assigned to be the lead designer for the railway's locomotives, and his most famous design was the A1, later the A3. But, the inspiration was the A0, a prototype built about a month before Great Northern, the first A1.
The A0, however, was not as successful as expected. He was actually faster than the A1s, but this heavily sacrificed other things. He could barely even pull five coaches, and he was so light, crews often had to put sandbags in the cab during windy ways.
Because of his flaws, management did not want to spend money on converting the A0 into an A1, it seemed like a waste of money.
"Scrap!?"
"I'm afraid so, you're uneconomical." Sighed Sir Gresley.
The A0 looked shocked. "Won't they rebuilt me?" He pleaded.
Sir Gresley looked at his creation with a look if sorrow, "No. But, don't lose hope!" I'll try to find somebody to purchase you."
With that, he left to important business. The A0 looked at his buffers and sighed.
For days, he was locked in his shed, not really doing anything, he was in there for almost a month, when a strange whistle blew one day. A blue 4-4-0 tender engine pulled up to his shed, and out came Sir Nigel Gresley and a sharply dressed man in a top hat. "Is this the engine I requested?" He asked.
"Yes it is." Sir Gresley replied. "I think if we rebuild his boiler and get a few other miscellaneous parts, he'll be fine."
The man walked up to the A0 and introduced himself. "I am Sir Topham Hatt, your new controller." He said.
A0's eyes widened, and he then smiled. "Thank you, sir! You won't regret this!"
"I hope so, I'm funding your rebuild." Sir Topham Hatt said.
A few days later, the A0, excited, rolled past Barrow-in-Furness. "This is the last station in Britain! Where are we going?" He asked.
"Who said we'd be staying in Britain?" Laughed his driver.
Upon arriving at a large station called Vicarstown, the A0 looked around, and saw Sir Topham Hatt with five engines. The blue engine he saw before was there, but there was another blue one, but he was a tank engine. There was a large green tender engine who appeared to be sick. Last, there were two engines who looked very old. One was a red vertical boiler engine, and the other was a green box tank engine.
After some tests, the A0 was ready to go, he was given the name Gordon,and repainted blue. Sir Topham Hatt walked up to Gordon. "Gordon, I will have you and Edward pull the express. If you go well, Edward will finally get to retire from express duties, and you'll take over."
Gordon was thrilled, and he quickly raced to the coaches shunted by Thomas.
"Alright, Gordon. Now, we must be patient and careful. Listen to my instructions." Edward said calmly.
Gordon wasn't listening, though. He quickly coupled onto the train, and waited for Edward. "Come on, old timer!" He shouted impatiently.
"Patience is virtue, Gordon." Edward replied, slowly coupling up to him.
With that, the express left. Things were mostly going well, but Edward wasn't used to such speeds, and neither were the passengers!
"Slow down! We're ahead of schedule!" Edward acknowledged, but Gordon didn't listen.
Passing right through Vicarstown, Neil tried to get Gordon to stop, but it was no use. Edward and the brake coach put the brakes on, but Gordon was stronger. He pulled the train to the bridge, but nobody knew that the bridge was risen for a boat. "STOP!" Edward shrieked, but it was too late.
Edward went right into the water, and Thomas came with the Breakdown Crane and Sir Topham Hatt. "Gordon!" He boomed. "What were you thinking?! You've damaged our most reliable engine, and you ran right through the station!"
"I'm sorry, sir." Gordon muttered.
"Until I can trust you, you'll be the railway's resident goods engine. With Henry at the works, somebody needs to pull the trains." Sir Topham Hatt continued.
"But, sir, there's no express engine if both me and Henry are being repaired." Edward said.
Sir Topham Hatt thought for a second. "I'll get an engine from the mainland." He decided.
The next day, Gordon woke up to waiting trucks. "You're late." One hissed.
"A goods train! A goods train! Oh, the shame of it! Oh, the shame of it!" Gordon moaned as he slowly exited the station. Glynn was even able to catch up!
Glynn chuckled. "The more you complain, the more miserable it is!" He advised.
Gordon complained the whole way, and he had to do this for days. The other engines didn't comfort, though.
"Serves ye right, there's nae room for trouble on the railway." Neil scolded.
Thomas giggled, "Even Henry's more trustworthy than you, and he's in the works all the time!"
But, Glynn felt sympathy for the express engine. He didn't want to see Gordon scrapped, that happened to his three brothers, and the feeling was miserable.
One night, however, the engines heard a horn which woke them all up. Sir Topham Hatt walked into Tidmouth Sheds. "It be a bit early to be assigning trains, don't ye think?" Neil asked, obviously still exhausted.
"I know, sorry for waking you all up. But, the engine from the mainland's broken down, and someone needs to keep pulling the express." Sir Topham Hatt said.
Of course, Thomas, Glynn, and Neil couldn't do it. However, Gordon was silent.
"Gordon could do it!" Glynn recommended.
"Well, I really have no choice." Sir Topham Hatt said. "Let's go, Gordon!"
Gordon pulled up to the stranded coaches, and coupled up. "I can do it." He said to himself.
Although starting slow, the train quickly picked up speed, and Gordon rushed across the line. But, this time, he began to slow. Coming to a stop at Vicarstown, everyone cheered. They were ahead of schedule!
"Well done, Gordon!" Sir Topham Hatt said.
Gordon smiled to himself, he had proven that he could pull the express. However, this didn't help his arrogance, and when Edward was repaired, he was put in Tidmouth Sheds, and never left for about a year. But, Gordon was proud of himself, and was the North Western express engine, until retiring from the duty in 2012.
So, that's how Gordon became the North Western Railway's number four engine, and albeit arrogant, he's proven his importance, and is a key asset to the railway.
Characters[]
Trivia[]
- This will probably be the only Gordon-centric episode of Sudrian Stories, since TheLocoLover has lots of trouble when writing for him.