Sodor's Deep Sink

Lonely Red

1:14 pm. August 19th

James sneezed as he sat inside of an old shed, away from everything else. That sneeze made several people jump, including the coaches who gave him an annoyed look. "Hey I can't help it" James snorted before sighing and looking down at the campfire. "James..." Clarabel spoke up and James looked up again "...yeah?" He asked and the two coaches gulp. "Do...you think Thomas and the others are alright?" She asked, and James gave a weak smile "you two should know, Thomas isn't gonna go down due to some water, heck he's probably looking for you two right now" he said and they smile. "Hey uh Clarabel...how's your...uh" James said and the old coach sighed. "My rear axel is fine dear...thanks for worrying though" she smiled before James looked at Annie. "My buffers are fine as well" she said softly and James sighed "sorry I keep asking, I just feel kinda guilty" he said and Annie chuckled. "It's fine, if it weren't for you, who knows how we would have ended up" she smiled and James took a deep breath, thinking about the day it happened.

7:15 am. August 15th

James grumbled as he shunted his train into a siding, his eyes locked on Thomas's branchline with an annoyed look. "Little engines, making a splendid red engine like myself wait like this" he grumbled, and Annie and Clarabel roll their eyes in annoyance. "Oh shush it James, you can wait a few minutes" Annie grumbled and James snorted "unlike your branchline engines, I gotta keep to a time table, he's lucky that I am still here anyway. If he doesn't come soon he can jolly well-" he was broken off by sirens suddenly blaring out. Without hesitation, James ran up and snagged the two coaches and screamed for everyone to climb in. He was acting on instinct and didn't know what was happening, his driver yelled out something about the dams, and even though he didn't hear it all, James immediately got it. "Let's go!" James yelled and banged into Annie's buffers by accident, causing her to scream in pain as he jerked the two out onto the line. He wanted to get far away, but the signalman couldn't switch the points in time and he was diverted onto Duck's line. James shot past the pannier tank engine who was running light, and shot past the freight cars which laid at a station. His wheels spun faster, and faster before he felt his front wheels jerk to the side and with horror he realized he was heading town Toby's line. "Oh no!" James shreaked "we are heading right for it!" He yelled and slammed on his brakes, causing the two coaches to slam together and something to fall and damage Clarabel's axel. "Wait James look!" His driver yelled, and to the red engine's surprise, the dam was still standing! "Hold on!" James yelled and raced foward, shooting over the wooden bridge and dragging the two coaches up the hill. The rain stung his face, and his wheels slipped on the wet rails, but soon they were shooting over the dam, and he screeched to a stop at Arledale End. And there they remained till that day.

2:22 pm. August 19th

The people were getting weaker as time went by, so after a group vote, it was decided that they would head down the line for a supply run. James had taken the coaches with him, and the two coaches grunted in pain at first, making the red engine feel really guilty. "Hey uh..." he didn't know what to say, so the coaches began to sing songs which helped cheer him up. "May I join in?" James asked and the coaches smile "do you even have to ask?" Clarabel teased before all three sang their way down the line. That was until they reached Callan which was absolutely destroyed. All that remained was a concrete platform, and several bodies were scattered around the area, and James felt ill looking at it all. So he turned his attention towards Misty Valley which looked almost untouched due to it being located on an incline. And to the left, was Arthur's line, glancing backward he saw Duck's line go beyond a corner and he thought for a moment. "While going back would be a good idea...who knows who we can find on Arthur's line, and from the branches on the line, it looks untouched so there would be plenty of resources..." he took a deep breath and blew his whistle before moving foward. His crew, knowing what he wanted, switched the points, and James pushed the branches out the way before he began heading down the branch.

2:35 pm. August 19th

Soon James reached Bluff's Cove and slowed to a stop, the station was damaged, but not as bad as Callan. The building still stood, and he could see several people sleeping on the platform. A blow of his whistle woke them up and he explained the situation, the people who had actually been waiting there for other engines and people to show up, were overjoyed to help and quickly took the people in the coaches to their homes. They even gave food and water to James's crew which made them very happy, but James felt on edge. He told his crew that he wanted to keep going, so hesitantly, they shunted the two coaches into the siding, and quickly took off down the line.

2:50 pm. August 19th

The air began to grow salty as James trudged along the line, he wasn't much of a fan of the smell but he decided it was best to keep the complaints to a minimum. Soon he reached the Seaside Village, it was probably in the best shape surprisingly. It seemed a wall that was built at the very top of the cliffs had kept the water from flowing towards them. Once James pulled in several people ran to him and their crew, they were happy to he found, but also worried about their engine. "He was supposed to come by with a goods train the day the dams broke, but we haven't seen him, we saw him go up on his early morning run, but never saw him go down" one person said ans James thought for a moment, and smiled. "We will find them, don't worry" James said with a determined tone in his voice, and before anyone could say anything more, he sped off, even causing his crew to stumble backwards.

3:40 pm. August 19th

James steamed into Harwick, slowing to a stop besides the station. The town was in decent condition, a large windmill still spun, and the large concrete and stone pier went far into the distance. However, not everything was great, many of the buildings showed signs of being under water, and the town was completely empty. But most surprisingly was a large pile of dirt on the tracks. It looked like a landslide had gone through the area with some buildings destroyed...bit that wasn't the most surprising part. Poking out the dirt, was a set of buffers. "Arthur! Can you hear me?!" James yelled, but got no response, so he quickly buffered up to him and was hooked up before using all his strength to pull the engine out. His boiler bubbled, his face grew hot, and his wheels spun, they had to use up all of the sand in his sandboxes...but soon the engine in the dirt began to move. First the running board, then the face and boiler, and lastly the cab, Arthur coughed and groaned before looking at James and smiling. "Heh, welcome James to my branch, sorry it's abit dirty" Arthur joked and James snorted before smiling. "Ah yes first thing ya need to get rid of is the smell and the large pile of dirt on the tracks, very undignified" James teased back and the two engines laughed. "It's good to have ya back" James smirked before Arthur chuckled and noticed something. James's paint was completely ruined, covered in smoke and ash, and water marks, there was even a few scratches "Oh James.." Arthur muttered and James looked confused before following his eyes and noticing his paint. James was quiet for a moment, and Arthur prepared for the complaining to begin...but was caught off guard when the red engine snickered. "Heh, I look like I am wearing my old livery" James said before he began to pull Arthur down the line. Arthur was completely shocked "Wait your not going to...complain?" Arthur asked and James sighed "Arthur, now isn't the time to complain about something as simple as paint work, it is just paint after all" James smiled, leaving Arthur and James's crew, in a stunned silence.

6:30 pm. August 19th

After picking up the now empty Annie and Clarabel, James pulled all three down Duck's branchline, of course to do so James had to go tender first, so he positioned Arthur at the other end of the train so he could warn him about anything. As James and the coaches sang, Arthur kept his eyes out for anything, before he slammed on his brakes and slowing them to a stop, causing James in the coaches to bump into eachother. "Owch! Arthur what's wrong?" James exclaimed before James heard an excited whistle "James! Arthur!" Henry yelled out and James smiled brightly "Henry!" James yelled out and the two big engines celebrated with several blasts of their whistles. "Sorry to break up the reunion" came another voice which made James happy "Duck! I'm so glad to hear you are okay! How did you survive the flood?" He asked and Duck chuckled. "Long story, Glynn is back at Knapford, we will explain it all there" Duck said and soon the engines and coaches were backing down the line. All overjoyed to know each of them were okay.