Sodor's Unusual Tales

Photographic Premonition

Original version made by DCG12B and ShunterProductions

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Every wise engine knows that you should never trust a living freight cart. Whenever an accident occurs, the usual culprits are the freight carts. And whenever they're not being used, they would often insult engines passing by. However, there were times where their antics would result in a rather drastic outcome. Recently, Percy, who had been getting nothing but grief for two incidents that he got involved in, lost his temper and left his train halfway up Gordon's Hill, which later resulted in Percy damaging his front end after being pushed down. Of the many types of living freight carts, the worst of them all were ballast carts. Donald, Douglas, and Oliver were the only engines who can handle such troublemakers. But soon, a particular saddle tank will soon know what it's like.

One day, Mr. Starr came to see Xander, who was still shaken up about Percy's recent accident.

"I have something that could help you take your mind away from the recent events, Xander," he said to him. "I'm giving you a big job to do for this month. It involves an delivering a large order of ballast to Barrow-In-Furness to re-ballast the mainline upgrade in Scotland. Are you up for it?"

"Sure, sir," said Xander. He had already gotten used to delivery runs, mainly due to when he got lost in a forest, and when he first met Corina. "Will I have someone working with me?"

Mr. Starr nodded.

"You will be working with James," he added. "I trust that you two will be able to work well together."

"We will," said Xander.

Later, Xander arrived at the ballast yard, and saw James already feeling dreadful.

"Hi, James," he said to him.

"Hey, kid," answered James.

"Is something wrong?" Xander asked.

"There is," answered James. "And before you ask any further, I am aware that I'm a mixed-traffic engine. I can pull both coaches and freight. However, for this case, it's not the freight that I'm worried about. It's the carts themselves."

"How so?" Xander asked.

"Ballast carts are the most troublesome of them all," answered James. "The crashes that they're involved in have the most damage."

"Well, I'm here now," said Xander. "Since we're working together, we could suffer together."

James quietly chuckled in agreement. He liked working with engines like Xander, but he was concerned about their wellbeing.

On their first day, Xander and James took two trains each. Xander soon realized what James was talking about. Xander's trains were bumping and clanking about, making the journeys difficult for him. Back at the yard, Xander's autistic mind came into play, as he often set up each train in an organized manner. He would place the brake vans in a still spot, and would load each train with ballast, before coupling them to the brake vans, sparing him and James the trouble of having to go back and forth with assembling the trains. But each time he loaded the carts, they would bother him.

"You and that red hot scrap heap are no good!" they would shout. "We want Duck! Or Donald! Or Douglas! Or even Oliver!"

"I wish for them to help too," muttered Xander.

Surprisingly, James was being lenient to the ballast carts, as he didn't bother bumping them. They would often bully him, but he remembered Liz telling him to try ignoring them. It actually helped.

Meanwhile, the ballast trains have brought in many photographers. Xander and James finally had something to take their minds away from the troublesome ballast carts. The engines knew some of these photographer, but there was one photographer that stood out from the others: A Welshman name Dolan Duffer. What makes him stand out was his methods, as he often had to take great risks when taking pictures at otherwise impossible angles. There was one spot on the railway's mainline that he was particularly fond of: Just after Kellaby Station was a sharp curve followed by a small gradient. This tests a driver's skill, as they must drive their engine over the gradient before reaching the junction down below. Sometimes, a signal could be against them, which has led to some trains getting stuck. Dolan loved taking pictures here, as he often admired the efforts of the engines climbing up the gradient.