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English
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Part 26 of The Extended Railway Series
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Published:
2022-05-27
Completed:
2022-05-30
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3,268
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4/4
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Arthur and the Two Zany Engines

Summary:

Dear Friends,
Oliver, Douglas and Arthur are quite the trio. Oliver and Douglas are very headstrong and mischievous when they want to be – and poor Arthur spends most of his day trying to keep them from causing mayhem! But when Douglas and Oliver go too far, it comes down to Arthur to rein in his friends. Of course, while he tries to keep the two from causing mayhem, Duck and Donald have their own plans… What a mess.
The Author.

Notes:

Please do not put this story into an AI for any reason or copy it elsewhere without my permission. Thank you.

Chapter 1: Pick a Colour

Summary:

The NWR spends far too much on paint every year, so Stephen and Bridget Hatt decide to fix the problem...

Notes:

Quite recently, I got a comment that mentioned how fun the Little Western Engines and Arthur are - and I agree! I especially like Douglas, Oliver and Arthur as a trio - the three have such different, and yet similar personalities, and I think they work well together! But of course, Douglas and Oliver are a bit... mischievous sometimes (See 'Devious' Diesel and the Steam Engines).

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Thomas Looked curiously at Percy.
“We’re all going to the sheds? That’s very odd.”
“It is, but apparently it’s very important, and the Fat Controller wants to tell us all at once.” Thomas relented, and headed for the Big sheds.

***

Stephen Hatt and his sister, Bridget Hatt, surveyed the sheds.
“None of them have the same livery anymore,” moaned Stephen. “It’s weird for a railway to buy so much paint every year!”
“That’s what this meeting is for,” soothed Bridget. Stephen agreed, and stepped into the engine sheds. The engines all gazed down at him expectantly.

“I am sure you have noticed that our railway does not currently seem to have a paint scheme. This is no longer acceptable. Our railway spends triple what other railways of our size do on paint every year. Therefore, we have decided to take steps to rectify this. We will be implementing a uniform paint scheme for all engines.”

This announcement was met with several complaints.

“I will not be blue!” exclaimed James furiously.
“And I won’t be green,” snapped Thomas.
“I wouldn’t want to look like you anyway,” retorted Percy. The Fat Controller groaned. Bridget paused for a moment, then smirked. She stepped into Gordon’s cab and blew his whistle. Loudly. The sound echoed through the sheds, and silenced the other engines.

“There will be four colours to choose from,” Bridget said. “You will be able to choose from the four.”
“Oh, that’s alright,” said James. The others agreed.
“Furthermore, we have already decided on the colours: NWR light green, NWR sky blue, NWR bright red and Brunswick green. The only exception to this is for Toby, who requires his special brown paint for his wood.”

The Fat Controller beamed at his sister.

“Thank you, Bridget. Yes, those are the four colours. No more of this drab black and random colour variations. Now: we will be repainting you as soon as possible, so please tell your drivers the paint scheme, and we will give this list to the workmen.”

As soon as Stephen Hatt said that, Oliver smirked. He exchanged a look with Douglas - and Arthur groaned.
“Do not start anything,” he muttered. Oliver and Douglas didn’t reply.

When Stephen and Bridget Hatt left, the engines began to talk about what paint they wanted to have.

“I am going to stay red!” James exclaimed. “It’s the only colour for me!”
“Aye, I’m gonna stay red too!” grinned Salty.
“It would be nice to be painted red,” mused Arthur.

“Well I’m going to stay in my Great Western Brunswick Green,” Duck said. “And so is Oliver.”
“I was actually thinking of going blue,” Oliver replied.
“You will not! We work on the Little Western, not the little Caledonian!”
“We’re goin’ ta be blue - an’ we work on yer branchline,” Donald said. “It’d be nice fur yon Oliver ta be blue with us.”

“I think I’ll stick with my green,” BoCo muttered to Edward.
“And I’m going to stay blue,” Edward agreed.
“I like being green,” added Bear. “It just feels right.”

The engines told their crews the colour schemes they wanted - and the crews jotted them down. Oliver and Douglas went last.

Arthur knew something was up - but didn’t get the chance to investigate. He was called away to help with a freight train.

Perhaps it would have been better if Donald took that train…

Douglas and Oliver put their plan into action the next morning. The piece of paper with all the colour-schemes on them had been left on a clipboard by Oliver’s berth, far too close to really be safe. When Oliver’s crew were preparing him for the day, Oliver purposefully wouldn’t steam properly.

“Come on old boy!” groaned his driver, opening the regulator to let more steam into the boiler. This was exactly what Oliver was waiting for. He let off steam with an almighty whoosh! Steam went everywhere, spraying the dew in Oliver’s draincocks with it. The water sprayed against the clipboard, ruining the paper.

“Rats!” exclaimed Oliver’s driver, staring at the paper in horror. “The other drivers aren’t going to like this.”
“Don’t worry!” Oliver chirped sweetly. “Douglas and I know the list.”

Oliver’s driver was sceptical – but he had no choice. Oliver and Douglas ‘remembered’ all the right colours – and the crews wrote them down and put them back.

As Oliver and Douglas left for work that day, they winked to each other.

Notes:

Oop... Oliver and Douglas have played a trick... but how will it turn out? Tune in tomorrow to find out!
In the meantime, drop a kudos, a comment and share this work if you can - I love talking to you all, and it warms my heart when I see people liking what I make! Have a great day!

Chapter 2: The Repaint

Summary:

The first four engines go in for a repaint - and they just had to be the worst four...

Notes:

Douglas and Oliver had better go hide somewhere as far from anywhere as possible. Like... now. And they also might want to find an offering of polish and paint...

Enjoy!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The workmen gaped at the preference list.
“I don’t think we have half these paints,” grumbled one. “I mean – what even is ‘outrageous orange’?!”
“Well, who are we repainting first?”
“Gordon, James, Thomas and Duck are arriving for their repaints tomorrow,” a worker said, checking his roster.

The trio stared at the engines’ names, and then at the colours ‘they’ had ‘chosen’.

“Well… I suppose we’d best get ready,” the Foreman said grimly.

***

The four engines entered the painting shop together, and quickly fell asleep. When engines got repainted, they often slept through it – it was a rare chance for a rest – and the workers often placed a sheet over their face anyway, so the paint wouldn’t get on them.

This meant that they couldn’t see the paint-pots being cracked open, or the colour the workmen were applying.

***

Gordon awoke first, to the Works Diesel dragging him out into the sunshine to dry.
“Good afternoon,” yawned Gordon. “How magnificent is my blue… blue…” Gordon looked back and went red in the face.
“Gordon… why are you purple?” James asked quietly from behind him. “You picked blue.”
“I did!” thundered Gordon, recovering from his shock. “What is this?!”
“And… James, why are you… er…”
“What Thomas?” demanded James. “Look at Gordon! He looks like an aubergine!”
“And you… well…”
“Well what Thomas?”
“You are blue James.” James looked back and went pale.

He didn’t say a thing, but seemed very shaken.

“Not blue… not blue… just like the rest…” murmured James under his breath, his eyes wide.

“Great,” huffed Thomas. “So they messed up the paper. What’s next?”
“You’re green Thomas.” Thomas replied to Duck in such a manner that even Gordon looked stunned.
“Thomas!” admonished Gordon. “I’m just as angry, but you don’t see me mouthing off!”
“You aren’t the one painting like Percy!” Thomas squawked. “I’ll never live this down!” The Works Diesel finally pulled Duck into the sun – and boy was it a sight!

“You’re red Duck!” cackled Thomas, suddenly feeling great.
“You. Don’t. Say,” grit out Duck, who was red in the face with rage. Then he looked back.

Edward thankfully was nearby talking to Skarloey and Rheneas, and was quick to come see what had happened. Arthur followed close behind.
“What sheet of paper did you read off of?” demanded James. “I can’t be blue! How am I meant to stand out when I look like Edward and Thomas and Gordon and Donald and Douglas and—”
“James!” whistled Edward. “We’ll get this fixed. But right now, you need to keep calm.”

Arthur looked over the chaos. Duck was ranting and raving about the Great Western, Thomas was laughing at Duck, Gordon was muttering something about how undignifying his paint was and James looked nearly ready to cry.

“Well…” he sighed. “I think we can quickly figure out that this was not the original paint scheme.” He, Edward and James watched the Foreman produce the paper.
“That… looks to be Oliver’s driver’s handwriting,” Arthur said slowly.
“How can you recognise that?!” exclaimed James.
“I have good eyes,” Arthur replied proudly. “I can read the small printed words in newspapers!” Edward stared at the tank engine in amazement.
“That’s impressive,” he said. “I remember in my young days; the managers used to try and teach us – but none of us could clearly make out the words at all!” Arthur blushed – he always did respond well to praise, Edward remembered.

Then, James spoke up.
“Wait… if that’s Oliver’s driver’s handwriting – then did he tamper with the colour choices?”
“I severely doubt it,” replied Edward. “Drivers rarely get involved in our matters unless they think we’re in immediate danger. No…  I have a theory.”

And the other engines listened as Edward outlined his plan.

***

Douglas and Oliver sat in a siding, resting after a hard day’s work.
“Have you seen Duck yet?” asked Oliver.
“No, I haene – does he look funny?”
“Yep,” Oliver replied, popping the ‘p’.
“You’ve been watching yer American shows again,” chuckled Douglas.

“So…” a voice said, “you were at fault for the paint mix-up.” Oliver and Douglas looked up in shock. There stood Duck, Thomas, James, Gordon, Edward, Arthur, Donald… and the Fat Controller. Douglas and Oliver shared a nervous look.
“Nae Sirr,” Douglas began. “We juz… heard aboot it.”
“Exactly,” agreed Oliver.
“So why is the list in your driver’s handwriting?” asked the Fat Controller, brandishing the list. Oliver squinted to try and read it. “And,” went on the Fat Controller, “I spoke to your driver this afternoon, and he told me that he rewrote it after you sprayed water on it. He said that you and Douglas told him the colours.”

Oliver and Douglas went silent.

Notes:

I thought I'd include the list of colours the engines will be properly repainted into here - for continuity:
Thomas, Edward, Gordon, Donald, Douglas, Andrew, Molly - NWR blue
Henry, Percy, Murdoch, Neil - NWR Green
Duck, Oliver, Emily, BoCo, Bear, Daisy, Diesel, Bert, Derek - Brunswick Green
James, Arthur, Salty - NWR red
Toby - Brown.

That ought to cover all the NWR engines! (If I missed any, tell me please? I think I got everyone though.)
Kudos, comment and share!

Chapter 3: Twin Trouble

Summary:

Donald is furious with his twin, and it affects their ability to work together...

Notes:

I went to watch Top Gun Maverick - and I was pleasantly surprised! I quite enjoyed the movie - and I am not generally a fan of movies in general. I prefer TV series - there's more time for details and tension and plotlines that way. Maybe I'm weird like this, but I cannot sit through a movie, but I can binge-watch a series.

Enjoy!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Donald was furious with Douglas. The twins kept the rest of the shed up with their shouting match that night, as Donald berated his twin for pulling such a stupid stunt and Douglas argued that there had been no harm in the incident.

Most of the engines agreed with Donald – but they did not agree with how he spoke to Douglas.

“There is no need to be so angry,” Bear finally interjected. Donald glared.
“There is too! Douggie here cannae learn tha’ pranks lead ta… ta…”
“Dinnae ye say it,” grit out Douglas. “This railway’s different.” Donald rolled his eyes and puffed away.

***

The next morning, Donald and Douglas had to pull a heavy goods train to the Other Railway. Normally, this was no problem for the twins – they worked very well together. However, their argument had left them angry, and neither of them were talking to each other properly.

They rushed through the countryside, Donald behind Douglas.

At the junction to Edward’s Branchline, there is a level crossing. There were gates to protect cars from the engines – but they were broken. Trevor was tugging a cart laden with hay across the crossing – it was going to a nearby stable for the horses, but the cart was old and made of rotting wood. An axle snapped just as Trevor was crossing the rails.
“Oh bother!” groaned the Vicar. “Now we’ll have to go get help.” Trevor began to head away, when he heard a pair of whistles.
“Oh no!” he gasped, whistling as hard as he could.

Both twins heard the whistle – but only Douglas could see the cart.
“Stop!” he shouted. He slammed on his brakes, but it was too late. Douglas hit the cart, and the two came to a stop just beyond it.

Thankfully, Douglas managed to stay on the rails – but his bufferbeam was badly bent.
“Ye pooshed me inta the cart!”
“I didne! Ye didne warn me – an’ ye pulled me inta the cart!”
“Tha’s the stupidest thin’ I e’er heard! Ye pooshed me!”
“Didne!”
“Did!”

The two continued down the line to Wellsworth, and Derek headed off to help with the breakdown train – but now both twins were cross with one another.
“Douglas, you will have to go to the Works. Donald, you will help Duck with ballast trains,” an Inspector told the two at the Works Station.

Donald managed to get the heavy train to the end of the line, then headed back to the Little Western.

Now, normally the twins are able to work alone perfectly well. From day to day, their jobs can take them all over the island. But their argument weighed on Donald’s mind. It affected his work.

“Duck, I tol’ ye ta put the trucks in the other siding!” Donald snapped.
“They are in the other siding,” Duck huffed. “If you wanted them elsewhere, you needed to tell me.” Donald just grumbled away.

When Douglas was mended, the Fat Controller sent him to work with Arthur on the mainline. The two spent several days completely apart, neither speaking to the other.

Finally, Douglas had enough.

“Donal’?” Douglas had taken the chance to pull a line of trucks up to Arlesburgh, and had stopped for a drink beside his twin.
“Are ye here ta apologise fur what ye did ta the others?”
“I’m ne apologising fur tha’ te ye!” snapped Douglas. “I didne even do anythin’ ta ye, an’ I already spoke ta James an’ Thomas.” Donald huffed, and Douglas stormed away.

That night, Douglas spoke to Arthur.
“I dinnae get him,” grumbled Douglas. “We had problems on oor old line – but ne here. Ne’er here. An’ yet he’s yapping on like I tried ta get meself sent away! An’ he pooshed me inta the cart!” Arthur sighed.
“Maybe Donald is worried? As you said, you didn’t always have such nice owners. He did have to smuggle you here after all…”
“Aye… Aye, ye might be right. I’ll make it oop ta him.”
“Wait. He might be worried, but he did not need to react like that. You spoke to the engines you tricked, and he was not one of them.”
“Aye… tha’s true too.”
“I think you both owe each other apologies,” Arthur said.

***

The next morning, Donald was being careless. He banged about the yard crossly. Duck arrived. He’d just been repainted back into his Brunswick Green, and was ready to tell Donald when…
“Donald look out!” Donald slammed on his brakes, but it was too late. He hit the buffers at the end of the siding with a bang, and smashed through them, slithering down a small embankment.

“Are you kidding me?!” groaned Donald’s driver. “This would not have happened if you’d not been so careless.” Duck stared down at Donald.
“I’m going to need to find Douglas. He can pull you out!”

Thankfully, Douglas was already coming up the line with Arthur’s goods train – and when he heard Donald was in trouble, he dashed straight to the rescue. Back in the yards, Arthur took a well-deserved rest.

It took some time, but soon Donald was back on the line.
“I’m sorry I pulled tha’ trick,” sighed Douglas. “I know ye care aboot me, but ye didne need ta be so…”
“Rude,” finished Donald. “An’… I’m sorry I was so mean. I do care aboot ye, an’ it scared me ta hear ye’d done something so silly.”

Duck smirked.

Douglas had learnt his lesson. Now… it was Oliver’s turn.

Notes:

Is Donald a bit too harsh here? Yes. But I think he would be - he put his life on the line for his twin, and he sees himself as Douglas' protector... only for Douglas to pull a stunt like what he did. Then again, how he reacted is also wrong, so I didn't want to end it on both of them arguing over apologising. They are both in the wrong, and they realised it.

Now... what does Duck have in mind? Kudos and comments keep me going (so please leave some!)

Chapter 4: Duck Gets Even

Summary:

Duck decides to get even with Oliver...

Notes:

Oliver better watch out - Duck's after him now! And poor Arthur will probably need a holiday in the Bahamas... except he can't go cause he's a steam engine. Maybe Bournemouth will do for him? He'd probably just stress about Oliver and Douglas the entire time.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Arthur sighed in relief. Gordon had just been repainted into his proper colour, and everything was right with the railway. Donald and Douglas had made up, Duck was no longer complaining about ‘Great Western shame’, and Oliver…

“Douglas… where’s Oliver?”
“He’s wit’ Bear.”
“Ah… I’d best go find him then.” Arthur puffed away to go find Oliver, and Duck sidled into his spot.

“Hello there Douglas.”
“Hello Duck,” Douglas said. “Wha’s oop?”
“Oh, nothing…” Duck replied. “Just wondering how everything was going.”
“Ye want somethin’,” Douglas said.
“I would not say that.” Duck looked away, over at where Arthur was dragging Oliver away from Bear. “Just… interested in why Arthur is so protective of Oliver.”
“He isnae really,” chuckled Douglas. “He jus cannae deal wit’ uz both doin’ somethin’ stupid again.”
“So, he’s stopping Oliver from being…”
“Crazy, yes.”

Arthur pulled back into the sheds, Oliver following.
“I thought it was funny,” fumed the Great Western Engine.
“Asking Bear if he could growl on command was not funny.” Oliver sulked for a few minutes, but didn’t really look that upset. Duck smirked, and went back to talking to Douglas.

Oliver puffed along the branchline with his morning train the next day. He sighed, gazing out over the crystal blue sea.
“I only really started acting up to get Duck to relax,” he admitted to the coaches. “Yes it’s fun – but only Arthur seems to care about whether or not I do anything. Duck only gets cross.”
“You need to be nicer,” Isabel suggested.
“Maybe try being good,” agreed Dulcie.

Oliver kept on going.

At the yards, Oliver uncoupled from the train to go shunt some trucks. This was normally an easy task, but someone had left the yard in utter chaos. Oliver hurried about, pushing the trucks back into their proper places.
“I’m going to be late, I’m going to be late!” he fretted.

And he was. He was late starting, and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t make up the time.

When he got to the Big Station, he headed into the yards to find his next train – an empty ballast train.
“It should be over… where’re the trucks?” Diesel stared at the siding in disbelief. “They were just there!”

Duck wandered past with a short train, smirking to himself.

Diesel didn’t have the time to find Oliver’s trucks – so Oliver had to find them himself. He ran up and down the sidings, getting more and more frustrated.
“How did the truck end up in the middle of the Express?!” he exclaimed. There was a truck behind another complete goods train, one at the back of the carriage sheds and even one over by the coaling stage.

Oliver got them all together and headed off. As he ran along the line, it began to rain.
“We’ll need to collect some sand after this run,” said his driver.

But when they reached the last station, all the sand was gone. Oliver’s steam pressure sky-rocketed.
“This is ridiculous!” he snapped. “How… how can this all be going wrong?!”

He collected a train of fish and headed back down the line, struggling valiantly. Thankfully, the signals shone green, and Oliver managed to reach the Big Station, slipping and sliding the entire way. He filled up on sand and went to find Isabel and Dulcie.

They had been moved to the engine sheds. Arthur puffed in just as Oliver fumed to the platform.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“I can’t seem to catch a break!” snapped Oliver. “Everything is going wrong today!” And he told Arthur what had happened. Arthur sighed.
“I’ll have a look into it. For now, just try and stay calm.”
“I am completely calm!” And with that, Oliver snorted away.

Duck sidled in a few minutes later.
“Did Oliver find his coaches?” he asked innocently.
“He di—” Arthur’s eyes widened. “It was you!”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You’ve been messing with Oliver all day!” Arthur exclaimed. He looked over, and went slack-jawed. Duck had been repainted again. Only this time, he was NWR blue. “You… Oliver is going to burst his safety valve.”
“Serves him right,” huffed Duck. “Maybe this’ll teach him that his pranks and jokes are not always funny.”
“I… I didn’t know you had it in you,” Arthur said dumbly. Duck chortled.
“Ask Donald or Percy – I used to be quite the prankster.”

Arthur sighed.
“Swap trains with me – I have to go stop Oliver from breaking himself. Now, what have you planned for him at the other end of the line?”
“There’s a tripwire that will splatter him with mud.”
“… Why would you do that to him?”
“He repainted me red!” Arthur groaned, and hurried away.

Arthur did manage to stop Oliver from setting off the tripwire – but Duck had gotten his message across. Well… seeing Duck painted blue did at least. Now, Oliver is far less mischievous – and Arthur got a break from keeping his friends from running each other off the rails.

At least… for a little while.

Notes:

If you think Duck is out of character, I refer you to 'Donald's Duck' - which would also be the best story name for a story which ships the two together. Oh, and an update to the paint list I gave two chapters ago:

Duck - NWR blue, cause he likes screwing with Oliver.

Give this a kudos, comment and share it with others - and I will do my best to have the next book ready for this coming weekend!

Series this work belongs to: