Peter Sam and Sir Handel the Aluminium Works Engines

Dear Friends,
Once upon a time, Peter Sam and Sir Handel were closer than friends. They were brothers, who worked together with their beloved Granpuff. But between the closure of the Mid Sodor Railway and their arrival at Crovan’s Gate all the way back in Four Little Engines, something changed. Sir Handel grew angrier, and Peter Sam more naïve. The other engines have wanted to ask about it for decades, and finally they got the chance…
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: Cornered

Summary:

Tensions have flared between Peter Sam and Sir Handel, and the other engines are suffering for it...

Notes:

I'm back again! And this time I have a Narrow Gauge Railway story for you all. Better yet - I have a plan for next week too! That's right, we're riding this inspiration wave as far as it will take me!
Enjoy!

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

Chapter Text

Stanley and Duncan stared at the mess strewn across the line in front of them.
“Sir Handel and Peter Sam?” gasped Stanley.
“Yeah. This is not normal. I know they normally can be a little… awkward around each other, but this is ridiculous!” Duncan snorted. He huffed forwards with the breakdown train to clean up the wrecked trucks. At the heads of the two trains stood Peter Sam and Sir Handel, arguing bitterly.

“If you had just listened!”
“I did! I tried to tell you I couldn’t stop, but you were off in La-La Land!”
“I was not! I stopped in the right place, but you—”
“Enough!” thundered a familiar voice. Duke stood in front of them, eyes cold. “What is going on?”
“It was his fault!” the pair snapped together, before glaring at each other.
“It was both of your fault!” hissed Duke. “Be thankful our old manager isn’t in charge, or you both would be dock launches!” With that, the old engine stormed away back down the line to find some more workmen.

Peter Sam and Sir Handel puffed away, not saying a word.

The Skarloey Railway had been dealing with the two engines’ relationship turning sourer than ever. It had started when Sir Handel had tried to swap jobs with Skarloey, and Peter Sam made a snide remark. Sir Handel retorted, telling Peter Sam his singing was “deafening”, and it devolved from there. Trains were late, goods were misplaced – and now there had been an accident.

The Thin Controller met them at the shed.

“Duke’s crew phoned me to inform me about what happened. I think you both need to spend the day off, and talk this out.”

The two were sat back-to-back, and shunted into the shed.

And there they stayed.

When asked about why the pair were so hostile, Peter Sam would say:
“Sir Handel doesn’t trust anyone to talk about it.” And Sir Handel would say:
“Peter Sam never understood what keeping someone safe meant.”

The other Skarloey Railway engines decided to hold a meeting with the Thin Controller to talk about it.

“I think,” Skarloey began, “that this all really started before they arrived on the Skarloey Railway.”
“Then you need to fix this Duke!” Duncan burst out. “They’re causing too much trouble. It’s only arguing from them and I can hardly get a wink’s sleep!”
“Our old line closed seven years before they arrived on this one,” Duke replied. “And when they left, they were comforting each other and promising to one day rescue me. This is new.”
“So, they have to have started arguing in that time period,” concluded Rheneas. “Does anyone know what they did then?”
“They worked at an Aluminium Plant on the island,” Rusty said. “I remember Peter Sam mentioning it once.”

There was silence for a long minute. Finally, Stanley groaned.

“Right, that’s it! We’re getting to the bottom of this.” He started off, steaming towards the shed.

“Wait! Is this a good idea?” asked Skarloey.
“Might as well try. What harm could it do?” asked Bertram. The Thin Controller sighed, and nodded to Stanley’s crew.

They flung open the shed doors, and Stanley buffered up to Peter Sam.

“Right!” he barked. “It’s time you two sorted this out. It’s affecting us all, and we want to know what’s gotten into you both.”

With that, he dragged Peter Sam and Sir Handel out of the shed and into the yard where the other engines were waiting. Sir Handel flung out insults, and Peter Sam tried to reason with Stanley – but it was no good.

They were placed buffer-to-buffer, facing one another with the others around them.

“We’re cornered,” said Peter Sam cheerfully. “How great your plan worked Sir Handel!”
“If I’d listened to you Granpuff would have been scrapped,” snapped Sir Handel.
“Right, and now I’m involved,” butt in Duke. “Explain yourselves.”

“Well Sir Handel?”
“I suppose we have no choice.”

Notes:

What happened at the Aluminium Works? Why has it flared up only now? Tune in over the weekend to find out!
And remember, as always kudos, comments and shares are the lifeblood of the author!

Chapter 2: The Peel Godred Aluminium Works

Summary:

Peter Sam and Sir Handel begin to tell the story of their time at the Peel Godred Aluminium Works...

Notes:

Just a reminder - in the flashbacks, Peter Sam is referred to as Stuart, and Sir Handel as Falcon. This is because these flashbacks take place before they arrived on the Skarloey Railway and gained their new names.
Enjoy!

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

Chapter Text

Peter Sam started.
“It all began when we were sold. We’d been bought by the Aluminium Works – but by post. A representative had come to choose us, rather than the actual owner. We were driven across the yard to where a lorry picked us up and drove us away.”
“It was terrible,” Sir Handel said. “They put a sheet over us – and because Peter Sam was in front, he could see, but I was put in the dark.” Peter Sam rolled his eyes. Sir Handel continued. “We arrived at the Aluminium Works, and it was massive.”

“We stared up at the warehouse. It dwarfed us, eclipsing the sun and leaving us in the darkness.”
“Don’t start with that sappy nonsense,” grumbled Sir Handel.
“Sappy?! It’s the truth. We were in the dark.”
“I suppose we were,” agreed Sir Handel.

***

“Why is it so big?” asked Stuart quietly.
“Because the big engines built this,” Falcon replied, fury lacing his voice. “This is why our Granpuff is gone.”
“He’s fine,” snapped Stuart. “He’s waiting for us to find him a home.”
“Will we? We’re trapped here.”
“We will,” Stuart promised. “Just you wait!”

Their new drivers were unused to the small engines, and they lurched about the yard while the crews got used to them. Stuart had it considerably easier – his regulator was worn, and reacted slower. His driver appreciated this, and it wasn’t too long before Stuart was pottering about the sidings. Falcon’s regulator had only just been replaced, and reacted to every touch. He jolted and bounced about the yard for hours while his driver scratched his head. And then he banged into some trucks… and some buffers… and the warehouse doors.

That night, a very sore Falcon found himself and Stuart sleeping end-to-end inside the massive warehouse. It was even bigger on the inside, and it had a separate standard gauge track, and it had this massive equipment about the place. Stuart gazed about it, silent and nervous.

“It’s so…”
“Spacious,” Falcon finished. “It feels wrong. This all feels wrong! I hate it here! My running board is probably dented. These new crews are idiots! Who let them near a steam engine?!”
“My crew were rather nice,” Stuart said quietly.

Falcon sneered, and the two fell uncomfortably asleep.

The next morning, Stuart left first. He took a train of supplies up the little, hastily-built line.

“You two will be helping build an important extension to the facility that will help us make more electricity from the main dams,” his driver explained. Stuart gazed up at the massive dam in awe.

***

“You would have to see it for yourselves to understand,” Peter Sam said. “It’s bigger than anything I’ve ever seen – it’s a massive curved concrete wall that just stands there.”
“It was ugly.”

Peter Sam rolled his eyes.

***

The two engines were helping the Aluminium Works extend along a ridge to where more aluminium ore lay in the ground. It was not easy. The ground needed to be stabilised, the terrain levelled so equipment could be transported and the yards shunted.

Stuart was chosen to run trains up to the worksite while Falcon shunted about the yard so his crew could better learn to control him. Stuart came back every evening with a new story about the ridge they were working on – and every evening Falcon would say less and less about his day.

Then, Stuart was ill, and Falcon was let out properly to help. And just like that, the pair were equals again. But it didn’t stop the resentment Falcon had for Stuart, having been able to spend so much more time beyond the small yard.

***

“Resentment?!”
“Yes, Sir Handel, resentment. You hated me for being able to go out. And I tried to fill the silence, but all you did was glare.”
“I hated that place for choosing favourites. But you didn’t help, being so chirpy. We’d lost everything, and yet you were being all friendly and not caring at all!”
“I did care!” snapped Peter Sam, raising his voice and startling all the engines. “But I also wanted to try and find a new home for Granpuff and there was only one place I could look!”

“At the Peel Godred Aluminium Works.”
“Yes. We lived there, and they repaired us. What was I supposed to think?”

Sir Handel groaned.

“See! This is why we agreed to my suggestion.”
“You forced that agreement.”

“What agreement?” asked Duncan.
“That’s another story,” the two chimed together.
“First,” Sir Handel said bitterly. “I need to tell you about the coach.”

Notes:

Lots of mysteries opened up this time - and a few things also cleared up! For those wondering why they are getting so riled up - it's got a lot to do with a sudden release of emotions surrounding an event. These two are reliving a lot of bad memories, and it's causing them to react to said memories in a heightened manner.
Kudos, comments and shares are hugely appreciated!

Chapter 3: The Coach

Summary:

Sir Handel tells the story of the single coach that the Aluminium Works owned...

Notes:

There were some great guesses as to what the coach would mean! I won't give too much away but...
Well, that ought to say it all, eh? =)
Besides, you can just read on to find out - so I won't say anything more, or I may just spoil the story.

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

Chapter Text

Peter Sam scowled.
“That coach has nothing to do with this!”
“It has everything to do with this,” rebutted Sir Handel.
“What coach?” asked Bertram. “You both seem to be speaking in riddles.”

The pair glared at each other.

“There was only one thing I liked about the Aluminium Works,” Sir Handel finally said. “And it was the coach.”

***

The coach was something special to Falcon. It was his job to take the workers up to the new expansion site, and for the task the Aluminium Works had purchased an ex-MSR bogie coach. It was a little grimy, but it was still the same kind of coach that Falcon had once used for express trains.

He took immense pride in that coach. He begged his crew every week to clean it – and when they did he would actually smile! He even once tried asking the workers to try not to get it too dirty, but they just laughed at him.

***

“Peter Sam, you wretch! Get to the important stuff.”
“This is important. You loved that coach more than any of the rest of us – you would hog what little cleaning materials we were given for yourself and that coach. I got dirtier and dirtier because I did all the real work – and it began to effect my performance.”

***

Stuart sneezed, a cloud of soot bursting out of his funnel. He felt terrible – but he had to work. The workers needed him to drag a long line of waste trucks from up at the construction site down to the main facility. Falcon grumbled past – spotless as usual – with his beloved coach behind him. Stuart watched as he puffed up towards the construction site, the workers piled into the coach.

Stuart followed behind, thick black smoke pouring from his funnel. He sneezed again, sparks shooting from his funnel and falling all around him. Usually, he would worry – but all the greenery was long dead here, so there was nothing to catch on fire.

The construction site was on a ledge, with the aluminium mines burrowed into the mountain and runoff sidings sloped down towards the cliff. Far below, the dam that powered the plant stood, water only half-full due to the dry summer. The buffers at the end of the runoff sidings were poorly-built, and weren’t maintained at all.

“They’re building a second dam further up,” Stuart’s driver had told him, pointing to a large concrete wall being built towards the very far end of the dam. “It’ll help hold more water, and produce more electricity.” Stuart gazed out over the dam, and thought that there really wasn’t that much water to hold.

Falcon had pushed the coach into a siding while he went to fetch some trucks from within one of the mines, and so Stuart shunted his empty trucks away and started preparing to fetch the loaded ones.

Stuart stopped on the small runoff siding as the coach, waiting patiently for the workers to call him up. He felt the soot in his smokebox gather again, and tried in vain not to sneeze. Just as Falcon exited the mine, it happened.

Stuart sneezed violently, blowing a huge cloud of smoke, ash and soot into the air. It stunned his driver, who knocked his regulator and Stuart lurched backwards. The driver dove for the brakes, but Stuart hit the coach, which went sailing along the line.

***

“It burst through the buffers, and tumbled over the edge of the cliff, falling down until it hit the water. It burst apart, and its pieces sunk to the bottom of the damn dam,” Sir Handel said, glaring at Peter Sam.
“I couldn’t help it!” exclaimed Peter Sam. “I was so badly maintained I was barely running at that point! You saw the amount that I sneezed out my funnel.”
“I also saw you ram my coach off the edge of a cliff!” hissed Sir Handel.
“They got you another coach!”
“It was a converted cattle truck,” seethed Sir Handel. “They never bought another proper coach, and I had to haul this dirty, stupid pile of scrap up and down the line!”

Skarloey’s eyes widened – that explained all too much.

The two began to argue, while the other Skarloey Railway engines talked quietly.

“I swear these two are bipolar,” sighed Rheneas. “One moment they are best friends, next they hate each other.”
“They often unite against a common enemy,” mused Duke. “But this certainly suggests that we need to keep an eye on them.”
“What I want to know,” grumbled Duncan, “is why this is flaring up now?”

None of the engines had an answer.

Notes:

Sir Handel developed a hatred of 4-axle coaches as a consequence of his bogie-coach from the MSR - a piece of home - being completely destroyed and replace by a literal cattle truck. No wonder he was so messed up when he saw the vintage stock of the SKR! Still, I wanted to show that a lot of what caused their hatred for one another was actually caused by external factors. I'll talk more about that after the conclusion tomorrow - so tune in!
Kudos, comments and shares are incredible, and y'all deserve cookies for how awesome you are!

Chapter 4: No Place To Call Home

Summary:

Sir Handel and Peter Sam finally reveal their agreement, and with it things finally all fall into place...

Notes:

We've made it to the finale! Who's ready to do some hardcore learning about Peter Sam and Sir Handel's buried trauma?
Yes, that's actually what I said. Go read and try not to think about it.

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

Chapter Text

It took some time for Peter Sam and Sir Handel to stop arguing. Stanley sighed.
“You two don’t normally act like this – so fess up. Sir Handel’s not tried to worm out of work in months—"
“Hey!”
“And it’s not an anniversary of anything special —”
“Well…” Peter Sam began. “It also has to do with a… an agreement we made. Didn’t any of you find it odd we didn’t talk about Duke until after Sir Robert came to open the loop?”
“It was odd,” agreed Rheneas.
“Well, we agreed – some time ago – that it was best that we find the perfect home before we told anyone about Duke,” Peter Sam went on.
“And you thought that home was the Aluminium Works!” burst out Sir Handel.

Peter Sam glared.
“I wanted Duke back, was that so wrong?”
“It was when that place was going to scrap us,” hissed Sir Handel.

***

One of the large aluminium processing machines had broken down. Its gears had buckled, and were in a sorry shape. Workmen swarmed the machine like ants to an apple core.

“I hope they mend it,” Stuart’s driver said. Stuart smiled.
“So do I.” Stuart began to see all the good things about the Aluminium Works. It was not a long line – but it was very busy. The expansion was going so well that sometimes the trains were too long for Stuart and Falcon – a bigger engine like Duke would have been perfect.

***

“I thought I’d found a home for Duke,” said Peter Sam mournfully. “But of course, Sir Handel didn’t agree.”

***

“We cannot tell them about Duke!”
“Why not? They’ve looked after us for years.”
“Because they won’t keep Duke, they’ll melt him down. Listen to me you thick-headed pile of sc—” Falcon broke off as tears welled in Stuart’s eyes. He was done with Falcon constantly snapping at him – the blue engine had been like that since the coach had fallen off the cliff.
“I’m not stupid, Falcon. I know that Duke isn’t safe. But where is safer than here? We’ve been here for nearly six years Falcon.”
“And they will toss us out the moment that extension is finished. Face it, Stuart, you cannot save everyone.”

Stuart said no more, instead going unhappily to sleep.

The next morning, Stuart was puffing along the line when he spotted the large processing machine being lifted out of its slot and onto a flatbed.

“What’s going on with that?” he asked.
“It’s being scrapped,” replied his driver. Stuart was horrified.
“Why? It only has some broken gears!”
“It’s too hard to repair,” sighed his driver. “So, they’re taking it to the smelter’s and replacing it. Besides, it was getting old. Who knew what would be next?”
“Would… would they do that to us?” wondered Stuart aloud. Falcon looked over, a telling look in his eyes. Stuart felt like he could cry. He began to see all the bad things about the Aluminium Works. The shed they’d been promised and never received, the grimy condition both engines were in, the bad quality coal that choked Stuart’s funnel – this place was no home. It was a prison. Duke would be cut up in an instant.

“Alright Falcon, you win.” Falcon didn’t even smirk – he just shot Stuart a sympathetic look.

That night, they agreed to never talk about their old Granpuff to anyone – not until they agreed the line was safe.

It was less than a month later when the lorries arrived to take their jobs, and the pair were sheeted on a siding out of the way.

***

“So that’s why…” gasped Skarloey.

Peter Sam and Sir Handel shot furious looks at one another.

“It’s been fifty years – and since that day Sir Handel has always treated me like a child!” burst out Peter Sam.
“I have not!” spluttered Sir Handel. “And you act like a child anyway!”
“I do not,” hissed Peter Sam. “I am nearly seventy Sir Handel, I am well aware of how things work. Just because I don’t act like some scheming fox—”
“Fox?!”
“It hurts me Sir Handel,” Peter Sam said. “We used to so close, and then you started treating me like I was beneath you.”
“And you started snapping insults at me,” Sir Handel retorted. Duke sighed.

“It is clear I did not prepare you for a world without me,” he said solemnly. “You both lost each other for the worst reasons, and we have let it go on for far too long.”
“I agree,” said a familiar voice. The Thin Controller strode over. “I think it is high time the pair of you got over this. You will both go to a therapy session every week.”
“We will try and get past this,” promised Duke.

That was the start of the two trying to mend their broken bonds – a process that would take years. But it was a start, and sometimes it’s the first step that counts, isn’t it?

Notes:

This is what I've been angling myself towards - the weird fact that Peter Sam and Sir Handel said nothing about Duke until after Duck had oh-so-helpfully told them all 'Dukes' were scrapped. Why did they do that? I think it was because they were put in a place where talking about Duke could get him scrapped, spooking them both and leaving them silent for years afterwards.
What a thought.
Next time: 1994. Who can tell me what special event happened in Britain in 1994 that might influence my work?

Series this work belongs to:

← Previous Work Part 31 of The Extended Railway Series Next Work →

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Comments

Multiple_Fandom_Writer on Chapter 1 Fri 16 Sep 2022 01:04AM UTC

So now we’re getting to see how badly they were traumatized. In all honesty this works better than my own theory.

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1. Weirdo_with_A_Quill on Chapter 1 Fri 16 Sep 2022 03:31AM UTC
  
  I'd love to hear your theory sometime! And yes, it is time to watch Peter Sam and Sir Handel reopen old wounds in the name of fixing their bond.
  
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2. 1. Multiple_Fandom_Writer on Chapter 1 Sat 17 Sep 2022 02:44AM UTC
    
    So my theory was that Sir Handel was shaken up by moving twice in the span of a decade, so in his early days on the SKR he was basically just rude, arrogant and selfish overall.
    
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  2. 1. Weirdo_with_A_Quill on Chapter 1 Sat 17 Sep 2022 10:02PM UTC
      
      That makes a lot of sense - I can see Sir Handel being resistant to change. And it would definitely ruin his attitude by the time he arrived on the SKR! I just want to know where the laziness came from. Not even I have an answer to that!
      
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SteamZilla on Chapter 2 Sat 17 Sep 2022 01:56AM UTC

Oh dear it’s never good when one is specific about something I fear this Coach is why Sir Handel only likes Bogey Coaches

Last Edited Sat 17 Sep 2022 01:57AM UTC

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1. Weirdo_with_A_Quill on Chapter 2 Sat 17 Sep 2022 09:59PM UTC
  
  Is that the only thing you fear for this coach and it's influence? I wonder what it's done to Sir Handel and Peter Sam's friendship...
  
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SteamZilla on Chapter 3 Sat 17 Sep 2022 11:42PM UTC

Duncan has a point what happened to make Peter and Handel flare up against each other again?

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1. Weirdo_with_A_Quill on Chapter 3 Sun 18 Sep 2022 09:00AM UTC
  
  Ah, a worthy question - and one you will have to wait until tomorrow to hear! Hope you like the tension XD
  
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lswrO2-222 (Guest) on Chapter 3 Sun 18 Sep 2022 12:26AM UTC

‘They often unite against a common enemy’, eh…? Perhaps that musing of Duke’s will prove Really Useful in getting Peter Sam and Sir Handel to finally resolve these emotions!

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1. Weirdo_with_A_Quill on Chapter 3 Sun 18 Sep 2022 09:02AM UTC
  
  Perhaps... I suppose you'll just have to wait and see =)
  
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Fintastica on Chapter 3 Sun 18 Sep 2022 07:21AM UTC

Yeah I could see how Sir Handel wouldn't be too happy about his one thing getting ruined right in front of him. Not a great life in the aluminum works.

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1. Weirdo_with_A_Quill on Chapter 3 Sun 18 Sep 2022 09:02AM UTC
  
  I can imagine that the Aluminium Works wouldn't care much about Sir Handel and Peter Sam - it's a profit-based mining company (and we all know how they always seem to adhere to the rules...) Sir Handel would certainly have been badly traumatised by the event - no wonder he's so protective of Millicent and Gertrude!
  
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Emily12Studios (Guest) on Chapter 3 Thu 03 Oct 2024 09:49PM UTC

If only Stuart had had ... a Giesl injector!

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1. Weirdo_with_A_Quill on Chapter 3 Sat 05 Oct 2024 08:36AM UTC
  
  Now isn't that a thought! If only he had... not that it would have helped, with how badly the pair were maintained. Poor Stuart
  
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Multiple_Fandom_Writer on Chapter 4 Mon 19 Sep 2022 02:47AM UTC

The Channel Tunnel?

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1. Multiple_Fandom_Writer on Chapter 4 Mon 19 Sep 2022 02:50AM UTC
  
  It’s either that or the giant strike that BR employees took.
  
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2. 1. SteamZilla on Chapter 4 Mon 19 Sep 2022 05:19AM UTC
    
    Perhaps both
    
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  2. Weirdo_with_A_Quill on Chapter 4 Mon 19 Sep 2022 05:34AM UTC
    
    Still not quite - but British Railways is closer to the answer.
    
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3. Weirdo_with_A_Quill on Chapter 4 Mon 19 Sep 2022 05:34AM UTC
  
  A clever idea - but no. =)
  
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4. Weirdo_with_A_Quill on Chapter 4 Mon 19 Sep 2022 10:45PM UTC
  
  Nope, but good guess!
  
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SteamZilla on Chapter 4 Mon 19 Sep 2022 05:19AM UTC

Hmmm 94 94 not the crowing of the Queen I know for a fact the Berlin Wall fell a few years later Kennedy wouldn’t have anything to do with Europe. Not sure entirely

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1. Weirdo_with_A_Quill on Chapter 4 Mon 19 Sep 2022 05:36AM UTC
  
  Queen's coronation was 1953, Berlin Wall was 1989 and Kennedy died in the 60's - so no to them. Think closer to Britain. (And no, it's not Margaret Thatcher either XD )
  
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Fintastica on Chapter 4 Mon 19 Sep 2022 05:47AM UTC

the poor therapists who end up on Sodor.
im fairly certain that university doesn't prepare one for the experience of giving therapy to steam locomotives. That's a thought-
in 1994 Bert turned 100 sooooo that's that. Oh and British Railways went private for a few years. (Hey wait, Bert is older then Edward-)

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1. Weirdo_with_A_Quill on Chapter 4 Mon 19 Sep 2022 10:51PM UTC
  
  The poor therapists - although imagine the Paper they could submit: 'A Study on the Trauma Found in Locomotives'. Now that's a paper I'd like to read! There would certainly be enough cases found on Sodor.
  Bert is far older than I thought he was - and yet for some reason he still acted pretty childishly in 'Tit-for-Tat'. Age doesn't always equal wisdom I guess.
  British Railways went private... now there's a thought. Guess you'll have to wait and see.
  
  Last Edited Mon 19 Sep 2022 10:52PM UTC
  
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Uncle_Galusha on Chapter 4 Wed 12 Apr 2023 12:52AM UTC

Oops now i see we've covered this exact same ground!! I should have checked... if you want, i can take my fic down. I'm really sorry.

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1. Weirdo_with_A_Quill on Chapter 4 Wed 12 Apr 2023 05:58AM UTC
  
  Please don't! It's a given that people are going to have similar ideas and similar locations - this is fanfiction after all - but you seem to be taking your story in a very different way! I'd love an acknowledgement, if it's alright with you, but otherwise I don't care. It's your own work, I can see that very clearly! It looks good, I'd personally like to read more.
  
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anonymous_boxcar on Chapter 4 Tue 23 May 2023 11:55PM UTC

Ooh, this is excellent. Peter Sam and Sir Handel’s time at the aluminum works has so much mystery surrounding it in canon. I love seeing people’s interpretations of that period; your take excels at bringing out how Sir Handel and Peter Sam become very different people who aren’t on the same page anymore.
There’s a sadness to this fic that isn’t overblown or melodramatic. It’s in the little things, such as their different ways of coping with their recent loss, their clinging to certain objects and people, and the conspicuous absence of any management or oversight. And most compelling of all is how we see their stressful circumstances drive them apart. They have so little control over their lives now; Duke is the only life they feel they can influence. It makes sense that the weight of their promise to find him a home crushes them over time.
And it feels very believable and in-character that they’d develop divergent ideas of an ideal home. Peter Sam’s always been a bit more of an optimist and Sir Handel’s always been more cynical, so of course the former would try to adapt to their new surroundings while the latter sees the negative, rejecting it all. We can see how the trauma of this place would reinforce their perspectives, leading them to blame each other for gaining nothing at the end of it all. The painful, dramatic irony is this was never a situation either of them could make any better. The aluminum plant would always neglect them, always plan to throw them aside. They only got so caught up in their developing animosity that they couldn’t focus on the real enemy. But we can see that thanks to your efforts, and that is very good writing.
On the whole, this is a sensitive and thoughtful fic that spins a quiet tragedy out of this gap in canon. I appreciate that it doesn’t have a happy ending, exactly, but a kind of catharsis. There’s also an open promise for a better future for these two. They aren’t at the aluminum plant anymore and they don’t have to carry it between them anymore, either. (And I love how everyone cares for them and wants them to be happier.)
Very well done as always!

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1. Weirdo_with_A_Quill on Chapter 4 Wed 24 May 2023 12:02PM UTC
  
  Thank you! Building Sir Handel and Peter Sam's time at the aluminium works into a story has been on my bucket list for a while. Like you say, it has just so much mystery surrounding that time period! All we do know is that they go in as best friends and siblings, and leave as two engines who clearly care for one another but have lost all of that closeness. It's really sad to read, and I just wanted to figure out why.
  This fic is sad. It really is. Especially when all of their circumstances are just ripping them apart at the seams. So many stories have characters come together and grow stronger due to stress and pain... but I just love a bit of angst. And it's how people really do deal with stress and loss. That loss of control has such an impact too - them losing Duke and then only having his memory and their promises to hold, even as it tears them apart.
  I love that idea that Peter Sam is an optimist with a dash of cynic he picked up from Sir Handel and Sir Handel is a cynic with a hint of the optimism that Peter Sam has. It's buried deep down, and it was crushed by their circumstances. Being in the Aluminium Works just wrecked them, and having one try to embrace their new home while the other does everything he can to shun it just felt so realistic for them. I really wanted to emulate just how raw the pair were when they arrived on the Skarloey Railway. Sir Handel instantly finds negatives and insults everything because he's just so angry at the world, while Peter Sam is desperately trying to find positives, singing and making friends and regressing into naivety because it's better than dealing with the pain. And these two very different viewpoints just tear them apart.
  I started this book knowing they wouldn't have a beautiful happy ending, but rather a step in the right direction. This book was them acknowledging that they have a major problem in their memories and experiences at the aluminium plant, and they can move on from them. Especially with their friends and family.
  Thank you so much!
  
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