Chapter Text
Far away, on the West side of Sodor sits a little railway that goes from a harbour at Tidmouth through to Elsbridge. Passenger trains are pulled by horses here, but the trucks are pulled by a very strange-looking engine. Her name is Beth, and she was built on the chassis of a truck, but with a small red boiler made by a nearby shipbuilder attached to a firebox. Beth wasn’t strong enough to pull passengers, so she was usually put on goods work. She found solace at the Harbour, where she would occasionally meet some of her brothers and sisters as they came in.
“Hello Beth!” The boats would call.
“Hello there!” Beth would respond. They would chat about their days and the adventures the boats had had. When Beth wasn’t talking with them, she was busy shunting trucks and hauling goods along the line. She was always happy when she was allowed to help unload the heavier loads. She was much stronger than the horses that pulled the passengers, and she knew it. The manager was always sympathetic towards Beth, but she couldn’t help but feel sorry for herself.
“Cheer up.” Her driver would soothe. “You’re much better than those horses. For a start, you’re much cleaner.” He chuckled. Beth’s driver usually made her feel better.
One evening, a large boat was meant to come in. It was one of Beth’s sisters. Her name was Nancy, and she blew her whistle loudly. Beth responded with her own whistle, which was mounted on her boiler. Before long, the night’s fog began to settle in, and Beth had a silver lamp fitted to her front. The harbour’s manager came over to Beth and her driver.
“The SS Nancy can’t make its way into port with all this fog.” The manager explained. “We’ve got a rope and a few extra horses. Could you help guide her into port?”
“We’d be happy to, wouldn’t we, James?”
“That we would, Mr Harris.” Beth’s driver accepted. The manager smiled, and tied the rope to Beth’s buffer. “Come on, Beth. Let’s get your sister in.” He smiled, patting the side of Beth’s firebox, before yanking his hand away and shaking it. Soon, they had the horses either side of Beth, and she blew her whistle loudly.
“Come on. Come on.” She groaned as she puffed backwards. The horses strained at the ropes, but Beth’s smoke billowed high above her funnel. Nancy blew her whistle loudly and proudly, with Beth responding soon after. Soon, Nancy was finally in port, and blew her whistle loudly.
“Thank you, Beth!” She called. But Beth was too out of puff to respond.
“Alright, Beth. That shall do for today.” The harbour’s manager smiled. “You may go back to your shed at Tidmouth.” Beth’s driver drove her all the way to Tidmouth, where she quickly fell into a deep sleep.