Engine Trouble (2014)

"What about the passengers?" "Nobody is going to be outside when it's this cold." "Exactly. Why should we go out if nobody else is?"

- Thomas, Gordon and James

Engine Trouble is a magazine story, illustrated using images from the CGI television series. It was republished in 2017 under the title Chilly Steamies.

Plot
Early one winter's morning, all of the engines are waking up just as a guard opens up the shed doors. A bitter cold wind howls into the shed and the engines feel freezing cold. James decides that he is not going to work in the cold. Thomas and Percy think that the Fat Controller will be very cross, but when Gordon says that nobody would go out in this weather, they come round to his way of thinking.

It is not long before the Fat Controller comes along and demands to know what his engines are playing at. The engines stand firm and refuse to come out until the weather improves. The Fat Controller says that he will do the work himself. As the Fat Controller pulls a trolley of crates, he calls Bertie's driver and tells him that they will need to work hard to pick up all of the passengers. Thomas feels bad and thinks about helping, but a chilly gust of wind soon changes his mind.

By the afternoon, the Fat Controller is exhausted. Percy watches the Fat Controller struggling to carry some mail sacks and decides he cannot just watch any longer and decides to help. Gordon protests as Percy runs out of the shed, but Percy does not listen to him and is soon loaded with mail and chuffing away.

A few hours later, the steam engines are still shivering in the shed as Percy returns with a smile on his face. Percy tells the others that moving about with a warm boiler had soon warmed him up. Thomas, James and Gordon all look at each other for a moment before racing out of the shed and asking the Fat Controller for work. Percy just chuckles to himself.

That night, all of the engines are back in the shed where the chilly wind rushes around them again. Thomas says that he cannot wait to get back to work in the morning.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Bertie

Locations

 * Tidmouth Sheds