Flatbeds of Fear (magazine story)

"I don't want to hear the Flatbeds of Fear!"

- Henry

Flatbeds of Fear is a magazine story, illustrated using images from the CGI television series.

Plot
One foggy day, Emily and Henry are at the shunting yard when Thomas arrives. He is very frightened as Salty had told him the story of the "Flatbeds of Fear" earlier. Thomas explains to a very concerned Henry that the "Flatbeds of Fear" roll the rails in search of an engine and they whistle and they wail. Henry thinks this sounds very spooky. Emily is not scared; she thinks that both Thomas and Henry are very silly.

Henry has to pick up pipes from the shunting yard and take them to Vicarstown. He is very worried about hearing the spooky flatbeds. Then, Henry hears a strange noise coming through the fog. Luckily, it is just a cow calling for her calf. Suddenly, Henry hears a loud whistling and is sure that this is the "Flatbeds of Fear", but it is just a stationmaster blowing his whistle.

Eventually, Henry makes it to the shunting yard to pick up the pipes. Then, there is more whistling and this time it cannot be a cow or a stationmaster. Henry is so scared that he slows right down and the driver has to pull into a siding and stop. Henry is so scared that he cannot tell his driver what the problem is so the driver has to call Emily to take over the job.

When Emily arrives, she says Henry is being very silly. Henry explains what he had heard, but Emily is still not scared as she puffs off with the pipes. It is not long before Emily hears the whistling noise too. As Emily speeds up, the noise gets louder. She carries on increasing her speed until she is going too fast. As she rounds a bend, the pipes tumble off her flatbeds. Luckily, the whistling finally stops.

Meanwhile, Thomas is collecting more pipes from the docks when he hears the same eerie whistling sound. Thomas thinks it is the "Flatbeds of Fear", but Cranky tells him that there is no such thing and it was just one of Salty's tall tales. The sound is just the wind whistling through the pipes. Thomas cannot wait to tell Henry and Emily that the "Flatbeds of Fear" are not real after all.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Emily
 * Cranky
 * Salty

Locations

 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Shipping Company
 * Knapford Yards
 * Vicarstown

Trivia

 * This story is based on the eighteenth series episode of the same name.

Goofs

 * Henry is said to travel to the shunting yard to pick up the pipes, but he is already there at the beginning of the story.