The Golfers

"I'm terribly sorry. I did not mean to hit the golf ball towards the railway at all. I'm not very good at golf yet, you see. I often hit my golf balls into bunkers full of sand but never before have I hit one into a bunker full of coal!"

- The golfer

The Golfers is a magazine story.

Plot
Thomas is puffing along his branch line with a train of trucks. The trucks are not being bothersome and Thomas is happy. He passes two men practicing golf in a field. The golfers stop and wave at Thomas who whistles in return. One of the golfers then hits a bad shot. The ball is sent flying towards the railway line. By now, Thomas and his driver are looking at the track, but they do not see where the ball landed.

When Thomas reaches the main line, his driver shovels more coal into the firebox. He is surprised when he finds a small, white piece of coal in Thomas' bunker. Then Gordon arrives and Thomas' driver shows Gordon's driver the strange piece of coal. The Fat Controller is on Gordon's train and comes to have a look too. The Fat Controller announces that it is a golf ball, not coal at all. Then a car stops by the station and a man steps out. He asks, rather embarrassed, if anyone has found a golf ball. The Fat Controller hands him the ball and gives him a telling off for hitting it towards one of his engines. The man apologises and tells the Fat Controller that he did not mean to; he is just not very good at golf. The Fat Controller accepts the golfer's apology and offers to have a game with the golfer one day. The two men then begin to talk about golf and become so interested that Gordon has to blow his whistle to remind the Fat Controller to get back on the train.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * The Golfers
 * Gordon