A Truly HiT Era of Sodor

"Unsolved Mysteries", 1968

Derek was new to the Fat Controller's railway. He was originally sent to help Bill and Ben at the clay pits, however the work proved too much for his engine. To counter this the Fat Controller sent Derek to the newly reopened and much smaller line to Kirk Ronan. Derek enjoyed working the line very much, however couldn't shake the feeling that something was just off.

One afternoon, as the sky grew orange, Derek was shunting some trucks away in the yard when James chuffed in.

"Ello' James." chirped Derek. "What a wonderful line we have here, wouldn't you say?"

"Aye I guess you could say that."

Derek was puzzled by the reply. Definitely wasn't what he had been expecting. "What do you mean by that?"

"There's just something off about this line. That may just be the fact it's been here for years and I've rarely ever seen any train enter or exit the junction. At least before that station was built."

"How long has the line been here?"

"Oh I don't know exactly. It was here when I arrived, however how long before I'm not sure. That's something to ask Edward, Thomas, or even Fergus for that matter."

"When you say off, do you mean eerie. Maybe a sense of dread almost."

"I assume you've felt it too?"

For as much as Derek loved the line, he couldn't shake the eerie feeling of it all.

"It's probably just the nerves. Ever since that station opened we've been having a lot of incidents as of late."

"What kind of incidents?"

"Well Gordon crashed through the station, Percy was buried in a rock slide when the coal mine collapsed, and that's just the tip of it all. It's even getting the little engines up in the hills too."

Derek gulped he had never been one of superstition, but couldn't ignore the coincidence of it all.

"Well I must be off. I'd rather spend the night in my shed than out here."

James whistled farewell and left the worried Derek behind.

As night arrived Derek sat in the shed thinking about what James had said.

"It's just James filling my radiator with nonsense." he thought to himself. "Everything that has been happening is just rotten luck, that's all."

Derek chucked "it's only a branch line, it can't do anything."

Derek began to shut his eyes as the weight of sleep began to fall upon him. Suddenly his eyes shot open as a bang echoed out from the yard. Derek looked frantically around to see a truck squeak and rattle through the sidings. Derek felt his frames shutter. He didn't remember any train due to arrive at this time.

"H-Hello?" he called. "Is anyone there?"

But there was no reply.

Before Derek could call again he heard the sound of an engine. He peered through the dimly lit track, but didn't see anyone yet the puffing was getting louder and to Derek's horror faster. It sounded as though it was on his line. Derek shut his eyes as the puffing reached its climax and a massive gust of wind went right through him and the faint sound of a whistle blared through the night.