Thomas & Friends Season 12 Reimagined

Gordon Takes a Shortcut

Gordon was in a hurry. Some VIPs and some workmen all needed to be picked up from Great Waterton and taken to Knapford Station by 5 o'clock. He and Stanley were racing to get their jobs done first; whoever got to Great Waterton first would be the one to pick up the VIPs and the other engine would pick up the workmen.

Steaming into the smelters' yard with his flatbeds of scrap metal, Gordon desperately looked around for someone who could uncouple him from his train. When he saw no-one, he blew his whistle loudly.

"Silly Gordon," wheeshed Bill, who was shunting trucks in the area, "nobody's going to scrap you if you aren't using steam!"

"Or are they?" Ben said in a spooky voice as he puffed up alongside Gordon.

"That joke wasn't funny the first time," Gordon huffed indignantly. He puffed away as soon as someone had uncoupled him from his flatbeds.

As he chuffed along, he was dreaming up ways he could win his race against Stanley.

"Well," he said to himself, "Stanley hasn't been here very long, while I have pulled the express for years. I know the line better than he does! What if I were to take a shortcut to get my work done quicker?"

Gordon's last job of the day was the one that would take him the longest: taking the fast train from Vicarstown to Tidmouth.

At Vicarstown Station, Gordon waited impatiently for the sound of the guard's whistle.

'I shall be glad to take a shortcut on this journey,' he thought grumpily.

Finally, the time came for him to leave. He huffed off with a funnel full of ideas.

"If I am right (and I usually am), there should be a right turning up here!"

Gordon's driver and firemen weren't sure about this at all but they knew they didn't have a lot of time to cover so much distance. They didn't want the VIPs or the workmen to arrive at Knapford Station too late.

Thick vegetation swallowed Gordon and his train up. Only cracks of grey cloud were now visible through the canopy of trees.

"I hope this pays off," murmured Gordon.

He was soon out of the woods. However, he had less and less of an idea of where he was going.

Gordon took the left track at the next junction he came to, thinking it was pointing in roughly the direction he needed to go in. He puffed along, analysing every tree and every faraway hill in the hope of figuring out where he was.

Soon, he could hear voices and see steam rising into the air. Engines were up ahead!

Gordon was excited until he saw who the engines were.

"Hello, Gordon!" peeped Ben.

"I've never seen you here before," remarked Bill, "are you helping us with these logs today?"

"No, I jolly well am not!" shouted Gordon.

Ignoring the giggling twins, he started looking for which track to take next. There was a track leading to the left, a track leading to the right and a track leading straight ahead. It wasn't clear where any of them led.

Gordon didn't have any idea what to do. He didn't like Bill and Ben in the slightest but he knew he needed their help.

"Actually," he said, trying not to stutter, "I need your help. I need to get to Tidmouth Station as soon as possible...and I'm lost."

The twins found this very amusing but they agreed to help him.

"The right track is the one you want," puffed Ben, "we'll show you the way!"

"If you two are going in front, you'll both have to go quickly. I am pulling a passenger train, you know!"

...

The three engines came to a stop on a hill. The bottom of the hill was to the left of the track and although there were a lot of trees, Gordon could just make out the main line in the distance.

"Brilliant!" chuffed Gordon, "Now, how do we get down there?"

"Not by taking this track," giggled Bill.

"But...you said I should take the right track!"

"Yes," said Ben, "but this isn't the right track. It's the wrong one!"

Gordon was furious. Without waiting any more for the silly little engines, he started reversing. He didn't see BoCo shunting a flatbed behind him. He biffed the flatbed, sending the logs on it rolling down the hill and onto the track below!

"Goodness," cried BoCo, "what are you even doing here, Gordon?"

The twins both felt a sudden pang of guilt. They quickly owned up to what they had done.

"Well," oiled BoCo, "we'll just have to hope that nobody crashes into those logs. We need to make everyone aware of them as soon as possible."

"I'm on my way to Tidmouth Station," puffed Gordon, "I can send the message if you can show me the way there."

"We'll do it, we'll do it!" said both twins at the same time.

Gordon studied their faces. They both seemed genuinely sorry. He looked over at BoCo, who simply raised an eyebrow.

"Very well," said Gordon at last, "if you both promise me that there'll be no more trickery. This is an emergency!"

"Yes, of course!" replied the twins.

Gordon sighed and reversed back to the junction with the twins following him. He could hear the passengers getting restless.

Bill and Ben led Gordon down the middle track.

'The left track will probably end up being the one I should have taken,' thought Gordon. He couldn't fully trust the twins. On the other hand, he couldn't fully trust his own instincts.

The three engines were beginning to travel uphill.

"Do not waste my time with another trick!" Gordon yelled, "This is an emergency!"

"We already know it's an emergency!" Ben huffed.

"Keep your funnel on!" Bill chuffed.

Soon, the engines reached the top of the hill and began to go down the other side.

After a while travelling lower and lower, they finally rejoined the main line. There wasn't too far to go now. They all pumped their pistons.

Eventually, they arrived at Tidmouth Station. Despite being a few minutes late, the passengers whistled, clapped and cheered. They were just glad to be safely at their stop. Gordon's driver and fireman were a little less enthused but even they were relieved to have made it.

Soon enough, the station master knew about the logs and was off to telephone for help.

Gordon couldn't help but be impressed with the twins

"You two can be very fast and very helpful when you need to be!"

"You've probably lost your race now, though," said Bill sheepishly.

"And you're still late," added Ben.

"Oh well," huffed Gordon, "if I get in trouble for being late, it's my fault. I shouldn't have taken that shortcut anyway. And as for the race," he paused for a second before finishing, "Stanley deserves to pull important passengers at least once before the year is over!"

All three of them burst out laughing.