Traintober 2024: Day 3 - Trust
Gordon Puts a Lot of Emphasis on Trusting his Crew:
There is one fact of life on the North Western Railway that really sets it apart from its mainland counterparts: the engines have set crews. Edward had Charlie and Sidney for decades, Henry’s crew from the 1920s and 30s still visited their engine even after the accident that took their ability to stand on the footplate and the driver and fireman that had brought Thomas to Sodor way back during the Great War had both married families from the island and had children who worked on the railway themselves.
But it was Gordon who was, surprisingly, closest to his crew. This was less due to Gordon necessarily liking or confiding in his crew – not that he didn’t, but he wasn’t quite like Edward in that regard – but rather the result of Gordon being the express engine. At the speeds Gordon went, trusting his crew was paramount, and the big blue engine hated any day when one or the other was ill.
“Relief fireman just doesn’t know how to fire a big engine like me!” Gordon had once claimed to the other engines. “They can fire Henry just fine,” commented Duck. “And besides, it isn’t normal to be so reliant on one crew. What will you do if both are sick?” “My driver is never sick,” Gordon replied grandly. “And if he was, then I would have to stay in the shed.” “I’d be careful if I were you,” Duck said. “Humans aren’t as resilient as us engines – I would get ready for the day they both are out sick.”
Gordon thought Duck was being very silly, though he really ought to have known better. Unlike all of the other engines on the island, Duck had worked with many crews back at Paddington and was used to having different drivers at the controls. But not even Duck could have predicted what would happen when Duck’s premonition came to pass…
***
It was a cold, damp Sunday when the shed foreman strode in to give the engines their jobs. During the late autumn, the railway scaled their timetable right back, using the dip in traffic to repair the engines and maintain the track. Henry had been cooled the night before so the workers could do some repairs on his regulator and was dozing in the corner. Duck was preparing to head out to begin shunting the trains, muttering grumpily under his breath at the timetable his driver had shown him.
“Gordon,” the foreman began, “your driver and fireman have both had to call in sick today, a temporary crew will be taking their place.” Gordon went red in the face, his steam pressure shooting right up. “They will not!” spluttered Gordon. “Get Henry to take the train!” “Henry is being repaired,” the foreman replied evenly. Gordon scowled. “Then how about James?” “James is already busy,” retorted the foreman. “Then Edward shall take it; he just got back from his overhaul; he should be fine!” The foreman rolled his eyes. He was used to the engines getting antsy over new crews, but Gordon was being downright hostile!
Duck sighed, rolling up alongside the big engine. “You know, this sort of fuss isn’t normal,” Duck began. “And not just on the Great Western! All of the big railways swapped crews between their engines.” Gordon sniffed. “Little Duck, you don’t understand because you’re so new to this railway… and also a common tank engine, but there is a level of trust needed between an important express engine like me and his crew. I simply cannot allow just any duo step into my cab, they need to be experts!”
Duck let off steam indignantly. “Now you listen here, Gordon!” he snapped. “A crew is a crew, and no matter what we need them to be useful. So stop your boileraching and deal with it. I have coaches to shunt, and I can’t run my yard to time if you leave the express marooned at the platform!” Duck snorted away, muttering under his breath about ‘no-good Nor Easters’ and how ‘this railway needs more engines’.
Gordon just huffed.
His mood hadn’t improved by the time his temporary crew arrived. “Well, looks like we get you today!” chirped the driver, swinging up into Gordon’s cab. Gordon sneered, and glared down at the fireman. “Are you going to do your checks or not,” hissed Gordon. The fireman jumped! “I’m on it! I’m on it! Don’t blow a valve,” he exclaimed, and hurried away to oil and check all of Gordon’s motion.
Gordon spent the entire time critiquing the poor fireman, finding every little issue possible to make a fuss over. By the time they set out for the platform, both driver and fireman were sick of their temporary engine!
Things only got worse at the station. The temporary crew were more used to goods engines than express engines and were stiff with the controls. Gordon bumped the coaches, and that was enough to set him off again.
“I cannot do this!” he thundered, loud enough to startle the entire station into staring at him. “I need a crew I can trust, and clearly you are not capable of handling coaches! They require care, care you hear me!”
Duck quietly shunted Edward’s goods into the furthest platform, before sidling up alongside. “We could swap crews, if that’d help,” the Great Western engine offered. “My driver has to be quick-witted to shunt in the yards, you can trust ‘im.” Gordon glared down at Duck, then sighed. “I suppose you are right, Duck. At the very least your crew will know how to treat coaches correctly.” The foreman agreed readily, excited to placate Gordon and get him gone already. The two crews switched over, and Gordon huffed grandly out with the express. He was very impressed with Duck’s crew! They knew exactly how to handle an engine, and he couldn’t even find one complaint!
Duck on the other hand, wasn’t as pleased. The temporary crew were not used to shunting either, and Duck spent most of his day trying to teach them how to be careful. The poor engine was exhausted when he finally slunk back to the sheds.
“You might be right about one thing Gordon,” Duck admitted. “What’s that?” asked Gordon. “An engine really does need to be able to trust in their crew!”