Parade

**Parade** is the fifteenth and final episode of the second season of the Stories of Sodor and the thirtieth episode overall.

Parade/Transcript

## Plot

Godred's Day, an annual holiday celebrated on Sodor, is a commemoration of Godred McHarold, an ancient king. Godred's Day is preceded by a week of festivities and on the day itself, the celebrations are at their peak when a grand parade is carried out by the island's engines, which ends with a fireworks display at Vicarstown. Throughout this time, Sodor's native language, Sudrian, is more widely spoken, and those who are fluent in the language enjoy teasing others who aren't.

One morning at Brendam, Colin and Lily are talking to each other in Sudrian. Peter tells them he likes remembering their roots, but it sometimes comes across as rude. Just then, Diesel oils in, and Colin and Lily greet him in Sudrian. Diesel then informs Peter that Mr. Zorro had told him to tell Peter that he is supposed to take a heavy goods train to the fort this afternoon. Diesel tells Peter he and Adam will fill in for him at his job at the Lumber Yard. Lily tells Diesel in Sudrian to remember to make sure his trucks are full before he takes them, and to her and Colin's surprise, Diesel answers back that he will remember, in Sudrian, and he chortles away. Peter reveals to Colin and Lily that Adam had been giving him and Diesel lessons in Sudrian, and Peter knows some Sudrian himself. Lily isn't annoyed when she knows she should be and thanks Peter for telling them the truth. Peter tells Lily he's always liked her because she's gracious in defeat.

That afternoon, Peter has brought his heavy goods to Fort Sudrian where Edward is, looking rather annoyed. Edward reminds Peter that the fort was supposed to get its own engine, who arrived today, and he is an R.O.D., Railway Operating Division; the locomotives who had served in the Great War. Edward tells Peter that he's worked with a few of those engines over the years and they've all been the same insufferable sort; and the fort's new engine, named Benson, is all that and worse. Just then, Benson himself enters the scene and questions Peter, who answers that he's brought in his goods train, which Benson guesses is the train due for arrival at sixteen hundred hours. Edward whispers to Peter that the time is 4 o'clock PM, which Benson then demands there to be 'no whispering amongst the ranks' and orders Edward to be quiet before turning his attention to Peter to tell him that he is late, since the current time is 16:04 and his train was meant to arrive at 16:00. Peter doesn't believe this as he has been here for at least a few minutes and he could've been on time. After threatening to report Edward to his manager after another wise crack, Benson then tells Peter that if he did arrive on time, he apologises to him, but doesn't want to find out if it arrived late. Peter says that if he was late, he wouldn't excuse it since it was only a few minutes. Benson then lectures that they cannot afford any delays in the intense times and after he is finished, Peter answers no to his question. Benson then says, "That's no, SIR, to you, engine! Have I made myself clear?". Edward then sarcastically replies, "No, sir."

Benson went and reported Edward to Mr. Star. Being a war veteran himself, he didn't like hearing that Edward had disrespected a "fellow soldier". Mr. Star removed Edward from regular service and assigned him to maintenance duties. The first order of business was overhauling the sheds at Knapford because the old one had some building code violations. While the shed was being rebuilt, the Nor'Easters had to sleep wherever they could. Some were able to sleep in the sheds at the harbour while some had to sleep in sidings. Others had to camp out outside of Knapford. Thomas was one of the others, whom had to sleep at the Coal Mine at Marston Heights.

On the day before Godred's Day, Thomas and Percy are about to leave the coal mine with a coal train. Kate is disappointed as the mine won't close early enough for her to see the parade. Thomas and Percy depart, and the former tells the latter how upset Kate was and they wonder about what to do. After the two tank engines leave, Kate sets to work, and was very busy, as every depot on the Island needed to be refilled. All throughout the day, numerous coal trains left the mine and were delivered to every corner on Sodor. Near the end of the day, it was time for the last shipment to be delivered. Colin was supposed to take that train, but he got trapped in a siding by some faulty points at Brendam. No one else was available to take the train onto its destination of Barrow-in-Furness, so Kate volunteered to deliver it. As she set off from Marston Heights, it was getting dark, and when she reached Carldon, a thick fog came down. This meant Kate had to curtail her speed, but she was still making good time. However, because of the fog, she didn't see a tree branch lying on the line until it was too late, and she derailed. Fortunately, she had derailed close to the Ballast Transfer Yard at Crovan's Gate, where her driver could telephone for help. However, the fog had grown thicker by then and the conditions were too unsafe to carry out a rescue, so Kate had to wait until dawn for help.

By dawn, Mickey and Terence had arrived. Kate complains how embarrassing her predicament is, though Mickey tells her she isn't the only engine who has had an accident on Sodor. Terence then asks Mickey how Sodor's safety record compares to the rest of Britain. Mickey answers, "You don't want to know."

At Knapford, Gordon is complaining about being delayed, especially as he had hoped to get his jobs done early and get a wash down before the parade and since he is leading it. Thomas jokingly tells Gordon he can in the ditch next to the Vicarstown Sheds if he gets desperate, and the others laugh except for Gordon. Just then, Mr. Star arrives and tells them about Kate's derailment. The track had been damaged in the accident and it needs to be repaired immediately. Mr. Star orders Toby to go get the flatbed of spare rails at Pier 3, and tells Gordon to bring it to Crovan's Gate, since he is the fastest engine available. Mr. Star tells Thomas to go to the Lumber Yard and pick up a truck of wood to replace any broken sleepers, and Thomas sets off right away. Gordon still complains, and Toby tells him that if the track isn't fixed, the parade might not happen and orders him to get to work, much to his annoyance. Thomas arrives at the Lumber Yard to collect a truck of wood, only to discover that Diesel and Adam are there and have been working there for days on a big contract. The two Midis won't let Thomas take any of their trucks. Thomas goes to take the truck of wood anyway, despite their protests to report him to Joey.

At the rescue scene, the unhurt trucks had been put out of the way as Thomas and Gordon have arrived with their respective items. Kate and the derailed trucks have also been put onto flatbeds to be taken to the works. Gordon asks Mickey if the repairs will be completed on time. Mickey answers that the rails may be fixed rather quickly as they weren't too badly damaged; however, standard procedure concerning such repairs is to make sure the track has as little traffic as possible for at least the next 24 hours. Mickey says he will only cancel the parade if he has to, in the interest of safety, but points out that they will have to fix the track first.

Throughout the next few hours, news of Kate's accident had spread as well as the possibility that the parade could be cancelled. Kate was undergoing repairs at Crovan's Gate while Mickey and his crew worked more efficiently than before to get the tracks fixed. It was difficult for the other engines to not rush over to the scene to help, and the only thing that kept them from doing so was the realisation that such an act could make things worse. By noon, the repairs were completed and Mickey examined the rails, and after careful consideration, he determined that the parade could go ahead and for the engines travel over the repaired section slowly and carefully. Thomas and Gordon promptly returned to Knapford and received wash downs along with the rest of the Nor'Easters, who were all overjoyed that the parade would be happening. Diesel and Adam, who had finished their job at the lumber yard made jokes towards Thomas as they passed by them, but that didn't spoil the Nor'Easters' moods. Once the eight engines were made presentable, they went to Knapford station to assemble for the parade.

At Knapford Station, Kent Brockman of the BBC Radio is the commentator for the show, and as soon as the stationmaster blows his whistle and waves his green flag, the parade starts. Gordon leads off, with Henry, James, Edward, Percy, Thomas with Annie and Clarabel, Toby with Henrietta and Eric following him.

At Brendam, the Midis have assembled for the parade, where Tom Tucker will take over commentating. Things were tense for them, as Adam and Diesel were slightly late in returning for their job at the Lumber Yard. Likewise with the Nor'Easters, as soon as the stationmaster at Brendam blows his whistle and waves his green flag, they start off. Colin leads off, with Lily, Adam, Reginald, Peter, Donald, Douglas and Diesel following him.

Sodor had enjoyed Godred's Day in all its splendor, and both the Mid-Sodor and Skarloey Railways had their own parade and celebrations. The Nor'Easter and Midi parade had gone off without a hitch, proceeding in a slow and orderly manner over the damaged section of track. Kate had also not only been repaired in record time, she got to see the entire parade.

That night, she joined the rest of the engines at Vicarstown for the fireworks, which was preceded by a speech from the Duke of Sodor. After his speech, the fireworks display begins, lighting the sky as bright as the night Godred had set sail for Sodor. As the fireworks are fired, Kate says to Thomas that this was a perfect end for how her day started. Thomas also tells her he's glad she could be here to enjoy it. Kate also adds it's even more special she could be there with him. Edward remembers how on that joyful night, the engines were simply enjoying the celebrations and had mostly forgotten their rivalries. Edward also remarks that the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Edward then reveals something he hadn't mentioned until now; the specific date Godred's Day fell on: August 31st. Edward then finishes with, "And given this was the year 1939, if any of you know your history, then you'll know what happened the very next day…"

## Characters

* Thomas
* Edward
* Gordon
* James
* Percy
* Toby
* Diesel
* Peter
* Colin
* Lily
* Adam
* Mickey
* Kate
* Benson
* Terence
* Mr. Star
* Kent Brockman
* Tom Tucker
* The Duke of Sodor
* Henry *(does not speak)*
* Eric *(does not speak)*
* Donald and Douglas *(do not speak)*
* Reginald *(does not speak)*
* Skarloey *(does not speak)*
* Annie and Clarabel *(do not speak)*
* Mr. Zorro *(does not speak)*
* Henrietta *(not named; does not speak)*
* Clive *(cameo)*
* Neil *(cameo)*
* Matthew *(cameo)*
* Joey *(cameo)*
* Rheneas *(cameo)*
* Ivo Hugh *(cameo)*
* Duncan *(cameo)*
* Duke *(cameo)*
* Atlas *(cameo)*
* Falcon *(cameo)*
* Stuart *(cameo)*
* Andreas *(cameo)*
* Stanley *(cameo)*
* Bertie *(cameo)*
* Trevor *(cameo)*
* Mrs. Star *(cameo)*
* Basil Corbett *(cameo)*
* Godred McHarold *(mentioned)*
* Wendell *(mentioned)*

## Trivia

* This is the last episode of Season 2.
* This episode is adapted from the Lilly Lightship plot-thread of the TUGS episode Regatta.
* The ending of this episode foreshadows the Stories of War miniseries.
* The parade newscasters are named Kent Brockman and Tom Tucker, a reference to the news anchors from "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" respectively.