Expansion

**Expansion** is the twelfth episode of the fourth season of the Stories of Sodor and the sixty-second episode overall.

Expansion/Transcript

## Plot

 When the Mid-Sodor Railway closed down, all of its engines and most of its rolling stock were acquired by the Skarloey Railway, along with most of the shut down railway's workforce. This included the former owner of the railway, Sir Handel Brown. With Sir Handel having joined the SKR's Board of Directors and becoming General Manager, the owner of the SKR, Mr. Peter Sam, resigned due to health reasons, giving Sir Handel full control over the railway. Under his leadership, the railway grew stronger, with tourists flocking to view the scenery and the diverse fleet. After an especially profitable season, Sir Handel put forward his plans to expand the railway into the Nartwin Valley, north of Crovan's Gate. The first phase was to blast through the ridge that separated the areas, which was completed in early 1961, after which the expansion could truly begin.

At this time, Sir Handel had purchased a new engine from the East Cornwall Mineral Railway, a small maintenance diesel named Rusty. Skarloey and Atlas introduce themselves to the newcomer, who has arrived to assist Atlas in the expansion and to keep the track in good shape. Sir Handel welcomes Rusty to the line before leaving; Skarloey jokingly warns Rusty not to get on his bad side following  the incident with Stanley, while Atlas explains that he and Rusty have to take a goods train from Cros-ny-Cuirn before picking up another load to take into the valley, where he realises that Andreas and, to his dismay, Duncan, are working.

In the valley, Andreas and Duncan are waiting, with the latter complaining as always. Soon enough, Atlas and Rusty arrive, having been delayed due to their train being mistakenly given to Duke, forcing them to chase him down. Andreas warmly introduces himself to the diesel, but Duncan isn't so friendly, as he insults Rusty on arrival and asserts that the sole purpose of diesels is to replace steam engines, prompting Atlas to call him out on his attitude. Duncan continues to complain as he and Andreas leave. Atlas assures Rusty that Duncan typically behaves like this and advises him not to take it personally. Soon, Rusty and Atlas get to work with the expansion, with most of the engines assisting them in their efforts.

One day, Skarloey is looking over at a landmark, which is referred to as the Standing Stones of Sodor. Falcon isn't as impressed, though Rusty is intrigued. As Skarloey comments on how smooth the rails are, Rusty suddenly sees something moving in the bushes nearby. Rusty describes the object as a bear moving on two legs, but Skarloey isn't so sure. Falcon thinks Rusty saw the Nartwin, which Skarloey explains is a creature that resides in the valley according to folklore. The creature is humanoid and hairy and there have been numerous sightings over the years. Falcon also says that Sir Handel has been contemplating setting up charter services centred around finding the creature, with Skarloey predicting that they will have many opportunities to have their eyes playing tricks on them. This theory proves correct, as throughout the next several weeks, humans and engines report sightings of the mysterious creature; a local newspaper published an article on the creature's history, as well as another piece on the standing stones. Sir Handel, using the publicity to his advantage, created a Nartwin express service, which proved to be so successful that extra services were commissioned, as well as rotating the engines to give each of them an experience.

Duncan had been given one of the services and had not only told tourists he thought the Nartwin was as real as the Loch Ness Monster, but had also voiced his opinion that the tour's solitary purpose was to scam gullible fools. That night, Skarloey angrily scolds him for his misconduct while Sir Handel punishes Duncan for offending the entire trainload of passengers by putting him in charge of a new train service called the 'Little Kipper', (commissioned by request of the fisherman at Polwich so they get their fish out) until he develops a new attitude. Despite Duncan's protests, Sir Handel sternly and frustratingly orders him to do the assignments he is given without complaining before he leaves. Duncan once again continues his ranting, to the frustration of his colleagues. The next morning, Skarloey asserts that Duncan will never change, citing that if he weren't so abrasive, he wouldn't be lumbered with all the "degrading jobs". Before Duncan leaves, Rusty warns him to be careful in the gorge due to some rocks falling the night before which have damaged the rails. As he leaves, Duncan rudely dismisses Rusty's warning, calling him smelly.

At Cros-ny-Cuirn, the workmen have finished loading Andreas's train. Andreas is reluctant to set off, given a recent incident with the dynamite that he blames the supervisor for, but when Andreas points this out the supervisor threatens to tell his father (the foreman), which he promptly does after Andreas calls his bluff. Andreas's driver, Murray, decides they should go, but Andreas is quick to notice Murray is feeling under the weather and encourages him to see a doctor. Murray obliges as Andreas sets off on his own. Meanwhile, Duncan is approaching the gorge and is passing through it when he derails due to the damaged stretch of track. Soon, Rusty arrives to help Duncan, who is still ungrateful after being re-railed. Just then, Andreas arrives, having left his train outside the gorge to see if Rusty needed help. Outside the gorge, as the guard got out of his van to urinate, the dynamite in one van explodes, setting off a chain reaction that destroys the rest of the train. The combined power of the explosion causes a landslide in the gorge. Rusty and the workmen swiftly evacuate, but Duncan gets stuck among some rocks. Thinking quickly, Andreas pushes Duncan out of the way, but is unable to get himself out of the way of the catastrophic rockslide and is crushed underneath the rubble, to Duncan's horror.

One night, three days after the landslide, the engines mourn the loss of their friend. Atlas holds Duncan responsible for Andreas' death; despite initially disputing this in his usual abrasive manner, realisation crashes down on the SKR's No. 6, who mourns the fact that he failed to rescue Andreas, despite his best efforts. Presently, Sir Handel arrives and informs his engines that the investigation into the accident has finished, with the supervisor being found to be at fault and taken into custody. Duncan offers to help with repairing the damage, surprising the others due to his change in attitude. Atlas asks to have a funeral for Andreas, which Sir Handel has already agreed to schedule for Friday. On the day of Andreas' memorial, some of the standard gauge engines attended, but their condolences did little to lift the narrow gauge engines' spirits. While the supervisor had been sent to prison and been blamed, the former Mid-Sodor engines felt Duncan was equally guilty. Duncan didn't reply to these harsh words and kept working without complaint. Soon enough, access to the Nartwin Valley was restored and the expansion was able to continue.

## Characters

* Skarloey
* Rusty
* Duncan
* Duke
* Atlas
* Falcon
* Stuart
* Andreas *(death)*
* Stanley *(does not speak)*
* The Fat Controller *(does not speak)*
* Billy Shoepack *(does not speak)*
* Edward *(narration only: cameo)*
* Henry *(cameo)*
* Gordon *(cameo)*
* James *(cameo)*
* Toby *(cameo)*
* Reginald *(cameo)*
* Rheneas *(cameo)*
* Ivo Hugh *(cameo)*
* Andreas' Driver

## Trivia

* This episode makes the first appearance of Rusty.
* This episode marks the final appearance of Andreas.
* References to plot points and dialogue from Home at Last and Rock 'N' Roll are present.
* The events of this episode take place in the former half of 1961.