Daisy's New Route

***Daisy's New Route*** is the sixth episode of the eighth series.

## Plot

One summer's morning, the Fat Controller came to see Daisy, stating that he was opening new routes for the summer. He tasks Daisy with the job of transporting flour from the mill, which made her very happy.

Later that day, Daisy met D199 at a fuel tower and told him about her new job. D199 says Daisy was lucky, as he had been given the job of carrying passengers along the Black Loch branch. He responds that there were frequent landslides and a monster rumoured to be living in the loch, known as the "Black Loch Monster". He nervously adds that nobody knows what the monster was, only a black figure that moves in the water and disappears. D199 sets off for work, leaving Daisy nervous about the route, but pleased she didn’t have to run it.

Daisy arrived at the flour mill to collect the flour trucks to take to Knapford, but the troublesome trucks decided to cause trouble. As Daisy pulled them as hard as she can, the trucks hold her back, making her very late delivering the flour, so there would be no fresh bread for that day. The Fat Controller was cross, as this meant that he would not have any toast or crumpets/muffins for breakfast, and warned Daisy if she is late again, she and D199 will swap duties. This leaves Daisy nervous about the boulders and the Black Loch Monster, and she told herself that she must be on time with the flour tomorrow.

The next morning, the troublesome trucks decided to trick her again, as they weren’t coupled up properly. Daisy hurried to the station, but she only brought half of the flour trucks. When she realized this, she rushes back to the mill as fast as she could. After she arrived, the trucks tease her, calling her a late engine. This ends up with Emily losing her temper and she biffed the trucks very hard. However, because she couldn’t see where she was going, the trucks derailed (along with Daisy) and splashed into a duck pond causing the flour to explode into the water and all over Daisy.

That evening, Diesel and Daisy were at Knapford Station with the Fat Controller, who was very cross with Daisy for causing confusion. He therefore transferred her to Black Loch as punishment, leaving her very unhappy. Diesel kindly says that Black Loch may be a nice route, but with what Daisy has heard, she didn’t really think so.

The next morning, Daisy sadly arrived at Maithwaite Station, where her passengers were waiting. Daisy realised they were looking forward to their holiday, so she decided to be brave and do her job. But as she reached the Black Loch halt, she looked down at the water and remembered the monster. At that moment, a landslide came down in front of her, leaving her stuck. Then, Daisy noticed something black moving through the water towards her, and she realized it was the “Black Loch Monster”. Daisy was now frightened and shook and rattled with fear, declaring she never wanted to see Black Loch again, but then she thought of the children in her, and she realized she must get them to their holiday whatever it takes. At that moment, the water settled down, and she could see what the "monster" was a friendly family of seals. She and the children were delighted, and soon the line was cleared and Daisy was able to get the children to their holiday on time.

That evening, Diesel and Daisy were both at the Loch, watching the seals. Daisy told Diesel that he was right, in that Black Loch was a nice route after all.

## Characters

* Diesel
* Diesel 199
* Daisy
* Troublesome Trucks
* Sir Topham Hatt
* Class 40 (*cameo*)
* Express Coaches (*cameos*)
* George (*cameo*)
* Trevor (*cameo*)
* Bridget Hatt (*cameo*)
* The Storyteller (*cameo*)
* Diesel 10 (*deleted scene*)
* Dennis (*deleted scene*)
* Toby (*deleted scene*)

## Trivia

* This episode has a similarly to the tenth episode, Emily's New Route from the eighth series of *Thomas & Friends*.
* Pre-filmed footage from the next episode is used.
* In the book, it shows that Toby was meant to be in the episode, as he is trying to cheer up Daisy with his stories.
* In this episode, Daisy derails for the first time.