Competition

**Competition** is the second episode of the fifth season of the Stories of Sodor and the seventy-seventh episode overall.

Competition/Transcript

## Plot

Back in 1963, a project to build a road bridge between Sodor and the Mainland had been started following the storm. It was completed on the same day as Geoffrey's fatal crash in 1965. Passengers started using road travel to avoid delays, with many not coming back even after the line was cleared. An onslaught of lorries also caused the railway's goods services to take a hit.

Oliver and Sheffield have an unpleasant encounter with a lorry named Onslow, who boasts about taking Sheffield's goods away. After Onslow leaves, Oliver explains to Sheffield how relinquishing goods to the roads actually helps the railway, as most of their goods traffic operates at a loss. However, the sinking rate of passengers is still a concern.

In addition to Bertie, a new bus named Rupert (whom Bertie had nicknamed "Bulgy") was called in to assist with the passengers, as the Waterton branch has been reduced to pulling singular coaches. At a station, Bulgy insults Maggie, one of these singular coaches, as well as Duck, the engine pulling her. Bertie intervenes, but this only leads to Bulgy insulting Bertie as well for being a smaller bus than him.

As a consequence of Richard Beeching's cuts on Sodor, several properties were sold off and replaced with new industries or housing. George the steamroller had been an active participant in this process and reveled in it. One day, while working alongside the Waterton branch, George gets into a row with Oliver and, when storming off, he accidentally topples a load of pipes, destroying a fence and blocking the rails. Oliver and George blame each other for the incident.

That night, the road vehicles gather in the yard. George complains about Oliver to the others, receiving support from Onslow and Bulgy but not Bertie. Still insisting on Bertie's inferior size, Bulgy is less than enthusiastic about them having to work together to collect railfans the next day. Being fed up with their anti-railway attitude, Bertie departs to sleep elsewhere for the night.

The next day, Oliver, Sheffield and George all find themselves stuck at a crossing that Onslow has broken down on. Onslow blames the engines for not maintaining the track, which he claims gave him a jolt, but Oliver thinks this is deliberate. Onslow also insists his engine is no use after revving it a few times. The engines encourage George to push Onslow off the crossing. George rejects the idea but relents after Sheffield starts to go through with his threat of shoving Onslow himself. Getting impatient, Oliver rams into George. After backing up, George and Oliver start a duel, which only ends with them derailing and damaging each other.

Consequently, the railtour is cancelled, so the buses start to collect the railfans. Bulgy takes one last jab at Duck for not being capable and brags about a short-cut. However, the short-cut would soon prove to be Bulgy's comeuppance, as he collides with the bridge, which was too short for him to pass under. As a result, Duck and Maggie take his passengers for the remainder of the tour.

Bertie visits the repair yard after finishing the tour and mocks the three for their failed attempts of proving their superiority. He also boasts to Bulgy that being small is not so bad after all. Many consequences came following these events: both Oliver and George were reprimanded for their actions, but only George was sent away. Bulgy lost his bid to take passengers, but no-one is sure where he went after he was sent away; Edward likes to imagine he became a hen house. On the other hand, Onslow grew to become a better lorry, gradually becoming friends with the engines. He helps them out from time to time, even if his company would take away a lot of their goods work. And thanks to the bridge, the passenger traffic recuperated. With more people capable of coming to the Island, and most of them railfans, every excursion was fully booked, resulting in extra trains. Unfortunately, the many enthusiastic railfans didn't lead to the best outcome for everyone.

## Characters

* Duck
* Oliver
* Sheffield
* Maggie
* Bertie
* Onslow
* Bulgy
* George
* Geoffrey *(does not speak)*
* Richard Beeching *(does not speak)*
* Edward *(narration only; cameo)*
* Eric *(cameo)*
* Reginald *(cameo)*
* Peckett *(cameo)*
* William *(cameo)*
* Butch *(cameo)*
* The Fat Controller *(cameo)*
* Toad *(mentioned)*

## Trivia

* This episode marks Bulgy's first speaking role.
* This episode marks Bertie’s first speaking role since Season 3’s episode Controller.
* Events from "Bulgy" are portrayed in this episode.
* The scene of Onslow breaking down on the crossing and Oliver and George's fight is based on a scene from the film "The Titfield Thunderbolt". Some of the lines are even taken from the film. Oliver's driver is even named Sam, the main character from the film.
* The intro is slightly updated starting with this episode. The shot of Geoffrey and Joshua passing each other has been replaced with a shot of Joshua passing Dudley from TheBuriedTruck's *Dudley the Vagrant Engine* saga. This indicates that Geoffrey's death was not planned when the Season 4 intro was made, and was a later decision.