Little Engines Can Do Big Things

**Little Engines Can Do Big Things** is the third special written for *Classic Sodor Adventures*, originally posted between June 7 and 13, 2019 on both DeviantArt and FanFiction. The story is primarily an adaptation of *Percy the Small Engine*, which was originally adapted for the second series in 1986, excluding *Percy's Promise*, adapted for the third series in 1991. Two other episodes, *Thomas and Trevor* and *Better Late Than Never*, both from series 2, were also included. In this series, this special is in series 2, and it takes up episodes 5-11; *Henry the Hero* excluded from the episode count.

## Plot

### Chapter 1: Cheeky Little Engine

Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy and Toby were all woken up by the freezing cold winds. They try talking about warm things, which leads to the topic of scarves. Percy starts wanting one, despite Thomas merely joking about the possibly. The firelighter finally arrives, and the engines set to work.

In his house, Sir Bertram Topham Hatt was eating porridge for breakfast. His wife, Lady Jane Hatt, tells him to dress warmly. Sir Topham's best trousers were hanging up, as he was due to wear them for the special visitors.

Percy meanwhile, was still wanting a scarf. Henry started to get annoyed, and the two argue about animals who have long tails. Percy scampered off, while Henry awaits his special train. Percy snuck up on Audrey, Hilary and Mark, as he still hadn't forgiven them for being rude to Annie and Clarabel the previous year. However, he mistimed it and crunched the baggage trolley. Baggage, clothes and jam went everywhere. Sir Topham Hatt severely scolded Percy for wrecking everyone's clothes - including his trousers - and gave them to Percy as a scarf as punishment. Mark wonders what jam of all things was doing in the baggage trolley.

Unfortunately for Percy, James and Gordon made fun of him, as did the trucks. Percy was so frustrated at the trucks, that he wheeshed steam and one of them got covered in jam. Then *the truck* became the laughing stock of the yard.

Percy came back to the shed where his crew washed the jam off and the trousers were removed. He explains the situation to Thomas, who not only explains he was joking, but wonders why jam is in the baggage trolley. The two conclude it was either for a jam eating contest or a picnic. In the midst of things, Henry came to see if Percy was alright.

As winter turned to spring, Percy still was a laughingstock from James and Gordon. He wishes he could join Thomas and Toby on the Ffarqhuar branch. But as he couldn't, he decides to pay Gordon back. He shows up with a rack of coal trucks, and claims it's his next train, much to his chagrin. Percy then tells James to stay in the sheds, as Sir Topham Hatt wanted to see him.

Unfortunately for Percy, chaos was abound on the railway. Gordon had to take James' goods, Edward and Johnson double headed the express, Thomas and Nicole managed things on the Brandam branch, Toby and Katie had to work on the Ffarqhuar branch, and this left Julie to manage the coal mines alone and Lauren to manage the Kirk Ronan branch alone.

The inspector came to speak to James, and it's revealed Sir Topham Hatt is doing business in the Western Region so he can't have sent James the message. James is outraged, and planed to get Percy back.

### Chapter 2: Two Ways to Do Things

On the mainland, Sir Topham Hatt speaks to a pannier tank engine. The tank engine's real name is Montague, but he preferred to go by Duck. The controller asks Duck if he'd like to go to Sodor, to which he replied with a resounding 'yes'. He quickly goes back to help his sister, Jackie, and is glad to have time to say goodbye to his old friends.

When Sir Topham Hatt got back to Sodor however, he was less than pleased. He spoke severely to Percy and James about the incident, leaving Percy embarrassed and sheepish. Thomas however, felt bad for Percy, and wanted to cheer him up. He got the idea to send Percy down to his branch line for a while, due to the traffic spiking there. Annie and Clarabel are more than happy with the arrangement. Percy is delighted when he's given the job.

Gordon and James still want to get back and Percy, despite Henry's protests. The red and blue engines catch Percy off-guard and lie to him about 'backing signals'. Percy is weary of the duo, and tries to sway them away as he leaves. He also doesn't wish to let Thomas down. When he gets to the signal, he sees it go up instead of down. Percy feels it means 'go back'. As he reversed, his driver quickly explains that 'upper still' means 'clear'. Gordon sees the whole thing and laughs at Percy.

Percy explains the situation to both Thomas and Toby, and Thomas decided to set the record straight. He swaps jobs with Percy so he can run with Annie and Clarabel the next day. Thomas made it quite clear to James and Gordon that he didn't like seeing Percy being torn down again. The two big engines subsided and apologised to Percy the following day.

Sir Topham Hatt saw Percy feeling a bit confused at him being back in the yards, and then told him about the new engine. He also explains that Percy will be joining Thomas and Toby permanently, much to Percy's excitement and joy.

Percy then got to meet Duck the following day, and they hit it off very well. However, Gordon and James were very rude to Duck, and quacked and wheeshed at him as they left. Thankfully, Henry was more polite. He and Percy filled Duck in on Percy's situation, and they decided to pay Gordon and James out.

Sir Topham Hatt came out of his office to see Percy, Duck and - much to Gordon and James' shock - Henry blocking the other two out of the sheds. Edward, Toby and Thomas showed up in the confusion. Sir Topham Hatt tells Percy, Duck and Henry he's pleased with their work, but not their behaviour that evening, and he tells Gordon and James they've been worse. He puts Gordon and James on goods work, and Edward and Henry are to take their trains until further notice. Johnson and Lauren are to help too.

### Chapter 3: The Big Storm

Percy was put on the branch line, and Duck took over as station pilot. Duck officially meets Edward, and the red coaches, Sean, Mick, Harry and Dexter. The six friends start worrying about a storm brewing over Sodor. As Edward leaves, Duck notices him clanking, but Edward brushes it off.

Edward and the red coaches travel over the viaduct, but they feel the viaduct is unstable. They report this to Henry, Skarloey and the old coaches at Crovan's Gate, and Skarloey tells them about how he nearly fell off a bridge when he was young. As Henry headed back to the Viaduct, he felt it wobble under his wheels and saw cracks. He reversed off the viaduct just in time, and he was praised for his bravery. The passengers were to take buses from Cronk to Maron and vice versa until further notice.

At Knapford Harbour, the storm had damaged the place a lot, and Toby laments it'll take a while to clear up. In the meantime, everyone except for Henry, Edward, Johnson, Lauren and Nicole met up for an emergency meeting. James and Gordon had their trains back, but they will run to Maron, with Henry and Edward taking over from the east side of the viaduct, and Katie will help James on the Brandam branch where she can.

Thomas is still clearing debris from Knapford Harbour, and wonders if Terence could help. With him too busy, he's scrabbling for ideas. When Thomas suddenly looses traction, he thinks of Trevor. The traction engine is told to clear up the harbour, and he promises to help. He is proven successful, and he even gets some stone slabs into trucks. Percy then took them to the Vicars Sunday school to help with the rebuilding. It isn't long before the harbour is back in order, and the Ffarqhuar trio thank Trevor for his help.

### Chapter 4: Better Late Than Never

Duck is with Judy and Jerome to fix the viaduct, when they heard a buzzing in the sky. It turned out to be a new helicopter named Harold. The four quickly get acquainted, and Harold admits this is his first patrol on Sodor. As Harold departs, he passes Percy at the newly restored Knapford Harbour.

Sometime later, Henry, Edward, Johnson, Lauren and Nicole re-join their friends on the Western side. Everyone is happy to see each other, but not so happy about the speed restriction in place on the viaduct. Edward points out that one of the loaner engines ran so fast the viaduct collapsed when it was under maintenance.

Five days later, Bertie is frustrated for Thomas being late again. However, when Thomas reminds him of the viaduct, the red bus realises that he needs to be patient and the passengers safety is important. They wonder if the viaduct would be ready for the Summer rush.

Percy meanwhile, meets up with Harold for the first time. The small tank engine remarks that Harold is handy to have around as he can spot trouble at a moments' notice. However, when asked if he would like to fly, Percy declines, rather having his wheels on the ground. Harold then takes off into the sky, as his next patrol is on.

A few days later, James was waiting for Rheneas. He came in, panting for breath, and it turned out he and Skarloey needed desperate help. James heard of a railway down near Peel Godred that could offer it's engines, but he needs more information. However, he forgot about the viaduct, meaning he would be very late for Thomas. James and the red coaches explain to Thomas, Annie and Clarabel about Rheneas - and Judy and Jerome on the way - and they realise they need to see where they can get help.

As Thomas is heading to his next stop, he sees Bertie broken down. While he couldn't help Bertie to the garage, he could at the very least take Bertie's passengers home. He also tells Bertie to be on the lookout for anyone who can help Skarloey and Rheneas.

### Chapter 5: Flying High

Several weeks later, the viaduct was finally fixed. Thomas and Bertie became so excited, they took off in a race, much to Annie and Clarabel's dismay. Percy found the spectacle a lot of fun, and he decided to try it with Harold. The two rocketed down the rails and sky, respectively, and pass by a very surprised Toby and Henrietta. Percy manages to beat Harold to the Wharf, and the fireman sings a victory song for Percy. Harold told Percy he had fun, and went to resume his patrol.

Summer was blazing over the island, and Toby and Thomas are grateful that Percy is with them. Toby has admitted he had wanted a second coach, but hadn't found one. Henrietta also laments she hadn't seen her sister in years. Thomas came in with the Sunday school, and he, Annie and Clarabel quickly realise they can't pick them up that afternoon. Toby and Henrietta couldn't either, so Percy promises he'll do it, despite Harold and Edward's weather warning.

It turns out the weather is terrible, but Percy is determined not to let Thomas down. He heads out with some spare coaches and takes them to the Sunday school students. Then, he heads to take them home. Unfortunately, he his a flood in the drain. His driver and fireman get firewood from the brake coach, and Percy is relived he didn't have Annie and Clarabel with him, least he face Thomas' wrath. He then received some assistance from Harold, who dropped hot drinks for the driver and fireman. Percy presses on his way, and fights through the flood. He gets to the station, tired but triumphant, even though Harold teases him about being a submarine. Sir Topham Hatt, Thomas, Annie and Clarabel praise Percy's efforts.

That evening, the engines are happy that the viaduct is still intact, but they are still worried for Skarloey and Rheneas. When the Peel Godred project is brought up, engines 1-5 admit to engines 6-8 that not much is known about it. They do know things haven't been going well, and Bertram and Freddie suddenly vanished while the other two refuse to disclose what happened. They feel, however, they should tell Mr. Percival as soon as possible...

## Characters

* Thomas
* Edward
* Henry
* Gordon
* James
* Percy
* Toby
* Duck
* Jackie
* Bill and Ben
* Nicole
* Johnson
* Katie
* Julie
* Lauren
* Skarloey
* Rheneas
* Bertram (Mentioned)
* Freddie (Mentioned)
* Falcon/No. 3 (mentioned, unnamed)
* Stuart/No. 4 (mentioned, unnamed)
* Doris (Indirectly mentioned)
* Terence
* Bertie
* Trevor
* Harold
* Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice
* Annie and Clarabel
* Sean, Mick, Harry, Dexter and Randolph
* Henrietta
* Hannah (mentioned, unnamed)
* Audrey, Hilary and Mark
* Sir Bertram Topham Hatt
* Lady Jane Hatt
* Stephen Topham Hatt (mentioned)
* Mr. Penegrine Percival (mentioned)

## Trivia

* The special adapts all stories from *Percy the Small Engine*. In addition to this, the special also contains *Percy and the Trousers* from *Henry the Green Engine*, the magazine story *Henry the Hero*, the annual story *Thomas and Trevor*, and *Better Late Than Never* from *More About Thomas the Tank Engine*. The first story was included to serve as a prelude to the main events, and the other three were utilized for an ongoing story about the North Western Railway suffering delays due to the damaged viaduct.
* Nicole, Johnson, Katie, Julie, Lauren and the old coaches (Audrey, Hilary and Mark) were included in a November 2021 edit.

## Differences from the books and TV series

### General

* The events of this special take place in 1982. Percy's book mainly takes place in 1955 with *Percy and the Signal* taking place in 1949. *Percy and the Trousers* takes place at some point between 1935 and 1949, and *Better Late Than Never* takes place in 1985. *Thomas and Trevor* presumably takes place around 1955 due to work going on at Knapford harbor.
	+ *Henry the Hero* has no specific timeframe due to it being loosely based around the original TV series rather than the Railway Series.

### Percy and the Trousers/A Scarf for Percy

* This follows the TV adaptation A Scarf for Percy more closely than the original story, such as the engines’ conversation at the sheds and Sir Topham and Lady Hatt at Topham Hall.
* Furthermore, all of the current engines are present in the conversation at Tidmouth sheds, while in the episode, only Thomas and Percy are talking. Thomas is also laughing when he mentions that the engines’ funnels would look silly as icicles, but in the episode, he’s aggravated. In the book, Toby wouldn’t have been part of the conversation as he wasn’t on Sodor yet.
* The “you’ve only got a small [funnel]” remark - a subtle adult joke thrown in there by Awdry - isn’t said by Percy. Instead, he comments that animals with longer tails get colder quicker than animals with shorter ones, which leads to an argument with him and Henry on animals in cold weather.
* James laughs at Percy’s situation per the TV adaptation, as does Gordon, which continues over the next several weeks, refusing to let Percy forget the incident and “keeping him in line.” Henry doesn’t laugh, however.
* The presence of jars of jam amongst luggage filled with clothing is lampshaded by Thomas and Percy. Something similar also happens in Mr. Perkins’ reading of the story.
* As a side note, when Duck hears about the incident when he arrives, he too lampshades why there was jam in the baggage trolley.
* An unfortunate truck was covered in jam thanks to Percy wheeshing steam at it, an homage to a deleted scene from the episode.

### Percy and the Signal

* The event directly carries over from A Scarf for Percy, while they happened about two decades apart in the books.
* Percy’s reasoning for tricking Gordon and James is to get them to stop teasing him about his “jam and trousers” incident.
* The impact of James staying in the sheds waiting for Sir Topham Hatt is expanded upon, especially given the small fleet the railway has at the moment. Percy soon realizes just how badly thought out his trick on James was.
* The reason for Sir Topham Hatt being away is because he’s in the Western Region looking for a new pilot engine - in this case, Duck.
* Sir Topham Hatt scolding both James and Percy is expanded upon.
* Percy heads to Thomas’ branch line with a goods train as a suggestion from Thomas himself to cheer him up. Unfortunately, this leads to Gordon and James tricking him on the way there about backing signals. To say Thomas is furious about this would be an understatement, and he swaps jobs with Percy so he can look after Annie and Clarabel for the day.

### Duck Takes Charge

* Duck’s previous life at Paddington is shown, and we meet one of his sisters, Jackie. The conversation about Duck mentioning that he “waddles” also happens at Paddington rather than on Sodor.
* Percy telling Gordon and James about a new engine is not shown; Sir Topham Hatt tells him about this instead, and much later on. In the book and model episode, Percy must have found out about Duck earlier.
* Duck’s arrival is also a surprise to the big engines; Gordon and James are amused at his name, Henry less so, and make quacking noises despite Duck’s refusal to stand for their nonsense.
* Duck and Percy block the points in the book, but in the episode and Little Engines Can Do Big Things, Percy blocks the turntable.
* Henry joins Percy and Duck in standing up to Gordon and James. Thomas, Edward and Toby witness the confrontation from the side; the old blue engine commenting that he’s missed something.
* Sir Topham Hatt punishes Gordon and James for their recent behavior by putting them on goods trains until further notice, getting Henry and Edward to cover their passenger trains, and Johnson and Lauren to help wherever possible.

### Henry the Hero (Doesn't have an episode counterpart)

* Edward and Duck both see the storm clouds gathering.
* Edward is shown crossing the viaduct before Henry, and he and the red coaches feel wobbly as they go across. Dexter also at first thinks it’s just his axles again.
* Edward warns Henry about the viaduct at Crovan’s Gate, and Skarloey mentions to have had an incident where he nearly fell off a bridge when he was young, still getting the odd nightmare about it.
* Unlike the original story, Henry does not complain about having to work in the rain, nor is he reminded of the time he’d been bricked up in the tunnel to hide from it. Instead he worries about the animals in his forest.
* Henry’s driver never tells him that Sir Topham Hatt could get a new engine and send Henry for scrap.
* Henry’s driver immediately takes the green engine’s concerns about the viaduct being unstable seriously, especially as Edward almost never steers anyone wrong.
* The aftermath is also expanded upon, from an emergency meeting at Knapford station - Duck learning about where the emergency meeting place is - and Edward and Henry are trapped on the east side of the viaduct.
* The viaduct being under repairs is showcased further in Better Late Than Never.

### Thomas and Trevor

* Toby and Henrietta see Knapford harbor badly damaged by the storm.
* Thomas is already familiar with Trevor according to The Adventure Carries On, so Edward doesn’t need to make the introduction - he’s stuck on the east side of the viaduct, anyway.
* Trevor is mentioned to have missed Edward coming down the branch line with him stuck on the east side of the viaduct. This wasn’t an issue in the episode or annual.
* It’s Thomas himself that realizes that Trevor can help clean up the harbor.
* James is the one to take Trevor to the harbor, not Thomas.
* Trevor cleaning up the harbor is expanded upon, as he’s cleared up some stone that Percy delivered to the Vicar of Ffarquhar’s Sunday school.
* It’s shown in Henry the Hero that the island had been completely wrecked thanks to the storm.
* Despite the title, Thomas and Trevor never interact until the very end of the story.

### Better Late Than Never

* It’s revealed that the viaduct is out because of a storm in a magazine adaptation Henry the Hero.
* Edward, Henry, Nicole, Johnson and Lauren were cut off until the viaduct was repaired.
* Thomas - and by extension, the rest of the engines - all hear from Edward that one of the two engines that were sent away before Henry and Gordon came to replace them went too fast on a viaduct that was in need of repair. This makes everyone realize that being late is better than never getting there at all.
* Bertie is at first frustrated with Thomas running late, but quickly understands that it’s for the safety of their passengers.
* James’ delay at “the station” is shown in greater detail. It’s revealed the station that James was delayed at was Crovan’s Gate, and Rheneas was struggling to get there. Of course, this may have not been the case in the actual book, as Rheneas wouldn’t be having these issues.

### Percy and Harold

* Harold’s arrival on Sodor is shown in more detail. Instead of him first meeting Percy, the first engine he meets is Duck - who is also a newcomer to the island - taken from the TV adaptation of Trucks.
* Harold is asleep when Percy meets him, but in the model episode and the book, he’s awake. Their first meeting is also friendlier.
* Percy gets the idea to race Harold when he sees Thomas and Bertie on one of their usual races. In the book, this doesn’t happen as Thomas and Bertie don’t race anymore. This also wasn’t shown in the model series.
* Percy and Harold rush past a surprised Toby and Henrietta. Apparently, an “interesting discussion” ensues in the shed that evening.
* The second line of the song changes. It’s “your railway is useful, but I’m much faster, you know”.
* Harold is said to have started resuming his duties following the race. This doesn’t happen in the book or the model episode.

### Percy’s Promise

* This story specifically takes place during the summer rush, but in the actual book and model episode, this isn’t mentioned.
* Henrietta also mentions she has a sister when Toby mentions he wouldn’t mind a second coach, though this isn’t mentioned in the book or episode.
* Part of Percy’s motivation for not breaking his promise to Thomas is because Thomas didn’t let him down when Gordon and James were bullying him.
* Instead of Annie and Clarabel, Percy takes a pair of non-sentient coaches. This is because in the model episode, Thomas has some non-sentient coaches for reasons unexplained.
* Percy also doesn’t have a brake van with him like in the model episode. This was probably done so that Clarabel wouldn’t have been shown with floorboards hacked from her. Percy even lampshades in his mind that Thomas would probably roast him if he found out that this happened.
* Harold’s pilot apologizes for throwing the box onto Percy’s saddle tank as he “isn’t a good shot.” This doesn’t happen in the book or model episode.
* In the book and model episode, Percy isn’t amused when he hears Harold called him a submarine. In Little Engines Can Do Big Things, both Harold and Percy are laughing, much to Thomas, Annie and Clarabel’s bewilderment.

## Voice cast

### Official

* John Hasler as Thomas
* Keith Wickham as Edward, Henry, Gordon, Skarloey, Bertie, Harold and Sir Bertram Topham Hatt
* Rob Rackstraw as James and Toby
* Nigel Pilkington as Percy and Trevor
* Steven Kynman as Duck
* Rasmus Hardiker as Bill
* Jonathan Broadbent as Ben
* John Hasler as Rheneas
* Tom Stourton as Terence
* Teresa Gallagher as Annie, Clarabel, Judy and Lady Jane Hatt
* Tim Whitnall as Jerome
* Mark Moraghan as Dexter
* Maggie Ollerenshaw as Henrietta

### Fan Chosen

* Neve Campbell as Jackie
* Rachael Miller as Nicole
* Lewis MacLeod as Johnson
* Kristen Schaal as Katie
* Claire Corlett as Julie
* Linda Cardellini as Lauren
* Lara Jill Miller as Audrey
* Wendy Patterson as Hilary
* Will Harrison-Wallace as Mark
* Ian Hart as Sean
* Thomas Sangster as Mick
* Sam Bell as Harry
* Madison Pettis as Agnes
* Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Ruth
* Bailey Gambertoglio as Lucy
* Eden Riegel as Jemima
* Sarah Hyland as Beatrice

## Trivia

* Though stories were written before this, *Little Engines Can Do Big Things* was when the SeventyVerse really started to be taken seriously.

## Links

* FanFiction.Net
* Chapter 1 on DeviantArt
* Chapter 2 on DeviantArt
* Chapter 3 on DeviantArt
* Chapter 4 on DeviantArt
* Chapter 5 on DeviantArt