Dieselisation

**Dieselisation** is the nineteenth episode of the fourth season of the Stories of Sodor and the sixty-ninth episode overall.

Dieselisation/Transcript

## Plot

By 1964, dieselisation was in full swing. The pilot scheme that was devised by British Railways in 1958 had ended, but because of how inconsistent the performances of various diesels were, some were withdrawn instead of the steam engines they were intended to replace. The engines of the North Western Region, remembering their past experiences, weren't pleased to learn that more would be arriving. The first to arrive was a faceless Class 08 shunter that replaced Sheffield as the station pilot at Barrow-in-Furness. Sheffield would be relocated to the Waterton Branch. Next came Derek, a Class 17, who worked on the Ffarquhar Branch and usually broke down when climbing hills, so he was reassigned to the Waterton Branch. A Class 46 named Francis was brought in on the Main Line. Despite being a really useful diesel, his persona quickly got on the steam engines' nerves. Lastly, the Brendam Branch would receive a Class 07 shunter named Salty, who used to work at Southampton Docks. He had a fun persona and similar to Francis, he had no technical issues. One day, Bill and Salty are chatting when Diesel arrives, and he tells them about a new diesel he had met at Wellsworth who has taken a liking to him.

At Elsbridge, Toby and Percy are introducing themselves to the new engine, a diesel railcar named Daisy. She loves the island, but announces that the shed is "dreadfully smelly", and asks about the "rubbish" to her right, which is Annie and Clarabel, to their annoyance. An argument breaks out between her, Toby and Percy before Daisy leaves, saying the stress and smells are "bad for her swerves". Percy becomes annoyed over the opinion of diesels acting they're better, but Toby reminds him of Derek being the opposite of saying he was superior.

On the Waterton Branch, Derek has overheated again. While Duck shows sympathy for him, Oliver and Sheffield express their resentment over the diesels, which gets them into trouble with Sir Topham Hatt, who had arrived to see how the construction is going. He knows the branch's construction is behind schedule, and tells Derek that he is underperforming, so he decides to have Derek reassigned to shunting duties, to his relief. After Sir Topham tells Duck to tow Derek to Tidmouth for him to go to Knapford once he's cooled down, Sir Topham then turns his attention to Oliver and Sheffield.

Daisy arrives at Knapford and shows off herself to the passengers. James then arrives and angrily tells Francis to not whine about taking a goods train while the other engines are sleeping. Gordon agrees, remarking how childish Francis reacted. Francis then moans again about being forced to pull dirty trucks from dirty sidings, with Gordon reminding him that he can't refuse to do jobs he is given and remarks how he was like Francis in his youth. Francis then mocks the two steam engines again before they leave in a temper. The two diesels mutter how hostile they were to them, and Francis assures Daisy that she won't go wrong if she follows his lead. Daisy soon settled into her new position, providing commuters safe and comfortable rides. This began to make the railcar as insufferable as Francis and soon began antagonising the steam engines and Derek, who performed well as a shunter, but whenever his engine was close to overheating, he had to stop and let it cool down, causing delays and for him to get blamed. Francis began to refer to Derek as a failure and an embarrassment, which made Henry get on Derek's side and become his strongest advocate.

The night after Francis broke the express record from Knapford to Barrow, the steam engines and diesels get into a heated argument, which Sir Topham Hatt breaks up by sternly telling them that all engines are equals, no matter what and to stop their bickering. The next day, Daisy tells Diesel about Sir Topham's words the night before, with Diesel pointing out that she hasn't been giving the steam engines a reason to like her and he gives Daisy advice as to how to warm up to the steam engines.

Later, Daisy continues on her way, warming up to Henry and Percy. However, outside Elsbridge, she runs into a bull on the line. She toots her horn several times to get him to move, but when he faces Daisy, she quickly reverses away. When she returns to Elsbridge, she meets up with James. She doesn't want to tell him out of embarrassment, but he quickly learns what happened from Daisy's expression and is comforting as many engines have encountered livestock on the line in the past. Just then, Toby arrives, having calmed the bull. Daisy, impressed, asks if she can be taught, which Toby agrees to. Daisy and James then make amends, and are about to head off, when the latter's driver stops him.

At Vicarstown, Gordon's reversing gear has jammed, making him unable to take his next train, so Francis has to cover for him. Francis gets more frustrated upon learning Gordon's next train is a goods train and leaves reluctantly. He gets onto the turntable. When the table has turned halfway, Francis moves forward, but he is unable to stop himself and slithers into a ditch, much to Gordon's amusement.

Soon, Gordon, Francis, James and Derek are all in Crovan's Gate Works. Mickey overlays the problems with the four engines to Sir Topham Hatt; Gordon's jammed reversing gear, James' injector had failed, Derek's motor had overheated and Francis' flooded motor. There had been a line leading into the ditch because while they were laying the track, the ground submerged and rainfall over the years created the ditch. Francis then admits he wasn't concentrating, while the turntable had been operated by a very drunk workman. Francis and Daisy then get into an argument with Derek, which makes Sir Topham tell Francis he will arrange for him to be reassigned before turning to Daisy, who he had been considering to reassign as well, but after helping James and Derek to the Works, he decides to give her another chance. Daisy is grateful and promises to work hard with Toby's help. Sir Topham then turns to Derek, and Mickey tells him that after workmen have been looking over Derek's blueprints, they might have found a way to fix him properly. Derek is unsure, but James assures him that the workmen there are the best in the industry.

Francis was transferred off of Sodor to run express trains throughout the surrounding regions. He was a semi-normal site at Barrow and would occasionally bring a train to Sodor. He would take goods trains and do well, despite his complaints. Free from his influence, Daisy stopped gloating and during heavy tourist traffic, she would assist on the Ffarquhar Branch. She made amends with Annie and Clarabel, and under Toby's tutelage, she learned how to handle livestock. The men at Crovan's Gate were able to mend Derek, eliminating all defects that were plaguing his class, and he joined the Fire and Rescue Service. Derek helped with getting rid of the anti-diesel attitude among the engines and the techniques the men used to repair Derek would help the next diesel to arrive on Sodor.

## Characters

* Henry
* Gordon
* James
* Percy
* Toby
* Duck
* Oliver
* Diesel
* Bill
* Sheffield
* Mickey
* Daisy
* Derek
* Salty
* Francis
* Annie and Clarabel
* The Fat Controller
* Terence *(does not speak)*
* Richard Beeching *(does not speak)*
* Edward *(narration only; cameo)*
* Thomas *(cameo)*
* Donald *(cameo)*
* Emily *(cameo)*
* Reginald *(cameo)*
* Samantha *(cameo)*
* Geoffrey *(cameo)*
* Rosie *(cameo)*
* BoCo *(cameo)*
* Maggie *(cameo)*
* Daisy's Driver
* James' Driver
* Francis' Driver

## Trivia

* This episode takes place in the first half of 1964.
* Events and dialogue from Daisy, Bulls Eyes, Off the Rails and Percy's Predicament take place. The big difference from Off the Rails is that Francis is the one that fell into the ditch, not Gordon. The Railway Series story of the same name is even mentioned by Francis and Gordon replies that never happened as most events in the books are completely fictional.
* Francis' "My name is Francis" speech is a reference to a scene in the 1988 Disney animated film *Oliver and Company*, where an English Bulldog named Francis says the same thing word-for-word.

## Goofs

* Salty is stated to have no technical issues unlike Derek. The BR Class 07 did in fact have one issue: hotboxes when running at high speed. This problem was so bad all but the first were delivered by road, and they were practically confined to Southampton Docks as a result.