Replacements

**Replacements** is the second episode of the third season of the Stories of Sodor and the thirty-seventh episode overall.

Replacements/Transcript

## Plot

Edward had forgotten to talk about several key points in his previous story, as he was feeling overwhelmed after just returning from the war. The new government that took power had plans to nationalise Great Britain's coal and rail industries. The former began to take effect on July 12, 1946; the latter was to take effect on New Year's Day, 1948. At this point in time, the groundwork was already being laid for its implementation, which included building new engines and rolling stock to a standardised format and grouping certain regions as joint railways. Sodor became one of these joint railways and the engines effectively were no longer Midis and Nor'Easters. Mr. Zorro was appointed their director. Though facing criticism from the board for not replacing Colin and Lily sooner, he held firm for a long time to take into account the engines' feelings on the decision. However, he couldn't hold out indefinitely as the workload was increasing. On June 2, 1946, the two new engines arrived on Sodor.

At Brendam, Mr. Zorro introduces the two new engines, Peckett and Samantha, to Toby, Donald and Diesel. The newcomers explain their pasts; Peckett had worked on the Somerset and Dorset Railway, and Samantha had worked in a colliery in southern Wales before it closed due to an inspection. Diesel rambles about this being a bad omen, but Mr. Zorro quickly silences him. He then instructs Donald to take Peckett to the China Clay Pits so the latter can learn the route and assist with Donald's delivery later that day. Mr. Zorro pairs Samantha up with Toby to learn the ropes; Mr. Zorro tells Toby to mainly focus on shunting. As the engines head off to work, Mr. Zorro walks back towards his office. While talking to a workman, Mr. Zorro suddenly coughs, as if choking. This causes the workman, Dennis, to worry.

At the docks, Toby remarks how quickly Samantha is learning. Samantha wants to try handling coaches now, so Toby tells Samantha to bring the coaches over to the terminal as a passenger ship will be docking in half an hour. Toby warns her that coaches should be handled with care. Later, Samantha goes over to the coaches and gives them a bump. The coaches are annoyed with this, and Samantha grumpily brings them over to the station and stops with the last coach almost inches from the buffers. The coaches are relieved the ordeal is over, and the front one, Francine, and Samantha get into an argument, just as Reginald arrives and demands to know what is going on. Reginald calms them down and he and Samantha introduce themselves. Samantha tells the coaches she's an industrial engine and isn't used to handling trucks, much to the shock of the coaches. Reginald scolds Francine and orders her to apologise to Samantha. Samantha apologises to the coaches and sheepishly says Toby did advise her to be careful with coaches and she is still learning. Reginald tells Samantha that whenever she needs advice, Francine and the others will be happy to give her feedback.

Peckett and Samantha soon got used to life on Sodor and proved to be Really Useful Engines. During this time, and in the passing weeks, Mr. Zorro appeared less frequently around the railway and when he did show up, he seemed distracted. The engines asked him many times what was wrong, but he never gave them a clear answer. As a result, rumours began to crop up. A few weeks after the two new shunters arrived, three men were talking about Mr. Zorro and their opinions on his state. One said that Mrs. Zorro used to come by every Friday with a lunch platter for the workers at the Vicarage, but she hasn't been seen for nearly a month. Presently, their lunch break ends, and they go back to work.

Meanwhile, at the Knapford Oil Depot, one workman tells his boss that the tankers have seen better days. Their boss says they can only afford minimal maintenance. The workman admits his concerns are more about the brake pipes instead of the bogies. Their boss says they examined them the week before and is confident that the tankers will be fine for today's delivery. A short while later, Henry takes the tankers away. As Henry was just leaving, he hears grinding metal coming from the tankers. Their brakes lock hard on and Henry is forced to stop on the main line. Presently, Peckett arrives and while Henry is explaining what happened, he notices smoke coming from one of the tankers. Just then, they hear Gordon's whistle who is coming through with the Express. Since they can't get the train off the main line, Peckett's driver suggests to him a milkshake. Henry is puzzled by this, while Peckett brings his train over next to Henry's train, stopping with the milk tanker next to the smoking fuel tanker, is uncoupled and gives the milk tanker a bump, cracking the tanker and milk spills out from the tanker, extinguishing the smoke, to Gordon and Henry's amazement.

Later, Mickey explains to Henry about what caused Henry's train to stop and how they caught on fire. It happens rarely, but usually in the case of poorly maintained pieces of rolling stock. Mickey then reports that all fuel tankers will be shunted while an investigation is conducted. While it wouldn't be good for their clients, Peckett jokingly says they could tell them 'no point in crying over spilled milk'. Henry praises Peckett for a job well done and so does Mickey, who remarks that he didn't think he would a milkshake put into action on Sodor. He explains that it's a running joke among the Fire and Rescue Service, thanks to the Somerset and Dorset Railway pioneering using milk to put out a fire. Peckett explains that it was all they had during the summer of 1936 when they were going through a bad drought, and though they didn't always smash milk tankers, but when they were pulling a train carrying milk and they happened to be passing a fire, they were pretty much duty bound to act. Mickey then brings up the ongoing affair with Mr. Zorro, whom nobody knows what the matter is.

Later, Mr. Zorro is with his doctor, who insists he start his treatment now. Mr. Zorro asks if he can afford one more day to tell his engines about what's going on. He says some of the staff knows, mostly the board and his engines deserve to hear what's wrong from him. His doctor finally relents, but threatens to drag him in if he doesn't arrive on his own.

Early the next morning, Mr. Zorro goes to see Thomas, Toby, Peter, Eric, Adam and Donald and tells them that he has lung cancer. He was diagnosed about a month before. He announces that he will undergo an operation and take part in clinical trials for a new kind of cancer treatment; He tells the engines he will have to resign as director, to their dismay. Mr. Zorro apologises to the engines for not telling them sooner and says that if the operation goes awry, his family will at least be taken care of. Thomas then asks who will replace Mr. Zorro. He tells them that the Board will be electing a director in a few weeks and Basil Corbett will be the acting controller until then.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Henry
* Gordon
* Toby
* Eric
* Donald
* Diesel
* Reginald
* Peckett
* Samantha
* Mickey
* Mr. Zorro
* Edward *(narration only; cameo)*
* Basil Corbett *(does not speak)*
* James *(cameo)*
* Percy *(cameo)*
* Douglas *(cameo)*
* Adam *(cameo)*
* Peter *(cameo)*
* Annie and Clarabel *(cameos)*
* Colin *(mentioned)*
* Lily *(mentioned)*
* King George VI *(mentioned)*