Calm Down, Eileen!

**Calm down, Eileen!** is a fanmade Thomas and Friends episode. It is the first story in the *Arlesdale Trilogy* by Miipack603.

## Plot

The Island of Sodor has railways of all shapes and sizes; one railway in particular, the Arlesdale Railway, contains some very unique engines.  Mike, Rex, and Bert are miniature engines, which means they run on rails smaller than any other on the whole island.  Despite what others think of their size, they are some of the hardest-working engines on Sodor, pulling passengers and collecting goods like ballast and wool.

One day, Rex rests in a siding at Arlesburgh West, waiting for his next scheduled train.  Suddenly, he hears the screeching of brakes and an unfamiliar high-pitched whistle; startled, Rex gasps and opens his eyes, and sees a tall, bright pink steam engine beaming at him.

“Gotcha!” the engine says, “Boy, you should have seen the look on your face!”

“Wha-?” Rex says, still in his stupor, “Who are-” he begins, but is suddenly interrupted by Bert, who puffs up next to the new engine.

“Hello, Rex!” Bert says, giggling, “Did Eileen here give you a bit of a start?”

“I didn’t. .what did. .who?” Rex stammers.

“Sorry to startle you, Rex,” Mr. Duncan, the controller of the Small Railway, says, stepping out of Bert’s cab, “This is Eileen; she used to work on a tourist railway on the Mainland, but I’ve brought her here to help you all out with your increasing workloads.”

“Why, thank you sir,” Rex says, collecting himself, “It has been getting busier around here.”

“Indeed,” Mr. Duncan continues, “Now, Eileen has not had much experience working with cars or goods.  Would you mind showing her the ropes, Rex?”

“Certainly, sir,” Rex says as Eileen’s smile grows wider.

“Thank you, Rex” Mr. Duncan says, “Now, if you could please return me to my office, Bert?”

“Sure,” Bert says as their controller hops back in his cab, “Have fun you two!” he adds, winking at Rex, as they puff away.

“So, Rex,” Eileen says enthusiastically, “What’s my first job?”

“Oh, well, um,” Rex stammers, taken aback by her anxiousness to start working.  He peers across the yard and spots some cars blocking one of the tracks next to the station, “You can move those cars, if you’d like, Eileen.”

“Ooh, great!” Eileen exclaims and
rushes towards them; she bumps them hard and waits to be coupled up, “Where do you want me to take them?” she asks.

“Oh, how about on the track next to the chute,” Rex offers as Eileen hurries about switching the cars to their new destination.  No sooner had she finished, however, when she comes back to Rex for more work.

“What now?” she asks enthusiastically.  Rex looks at her, dumbfounded; he has never met an engine quite so eager to work as Eileen.

“Well now, you’re an eager one,” he chuckles, “Let’s go see if there’s any work along the line you can do,” and with a cheerful whistle, Eileen and Rex depart from Arlesburgh West and onto the mainline.

For the rest of the day, Rex puffs up and down the mainline with Eileen in tow, looking for anything to keep the young engine entertained with work.  He quickly learns that whenever Eileen is not completing some minute task he conjures up, she fills the time by talking about random topics.

"Hey Rex!” Eileen shouts, “Have you ever wondered why the sky is blue?”

“I, well – not really,” Rex responds.

“Well, I certainly have!” Eileen babbles, “It’s strange, isn’t it?  Why *is* the sky blue?  Why not purple?  Or red?  Or orange?  Or even green?  I think it’s because blue is such a pretty color, that someone, somewhere, decided that the sky will be-”

“Calm down, Eileen!” Rex coaxes, chuckling, “Oh, look, there are some sheep on the line ahead!” he continues, anxious to change the subject, “Why don’t you try shooing them away with your whistle?”

“Great idea, Rex!” she says, and toots her whistle loudly.  It takes a few tries, but the sheep finally manage to clear the line.  All throughout their journey, however, Rex experiences similar situations with Eileen, where he gives her some mundane task to do and she turns it into a all-out social fest with her over-eagerness.  By the time they turn around at Arlesdale, he loses count of how many times he tells Eileen to calm down and take things slowly.

When they finally return to Arlesburgh West, Rex feels rushed off his wheels, but not because he and Eileen did anything too strenuous.  “Well now, what’s up with you?” Bert asks Rex, “You look more tired than Mike does at first light.”

“It’s Eileen,” Rex says wearily, “All she ever does is talk and talk whenever she’s not working.  I tell you, I’ve never seen an engine who’s been as eager to work as she is.”

“We could certainly use that kind of attitude around here,” Bert says slyly as Mike passes by, “since *some* of us seem to have issues with working lately.”

“What’re you playing at?” Mike asks, detecting the accusation in Bert’s voice.

“Didn’t I tell you to put those ballast cars on the chute for Ryan’s train this morning?” Bert asks rhetorically, “He’s bound to arrive any time now!”

“Well, it’s not *my* fault Mr. Duncan put me on passenger detail today,” Mike responds, “Though if you’d like to trade jobs, I’d be *more* than willing.” As the trio talk amongst themselves, Eileen eavesdrops on the entire conversation.

“Oh my, they sound like they’re arguing,” she says to herself, “I don’t want to be a burden to them, so what else can I do?” She suddenly spies the cars Bert referred to on a siding, “Ah, that’s it!” she says and puffs quickly over to the cars.

“Well now, I expect that Mike can-wait,” Rex begins to say, but stops himself when he sees movement behind Bert, “Eileen!  What’re you doing?” he shouts as Eileen pushes the cars onto the ballast chute.

“Just doing my job, boys!” she says excitedly as she eagerly continues on.  Since she is unexperienced and pushing the cars instead of pulling them, however, Eileen cannot see where she needs to stop.  As she reaches the end of the chute, the first few cars crash through the buffers and topple down onto the tracks below.

“Eileen!  Are you alright?” Bert calls out from below the chute.

“Ohmigosh!” she exclaims her cheeks turning a bright shade of red, “I’m fine, but I’m sooo sorry!” At that moment, Ryan puffs around the bend and under the chute, stopping just before the mess of ballast and miniature cars.

“Um, I guess this means that I’ll be waiting for a little while?” Ryan asks innocently.  Soon enough, however, Harvey arrives with his claw attachment and quickly cleans the mess as Mike collects fresh ballast for Ryan’s cars.

“Eileen!” Rex scolds her as he pulls her away from the chute, “What were you thinking?”

“I’m sorry,” Eileen apologizes again, “but I saw you three arguing about those cars, and I didn’t want to just stand around and do nothing.  I want to help out in every way I can.”

“We understand that,” Bert says comfortingly, “but there are a few rules and regulations you need to know before you jump into certain tasks.”

“Exactly,” Rex agrees, “For starters, you don’t just rush up onto the ballast chute like a bull in a china shop; you need to go slowly – like I’ve been saying all day – and stop before the buffers.”

“Sorry,” Eileen says in a quiet voice.

“Now listen here, Rex, Bert scolds, “there’s no need for hostility here, she’s still new.  Shall I tell her about *your* first day on the job?” he adds playfully.

“Well, I-I don’t think there’s any need to—well, w-what I mean is-” Rex stammers, “Y-You know what, it’s getting late, I think I’ll turn in early tonight,” and he quickly reverses into his shed.

“What happened?” Eileen asks as Bert starts to crack up.

“Let’s just say that history has a funny way of repeating itself,” Mike responds from the chute as he and Bert bawl with laughter.  Even Eileen manages to chuckle; despite the circumstances of her first day on the job, she has a feeling that she will enjoy her time on Sodor.

## Characters

* Ryan
* Mike
* Rex
* Bert
* Eileen
* Mr. Fergus Duncan
* Harvey (*cameo*)

## Locations

* Arlesburgh West
* Arlesburgh
* Arlesdale
* The Woods
* The Lane