the tales of sodor's engine

edward finds a phantom

Edward the Blue Engine has worked on the Island of Sodor for many years and has forgotten more than most other engines will ever know. Edward always has wisdom to share, but the other engines are not always eager to hear it!

    One night, Gordon was fuming. He was due to take an overnight goods train to a faraway station near the end of the line. He was arguing with Edward over the correct way to get there.

    “My way is the fastest!” Gordon bellowed.

    “My way is the safest!” Edward scowled. “You don’t go out that way very often, Gordon. If you aren’t careful, you might have an accident.”

    “I’ve traveled up and down the mainline hundreds of times, little Edward. I know the way! Stick to your branch-line and let me handle myself, thank you!”

    Edward didn’t say another word. He knew that Gordon could be awfully stubborn. He only hoped that Gordon would see sense.

    Soon, Gordon was on his way up the line. He was still cross at Edward for contradicting him.

    “Know-it-all,” he seethed. “He thinks just because he’s got a few years on me that he can boss me around. I’ll go my way and show him it’s fast and safe, then he’ll be sorry!”

    Gordon charged ahead into the night, not knowing what lay ahead.

    “Oh glory, what is that!?” Gordon bellowed. Frightened, he screeched on his brakes, but it was too late!

    Edward was resting at the station when his driver woke him.

    “There’s been trouble up the line, Edward. Gordon never made it to the station.”

    “I told him,” Edward said. “I bet he went his way and had an accident!”

    “C’mon, old boy, let’s see if we can find him!”

    Edward was preparing to leave when he heard the trucks in the sidings wailing like ghosts.

    “What are you up to?” Edward asked.

    “Gordon was taken away by…the phantom!”

    “Don’t be so daft!” chortled Edward. “There are no phantoms here!”

    “Oh, but there are!” affirmed the trucks. “Engines ought never to go to that old part of the line. That’s where the engine snatcher lives!”

    Edward rolled his eyes.

    “They say that if an engine gets too close, he’ll be pulled off the rails and dragged to a fiery pit below!”

    “Yes! Yes!” said another truck, his eyes wide. “It can see the engines through the light of the red signal. While you wait, it reaches out and GRABS YOU!”

    “Ridiculous!” Edward said indignantly.

    “Beware the phantom, Edward!”

    By the time Edward got to the old part of the line, the moon had risen high overhead. The line was not well lit and it was hard to see. In the distance, Edward saw a red tail lamp. It was Gordon’s trucks, scattered along the line! But where was Gordon? Edward ran alongside and looked in the spot where Gordon should have been. It didn’t make sense.

High above them was an old red signal, standing menacingly, like a sentinel on guard. Edward was reminded of what the trucks had said and suddenly found himself thinking of nothing but the “phantom”. 

Then, suddenly, a wailing noise came from deep down an embankment. Edward, his driver, and his fireman all jumped! Petrified with fear, Edward didn’t say a word or move an inch.

The wailing came again, but Edward realized that it sounded familiar.

“That’s no phantom!” Edward said sharply. “That’s Gordon!”

Edward’s driver shone a light and sure enough, there was Gordon in disgrace down the embankment. Gordon’s crew sat nearby, clearly still shaken from the accident.

“How on earth did you get down there, Gordon?” Edward laughed, but his driver pointed Edward toward the answer. Ahead was an old set of points that had sunken into the embankment. The points were rusted and couldn’t be switched back. The signalman had set the signal to red so that engines wouldn’t accidentally run off the rails into the valley below. Gordon, evidently, had ignored the signal!

The next morning, Sir Topham Hatt spoke severely to Gordon.

“Signals are designed to keep you safe!” he said. “I shudder to think of what might have happened if you had been pulling coaches instead of trucks!”
   
    Gordon looked down.

    “Furthermore, what Edward doesn’t about railways isn’t worth knowing! When he tries to help you in the future, I hope you will value his experience.”

    “Yes sir!”

    Sir Topham Hatt closed the old section of line that Gordon had gone down until it could be repaired. The trucks still talk about the phantom, and claim that it not only wails in the night, but is also big, blue, and named Gordon!