Bert's Bird

The Arlesdale Railway, which is better known as the Small Railway on the Island of Sodor, is owned by a syndicate of very important people, headed by the Fat Controller. But he rarely visits the railway, because the Small Controller manages the engines without him.

One morning, the Small Controller went to see the engines while they were still in their shed.

"Tomorrow, your owners are coming to see you," he told them. "I know it's been a couple of years since they last saw you, so you'd better be on your very best behaviour. And I've decided that Jock will haul the VIP train."

Jock grinned broadly. He was very pleased to have been chosen to take the VIP's around.

But the next morning, Jock awoke feeling ill. When the Small Controller heard about it, he hurried to the shed. He only needed to look at Jock to know that Jock wasn't bluffing.

"I'm sorry, sir," Jock whispered feebly.

"It's not your fault," the Small Controller sighed. "These things just happen. I'll get your fitter to look after you. But that leaves us with the problem of who will take the VIPs." He turned to look at Rex, Mike and Bert. Seeing that Bert was almost ready to go, he made up his mind. "Bert? Are you feeling well enough to take the VIP train?"

Bert gulped nervously. For the last few years, he'd suffered from serious breathing issues. He'd had his tubes replaced countless time, tried many different types of coal, and had many other parts replaced, but instead of getting better, his breathing only became worse. He often ended up stopping near the top of the hill, wheezing and gasping for breath.

Bert looked up at the Small Controller. "I'll do my best, sir."

"That's a good engine," the Small Controller smiled. "I know you won't let me down."

Soon, Bert had been cleaned and polished until his driver could see his face in Bert's paintwork. Then, puffing anxiously, Bert backed down onto his train. Beside the Small Controller was the Fat Controller, the Thin Controller, the Owner of the Skarloey Railway and a number of other dignitaries.

"Hello, Bert," the Fat Controller smiled. "It's good to see you again."

"You too, sir," Bert whispered. He tried to sound polite, but his nervousness made him feel very shy all of a sudden.

Before the Fat Controller could make Bert even more nervous, the Small Controller escorted him over to the train. Once all the VIP's were on board, Bert set off.

Bert ran quite well until just before the Green. Then he began to wheeze horribly.

No! Not now! Bert thought crossly as he struggled to haul the heavy train up the steep slope. The VIP's all heard him wheezing, and they began to talk anxiously amongst themselves.

As Bert topped the rise, he saw something sitting on the tracks ahead of him. Drawing closer, he saw that it was a duck.

It'll move when I get closer, Bert thought. But it didn't. Instead, it quacked loudly at Bert. Thanks to Bert's bad breathing, he hadn't been moving very fast, and so he was easily able to stop in front of the duck. He let off steam loudly, hoping to scare the duck away. The duck tried to stand up, but it couldn't.

Bert's driver climbed down and he went over to the duck. It tried to move away from him, but something was holding it down onto the track.

"It's got some fishing wire tied around its leg," Bert's driver explained after examining the duck. "And the other end has caught around a rail spike."

He carefully rolled the duck up in his jacket to stop it moving, and then he cut the fishing wire, releasing the duck. The Fat Controller was standing beside Bert when the driver stood up.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" the Fat Controller asked.

"If you really don't mind, Sir, could you please hold this duck until we reach the top station?" the driver asked, handing the duck over. "We'll contact a vet once we get there."

Thanks to the duck, Bert had had a chance to get his breath back, and they soon reached the top station without further incident. The VIPs were very impressed with everything they saw, but once the duck had been taken care of, the Fat Controller turned his attention to Bert.

"How long has Bert had breathing issues?" he asked the Small Controller.

"Too long," Bert muttered. But then he realised that the Fat Controller had overheard him.

"Has anything been done about it?" the Fat Controller continued, ignoring Bert's comment.

"We've done everything we can think of," the Small Controller sighed. "Bert's had so many new parts and we've tried every type of coal in the area, but it's done him no good, and he's been getting progressively worse."

"Do you know why?"

The Small Controller exhaled deeply. "Bert wasn't built like Rex and Mike. He was, essentially, built in a backyard shed. Whoever built him didn't give him a big enough firebox, and his boiler is too small. He'd steam a lot better with a different exhaust system and a larger firebox."

The Fat Controller frowned thoughtfully. "I'll look into it," he promised.