TOM_StoryBooks_TooManyTrucks R1.indd - Fisher

Porter
Porter is a friendly new
steam engine that shunts
trucks at Brendam Docks.
He has three domes on his
boiler; one steam dome
and two sandboxes.
James
James is very proud of
his shiny red paintwork
and often thinks he is
better than the other
engines. James normally
pulls passengers and
doesn’t like it when he
has to pull cargo instead.
Salty
Salty the dockside diesel,
is a hardworking engine
who loves to tell tall tales
of his life by the sea. He
has a great big heart and
loves working at Brendam
Docks.
One morning, Thomas and James were at Brendam Docks when Sir Topham Hatt
came to see them.
‘There has been an extra large catch of fish today,’ said Sir Topham Hatt. ‘So I
need you two to take them to market.’
‘I’m a passenger engine,’ said James.
‘I think you should take them Thomas.’
But Thomas didn’t like the smell of fish. He didn’t want to take the trucks either.
So Thomas decided to trick James into taking them all.
‘A really strong engine would be able to
take all of those fish in one go!’ said Thomas.
This gave Salty an idea for a really tall tale.
‘I met the strongest engine in the world
once,’ said Salty. ‘He could have easily taken
all those trucks!’
This made James cross. He wanted
Thomas, Porter and Salty to think he
was really strong.
‘I’ll show you!’ said James.
‘I’ll prove that I’m the strongest
engine in the world!’
So Porter shunted all of the trucks full of fish into a line ready for James to take.
‘I can’t wait to see this!’ laughed Porter.
James pulled as hard as he could, but he couldn’t move the
trucks. So then James tried pushing the trucks... So James
gave the trucks an extra hard biff! Then there was trouble. The
truck on the end broke and all of the fish spilled out. But he
still couldn’t move them. James was funnel deep in
haddock.
Then Sir Topham Hatt arrived.
‘I’m sorry, sir,’ said Thomas. ‘I tricked James into trying to take all of the fish
at once.’
‘You have caused confusion and delay,’ said the
Sir Topham Hatt. ‘Now you must take all of the trucks
yourself while James goes to the washdown.’
Porter shunted the trucks into groups of four, ready
for Thomas to take.
‘There you go!’ Puffed Porter. ‘Your trucks are ready!’
Thomas puffed back and forth from Brendam Docks to the market as fast as he could.
But as Thomas raced to the market for the last time, James was leaving the washdown.
James was feeling very clean and shiny. But Thomas was going so fast he didn’t see
James... And he bumped into the back of him. A truck full of fish
flew into the air and covered Thomas and James.
‘I think we both need to go to the washdown now!’ puffed Thomas.
THE END.