Carl & The Engines vol.10 (Patreon)

Vol 10 - Carl’s volunteer work, while mostly around Tidmouth, had spread to other corners of Sodor over the years— including the docks of Brendam, one of the busiest seaside towns on the entire island. 

 One Saturday morning, Carl got permission from his parents to travel by train to the town of Wellsworth. There lived his friend, Adelaide Chang, who had arrived on Sodor a few weeks ago to stay after she and her family had moved there from the Mainland. From there, Carl led Adelaide to Brendam by train to visit the docks.   

The boy wasn’t interested in work today, however. On the few times he had gone to Brendam Docks to help out with small tasks, he had overheard the thrilling tales of one Salty the Dockside Diesel, resident of the docks. It was one of the rare occasions where Carl was so distracted from his work that he had sat down nearby to do something else—in those cases, it was to listen to the hearty, jubilant rasp of Salty’s voice as he told his many stories to anyone who would listen.  

Luckily for Carl, he and Adelaide had arrived at a good time. Salty, along with the Sodor China Clay Company tank engine twins Bill and Ben, were resting after a hard day’s work. To pass the time before they went out again, Salty decided to tell the twins about the story of the brave lighthouse keeper who weathered a bad storm to swim out to sea and rescue sailors. The dock manager allowed the children to sit by and listen, and some of the dockside workmen even gave them snacks and drinks to enjoy.  What Carl didn’t know was that this was one of the only ways of keeping the usual rowdy, mischievous twins out of trouble, as they enjoyed Salty’s stories even more than Carl. 

The only other way was for an engine that they respected, like Edward or BoCo—a mixed traffic diesel engine—to keep them in line.  

Speaking of BoCo…