Oliver and the Dirty Coaches

Oliver and the Dirty Coaches is a story written by Loco123456

Story
Early one morning Oliver arrived at Arlesburgh station with his coaches Isabel and Dulcie. Rain fell lightly on them. Spring had arrived and for many days it rained, so everyone became used to it. Some children arrived looking dirty. A couple of them had mud on their pants. "Oliver, we'll need cleaning after this journey," whispered Isabel. "I'll remember," promised Oliver. Oliver forgot. He focused more on getting passengers to each place on time. By the end of the day the coaches were wet on the outside, and dirty on the inside. Seats here and there had mud that started to dry, and the floor clearly had footprints from the passengers. A few windows had muddy pawprints from dogs. They glared at him as he puffed to the sheds. "He doesn't seem to care about us," moaned Dulcie. "What shall we do?" "Not much really," thought Isabel aloud. They weren't only worried about their cleanliness, but also with needing repairs.

"Oliver, these coupling feel as though they could break," noted Dulcie as they stopped at Tidmouth. "What do you mean?" asked Oliver. "The couplings haven't been replaced in a long time. It's time we get new ones." "We'll get new ones after we finish our service." As they puffed along the Little Western the coaches fumed in silence. They started to climb a hill when they realized that the hill could help them make Oliver see the issue. They gave a light tug, and sure engouh, the coupling broke. The guard in Dulcie put on the brakes. The brakes streeched as they came to a stop. Oliver came after them and used his coupling instead to finish the journey.

At the yard at Arlesburgh a workman gave them a quick inspection in-between their service. "Looks like they'll need repairs. You'll have to use other coaches in the meantime." Oliver fetched some other coaches after shunting Isabel and Dulcie to a line of trucks and coaches that had to be taken to the Steamworks. That night in the sheds Oliver stayed silent. "None of the other coaches want me to pull them," he said sadly. "I bet they will once they see how well you can take care of them," said Duck gently. "I have an idea that might help. Want to hear it?" "Yes please." Duck told Oliver about what he had in mind. Oliver agreed to it and couldn't wait to prove himself the next morning.

The next morning rain poured down all throughout the morning. "We'll need cleaning," grumbled the coaches. "I'll take you to the Wash-down after our next service." "We'll see about that!" Oliver kept to his word. He did this for a long time. The coaches eventually stopped being rude to him. A few days later Isabel and Dulcie returned to work. Oliver took them for a run and at the end of the day took them to the Wash-down to have their seats and floor cleaned. "Duck told us all about what you've been doing," said Isabel. "You've made good progress," added Dulcie. "I'll make sure to look after you two properly from now on!"

Characters
Duck Oliver Isabel and Dulcie Branch Line Coaches A workman

Locations
Tidmouth Arlesburgh The Little Western The Wash-down Arlesburgh Sheds