well guys, here's my first fanfiction in a long time. the reason being is that i'm having a lot of trouble trying to come up with something original, so I decided to write a Thomas special in my own words and post it. I know Duncan gets spooked is an episode that was done to death by practically everyone in the fandom, but I thought i'd do it anyways, so here's my Halloween thing for 2019.

Duncan gets spooked

Based off the story by David Mitton and Britt Allcroft

There had been a storm on the Island of Sodor, while most of the island was relatively unscathed, the Skarloey Railway had branches and debris all over the line. Thankfully, summer had passed and the engines could focus on clearing the rails. Most of the engines worked in pairs, Peter Sam and Rusty were the ones that worked together the most often. One day they had cleared up a good chunk of the railway near the old iron bridge, and the two had just reached Rheneas station. As Peter Sam was having a drink from the water tower, the stationmaster walked up. “Rusty, you’re needed to help Andreas and Duke remove a fallen tree near Cros-ny-cuirn.” He said. “But Peter Sam needs me here.” Rusty replied. “It’s ok Rusty, I’ll manage.” Said Peter Sam. Rusty was still unsure, but set off back down the line.
As Peter Sam was finishing his drink, neither he nor his driver heard a creaking coming from behind them. The trucks they were taking were old and were due for scrap soon, the couplings were weak from age, the one between the first truck and Peter Sam broke, and the trucks began to roll back down the line! Peter Sam’s driver looked back and shouted “the trucks have broken away! Come on Peter Sam, we’d better stop them!” he climbed back into his engine’s cab, and they set off in pursuit of the trucks.
The old iron bridge stood tall over a canyon and swamps, it had no side rails or footpaths. The engines and their crews were always nervous when they crossed over the bridge. The trucks clattered along and reached the bridge. The guard’s van hit a snag on the bridge and fell off the side, the trucks followed and they all fell into the ravine and into the swamp. Luckily the guard had stepped out of his van just before the trucks broke away, otherwise he would’ve probably been dead. Peter Sam arrived at the scene of the disaster. His driver looked down at the wreck and sighed. “This was our fault, we didn’t secure them properly. Now we’ll have to get help to pull them out. The thin controller won’t like this.”
And he didn’t. His message to Peter Sam that evening was brief and blunt. “You will work in the yards until I can trust you again.” Then he turned to Duncan “I’ll need you to do Peter Sam’s work for now.” Despite having to do extra work, Duncan was delighted with Peter Sam’s dilemma. “Fancy not securing you’re trucks on the hill.” He teased. “They’ll come back to spook you and you’re special funnel. *woooo*” “lay off Duncan!” snapped Sir Handel. He and Andreas had just arrived back after getting the trucks out of the ravine. “Yeah!” added Andreas. “The same could have easily happened to you!” Duncan snorted “I wouldn’t let some creaky trucks run away from me.” He said haughtily. “And I wouldn’t let some spooky ghosts scare me.” Just as an argument was about to start Rusty pulled in. “alright Duncan, that’s enough.” He said unamused. “Who’s to say you’re not afraid of ghosts.” “Pah! Ghosts, things that go bump in the night, rubbish!” Duncan answered. “I wouldn’t talk like that if I were you.” Warned rusty “especially considering the history of that bridge.” “What do you mean?” asked Duncan unconvinced. “Yeah, what do you mean?” asked Andreas. Rusty sighed. “Skarloey and Rheneas told me about the bridge some time ago. They never like to talk about it.” And this was the story rusty told.
Before any of us came here, it was just Skarloey and Rheneas running the line. There was a third engine who was co-owned by the original slate mine, and the railway itself. I don’t know what this engine’s name was or what he looked like, Skarloey and Rheneas never told me. but from what they did tell me, this engine kept mostly to himself and did his work without fuss. The old iron bridge was made as a part of a shortcut around the lake, but money was tight, and they couldn’t afford to complete it apart from the tracks and girder work. This would have dire consequences. One misty, moonlit night the engine was returning to the slate quarry to pick up one more load of trucks to take to Crovans gate, but he never made it. Some hikers who were near the bridge that night said that they had seen the engine cross the bridge. According to them the engine was halfway across the bridge, when it just… derailed and fell off the side of the bridge.
There was no explanation for it. When workmen came to inspect the bridge the next day, there was nothing wrong, and when a search party was sent to find the engine, they didn’t find anything. No trace of the engine or his crew were found. After that, the new extension was shut down. And business dropped, no one wanted to travel on the railway if engines were disappearing. It would be a long time before anyone felt safe traveling by train again. Soon enough, the extension was reopened, but many people who came near the bridge would tell you, on a misty night they could see the engine trying to get to its destination. But he never reached the other side…
The sheds were completely silent, until Duncan began to laugh. “What a bunch of nonsense, I’ve been over that bridge lots of times, and nothings ever happened.” He said, and he left to get some trucks from Glennock. “Typical Duncan.” Snorted Sir Handel. “Never mind him, he’d be frightened if he really saw a ghost.” Said Rusty. Andreas and Sir Handel looked at each other, then smirked. “Let’s play a trick on Duncan.” They said. The next day both engines spoke to their crews, and to Duncan’s as well. “We’ll do it tonight.” They agreed.
Duncan had to take coal trucks to the slate mine, and bring some trucks full of slate back to Crovans gate. His driver decided as part of the plan to cross the old iron bridge. “Haunted bridge, pah. The thing’s tame as a pet rabbit.” He grumbled to himself. All the same, he kept thinking about Rusty’s story. He was back at the slate quarry that evening and was keen to leave. “If we don’t go now, atlas will take my spot in the sheds again.” He complained. “We can’t leave until we get our trucks.” His driver replied. He could see their plan was working because Duncan was nervous.
By the time they collected their trucks and set off, night had fallen. The moon was full, and the mist was rising around the old iron bridge. Duncan reached the bridge and stopped on it. He heard a puffing sound and through the mist, Duncan saw what looked like an engine. “w-who’s there?” he asked nervously. The engine disappeared, and then there was a splash that echoed around the bridge. “IT’S THE GHOST!” cried Duncan. “TAKE ME BACK, ATLAS CAN HAVE MY SPOT, JUST TAKE ME BACK PLEASE!!”
When dunce reached Rheneas station, he went into a nearby shed and closed his eyes tightly. “Spooked are you, Duncan?” laughed his driver. “No I’m trying to sleep.” Duncan said, he refused to open his eyes. He didn’t get much sleep that night.
The next day Duncan headed back to Crovans gate. His driver revealed their plan “Sir Handel and Andreas wanted to play a trick on you, we agreed. The plan was that we’d stop on the bridge, and Sir Handel would appear as the ghost on the bridge. When he supposedly disappeared, his driver would throw a cinder block into the ravine. It worked perfectly.” Explained his driver.
Duncan was livid. When he saw Andreas and Sir Handel at the sheds he approached them. “What do you think you’re playing at? Playing that horrid trick on me!” he said angrily. “What do you mean, trick?” asked Sir Handel. “Don’t play innocent, my driver explained the whole thing, which one of you was it on that bridge?!” snapped Duncan. Sir Handel and Andreas exchanged confused glances. “Neither of us we’re at the bridge. I was at lakeside picking up some workmen to take them home.” Said Andreas. “I was here sleeping, and no one else was in on this plan.” Said Sir Handel. The engines all looked at each other nervously, no one said a word.


If none of the engines were at the bridge that night, then who was it?