One morning, Bellerophon was working a rare passenger turn on the Maritime Line. It wasn't hugely often he pulled passengers, as he was designed to predominantly work freight and shunt in sidings, but he was fitted with vacuum braking should he be needed to pull passengers.

"This is more relaxed than the last time we did this," Bellerophon said cheerfully. "At least I've got my old coat of paint!"

Misty nodded in agreement, letting some of her hair fall downwards. "And I don't look like an explosion in a paint factory!"

Bellerophon laughed. "As much as the passengers may have enjoyed the thought of a new engine, I quite enjoy being painted brown. Gives me a strong sense of comfort and continuity with the past."

As is standard procedure on UK railways, Bellerophon had been refitted to work with coaches and the emergency stop system. Every carriage on the Maritime Line is fitted with a cord that is linked to the brakes. When the chord is pulled, the brakes are applied and the train comes to a stop. However, passengers must not use the cord unless it is in a genuine emergency. If they do not, they risk putting other people in danger- as well as a very large fine of up to £1,000! (About $1250.)

As they rolled into Truro and stopped, the pair observed the passengers getting on and off. Bellerophon noticed one woman approaching. "She might want to take that hat off!" he said. "There's no way that'll fit through the doorframe!"

Misty uncoupled Bellerophon and looked at a group of approaching teenagers nervously. "That's not good," she said. "Lady Haven once told me a story about how an unruly boy meddled with Ray's controls, and another caused an accident down in Lighthouse Quarry not too long ago."

"Hopefully they won't get up to any nonsense," Bellerophon said, as Misty climbed back up and removed the lamp. "The railway does take unruly behaviour very seriously."

As Misty ran Bellerophon round the train, a very strange looking man appeared. He appeared to be dressed in a suit made entirely from foliage and leaves, and had a pair of binoculars around his neck. He stepped into one of the compartments and closed the door behind him, not noticing other passengers staring at him over his bizarre attire.

Bellerophon was now around the other end of the train, so Misty hooked him up, connected the vacuum brake pipes, then performed a brake check to ensure all was well. "Good to go!" she said.

Eventually, departure time arrived, and the station master blew his whistle and waved his green flag. "RIGHT AWAY!"

Sure enough, they were soon on their way. As they travelled down the line, Bellerophon noticed something very peculiar. "There's a man who's dressed like a forest onboard," he said.

"That is strange," Misty said. "What's he doing?"

"He's getting on and off at every station," Bellerophon said. "He got off at Perranwell, and now he's getting off at Penrhyn as well! Whatever is he doing?"

"Maybe he works for the railway?" Misty suggested.

"Dressed like that?" Bellerophon asked. "I doubt it. Besides, he's always looking through a pair of binoculars at the trees."

Sure enough, the strangely dressed man got back onboard, looking rather disappointed.

A few moments later, the line cleared as Sophie rumbled in with a goods train. "Remember we don't call at Penmere outside of rush hour unless as a request stop!" she said.

"Got it!" Bellerophon replied.

As he approached Penmere, it happened. Outside of rush hour, which is early morning or early evening, passenger trains do not usually call at Penmere. If a passenger wishes to join the train outside of these hours, they must push a button on the station building, which illuminates a light on a board next to the track. This informs the driver that a passenger wishes to board. Alternatively, a passenger can push a button in the carriages, which causes a light in the cab to light up.

As Bellerophon approached Penmere, he saw the request stop light wasn't lit. "Nobody wanting to board!" he said.

"And no request stop light either," Misty said. "We can run straight through!"

But as they exited the station, it happened. Suddenly, the emergency brakes came on!

Bellerophon looked about in confusion as the brakes brought the train to a stop. "What the?" he asked.

"There must be an emergency!" Misty said, and she hopped down from the cab to start checking the coaches. It was standard policy for the driver to work from the front of the train whilst the guard worked from the back. That way, they could check the entire train in half the time.

Sure enough, Misty found the man in the strange clothing standing next to the emergency cord. "Did somebody pull the emergency cord?" she asked.

The man in the strange attire looked very sorry. "I pulled the cable," he said. "I hadn't realised the train didn't stop at Penmere."

It was not often that Misty looked annoyed, but she most certainly was doing her best impression of a lobster right now. "Missing a stop, booked or not, is not a valid reason for pulling the emergency cord," she said, sounding rather unimpressed. "It has to be a legitimate emergency, hence why 'emergency' is in the name of the object. I'll let the guard deal with this."

Once the guard gave them clearance to proceed, they were off on their way again. Behind them, the front coach was making an odd clattering noise.

"Sounds like a coach has developed a wheel flat," Misty said. "That'll be uncomfortable and noisy for anybody sat near the front."

Unfortunately, there wasn't any time to shunt it out of the train at Falmouth- Bellerophon was rather keen to get back on time, so passengers would just have to put up with it for the rest of the day. Both he and Misty were quite annoyed with the strange man. Thanks to him, they were now running late- and safe to say he wasn't hugely popular with the other passengers either.

The next day, Bellerophon was out on duty again with passengers. As he approached Penmere, he noticed the request stop light was illuminated. And the sole person standing on the platform was the strange man!

"Well I'm not stopping for him!" Bellerophon said, and simply blew steam at him.

"We have to stop if the light is illuminated!" Misty said.

"You can always say you didn't see the light," Bellerophon replied.

As they rolled into the platform, suddenly the brakes came on- again! The train screeched to a halt in the platform.

"Oh, not again," Misty said. She checked about the cab. The request stop light wasn't illuminated, so there can't have been a passenger wanting to alight. And it couldn't have been the strange man, as he was still standing on the platform!

The guard got out to check up the train, as did Misty. They soon found the culprit- the woman in the silly hat. "That was my stop there!" she snapped at the guard. "I need to get off the train!"

"Then why didn't you push the request stop light?" the guard asked.

"What do you mean?"

"This station is a request stop outside of peak hours. If you want to get off there's a button you can push to let the driver know you wish to alight."

The woman looked very embarrassed. "Oh," she said. "I'd assumed the train stopped here all the time. Sorry."

Whilst she'd been talking to the guard, the man with the strange suit got on. And sure enough they were soon on their way again. Upon arrival at Penrhyn, there was a crowd of annoyed passengers.

"Late again?" said one to Bellerophon. "Honestly, this is the sort of service I expect from Southern, not the Maritime Line!"

"Or Avanti," said another, also looking cross.

"Request stop," Misty explained. "People needed to get off at Penmere."

The passengers still boarded, grumbling all the while.

Once at Truro, the man with the strange suit came to speak to them. "Sorry for all the trouble I've caused," he said. "I've paid the fine, but I know that's probably not much consolation with all the lost time."

Bellerophon sighed. "As long as you promise to never do it again," he said. "But may I ask why you're dressed so oddly?"

The man laughed. "Oh! This stuff? I'm a birdwatcher. This is called a ghilli suit. It allows me to blend in with the terrain and watch birds without birds noticing me. It's very useful." He looked down again. "And that was part of the reason I pulled the emergency cord in the first place- I had heard the song of a very rare bird, and wanted to see it. I hadn't realised that Penmere was a request stop at this time of day."

"Well, consider this water under the bridge," Misty said. "Good luck with finding the bird!"

And so, as they say, all's well that ends well.

Author's Note

This chapter is an adaption of Thomas and the Emergency Cable, an episode from the 18th Season of Thomas and Friends. The title is derived from the wording often seen next to emergency stop cords.

The light policy at Penmere is based on RhB practice. To avoid risk to passengers by needing to wave flags and suchlike, request stops have buttons fitted to them which illuminate a light next to the track. This tells the driver they need to stop. Similarly, passengers can push a button in the passenger compartment to inform the driver they wish to alight.

Wheel flats occur when a rail wheel stops rotating when the train is in motion. Usually a consequence of emergency braking or poor adhesion, rolling stock with wheel flats produce a distinct bumping noise as they move along.

The episode this is based on does not depict wheel flats accurately; a wheel flat will not completely immobilise a piece of rolling stock, as the above video demonstrates.

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to point out the dangers of improper use of emergency cords. In France, a serious crash occurred in 1988 which was partly a consequence of improper use of emergency cords. So, I implore you to never misuse them, as you never know fully what could occur as a result of your actions.