Main Line Engines is the twenty-first book of The Railway Series.

Blurb

On The Fat Controller's Railway trucks disappear, some bees escape and a green hat is mistaken for the guard's flag! Two new mischievous twin engines, Bill and Ben, are introduced to the system and BoCo the diesel is a newcomer too, but how useful he proves to be.

Foreword

Dear Friends,
Bill and Ben are a shameless pair. I meant to write about Main Line Engines, and give the twins a treat by letting them into the first story. But I couldn't keep them in order! Before I knew it, they had crept into the others. They even wanted me to change the book and make it about them!

But I have been very firm. I am still calling it Main Line Engines. That will serve Bill and Ben right for ragging poor Gordon so disgracefully.

He hasn't got over it yet!
The Author

Stories

The Diseasel

Bill and Ben are tank engine twins who work at the China Clay Workings on Edward's Branch Line. One day, they leave some trucks in a siding to fetch some more, but return to find them all gone. Their drivers determine it was a diesel that took them, which the twins interpret as a "diseasel". When Bill recalls a sign saying "coughs and sneezles spread diseasels", in his words, Ben blames him. Their drivers quiet them and formulate a plan. They find the diesel on a siding, and manage to confuse him so as to make him giddy, but when Edward comes along, he reprimands them and tells them to apologize to the diesel, who calls himself BoCo. Edward sends them away, and he and BoCo joke about the twins.

Buzz, Buzz

Duck and BoCo are talking about Bill and Ben. Duck tells BoCo he has nicknamed them "The Bees", when James, having just arrived, claims he would simply blow smoke at bees to shoo them away. The next day, two porters are driving a trolley with a beehive on top when it falls off and bees swarm out. They decide to rest on James' boiler, but when one burns its feet, it stings James on the nose, and James runs away as he and his crew can take no more. In the end, BoCo takes the Express while Duck looks after his trucks, and that night the others talk about a red beehive on wheels.

Wrong Road

Although the big engines are forbidden to go on the branch lines because of their weight, Gordon claims he is forbidden because they are "vulgar", before leaving to take his late train. He misses his "path" after a lady with a large floppy green hat confounds the fireman into thinking that the guard has waved his flag, and in the end, Edward's train leaves ahead of Gordon. However, this creates a huge disruption as the Wellsworth signalman is not informed, and Gordon is left on a siding at Brendam. The next day, Bill and Ben come into the yard, and tease Gordon by "mistaking" him for scrap and arguing about how to dispose of him. Gordon thinks they are serious, and when BoCo arrives, he asks for help. BoCo sends the twins away with his trucks, and Gordon has had great respect for BoCo ever since.

Edward's Exploit

Edward reprimands Bill and Ben for what they did to Gordon, but tells Gordon that he deserved it. He is later set to take some enthusiasts home, but finds it hard to move the train. After meeting up with Bill and Ben, Edward takes the enthusiasts away, but bad weather forces him to stop when a crankpin breaks, severely battering his splashers and frame up and out of shape. His crew take both side rods off, and Edward manages to struggle home. Edward is sent to Crovan's Gate to be mended, and BoCo does his work so well that he single-handedly changes Donald and Douglas' opinion about diesels.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

• This book marks:
  • The last appearance of Edward in The Railway Series until James and the Diesel Engines, as well as his last speaking role until Thomas and the Twins.
  • The first time that James is shown without his standard black lining.
• The events of this book take place in the latter half of 1965.
• The word "diseasel" is a portmanteau of "disease" and "diesel".
• This book was first published the same year that Eddie Glen (who voiced Thomas in Thomas and the Magic Railroad as well as Toby in All Engines Go) was born.
• Buzz, Buzz is based on a real event in which six bees escaped from a hive at London Bridge Station. 
• Wrong Road is based on a real event that occurred at Sittingbourne, Kent in 1911.
• Edward's Exploit is based on a real event of what happened to the crosshead assembly of BR Standard Class 7 No. 70052 Firth of Tay while pulling an express train near Settle, North Yorkshire on the 21st of January 1960.
• In the fourth illustration of Buzz, Buzz, James' builder's plate reads "1948", despite the fact that he was built in the early 1910s. This is a reference to the year James the Red Engine was published.

Goofs

• In the second illustration, Ben's face is discoloured.
• In Wrong Road:
  • In the first illustration, Thomas' front running board is curved.
  • In the second illustration, Gordon's lamp isn't fully drawn.
  • It is said that the woman's friend was sitting in the coach nearest the guard's van, instead of the compartment near the guard's own.
  • In the sixth illustration, Bill and Ben appear taller and thinner than they should be, and the text on the front of Bill's saddle tank reads "Brendan Bay" instead of "Brendam Bay".
• In Edward's Exploit:
  • In the first illustration, James' dome is red and the two workmen next to Duck appear to be transparent. 
  • In the last illustration, BoCo's number is missing and Douglas is incorrectly depicted with a Fowler tender.

In Other Languages

Language	Title
Japanese	大きな機関車たち
Korean	본선의 기관차들