Lee's Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends

Stories

Stanley, the Diesel and the Amazing Discovery

Stanley was bust working one morning at the foundry. The molten metal and smell of anxiety in the air always seemed to dominate it but Stanley always enjoyed the workload. Hauling heavy loads of metal to and from the foundry was always fun as he enjoyed to help out as much as he could with the other engines. 'Arry and Bert sometimes visit the foundry and find Stanley's enthusiasm very annoying.
"He's too chirpy for this work…" scowled 'Arry.
"Indeed…" agreed Bert as Stanley whizzed by with a wide grin on his face.

Later that morning, the Fat Controller came to the foundry to speak to Stanley. He had some important news.
"Stanley!" he boomed. "The other railway has informed me that have a new load of scrap metal for us to collect and turn into molten scrap. I've selected you to go and collect that metal for us at once!"
"The other railway?" Stanley said. "That's far away isn't it?"
"Indeed…" said the Fat Controller. "I expect to see you back by tomorrow morning." he added before he left. Stanley didn't know how far away the other railway was or even which direction it was in, but his crew did and soon he set off. The journey would take most of the rest of the day and there would only be one permitted stop along the way too.
"That's not enough…" grumbled the driver as they went along. Stanley just smiled for now as he felt very important to be given the duty but he sort of expected a bigger engine to be going. Other engines along the way seemed to expect the same too as James complained about the matter.
"Stanley?" he said indignantly. "Why him?" he added as Stanley passed him by. James didn't feel sorry at all and continued to complain for an age.

Chugging along the lines, Stanley just looked above while he continued along a long straight piece of track and saw Tiger Moth the Bi-plane zooming along in the air. Tiger Moth noticed Stanley too and he looked on very oddly. Only the big engines come along this way to the other railway and Stanley was most definitely not a big engine at all. When Stanley's break came halfway along the journey, he felt relieved but also concerned that most of the day had already gone.
"We won't make it back by the morning will we?" he said worriedly.
"It'll be an all-nighter now, lad…" said his driver as the journey continued but they soon reached a set of points and carried along them without checking. They were going to the other railway, but not to the collection point. They were heading in a new direction altogether and as the night began to draw in, the concerns from everyone got even more prominent.
"Is this definitely the other railway?" Stanley wondered. He didn't know what it should look like but even this didn't look like what he imagined. Engines, both big and small all swayed past him at ease. They looked at him oddly and knew he was out of place. Some fog was beginning to draw in too and then Stanley came to a halt as he saw two lights in the distance. His driver and fireman thought it was another engine and called out to them.
"Can you help us please?" they asked. All fell silent. Then, suddenly a deep booming voice echoed around.
"No…" it boomed. "You can help me…" Stanley was concerned.
"What do you mean?" he asked bravely.
"You are going to stop there and behave like little engines should…" came the voice as a figure appeared through the fog. It was a diesel and it was extremely rusty.
"Who are you?" Stanley's driver asked nervously.
"I'm Bob…" replied the diesel deeply. "And you are not leaving here…"

Stanley was scared and just remained as he was as he didn't dare want to ignore the rusty diesel's commands. Stanley's crew felt the same and just stayed in the cabin keeping warm. Bob, the diesel certainly didn't look friendly as he looked on with a deep frown.
"You're a Fat Controller engine aren't you?" he asked abruptly.
"Y…yes…" Stanley replied nervously. "Is that a problem?" he then asked. Bob didn't reply and just began to smirk a little.
"A Fat Controller engine is most appropriate for this area…" Bob then said eerily. Stanley's driver and fireman then began to realise where they were.
"The hold…" Stanley's driver said suddenly. "We're in the hold!"
"What's the hold?" Stanley asked.
"It is where engines formerly of your railway come to rest…" Bob answered. "To rust would be more appropriate." Stanley began to look around as the fog cleared and there he saw many engine shapes and sizes all covered with a white tarpaulin. They were all quiet and separated from each other. It was very spooky looking indeed.
"Why are they here?" Stanley asked.
"Because they're not needed anymore…" Bob gruffed loudly. He then commanded Stanley's crew to pick one of the engines at random to unveil. The pair of them warily unveiled one engine that sent a shiver down everyone's spine.
"Oh my word…" said the fireman.
"It can't be…" added the driver.
"It is though…" said the engine. "Duke can never be scrapped…" he added proudly with a smile. Before everyone was Duke, the hero of all the engines, found once more. Stanley didn't know a lot about Duke but knew how much the other engines cherished him.
"He is just one of many though…" Bob added eerily. "I'm not stopping you from taking them all back. I just keep a hold of them and protect them."
"Well what about me?" muffled a voice from under a nearby tarpaulin. Stanley's driver lifted that to find an olive green narrow gauge engine.
"Hey Bobbie! You finally got the tarpaulin off me!" said the engine rudely. Stanley didn't know how to react, but Duke set the tone for everyone.
"Smudger…" he said with authority. "Just be quiet and listen. It won't harm you!" Smudger was about to retaliate but he gave in. He was still covered in the mud and rust of years being trapped under growing land. He'd become a generator towards the end of his days, but he knew he wanted to be back on the rails, so he kept firmly quiet.
"This is the narrow gauge section…" Bob said kindly. "The bigger engines are all over there…" Stanley really couldn't begin to take all of this in and he just struggled with the concept of engines being left here.
"Are you happy here?" he asked to Duke and Smudger.
"I've been worse places…" smiled Duke. "I think it's best if you telephone Sir Topham Hatt. He will be worried about you otherwise."
"But, how did you know?" asked Stanley's fireman.
"This was all planned…" Bob answered simply. "Whoever he sent to collect that metal was always going to be sent here."

Soon, a phone call had been made at a nearby signal box and the Fat Controller immediately rushed over in Harold the Helicopter to get to the site. When he arrived, he was visibly upset.
"I never meant for all of them to be here…" he said glumly.
"Oh well, you live and learn, sir!" Duke called over. The Fat Controller immediately smiled and just couldn't believe it. He immediately rushed over to Duke just to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He then saw Smudger and was still perplexed, but Bob urged him to unveil another engine.
"Go on….you'll feel good for doing it…" he said before he reversed out of sight. The Fat Controller picked an engine that he could see had a very tall funnel. He removed the tarpaulin and Duke instantly smiled. The Fat Controller didn't know who it was but both Duke and Smudger did.
"June…" said Duke simply. June was an Andrew Barclay engine painted in maroon. She'd worked with Duke and Smudger many years ago and looked very grand and glad of seeing something other than a tarpaulin.
"Thank you…" she said simply to the Fat Controller. "You don't know what this means to us."
"Oh I do…" the Fat Controller replied. "It means you're going home!"

The following morning, Murdoch arrived with three flatbeds all joined up to each other. Duke, June and Smudger were all put in their place and set off home. Stanley was going to join them, but the Fat Controller reminded him to fetch the metal from the collection point.
"What a strange night…" Stanley muttered to himself.
"Indeed…" agreed his driver as they set off in the right direction for the metal this time. As he left, Stanley wasn't sure if he never wanted to meet Bob the diesel again. He looked evil and at first he acted evil, but he was kind. Stanley just kept on thinking about Bob for the rest of his journey. Bob meanwhile stayed where he was, seemingly all on his own with engines all covered from sight. Then a voice was heard beckoning him away. Was Bob truly alone? Only time would tell…