After Stephanie's bruise from landing on the Gem of Sodor has healed, she has thought about what Duncan had said about not being able to travel around like what the others do.
She felt sorry for them for not being able to do it, so she decided to help them by making a change by asking Sir Topham Hatt.
So that morning, at the correct time than before, Alice woke Stephanie up gently without shrieking at her like her other 'maid.'
"Good morning, Stephanie!" Alice greeted her with a smile on her face. "Are you ready for a bright and lovely day?"
Stephanie nodded her head after Alice asked and got out of bed as she walked out of her room to let her have privacy to change.
Once she changed into her clothes, Stephanie went downstairs to ask Sir Topham Hatt about the idea she had in mind.
Stephanie was nervous about explaining what her idea was about adding smaller tracks inside the bigger tracks.
She thinks that Sir Topham Hatt would dismiss her idea, calling it silly, and continue with his day.
But she took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and walked up to Sir Topham Hatt as he was getting ready for work.
When she went up to Sir Topham Hatt before leaving for work, he noticed Stephanie and smiled softly, turning his attention to Stephanie.
"Hello, Stephanie," he greeted. "What seems to be the problem today?"
"Nothing, Sir," Stephanie answered. "I was wondering about something."
A curious expression appeared on Sir Topham Hatt's face.
"What is it?" he asked.
Stephanie paused for a moment about her thoughts, having self-doubt about Sir Topham Hatt's reaction.
After being silent for a moment, Stephanie finally answered, "Do you think of adding rails inside the normal tracks for the narrow-gauge engines outside the quarry?"
Sir Topham Hatt thought to himself for a moment after Stephanie answered his question before asking, "Did the quarry engines back in the Blue Mountains talk to you while you stayed there?"
"Y-Yes, sir," Stephanie nodded, placing her hands behind her back as she glanced down at the ground, blushing a little. "I just felt bad for them having to wait for Thomas or the other normal gauge engines to come to pick them up. So, I thought asking you to put a smaller pair of rails could help them."
After a few minutes of silence, Sir Topham Hatt gently smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder, which was lucky for the bruise to be healed at this point.
"I think it is an excellent idea!" he smiled, causing Stephanie to perk a little. "I'll let the workers at the Steamworks know to make more rails."
Then, Stephanie felt nervous about other trains being crossed towards her to give Sir Topham Hatt the idea.
She thought that would slow down things for the work, and she would be blamed for getting the idea.
"But what about the other trains?" Stephanie questioned worriedly. "They might slow down a little since the workers are working on the rails."
Sir Topham Hatt gently chuckled after Stephanie asked him about the other engines, placing his hand on her shoulder again after turning around to face the door.
He led her outside the mansion as Stephanie followed him by his side.
"Don't worry about that, Stephanie." Sir Topham Hatt assured. "The engines will either take a different route to go around or slow down a little."
Stephanie perked more after Sir Topham Hatt assured her about the added problems with her idea, smiling gently.
"Thank you, Sir." Stephanie thanked him.
They soon came up to the Steamworks with Winston, as Stephanie had her long brown hair up into a ponytail, remembering the last time she came here.
Sir Topham Hatt stepped out of Winston and into the Steamworks, as Stephanie noticed that he had forgotten about the brakes again and did it for him.
"Thank you, Stephanie." Winston thanked her as she nodded her head.
"You're welcome, Winston." Stephanie smiled politely, unlocking the door.
She stepped out of him and closed the door behind her back.
She and Sir Topham Hatt entered the Steamworks as Sir Topham Hatt called, "Victor? Where are you?"
"¡Un minuto por favor, señor!" Victor's voice called, confusing Sir Topham Hatt.
Stephanie noticed Sir Topham Hatt's expression on his face and reached up with a hand, gently tugging his sleeve to get his attention.
After that, he glanced down at Stephanie as she smiled reassuringly for the poor confused Sir Topham Hatt.
"He said, 'One minute please, Sir.'" Stephanie translated to Sir Topham Hatt as he glanced over at her.
"Oh," Sir Topham Hatt smiled. "Thank you, Stephanie."
"¡De nada, Sir Topham Hatt!" Stephanie responded in Spanish, confusing Sir Topham Hatt again. "I responded with 'You're welcome.'"
"Oh," Sir Topham Hatt blushed as he glanced away from Stephanie. "Maybe I should learn to speak in different languages."
Stephanie giggled after Sir Topham Hatt blushed as Victor came over, noticing the two.
"What can I do for you two?" Victor asked.
"Well," Sir Topham Hatt gently pushed Stephanie forward as she got shy again. "Stephanie has an idea that would change everything about the railway."
Victor got confused when Sir Topham Hatt mentioned Stephanie, noticing that she was blushing and looking shy.
"What is the idea?" Victor gently asked, glancing over at her.
"Uh," Stephanie blushed more, glancing up at him bravely. "I was with the Blue Quarry team, and I noticed how irritated Duncan was with having to wait for a regular gauged engine to come and pick up one of them, so I suggested to Sir Topham Hatt to get some rails into the tracks for engines to go around."
Stephanie blushed more after she explained, reaching over to Sir Topham Hatt and hugged his arm, feeling shy and nervous about Victor's thoughts about her idea.
Victor paused a little after Stephanie explained before wincing slightly when a metallic clang echoed around the Steamworks.
"Kevin!" Victor sighed as Kevin called, "Sorry, boss! Slip of the hook!"
Stephanie gently giggled after Kevin called Victor before Victor turned back to Stephanie, responding, "I think the idea is magnificent! I sometimes wonder what the docks are now after so long have passed."
A soft smile appeared on her face as Victor added, "But, we need help from the Mainland with the Steelworks."
"'Steelworks?'" Stephanie repeated softly in confusion. "Don't we have a Steelworks here?"
Sir Topham Hatt chuckled and said, "That is the Ironworks, Stephanie. 'Arry and Bert work there to gather scraps and reuse them for rails."
A soft shudder went down Stephanie's back from Sir Topham Hatt's explanation, remembering Moon's words about what would happen if they were taken to the Ironworks.
"The Steelworks is where they made new rails for the rails, almost like the Ironworks here," Sir Topham Hatt explains. "But uses iron from an iron mine."
Stephanie's curiosity grew a little from the explanation Sir Topham Hatt explained.
Stephanie smiled a little about how much information there was about this strange and mysterious island.
"That's right," Victor nodded in agreement. "That's how we also get spare parts from too."
"That's impressive!" Stephanie beamed, feeling less shy about her idea. "But wouldn't it take much money?"
Some of her nervousness was still with her, worried about what consequences would come with her idea.
"Yes, much," Sir Topham Hatt nodded as Stephanie gulped nervously. "But it is not enough to be worried about."
Stephanie sighed after Sir Topham Hatt assured her and stopped rubbing her fingers.
Although, she is still a little self-doubting about her idea, even with all the assurance.
After visiting with Victor and Kevin, Sir Topham Hatt, Winston, and Stephanie drove to the Ironworks to see 'Arry and Bert.
Along the way, Stephanie noticed the rusted, old, and faceless engines around in heaps of junk, including some parts that looked like massive cogs and rusted barrels.
It looked like a graveyard for engines that made Stephanie's heart skip a beat, glancing away from the scrap piles, and pitied those who did not make it.
After reaching the Ironworks, Sir Topham Hatt stepped out of Winston and, once again, forgot about the brakes.
Stephanie put the brakes on after seeing that he had forgotten them before stepping out and following Sir Topham Hatt.
Stephanie walked close to Sir Topham Hatt nervously as she stared out at the rusted engines, still feeling worried about how many have been rusting away for so long.
At times, she wanted to stay back with Winston to ignore what she was seeing but had to follow Sir Topham Hatt close behind to not be left behind.
Soon, Sir Topham Hatt stopped and called out, "'Arry! Bert? Where are you two?"
After calling out the two names, two diesel horns went through the air, and two diesels that looked almost like Diesel by the basis appeared before Sir Topham Hatt.
Their base was based on Diesel, except they looked a little… scruffier than him.
The two diesels are painted green-grey with yellow hazard stripes on their fronts and yellow cabs.
They also have their company's name, the Sodor Ironworks, painted on their sides in white.
'These two are 'Arry and Bert?' Stephanie thought to herself when she noticed the two, glancing away from them to not show how nervous she was in front of them.
"What is it, sir?" they both asked simultaneously, noticing Stephanie slightly. "Is that your daughter?"
Stephanie's cheeks blushed after one of them asked, as Sir Topham Hatt said, "No, she is someone else's daughter, and she wants to tell you two an idea she has that she shared with Victor."
Stephanie's cheeks blushed shyly after Sir Topham Hatt mentioned to her by his side as she chuckled nervously.
"Um," Stephanie glanced away from them as they waited for her to say what she had told Victor. "I was with the Blue Quarry team, and I noticed how irritated Duncan was with having to wait for a regular gauged engine to come and pick up one of them, so I suggested to Sir Topham Hatt to get some rails into the tracks for engines to go around."
"That's your idea?" the first twin asked, sounding confused.
Stephanie nodded her head, blushing more as she glanced down at the rails, feeling more sheepish and silly about her idea.
"I don't know about that, Sir." the first twin spoke as he glanced over at him. "That's going to have to be a lot of rails to put down."
"And replace." Another added. "Since most of them are bumpy and old."
Stephanie mentally whined to herself from the explanation, as Sir Topham Hatt said, "I know, but we will get help from the Steelworks in the Mainland, which means what when they get here, you two bring them to the Quarry and so on forth."
As Sir Topham Hatt continued talking, Stephanie mentally drifted off in her thoughts about what her idea would continue with, thinking it would take longer than she thought.
She continued rubbing her wrist, at times scratching her arm underneath her shirt and sweater too.
After the conversation with 'Arry and Bert was finished, Sir Topham Hatt took Stephanie to his office and called the Steelworks, as Stephanie was still anxious about what her idea would also lead to.
"Stephanie?" Stephanie snapped out of her thoughts after Sir Topham Hatt spoke, glancing up at him. "Where else do you want to place the tracks at?"
"Uh," Stephanie stood back up to her feet after he asked, looking confused but still worried. "Why?"
"Well," Sir Topham Hatt spoke. "You know there are narrow gauged engines at the Quarry and the Steamworks, but," he pointed to the map with a rattan craps stick. "There are also mini engines in Arlesdale Railway and even some scattered around here a little."
Stephanie paused a little after Sir Topham Hatt explained, blushing more as she stammered, "Thi-This is going to take a long time!"
Sir Topham Hatt noticed that Stephanie looked a little more stressed as she nervously chewed the back of her first finger.
"I'm sorry for giving such a stupid idea! I just thought, maybe I could help a little…" she drifted off as she glanced away from him. "But, I guess it was idiotic of me."
"No, Stephanie," Sir Topham Hatt said reassuringly, placing his hand on her shoulder. "It was a great idea! I know it is going to take a long time, a lot of work, and cause some changes, but it will help change the railway a little."
Stephanie smiled after Sir Topham Hatt assured her before asking, "Why do you think it is stupid in the first place?"
She blushed more after he asked, saying, "Uh, I have some self-doubts."
"Ah." Sir Topham Hatt nodded. "Don't worry, Stephanie. You can help me by showing me where each engine should go to."
Stephanie nodded her head and glanced at the table, only noticing that a few pieces on the table represent each engine.
But some wooden toys had numbers on them for each number that belonged to each engine.
The only problem is that the numbers were only from one to seven.
Pushing her glasses into place, Stephanie hummed softly to herself at the thought of what to do to add more figurines onto the map.
Her eyes drifted to some pieces of wood that were left to the side beside the desk.
Half of her was thinking about creating some more toy engines to represent more, mostly diesels and others, but the other half thought it might be firewood.
She decided to wait for the moment but placed each engine on the lines they worked on.
Even some other toys that represented the trucks and oil tanks to help with which job is which.
Meanwhile, Cranky, Carly, and Big Mickey were collecting crates from the ships and some tugboats.
Suddenly, a whistle and a bell went through the air, causing them to be surprised by the sound.
All three cranes looked at each other in confusion when they heard that whistle and bell, thinking it was Casey Jr.
"Was that Casey?" Carly asked, turning around to see who it was.
"Who's Casey?" a voice asked in return, causing them to glance down.
It was not Casey Jr, but a rather unusual engine they had never seen before.
The engine's basis was a North Pacific Coast Railroad Cab-Forward 4-4-0 No. 21, as the light turquoise paintwork was chipped a little with some rust, and on the front, she has a gold cowcatcher.
Her front windows have a gold lining, and her side windows have a copper lining.
She has brass nameplates fixated on each side of her cab with the name 'Lexi.'
She even has the letters 'N.P.C.R.R' painted on the rear of her oil tank.
"Hi!" she greeted the cranes as she had a Scottish accent in her voice but was more fluent in English than Donald and Douglas. "Hi! Hi!"
As she spoke, her voice changed in different voices, confusing them a little from this strange engine that appeared before them.
"Goood morning, Sodor!" she greeted as the dockyard engines looked confused.
"Who are you?" Porter asked, coming up to her as Salty noticed a long line of steel rails behind her on the flatbeds.
"I'm Lexi!" Lexi beamed. "And I'm an experimental engine!"
"So ye're one o' th' engines Thomas 'ave been tellin' us?" Salty asked as Cranky unloaded the rails from her.
"Yep, I am!" Lexi beamed. "And who are you in return? Got a nice accent!"
Salty blushed from the compliment as Porter chuckled as he had spare flatbeds behind him for the rails to be unloaded, as Salty answered, "Me name be Salty, 'n th' engine by ye be Porter, me shipmate!"
"Pleased to meet ya!" Porter smiled as he went underneath Carly's hook for the next flatbed to be unloaded.
"It's nice to meet new engines!" Lexi proudly beamed as she looked at the world around her. "There is a lot to learn here!"
As the weeks went by, more and more new tracks were brought to Sodor by two engines or one, mostly a diesel or a steam locomotive.
The usual engine that sometimes visits the docks was a massive locomotive named 'Merlin' to Stephanie's curiosity.
From the conversation between the two workers, Merlin's basis is based on an SR King Arthur Class 783 Sir 'Gillemere' and is painted in a silver color with a red running board and wheels and black smoke deflectors.
He has red and gold nameplates on either side with his name on it, and his number, seven hundred and eighty-three, are also painted white on his front buffer beam, the sides of his cab, and tender.
But the strangest thing is that Merlin uses his three funnels to make himself 'disappear' into thin air, which made Stephanie feel more curious about him.
Instead of walking away from Sir Topham Hatt to see Merlin for herself, Stephanie instead stayed by his side, watching how her plan was coming out so far.
She, Winston, and Sir Topham Hatt inspect each rail to see how the work is doing, as Stephanie's nervousness continued growing as each minute has passed.
During one of the visits to one of the rails that run through Thomas's branch line, Stephanie reached up with a hand and scratched at her left arm, feeling nervous about what would happen next.
Sir Topham Hatt watched how the work was doing, as Stephanie was sitting in the passenger's seat next to the driver's, as Winston was keeping an eye on her.
"What do you think?" Winston asked, snapping her out of her thoughts, and stopped scratching at her arm. "Your idea is great!"
Stephanie blushed slightly from Winston's remark as she glanced away from him before he asked, "Did you get the idea from Ulfstead Castle?"
A slightly confused expression appeared on Stephanie's face when he mentioned Ulfstead Castle as she moved her sleeve down her semi-bleeding arm.
"Why the castle?" she asked, cocking her head to the side curiously.
"Because there are narrow rails there that are for the narrow-gauge engines," Winston explained. "Usually, Luke or the other engines visit there."
"Oh," Stephanie chuckled as she blushed sheepishly again. "I didn't think the quarry was close to the castle."
But Stephanie gently smiled after he explained, feeling a little proud of herself.
Earlier in the next day, Luke was getting rocks in his trucks behind him, thinking about the strange construction people coming when they worked at night.
He watched with confusion as they worked on the rails around the quarry, adding to a new pair of tracks and repairing the old ones too.
Skarloey responded that they might be replacing the old rails because they might buckle underneath them since they are carrying heavy slate trucks.
But Luke had a feeling that there might be more to the rails than what Skarloey suggested.
And he was right!
They woke up the next day only to see rails within the ones they have, looking like the larger steam engines could pass around.
Just as Thomas entered, he pulled a long line of trucks behind him as he noticed some confused expressions on their faces.
"What seems to be wrong?" Thomas asked as he returned to the slate hopper.
"Well," Rheneas spoke as he passed by Thomas with a line of trucks coupled behind him. "We were surprised to see the workers working on the rails around the quarry."
Luke nodded in agreement as he watched Thomas stopping underneath the slate hopper and added, "When we woke up, we saw there was a new pair of tracks added in over the old pair."
Thomas realized what Rheneas was saying and nodded in agreement.
"I noticed the same thing too, Rheneas," Thomas spoke as the slates were added to his trucks. "There were smaller rails in the sheds at Knapford station too."
Luke felt more confused and curious as Thomas whistled his whistle and puffed off with the trucks of slates behind him.
So, during the day, Luke felt more and more curious about the new tracks.
Soon, the Blue Mountain Quarry manager came over to Luke and asked him if he wanted to go to the docks to pick something up there.
Luke was surprised and confused after he had asked but agreed and went off to the docks.
He does know the way to the docks but never thought he was going there by himself.
Once he had reached the entrance, he stopped for a moment, thinking about what the manager might be doing.
He had doubts about the new tracks, too, including what the outside would look like.
But Luke gathered his courage and exited the quarry, heading towards the docks as he remembered where it was before.
Despite knowing that he is about to be lost, Luke made it a challenge for him to know his way through Sodor.
He even watched the cars pass by on the road and even noticed some animals on the farms, too.
On the way towards Brendam Docks, he was impressed at how amazing the outside looked, feeling less doubtful about what would happen next.
Sure, he did see a few confused engines about a narrow-gauge engine on the tracks, but he continued puffing along the way, heading to the docks.
Once he had reached the docks with a flatbed behind him, Luke was surprised to see how well working the cranes were, along with the engines.
Cranky noticed Luke as he entered the docks and glanced down at him as he puffed to a stop.
"Hey!" he remarked, startling the little engine as he flinched from the sudden voice, glancing up and noticing him. "I remember you! You're that little green engine that accidentally knocked that yellow engine off the boat!"
Luke slightly blushed after Cranky remarked, before saying, glancing up at him, "That was years ago! Err, I didn't get to know your name, though."
"My name is Cranky," Cranky answered with a slight grouch tone in his voice. "Cranky the crane."
"And I am Carly," Carly winked before mentioning Big Mickey with her arm. "The big crane over here is named Big Mickey."
"Luke is my name," Luke smiled before hearing a diesel's horn honking at him, causing him to glance over to see who it was.
"Ahoy, heartie!" Salty greeted. "Are ye new here?"
Luke blinked in confusion before responding, "I came from the quarry."
"Th' Blue Mountain Quarry?" Salty asked, cocking his body to the side.
Luke nodded, answering Salty's question as Porter came over to see what the conversation was about.
"I came here many years ago, too," Luke added, explaining to Salty.
He noticed someone dressed in blue on the docks, glancing around while standing near a familiar railway inspection car.
An excited expression appeared on his face when he noticed that person, not seeing that Cranky was about to load him with a crate in his arm.
"Stephanie!" Luke moved forward as Cranky yelped.
He moved the crate back up after Luke moved away from him and the flatbeds behind him.
"Hey!" Cranky exclaimed with a huff of irritation.
Stephanie heard Luke call her name and glanced over before chuckling.
"Hi, Luke," Stephanie greeted him before noticing Cranky with a peevish expression on his face. "Uh, Cranky was about to load your flatbeds."
Luke realized what he was doing and blushed sheepishly, moving back underneath Cranky with the flatbeds behind him.
"Oops, uh, sorry about that," Luke apologized, stopping underneath Cranky's arm.
"Be careful next time," Cranky warned. "I might accidentally drop it too."
Salty chuckled as he went off, getting more flatbeds as Cranky started loading.
Stephanie walked up to Luke and asked, "How are you since you are out of the quarry instead of having to wait for an engine to pick you up?"
A surprised expression appeared on Luke's face when Stephanie asked him that question, stammering, "A-Are you the one that asked the worker to place those tracks down?"
Stephanie gently chuckled and said, answering Luke's question, "Not really. I asked Sir Topham Hatt."
She rubbed the back of her neck from underneath her long brown hair, adding, "Since what Duncan said about having to wait for Thomas or anyone else to come, I felt bad for him. So, I asked Sir Topham Hatt, and he agreed to help me with it."
Luke smiled and said, "Thank you, Steph! I always wanted to see what Thomas or the others are like on the tracks!"
Stephanie gently chuckled as she blushed, glancing away from him slightly.
"Excuse me," Stephanie flinched when Diesel appeared, honking his horn. "You're in the way, Stephanie."
Stephanie stepped back when Diesel grunted that she was in his way, stepping off the tracks Diesel was on.
"Sorry about that, Diesel," Stephanie apologized.
Luke softly gasped when he noticed Diesel, feeling scared in front of him as he waited patiently to be loaded.
"Hurry up!" Diesel snapped before honking his horn as loudly as he could.
"In a minute!" Cranky snapped back before grumbling about something as he turned around.
Diesel scoffed as he glanced away from Cranky before noticing Luke by his side.
"How did you get here?" Diesel asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Luke gulped and answered, between stammers, "I, uh, there were narrow tracks."
Diesel glanced down at the tracks after Luke answered, now noticing what he meant.
"Oh, did Sir Topham Hatt finally do this?" Diesel asked, oddly acting a little friendly.
Luke blinked in confusion before Stephanie answered, stepping forward a little, "No, I asked Sir Topham Hatt."
Then it was Diesel's turn to be confused.
"You?" Diesel asked.
Stephanie nodded her head, answering Diesel's confused question.
"Yeah, just as I explained to Luke," Stephanie continued. "I felt bad for them having to wait for someone who is regularly gauged to pick them up, so I asked him to place them in separate tracks."
Diesel glanced over at Luke as he sheepishly but nervously smiled.
"That's weirdly nice of you, Steph." Diesel remarked.
"Not as much as you are weirdly nice, too," Stephanie remarked back.
Diesel huffed and glanced away, mumbling as he blushed slightly, "I got in trouble."
Luke was surprised at how soft Diesel was acting in front of Stephanie, expecting him to harass Luke for what happened years ago.
As soon as the last crate was placed on his flatbed, Luke puffed off to return to the quarry.
He was half confused, half surprised at how kind Stephanie was to the engines.
Unlike Sir Topham Hatt, Stephanie understood how they felt, placing the engines first before her.
Luke imagined what Stephanie would be like in the future if Sir Topham Hatt gave his fortune to her.
Stephanie could be an excellent conductor and would always listen to every engine's words about what is happening to them.
But Luke knows that Stephanie belongs to someone other than Sir Topham Hatt and is a little saddened at the thought.
Then, he heard something honking, causing him to glance up and see Bertie by the road, picking up passengers from the ferry.
"Hello! " Bertie greeted him as he honked his horn again towards Luke.
Luke smiled and whistled back, continuing on the track once the flatbeds were filled from Cranky and Carly.
Once he had reached the quarry, the other narrow-gauge engines were surprised to see him.
"How was it out there with no one else's help?" Sir Handel asked curiously.
"Was it scary?" Rheneas asked.
Luke was silent after they had asked before smiling.
"It was great out there!" he smiled. "Maybe someday you all would like to have a turn!"
With that, he went to unload the flatbed to Merrick, leaving the engines curious and confused.
Meanwhile, Victor received a call that there was a spare part for him to collect, this time, without having someone else deliver it to him.
Victor traveled a little outside the Steamworks, reaching the docks to get more parts for other engines.
Cranky was confused when he noticed Victor asking if he had seen him before, like how he had seen Luke.
Chuckling, Victor responded to him in Spanish, the language he used when he first arrived at the docks.
Cranky remarked that it was the same language that the yellow engine had once spoken and told Victor that he was relieved to see he was okay.
Victor responded that he was taken to the Steamworks to be repaired from the damage.
Cranky was relieved to hear that about Victor before loading his flatbed with the parts he needs.
Warrior did accidentally bump into the ship Cranky was unloading but apologized for it, even after being a little snapped at by one of the crewmembers.
Stephanie was impressed that everyone else was getting along with the narrow-gauge engines and working well.
Sir Topham Hatt praised her for her idea, causing Stephanie to feel more bashful in front of him but more likely in front of Thomas himself.
Thomas was impressed that Stephanie was creative with her ideas, but soon, everything could take an unexpected turn.
