Next chapter coming up right now.

I do not own Thomas the Tank/Thomas & Friends or I would have kept them in their models forms.

Two weeks had passed since Thomas's trouble with the Goods Train and since than he has improved himself as he had acted more patient. His hardworking was noticed by Sir Topham Hatt who had more passenger & goods trains for him to take and he was proud to see Thomas having taken both trains without any problems.

It warmed his heart to see the young worker really starting to come into his own.

The other drives too had noticed with Edward being the most proud of Thomas knowing the young driver can handle himself now without any help. Which was good timing as Edward recently was given his own Branchline which starts at Knapford than goes to Wellsworth than branches off onto a separate line and leads to Lower Suddery than heads to Upper Brendam than goes to and ends at Brendam Station where Brendam Docks is. Edward was very busy with his Branchline so he was unable to help Thomas out as much as he used to before, but still happy to give a hand when he is able to.

Henry was proud of Thomas too and gladly let Thomas handle his trains seeing Henry was still having troubles with Number 3 not providing enough steam. He would be distraught over it, but is always glad that Thomas volunteers to take care of his work for him so at least Sir Topham Hatt doesn't need to worry about it.

Gordon of course was pompous as ever and didn't pay attention to Thomas's hard work, but Thomas didn't let that stop him. He was determined to proof himself even more and he was determined to not fail.

One day he pulled up into Knapford with the Old Coaches having them set up for Henry to take.

"Thanks Thomas, these coaches should be easier to pull than the Green Express coaches with my steaming troubles." Henry said patting Thomas on the back who smiled at him seeing they had time to kill before Henry is due to leave so they decided to chat for a bit.

"Yeah these coaches may be old, but still do their job nicely and Sir Topham Hatt is getting some repairs done to them so we can keep them around longer." Thomas said as he stretched his arms.

"Also heard he had ordered five new Orange Coaches for us to use too seeing there is talk he is going give the Old Coaches to Edward to use for his branchline sometime in the future seeing we still need them here right now even with the new coaches."

"Yeah I heard that too and I think Edwards likes that seeing he started off with those coaches so he, Number 2 and the Old Coaches shouldn't be part from each other." Thomas said and Henry nods at that.

"Thomas!" Suddenly both drivers heard and Thomas turned only to be tackled by to the ground.

Henry saw two young girls hugging Thomas tightly and Thomas smiled as he hugged them back.

"Annie! Clarabelle!" He laughed hugging two girls around the age of 10 both with brownish orange hair tied into ponytails. One had a necklace with the letter 'C' hanging from it and the other had the letter 'A' hanging off hers. "What are you two doing here? How's mom and dad?"

"Mommy and daddy heard about how you were doing great here and they were actually friends with Mr. Hatt so they asked if we could come live with you on this part of Sodor while we attend school here." Clarabelle said smiling and Annie nods excitedly in agreement.

"That's awesome!" Thomas replied happily as he loved his two little sisters greatly and it hurt him to be away from them as he came to work here on this side of Sodor as he and his family came from Killdane, but his dad suggested working here as he knew his son's dream job was trains and now he saw why with him now knowing he was friends with Sir Topham Hatt.

"So, Thomas who's these two?" Henry asked curious by the two noisy young ones that had his friend pinned to the ground.

"Oh, these my two baby sisters; Annie & Clarabelle." Thomas smiled and both girls waved at Henry who smiled at the two finding their cheerfulness infectious.

Soon a few days had passed and Annie and Clarabelle stayed with the drivers for the time being until the school term starts. Understandably they loved Edward who treated them like his own little sisters and they called him their second big brother. Henry liked them as whenever he got down because of his engine's steaming problems they would always be there making him happy with their cheerfulness. Much to everyone's surprise even Gordon found it hard to say something bad about them as they never got put off by his attitude, though he will never admit it he found their cheerfulness infectious.

One morning the engine drivers were waiting at the sheds as they got their respective engines ready, but were told to wait for Sir Topham Hatt about something.

Soon they saw why as a black traffic engine pulls up and Sir Topham Hatt hops out followed by a man with reddish black hair wearing red overalls.

"Everyone this is James. He will be working he now and his engine can handle goods and passenger trains. I want you all to make him feel welcomed." He spoke to them all as James stood there, arms crossed and he looked over them all. Thomas was interested in seeing how James was like.

The next few days James showed he was a hard worker and had good heart, but they all found out he had quite the ego too though not as bad as Gordon's and he had quite a temper too as even a little thing can set him off. Despite all that like Gordon he isn't a bad person and once they got to know him they started becoming friends with him too thus he became part of their family.

One morning Thomas was shunting trucks in the yards around the Wellsworth as Edward asked for his helped there and he avoided making the Rock & Load crew mad so thus he got along fine with them now. They showed they were hard workers just like him and helped him direct where the trucks need to go.

Thomas shunted the last of trucks needed into place and he spoke with the foreman of the Rock & Load crew; Marcus who checked his list. Marcus was a well-built man with black overalls with the sleeves folded up and had greyish hair. He was in charge of Rock & Load crew and Thomas got to know well finding him a nice guy once you get to know him, just don't annoy him or he will make sure you get paid out.

"They were the last ones Thomas." He said and Thomas nods as he stood outside Number 1 stretching his limps. He looked over the yards and saw an odd collection. There were two flatbeds that were connected to two breakdown cranes and there was a coach that was them too. All of them were green coloured.

"Hey what's that?" He asked and Marcus looked over. "That's the Breakdown Train. Sir Topham Hatt bought it when he first opened the railway to deal with works that needed lifting or emergencies. They are run by brother and sister Jerome and Judy, but they haven't brought those out much seeing we there haven't been any huge construction or any emergencies as of late, but we had them brought here to Wellsworth recently for potential help with loading some stuff from Brendam."

Thomas looked at the train than looked at Marcus. "Guess Sir Topham Hatt keeps them around to be better safe than sorry?" He asked and Marcus nods than looked at his list. "Come on Thomas we got a few more trucks to handle." He said and Thomas nods before getting back to work.

Meanwhile elsewhere James was collecting a goods train from Crovan's Gate after finishing another Goods Train run to there and he didn't like it, but kept it to himself as he didn't want to cause trouble for Sir Topham Hatt as he was so new here.

So, he wisely kept it to himself.

"Alright you're all good now James." A member of the Rock & Load crew said to him and James nods to them before starting off once he got the all good from the guard.

As he was pulling out one of the Rock & Load crew checked their list to see what was next, but as he looked up and saw to his confusion a breakvan on its own near the station.

"Hey what's that doing here?" he asked another member who saw it and shrugs. "Oh, that was the breakvan that needed repairs done on its breaks, but…" He said now looking at it better. "We moved it somewhere else…not there."

"Was it over there?" The other member asked pointing a siding near them and the crewman nods slowly.

"We put that onto James's train…"

"Uh oh…"

Meanwhile James pulled his train on without knowing the problem that was attached to it now as he was busy thinking on another problem.

When his engine was made they gave him wooden brakes instead of the proper metal ones like the other engines had. They constantly caught on fire and he demanded new brakes so many times, but those made it said it hasn't caused any problems so there is no need. James says one day they will cause one…and how right he was.

As he was coming up over the top of Gordon's Hill he started applying the brakes to start slowing down and he could feel them come on as he starts going down. He waited for the guard to put the brakes in the Brakevan on.

However, he noticed the train was going faster and faster much to his shock. The guard noticed too and tried to put the brakes on, but they wouldn't work and soon the trucks' heavy loads started forcing the engine down the hill faster.

"Can't stop!" James shouts as he tried to fight for control over his now runaway train.

In the yards Thomas was shunting some trucks into a siding and as he brought them to a stop he suddenly heard a whistle. He looked out of the cab and saw James's train rushing by way too fast.

"Help!" James called as he raced past and his brakes were useless as they were on fire now so they were no use. He raced out of the yards before Thomas even respond and soon James was out of sight.

Soon the alarm went off and Marcus's voice came onto the speakers around the yards.

"James is off the line! Judy, Jerome to the Breakdown Train! Thomas take them there quickly!"

Everything was like a blur as Thomas before he realised had coupled up to the Breakdown Train. He pushed the cranes and flatbeds while pulling the coach behind him while both Judy and Jerome rode in the cab with him while workmen piled into the coach. Both siblings had short greenish hair and were around Thomas height, they introduced themselves quickly to Thomas seeing right now they couldn't stop and chat about.

Thomas rushed as fast as he could as now he knew he couldn't wait around as James needed them as fast as possible. He responded very quickly and moved so fast that even Gordon if saw would be surprised by how quick Thomas moved.

James groaned as the guard put his arm into the sling that was tied around him. They had crashed into a nearby farmer's field just past Crosby Tunnel and the farmer saw the situation at hand, coming out to help them.

The farmer called the yards telling them to send the Breakdown Train while the guard, who was unhurt as the Breakvan and the last few trucks were still on the line, tended to James's hurt arm which didn't seem broken, but best to not move it to make sure of that.

"Darn those bloody wooden brakes!" James shouted as he looked at his engine that now laid on its side in the dirt. "I told them something like this would happen…"

Soon he heard a whistle and saw Thomas pull up with the Breakdown Train. He pushed the cranes onto the rails next to where James had derailed and both Jerome and Judy hopped inside them where they got straight to work. Thomas moved the Workmen's coach nearby and they got straight to work too.

Thomas than switched rails before he pulled the Breakvan and undamaged trucks away so they were out of the way. He soon returned to pull away any trucks Judy and Jerome had managed to get back on the rails.

They worked hard all afternoon and soon they were ready to get James's engine as they already got his tender back onto the rails. James stood in Thomas's cab with Thomas as both drivers watched both Judy and Jerome slowly & carefully raise James's engine into the air. Both drivers were impressed by how well both siblings carefully and gently moved the engine through the air and carefully back down onto the rails.

Workmen reconnected James's engine's tender to the engine and Jerome signals to Thomas who nods before he coupled up Number 1 to James's engine seeing James's engine was damaged where it wouldn't start so Thomas agreed to pull it back. Soon he started pulling the engine away back towards the sheds as Jerome, Judy and the Workmen stayed behind to tend to the damaged trucks and other things still there.

The sun had set by the time Thomas and James returned to the sheds where Sir Topham Hatt and Marcus waited for them.

"Well done Thomas your quick reaction to leap into action to aid another was outstanding today." Sir Topham Hatt said very impressed with Thomas who smiled.

"James, you were not at fault for what happened today. Marcus had suspended those that didn't pay attention and coupled the wrong Brakevan to your train. Your engine will be Number 5 now after it gets repaired also getting some proper brakes and receive a new coat of paint." He said to James who nods glad to be able to have proper brakes on his engine now. Sir Topham Hatt looked at Thomas after Marcus whispered something to him. "And Thomas for all your recent hardwork and how you acted today…you will receive your own branchline." He said and Thomas was very happy as finally all his hard work had paid off.

Thomas now ran the Fraquhar Branchline which starts at Tidmouth than heads to Lower Tidmouth before turning off at the Bus Depot between Knapford and Lower Tidmouth than comes to Dryaw Airfield Station, it than comes to Toryreck than comes to Elsbridge where Thomas and Lovel Trains swap exchange passengers and here the Branchline can connect back up with the Mainline which is called The Loop as Local Trains will use this part of Thomas's Branchline at times. After Eslbridge Thomas's Branchline continues onto Maithwaite than to Hackenbeck before heading to Ffarquhar where Thomas's usual services end. Though at times he will travel to Ulfstead at times when he has extra jobs to do. He ran it all very proudly while still living at Knapford Sheds with the others, but sometimes stays at Tidmouth at times.

Sir Topham Hatt gave two of the new Orange Coaches to him to use for his branch line seeing it didn't need as many passengers moved around. Annie and Clarabelle while tended school they asked if they could have part time jobs which Sir Topham Hatt agreed to, now they handle looking after the coaches at time to time.

Edward and Henry were proud of Thomas for getting his own branch line and both would drop by whenever they can to tell him the news of what is going on, on the mainline.

Gordon was always in a hurry, but whenever he sees Thomas working he would give a quick of peep of his whistle.

And Thomas would always peeps his in return

Hope you all enjoyed it.