Before long, Thomas arrived in London. Lorelei was right – it was busy, and full of trains. Thomas chuffed around, looking at the big city. The most famous city in England – possibly the world! Thomas was having the time of his life!
Despite enjoying the marvellous views, Thomas was also quite panicky as he headed further into London. Trains were popping in and out every second, most of them were friendly and warned Thomas of them approaching, but others were quite rude and just pushed him away.
He was puffing through and ended up in a shunting yard, full of trucks and flatbed after flatbed of materials. Thomas was admiring his surroundings, but then noticed a tender reversing in front of him and quickly backed away.
"H-Hey!" Thomas peeped and whistled loudly! The engine quickly came to a stop in shock.
"Oh my gosh!" She cried out, "I am so sorry I wasn't looking where I was going!" She cried as she quickly moved forward to let Thomas out, then she reversed into the siding to put some trucks in their place.
Thomas looked in awe at the big engine. She was as big as Gordon, she was a royal purple with yellow stripes. In fact – Thomas noticed she looked EXACTLY like Gordon.
"Are you alright little blue?" She asked in a panicky voice, "I didn't see where I was going, it's all my fault, I'm so sorry!"
"I-It's alright, I shouldn't have been in that siding..." Thomas admitted, trying to calm the big engine down. She didn't seem bad, nor arrogant, in fact, she was the total opposite, "What is your name? Do you work here?"
The engine smiled at the tank engine's question, "Why, my name is Penelope! And yes, well...kind of?"
"Kind of?" Thomas asked, puzzled.
"Well, I kind of work here, but I'm not really suppose to." Penelope explained, "I'm not built to pull or shunt trucks around, but it's the only work available for a preserved engine such as myself."
Thomas' eyes widened, "You're preserved?"
Penelope just smiled, "Sort of. I was planned to be scrapped – but my driver and fireman were very fond of me, and a group of volunteers were too. So they kept me and preserved me. Now I just work wherever work is available."
"Wow." Thomas exclaimed in amusement. But he also couldn't ignore how Penelope looked very similar to Gordon.
"What are you doing here in London anyway?" Penelope asked, "You don't look like you're from around here."
"Oh! I'm heading for Brighton!" Thomas chuffed eagerly, almost forgetting about Penelope and Gordon's resemblance, "But I kinda got...lost..."
Penelope laughed a bit, "Oh don't worry! Every engine who isn't from London gets lost here." She said, "Come on, I'll take you to London Victoria, that is the main station that goes to the south."
"Thank you Penelope!" Thomas peeped cheerfully, he was so excited about going down to Brighton, he felt his boiler was going to explode in excitement!
The two engines huffed and puffed around the labyrinth of rails, sidings and stations – and eventually got to the London Victoria station.
"Now, carry on going south of here, and you'll reach Brighton in about an hour." Penelope whistled happily, excited to be helping a small tank engine.
"Thanks Penelope!" Thomas puffed eagerly and took off down the tracks, "See you later!"
Penelope giggled as she watched Thomas puff away – but then looked in confusion, "Why...did he need to go to Brighton anyway?" she asked herself. Penelope thought nothing of it, and quickly got back to work.
Meanwhile, just as Thomas left London, the Steam Team arrived on the other side of London – and quickly were confronted with confusion. They ended up exploring track after track for Thomas – looking around at the marvel of London as they puffed along.
They huffed over bridges, puffed through tunnels, and even panicked past oncoming trains!
"We'll never find Thomas here!" shrieked James, quickly avoiding an oncoming train!
"It's so busy here!" cried Emily.
"This place sure has changed-" Gordon huffed, quickly turning onto a siding, "A lot..."
"Oh! But we have to find Thomas here!" cried Percy.
"Gordon! LOOK OUT!" Edward cried and whistled.
Gordon barely had time to move as an engine reversed into him, and pushed him back!
"HEY!" Gordon puffed and whistled long and loud!
"Oh my gosh!" cried a voice as the engine quickly sped off in front, "I'm so sorry! I didn't see you!"
"Are you alright Gordon?" Henry asked, puffing up to the blue engine.
Gordon just groaned dizzily from the impact, his eyes still spinning. The engine quickly came up alongside Gordon to make sure he was alright.
"I'm so sorry! I-I didn't know you were there!" cried the engine, "Are you alrig-" she stopped and looked at Gordon curiously.
The big blue engine just glared at her, still mad about the collision, The big engine just gasped, "You...look awfully familiar. Have you and I met before?"
"Of course not!" huffed Gordon angrily, "You wouldn't have bumped me if you had."
"Uh...excuse me?" Percy asked, "Who are you?"
"My name is Penelope! I work here." the engine puffed, looking at Gordon, "I swear...I have seen you before! You look just like my brother, the Flying Scotsman."
Everyone just gasped. Gordon looked the most shocked of them all.
"Scotsman?" Edward asked, "You're related to the Flying Scotsman?"
"Yes!" Penelope peeped, "He's my brother! Well, one of the last I heard...I have another brother, but he said he works on a railway far away..."
"We're from a railway far away!" Emily cried.
"And..." James added, "Am I the only one who's noticed you two look alike?"
Gordon and Penelope looked at each other in shock. They had the exact same wheels, exact same funnel, and the exact same tender.
"They do!" The Steam Team cried in unison.
"W-Well anyway!" Gordon huffed, still in shock but desperate to change the subject, "We're looking for our friend Thomas. He's a blue tank engine."
"With a number 1 on his side." Henry added.
Penelope gasped, "OH! I-I swear I saw him! He was asking for directions for somewhere- OH! But I can't remember where!"
Meanwhile, Thomas quickly puffed down the tracks and heading directly to Brighton! He was so excited he was puffing faster than ever before!
"Brighton! Home!" Thomas cried to himself, "My home railway! I wonder if anyone's missed me!"
After a quick hour journey, Thomas looked around and beamed buffer-to-buffer, "I know this line! And this line, and that line!"
Thomas was so excited! The railway he was made on, and the railway he use to work on before arriving on Sodor! Thomas couldn't wait any longer!
He puffed down the line and he could remember every detail like the back of his wheels! Everything almost looked the same. Then he puffed into the station and gasped at the sight of his old railway.
Thomas puffed around to the old sheds, he could remember sleeping there with his old friends before he left for Sodor – although it did sound quiet.
Suddenly, the faint sound of puffing could be heard, and Thomas gasped in shock. Out came 3 engines, painted in old teal livery – similar to what Thomas was painted in when he was part of the railway in Brighton.
The engines looked at Thomas and gasped in shock. Thomas copied their exact reactions. The engines all gazed at each other, then the engines spoke.
"Thomas?"
Thomas gasped and beamed, "Jonathan! Heather! Charles!"
The three engines all smiled from buffer-to-buffer upon seeing their old friend, and puffed closer to him.
"Oh Thomas! It IS you!" puffed Jonathan.
"How in the name of ashes did you get here!" cried Heather.
"How is Sodor?" asked Charles.
Thomas was very keen to answer all the questions, but he was sizzling from excitement and coudln't focus, "I missed you guys!" Thomas cried, his eyes watering a bit, trying to hold back his tears, "Where are the others?"
"Others?" Heather asked, confused.
"Yeah." Thomas said, "There were more of us...weren't there?"
The three engines looked at each other sadly. They knew Thomas must not have heard about the other steam engines on their railway.
"It's...just us here now Thomas." Jonathan said sadly.
"We're the only steam engines left here. Everyone else here is a diesel or electric engine." Charles confirmed sadly.
"But don't worry, we are well looked after." Heather tried to comfort.
But Thomas was now sad. Suddenly he didn't feel so eager to be back home in Brighton. And then he started to feel really bad...his boiler was aching, and he couldn't stop thinking of his friends back at Sodor.
Jonathan, Heather and Charles looked at Thomas worriedly. They could see he was very upset. Thomas was sniffling, and trying not to cry, but they knew he couldn't. Then Thomas just burst into tears, his tears pouring from his face.
"Thomas...is everything okay?" Heather asked, gently buffering up to the young tank engine. Thomas just couldn't focus. His breathing was quick and he kept fighting his tears.
"Thomas." Jonathan spoke calmly, "Just breathe."
Charles gave a comforting smile, "Let off a bit of steam."
And Thomas did, as his breathing slowed down and slowly his tears subsided. The engines all gave a comforting smile as their friend calmed down.
"I-I...I thought everyone would still be here...b-but I didn't notice that-"
"Times changed. We know." Jonathan finished.
"It's been hard for us too, seeing everyone we knew so well slowly vanish over time..." Heather added.
"But we're safe here now. And we're really happy to see you Thomas." said Charles, "But, why are you here anyway?"
Thomas looked down sadly, "I...I need to come clean..."
The three engines all looked at Thomas in surprise, but they allowed him to continue.
"I...I..." Thomas stuttered, "I-I wanted to see the world...I wanted to see what was outside of Sodor, and I wanted to see things I never have seen before...I travelled to Barrow-in-Furness, to York, to Doncaster, to Crewe, to London, and now I'm here...I have enjoyed it all but..." Thomas froze, his voice choking upon his tears, "I-I miss my friends! I miss Sodor!" Thomas cried and this time he truly sobbed.
The three engines all looked at Thomas in shock and they all felt sorry for Thomas, they gave a tender smile and guided him to a spare berth in their sheds.
"We can help you back Thomas." said Jonathan.
"It's not right to go out without permission from your controller, but at least you are honest now." Heather said.
"And tomorrow, we will set off, and set things right." Charles finished.
Thomas felt comfort with his friends, but he looked at the evening sky sadly, "I just wish my friends were here to see the Mainland with me..."
"Friends?" Jonathan asked.
"From Sodor?" Heather spoke.
"What are they like?" Charles questioned.
Thomas gave a small smile, "Well, there's Edward, a blue engine like me, he helped me to start pulling coaches and trucks when I first arrived, he is very kind and very wise, I can trust him with anything. Then there's Henry, a big engine, but he's also quite a worrier, and he does get ill easily, but he is a very strong engine regardless. Then we have Gordon, the big express engine. He's a big bossy boiler and he always gets others to get his coaches, but he does have a good side of him under his proud boiler. Then there is James, as splendid as his red paint, but sometimes he can be a bit...pouty. Then there is my best friend Percy, a little tank engine like me, we've always been best friends, and I can trust him with anything. And there's Emily, she's very pretty, and she's a very strong engine too."
Thomas spent the whole evening telling his friends about his life on Sodor, and about everyone he knows, and soon, his homesickness had disappeared, and he soon fell into a deep sleep, dreaming about what he has seen on the Mainland.
Meanwhile, back in London, it was starting to get dark. The Steam Team were trying everything to get Penelope to remember where Thomas was going. They just entered London Victoria's station when they heard something
"Oh please Penelope, try and remember." Edward begged.
"I can't! I can't remember anything!" Penelope cried to herself.
Henry then tried to say, "Well, maybe y-"
Then all the engines heard a call about the last Brighton bound was leaving the station.
"Brighton? Where's that?" Percy asked curiously.
"Brighton is right at the south, it's a seaside resort." Emily said.
"Thomas comes from there, doesn't he?" James asked.
"Hmm, I think he did." Henry said, "Teal livery with LB&SC on his tanks?"
"THAT'S IT!" Penelope cried out of realisation!
"What?" Everyone asked.
"BRIGHTON!" Penelope cried!
"Huh? Brighton?" Gordon asked.
"BRIGHTON! BRIGHTON BRIGHTON!" Penelope cried, "Thomas was asking for directions to Brighton! I took him to London Victoria and he was steaming off to Brighton! Oh I am a silly engine!" Penelope cried and wailed to herself.
"Of course! Brighton! The railway he was from!" Edward called.
"We have no time to lose!" Gordon cried, "Follow me!"
And the engine parade steamed towards Brighton. Penelope followed them until she came to a set of buffers and couldn't go any further, "GOOD LUCK!" She cried out desperately. Despite it being dark now, the engines were not going to give up – they were going to find Thomas in Brighton, or they'll never find him anywhere. They paraded down the tracks as fast as they could!
Meanwhile, back in Brighton, the engines were all asleep – apart from Thomas. Thomas was puffing around, looking at what he remembered of his railway in Brighton. As much as some has stayed the same, it has also changed.
"Oh Brighton..." Thomas sighed, "How I have missed y- WHOA!" He suddenly felt himself being picked up by a crane! "W-WHO'S THERE! LET GO OF ME!"
"Is this the engine?"
"Must be, it's an E2."
"Well then, lets get this scrap back to London."
"SCRAP!?" Thomas cried in fear, "NO! No let me down! I'm not scrap! I'm not scrap!" Thomas cried for help, but he couldn't whistle as he had no steam, "HELP! HELP!"
Jonathan, Heather and Charles startled awake upon hearing Thomas's cries, "Thomas?!" They raced off to find their friend – and turned around a bend and gasped!
There was Thomas on a flatbed of scrap, preparing for London, being pulled by two diesels!
"THOMAS!" they cried and tried to puff after him, but they were no match for the speed of the diesels ahead of them!
"HELP ME!" Thomas cried, "HELP PLEASE!"
"We're coming Thomas!" Heather cried until she banged into a set of buffers, able to go on no longer!
"We're trying Thomas!" Charles cried as he tried to keep up, "But we can't keep up!"
"Hold on!" Jonathan tried to catch up, but eventually hit a set of buffers, and he too could no longer go further.
"THOMAS!" The three engines whistled, until the train was out of sight.
On the mainline, the Steam Team were making record time towards Brighton, but had to make way for a diesel freight train. They moved to the side, unaware of who was in the flatbed, as he cried for help.
"Do you hear something?" Percy asked, "Sounds like a cry for help."
"Not now Percy! We're almost there! We'll find Thomas!" Edward called, as the six engines hurried down the tracks into Brighton.
Once they arrived, they looked around and whistled for Thomas. Then they saw a teal tank engine weakly steam in, "Help! HELP!" she cried exhaustedly – it was Heather! And slowly coming up behind her, Jonathan and Charles
Everyone looked at them in shock, "Is something wrong?" asked Emily.
"What's the matter?" Percy asked.
"Y-You're from Sodor!" the engines cried.
"Yes, why?" Gordon asked urgently.
"Thomas! H-He's on a flatbed of scrap!" Heather cried!
"WHAT!?" The whole Steam Team cried in shock and fright!
"H-He's on a flatbed of scrap! T-The diesels mistook him for scrap!" Jonathan cried.
"Y-Yeah! And now, th-their heading for a scrapyard in London!" Charles cried out!
"THOMAS!" The Steam Team cried out in unison!
"We have to save him!" Percy cried.
"But how do we know where he is?!" James cried out.
"He's in London somewhere!" Henry pointed out.
"Penelope! Penelope can help us!" Gordon chuffed.
"We'll come too!" The three engines puffed together, "Thomas is our friend too!"
And as quickly as they entered, the Steam Team left the Brighton area, and were quick to puff down the lines, heading back to London! Whistling their way through like wind in a storm, and they were not going to stop until they've saved Thomas!
"Hang on in there Thomas!" Edward cried out, "We're coming to save you! Just hold on!"