No More Steam

A/N This is a very sensitive story for me. I once thought I couldn't write about Thomas dying, but came to realize I couldn't bear all his steam friends suffering over him, so they've all died before this story. That's how I can do this. This is in the Tales timeline, as that's the one where I have dead engine

Steam had died on the rails, except on Sodor. Thomas was the only steam engine in the world not scrapped or on display at a museum or heritage railroad/railway, depending on country for what the latter was called. Only the Ffarquhar branch had steam infrastructure, as diesels had taken over the other lines. Even Ffarquhar had diesels, though. They were needed because one engine couldn't handle it all. As the Sodor old guard died, they were replaced by diesels, mostly. Emily had a fatal crash, Edward had a boiler explosion and his smokebox flew off, Percy was like Emily, died from an accident, Donald was very ill and Douglas died of a broken heart, engine style, without his twin, James had metal fatigue, Toby's boiler exploded and he died in flames and the other engines, like JoJo, had dreadful accidents that were fatal.

The diesels said things to Thomas, in some cases, "You're the last of your kind working, tank engine. You shall join your siblings and friends any day now." or "You're outdated and useless." and other such mean things, even saying "cry-engine". It just depended on if they were mean ones, like Diesel, 'Arry and Bert or nicer ones, like BoCo, Mavis, Paxton, Salty, Den and Dart.

Between all the loss and the mean-ness of some of the diesels, Thomas was prone to tears. Going to Knapford would lead to poor Thomas wailing his heart out, the sobs and tears not stopping until he had no more left to cry. His driver did his best to comfort the tank engine, speaking soothingly and drying his tears with a cloth as best he could, but relief was only so long. If a mean diesel bullied him or he was mourning the loss of steam in general, his reaction was sobbing, quiet, but the same constant great tears until he had no more to cry. Though he had frequent crying jags, he never cried while working. Sometimes, Thomas would go to a beautiful place on Sodor, even if he needed a kind diesel to shunt him there because he didn't have the coal to go there on his own sometimes, which was the case if it was far from his branch line. The beauty of the place would relieve his sadness and even make him smile for a bit. But, more often than not, he was sad and his tears were endless then. He was unable to make sense of why it had happened, though he tried.

One night, Thomas was put in his shed. He was very ill. As he cried himself to sleep with his driver's comfort, he said to the one in charge of The Big Railway In The Sky, "I'm tired of being so sad all the time and now I'm very ill. Let me join my siblings and friends up there tonight.". He was unable to see a reason to live, more than he actually wanted to die.

Thomas fell asleep and then, as he slept, his soul floated to a brighter place, along golden rails. Tears of joy fell from his eyes and he said, seeing The Big Railway In The Sky, "I shall see you again.", to all his lost ones. At least, if they believed in it, like his siblings, Ashima and many of his friends, he knew.

The tank engine heard the one in charge say, "You were a Really Useful Engine in life and believed in this place. Go ride the golden rails.". He peeped and, full of joy, joined his siblings and those he had loved in his life on Sodor, like Ashima and his Sodor friends who believed in the place.

Thomas's crew found him in the morning, his eyes closed, no sign of life in his face and cold, but smiling, at peace. They decided to call Sir Topham Hatt.

Thomas's driver, with tears in his eyes, made the phone call. "Thomas died last night, sir," he said sadly.

Sir Topham Hatt said, "I shall have him shunted to Sodor Railway Museum by a diesel. He can be put on display there. It hurts too much to scrap my Number 1 engine, so I'll have him be a museum piece. Lie in state, engine-style." He was saddened, dreadfully so, by the loss of his last steam engine. His eyes filled with tears and he pulled out a handkerchief. He cried quietly and said "Son, I quite miss you.", as he dabbed his tears away and blew his nose. "I don't tend to cry, but I love you. And now you're dead, which anyone cries about, someone they love dying or dead. I love steam engines, but the only ones remaining are on display. I can't bear to scrap you, Thomas, so Sodor Railway Museum's the place for you, on display like the other remaining steam engines.".

After the call was done, Thomas's driver took a handkerchief out of his pocket and sobbed into it. He said, every word a sob, "Thomas, you were a Really Useful Engine." The fireman did the same, except he said, "I shall miss you, Thomas. At least to work with. I guess you just couldn't take it anymore. Died of a broken heart, engine version.", through soft sobs and sniffles. They cried and sobbed together, unable to say or do anything to comfort each other, just tearfully praise their dead engine and reminisce about him. Thomas's fireman finished crying before the driver, who swapped his sodden hanky for the cloth he used for Thomas's tears, as it was all he had else that he could use other than his shirt.

The fireman said to the driver, "Maybe I can be an assistant diesel driver. We've got to learn to work with diesels. We shall probably work with the engine they'll get to replace Thomas," referring to Sir Topham Hatt and the NWR's railway board.

The good diesels heard about Thomas dying and burst into sobs, so they had to be comforted. Thomas's human friends and fans found out, too. One boy soaked a whole box of tissues on knowing his favorite blue tank engine had died, though he knew Thomas would go on display at Sodor Railway Museum.

Thomas was shunted to the Steamworks, to determine cause of death, as his driver had said Thomas was taken ill that night. Then, he was taken to the museum for display.

A memorial service was held for Thomas. Several people sniffled and sobbed into handkerchiefs or tissues. The boy who had sobbed through a whole box of tissues was crying so hard he had to be fed tissues constantly to dry his tears. He was weeping so hard, unable to stop sobbing and sniffling the whole time.

A branch line suited diesel, Todd, came to Ffarquhar after Thomas's crew learned to operate a diesel engine, Thomas's driver being the diesel's driver and his fireman had a role, too. Todd was enthusiastic, dreamy, creative, idealistic, friendly, warm and easygoing in personality. His mind was full of ideas. He made many friends among the other diesels of the railway. And so it was on the island of Sodor.

A/N There's 2 kinds of depression, situational and chronic. Thomas's is situational based. He's depressed about what happened to all the other steam engines. Some depression is frequent crying and some is can't cry at all. Crying's comfort and I need Thomas to have that when something depresses him, comfort. Sometimes, the dying shed tears. No flames, but you can feel, as I teared up writing the part where he was found in the morning. Sometimes, diesel train engines have assistant drivers. I'm not British, they are, so I tried with the English. If I used a British word/phrase improperly or used something from my country's English, don't flame me. If someone truly wants to die, they don't cry, but those who can't find a reason to live cry and talk about dying.