THOMAS THE JET ENGINE

Based upon the episode by David Mitton and Ross Hastings

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

Thomas and Bertie were at Ffarquhar station; it had been a busy morning on the branch line, and the two friends had completed a passenger run.

"I think we broke our record, Annie and Clarabel," Thomas grinned. "That was our best time to the end of the line yet."

"At least you two didn't race this time," sighed Annie.

"After that recent rainfall?" Bertie remarked. "You would have better luck getting snails to race."

The coaches had to giggle.

"But seriously, though," said Thomas, "I may love racing, but I wouldn't want to go as fast as Gordon." He shuddered, remembering being dragged behind him on the express. "Driver said if I went any further that day, I might have been in the Steamworks for a week."

"I'd hate for that to happen," gulped Clarabel. "So long as everyone is careful, we should be fine on the return journey."

Thomas, Annie and Clarabel headed back down the line. Nothing had gone wrong so far, but the trio saw some people buzzing around Dryaw station.

"Harold, do you know what's going on down here?" called Thomas.

"They're some young scientists," Harold explained. "They've come from Tidmouth University to perform some tests."

"Tests?" asked Thomas. "Whatever for?"

"It's for a new jet engine," the lead scientist, a young female, explained. "In order to fully grasp the power of it, we need a locomotive to help us."

"Hmm," pondered Thomas. "You will need permission from Sir Topham Hatt, if that is the case."

The scientists gave eager nods. "Can we ride with you to his office?"

"We're heading down to Knapford," said Thomas. "That's where you'll usually find him." The blue tank engine's curiosity was piqued as the scientists boarded the coaches.

"I wonder what this jet engine is all about," he said to his coaches.

"It certainly is strange," said Annie. "Maybe it'll be like when someone inflates a balloon and lets it go."

"Ugh," grunted Clarabel. "Charles Hatt did that inside me as a kid."

"Did he?" asked Thomas, struggling to keep a straight face.

"Landed straight on my window," she scoffed. "I wish it were open at the time so it would leave me alone!"

Annie giggled. "I wish I could have seen that look on your face."

I'm surrounded by comedians, Clarabel thought.

It wasn't long before Sir Topham Hatt got the message.

"One of my engines?" he asked in shock. "I will not be risking them like this!"

"We will be very careful, sir," said the scientist. "It will be monitored and controlled with a remote, so should anything go wrong, we will switch it off."

Sir Topham Hatt was quiet for a moment. Nothing should go wrong, he thought. My engines are my responsibility. Though… I am on the island this time… He finally spoke. "Very well. But the engine must consent to this. If no one agrees, you must call it off."

"We understand, sir," said another scientist.

Meanwhile, Thomas was telling some of the other engines about what he had heard. Needless to say, curiosity was high among them.

"This thing might be faster than Gordon," Henry joked.

"Nothing on this island's rails is faster than me," scoffed the express engine. "Pip and Emma are the only real competition and they are on the mainland."

"So, Spencer doesn't count then?" asked Harvey.

"Ha! He can't even go up my own hill without running out of water!" Gordon laughed. The others had to laugh too; Gordon did have a fair point. The laughter died down as the engines saw Sir Topham Hatt approaching, the scientists following shortly behind him.

"I see you're already aware of the jet engine," he said, before clearing his throat. "Now, I've had a word with this group, so are there any volunteers to get coupled up to the machine?"

The engines' enthusiasm quickly turned to dread upon hearing this, but they didn't show it.

"Erm… I suppose I'll take part in this experiment," Thomas said at last.

"Th-Thomas?" gasped Percy. "A-are you sure about this?"

It wasn't just Percy; Annie, Clarabel and the other engines stared at him.

"Don't worry, everyone," Thomas said confidently, perhaps more confident than he actually felt. "I'll be okay." He glanced at the smaller tank engine. "Could you please look after Annie and Clarabel for me tomorrow while I do this?"

"Sure," Percy replied. "I promise."

It was a long night at Ffarquhar sheds, and even the other engines felt restless when they heard Thomas' news.

"Thomas might get hurt!" cried Emily at Tidmouth sheds. "We can't let him do this."

"Once something is locked in Thomas' smokebox, he won't back down," sighed Diesel.

"Are you saying he should do it?!" Emily retorted.

"No!" Diesel exclaimed. "I mean that no one should have gotten involved."

"Calm down, ye two," called Harvey. "This wuz a shock fer all o' us. Let's all get some sleep an'… hope fer th' best."

"Buffers crossed," sighed James. "Thomas means a lot to the railway."

"And us," added Gordon.

The following morning, Thomas was traveling light engine to Cronk, the middle station of the main line. He was still feeling a bit nervous over what he was about to go through, especially given the other engines' reactions, but when he saw the jet engine on a siding, Thomas became intrigued.

"I wonder how fast it will go," he said to himself as he turned around on the turntable.

"Ah, Thomas!" said the lead scientist. "Are we glad to see you this morning. Wouldn't you agree that this thing's a beauty?"

"It definitely looks interesting," Thomas commented as he gently buffered up. His driver and fireman were being given safety gear to wear for the trial runs.

"We took inspiration from the Black Beetle designed by the New York Central in America," the lead scientist explained. "There have been many attempts in the past like the rail zeppelin in Germany - I can't pronounce its actual name, so please forgive me for that - but those used propellers."

"Wow," said Thomas. "I wonder if Marklin has met that rail zeppelin." He remembered Edward mentioning the German tank engine who filled in for him while he was on overhaul.

At last, everything was ready for the jet engine to take off. One of the scientists was in Thomas' cab along with the driver and fireman and held the remote control in his hands.

"Are we clear for launch?" he called over to another scientist, who was standing on a ladder near the switch.

"We are ready to go!" the other scientist confirmed. They switched on the jet engine and climbed down the ladder. The jet engine began to whine, gradually getting louder.

"I'll tell you what!" Thomas' driver yelled to the fireman over the noise. "I reckon high speed trains are never this loud!"

"What?!" the fireman yelled back. "No, I don't recall there being a new high speed train being ordered to Sodor! Maybe Pip and Emma will visit again soon!"

"We are launching in five, four, three, two, one… GO!"

Faster than you could say "Sir Topham Hatt," Thomas found himself being propelled from his siding and down the main line at high speeds.

"Woooooah, boy!" Thomas cried, many passengers turning their heads at the platform; some even came close to losing their hats!

"Great Railway above!" Annabelle exclaimed, having been blown off of her feet. "I hope Thomas is okay."

"You worry too much, girl," said Beatrice, one of Sir Handel Lloyd Brown's daughters. "Thomas is one of the most capable engines on the railway."

At Maron station, James was taking the red coaches for the main line local. He let out an exhausted yawn.

"You were up late too, huh?" asked Mick. Before James could answer, Thomas and the jet engine came rocketing past.

"Hijamescoachesbyejamescoaches!" Thomas quickly yelled over the noise. Dirt flew all over James and the coaches, taking them completely by surprise.

"Rattle my rods!" gasped James. "That's one way to wake someone up!"

"Looks like Thomas is having fun," said Sean. "Maybe we were all worried over nothing."

"Yeah," Harry smiled. "Thomas will probably make a joke about this when the day's out."

The next engine to see Thomas speeding past was Henry with a goods train down Gordon's hill.

"Bubbling boilers!" exclaimed Henry. "And I thought Pip and Emma were fast…"

"They may want to hear about it," remarked Henry's driver.

"I'll tell them when we reach Barrow."

Meanwhile, Gordon was heading towards Wellsworth station with the express.

"Hmm," he was saying. "I wonder what news Sir Handel will have at Crovan's Gate this time. Word of Stephen and Helen's wedding would have spread there for sure..."

WHOOSH!

"Higordonbyegordon!"

"…Thomas?!"

Inside Thomas' cab, there was a problem.

"I can't shut the jet engine down!" cried the scientist. "We must have lost our connection somehow!"

The driver and fireman glanced over with horrified expressions.

"Do you realize what you've done?!" the driver screamed. "Our Thomas is in critical danger!"

"No time for arguing, Bob!" the fireman yelled. "Let's uncouple him!"

"One problem, fireman!" Thomas shouted, his voice with one emotion - pure terror. "I'm moving at Mach 1! How do you uncouple me at that speed without getting hurt yourselves?!"

The fireman realized with dread that his engine was right. He, the driver, the scientist and Thomas all braced themselves…

CRACK!

Suddenly, the jet engine's coupling broke. At that moment, the driver slammed the brakes on as he, the fireman and scientist jumped clear. The jet engine continued to rocket down the tracks while Thomas careened off them right into a field. The jet engine continued further down the line for a few miles before hitting a bend, flying off the tracks and crashing into another field.

At Elsbridge junction, Percy, Annie, Clarabel and Bertie heard a distant explosion.

"What was… Oh, Great Railway, no!" wailed Percy.

"Please let this be a nightmare," gulped Annie. Clarabel winced, and Bertie's expression went pale. Then the four of them could see Emily rushing past with Judy and Jerome in tow.

"There's been a derailment between Crosby and Wellsworth!" she called over. "That must've been where the accident took place!"

Emily could not have been prepared for what she saw.

"Thomas…" Her voice was barely a whisper. "Thomas, talk to me."

The blue tank engine couldn't reply as Judy and Jerome lifted him onto a flatbed. Thomas was battered and scratched. Emily began fearing the worst before she saw his lips beginning to move, and his eyes slowly opening.

"Wh… where am I?" he muttered. "What happened…?"

"Oh, Thomas…" Emily gave a weak smile. "You're alive! You're going to be okay."

The driver and fireman rushed over to their engine, tears of relief in their eyes. The scientist followed behind, looking rather sheepish.

"I'll deal with you later," scoffed Emily quietly. She huffed off once Thomas was secured and his crew boarded the workman's coach.

Fortunately for Emily, Sir Topham Hatt had spoken to the scientist team first and made his views quite clear about how disastrously things could've gone had the coupling between Thomas and the jet engine not broken. I shan't repeat what he said to them, for it wasn't very polite, but suffice it to say, the scientist team were left with no doubt that jet power was not the future of railways.

What I will say, however, is that poor Thomas was very shaken up in the Steamworks.

"Shh," whispered Emily. "You're in safe hands here, Thomas."

"I know…" said Thomas. "What I don't understand is, how could things have turned south so quickly, so to speak?"

"I don't know," Emily admitted. "But one thing's for sure; if there are any more talks of a jet engine, we'll be sure to say no. If steam power isn't broken, don't fix it."

"Or diesel or electric power," Thomas added.

"I'd better go," said Emily. "The Norramby line isn't going to run itself."

"Wait!" called Thomas. "Er… after you've finished work for the day… could you… er…"

"Keep you company here?" Emily finished. "Sure."

"Thanks," said Thomas, smiling a little.

A short while after Emily had left, Sir Topham Hatt came to see Thomas, as did the scientist team.

"We figured out why we couldn't stop the jet engine before it crashed," said one of them. "The remote was jammed."

"How did that even happen?" asked Thomas.

"My nephew slipped into the studio earlier and fiddled with it," sighed another scientist. "I told him a million times, he shouldn't go in there!"

Thomas wasn't best pleased with this explanation, but at least he knew why things went wrong.

"I swear, that child is just as bad as that group of kids who were laughing at me for nearly falling down that sinkhole!" he grunted.

The scientists looked bewildered, so Thomas explained about what had actually happened compared to the events in Gordon's book, which had been published last autumn.

"In either case, Thomas," said the lead scientist, "we're really sorry. We won't let it happen again."

"You'd better not," snorted Thomas.

The engines and non-engines of Sodor alike also lay into the scientists hard. Percy couldn't even look at them without feeling angry.

"How dare they try to hurt my best friend," he scoffed. "It was lucky that Thomas came out of this alive."

Thomas would have agreed with Percy and the others on this, but his time in the Steamworks had left him with plenty to consider.

"They never wished harm upon me on purpose," he insisted. "I mean, Daisy indirectly caused you to have an accident and Mavis' trick nearly got Toby swept away, yet they've each been given a second chance."

"I… guess so," sighed Percy. "But Mavis didn't know the full extent of the trucks' trickery, and Daisy never planned on me crashing at all."

"And the scientist's nephew could not have predicted that I would crash while being pushed by the jet engine," finished Thomas. "Oh, that reminds me; do you know what became of its remains?"

"Bertie, Annie, Clarabel and I heard… an explosion," Percy admitted. "We thought… it was… you…"

"Yet here I am," said Thomas.

"Yes," smiled Percy. "It was Butch who towed the jet engine's remains out of the accident site and they were taken to Crock's Scrap Yard." The green tank engine would have wiped tears from his eyes if he could. "I'm sorry I didn't investigate it myself… I was terrified…"

"Percy," whispered Thomas. "Emily was already down there, and I completely understand your feelings." He gave a gentle smile. "Besides, you did keep your promise about Annie and Clarabel."

"I guess I did," said Percy, smiling again.

"Come on," Thomas encouraged. "I think I know a certain quarry diesel who is wondering where her trucks are… and her boyfriend."

Chuckling, the two tank engines headed off, Annie and Clarabel rattling behind their beloved brother figure.

THE END

Author's Comments

We're now onto the tail end of the first half of Series 6-7 Redux! The last three stories of this half will consist of one episode each from Series 6 and 7, as well as one Pack episode, starting with one of Series 6's most well-known stories. Thomas the Jet Engine breaks the rules of reality to such an extent that discussing it would be an entire novella in itself, so to keep things short, there's no possible way that Thomas could have stayed on the rails going at the speed he did. I'm not the only one who's tried to adapt this story in a more realistic fashion; Thomas1Edward2Henry3 did a rewrite himself, and I didn't want to outright copy him. Among the differences showing more reactions from the engines as to how they're feeling about Thomas volunteering to partake in the jet engine experiment. That was an angle, of course, that Rachel and I could not ignore.

Upcoming stories:

- Cab Your Fear

- The Lorry of the Forest