Thomas was near the Steamworks and saw his narrow-gauge friends gathered there.
Mr. Percival said, "We've lost Mighty Mac. That accident was fatal.". He pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed his eyes. Mighty Mac's crew sniffed and sobbed into handkerchiefs as well.
Mighty Mac's engine friends were filled with grief, crying with their drivers comforting them and buffer pressing. Thomas gave a tearful speech, through wailing sobs. His driver pressed a cloth to his eyes as the tank engine gave his speech.
"M-Mighty M-Mac w-was a-a R-ReallyU-Useful E-Engine. Th-They've g-gone t-to Th-The B-Big R-Railway I-In th-the Sk-Sky. W-We sh-shall m-miss th-them a-and gr-grieve, b-but w-we m-must c-carry o-on a-and b-be R-Really U-Useful. I-It's wh-what th-they w-would w-want.". He went on weeping and wailing until he had no more tears to cry.
The Skarloey Railway was closed to allow the engines time to grieve and have a memorial service for Mighty Mac. It was held in a place all their friends could go, even if they weren't narrow-gauge. Thomas was allowed to go and Percy went with him for buffers to press.
The railway reopened and Kelly, a little diesel, came to take Mighty Mac's work. Kelly was independent, curious about the world around him, very stubborn and someone who could get lost in thought. Sometimes, he had hunches from past patterns, which led to his getting lost in thought, focused on his vision of the future. He loved putting his ideas into action and though he was on the quiet side and not that emotional, he could be charming and good-natured, wanting to help his friends in practical ways when they had problems. Though he rarely cried, he cried very had when things were dreadfully wrong. The first time he cried was when a steam engine he considered a friend on his first railway was scrapped. He cried in his shed and his driver said, taking a cloth from his pocket to dry his engine's tears, "There, there, Kelly. I know you hurt in your heart. Those big tears in your eyes tell me, so go ahead and let it all out. You asked me "How come my eyes are watery?" and that's why. That's tears and they happen when you're very emotional in some way. I'm here for you, to patiently support you and dry your tears. I care about you, Kelly and understand how powerful emotions can be. Emotion overwhelms me, because I'm sensitive, so I've got empathy for those who are having a hard time emotionally. Cry to me and I shall wipe your eyes and help you through the pain."
Life took on a more normal rhythm and the engines affected by the loss of Mighty Mac recovered as much as they could.
A/N Ivo Hugh will have a fatal crash in the next story, then I go back to standard-gauge deaths, Nia and Rebecca.