The next day, all Thomas' friends came to the Docks to say 'goodbye.'

Hiro was there too. "So, it's true. There is another island with Jobi Trees."

Salty rolled over. "Aye, matey. I've heard all about it from the sailors. They call it 'Misty Island.'"

"What else did they say?" Thomas asked.

"Mm, arrr, Misty Island is a small island," said Salty. "It's far across the ocean and it is almost always covered in mist. It is quite mysterious. They say there are strange engines that live there. They say that they huff and puff in very strange ways, but they still work hard and get the job done."

"That sounds interesting," said Edward.

"Oh yes, there's a lot of mysteries on Misty Island; that's for sure."

Soon, the steamboat was ready. Cranky lowered his hook to lift Thomas.

"Goodbye, my friends!" Thomas called.

Even Cranky smiled. "Goodbye, Thomas."

The engines whistled and wheeshed.

Percy watched. "We'll miss you."

"Don't worry, Percy," said Thomas confidently. "I'm going to help bring the Jobi Wood to Sodor. I'll be back soon."

Percy smiled bravely. "Goodbye, Thomas."

"Goodbye, Percy."

Then, the steamboat hooted long and low and sailed to the ocean with Thomas on its deck.

Soon, Thomas was far out on the ocean. At first, he enjoyed himself. The weather was clear, seagulls called across the waves and the sailors had many stories to tell. But the journey took a long time and Thomas soon began to feel bored. Nothing seemed to change around him, he felt fidgety from standing still and his boiler felt empty without any water and steam.

The steamboat's horn blasted, and Thomas' eyes popped open. It was morning. He looked ahead. It was very misty, but he could see something. "What's that?" he asked.

A sailor looked where Thomas was looking. "That's our stop, Thomas," he said. "We're almost there."

"Land ho!" another sailor called from above.

"You'll be on rails again soon, Thomas."

Thomas was excited. He had arrived.

After the ship was docked, Thomas was lifted off the deck and lowered onto the quayside. As his Driver and Fireman inspected him, the Dock Master stepped forward. "You must be Thomas," he said. "We've been expecting you."

Then, Thomas heard puffing and wheels rattling. Wild whistles echoed and bounced off his boiler. "What was that?"

"That's the engines from the Logging Station," the Dock Master explained.

Sure enough, Thomas could see shapes moving in the distance. Then, out of the mist, came three of the strangest engines he had ever seen. Two of them looked similar and had large gears on their fronts. The other was bigger with sloping pistons. Their paint was worn, and their parts were rusty, but they smiled cheerfully. "Hello," they all said at once.

Thomas was surprised. "Hullo. I'm Thomas. Who are you?"

The engines chuffed cheerfully.

"I'm Bash," said one of the small engines.

"I'm Dash," said the other.

"And I'm Ferdinand," said the bigger engine.

The two smaller engines wheezed and wheeshed. "We live here!"

A man climbed down from Ferdinand's cab. "So, you're Thomas. Welcome. I am Steve Morgan, manager of the nearby Logging Station."

"Pleased to meet you, Sir," said Thomas politely.

The Manager turned back to the three strange engines. "Thomas has come to help you with the log deliveries," he said. "With a shipment this big, we need all the help we can get."

"You're from the Logging Station?" Thomas asked.

The little engines puffed proudly.

"That's right," said Ferdinand.

"We're the Loggnig Locos," added Dash.

"When Thomas is ready, we'll be on our way," said the Manager, "and we must take these coal wagons back with us."

Thomas could see a line of coal wagons on the other track.

Bash and Dash looked confused. "What do we need coal for?" asked Bash.

Thomas was puzzled. "Don't you use coal for fuel?"

"No," said Dash, "we use wood."

"You three do, but Thomas doesn't," the Manager explained.

Thomas smiled. "I've never seen engines that run on wood before."

"Not many engines do these days," said Ferdinand. "Around here, it's engines on the Main Line that use coal."

Thomas' Driver and Fireman finished their inspection. After Thomas took on water and filled his bunker with coal, the four engines were coupled up to the coal wagons and set off together.

"We've never seen an engine like you before," said Bash. "Where are you from?"

"I come from the Island of Sodor. Sir Topham Hatt sent me to help you."

Bash and Dash jiggled and giggled.

"Who's Sir Topham Hatt?" asked Dash.

"He sounds funny!" chuckled Bash.

"Now, now, you two," said Ferdinand firmly, "Thomas is our visitor. It may not be funny to him."

The twins looked ashamed. "Sorry," they said.

Dash thought quickly. "We saw you arrive. It must have been a long journey across the whole ocean."

"It was," said Thomas. "I hope the trip was worth it."

"I'm sure it was," replied Ferdinand.

The Fat Controller was in his office when the telephone rang. "Hullo? ...Oh, wonderful…Yes, carry on. Goodbye." He walked out to the platform where Percy was waiting. "Thomas has arrived safely, and he is to start work at once."

Percy was relieved.

"That's good news," replied Edward.

"I wonder if he met the mysterious engines yet," said Percy.

"Maybe," said Edward.

"I hope they're friendly."

Thomas and the Logging Locos reached an old wooden bridge. On the other side, Thomas could see an island through the mist. "What's that?"

"That island is where our Logging Station is," said Ferdinand.

"We call it 'Misty Island,' puffed Bash.

Thomas was surprised. "This is Misty Island?"

The little engines puffed proudly.

"Have you heard of it?" asked Dash.

"Yes, I have. My friend Salty heard about it from the sailors."

The four engines steamed across the bridge and onto Misty Island.

As they traveled, Thomas was amazed. There were trees and hills everywhere. "Wow, I've never seen such big trees."

"Don't you have forests on Sodor?" asked Bash.

"We do, but none of our trees are like this. Not even the Tall Pine Tree is as big as these."

The four engines puffed on. Then, Thomas gasped. "Oh my, is this the Logging Station?"

"Yes," said Dash. "Haven't you seen one before?"

"We do have a Timber Yard on Sodor, but it's not as big as this."

The Manager climbed down. "Then this will be a great experience for you. Show Thomas around, you three. Then, get back to work."

"Yes, Sir," said the Logging Locos together.

Bash, Dash and Ferdinand took Thomas around the Logging Station. They showed him their shed, the Sawmill and the Logging Pond.

Then, Thomas heard a cough and a splutter. He looked up to see a very strange machine. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Don't worry about Ol' Wheezy," said Ferdinand. "It's one of our log loaders. It may be run-down, but it gets the job done and Mr. Morgan does what he can to keep it running."

Bash moved an empty flatbed next to Ol' Wheezy. It wheezed and wheeshed, it jiggled and joggled, but it managed to lift the logs from the pond, and they were soon loaded. "You're next, Thomas."

Thomas moved his flatbed into position. Ol' Wheezy wheezed and wobbled, puffed and popped and loaded more logs from the Pond.

Then, Thomas saw Dash shunting a tanker next to an old machine. It was rusty and rattly. "What's this?"

"It's Hee-Haw," said Dash. "It's our biggest log loader machine and it runs on steam just like Ol' Wheezy."

"So, that's water for its boiler?"

"That's not water," laughed Bash. "It's oil."

Thomas was puzzled. "Oil? I thought you said these log loaders ran on steam?"

"They do," explained Ferdinand. "Ol' Wheezy and Hee-Haw used to use wood for fuel, like us, but now, they use oil."

"And Hee-Haw uses a lot of it," Dash added.

The last of the oil had been poured into Hee-Haw and the workman lit its firebox. Hee-Haw spluttered and stuttered, cranked and creaked into action.

Thomas smiled. "My, my, Misty Island is filled with strange things."

For the rest of the day, Thomas huffed hard. He loaded the Jobi Logs as quickly as possible. When the flatbeds were ready, Thomas helped take them to the Docks where they were loaded onto the ships bound for Sodor.

The Logging Locos were impressed.

"You do work hard," said Ferdinand.

"Thank you," Thomas puffed.

"What do you need all these logs for?" asked Bash.

"And why Jobi Logs?" added Dash.

"We need Jobi Wood to build the Search & Rescue Centre on Sodor," Thomas explained.

"What's a Search & Rescue Centre?" Bash went on.

"What's Sodor like?" said Dash.

"Okay, you two," chuckled Ferdinand. "There will be plenty of time to talk later tonight."

Bash and Dash were disappointed.

"Don't worry," said Thomas. "I promise I'll tell you later. Now, come on. I will show you how quickly we shunt flatbeds of logs on Sodor."

The Logging Locos whistled and wheeshed. Then, together, they clanked back to work.