A/N This is Todd's story and perspective.
I'm Todd and I want to tell my story and perspective on other engines here, now and before. I was built in a factory on the Mainland, given my name and with it life, as engines not named are faceless. I was tested and sold to NWR, to run this branch line after Thomas died of illness and a broken heart. He's on static display now at Sodor Railway Museum. His crew now drive me and my assistant driver, who was my forerunner's fireman and my driver, previously his, told me all about him. He was a Really Useful Engine until he got very ill while being broken-hearted from all his steam friends dying of illness or accidents. Driver had to dap tears away when he told me about Thomas. The story of Thomas dying made me very sad, so I got rainy eyes and Driver had to dry my tears after getting his own taken care of. I cry a little if I go by the Sodor Railway Museum, because I daydream about what it might be like if I could meet the engines that lived here before me. I'm not sure if you can say I miss Thomas, as I never really knew him, but I wish I could meet him. Maybe when I get to The Big Railway In the Sky, at least if they believed in it.
I'm told the steam engines of this island were written of in bedtime stories for the son of someone called The Thin Clergyman and the books led to a show for the telly. Diesels like me replaced the steam engines as they died. Many of them I wished I could know, so my crew read me the stories at night and watch early episodes of the show, as only the first 104 episodes and the ones about the Arlesdale engines had any truth, with the rest being made up by the telly people, as I call those involved in creating shows. Because of my enthusiastic, dreamy, creative, idealistic, friendly, warm and easygoing personality, I've got many friends among the other diesels here and human friends as well, though. My friends tell me I'm an idea machine, because my mind's always buzzing with ideas. BoCo, Daisy, Paxton, Den, Dart, Diesel, Rusty and others, even some who replaced steam engines, like the one I'm told replaced the engine whose name was Henry, knew at least some of the steam engines. Henry's replacement, I'm told, was mean to the steamers who survived Henry, along with some others. I mostly pull coaches on this branch line, but sometimes I take Troublesome Trucks.
Most of the time, I'm quite happy here, but I can get down because I feel things deeply. I'm very expressive, but only around those I'm completely comfortable with or alone, at least with negative emotions. Driver comforts me and dries my tears when I'm with him and I cry. If I just shed a single tear, he wipes it with his sleeve, but when I really open the floodgates, he's got to get a cloth from his pocket for me to cry into. Some of the other diesels, the big main line ones aren't always nice to me. They're not all mean, but all the bully diesels are the big ones. Diesel was a bully to the steam engines, though, but not to us diesels. Driver tells me that's engine racism. The diesels that were mean to the steam engines, like Thomas, in his and his steam friends' lives sneer at the ones on display at the museum. My crew tell me those are the famous eight ones and their situation's akin to if a person lay in state. My oldest sister, Janelle's my closest friend here. She shunts at Vicarstown and pulls light trains sometimes. She told me about how this place at Crovan's Gate used to be the Steamworks, but became a 2nd Dieselworks after Thomas's death. The original Dieselworks services diesels closer to it, as the Works at Crovan's Gate services diesels closer to there. I've got my crew, my other friends, the Dieselworks I use when ill, fuel and work, so as long Sir Richard Topham Hatt controls this railway, I know there's a possibility of things being just fine. But there's a possibilty of someone else taking over when he's ready to retire. Well, I've got to get back to work now. Cheerio!
A/N I'm not sure what kind of diesel Todd is, but he's light enough for branch line work and water cooled.