It was a beautiful morning in Italy and Thomas was getting ready for work. Ever since he first arrived, so much had happened. He saw Gina from the Great Railway Show, rescued Italy's legendary Lost Engine and his cheery coach, helped archaeologists dig up ancient buildings and artifacts from long ago and heard some wonderful Italian opera…and losing his voice when he tried to sing opera himself. For Thomas, the best thing was the new friends he made in Gina, Ester, Stefano, Lorenzo and Beppe and that they got to meet some of his friends too when the Sodor Construction Company arrived to help Ester build a new museum near an archaeological dig site.
It wasn't long before Gina arrived. "Buongiorno, Gina," Thomas whistled.
"Good morning, Thomas," replied his friend. "All steamed up and ready for work I see."
"I am."
"Right on time," the Yard Master smiled. "Gina, you have some trucks to take to the new airport and Thomas, you have a very special job today. You are to collect some special tourists and take them to visit Pompeii. Make sure you're on time." And the Yard Master left.
Gina told Thomas which tracks he should take, and Thomas listened as carefully as he could. "Gina," he asked, "what is Pompeii like?"
"Sorry, Thomas, but we must go," puffed Gina urgently. "You'll find out when you get there." With that, Thomas sighed and collected his coaches before setting off. Suddenly, Gina gasped. "Thomas!" she whistled. "I forgot to tell you; they're filming in Pompeii today!"
But Thomas was too far away to hear properly. "Goodbye, Gina!" he whistled back.
When Thomas reached the station, the platform was very busy. The tourist passengers were all waiting for him. They were very excited to see Thomas. "Fizzling fireboxes!" he said to himself, "what a lot of passengers."
"That's because you're going to Pompeii," said a voice.
Thomas was surprised. On the other track was a big diesel engine. "Hullo, I'm Thomas and I'm visiting."
"Nice to meet you," said the diesel. "I'm Sette."
"Sette?" asked Thomas.
"Si, yes. My twin, Bello, is at the back of our train and together, were 'Settebello'.
"Oh, are you high-speed engines? I've seen high-speed trains on my trip around the world. I first saw them when I was in Spain. They had a diesel at each end and were very fast."
"Indeed, we are," laughed Sette.
Then, Thomas remembered something else. "Sette, I've never been to Pompeii before. My friend, Gina, told me where to go, but there was no time for me to ask her about it. What's it like?"
Sette grinned. "Well, Thomas, Pompeii is a very important place. It is an ancient city that was buried under rock and ash when a volcano called Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly two-thousand years ago."
"Cinders and ashes," murmured Thomas.
"Indeed, and now, a large number of people visit Pompeii to see what life was like a long time ago. For them, it is like traveling back in time."
Now, Thomas was excited. "Wow, Pompeii sounds amazing. I can't wait to see it."
Sette laughed again. "You will not be disappointed."
At last, the Guard was ready, and Thomas puffed away. "Goodbye, Sette. Thank you for telling me about Pompeii."
"No problem." Thomas was hardly out of sight when Sette remembered something too. "He didn't say anything about the film crew there. Oh well, if Gina told him where to go, he should know what to expect."
Thomas was very excited as he made his way along. The line was clear and signal lights shone green. He began going faster and faster and he didn't slow down until he reached his final destination.
When Thomas arrived at Pompeii, he could hardly believe his eyes, but because he was looking so far ahead, he missed a sign telling him to stop. All around him, there were no cars, lorries, buses or railway engines. There were only ancient buildings and people wearing old-fashioned clothes. "Bust my buffers!" exclaimed Thomas. "I really have traveled back in time!"
"Cut! Cut! Cut!" Thomas saw a man holding a megaphone wearing a beret. "What is that big, blue engine doing in the middle of my movie set?! They didn't have tank engines back in old Pompeii!"
"Movie set?!"
"Yes! we're filming here."
Thomas looked around and saw some people in modern clothes and they were surrounded by cameras, stage lights and microphones. Then, Thomas realized what was happening. Some people were filming a movie in the middle of Pompeii and Thomas had rolled right into the set. The man with the megaphone was the Movie Director.
"Didn't you see the warning signs?" grumbled the Director.
"Oops, sorry," said Thomas. "I was so excited to see Pompeii that I must have missed them." He felt very embarrassed.
"I told you it was a bad idea to film here today, Sir," said the Director's assistant.
The Director groaned, but the visitors didn't seem to mind. They were very impressed. "All right, all right," the Director sighed, "we finish this scene and stop for today. Everyone else, please wait quietly behind the signs."
Thomas backed off the set and he and the visitors waited quietly. When the film crew had finished, everyone cheered. The visitors walked about taking photographs and talking with the archaeologist, the actors and the film crew.
"A real behind-the-scenes look at a new movie about Pompeii," said one of the visitors. "This is amazing!"
"Horray for Thomas!" cheered the visitors and even the Director couldn't help smiling. Thomas still felt silly for interrupting the film crew's work, but he was happy that one of his mistakes actually turned out to be a good thing for so many people.