Marshall helped Thomas find his way around Canada. As it was winter, there was lots and lots of snow. Finally, they reached Alaska. "You can take it from here, Thomas," assured Marshall.
"Thank you, Marshall," replied Thomas. "I never would've gotten to my next country without you're help."
Marshall laughed. "It was my pleasure, but Alaska isn't a country. It's part of the United States."
Thomas was confused. "How can that be? I crossed a whole country to get here."
"Call it a sign of friendship."
The two engines said 'goodbye' and Thomas was on his way. "Where are we going now?" he asked.
"To a special Research Outpost," replied his Driver. "The scientists there have requested a special visit from you. We're due to collect some of them on the way and take them to the Outpost." That made Thomas feel very special.
Soon, Thomas arrived at the station where he had to stop. He collected some coaches and an empty truck before gliding into the platform. Then, he saw a group of people dressed in thick winter clothes and carrying some strange tools. "Are you the scientists from the Research Outpost?"
"Something like that," said a one of the passengers. "We're Climatologists. We study the weather and climate. It's a pleasure to meet you, Thomas. I'm Michelle and these are my assistants, Ryan, Jane and Lucy."
"Hullo," said Thomas. "Um…what's a climate?"
"Climate is a study of weather patterns over a long range of time," explained Ryan. "We get some of the best readings from up here."
As the Climatologists loaded their supplies, it started getting dark. "That's strange," said Thomas. "It was morning before I got here. The day can't be over already."
"It's not," Jane chuckled. "At this time of the year, we get hardly any sunlight. That's because we're so far up north."
Thomas was disappointed. "That's a shame. I was looking forward to seeing Alaska, but I won't be able to much of it in the dark." And he was right.
As Thomas went on his way, he couldn't see much at all. The journey took a long time. All Thomas knew was that Alaska was very big and very, very cold, but his lamp shone, and his snowplough cleared whatever snow there was on the track. Oh well, he thought, at least I'll get a bright welcome at the Research Outpost.
But when Thomas finally arrived, there were no lights to greet him. He could barely see more than the end of the tracks in front of him. "Some special visit this is," he shivered.
Suddenly, some more Scientists came from the Outpost building. "Oh, Thomas," said one of the Scientists, "are we glad to see you."
"What's going on here?" Michelle asked.
The other Scientists explained that the generator had broken down. Without it, they had no lights and no heat. By now, they were very cold indeed. Luckily, Thomas' coaches were very warm, and Thomas' Driver, Fireman and Guard made everyone hot cups of cocoa.
Later, the Driver helped the scientists and the Outpost Engineer with the generator. Thomas was glad he had his hot firebox to keep himself warm.
Suddenly, Thomas saw a light. "Is the generator fixed?" he asked.
"That's not the generator," said his Fireman. "Look."
Thomas looked up and was amazed. "Cinders and ashes!" he gasped. "Lights!" And indeed, were waves of light moving through the sky.
"Those are the Northern Lights," said Michelle. "They can only be seen in the coldest places around the world."
"Wow, it's like magic." Thomas' smile was as big as it had ever been that day.
Then, they heard a strange roaring noise coming from the Outpost and all the lights came on. "That's the generator," laughed Michelle.
"It's fixed!" called Thomas' Driver.
The Scientists were very glad their generator was working again, but for a while, they switched off the Outpost lights to watch the Northern Lights in the sky together while enjoying their cocoa.
"Now that is a sight worth seeing for all this cold," said Thomas happily and everyone else thought so too.