Down in the middle of nowhere, near the Rainbow Ridge waterfall, Min-Gi had grown very weak and tired and decided to rest as he lay down on the ground under a bridge, too exhausted to move anywhere at this point.

"Oh, why did I take my gold dust for granted?" he wondered. "I don't understand why this has happened so suddenly."

While he rested, he could hear what sounded like puffing. He wearily looked up to see Thomas puffing over the bridge down the line, above him. He could hear him calling out, "Mr. Min-Gi, where are you?! Oh, I can't see him anywhere."

As Thomas passed him, Min-Gi tried to make himself heard.

"Thomas?"

But he was too weak to speak any louder and Thomas couldn't hear him as he went on his way and disappeared. Min-Gi rested his head back onto the ground.

Elsewhere, George was rolling over a set of buffers, crushing it to splinters as it made a loud, crunching, splintering noise. As he did so, the three diesels approached, seeing how he was doing. But he was only able to do just one.

"One set isn't enough, George," growled Diesel 10.

"Remember the motto," said Splatter and Dodge. "They go up, we come down!"

"No, you idiots!" barked Diesel 10. "They add, we subtract! Destroy, George!"

George was beginning to get anxious.

"But I might end up hurting something," he murmured. "Or someone!"

"So?" scoffed Diesel 10. "Get to it!"

George sighed and started rolling to the next set.

At Muffle Mountain, Jesse was riding around the mountain patch on his horse for a practice run. He was having a splendid time and felt like he would do good at the races. But suddenly, the horse reared up and stopped in fright.

"What's wrong, boy?" asked Jesse before dropping down and hearing a distant sound of digging.

Jesse peaked around the side of a big rock and noticed a horrible sight before him. There was Simon, using a pickaxe and surreptitiously hacking his way through, and tunnelling down, dragging a beautiful bush off the ground and hurtling it down the mountain in the process before digging at the beautiful flowers without the slightest bit of care around the small hole to widen it.

"That's the stranger," Jesse thought. "I have to tell Amelia!"

With haste, Jesse got back on his horse and rode on down the mountain. It was a good thing that Simon had never noticed them as he was too focused on the mountain.

On the Rainbow Sun, Tulip was looking out the window to see the countryside, deep in thought. As she watched the scenery go by, she noticed a boy her age riding a horse down the road beside the train. Then she felt the train slowing down at last and she took at look at where it was stopping at. But it wasn't her station. Instead, it read...

"Shining Time?" she read the sign out loud in confusion. "What does that mean?"

Then, she heard barking and saw that same corgi dog that walked her to the train standing on the platform, pouncing on all fours. That got Tulip thinking.

"Do you want me to get off here?" she asked the dog.

The dog barked again in agitation, as if he was saying, "yes!" So, Tulip stepped off the train and walked onto the platform with her bag, passing a bored porter and litter blowing through, and following the dog into the station building. But before she went in, she might've noticed what looked like a gentle wind blowing the grasses in the big and long meadow beside the station backwards and forwards, giving a shimmering effect to the lines where no flowers grow, reminding her of the effect in the sky that she noticed in the Big City.

Right after Tulip went inside, Amelia stepped down from the engine and began examining the leaves on the bouquet tree.

"Amelia," said Grace as she approached him with a folded map. "Here's your map, I found it lying on the platform. Be careful, I think that Simon would like to have it."

Amelia began to examine the map when she heard a familiar voice calling to her.

"Mrs. Hughes! Mrs. Hughes!"

It was Jesse, who had arrived and roped his horse to a post by the station just as Amelia arrived.

"Mrs. Hughes, I've seen the stranger, and he looks like he's trying to find something in the mountain. He frightened Alan Dracula."

"Thank you for telling me, Jesse," said Amelia kindly. "I'm sorry your horse was frightened."

"What's the stranger looking for, Mrs. Hughes?" asked Jesse.

"His name is Simon, and he was here once before, a long time ago," explained Amelia. "He wants to settle an old fight with Andy Olsen. I think it's about an engine — I think that's what he's looking for."

Hearing this got Jesse thinking.

"Could the engine have something to do with the shadowy lines on your map?" he asked.

"It's possible," replied Amelia, "and if that's true, then I think it's helped make this valley beautiful."

Then Amelia looked out over the long meadow. Everywhere was still and the meadow was drenched with light, filled with flowers and grasses. However, Simon noticed that there are two almost imperceptible thin straight lines where no flowers are growing.

"Mrs. Hughes, why are no flowers growing in the middle of that meadow? I've never noticed that before." he said. "Those lines almost look like a railroad track. Do you think that maybe it's just the light playing tricks?"

"Maybe," pondered Amelia, deep in thought as a shadow fell across the mountain lengthening onto the meadow, and a cold wind drifted through the grasses.

After Jesse rode away, Amelia returned to the station, onto the platform where she met Grace again.

"Amelia, the trains all seem to be late today. We'll have to re-do the schedule," she said before growing worried. "This is the first time we've had this problem."

"I know what you mean," said Amelia, looking back towards the town she walked through after taking to Jesse, recalling earlier how it was filled with lots of families in cars until now, where there are just individuals and two cars who were not stopping for each other.

It got her wondering, could this be a sign of something terrible?

Inside the station, Tulip was sitting on one of the benches in the waiting area. She looked around, confused. This whole place seemed very new to her. But there was one issue beside just that alone. Nobody was around. Everything was very quiet. The silence spooked her.

"Where is everyone?" she wondered before turning to Atticus, sitting beside her. "What have you brought me here for?"

Before Atticus could reply, Tulip began to hear a strange, distant noises. She looked around again in wonder. They seemed to be coming from... the mural? She wasn't sure, but she thought she might've seen a light going on in the window of the signal house in the mural. Now this was new to her! She wasn't sure why, but she was somehow feeling pleased with what was happening. Suddenly, it got all noisy again. Then, she could hear a voice coming from inside it.

"I do not want to do this... I don't know how to do this... Who does Min-gi think I am, Houdini...?"

Now Tulip found this stranger than ever. Was there really a person inside it. Her hand was drawn to the tiny door and carefully knocked on it before waiting.

Then, after seconds of waiting, a cloud of gold appeared in front of the little, red-painted door. And when it disappeared, she saw the strangest thing Tulip had ever seen. There was a tiny man at the size of perhaps 18 inches. He appeared to be Japanese descent with long brown hair, red glasses, and a disheveled conductor's uniform with a nifty bandana round his neck instead of a cap on his head. And he looked like as he was in a hurry as he coughed, brushing gold dust off his clothes.

"Oh man, this is too much! Got to get more gold dust, got to get to the Island..." he stopped when he noticed a girl standing in front of him. "Hi, who are you?"

"I'm Tulip," she replied, coming out of her shock and taking her stride. "Who are you?"

"Ryan," he answered, bowing in greetings to her. "Did I drop some sunglasses as I came in?"

Tulip only shrugged. Ryan began to turn the knob in the little red door, much to Tulip's confusion on how or why he would open that painted door. Even so, nothing happened. Confused as she was, Tulip took out her train ticket, eyeing it and the tiny door that tiny man there was trying to open.

"I'm always losing my key at home. Let me try," she said as she used the side of the ticket to unlock it somewhere, only for nothing to go in. "Hm, that usually works.

"Well, I might as well use up more of this stuff," said Ryan, looking at his whistle. "See you, Tulip." he said to her before sparkling out, leaving some falling onto the ledge before her eyes.

Tulip peered through the little painted window until she noticed some gold dust laying on the ledge and picked some up, feeling it as it twinkled in her hand.

"What is this stuff?" she asked herself until she was suddenly interrupted.

"Excuse me, are you Tulip?"

Tulip turned around to see a woman standing before her.

"Yes," Tulip answered.

"Oh, good. I'm Grace Monroe, station manager," said Grace, relieved, as she shook the girl's hand. "Your dad's very upset. You must've gotten on the wrong train. I'd better take you back to Muffle Mountain."

"Thank you," sighed Tulip thankfully before they both noticed Atticus bouncing around Amelia, who just came out of the workshop. "Is this where he lives? He came all the way from the city with me — he's the reason I'm here."

"Is he now?" asked Grace in bewilderment before turning to Amelia. "Oh, Amelia, this is Tulip, Andy Olsen's daughter."

"Hi," said Amelia, waving to the little girl before turning to Atticus. "So, what's all this about, Atticus?"

Atticus began to get nervous, knowing for sure he was going to get scolded in seconds until they heard a crashing noise, coming from the station house in the painting.

"That's Ryan," smiled Tulip with excitement. "He's the little man who lives in the w-I mean..." Tulip caught herself, blushing and trying to think of an excuse.

"Ryan?!" asked Grace and Amelia together.

"What's he doing here?" wondered Grace.

Tulip was quite surprised on how those two people knew Ryan. Either way, she looked longingly at the wall, then tapped on the station building and gave a little wave before following Grace out. The pair had just disappeared when Amelia heard Ryan again through the wall as Atticus ran up to it.

"What's that doing there? Hm, nice bed!"

Then the lights in the station house went out and Atticus heard snoring from inside it.

On their way out, Tulip and Grace noticed a mother collecting her little girl, who gave a baby in her arms a little kiss, which made Tulip think with her mother her aunt, who was having a baby of her own.

"So, what exactly does Shining Time mean?" Tulip asked.

"Normally," said Grace, "it's an old railroad expression. Shining Time is when the train starts and the wheels spin. It's the beginning of a journey."

Hearing this got Tulip thinking as she got on the train, which started with the wheels spinning, starting of her very own journey as she recalled the most bizarre yet most magical thing that had just happened to her.

"Grace, I don't think I did get the wrong train," she said, grinning. "Somehow, I think I got the right one, and I think I'm beginning to find out why."

They got in Grace's car, and she drove Tulip down the road. When they got near their destination, daytime was starting to turn to dusk. The top of Tulip's hair blew in the wind as she drove along with Grace, following a road that ran towards a lake with Muffle Mountain in the distance. Tulip showed Grace one of her photographs.

"Grace, did you know my parents?

"My teacher, Stacy Jones did. Your mother was a wonderful dancer, and Amelia says that your dad was once the finest railroad engineer in the valley. I wish..."

"There's dad!" interrupted Tulip, pointing to him and his truck at the upcoming crossroads. "But who's that shouting at him?"

There was Andy, and with him was Simon, who had just arrived to confront him.

"She's in that mountain, isn't she?" asked Simon.

"Even if she were, she'd be no good to you now," Andy responded.

"You're wrong, Andy Olsen. She's good to me for only one thing," said Simon as he got on his bike, smirking sinisterly. "Scrap!" he hissed menacingly before roaring into the darkness.

At that moment, Grace and Tulip arrived and got out of the car.

"Who was that man with Dad?" asked Tulip.

"A man who doesn't like beauty and likes to make trouble," sighed Grace before asking. "Tulip, could I borrow that photograph? I promise to take care of it."

Tulip nodded and handed the photograph to her then both Andy and Tulip turned and made eye contact. Everywhere was suddenly very still and silent, which unnerved Tulip.

"Tulip," said Andy.

"Dad," said Tulip.

Grace looked at the pair and sensed the awkwardness between the two.

"Well, have a good evening, Andy."

"Thanks, Grace. Goodnight," replied Andy as Grace started walking to her car.

Tulip was about to get into Andy's truck when she remembered and turned back to Grace.

"Grace, you said 'I wish.'"

"I wish...?" pondered Grace before remembering. "Oh, yes! I wish you'd come back and see us tomorrow at Shining Time if your dad will let you." she said to her before driving away.

Tulip got into the truck while Andy picked up some equipment that fell of the truck and put it back in before climbing into the driver's seat of the truck and driving her to his house. Once again, everything fell silent, which seemed to get much louder. Tulip didn't like it, already feeling desperate to communicate with her estranged father. Surely, she could trust him with what she found today, right?

"So, uhh... Dad, I saw this really cool guy at the station, really little and kind of... golden," Tulip said, only to have silence as a response. "Can you believe that?"

Finally, an answer came from her dad.

"I used to believe that" he said. "Now, I only believe what I see."

Tulip sulked as they drove up to a small house at the foot of the mountain on the other side of the valley with an apple tree outside and every window was shuttered.

That night, Tulip was eating supper at the table with her dad. She looked around the room and found no photographs. She recalled the last time she had been here, there were many photographs together of their entire family. Now, there was nothing.

"Dad, don't you like photographs anymore?" Tulip asked.

Andy shook his head as he took a bite of his steak. Silence fell over them again. Tulip could barely take it, she needed to ask.

"Why don't you live in the valley?" she asked.

"Because I don't like trains," said Andy.

"Don't the trains come to Muffle Mountain?"

"On the other side of the mountain," Andy answered. "This side, there's neither sight nor sound of them."

Hearing this, Tulip looked turned to the shuddered window, knowing the mountain was outside, realizing how Muffle Mountain got it's name. She stared in wonder for a bit before turning back to her dad.

"Are you sure you don't like trains, Dad?" she asked.

"I'm sure," he said in a negative tone.

Tulip wanted to say more but changed her mind and ate her dinner instead. Once she was done, Tulip stood up and pulled the friendship bracelet out of her pocket. She knew why she made it and decided now was the time. She only hoped it would work.

"Here Dad, this is a friendship bracelet. Mom taught me how to make them when I was little. This is for you."

She went to put it on her dad's wrist when he stopped her.

"Thank you, Tulip. I'll do it myself." he said.

Disappointed, Tulip just picked up the dishes to put in the sink to wash and left with the bracelet laying on the table.

After she had gone, Andy got up and turned on his record player, playing a beautiful waltz. As it played, he listened to the tune, thinking back to the old days, dancing with his wife in the sunlight underneath the apple tree in the garden long before they had Tulip. Every time the song finishes, Andy would always take his companion's hand and kiss it. They were still happy after they had Tulip, where they gave her a happy childhood as a happy family, such as taking her to amusement parks, before everything fell apart as Tulip grew older. Even after they got divorced, Andy would still miss her and wonder if somewhere, in just the slightest, she was still thinking about him.

Andy took out a photograph of his wife and stared at it longingly. Tulip was spying him through the track in the open doorway, listening to the music.

"That's Mom's favorite song," Tulip muttered with sympathy.

"Go to bed, Tulip," said Andy quietly, trying not to be unfriendly.

Tulip was still pained as she went sadly to her bedroom and closed the door while Andy put the photograph down.

In her room, Tulip changed into her pajamas and laid in bed, but she couldn't sleep. She looked over to the window. She got out of bed and went over to it, opening the shudders just a tad. She could see the moon was out. Even so, from outside, to her it was like she was locked up like a bird in a cage. This place was jus too dull, nothing she does made him happy in the slightest. All she wanted right now was to get out of this boring, dull place of doom and gloom. Shining Time looked more happier than this, at least by a little.

Tulip was about to go back to bed when suddenly, there was an ominous, distant "PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!" Tulip looked out again. It sounded like a train's whistle, but she couldn't find anything, even with the moon shining down upon everything.

"How can I hear an engine's whistle?" she thought as she stared at the mountain. "I was told this mountain was supposed to muffle their every sound from the other side."

Andy could hear it too as he sat on a chair before the fireplace, which was lit. Confused as he was with the noise, he also felt nourished as he quietly stoked up the fire.

Elsewhere, in the lunging area, Jesse was lunging Alan Dracula when he heard the sound of the whistle, which seemed to echo over the valley and all around him. He smiled before hugging his horse.

The only person who didn't hear it was Simon, who was too busy still digging on the mountain to even notice. He was using noisy mechanical digger, which drowned out the whistle's mysterious sound. As time went on, he was frantic and exhausted. At last, he decided to stop, panting and looking at the current progress of his work, which seemed to be only several feet deep, which wasn't enough for him. Seeing he was getting nowhere fast, he glared at his digger.

"Ugh! Stupid tool!" he grunted, kicking it. "Nothing's working! I need something way bigger, stronger, and more powerful to get deeper into this mountain." he said to himself as he made his way down the mountain. "It's time to take extreme measures!"

At Shining Time Station, Grace and Amelia were sitting on a bench with Mutt between them. They could see the full moon close by as Grace showed Amelia the school photo that Tulip lent her.

"So, Andy and Simon had a big quarrel about an engine, then Simon left town. And we never saw him again...," Amelia paused. "..until now."

"Did you ever see the engine?" asked Grace.

"No, never," replied Amelia, "but I believe she is, if she still exists, important to Andy and to this valley. Andy had three passions in his life: Megan, trains, and this valley."

Then, something came to Grace's head as she thought about Min-Gi.

"You know, Amelia," said Grace solemnly, "when Mr. Min-Gi blows his whistle for his sparkles, I've taken it for granted that's all he needs to get to the Island of Sodor, but maybe..." she trailed in wonder, "...he also uses a secret railroad."

Amelia looked at her.

"And maybe...," Grace went on, "the beauty that we know all around us is because of both the gold dust and the railroad, and that the mysterious engine Simon's looking for is connected to all of this somehow."

Suddenly Grace noticed the bouquet tree.

"Amelia, look at the bouquet tree. It's losing its blossoms and it's much too early for that."

Amelia stood up to notice.

"Hmm, yes it is. Much too early," she muttered before pulling herself together. "Well, I need to give Atticus his supper and be on my way. Goodnight."

"Good night, Amelia."

As Amelia walked away, Grace stayed behind and looked at the photo and the painting of Andy as a little boy, deep in thought. She wondered if there might be a comparison between the two.

On Sodor, Min-Gi was laying on a haybale in a field while trying to make his way back to the main yard. Since he had no more gold dust, he could only travel there on foot. He napped for a while and started to wake up, seeing that it was alrady dark and crawled to the ground. He looked for his watch, but couldn't find it anywhere. It was lucky for him that he found a dandelion and blew at it. The wind blew the specs in a certain direction.

"Dinner time. Where is my friend?" Min-Gi sighed as he sulked on the haybale. "Who else can possibly help me... or say that I'm really useful now?" he asked sadly.

Down the line, Thomas and Percy were taking the mail train along the coastal routes and through the glorious countryside. It was a beautiful night and the two engines loved this run. Percy loved it most of all. It was his most favorite job on the railway.

As Percy came to a junction. The signalman had dozed off and forgot to set the points. Percy suddenly swirved onto the wrong track and stopped several feet away.

"Bother!" groaned Percy as he reversed slowly back over the points.

He whistled loudly to get the signalman's attention, waking him up and switching him onto the right line. Percy had to quickly make up for lost time as he hurried into the big station at Knapford. Thomas was there, waiting.

"I'm sorry I'm late Thomas, there was something wrong with the points and I had to hurry all the way here!"

"Never mind, Percy. Mr. Min-Gi would still be proud of us." said Thomas, growing worried. "If we find him that is."

"By the way, Thomas, I was thinking. How does Mr. Min-Gi travel here?" he asked.

"By gold dust?" Thomas answered, raising an eyebrow.

"How 'by gold dust' exactly?" Percy urged.

"Well, I don't know, but I recall him telling me the journey is getting bumpier and bumpier, which sort of sounds to be how a railway is like."

"Oh, he also talked about buffers in his sleep last night," added Percy. "Buffers are at the end of a railway, I think that's how he travels here, on a secret railway!"

Thomas was amazed.

"Of course!" smiled Thomas.

The two engines had no idea that they were being spied on by Diesel 10, who was resting in a nearby shed, listening to every word. He grinned evilly at Percy's misfortune, but what got him more satisfied was Min-Gi, buffers, and a railway with a possibility of all three of them being connected. That got him thinking and grinned more evilly as he purred away.

"Oooh," said Thomas anxiously. "My wheels are feeling very wobbly. I think Diesel is around here somewhere."

Then the two engines heard a familiar sound of a bell as Toby quietly puffed up to Thomas and Percy. He had seen everything.

"I'm sorry, you two, Diesel heard every word you said," said Toby as the two engines began to worry. "I'm going after him to see what he does next. You'd better carry on and get the mail delivered."

"You're very brave, Toby," said Percy with worry.

"Oh, Diesel won't bother with an old engine like me, he thinks I'm scrap already!" Toby chuckled as he puffed stoically on.

The little tram engine followed Diesel 10 all the way to the scrap yard, which looked very spooky at night, way more spookier than in the daytime. It got worse as a little fog rolled into the yard, but he didn't let that stop him as he hid himself in a siding behind huge, rusty piles of scrap. Despite how unpromising the piles looked, he couldn't think about them right now as he eyed Diesel 10, rolling into a metal shed with Splatter and Dodge. Behind them was the smelters shed, fanning flames out from inside the glowing red entrance.

"Come in and join the party, Splodge," smirked Diesel 10.

"We're going to have a party?" asked Splatter excitedly.

"Who's got the balloons?" asked Dodge eagerly.

"Correction, join the party that's over." sniggered Diesel 10. "Just like Twinkle Toes's Magic Railway is going to be over. Gone... like the buffers connected to it."

Toby was furious as he listened.

"We don't know where the entrance to his railway is, so we don't know which are the right buffers," said Diesel 10, "therefore you got to destroy all of them."

"What are you going to do?" asked Splatter.

"It's time to finally put Twinkle Toes' lights out!" purred Diesel 10, making Toby's eyes widen in horror. "This is a job for the Boss!" he finished as he clanked his claw loudly, chomping its jaws.

Toby was horrified. He could NOT let this happen.

"I've got to delay him... I've got to distract him... I've got to be brave!" he whispered to himself.

With that, Toby's driver pulled the cord, and Toby rang his bell as loudly as he could. This caught the attention of the diesels in alarm.

"It's the old teapot! Smash him!" roared Diesel 10 as he raised his claw.

But as the claw took a swing towards towards Toby, it knocked into a support beam of the shed, causing the roof to come crashing down on top of all three of them. Diesel 10's claw could only chomp its way through the roof, but he and the other diesels were trapped. Toby couldn't stop laughing as he watched the whole thing.

"Good show!" Toby chuckled as he scurried away out of danger, leaving the diesels stranded in their metal prison as Diesel 10 starting to pick up the pieces to clear the mess.

"Er... Boss... did you mean to do that?" asked Splatter.

"I always mean what I do, you rattle-traps!" Diesel 10 growled in a livid manner.

It was going to take a while to clean up all this.