Months had passed since the queen's visit to the North Western Railway. This event was the event that marked the official end of Gordon's disgraced period, as well as Thomas'. A book mainly about Gordon's disgraced period and how it happened had been written by Reverend Wilbert Awdry, which was titled Gordon The Big Engine. This book officially became the eighth book of the series that Wilbert called The Railway Series. To add to that, there had been an attempt to adapt the second half of the first book, The Three Railway Engines by the BBC, which failed miserably due to TV being broadcast live, meaning the TV would show the broadcast being made live, meaning any errors that were made couldn't be edited out. As a result, the whole thing became a laughing stock, which led to the series being canceled. Despite that humiliation, The Fat Controller's engines continued to work hard. However, some fun would be had, before turning much more serious.
It was the evening before Halloween, so because of this, the engines were at Tidmouth Sheds preparing to tell ghost stories. It was an annual tradition the engines of the North Western Railway had been doing since the railway's beginning. A firelighter arrived to light a campfire like fire, and soon, the sheds were covered in a warm orange glow, which was the atmosphere the engines wanted. After the firelighter left, the engines began to tell ghost stories. Some tried to outdo others, but failed miserably. Despite that, the engines still had fun. Eventually, it was Thomas' turn to tell a story. Thomas had been thinking of stories to tell for this night, but only one had come to mind, and it was a story that Gordon had helped him with. And this story was a story the two engines were not eager to tell in the slightest. Despite that, they were still keen to stick to tradition. Thomas looked at Gordon, who gave him an encouraging smile.
"It will be alright," he said, sympathetically, "You won't be telling it fully. I'll cover the second part of it for you."
"Thanks, Gordon," smiled Thomas, bravely, "That's nice to hear. And you know what they say. Some risks are risks worth taking."
"Exactly," smiled Gordon, encouragingly.
Thomas plucked up all of his courage, before addressing the other engines.
"Alright everyone," he said, in the boldest tone he could muster, "Here is the story that me and Gordon came up. Because Gordon helped me with this story, he'll cover part of it. I'll start the story off."
And so, Thomas began.
"A long time ago, somewhere in England, there was a railway. This railway was very similar to ours, as it not only had a main line and a couple of branch lines, but it also had engines of all the types you can think of, both big and small."
Thomas paused impressively.
"However," he continued, "there was one location that the railway was most infamous for.
One of the tracks next to the terminus at the one of the ends of the line led to a lead mine. The ground was very weak at a certain section, to the point it could only support trucks, and not engines. Because of this, a sign was placed just before that section to warn engines to not go there.
Unfortunately, there was a tank engine that thought he knew better. This tank engine was very gullible and didn't understand the danger, and I'm sorry to say that this naive trait would become the tank engine's downfall."
The other engines looked wide eyed at Thomas.
"The tank engine had tried several times to sneak past the danger sign, but his crew would always stop him. But one day, the tank engine made a plan. He had taken some trucks to the lead mine as usual, and as usual, stopped just before the set of points where the danger sign was."
"I think I can guess what happened next," said Toby, "but keep going, Thomas."
"Thank you, Toby," replied Thomas. "Just as the fireman was about to change the points, the tank engine suddenly jerked forward, knocking his driver off the footplate! When he regained his bearings, the driver called out to his engine, trying to warn him he had made a big mistake. Unfortunately, his cries fell on deaf ears. The tank engine continued to laugh, thinking he was being very clever. However, he wasn't being clever at all.
Just as the fireman had helped the driver to his feet, the ground under the tank engine started to rumble, and the rails quivered as a result. The tank engine, realizing his mistake, tried to reverse, but by then, it was already too late. The ballast slipped away, as the rails sagged and broke, as the mine collapsed beneath the tank engine, swallowing him whole!"
The other engines gasped in horror, before going deafly silent. Their eyes were now officially glued to Thomas. They were all too shocked by the story to make a sound. Now, the sheds were as silent as a tomb, with only the sounds of crickets and an owl breaking said silence. However, those sounds were the least of the engines worries. This story was certainly going to give them nightmares for days. Thomas then looked at Gordon, giving him the signal that it was now his time to finish the story. The other engines, seeing that, also turned their attention to Gordon. Gordon took a deep breath, before continuing where Thomas had left off.
"When the controller heard about the accident, he immediately rushed to the scene. It was decided by him and and the workmen that the ground was too weak for a crane. So, an alternative option was found.
The controller brought his biggest and strongest engine to the mine to try to pull the tank engine out with a tow cable. As soon as the big engine arrived at the mine, the winch was hooked up to the back of the tank engine. As soon as the controller gave the order, the big engine began to heave! The big engine heaved as hard as he could, determined to pull the tank engine to safety. Unfortunately, the workmen and the controller had all misjudged how weak the ground was, as well as how hollow the shaft was below. The big engine's weight started to become too much for the ground to handle, so as a result, it began to collapse beneath the big engine. So, because of this, the big engine also fell into the growing chasm below.
To make matters worse, the extra collapsed ground caused some trucks to roll backwards into the mine, crashing into the two engines, which set them on fire! The fire brigade was called, but by the time the fire was out, it was already too little too late. The two engines were mangled, and beyond repair as a result. So, the controller had no choice but to scrap the two engines."
The other engines gasped again, before going completely silent once more.
"Never disobey a danger sign…" said Thomas, grimly.
"Or you might end up like those two engines." continued Gordon, gloomily.
"That is the moral of the story of The Engines That Died In The Mine." Thomas and Gordon finished together.
The other engines were silent for a minute, before Henry spoke up.
"Well, you two," he said, boldly, "that moral was excellent, considering what happened! That tank engine must have a complete jock!"
"Henry!" snapped Thomas. "Just because that tank engine didn't know that he shouldn't disobey a danger sign doesn't mean he was outright bad!"
"How do you know that?" sneered Henry.
Thomas' expression changed to a nervous one, as if he was hiding something. He began to stutter.
"Well… um… you see… err…"
"Answer my question!" roared Henry.
But before Thomas could come up with an answer, a sound cut him off. The other engines heard it too. Said sound was very faint at first, but it then grew louder. Then, it became clear to the engines what the sound was. It was the sound of two engines, one big and one small puffing. Just then, two shadowy shapes began to be made out in the distance, coming closer and closer to the sheds. As the two figures came closer, the engines realized that these shadows resembled the shapes of engines. One a tank engine, and the other a tender engine. The two engines began to slow down before stopping on the turntable. The turntable began to move on its own, before stopping when pointing at Thomas.
"Who are you two?" asked Henry quietly, but crossly.
A board then appeared in front of the tank engine, before words appeared on said board. Thomas read the message the board had.
"We are the engines that died in the mine," he read nervously.
The others were surprised. They definitely hadn't expected the engines from the story to actually be real, never mind show up here. Henry then spoke to the two mysterious visitors again.
"Well, what are you two doing here?! This isn't your railway, you know!"
Right after Henry said that, the message on the board changed. Thomas read the new message that was now on the board.
"This is our railway. You've… all… been… lied… to."
Thomas began to stutter as he realized what these two ghosts were trying to say.
"It d-didn't happen o-on a f-far away r-railway. I-it happened here."
Thomas then looked up at the two uninvited guests, as a realization dawned on him and Gordon.
"Are you two who we think you are?" asked Thomas nervously.
Once again, the message on the board changed. This time, Gordon read it.
"We sure are."
Gordon then looked up to the two shadowy engines, before the two engines revealed to everyone their true forms. The other engines' eyes widened when they saw who exactly those two engines were.
Said two engines looked like Thomas and Gordon.
"No…" stammered Henry. "It can't be…"
"That's Thomas and Gordon in their original shapes!" exclaimed James.
"But how?!" cried Percy.
"What's going on?!" bellowed a voice. The engines looked to see The Fat Controller standing next to his car with a light in his hand.
"Sir?" said Toby, nervously as he looked back at the Thomas and Gordon on the turntable.
The Fat Controller looked there too, and gasped!
"Former Thomas and Gordon?!" he exclaimed in shock. "How are you two here?!"
"It's a long story," answered the other Thomas.
"But," continued the other Gordon, "it's best we let our current selves explain all that."
Thomas and Gordon knew their former selves were right.
"Everyone," began Thomas as he railed all the courage he could, "about that story me and Gordon told… it didn't happen on a far away railway. It did indeed happen here."
"And those two engines," continued Gordon, "were me and Thomas."
The other engines were horrified!
"But- but-" stuttered Henry, "That's impossible!"
"There was no mine incident!" protested James. "All that happened was that Thomas fell onto a mine, and you rescued him, Gordon! End of story!"
"I'm sorry," replied Edward, "but we lied to you. There was a mine incident."
"Indeed…" added Thomas. He then proceeded to begin telling the truth to everyone of what really happened at the old lead mines.
"When I fell into the mine," Thomas began, sadly, "I didn't just fall. The mine collapsed beneath me completely, swallowing me whole."
"They tried to get me to lift Thomas out with a pulling system," continued Gordon, "but there was a miscalculation of how hollow the shaft was below and how weak the ground was below, so I too fell into the growing chasm beneath the ground…"
"But…" stammered Percy, "how are you two here if you're over there?"
"It's a tragic tale," sighed The Fat Controller, sadly. "Due to our poor judgment, there was a big scandal, so to save face, we… we…"
"They took off their faces," finished Edward. "There was a talented engineer from Crewe that moved Thomas and Gordon's faces to new shells. I know this because I came to retrieve their faces at the mine when said faces were taken off."
"When Edward arrived," The Fat Controller continued, "We both vowed to never tell anyone about this incident. That was why we told you all that Thomas and Gordon were rebuilt following their mishaps. Thankfully, that was when the queen came to visit our railway. We hoped this would ease Thomas and Gordon back into normal lives and erase what happened at the mines from history. But sadly, we were wrong."
"Shortly after the queen's visit," continued Thomas, "me and Gordon both started having nightmares about the mine. We talked to each other about those nightmares, and that was when we realized that we didn't remember that incident."
"So," continued Gordon, "we decided to investigate, and when we did, we found our former selves inside the pit."
"I was there waiting for them," continued The Fat Controller, "and I told them everything."
"But shortly after that," continued Thomas, "somehow, our former selves got out of the pit and my former self chased me. Thankfully, Edward has a theory on how…"
"Indeed I do," replied Edward grimly. "While Thomas and Gordon's faces were being loaded into the van I took said faces in, I looked into the chasm, and for a second, I thought I saw faces on their former shells. It was so horrifying, I could barely stomach it. To add insult to injury, as I was leaving, I thought I heard Thomas and Gordon calling out to me, telling to me come back. To save them. To not leave them to rust. However, I shrugged it off thinking it was just my mind playing tricks on me. But now, I realize that wasn't the case."
Edward looked at the former Thomas and Gordon, before saying "You two really were calling out to me, weren't you?"
"Yes, Edward," answered the former Thomas. "We were."
"When they removed our faces," explained the former Gordon, "A part of our souls were released, and we had come back to reclaim what we believed was rightfully ours."
"Once all that was worked out," continued Thomas, "Gordon and I decided to resolve things with our former selves once and for all. We arrived at the mines, to find the once dilapidated giant chasm gone. On the track next to it were the former rusted shells of our former selves. Their faces were horrifying."
"Said faces had rust, scars and holes everywhere," continued Gordon, "Their eyes had sunken back towards their smoke boxes. Our former selves scowled angrily at us. They then made the danger sign's message change. It said that to prove our worth of living, we had to pass a test, and before we could say anything, the test begun."
"Our former selves threw my crew off my footplate," continued Thomas," and made me move towards the weak point of the ground. They also held Gordon back. As I rolled forward, I felt the ground move, before it opened. Luckily, the shaft wasn't as deep as I feared."
"It was only then our former selves released their grip on me," continued Gordon, "and gave me a winch to pull Thomas to safety. Luckily, in the end, I was able to do what my former self had failed to do: rescue Thomas."
"After all that," continued Thomas, "we went back to where our former selves were. But this time, what greeted us was them in their former glory as you see here right now."
"They thanked us and told us we had freed them," continued Gordon, "before their faces disappeared and the shells changed into rusty shells with no faces at all. We took said shells to the scrapyard and didn't leave until the shells were completely melted down," he finished solemnly.
"But there's one part of dead engines you can't get rid of," replied the former Thomas, "their spirits."
"And we're no exception," added the former Gordon, "and that's how we're here now. The truth has now shown itself."
The other engines began to cry after hearing all this.
"That doesn't change who they are today!" said the former Thomas. "They are still really useful engines to this day!"
"Indeed!" Concurred the former Gordon. "There were pure intentions here: to give a second chance to us, and that was what seemingly happened. Plus, they avoided a scandal in the process."
"Yeah," replied Thomas, "Even though we are not the originals, we are still Thomas The Tank Engine and Gordon The Big Engine!"
"And that's all that matters," finished Gordon.
The other engines felt better hearing that. The former Thomas and Gordon smiled, before puffing away buffer to buffer and disappearing.
A trainspotter had been out by himself that night, and had recorded everything that transpired at Tidmouth Sheds. The Fat Controller caught him, but had no hard feelings. The truth about what really happened at the old lead mines made the front page of lots of newspapers a couple of days later. Everyone was rendered speechless. Despite this, there was a huge outpouring of support for Thomas and Gordon, which the two engines were extremely grateful for. Thanks to all this support, Thomas and Gordon were finally able to completely heal, and go back to being really useful engines once again.