STANLEY IN SPACE

Written by Zack Wanzer and Cameron Stevens

Set during Series 18

A workman was using his broom to hang a big poster on one of the walls at Knapford station. Once he'd finished, waiting passengers could see what it read:

COME TO THE SCIENCE FAIR

AT TIDMOUTH TOWN SQUARE!

SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS

AT 10 AM TO 6 PM

BETWEEN MAY TO JUNE

ALL AGES ADMITTED

The passengers looked intrigued, wondering what they would be able to see there. So too were the engines when they heard the news.

"What's a science fair?" asked Paxton to his driver.

"It's a type of event usually held by schools so that children can experience the practices of science and engineering for themselves," the driver explained. "They're also used to display exhibits and demonstration projects like the New York World's Fair."

"That's very fascinating!" exclaimed Paxton.

Stanley, who was passing by with some trucks, overheard the conversation and stopped alongside. "You know, my driver once told me that a diesel engine used to be on static display at the Science Museum in South Kensington," he said. "Deltic, I think his name was."

"You mean, engines can be part of science as well?" asked Paxton.

"Well, not all of them," chuckled Stanley. "He was only on display for thirty years until he was bought by the National Railway Museum in York."

"I bet this Deltic fellow's got some fascinating stories to tell!" remarked Paxton. "Maybe he could come visit us one day."

"Well, we'll have to wait and see, won't we?" said Stanley as he prepared to set off again. "Anyway, I've got to take these trucks to Killdane. They're bound for the Peel Godred line. Toodle-oo!"

A couple of hours later, Stanley arrived at Killdane and dropped off his trucks for Pamela to collect. As he waited, the silver tank engine saw more passengers looking at another poster for the science fair.

"We must go to that!" said one. "I bet they'll have some amazing exhibits there!"

"What do you think they'll be hosting?" asked another.

"I hear that they might have a space exhibition," said a third. "You know, things like the planets of our solar system, comets, asteroids and whatnot."

"A space exhibition?" Stanley said to himself. "I wonder what that could be like…"

Stanley was chuffing on the surface of the moon, his smokebox covered in a large space helmet.

"This is one small chuff for an engine," he said, "and one giant leap for enginekind!"

"Fat Controller to Major Stan," Sir Topham Hatt called on the intercom. "Major Stan, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, sir!" Stanley grinned. "Preparing for take off into the far reaches of space to complete my mission!"

"Standing by," replied Sir Topham Hatt. "Launching in five… four… three… two… one!"

And with that, some rockets appeared from alongside Stanley and the silver space engine took off from the moon and into the far reaches of space, passing through thousands of stars and hundreds of planets. The little silver tank engine was having the time of his life.

"To infinity and beyond!" Stanley cheered.

"Stanley? Stanley! STANLEY!"

Stanley suddenly snapped out of his daydream and turned to see Pamela on the other platform. "Oh… hello, Pamela," he said, embarrassed.

"I know it's probably a silly question, but I'll ask it anyway," sighed Pamela. "What were you daydreaming about?"

"Er, just… wondering what it would be like for engines to travel beyond the Earth and into other worlds. I know it's unlikely, but it was just a thought."

"Hmph. I've heard of crazier things like engines turning into elephants! Now are you going to couple your trucks to me or what?"

"O-oh! Right! I'll get onto that right away, Pamela!" And Stanley did just that too.

Pamela grunted her thanks to Stanley and rolled away up the branch line, muttering under her breath, "I don't know… Those tank engines and their silly fantasies…" The silver tank engine heard this and felt hurt.

Stanley resumed his work at Knapford yards, but the thought of possibly going to space just wouldn't leave his smokebox. He was still hurt over Pamela's comment about his fantasy and hardly spoke to anyone for the rest of the day.

Rosie, who was shunting close by, noticed this and puffed up alongside him.

"What's wrong, Stanley?" she asked kindly. "Why are you upset?"

Stanley was hesitant at first. "Oh, it's nothing, really," he sighed. "You'll probably laugh."

"I promise I won't."

Stanley noticed the honesty in the lavender tank engine's eyes, and so he told her about his dream traveling through space, right up until he was snapped out of it by Pamela.

"Oh, take no notice of Pamela," Rosie said, rolling her eyes. "You know that she can be grumpy at times."

"I know," sighed Stanley, "but just think of how wonderful it would be to explore the vast wonders of outer space!"

"You sound a lot like Duck when he dreamed of sailing to far away lands," giggled Rosie. Stanley laughed along with her, feeling a little better, but still slightly hurt over what Pamela had said.

"Do you think that maybe they might talk about the wonders of outer space at the science fair?" asked Stanley.

"I'm sure they will," smiled Rosie. "And if you're really that interested, you could ask your driver and fireman to take you there."

Stanley sighed again. "The problem is, I'm already too busy with my own work to even see the science fair," he replied. "Good chance I'll be missing out on it. Oh well… thanks for cheering me up, Rosie, but I must get back to my shunting." And he rolled silently away, leaving Rosie feeling sorry for the poor silver tank engine.

"There must be something that can be done," she said to herself, "but what?"

A couple of weeks went by, and at Tidmouth, some exhibitions were being put up outside so that the engines could see them from the station. Paxton was bringing one of the exhibits for the science fair and he was buzzing with excitement.

"I'm looking forward to seeing this science exhibit!" he said gleefully.

Charlie rolled up alongside. "What exhibit, Pax?" he asked.

"Driver says that the exhibit I'm carrying inside contains a model volcano made by the science team from Tidmouth," he explained. "He said they're planning on erupting it for scientific fun!"

"A volcano?" gasped Charlie. "It's not a real one, is it?"

"Of course not!" chuckled Paxton. "At least… I hope it's not…"

"Heh, sounds to me like this science fair is going to be a real blast!" laughed Charlie. Paxton laughed too, although he didn't quite get the joke.

It wasn't just a replica volcano that the engines could see at the science fair. There were many different pieces of equipment that they had never seen before. Some were large and some were shiny. The people who brought them in all wore white science coats, gloves and goggles as well.

As Stanley stopped at the station to let off passengers, he looked over at the science fair. He was disappointed to see that there was no sign of a space exhibition.

"Where could it be?" he pondered. "Driver said it was meant to be here."

"Maybe it's running late," his driver suggested. "I'm sure it won't be long until it gets here, old boy. Don't you worry."

Stanley sighed; he was looking forward to seeing the exhibit, but was disappointed that it hadn't arrived yet. As passengers were boarding and departing his coaches, a team of scientists walked out and made their way to the science fair. They returned quite soon feeling frantic.

"Where could it be?" asked one. "It was supposed to be here when we arrived!"

"I really hope that it hasn't gotten lost. Or worse… destroyed!" gulped another.

Stanley, feeling puzzled, spoke up to the scientists. "Is anything the matter?"

"Oh, we were expecting our science exhibit to arrive at the science fair," said the lead scientist. "We arranged for it to be dropped off and set up here but it hasn't turned up yet."

"Charlie was meant to drop it off for us," added a third scientist, "but there's still no sign of him!"

Stanley now felt concerned. "Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked.

"That would be very much appreciated!" the lead scientist said. "If you find Charlie, then you'll find our science exhibit!"

"I'll keep a good lookout for Charlie," Stanley promised. He was uncoupled from his coaches and puffed out of the station.

As Stanley trundled along the main line, he couldn't find Charlie. That was, until he heard the sound of Belle's whistle. The big blue tank engine steamed by with Rocky in tow.

"What's going on here, Belle?" gasped Stanley.

"There's been a derailment up the line!" called Belle. "Rocky and I have been called to get Charlie back on the rails!"

Of course… Stanley thought, rolling his eyes, and followed shortly behind Belle and Rocky.

Stanley's suspicion proved correct, for Charlie had come off the rails. He was carrying a flatbed with a large crate on it. Rocky soon set to work in re-railing the purple tank engine.

"Honestly, Charlie," said Rocky, "how'd you manage to come off the rails like that?"

"I was just telling a joke to Bertie as he was trundling down the roads close by!" insisted Charlie.

"By taking your eyes off the rails?!" Belle questioned crossly. "That's most irresponsible, Charlie, especially when you're carrying important cargo for the science fair!"

Stanley then looked over at the large crate on Charlie's flatbed, and got an idea.

"Belle, would it be alright if I helped out here?" he asked. "I can get this crate back to the science fair while you and Rocky help Charlie."

"I don't see the problem in that, Stanley," smiled Belle. "I'm sure you'll take much better care with it than that clumsy jokester here." Charlie chuckled sheepishly as Belle glared at him.

Once it was arranged, Stanley was coupled up to the flatbed and set off back to Tidmouth, taking great care of the cargo.

At last, Stanley arrived back with the crate; the scientists were standing on the platform.

"Here you are!" Stanley whistled. "Your science exhibit, safe and sound!"

"Oh, thank you, Stanley!" cheered the lead scientist; the rest of his team was relieved as well. "Let's just hope it's not badly damaged."

They began to unload their crate, and what they pulled out amazed Stanley! Inside were boxes with large spheres painted to look like different planets, as well as search lights, twinkling stars and other pieces of equipment for the exhibit.

"Is that the space exhibit?!" gasped Stanley.

"It is indeed," replied the second scientist. "Thank you for delivering it safely for us, Stanley. In fact, as our special way of saying thank you, we have a little surprise for you."

Stanley was excited. "For me?" he gasped. "How nice! What is it?"

"You'll have to wait on opening day of the science fair," the lead scientist said with a wink. "But for now, we must get to work setting up our exhibit!"

It must have felt like an eternity for Stanley, but eventually, the first day of the science fair began. He wasn't the only engine there; Rosie had joined him as well. The two engines watched as everyone had a wonderful time discovering and marvelling at all the scientific topics that were being exhibited. But Stanley was more focused on the space exhibit he had safely delivered. He watched as the scientists explained the many different planets across space.

"If there really is life on Mars," he wondered, "do they have railways there as well?"

"The Martian Railway!" chuckled Rosie. "Now that would be quite the discovery, wouldn't it?" Both engines laughed until the scientists from the space exhibit came to see Stanley.

"Now, Stanley," said the lead scientist, "we were so grateful for you safely delivering our exhibit, that we wish to present you with a present of our appreciation."

Stanley watched as his team carried out what seemed to be a large plastic case shaped like a smokebox door. This made Stanley puzzled.

"What's that, sir?" he asked.

"It's a space helmet, designed specifically to fit your smokebox!"

Stanley was delighted! "That means I can act like I have been into space after all!" he whistled with delight. "Oh, thank you, everyone!" As the helmet was put on, it was deemed a perfect fit, and Stanley beamed with joy. It was just as he'd imagined from his daydream.

"Just wait until I see the look on Pamela's face when I speed through Killdane like I'm on a space mission!" chuckled Stanley to Rosie.

"It'll be like 'falling with style' at such speeds," giggled Rosie.

While it was unlikely that an engine could ever travel to space, Stanley is still glad to call Earth his home, and I'm sure he knows that sometimes, the best travels are those we can only dream about. Don't you?

THE END

Author's Comments

Here's a story that I've wanted to do for some time, inspired by the Take-n-Play model of the same name, which, in turn, was inspired by a viral video. That video was posted ten years ago, and I feel it's appropriate to celebrate that anniversary, even if it's a few months late. The cast of characters is quite interesting in that, save for a few name drops, no classic characters make an appearance, focusing mainly on those introduced during the Hit Era. It also gave me and Cameron an opportunity to write for Stanley outside of his serious work ethic, wondering what it would be like to travel through space. It's basically his equivalent to All at Sea, even having similar ending narration. Why they've never done an episode like this, I'll never know, but I bet it would've been fun to see.