Celebrating 40 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends

1984 - 2024

THOMAS THE TENDER ENGINE

Written by Zack Wanzer, James Riddle and Cameron Stevens

One spring afternoon, Thomas, Annie and Clarabel were pulling into Elsbridge station. Sir Topham Hatt was waiting on the platform and looked at his watch.

"Well done, Thomas," he praised, looking up. "You're right on time and really reliable."

"Thank you, sir!" replied Thomas. "What brings you here to the branch line?"

"I've just been given a call from the mainland railway board," explained Sir Topham Hatt. "They wish to invite you to take part in a special railtour."

"A railtour, sir?" Thomas exclaimed, his eyes widening with amazement. "Oh, that's a real honor, sir!"

"Oh, congratulations, Thomas!" Annie and Clarabel chortled.

"Could Annie and Clarabel come with me too, sir?" Thomas asked hopefully.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Thomas," said Sir Topham Hatt, shaking his head, "but they'll be needed here, I'm afraid. Daisy wouldn't be able to manage the passengers by herself, and you'll likely have to pull different coaches instead."

"Oh, botheration…" grumbled Annie.

"I was looking forward to going to the mainland and having an adventure…" sighed Clarabel.

"Oh, never mind, girls," Thomas smiled. "I'm sure the chance will come for you two someday." This seemed to cheer the coaches up.

Just then, the guard blew his whistle, and Thomas was on his way again.

"Come along, come along," he sang to the coaches.

"We're coming along, we're coming along," Annie and Clarabel sang back.

"Thomas, wait!" called Sir Topham Hatt. "I forgot to tell you–!" But it was no use. Thomas was too far away to hear.

Later at Tidmouth sheds, Thomas was telling the other engines all about the planned railtour.

"Your very first railtour?" Edward gasped proudly. "Congratulations, Thomas! You've definitely come a long way."

"They should've invited me," James sulked enviously. "I would've been a perfect representative for Sodor. Maybe even good enough to collect someone important like… the Queen!"

"Is that right, James?" Emily asked innocently. "Didn't you already collect a Queen on Sodor?"

"And what about when you hit the buffers and got covered in paint, thinking you'd take the Queen of England?" added Percy cheekily.

"Only because Gordon tricked me into taking that moldy old tub!" James protested, while the other engines laughed; only Henry didn't laugh upon hearing about the paint incident. "And that incident with the buffers was merely high spirits!"

Before more could be said, Sir Topham Hatt drove up in his car.

"Ah, Thomas!" he said, walking over to the blue tank engine. "I had more news for you before you left the station."

"More news, sir?" asked Thomas. "What for?"

"Due to your fuel capacity," Sir Topham Hatt explained, "it's been agreed that during your railtour, you'll be required to bring a temporary auxiliary tender."

"Wh-what?!" Thomas gasped. "I have to pull a tender?"

"Is there a problem with that?" asked Sir Topham Hatt.

"Er… n-no, sir," stammered Thomas. "It's all rather… unexpected, to me."

"I see…" Sir Topham Hatt nodded in understanding. "Well, Thomas, first thing tomorrow morning, I want you to head to the Steamworks where your auxiliary tender will be waiting."

"Yes, sir." And with that, Sir Topham Hatt left. No sooner had he driven away out of earshot when James spoke up.

"Fancy that!" he remarked with amusement. "After all this time of saying we should scrap our tenders for bunkers, Thomas now has to do the opposite! Perhaps we should start calling you 'Thomas the Tender Engine' from now on!"

Percy and Gordon couldn't help but laugh along with James at this; Edward, Henry and Emily, however, did not.

"That's enough out of you," Edward said firmly. "And by the way, Gordon, Flying Scotsman himself has an auxiliary water tender. Do you think that's silly?" Gordon quickly stopped laughing upon that remark.

Thomas looked worried; he remembered dreading the thought of wearing cowcatchers and sideplates after getting into trouble with a policeman, but having a tender seemed even worse.

"Suddenly, I'm not all that eager to partake in that railtour after all…" sighed Thomas.

"Well, if you don't mind, I can take it for you!" smirked James.

"Oh, be quiet, James, and leave him alone!" snapped Emily.

"Never mind, Thomas," assured Edward. "I'm sure you'll do fine. Besides, you might enjoy this railtour after all." But Thomas still had his doubts, and he continued to worry about it the rest of the night.

The following morning, despite his anxiety, Thomas' crew prepared him for his run to the Steamworks. Edward and Emily were the only other engines left in the sheds.

"Good luck, Thomas," called Emily as she set off for work.

"I know I'll need it…" Thomas muttered to himself.

Nonetheless, Thomas arrived at the Steamworks to pick up his auxiliary tender.

"Ah, good morning, Thomas!" greeted Victor. "The workmen finished restoring this old tender last night. They've said that they were often used either as spares or snowploughs, or to store things like boiler sludge."

Thomas looked over at his auxiliary tender; it was painted the same shade of blue as he and Edward, complete with red lining, but there was no lettering or number on it. "Ohhhh… Do I have to use that… awkward thing?!" he moaned.

"Only if you want to please Sir Topham Hatt, old boy," his driver replied sternly. "Now, come on; let's get on with it." Thomas groaned to himself again.

After his boiler had cooled down, the workmen drained Thomas' tanks of water and made adjustments to his pipes and couplings, connecting him to the auxiliary tender. He looked, and felt, very silly indeed. "This is even more uncomfortable than any snowplough I've worn!" he cried as he was refilled with water, both in his tanks and the tender.

"Nonsense, Thomas," remarked Victor. "I think that's a good look for you for the railtour. It'll also help to save time on refueling."

"To you, maybe, but not to me," huffed Thomas. "I was supposed to be a really useful engine to Sir Topham Hatt! Now I'll be the joke of the whole railway!"

"Come on, Thomas," said his driver as he and the fireman started him up again. "Let's get ready for the railtour; Sir Topham Hatt says it'll be starting tomorrow."

"I just know I'm never going to hear the last of this…" Thomas moaned as he departed the Steamworks.

It wasn't long before Thomas was out on the main line once more. Every engine he passed either stared at him or merely laughed at him. If Thomas already found it most embarrassing, it got even worse when he passed through the yards.

"Hey, is that Edward I see?" asked a truck.

"No!" replied another. "It's Thomas the Tank Engine!"

"I think you mean 'Thomas the Tender Engine'!" laughed a third, and the rest of the trucks howled with laughter.

"Oh, stop it!" snapped Thomas, wheeshing steam at them, but all that it did was make the trucks laugh even more. Grumbling to himself, Thomas made his way to the sheds.

If Thomas thought that he'd get some peace and quiet at Tidmouth sheds, he was out of luck.

"Say, doesn't Edward look different today?" James teased.

"Don't be ridiculous, James," said Gordon. "Edward's already here with us."

"Oooh, I know!" James remarked. "It must be a bootleg clone!" The red engine's laughter was cut short when he noticed the dark scowl on Thomas' face. Unless James wished to take a dip in a pond, it was best for him to shut up.

"Just ignore him, Thomas," insisted Emily. "I, for one, like this tender. It makes you look a bit more… grown up." She gave a playful, flirty wink, which made Thomas blush.

"Th-thanks…" he stuttered bashfully.

"If having a tender makes him grown up," joked James, "then I'd hate to see what would make him old!"

"Old?!" Thomas snapped, letting off steam. "That tears it!" Without another word, Thomas raced out of the sheds.

"Thomas, where are you going?!" called Percy. But the tank-tender engine didn't hear him; the others glared crossly at James.

"Er… maybe that was a bit too far?" James chuckled nervously.

"Yes, James, it was," Gordon said bluntly.

"I'd say we'd better go look for Thomas," Edward suggested, moving forward onto the turntable once it was facing his berth. "I only hope he hasn't gone too far…"

Meanwhile, Thomas had found himself a goods shed at Knapford yards to hide in, his smokebox facing the back wall.

"I'm not going on that railtour," he sulked. "James can take it for all I care. I want this silly tender gone! What would the passengers think if they saw me like this?"

"Thomas? Are you in there?" Thomas looked up in surprise; it was Gordon who'd overheard his sulking.

"Er… who were you expecting to find? Turbomotive?"

Rolling his eyes, Gordon entered the goods shed. "I take it all that teasing about your tender was uncalled for," he admitted.

"It was…" Thomas sighed and looked sadly down at his buffers. "I'd been really excited about going on that railtour, but thanks to that tender I have to pull, I'm afraid that people will pay more attention to that than how I pull their train."

"Are you kidding?" Gordon asked. "There are people out there who've waited the longest time to meet you. If you ask me, they're going to be so excited to finally see you, they wouldn't even bother noticing that tender."

"They… they wouldn't?"

"Of course not! Now how about you come back with us to Tidmouth sheds?"

Thomas didn't say anything, but the small smile on his face confirmed what Gordon needed to know.

The following morning marked the day that Thomas would begin his mainland railtour. Every engine who could make it was with him at Vicarstown station, waiting to see him off.

"To think that only yesterday," remarked the driver to the fireman, "we were driving a tank engine, and now we're in charge of a tank and tender engine!"

"That is quite the promotion!" the fireman joked. Thankfully, Thomas ignored them; he felt they were being very silly. Compared to the apprehension he felt before having his auxiliary tender connected to him, Thomas once again felt excited for the railtour he was about to undertake.

"Good luck on your travels, Thomas," said Sir Topham Hatt, "and remember to be a credit to the North Western Railway."

"I will, sir," Thomas promised. As soon as the guard's whistle blew, he set off for the mainland, but not before giving out a quick "thank you" towards Gordon.

"What do you suppose he meant by that?" asked Henry. The other engines also wondered about this, but Gordon just smiled knowingly to himself.

"United we stand…"

"…divided we fall," Thomas finished as he made his way over the Vicarstown Rolling Bridge.

Thomas arrived at Barrow-in-Furness where his coaches were waiting. On the platform, there was a large crowd of people waiting to see him. Thomas tried not to show it, but he felt a little nervous again as to what they would say upon seeing his auxiliary tender.

"Look, mommy!" called a small child excitedly. "There he is! There's Thomas!"

Almost instantly, Thomas found himself flooded with excited chatter from the crowds as pictures were taken. He was so caught up in all this, he had forgotten to be nervous. As Thomas backed down onto the coaches, the guard shooed the crowd in.

"Get in quickly, please!" she called. "We mustn't be late."

Once Thomas was coupled up, and everyone was on board, the guard blew her whistle, and away they went!

"Come along, come along!" he sang to the coaches. However, to his disappointment, the coaches were not sentient.

"Never mind," said Thomas to himself. "At least I'll have the passengers and maybe some other engines to talk to at stations."

Months went by on Sodor during Thomas' mainland railtour, and Halloween, Christmas and the New Year came and went. By the beginning of spring, Thomas was home once again, and he was at the Steamworks having his auxiliary tender detached from him.

"You know," sighed Thomas, "as much as I was looking forward to having this old thing taken off, I've grown rather attached to it."

He was just being given the all clear to leave when suddenly, he saw James being shunted in by Edward.

"James?" Thomas asked in surprise. "What's happened to you?"

"Those cheeky little blighters known as Bill and Ben happened, that's what!" James grumbled. "They ran some stray trucks right into my tender at Brendam docks and dented it! Now I'll be out of commission while I wait for it to be repaired!"

"Actually, James," the Steamworks manager spoke up, "you won't have to be out of commission."

"I won't?"

"No, because we've just got a spare tender, all ready for you to use."

James looked to where the Steamworks manager was pointing at, and stared agog in horror.

"That old thing?!" he gasped. "Can't you at least repaint it first?"

"It would be much quicker if you took this tender as is," insisted the Steamworks manager. "And besides, our next shipment of red paint has been delayed."

"Y-you can't be serious!" protested James. "I'm supposed to be James the Red Engine! Not… not James the Red and Blue Engine!"

"Oh, don't worry, James," chuckled Thomas. "You could get a new coat of paint here that'll go right down the middle! Then we'll start calling you James the Purple Engine!"

"Better than people thinking that I've suddenly become a grumpy old engine!" laughed Edward. The two blue engines laughed as they left the Steamworks, leaving James sulking where he stood.

"This is so… disgusting," he grumbled.

THE END

Author's Comments

Thomas & Friends: Between the Lines is back again for its fourth set of stories! With Set 4, I'm planning to make this a sort of anniversary season, for both the 40th of the original show and the 80th of both the first book and the franchise as a whole. To set the tone, the first story of Set 4, Thomas the Tender Engine, plays homage to both Awdry's usage of real-life railway practices and the character driven storylines of the Brenner era, all while aiming to split the difference between both writing styles. (Technically, that applies to the SeventyVerse as a whole, but I digress.) As the franchise's most iconic character, Thomas was the natural choice to lead this story, especially given how few lead roles he got in Between the Lines up to this point, and pair that with his respective dynamics with Gordon and James, I feel like I've gotten this set off to a solid start. Of course, I'll let you, the readers, be the judge of that.

Unlike what I've done with the previous three sets, I won't be revealing what the next five stories are. But rather, you'll be finding out what they are as soon as they are published. What I can reveal for now is that there will not only be a Halloween and Christmas story, but also a Remembrance Day story, and the end-of-set mini-series will actually be seven stories long as opposed to six, one of which will serve as the 100th Between the Lines story. We're maintaining the 26 story length per the classic seasons, so keep an eye out for what could be next!