Thomas the Tank Engine came to a stop in Knapford station with a happy smile on his face. He had just completed another passenger run to Ffarquhar and back, and everything had worked out splendidly. The passengers hadn't complained (which was impressive), the trains had run on time (equally impressive), and there had been no crying babies on board (which was a nice change from the usual, as one of the local women had recently had a baby who could be rather noisy). "Hello again everybody!" he said, with a smile. "What a lovely day it is!"
"It's a hot one, though!" said Twilight, with a smile. "I think I'll need to get a cold drink from Mrs Allgood's cafe! See you in a moment!" Securing his brakes, Twilight popped over to the shop.
Thomas sat there, smiling. It felt good not only to be safe on Sodor, but to be really useful too. Being really useful always cheered him up.
"Hello!" said a voice. "Are you Thomas the Tank Engine?"
Thomas looked to his left. Pulling into Knapford station was a big red tank engine, with no leading wheels, four driving wheels, and four trailing wheels. He had side tanks, a large cab with a substancial bunker, a myriad of pipes running along his boiler, and the words METROPOLITAN RAILWAY written on his tanks, with a crest unlike any Thomas had ever seen before.
But that wasn't what caught Thomas' attention. Painted on the engine's bunker was the number one!
"Good morning," said Thomas. "I don't believe I've seen you before. But how can you be number one?"
"My name's Amersham," the tank engine replied. "I see you're number one of this railway company, but I can explain." The engine spoke with a Home Counties accent, giving away his origins somewhat. "I was built for the Metropolitan Railway in London, a railway that runs underground. There, I was their number one. I was later renumbered L44 by London Transport, and then restored to my old Metropolitan livery by a group of volunteers."
"Don't be silly!" exclaimed Thomas. "Railways cannot run underground! There's not enough light, and where would all the steam go?"
"Amersham here has a condensor," explained the man on the footplate, who had dark green skin and red hair, purple eyes, and wore a usual railwayman's uniform of boilersuit, jacket and greaseproof cap. "That means he can hold all the steam in a special tank until he is clear of the tunnel. Then, when he's in the open air, he can expell it all."
Twilight, by this point, had rejoined Thomas' footplate. "Good morning you two!" she said. "Who are you?"
"I'm Amersham," the tank engine said again. "I'm here on a visit from Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. As nice as it is, the running line is a bit short, and I'd like to stretch my wheels."
"I'm Pharynx," his driver said. "Not Phillip. I dislike the name. My brother Thorax works here, I think? Drives a big blue electric."
"Fancy a race?" Thomas asked. "I'll go get turned on the turntable so I'm facing the same way as you, then we can have some fun."
"What a marvellous idea!" Amersham smiled. "I won't be going anywhere." He smiled as he saw Thomas set off with Annie and Clarabel to the carriage sidings. "I hope they have some good, wood bodied coaches here. I miss pulling wood bodied coaches."
"Let's hope we can get a visit to the Bluebell again," Pharynx told him. "Wait a second, look over there. Is that Stepney?"
Thomas returned a few minutes later, now facing the right way. "Race you to Knapford Junction!" he said, and sped off. "I'm number one, and I know this railway! He doesn't have a chance!"
"We need to keep to the speed limits, Thomas," Twilight sternly reminded him. "No speeding or SPADs."
Thomas wasn't paying much attention. He suddenly heard another, much louder puffing noise behind him, and saw, to his amazement, that Amersham was now level with his bunker. "What?" he asked. "Where did you come from?"
"Quainton Road!" Amersham replied. "I'm a fair bit more powerful than you are, mate!"
Thomas glanced forward, and suddenly saw a red signal. "Brakes, driver!" he said. "We need to stop!"
Twilight slammed the brakes on and brought Thomas to a complete halt, as Amersham went on by. At Knapford Junction, Amersham was sitting in the platform as Thomas pulled in.
"Not really a fair race, was it?" the red tank engine said. "You had that red signal to contend with. If you were on the Metropolitan Railway, a tripcock would have stopped you anyway."
"A what?" Twilight asked.
"It's a device designed to apply an engine's emergency brakes," Pharynx explained. "Fancy a rematch?"
"Let's do it," Twilight nodded, an unusually competitive streak showing, and the station master produced his flags.
Both engines were ready to go. The lines had been cleared, and the signals all shone green.
"Ready? Set? Go!" called the station master, waving his green flag down. Both Thomas and Amersham shot forward, wheels digging into the rails and producing an incredible display of smoke and steam as they flew along the main line. People came out from their houses to watch the two locomotives giving it their all as they raced along the track (keeping to the speed limit, of course), until disaster struck. There was some loose debris on the track from a goods train that had cleared the section, and Thomas ploughed into it, derailing as he did so and crashing into the dirt.
"Help!" he called. "Help! Please!"
Twilight had jumped clear in time, and produced her phone to call for help when she suddenly saw Amersham reversing towards them and stop. "Amersham? What are you doing here?"
"I'll go get help!" the red tank engine called. "You keep Thomas company!"
"But the race-?" Thomas started. The red tank engine cut him off.
"You've derailed and need help. Not only that, the line is obstructed. I think a race is the least of our worries at the moment."
A few minutes later, Amersham returned with the brakedown train, and Thomas was soon back on the track. Thomas and Amersham are now good friends, and Thomas can come and visit him in Buckinghamshire whenever he likes. Thomas, likewise, has put in a good word for the big red tank engine, who has done some impressive work on Thomas' branch line. Safe to say, they are both number one.