• Published 25th Oct 2020
  • 1,698 Views, 221 Comments

Ghost Train: the Untold Story of Timothy - The Blue EM2



"And every year on the date of the accident, it runs again. Plunging into the gap, shrieking like a lost soul..."

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Prologue: 80 years earlier

It was a cool evening towards the end of summer, and a small camping trip had gathered in Cronk forest for a campout. Sat around the campfire were a group of friends who had met not long earlier, and were enjoying one another's company. Luster Dawn glanced over to Typhoon Blast. "So," she said, "does anybody want to tell another spooky story?"

"I don't have anything else," the boy replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Why not ask Charity?"

"I don't really delve in such things, apart from the time mother got dressed in the dark and discovered she was wearing purple socks with a burgundy top," Charity replied, looking at the sky. "She had quite the screaming fit."

"Sounds about right," Thunderbolt added, "if what mom says about Rarity was anything to go by."

"I don't have anything either," Blue Angel added, timidly.

"Or me!" Cherry Pie exclaimed, bouncing up and down.

Flash Sentry, the responsible adult and the one who was leading the trip, spoke up. "I have one. It's a local legend. It's on nights like tonight, when the fog rolls in and the sun fades into the blackness of the night sky, that tales like this are told- stories of ghost trains and supernatural happenings are told. But this one is so infamous, it stands apart from the others. That's how scary it is."

This, at least, raised the interest of the kids.

"I take no responsibility if any of you have nightmares tonight. But a long, long time ago, there was an engine who worked on Sodor. This all happened long before I arrived on the island. Our tale begins on a foggy night, 80 years ago..."


80 years earlier...


Tidmouth station, 1965

One dark, foggy night, there was a passenger train sat in the platform at Knapford, waiting for the dock workers to arrive so they could be taken home. It had been an exceptionally long shift, and most of them were glad to be returning to their friends and families back home.

The train in question consisted of a pair of old Churchward Toplight bogie coaches, which had certainly seen better days. Both of them were painted maroon, the standard BR colour of the time, and attached to the train was an engine. This locomotive had two leading wheels, six small driving wheels, and two trailing wheels under his bunker, alongside two blocky outside cylinders that meant he was pushing the loading gauge somewhat. His frames and boiler were painted a deep red, and he had long water tanks that sloped at the front before stopping at the last boiler ring. These tanks were also painted red, and had yellow and black lining. There was an air brake pump mounted to the side of his smokebox, and two metal bars holding the bottom of the smokebox in place above the front of the running board. The number 150 was painted on his side tanks, and his brass dome gleamed in the gloomy light. His name was Timothy, and he was certainly quite long in the tooth now, having been built at Swindon in 1927. He was a kind engine despite his age, and he currently simmered in the platform with a smile on his face.

A few minutes later, his driver checked back to see if the guard had given them the right away. Moments later, the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag.

The girl responded with a blast of the whistle. "Right away, Timothy!"

"Sure thing!" the engine replied, and with the characteristic Collett bark common to GWR engines he pulled away, smoke and steam pouring into the air and the rails beginning to sing as he began his journey across the island. It was a fairly routine stopping service to Vicarstown, so nobody was expecting anything out of the ordinary.


After a few minutes of running, the rails singing and the coaches clattering along behind him, Timothy saw Knapford approach, which was the next stop on the timetable. However, at that very moment, it happened. The driver applied the brakes and shut off steam.

The regulator didn't move. It was jammed in place, and the brakes were having minimal effect. Timothy shot straight through the station and disappeared.

"Timothy!" called his driver. "What are you doing? That was a timetabled stop!"

Timothy didn't reply, but suddenly, the train lurched to the left. The brakes were having no effect, and the carriage brakes were worn and only useful for producing sparks as the train roared onto a branch line. Timothy sped up the branch, not losing any speed as he raced along the line.

Disaster lay ahead. For looming out of the distance was a weak bridge that had been scheduled for maintenance. They had been sent onto a closed line with a weak bridge that would never take the train's weight!

The driver scrambled to move the controls as best she could, and tried again to shut the regulator, but had no luck. The train was headed for oblivion. "Timothy, stop! You'll kill us all! The bridge can't take your weight!"

Timothy's only response was a cold, cruel laugh. "It is finished. Burn with me."

As he roared onto the bridge, with a crack the wooden deck gave way, and the train plummeted into the riverbed below. Coaches telescoped through one another, passengers were hurled through windows, and Timothy was thrown through the air and bounced along like a bowling ball, before smashing into a support pillar and lying still, the same twisted smile glued to his face.


The train had fallen through the old Ell River Bridge, and landed on the riverbed below. The majority of the passengers onboard were killed instantly, and of the survivors, 3 more died in hospital a few days later, leaving only two survivors. Amongst the dead were Timothy and his driver, both of whom had been killed on impact (and in the latter case, scalded to death by escaping steam). Emergency services arrived on the scene within minutes, and inspectors from Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate arrived the next morning to investigate. The engine was quickly identified as number 150, but the driver had to be identified using dental records as her body had been burnt beyond recognition. The ultimate conclusion that the Inspectors came to was brake failure; the brake blocks on the coaches were weak, and the engine's air brake pump was in such poor shape it was a miracle it worked at all.

Eventually, the wreck was recovered, but the driver's body was lost during the recovery efforts and is yet to be found.


A few years later, the Ell River Bridge was replaced when the Ffarquhar Branch Line was spared the Beeching Axe at the last minute. This new replacement was built of stone, and graded to take engines with a route availability of 9- the highest rating on the UK network. However, soon after the bridge was finished and put into service, people reported seeing a red tank engine race over the bridge when the fog came down and the moon was high in the sky. This engine was heard to be cursing loudly, his safety valve noisily blowing off as he charged by, only to vanish into nothingness when he reached the other side.


"...And so," Flash finished, leaning toward the fire as he did, "every year, on the date of his accident, he runs again, as a warning to others. Plunging into the gap, shrieking like a lost soul."

Suddenly, there was a loud whistle blast, and the kids jumped. "What was that?" Charity exclaimed.

"Nothing to worry about," Blue Angel said quickly, although the quivering in her voice indicated the opposite was true. "Th- that was Edward passing by."

Flash nodded. "Well, we'd best be getting off to bed. But you take care as you walk to the tents. Timothy could be anywhere."

"Really not funny," Typhoon Blast sighed, as he rubbed his arms.

"Oh, is somebody spooked?" Thunderbolt joked.

"Shut up, OK? You're really not funny."

"Fine, forget I said anything."

The kids headed off for the tents, but Luster Dawn was the last to go. Flash noticed this and went back. "Is everything OK?"

Luster Dawn shook her head.

"It's OK. That story's fiction. Timothy doesn't exist. He can't hurt you."


Fimfiction proudly presents

A Story by The Blue EM2

Presented in Association with the Guild of Equestrian Railroaders

Starring the voices of

Sabrina Pitre

Vincent Tong

Alexandra Carter

Nigel Pilkington

Tara Strong

Robert Rackstraw

John Hasler

Andrea Libman

Kelly Sheridan

And Richard E. Grant

In Ghost Train: the Untold Story of Timothy

Coding and text programming by Knighty

Based on 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic', created by Lauren Faust, 'The Railway Series', by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, and 'Ghost Train: the Untold Story of Timothy', by KaneFan701

Voice recording by Ocean Productions

Characters animated by DHX Media, Live Action Animation by Elstree Studios

Distributed by Hasbro and Mattel

Copyright MMXX

Author's Note:

Hello again! Welcome to my next story, and my contribution to Nightmare Night 2020. This is the second time I've adapted a Thomas and Friends creepypasta, but I fully intend to flesh it out quite extensively, to give the readers a truly dark and chilling tale.

The crash scene in this chapter is based on a real accident that occurred in Switzerland in 1882, where a bridge collapsed under the weight of a passenger train far in excess of its weight limit.

More shall come tomorrow, so stay tuned- and giggle at the ghosty.