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Thomas Comes Home

Workmen were mending the road at the level crossing at Hackenbeck. In order to ensure that their work could proceed without interruption, they sectioned off the road with a series of cones. Then, once the area was sectioned off, they brought in a steamroller to flatten down the road surface. I imagine you all know who this steamroller was. It was George, and he was just as bad tempered as ever. He still held is disdain for railways, despite having been stolen and used to try and smash buffers, and as he chuffed up and down he said his old refrain. "Railways are no good!" he thundered. "Turn them into roads! Railways are no good! Turn them into roads!"

"Nonsense," said Daisy. "The roads that run up into the top of the valley are very poor and can easily get blocked by snow and ice. How would people get to their homes in that set of circumstances without the railway?"

"Erm, driving there, you doofus?" Cozy Glow suggested. She was still George's operator, and I am sorry to say her tendancy to be annoying was still there in full force.

"Besides, we'd just tear up your rails and lay a dual carriageway along the alignment," George said, with a snort. "Absolutely nothing to it. And I wouldn't have to deal with narrow gauge engines trying to race me, either. It's not like we haven't done it before! Look at the Heads of the Valleys road!"

Daisy, worried, told Percy and Toby about what had happened. "A load of stuff and nonsense!" said Percy. "I know that will never happen."

"Sir Toppham Hatt would never scrap us!" said Toby. "Not only are we antiques, we're the prime draw for visitors to the Island. Besides, what would he do if one of those annoying diesels failed and there was nothing to sub in for them, eh?"

Daisy was reassured, but was very careful to avoid upsetting George, just in case. Thankfully, something happened that made them forget all about George's antics.

One morning, Daisy was waiting at the junction for the local service to arrive. As she waited, the station master walked over with a letter and knocked on the window.

Trixie rolled the window down. "Good morrow, fine sir!" she said. "Pray tell, what is this news for me?"

The station master blinked. "OK. I have received this letter from the National Railway Museum. Thomas is coming home very soon, and we're to help holding a special celebration here, at Knapford Junction."

"What splendid news!" Trixie cried. "The Grrreat and Powerrful Trrrrrrrrixie will do all in her power to help!" With that, she sounded Daisy's horn, and off they went.

"Wait! The local isn't here yet!"

Later on, Daisy told George what she had been told. "Listen, George," she boasted. "The station at the junction is going up market! Tomorrow, I am collecting the passengers of the entire valley, so we can stage a son et lumiere at Knapford Junction, as they call it du continent, as a special treat for Thomas' return!"

"And the Grrreat and Powerrful Trrrrrrrrixie will also perrrrrforrrrrrm magic!" Trixie said.

"Is she buffering?" asked Cozy Glow, as Daisy rolled away.

"Beats me," said George. "Besides, I have absolutely no idea what Daisy was talking about."

"Neither did I," Cozy Glow admitted, and they went back to work.

At long last the day arrived. Toby and Percy took Annie, Clarabel, and Henrietta to the junction, and Daisy was to arrive last, carrying the guards, the porters, and the stationmaster's daughters. No, that's not quite right. She was to transport the station masters, Mr and Mrs Kyndley, and a lot of other important people to Knapford Junction in anticipation of Thomas' return. Daisy had a fairly easy run down from Ffarquhar, and she pulled up to Hackenbeck to pick up the station master (or rather, the last person to have been station master before the station became an unstaffed halt). Before them, within the crosssing barriers, were a pair of cones. There was no sign of either George of Cozy Glow.

The guard sounded the in cab buzzer, and Trixie acknowledged it. "Next stop, Knapford Junction!" she called.

Daisy sounded her horn and moved off. "Here we go!" she said. But just as she rolled onto the level crossing, it happened. A gust of wind lifted one of the cones into the air, and blew it under her wheels. There was a crunch, a rumble, and then Daisy stopped. "Ouch! What happened?"

Trixie stopped the engine and hopped down to take a look. She manually opened the brake block with one of her tools, and removed a piece of cone that had gotten wedged in the brake pad. "This is bad," she said. "That cone got wedged in the brake rigging, which is now stuck in the on position. We'll need to get these brakes freed if we're going to move off again."

"And we'll be late too!" Daisy complained. "Why can't that stupid steamroller clean up after himself? I bet he did this on purpose, you know! You know how much he hates railways!"

"It can't be helped," Trixie said. "I'll fix this lot." You knew she was serious if she'd dropped her habit of speaking in the third person, and she set about releasing the brakes. It took them a while, but eventually they got the brakes free, and roared down the line at incredible speed.

Daisy roared into the bay platform at Knapford Junction and stopped, her doors flying open to let the passengers off. "Oh no!" she said, seeing the crowds on the platform. "We're too late! The crowds are cheering for Thomas!"

"No they aren't!" said Trixie. "It's us! We have made it in the nick of time!"

Just then, the station telegram buzzed, and the signal arm dropped. Thomas the Tank Engine steamed out of the tunnel as the brass band began to play a specially composed tune.

"It's Thomas the Tank Engine!" called a child.

"Hip hip hip hip hooray!" said another.

Thomas rolled to a stop at the platform with a smile. "Well," he said. "I'm back."

"Welcome home, Thomas!" said Sir Toppham Hatt. "We are all relieved to see you have returned home safely, and are well. You have done some brave things these last few weeks, and you can tell us all about them. But first, three cheers for Thomas, our Number One Tank Engine! Hip hip!"

"Hooray!"

"Hip hip!"

"Hooray!"

"Hip hip!"

"Hooray!"

And all was happy on the Island of Sodor. Although travelling is always fun, I am reliably informed by Judy Garland that 'there's no place like home'.

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