"And every year on the date of the accident, it runs again. Plunging into the gap, shrieking like a lost soul..."
30 years after the events of the New Adventures, a new group of friends have met on the Island, and life has settled down on Sodor once more. But one foggy night, an ancient evil reawakens, one that will stop at nothing until it is avenged...
Based on the Creepypasta of the same name. Written for Nightmare Night 2020.
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."
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
After hearing her father's words, Luster thought nothing more of the story, and concluded that Timothy's accident, whilst tragic and frightening, was nothing but a made up tale designed to spook people around the campfire. She also learned that the incident had been turned into a TV movie some 30 years earlier, and after viewing it concluded that the entire scenario was too ridiculous to be true. After all, the entire concept of a ghost train was absurd. Ghosts didn't exist!
Time passed on the Island, and Halloween was fast approaching, with the children of the island making the necessary preparations in readiness, and the railway preparing to operate the usual haunted train events. One quiet evening, Percy and his driver, Cherry Pie, were returning from Ffarquhar Quarry. A shunting job had gone on longer than expected, and both of them looked forward to getting home before it got too late. Night had fallen, and the fog had already started to descend.
"Where are we?" Cherry Pie asked. "This fog makes everything look different!"
"No to mention it's dark," Percy replied. "Ah! I know where we are! That's the warning and marker board for Cole's Farm Crossing, where I hit that load of lime 30 odd years ago."
Cherry Pie laughed. "Mom told me all about that! It sounded pretty funny."
"It sure was, especially given the prank I got to play as a result."
Cole's Farm Crossing lay a short way north of Hackenbeck, an unstaffed halt on the Ffarquhar Branchline which was a request stop only. Percy rolled forward, only to suddenly see the home signal was down. "What? We're supposed to be the only train out on the line!" He came to a stop at the signal, and looked about.
"Maybe an engine's shunting at the cement works up ahead," Cherry Pie suggested, and went for the cab radio. "Knapford Box, this is 4001, are you receiving me, over?"
4001, this is Knapford Box, please state your message, over."
"Knapford box, requesting permission to pass the SAD at Cole's Farm Crossing and proceed to Ellsbridge, over."
"4001, permission denied, section is occupied. Hold your position, over."
"Knapford Box, I understand that the section is occupied and I am to hold my pos-"
Cherry Pie was interrupted by a loud whistle. "Did you hear that?"
4001, please repeat, over."
"Knapford box, loud whistle heard."
"4001, continue to hold position. We will get back to you when we have further details. Out."
Percy was confused. "Who's there?" he called. But nobody replied.
"I don't like this," Cherry Pie whispered. Her normally calm and jolly demanour had been replaced with apprehension and a feeling of dread forming in the pit of her stomach.
"Children... I like children..." a voice said suddenly.
"Huh?" Percy asked. "Somebody said something!"
"I heard it too!" Cherry Pie leaned out of the cab. "But I can't see anything."
"Children... I like children..." There it was again, only louder this time, followed by another whistle blast.
Percy whistled twice to warn the other train there was still a train in the section. Suddenly, a red tank engine shot out of the mist, running far faster than was permitted on the branch, its whistle screeching as it approached. There was a look of pure hatred on the engine's face as it approached, and it appeared as though it had no intention to stop.
"Bail! We're going to get hit!" Percy cried.
"SUFFER WITH ME!" the red engine roared as it ran toward Percy. Percy closed his eyes, awaiting a head on collision!
Moments later, he opened his eyes. Whatever had been there was gone. The signal had now cleared, and the fog was mostly gone.
"4001, line ahead is clear, you may proceed. Out."
Cherry Pie looked in confusion, her face white. "What on Earth was that?" she asked.
"I have no idea!" Percy replied. "It looked like an engine, but it wasn't a design or locomotive that I recognised! It was as if it was a ghost!"
Cherry Pie suddenly put two and two together in her head. "Percy, do you know the old story of Timothy?"
"That TV movie from 30 years ago? The one based on an urban legend?"
"Yes," Cherry Pie replied. "I'm not sure if my hunch is correct, but the engine we just saw bore a marked resemblance to the one in the story." She opened the regulator. "Come on. We have to get back to the sheds."
It was truly dark when they returned to the sheds. Percy's lamps barely projected through the gloom, and he was glad when he got the right away into the shed berth. Tidmouth sheds were currently undergoing maintenance which put a few of the stalls out of action, so Thomas and Percy were staying at the three bay shed that sat at Tidmouth, where Toby lived. As he entered, he saw Luster Dawn oiling Thomas round in preparation for tomorrow's work, whilst Toby was being kept in steam by a young boy wearing blue and white sneakers, a pair of brown slacks, a black T shirt with an emblem of a baseball glove and baseball on it (the shirt also had blue trim), and a white jacket. He had light orange skin and dark blue hair, and the resemblance to Flash Sentry at that age was quite uncanny.
"I hope you have a nice night's rest, Base," Toby said. "Tomorrow could be very busy with the Halloween traffic."
"You two, Toby," the boy replied. His name was First Base- the name he used instead of Fred Bradley (or 'Brad', as some had taken to calling him). "You working tomorrow, Luster?"
"No, it's a day off for me," Luster Dawn replied. "It'll be nice to have a rest and catch up on my reading."
Thomas noticed Percy entering the shed. "Hello Percy!" he said. "You look as though you've seen a ghost!"
Percy remained quiet as Cherry Pie brought him to a stop. Then he spoke up. "Thomas, I had a nasty near miss out on the branch today. I stopped at Cole's Farm Crossing as the Home signal was at danger-"
"A rare occurance," Toby noted.
"-And then a red tank engine shot around the bend shouting something about suffering! Moments before a crash would have happened, it vanished!"
Now it was Luster Dawn's turn to look uneasy. Thomas, on the other hand, scoffed. "Have you been using Henry's special coal again?" he asked.
"I saw it too!" Cherry Pie insisted. "Come to think of it... the engine we saw closely resembled the one from the story of Timothy we heard a few nights back."
Luster Dawn sat down on Thomas' running board. "But dad insisted that story was made up! Besides, they made a very bad and cheesy movie out of it 30 years ago! If such an engine did exist, surely we'd have heard about it by now."
"Maybe," First Base said, the first thing he'd said the entire conversation. "But there's only one way to be certain. Urban legends, although heavily exaggerated, are often based on true events. Silverpilen's a good example, as that was a real train turned into a ghost by hearsay."
"How do we establish if there's any truth then?" Thomas asked. He was now very confused.
"Simple! We go to the North Western Railway archives and look through the data they have. Shall we go tomorrow after I've finished work? I'll be clocking off at 5."
The next day, after work, Luster Dawn and First Base went to the North Western Railway's archives, a long, rectangular building attached to the side of Knapford Station by means of a door leading out of the booking office. The pair opened the door and stepped through, immediately caught up in the very distinctive smell of air conditioning and air filtration systems designed to preserve very old documents and film recordings. Developments in archiving technology meant that documents could now be viewed entirely digitally, but the North Western was not planning on releasing its entire archive online yet, which meant going to the physical archives was the only option.
Standing behind the desk at the archives was a woman in her mid thirties with skin somewhere between peach and yellow in tone, and her brown eyes radiated warmth and kindness. She also had red hair, currently done up in a ponytail to prevent it from falling all over the place, and wore a blue dress in addition to black shoes and white socks.
"Good afternoon!" she called. "Or should I say evening? How can I help you today?"
"Hi mom!" First Base replied, as they reached the desk. "Luster Dawn and I wanted to look through the company's records of accident reports."
"Well, there are rather a lot of those," she replied. "Most of them clustered around the year 2015."
"We wanted to check from 1955 onwards, Mrs-?" Luster Dawn ventured.
"Amy Dempsey, but I usually go by Azure Dawn."
"Thanks. Anyways, may we take a look at the records?"
"Oh! Sure thing!" Azure smiled, and picked up a clipboard. "Right this way, please!"
The pair set themselves up on one of the computers, and set to work looking through the various reports. Most of them were very mundane, given that the North Western Region (as it had been back then) had a very broad definition of 'accident'. The majority of the incidents were tail lights falling off or locomotives crashing into level crossing gates, but occassionally there was something a bit more dramatic, such as a train overruning a platform and having to reverse back.
"Hmmm, nothing so far," First Base mused. "Nothing about an engine that resembles the one Cherry Pie saw. What colour did she say it was?"
"Red," Luster Dawn replied.
"An odd colour indeed," First Base answered. "Then again, James is painted red so I can't really comment on that. Wait a moment, what's this?"
He had moved to a report from October 1965. "The Ell River Bridge derailment?"
Luster Dawn opened a news article from the same month and read it. "'Tragedy strikes railway as passenger train falls through bridge'. That hardly sounds good."
First Base took a look. "'Tragedy struck last night when a passenger train fell through the Ell River Bridge and landed in the river below. Eighty people were killed, and 5 injured, including the driver'. Wait, is there a photograph of the crash scene?"
Moments later, he opened one. The mangled wrecks of coaches were visible, but most of the site had been cleared of any wreckage. "No image of the engine."
"Are you two OK?" Azure asked, looking over their shoulders. "Oh. That was a nasty one."
"You know about it?" Luster Dawn asked.
"In my professional post as company archivist, yes, but also on a personal level. My grandfather was travelling on that train, and sadly he did not survive." She pointed to the left on the monitor. "There's an image of the engine involved in the crash on the official accident report filed by HMRI, if you want to take a look."
First Base navigated over to the file, opened it, and when it opened he noticed Luster Dawn recoil in shock. "What is it? It's only a Small Prairie!"
"The design, paintwork, and number exactly match those in the story," Luster Dawn replied. "The engine in that story was a Small Prairie, painted red, and with the number 150!"
First Base looked closer. "Says it was built in 1927, but there's no real information on the engine before it came to Sodor, which it did in the 1950s. But I have no idea why they brought a GWR engine here! Wouldn't it be out of gauge?"
"Duck?"
"Touche."
Luster Dawn shook her head, in a mixture of worry and concern. "So dad was lying to me. This engine did exist, and the story, far from being made up, is an historical event. I have a few things to ask him when I get home."
Little did they realise that the truth of the story would be the least of their worries.
Even as the end of October neared, the branchline's volume of work continued to increase. Farmers were trying to get the last of the harvest shifted, and people were also wanting to travel and see their loved ones before winter arrived and potentially made travel very difficult indeed. The already tough situation was made worse when Daisy suffered an engine fault and had to be towed to the works for repairs. The Class 101 owned by the North Western had too long a wheelbase for the Ffarquhar Branch, so all work on the line had to be handled by three engines.
Thomas was assigned passenger duties, whilst Percy and Toby handled freight trains. By week's end, everybody was exhausted.
"Phew!" exclaimed Thomas, as he rolled to a stop in Ffarquhar station one morning. "It's been a long week, eh?"
"The week's been precisely the same length it's always been; 5 days," Luster Dawn said, sounding confused.
"Figure of speech!" Thomas replied.
"It has been a hard few days," Percy admitted. "I'm exhausted, and constantly seeing the same trucks over and over again does get a bit boring."
"I think we all need a rest," Toby finished. "Not only would a rest soothe our nerve, it will ready us for future days, when hopefully traffic levels are a bit less crazy."
"I'm game!" First Base said.
"As am I!" called Cherry Pie. "This week has left me crazy!"
"I'm pretty certain that you and Pinkie in normal mode," Percy said, confused.
That evening, Percy was on his way home. The light had already faded, but visibility was still good, and the line was clear up ahead. Percy rolled along happily, the rails humming and the ground clattering below his wheels. After steaming over Cole's Farm Crossing, he suddenly saw Toby sitting in a siding at the side of the line. Not only that, the home signal on his line was red, so he stopped.
"Hello Toby!" he said. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd headed home a while ago!"
"Points are jammed," Toby replied. "We can't get in or out, which is why the signal is red. First Base has gone to get the point repair kit from the mess hut, but he could be gone a while."
Cherry Pie shivered. "I hope he's back soon," she said. "I don't like this weather very much."
Sure enough, the moon's light, a sickly white that seemed to manifest in doom, was being blocked by a sudden mist.
First Base sorted his way through the shelves in the mess hut. "Oh, come on! It has to be here somewhere!" He looked about, but to say the place was in a mess was an understatement. Nothing had been put back in the correct places, meaning it looked like a pig had made its sty there. "Honestly, if people just put stuff back in the right places it would save us so much bother."
Unaware he was beginning to sound like his mother, he continued to work, until a sudden noise behind him made him stop. He turned around very slowly- and jumped. "JESUS CHRIST!"
Standing there was the pale outline of a human being, who looked to be a little older than First Base. She had pink skin and purple eyebrows, as well as purple (in two shades) hair with a turquoise streak running through it, part of which was combed over to the left in a floppy mess. She had grape coloured eyes, and the spectral figure wore grey boots with pink laces, a pair of grey tight fit trousers with some tears in them, a turquoise T shirt with purple lining, a black wristwatch with a purple emblem in the centre, and a pink beanie cap with white stars in it.
First Base looked at the visitor in a mixture of confusion and fear. "Who are you? H- how did you g- get in here?"
The mysterious figure didn't reply to him, but mouthed two words at him before suddenly vanishing into the ether.
First Base was uncomfortable with this apparent ghostly visit. And what was it she had mouthed to him? It looked like she had said 'help me', but he wasn't quite sure. Shaking in fear, he made his way to the door, tools in hand. He hoped things were better for the engines outside.
They weren't. The mist was so thick now the engines could barely see five feet in front of them. "What's out there?" asked Percy. "And why is the signal still red?" There was a bad feeling forming at the pit of his firebox as a whistle echoed in the distance.
"It's been like that for a few minutes, as I say because of the trackwork," Toby replied. "But I wasn't aware of any other working timetabled at this time. What could-"
Suddenly, a high pitched whistle echoed out of the gloom, followed by a voice.
"Children... I like children..."
Percy jumped. "Cherry, we have to get out of here, now!" he cried. But there was no response from his driver. "Cherry Pie?"
Cherry Pie said nothing, nor did she move. She was frozen to the spot in fright, the colour draining from her face like petrol from a damaged fuel tank.
"Who's there?" Toby called, and sounded his whistle in response. "Identify yourself!"
"Children... I like children..." the voice said again. Moments later, a shape became visible in the mist. It was the same red tank engine Percy had seen previous.
"Oh, look at you," it said cruelly, its voice fuel of malice. "Two old engines, terrified for their very lives. Pathetic. I have been here for far longer than either of you, and will continue to be here well after you've gone. Even after you have both gone to your graves, two will join me in damnation."
Suddenly, the engine sped up and charged Percy. "SUFFER WITH ME!"
Percy closed his eyes, fearing another head on collision. In the split second when he opened his eyes before the crash, he saw the engine's cruel smile and cold, dead eyes. It was as if he had looked into the face of evil itself.
A milisecond before impact, the ghost vanished. First Base, who had just arrived, went over to the points (the signal, curiously, had just cleared). "A red tank engine running at speed. I think I know who our mystery engine is."
News of the ghostly encounter spread like wildfire across the island. However, it emerged that the branch wasn't the only place the engine had been seen. It had been seen racing along the main line as well, scaring the passengers with its loud whistling and strange messages of doom. This rapidly translated into dwindling passenger numbers. Parents, scared that the engine would come after them, started going by road instead of rail. Nobody wanted to risk their families with the ghost about, which seemed to have something for children.
Thomas was now the only engine who hadn't seen the ghost. So, he plucked up the courage and spoke to his driver. "What's all this talk about a ghost?" he asked. "Is there any stock in the story?"
Luster Dawn sighed. "Remember how I went to the archives?" she asked.
"Yes?"
"I discovered the accident in that story wasn't made up. It actually happened. A passenger service fell through a defective bridge and landed in the Ell River, killing almost everybody on board, Azure's grandfather being one of them. Furthermore, the train was pulled by a red tank engine! I don't want it to be this way, but I can't help but feel that somehow the two incidents are connected! This will need a proper investigation at some point."
"Right away!" called the guard.
Thomas moved off uneasily. He hadn't seen the ghost, but his friends all had, and First Base had seen a strange ghost girl too. What was going on?
All this made him feel sick. One morning, he was failed with leaking tubes in the front of the boiler, and had to be taken away to be mended at Crovan's Gate. This left Toby and Percy working alone for a few days, but the upside was this meant that there were no sightings of the mysterious ghost engine. They hoped it was all over.
It seemed as if all had gone back to normal. Many weeks passed by, and there were no sightings of the mysterious red engine. People even began travelling by train again, much to the relief of the North Western. Unfortunately, this was merely the calm before the storm. One late night, Henry was pulling a late running stopping service to Vicarstown. The service was running badly late, having been delayed by failed signals at Knapford and then by a broken down Class 60 at Marron. Not surprisingly, Henry was exhausted, and so was Fluttershy, who had stepped in to drive him as Blue Angel had fallen sick with the annual Autumn Bug.
Henry yawned as the train approached Ballahoo tunnel, where he had been shut up 30 years earlier. "Phew!" he said. "I am tired, Fluttershy."
"It's OK, Henry," his driver reassured him. "Just a few more miles and we'll be able to take a nice rest. Then I can take you back to Knapford in the morning."
"Who will handle the empty coaching stock move?" Henry asked.
"The Spam Can they've hired in," Fluttershy replied. "She's good, but her driver has a thing or two to learn about stopping distances."
As they cleared the tunnel, the signal ahead was suddenly at amber, indicating the next light was red. Fluttershy reached for the controls and slowed Henry down, eventually bringing him and his train to a complete stop at the red light.
"Oh, not another blockage," Henry sighed.
Fluttershy reached for the radio. "Vicarstown box, this is 4010, over?"
"4010, this is Vicarstown box, please state your message, over?"
"Vicarstown box, requesting permission to pass the red signal at Ballahoo Tunnel and proceed to Vicarstown station, over?"
4010, permission denied. Line ahead is blocked, hold your position. I will contact you when we have further details. Out."
Henry was annoyed, but soon stopped being annoyed when more fog rolled in inexplicably. "Where did this fog come from? And why is it so thick?"
"I can barely see in front of my nose!" Fluttershy exclaimed. As they waited, they suddenly heard a piercing, high pitched whistle, followed by laughter.
"What was that?" Henry asked, in confusion. "Is somebody out there?"
Seconds later, the source of the noise became clear. A red tank engine suddenly appeared on the Up line, whistling erratically and shouting loudly.
"He will be mine," the engine said, as he roared towards them. "They will be taken to Hell, along with me, and I shall finish what I started. I shall end him, and the rest of you will be sent to an early grave."
He continued to whistle uncontrollably, and screamed at Henry as he shot into the tunnel portal and vanished.
"That was the red engine!" Henry exclaimed. "The one we haven't seen for weeks! How can he be here again?"
Fluttershy was too shaken to speak. She shrieked when the cab radio buzzed.
"4010, line ahead is clear, you may proceed. Out."
Fluttershy merely nodded, and opened Henry's regulator. They weren't the only ones getting a visit from the red engine that night.
Thomas, Toby, and Percy knew something was wrong when mist suddenly seeped into the shed, under the doors.
"What's going on?" Thomas asked.
"It's that red engine!" Percy wailed.
"I'll bet my left lamp iron on it," Toby replied.
"And you win the bet," said another voice from outside, a voice they had become very used to recently. "Tell me, have you ever considered why I'm still here, haunting the railway, haunting your nightmares and every waking hour? Children are too scared to go outside at night for fear of seeing me, and parents curse my name when they consider travelling by train, as I may rush past and frighten them. Of course, eighty years on, nobody has asked why the crash occurred, or why I did the unthinkable... taking lives."
The three engines looked at each other in shock. This engine had just confessed to murder.
"I was here in the dying days of steam, and saw how little anybody cared. I was the trailblazer, and yet nobody seemed to give a damn! I was meant to be a relic of a lost age, and yet they worked us into the ground. I destroyed them, but I still see no change around here. The same railway lines, the same faces, even a few of the same landmarks." The tone of the voice changed, becoming much more ominous. "But enough of that. I will take him to the Underworld, and the rest of you shall suffer for all eternity, as I have suffered."
A sharp whistle blast later, and the mist vanished. The engine was gone.
Toby glanced over to the others. "What was that all about?"
"I don't know!" Percy replied. "What's all this talk of them and trailblazing and 'him'?"
Thomas looked over. "I think I know who he wants to kill."
"Who?" Toby asked.
"Me."
Thomas spent much of the next day working hard with trucks and wagons in the quarry, and was absolutely exhausted when he started his treck home to Knapford. The bad weather didn't help things. The complete lack of light was causing him to become drowsy, and he could tell Luster Dawn was pretty tired too. As they rolled along, the weather progressively got worse. The fog got thicker, and the moon's sickly light was almost completely blocked out. Luster decided to call it quits. "We'll stop here until the fog clears," she said.
"Alright then," Thomas replied. "Should we telephone for help?"
"That's a good idea," Luster replied. "I'll go in search of better signal, as it's pretty poor here." She hopped out of the cab and set off into a field, shining a torch as she did so.
Thomas was all alone. And in the distance, he suddenly heard a whistle. A high pitched, loud whistle that pierced the landscape, soon accompanied by a loud Collett bark.
"Hello? I- is anybody there?"
The loud puffing continued, until it suddenly stopped, and brakes were applied in front of him. The fog cleared. Thomas gasped at what he saw in front of him.
Sitting there, with a twisted grin on its face, was the red tank engine.
Thomas took in the sight of this engine before him, with a crazed glint in its eyes and a crazy grin stretching across its face.
"So," he said, "you are real."
"The night is also foggy," the engine replied. "Care to state the obvious any further?"
"Who are you?" Thomas asked, scared but trying his best not to show it.
The engine smiled once more. "Of course. "My name is Timothy. I worked here a long time before you did, so it's no wonder the people and engines of this island either don't know me or forgot I existed."
"You can hardly blame me for that!" Thomas replied. "I hadn't even heard of you until a few weeks ago. That story and the stories in the archives are the only records that you ever existed. But I understand how you feel. As you probably know, I'm an E2, and not only that I'm the last of the class. I have no siblings, and in a sense I am alone... and yet you don't see me behaving like a psychopath!"
Timothy grinned again. "Perfect. That's right Thomas, latch onto all that pain and anger, the feeling of loneliness, the memory of ungrateful humans who promised you everything, then stab you in the backplate when you need them most!"
"No!" Thomas replied. "I refuse to stoop to your level. There is nothing more to be said to your story. You decided to end your life and took 80 odd people with you. How can you justify that?"
This seemed to finally blow Timothy's fuse, as he lurched forward and crashed into Thomas. "Shut up! Do not legislate on things you don't understand! You have no idea what I've been through, the pain I've endured, none of it! The voices of the driver, the screams of the coaches and the passengers, the very moments their lives ended- I've been carrying all that around for over 80 years. You have never seen such things. So how can you say you understand me at all?"
"Then tell me the truth!" Thomas exclaimed. "If you truly want me to understand what happened the night in 1965, tell me your backstory. The only way we can move on is through understanding each other. Timothy, please, tell me! It's the only way to put your soul at rest!"
There was a pause, and Timothy closed his eyes. Seconds later, he reopened them, but any sign of craziness or physchopathy were gone.
Meanwhile, Luster Dawn had gone in search of help, and wandered across the fields trying to find an inhabited building. The wind continued to blow quite nastily, and she shivered as she walked. "Perhaps wearing a skirt today wasn't the smartest of ideas," she said to herself, as her legs now felt quite cold. She trudged across the field, the cold air still getting to her, until she decided to shelter in a nearby phone box.
A few seconds passed, and the fog seemed to briefly lift. Luster Dawn reopened the door and stepped outside to look about.
"Hello?" said a ghostly voice.
"Hello?" Luster Dawn replied. "Is somebody there?"
She would find out soon enough, as she walked along. She turned a corner, and standing before her was the ghostly figure First Base had seen. "Bah!" she cried, in shock. "Oh, sorry, you just gave me a bit of a fright standing there."
"I have that effect on people, I seem," the ghost replied, looking glum. "I guess it should come as no surprise. I am dead, after all."
"You're a ghost?" Luster Dawn asked. She wasn't scared; she was actually quite fascinated. "Who were you originally?"
"My real name was Sarah Gainsborough," the ghost replied. "But most people called me Starlight Glimmer. I lived here about 80 years ago. If I were alive now, I'd be 95."
"What did you do in life?"
Starlight nodded. "Amongst other things, I worked on the railway. Back in the 1960s, things were very desparate, and the line was on the verge of closure. People thought I was mad taking a job with British Rail, but I did it to support my family. You see, the Island's economy was in a much weaker state back then than it is now. You didn't have all the tourist jobs and railway enthusiasts coming, and for the most part things were badly run down. We did what we had to in order to survive, and the mainland wasn't looking much better either, what with all the Beeching cuts going on."
"I don't mean to sound insensitive, but... which engine did you drive?"
"His name was Timothy. He was a red tank engine with a gentle smile and good manner. We got on very well. But I never had any clue he would try to kill himself, let alone take me with him."
Luster Dawn looked shocked. "What happened?"
Thomas looked shocked. "What happened?" he asked. "Tell me!"
Timothy looked up. All signs of that sickening glee were gone. In its place was sadness, and soul crushing guilt. "The truth of that last day was never known, as although people did survive the crash, none of them knew what I was feeling, or why I did what I did. It was to remove him from this world."
"Who's 'him'?" Thomas asked.
Timothy began to explain. "I suppose an introduction is in order. My original identity wasn't Timothy. I was originally number 5521, built at Swindon in 1927. One of the first of the 4575 subclass of Small Prairies, I spent the first 20 years or so of my working life in the West Country on branch lines in and around Devon, being based out of Newton Abbot shed. Whilst there, I recall meeting a Pannier Tank who waddled as he ran along."
Thomas' face lit up. "He lives here on the island! His name's Duck!"
Timothy sighed, then continued. "In 1958, I was transferred to the North Western Region, a portion of the network that was running almost exclusively on hand me down rolling stock and engines. The company was in a right state, and the buildings and track needed mending. It wasn't like now where it's all been lovingly restored to how it would have been. Back then weeds grew between the rails, the sleepers were rotten, and passenger numbers were dwindling. With the increasingly dilapidated rolling stock, it's no wonder the passengers went by bus."
Thomas looked shocked. "That sounds awful."
"As bad as it was, the straw that broke the camel's back was yet to come," Timothy continued. "We weren't cared for. My parts weren't replaced, I couldn't get steam up, and my brakes didn't work properly. The Regional Controller that BR had assigned hated us. It was almost as if he was solely interested in syphoning off as much money as he could to Head Office and then get the entire North Western system closed. As we got weaker, he demanded more and more out of us, breaking up any engine that couldn't work." The engine closed his eyes as a tear rolled out of one. "I can still hear the screams of those he had hacked to death. If they had been humans, he'd have been jailed for murder. And yet the genocide that humans perpetuated went on unnoticed and unpunished." He paused again. "I decided that I had to stop him. The only way this would end was to get rid of him and prevent the cruel murders of my fellow engines. So, one night, a docker's train was waiting to depart, and the Controller boarded the train alongside them as he had to get back to Knapford. This was my only chance, so I set off as if everything was normal. I believe you know the rest."
"That's awful!" Luster Dawn said. "But there's one thing I don't understand. Why are you a ghost?"
"You're not the first to ask that," Starlight Glimmer replied. "When I died, my body was never buried, although there is a tombstone, and as a consequence my soul is still bound to this world. I've watched my friends grow up, have families of their own, wither, grow old, and die, whilst I just go on and on. They say that only the dead have seen the end of suffering. If only that were true. In order for my soul to finally be free, you need to destroy Timothy, and then bury my body. It's the only way to make this nightmare end."
Thomas sat in silence as Timothy finished his story. "Timothy," he said. "I understand the pain you felt and the problems you faced. Southampton Docks was very similar in the 1960s, and I only survived the cutter's torch due to a clerical error. But you can't live the rest of your life like this. All the anger and hate will consume you until you are nothing but a bitter shell. Please, work with me Timothy."
Timothy looked up, the cold grin back on face. "No," he said. "Not while my work is unfinished."
"What?"
"You don't understand, do you? That controller had a very young son who was taken by his mother and uncle to America. Whilst there, many years later, the son had a daughter, and she in turn had a son of her own. They recently returned to Sodor, and now I have a chance to finish what I started and end their cursed bloodline. They will suffer with me, and eventually so will everybody!"
Thomas was left with a horrified realisation as Luster Dawn climbed onto the footplate. He suddenly remembered a throwaway remark that Luster Dawn had made earlier.
" A passenger service fell through a defective bridge and landed in the Ell River, killing almost everybody on board, Azure's grandfather being one of them."
"Luster, you have to call First Base now!" Thomas snapped.
"What? Why?" Luster asked.
"He's in serious danger!" Thomas replied. Luster Dawn's jaw fell open in shock when she realised what Thomas was getting at.
It was very late in the day at Knapford station, and Azure Dawn was exhausted. It had been a very long day at the archives, and everything had been running late. She was looking forward to heading home and spending some time with her husband and son. Luckily, they had both agreed to join her on the platform for the journey home.
She shivered despite her coat. Was it suddenly colder than usual? She went over to the cafe serving hatch to get a hot drink to warm herself up.
"Hello!" said Mr Blakely, who ran a small cafe stand on the platform. "What can I get you today?"
"A latte would do fine. Not too much milk, if you wouldn't mind."
"Of course, ma'am. One latte, coming right up."
A few minutes later, the hot drink was ready, and Azure Dawn headed over to the platform edge, where she saw her son waiting for her.
"Hey mom!" he called. "Chilly night, eh?"
"It's oddly cold for October," Azure Dawn admitted, before seeing a man with greyish skin and blue hair and dressed in a business suit join them. This fellow was Pound Stamp, or Patrick Stemp to use his real name.
"Hello dear," he said to Azure Dawn. "And how's our little railway worker?"
"We had a long day, and a lot of strange stuff's been going on lately," First Base admitted. "But traffic should hopefully calm down a bit into November."
As they looked down the platform, Gordon steamed into the station pulling a rake of perfectly preserved coaches, made of teak and immaculately presented. The family always liked to travel in the brake coach at the rear of the formation, normally in the rear compartment. Once the train had stopped, Azure Dawn opened the door and they got onboard, shutting the door behind them and taking their seats.
"I assume you'll want the window?" Pound Stamp asked First Base.
"Sure thing," First Base replied, when suddenly his phone went. "Hello?"
"First Base, where are you?" said the panicked voice of Luster Dawn.
"I'm on the train with my parents, waiting to head home. Why?"
"You need to get off the train and as far away from the station as possible. Timothy is after you!"
"Who?" First Base was confused. "You mean the ghost engine?"
"The red engine is Timothy! He isn't after Thomas, he's after you!"
"What? Why? What have I done to him?"
"Remember how Azure Dawn said her grandfather dying in the crash? Her grandfather was the old controller who abused the engines and overworked them. It's the very reason that Timothy did what he did!"
First Base went pale. He realised what this all meant now. "I'm his great grandson."
"Correct! And now he wants to wipe out all surviving members of his family. You need to get out of there!"
"Is everything OK, sweetie?" Azure Dawn asked.
"I'll call you back, OK?" First Base said, ending the call. "Mom, we have to get off the train now."
"Why?" Pound Stamp asked. "We just got on!"
"Luster Dawn just warned me that there's an engine out there who wants to kill us!"
"That's ridiculous!" Pound Stamp snorted. "I think you may have been listening to too many scary stor-"
He was interrupted by a high pitched Collett whistle, coming from the Tidmouth end of the station. First Base stuck his head out of the window to see what was going on. He face went even paler as he saw Timothy charge out of the darkness, his safety valve blowing off as he approached.
"There you are," he said. "Now kindly remain there whilst I kill you. It's time we ended this."
First Base pulled his head back in. "We have to go, now!" he shouted. "The engine's here!"
Neither adult wasted any time in piling out of the compartment and onto the station concourse, sprinting as far away from the train as they could as Timothy approached. Only seconds later, Timothy collided with the train with a bang, and reduced the rear coach to matchwood, splinters and chunks of metal flying through the air as the coach disintegrated.
First Base looked up to see if anybody was hurt. Luckily, most of the rubble had been thrown upwards by the impact, and simply fell downwards onto Timothy's boiler and running board.
Timothy began to reverse and look over, as if going in again, but then saw the family, looked over, and smiled. "There you are," he said. "I have the entire family together. I can get rid of your cursed bloodline all at once, and my soul can finally be free."
"Ever heard the phrase 'don't blame the sons for the sins of the father'?" Azure Dawn asked.
"Indeed I have. But you're his granddaughter, so you don't count." Timothy began backing up into the night, laughing maniacally. "I shall destroy both you and your spawn. You will suffer with me."
Sir Toppham Hatt emerged from his office to see the mess. The rest of the train had derailed from the force of the impact, and the other coaches, although structurally sound, were damaged. Gordon sat at the front of the train, dazed and surprised. "What happened?" he asked.
Sir Toppham Hatt wasted no time. He directed Gallus to call the fire brigade, whilst he called the ambulance services and began assisting those who could walk away from the platform.
"What happened?" he asked Azure Dawn, as he helped her up. Pound Stamp was already on his feet, assisting with the rescue efforts.
"An engine crashed into the back of our train," Azure Dawn replied. "Not just any engine. It was Timothy, and he wants me and my son gone from this world!"
Sir Toppham Hatt looked concerned. "So the legend is true," he said grimly. "It seems as though the evil of my BR predecessor continues to haunt the line nearly 80 years after his passing. I fear this may be the start."
"And the end," Azure Dawn replied. "He picked the wrong fight when he decided to target my family. He will pay for this."
All told, the accident resulted in over 40 people injured, but thankfully no fatalities. Unfortunately, the news of the disaster spread far and wide, and passenger numbers on the North Western began to drop once more. The line was at risk of bankruptcy.
The three drivers of the Ffarquhar branchline were understandably scared. First Base would only be near a railway as long as he had to be. Cherry Pie had taken to sleeping in another room facing away from the railway line. And Luster Dawn was sleeping with her parents after having woken up screaming from repeated nightmares.
The engines were very worried too. Thomas, Percy, and Toby sat talking as their fires were lit one cold, frosty morning.
"I spoke with Timothy," Thomas said. "I'm concerned for him. He seems to have some form of obsession with revenge. Whilst what the controller did was unnaceptable, he can't seem to let go of his desire for vengeance."
"How do we get to him?" asked Percy. "If anything, that incident at Knapford suggests he can't be saved, if he's prepared to kill innocent people to kill three people."
"Not to mention wipe out an entire family," Toby said grimly. "First Base is understandably fearful for his life, as is his mother. His father's working from home as well, citing 'personal issues' as the reason."
"I think trying not to get murdered by a psychotic tank engine fits the bill rather nicely," Thomas said. "I'll think of something, OK?"
"But," Percy said, "if it does go wrong and the line does close... we'll still have each other, right?"
"We will," Thomas replied. "But let's hope it doesn't come to that."
A few days passed, and Sir Toppham Hatt had been able to secure emergency funding from the Government to sort out the railway's financial problems. One afternoon, Cherry Pie, Luster Dawn, First Base, and Lantern Heart were sat outside the shed having lunch. Azure Dawn, for some reason, had insisted that she accompany her son wherever he went. It was understandable, really; she was terrified of losing him to a murderous tank engine.
"What time is it?" asked Cherry Pie.
First Base looked at his watch. "It's just past 2, on the 31st October... 2045." His face went pale. "Today is the 80th anniversary of Timothy's crash."
Luster Dawn immediately cottoned on. "And on the date of the accident, he runs again, as a warning to others. Plunging into the gap, shrieking like a lost soul."
"So that's what it means," Azure Dawn said quietly. "He will return tonight to try and finish us all off. Not on my watch."
"Mom! Please! Don't do anything stupid!" First Base begged.
"We have to stop him, or else he'll haunt the island for all eternity," she replied.
"Not to mention we have to save Starlight Glimmer's soul," Luster Dawn added. "Only by destroying Timothy and burying her body can her soul finally go to Heaven."
"There's a slight snag," Toby interjected. "We have no idea where Timothy is. In all likelihood, he'll appear out of nowhere and drag you all straight to Hell."
"No he won't," Thomas said. "Tonight, we put our plan into action."
Everybody acknowledged him or nodded soberly, and set off to prepare for their grisly work. They all readied themselves to stop Timothy or die trying as the Ffarquhar Branch Line made its final stand.
Chapter 6: of Gods and Daemons: the Battle of Brendam
That night, the engines and their drivers set off on their grim tasks toward their assigned destinations. Percy proceeded to Tidmouth station with Cherry Pie, puffing slowly down the line to conserve coal and water for the grim duties they had ahead. It took them a long time to reach the end of the line, and Percy parked up on a siding to rest. He looked over, and gasped at who he saw sitting in the platform.
"Cherry, look! It's Timothy!"
Cherry Pie looked herself, and shivered despite her thick winter coat. "So it is," she said grimly, and wound the reverser backwards, anticipating a head on collision if Timothy's prior behaviour was anything to go by.
And indeed it was Timothy, with a cruel, evil smile on his face. His teeth were clearly visible in that gruesome visage of his, and his red paint seemed to be slick with blood. Coupled to Timothy were two coaches, the very same Toplight coaches that he had pulled on the day of his suicidal crash. Inside the coaches were the ghosts of the passengers who had died with him, their souls tormented and unable to leave this world. Inside Timothy's cab, Cherry Pie could see a ghostly girl standing there, her face in shock.
"No, not again..." she whispered.
"Are we ready to go or not?" Timothy demanded.
Starlight Glimmer was shaken out of her thoughts and finally reacted. "Oh! Y- yes! Full speed ahead, Timothy!"
Timothy laughed, long, loud, and in the cruel, mocking tone. "Sure thing! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Steam shot from his cylinder cocks as he pulled forward, smoke being thrown into the air by his harsh exhaust and steam flowing into the night sky. The noise was deafening, and Timothy suddenly swung onto Percy's line.
"He's after us!" Percy shouted. "Full reverse, quickly!"
"So he is," Cherry Pie replied, and pulled open his regulator, as well as releasing the brakes. The needles crept into the correct position just in time, and Percy shot backwards as Timothy cleared the station approaches.
Percy shot backwards along the main line, his whistle blowing furiously and his safety valve lifting off dangerously as he tried to keep ground between him and Timothy. The ghostly tank engine seemed to have no difficulty keeping up, blasting his whistle repeatedly as his thundered along the track.
"Run, run, as fast as you can..." he said, laughing as he did so. "You can run, but you can't hide."
Cherry Pie clicked something. "He knows full well he can catch us. He's just playing with his prey before he kills it!"
"Back off! BACK OFF!!!" Percy cried, still running at full speed in reverse as the deranged Small Prairie continued his chase into the darkness.
"I may not be able to kill First Base, but I'll enjoy taking you as compensation," Timothy smiled coldly, as he went in for the kill. Suddenly, the fog rolled in once more, and once it had cleared, Timothy was gone.
"Wait, what?" Percy asked. "Where did he go? He was there a moment ago!"
"Maybe he can teleport," Cherry Pie replied. As if to prove her point, there was a loud whistle and evil laughter. "No time to waste! We need to get to Knapford now to start phase 2 of the plan."
Minutes later, Percy arrived at Knapford. The station was virtually deserted. The only individuals there were Flash Sentry, who had volunteered to drive Toby one last time, Azure Dawn, who was acting as bait, and Toby the Tram Engine.
"Did you lose him?" Toby asked.
"We tried, but he can seemingly teleport," Percy replied. "He's also very fast, so I don't know how long we can outrun him."
"But we can out think him," Flash replied. "He's fast, but not very smart from what I recall."
"He's here!" Azure Dawn called from the footplate. Timothy, sure enough, was entering platform 1 and whistling loudly.
"Ah, hello Azure," he said, still grinning like a madman. "I see you decided to come out here and face your doom. Ending your family is the only way I can ensure peace for this Island."
"You threatened my family," Azure Dawn replied, now in full 'mama bear' mode. "If you want me, come and get me you bastard!"
"As you wish," Timothy replied. "I am Timothy the Ghost Engine. Prepare to die."
Toby and Percy took off into the night as Timothy accelerated after them, still whistling loudly. Starlight looked away from the controls and spoke quietly to herself.
"I hope this plan works," she whispered to herself.
Percy and Toby were now running in single file towards Knapford Junction as Timothy continued his pursuit.
"The end is near!" the red tank engine bellowed. "I will finish what I started 80 years ago! Once this madness is over, I am dragging all of you straight to Hell!"
Percy and Toby continued to run as fast as they could, whistling loudly to warn oncoming trains of the ghost train. The odd goods train rolled past in that time, but Timothy just ignored them. He had his prey in his sights, and he was not letting them go.
They roared past Knapford Junction and stopped in a passing loop as their phase of the plan had ended. Timothy's whistle boomed through the night.
But seconds later, another whistle was heard. A familiar, lower note, with a slight warble to it.
Seconds after that, Thomas shot past, with Luster Dawn and First Base at his controls. "Leave this to us!" Luster Dawn called.
"Timothy's so messed up in the smokebox he has no idea what's coming next!" Thomas added.
First Base turned to Luster Dawn, who was keeping the pressure up and the fire hot. "Hey, Luster, if we don't make it out of this, I just want you to know I don't regret a single day here, and meeting you was one of the best things that ever happened to me."
Luster Dawn nodded. "Thanks. Now let's stop Timothy."
Timothy saw the new target, and set off in pursuit. "It won't be long until I've taken all of you with me!" he shouted, as he began to gain speed. He charged after Thomas, soon gaining ground.
"Where is he?" First Base shouted.
"He's switching lines to move alongside!" Luster Dawn shouted.
"But that means he's running into opposing traffic!" Thomas shouted.
And indeed he was. An HST passed alongside them, before its ATP forced it to stop completely, the driver, a bloke called Oliver, looking rather confused. Timothy swung back to the other line just as suddenly as he'd swapped to the wrong one. Even so, his pace never slowed.
It was now time to put the plan into action. Thomas flew through Wellsworth, and was suddenly switched onto Edward's branch line. Timothy slowed down for the junction and continued his chase.
"You idiot!" he called. "That line doesn't let you escape!"
Thomas ignored him. He poured every ounce of steam into forward movement, trying to keep away from Timothy before they could execute the rest of the plan. He steamed along as fast as he could, fully aware of the demonic tank engine pursuing.
"We're at the harbour limits!" Luster Dawn called.
"Got it!" First Base callled. He dropped down the cab steps and jumped off at the points. First Base waited for Thomas to clear the manual switches, and then threw the switch onto another line, watching as Timothy approached.
"Prepare to be cast into the fiery pit, Thomas!" Timothy bellowed. "Oblivion is all that awaits you, for your death has come at the wheels of Timothy, THE GHOST ENGINE OF SODOR!"
Little did he realise he had been switched onto the wrong track. First Base waved him off as he realised his mistake.
Timothy slammed his brakes on to try and stop before the buffers, but his weak brake pump and blocks couldn't stop him, and he crashed through the buffers and plummeted into the water below, screaming as he fell down into the harbour and sank. The coaches broke apart in the impact (again), and sank as well.
Thomas, who was sitting at the harbourside and saw the entire thing, looked down with a mixture of pity and disgust. "I'm sorry, Timothy," he said quietly. "But you left us no choice."
A ghost appeared on the dockside, and Luster Dawn hopped down from the cab to see it was Starlight Glimmer. "Thank you," the ghost said. "Now I can finally be free." And with those words, her body faded away to nothingness, having finally found peace in the afterlife.
That night, as the engines returned to the shed, nobody spoke a word. The driver's put the engines away and walked over to the mess hut to rest for the night. That night was one they wished to forget.
The next morning, Sir Toppham Hatt arrived at the sheds to speak to the engines. "There have been reports," he said, "of a railway accident at Brendam Docks, where a train went clean through the buffers and into the water. This is most concerning, not least because the buffers will need repairs to make them usable again. However, there is some positive news. I have been able to secure additional funding in grant money from the goverment, and this will help us get through our current financial troubles."
The engines kept quiet about the events of the previous night, as they did not want Sir Toppham Hatt to find out what they had done. As the days went by and October turned into November, with Christmas around the corner, the story of Timothy was slowly forgotten. There were no further sightings of the ghost train, and life continued as normal on the Island of Sodor.
Thomas, however, was worried. The last few days had shaken him, and he feared that history may repeat itself. One day, whilst waiting at the junction for Gordon to arrive, he confided in Luster Dawn. "What if Timothy isn't truly gone?" he asked. "What if his spirit is still lingering here, haunting our railway?"
"I really don't know," Luster Dawn replied, sounding exhausted. "I only know it's affected us in different ways. As you've probably observed, First Base, Cherry Pie, and Percy refuse to talk about it, whilst Toby has his doubts that Timothy will ever return.
"Well, whatever the truth is," Thomas said, "I can only hope that Starlight Glimmer's soul is finally at rest."
"Me too, Thomas. Me too." At long last, Gordon arrived with the express, and the passengers transferred to Thomas' train. With a blast of the whistle, he was on his way to Ffarquhar, the horrific events of the last few months finally behind him.
Sabrina Pitre-Luster Dawn Vincent Tong-Typhoon Blast, Flash Sentry, Knapford signaller, First Base Tabitha St. Germain-Charity Tim Stourton-Thunderbolt Claire Corlett-Blue Angel Alexandra Carter-Cherry Pie Kelly Sheridan-Starlight Glimmer Richard E. Grant-Timothy Nigel Pilkington-Percy, Pound Stamp Robert Rackstraw-Toby John Hasler-Thomas Nicole Oliver-Azure Dawn Keith Whickam-Henry, Vicarstown signaller, Sir Toppham Hatt Andrea Libman-Fluttershy
Lemon Crumble wasn't scared of anything. A young boy with lemon skin, green eyes, and brown hair, he was currently in his scuba diving suit, ready to check out what he could find in the Brendam Bay area. He rolled off the shore and dived in, swimming through the water. He didn't find anything interesting though as he swam along.
However, a giant red object suddenly caught his eye. "Guys, I've spotted something," he radioed.
"Cool! What is it?"
"It looks like a steam engine. It's red and has the number 150 on its side." Lemon Crumble swam over to the engine to take a closer look. It must have fallen in recently, given the superb shape it was in.
He swam around to the front to investigate the engine's face. Its eyes were shut. As Lemon Crumble studied the face, he heard a deep laugh. "Who's there?" he asked.
Suddenly, the engine opened its eyes.
"READY FOR ROUND TWO, THOMAS?!"
With Richard Ian Cox as Lemon Crumble and Ben Small as the radio operator.
