The Dark Railway: A Thomas & Friends AU Story

July 5th, 1971

Hello. I'm Thomas. I'm The Fat Controller's number one engine on the Island of Sodor. At least, I used to be. You see, I'm no longer on Sodor, at least not the Sodor I know and love. The Sodor I'm in has been taken over by modernization, and by that, I do mean diesels. How did I get here? Well, it all started about a week ago, when Topham went on holiday. That's when Diesel 10, the blast from the past who hates steam engines, arrived to cause trouble for us. He later revealed that he planned to find and destroy a lost steam engine, thereby destroying all of us as well.

Over the next few days, we learned more about this mysterious lost engine, and even about a magic railway that she used to run on. Eventually, I found the buffers that led to the railway, and brought the lost engine, whose name was Lady, some of Henry's special coal, which brought her back to life. Unfortunately, when we returned to Sodor, Diesel 10 found us and began to chase us. We eventually reached the viaduct, which was becoming increasingly unstable. We began to race across as a desperate attempt to escape the murderous diesel. As Lady made it to the other side, the viaduct began to collapse faster. That's when I saw two big pieces of stone collapse from the viaduct and into the water below. My driver slammed on the brake, but I wasn't able to stop in time. I screamed as I slid off the edge of the now-broken viaduct. That's the last thing I remember before I blacked out...

When I came to, I found myself in the scrapyards. My fire was out, and I had an uneasy feeling in my smokebox. My driver was confused as well. That's when I noticed that my blue paint was rusted and old, with the words, "SCRAP," plastered on my sides. My bufferbeam was bented, and I had what looked like blood on my face. I was panicking inside, but on the outside, I tried to remain calm.

Then, I heard a familiar evil laugh and saw Diesel 10 slowly approaching, but he looked... different. And not in a good way. His eyes were black and his pupils were blood red, and a nameplate on his sides read, "EMPEROR." He had a scar on his left cheek and what looked like a burn on his right cheek, as well as some blood near his left eye. He stopped a few inches in front of my face, and began gloating about his success on taking over Sodor. Then, I heard another laugh, and saw Arry and Bert emerges on my left side. I was horrified to see a very sad Toby behind them, with "SCRAP" spray-painted on his sides as well. Arry and Bert left the scrapyard, leaving Toby behind. Diesel 10 switched onto Toby's line and began to laugh menacingly as his claw raised high above him. All I could do was watch in despair as Diesel 10 jammed his claw right into Toby's face. As he retracted his claw, the now dead tram engine fell apart right in front of my eyes.

I felt a tear run down my face. Diesel 10 then ordered Arry and Bert to shunt me into the back of the smelters, and they quickly obliged. As they did, they laughed and sneered as they pushed me into the back and left me there, probably to die or rot. Despite the nosie of the machinery and Diesel 10's laughing, I closed my eyes and fell asleep, hoping this was just some horrible nightmare...