Thomas & Friends Season 12 Reimagined

Toby's Special Surprise

Summertime was coming to a close on the Island of Sodor. Ever since Great Waterton had been reopened to the public, the engines had been busy going there and back with passengers, workers and goods. However, the work was starting to dry up.

Early one morning, The Fat Controller came to see Toby.

"It'll be a quiet day for you today, Toby," he said, "you must get workmen to Great Waterton by 7 o'clock. They will go home on regular passenger trains at the end of the day."

"Very well, Sir," puffed Toby.

The sun gleamed just above the horizon as Toby travelled to Knapford Station with Henrietta coupled up behind him. Pockets of a soft yellow were scattered across the sky like smoke billowing from a chimney.

"I expect you'll be glad to rest your wheels after this little job, eh Toby?" Toby's driver said.

"Oh yes," huffed Toby, "it's been a busy summer."

Toby soon arrived at the station and the workmen all clambered into Henrietta. Soon, they were off.

...

As Toby puffed into Great Waterton, he was greeted by the sound of hustle and bustle. Several engines were already hard at work. Percy was making his stop with the mail train.

"Hello Toby," peeped Percy.

"Hello Percy," said Toby, ringing his bell, "having fun delivering the mail?"

"It's hard work," huffed Percy, "it takes me even longer to complete my journey now I have to stop at Great Waterton. I'm running late."

"You should have left earlier," chuckled Toby.

"Oh, I have to leave now," said Percy, "I'll talk to you when we're both doing nothing useful, eh Toby?"

Before Toby could say anything, Percy took off.

"Well I never," said Toby, rolling his eyes.

"Well, Toby," Toby's fireman said, "you're certainly not being useful waiting around at this station. The workmen have already left."

With a sigh and a smile, Toby started to move away from the station.

As he passed under the bridge, Toby noticed that both sides of the track were becoming more and more overgrown.

'They must still have some restoration work to do on some of the tracks into the town,' he thought to himself.

Toby carried on along the track. Then, he suddenly came to a halt. There was sunlight reflecting off of something in the brambles.

Toby's driver and fireman went to take a look.

"There's an old disused track here," called his fireman.

"How do you fancy exploring, Toby?" chortled his driver.

"Well," sighed Toby, "I suppose I can manage a little adventure before going back to my shed!"

And so, Toby set off down the rickety old track. Henrietta grumbled as she jolted and jittered along.

"Cheer up, Henrietta," called Toby, "at least you're not the one getting brambles in your face!"

It didn't take long for them to get through the sea of plants. They emerged onto a field of mossy hills. The track became more uneven than ever before. Some stones even hit Toby's front cowcatcher. Toby carried on moving forwards, more slowly and carefully than before.

Tracks sprawled out across the hills, leading into old, abandoned mines. Trucks that hadn't been used for years littered the sidings.

As he was taking in his surroundings, Toby suddenly glimpsed some more shiny metal, this time poking out of the dirt nearby.

"Surely that isn't another track?" Toby puffed, puzzled.

"Only one way to find out!" his driver said eagerly.

Toby watched as his driver and fireman got out of his cab and wandered over to where he'd seen the piece of metal. They were clearly struggling to move the dirt and plant growth out of the way.

"Well, it certainly isn't a track," said his driver, "but we aren't getting whatever it is out of the ground without some shovels."

"It looks like a sign," mused his fireman.

"Maybe we should tell Sir Topham Hatt about this," said Toby, "this could be something important."

His driver and fireman agreed and they began the trek back along the track to Great Waterton.

Later, Toby returned to the area with The Fat Controller, Rocky and a flatbed. Soon, his driver and fireman were hard at work digging the piece of metal out of the ground.

The Fat Controller smiled broadly.

"Well well well, Toby! That's quite a find."

Toby watched as the piece of metal was attached to Rocky's crane arm and lifted off the ground. He gasped. It was indeed a sign, with 'Sodor Tramways' emblazoned on it and a picture of a tram engine just like him above the letters!

"Quite a find," The Fat Controller muttered to himself. He seemed deep in thought.

...

Toby, The Fat Controller and Rocky returned triumphantly to Great Waterton. Engines, workers, tourists and locals were all curious about the sign on the flatbed.

As The Fat Controller got out of Toby's cab, the station master came over. The two of them talked, just far enough away that Toby couldn't hear.

When The Fat Controller turned back to Toby, he was beaming with pride.

"It seems you stumbled across the last coal mines to be opened in the town, Toby," he said, "they didn't get much use before the town began to be abandoned. That means," he added, "we may get good use out of them yet!"

"What are you going to do with the sign, Sir?" Toby asked.

"I'll see to it that it's restored and put up on display here at the station. You, Toby, have done this railway a great service! I shall look forward to our future successes."

Later, Toby was in his shed, trying to make sense of everything The Fat Controller had said. What sort of 'future successes' could come from a sign and some old mines? Was it even safe to start using some old, abandoned mines again?

As Toby tried to think of answers, he saw Percy approaching his shed.

"What brings you here, Percy?" asked Toby.

"Well," said Percy as he came to a stop, "I just wanted to say sorry for being grumpy earlier today."

"It's fine, Percy," Toby chuckled, "you were having a hard day and I'm sure me joking about it didn't make it any better."

The two engines fell silent for a moment.

"And I suppose I shouldn't have told you you weren't doing anything useful," added Percy, "because you really have done something useful today!"

Toby smiled. He was now grateful as well as being proud.