Thomas the Tank Engine loves living on the island of Sodor. He has many great friends who live there with him as well as great sights to see wherever he goes, and doesn't mind whatever job he gets assigned to do, as long as he proves himself to be a really useful engine. But the one thing he loves doing on the island most of all is taking passenger trains along his branch line with his two coaches, Annie and Clarabel.

Thomas had never forgotten the happy moment in his life when the Fat Controller gave him this branch line as a reward for saving James during his early days on Sodor. He felt that this part of the island was the pride of the line, and he wouldn't let anyone convince him otherwise, not even Gordon. He was always glad to share his surroundings with any passengers who were unfamiliar with the landscape of Sodor, and he loved to greet other engines passing through, and he especially loved being with Annie and Clarabel.

The tank engine and the coaches had known each other for a very long time, even before Thomas earned his branch line. A long time ago, James used to pull Annie and Clarabel, and they would complain a lot about how rough he was with them. Their first encounter with Thomas was when he mistook them for express coaches and tried to take them to Gordon, but realised his mistake when they pointed out to him that they were in fact branch line coaches. They found him to be very delightful due to how polite he was to them, and were confident that he would go far. After Thomas' act of heroism with James, Annie and Clarabel could not have been any happier to have him as their new owner.

Thomas, Annie and Clarabel loved each other very much and always ensured that they were all happy on every journey they made. They would talk and sing songs to each other as they went along the line, and although they would occasionally quarrel over small things, they would always have each other's backs in whatever the situation and could always rely on each other for support, advice and guidance. Thomas felt particularly grateful to have his coaches' support; they were almost always the ones to keep him in line, and they were easily two of his closest confidantes. He could never imagine being where he was without them.

But, little did they know that there was soon to be a dramatic event that would separate them for a seemingly unbearable length of time ...


It was early winter on the island, and while no snow had fallen yet, there had been many frosts developing overnight, meaning the engines would find it hard to stop or slow down properly from time to time due to the rails being icy. Because of this, the Fat Controller had to reduce the number of morning and evening trains, in order to ensure there wouldn't be any serious accidents. However, while his plan had been working for the most part, there was a particular event to come one night that would reveal a fault in the system, unbeknownst to him ... or any of the engines.

One evening, Thomas, Percy and Toby were resting in the sheds at Ffarquhar, talking about the current weather situation.

"I like frost, but I don't like the trouble it causes to the rails, or us engines, for that matter," commented Percy. "Look at what it did to me that night James and I got fixated with Scary Jack Frost."

"Oh!" chuckled Thomas. "I thought after all this time you'd have gotten over your fear of him, since you ended up scaring James into thinking you were Jack Frost. Ah well, I guess you may have had a little snap back, then."

"No I haven't!" retorted Percy.

"Now, now, you two, that's enough," said Toby, attempting to calm them down. "Arguing won't get us anywhere, will it?"

Thomas and Percy sheepishly looked down at the tracks in front of them. "You're right, Toby - we must have gotten carried away. Sorry," said Thomas. "You were still great with the Jack Frost incident, Percy," he added. "You gave James what was coming to him after always saying Jack Frost is not scary, and were brave to come to the conclusion that he is probably only frost."

"Thank you, Thomas," smiled Percy. He and Thomas would tease each other from time to time, but nothing would ever stop them from being best friends.

Presently, the Fat Controller arrived with news of a special event. "Sodor is having its annual Wine Festival tonight," he announced. "Thomas and Toby, I want you both to take the guests there and bring them home afterwards. Most of them live along various areas of your branch line routes, so they will be fairly straightforward trips."

"No problem, sir," said Toby.

"Sir, what about the icy rails?" asked Thomas. "A frost is bound to come up at that time of night."

"Try not to get too preoccupied with that, Thomas," replied the Fat Controller. "All you're going to need is good, solid brake control from your driver, and that way an accident is less likely to happen."

"Whatever you say, sir," said Thomas, still feeling a little doubtful.

"The festival starts at 7:30. Make good time and don't be late," concluded the Fat Controller, and he walked away.

As the workmen began to oil Thomas and Toby up for their evening trains, Percy turned to Thomas and formed a cheeky grin. "I bet you're glad you don't have to wear your snowplough for this particular journey, eh, Thomas?" he teased.

Thomas rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Percy, you know I've moved on from wanting to avoid wearing snowploughs at all costs. Emily and the Fat Controller have both managed to talk sense into me about it."

"He's only teasing you, Thomas," soothed Toby. "Can't you just have a little bit of fun with it?"

Thomas gave a good-natured groan. "No one will ever let me forget the number of times I did something stupid to avoid having to wear my snowplough ..." he thought.

At last, Thomas and Toby were ready. They left their berths and made their way over to the coach shed, where Annie, Clarabel and Henrietta were waiting for them. Thomas had developed another worried look on his face, and the others could all see this.

"Remember what the Fat Controller said, Thomas. Try to put your mind more to the job and not the possibility of an accident," assured Toby.

"And remember to always puff with care, too," added Annie and Clarabel.

Thomas was reminded of the time they had said that to him when he had to deal with the difficult bend in the tracks on his branch line all those years ago, and could not be more grateful to them for those words of wisdom from them. "I don't know what I'd be without you two," he said humbly.

Before long, they set off on their important mission. "Have a good time!" called Percy from the sheds. "See you later, Percy!" Thomas called back. He and Toby gave a blow and ring from whistle and bell, and disappeared into the distance.


Thomas and Toby collected all the festival attendees in good time and were prompt to get them to their destination. Although Thomas was nervous about the icy rails at first, he managed to be extra careful on them with Annie and Clarabel's help. While the festival was happening, they watched from afar. Many different samples of wine were showcased, such as Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Terra Vega, White Zinfandels, dry Provencals and meads.

As Thomas eyed what was going on, he couldn't stop thinking about the wine. "Wine must be such a good drink," he mused. "It would be nice to get a taste of what people enjoy."

"Don't be silly, Thomas," scoffed Toby. "We all know engines can only drink one thing, and it's water. And even then, it's not really drinking so much as being filled up so that we can run properly."

"I'm allowed to dream, aren't I, Toby?" replied Thomas cheekily.

They continued to pass remarks throughout the whole ordeal, but simultaneously continued to enjoy watching the festival from afar. Thomas was enjoying himself so much that he had forgotten about the icy rail problem and all nervousness had been temporarily stripped away from him. He did not suspect that he would have a horrific accident on those rails later on and was blissfully unaware of what could go wrong.

At last, the festival was over and it was time for the two engines to take everyone home. The attendees all gathered around their waiting trains, and soon Annie, Clarabel and Henrietta were full once again.

The moment his last passenger boarded Annie and Clarabel, Thomas suddenly remembered the rail situation and began to feel worried again. Dealing with rails that were hard to slow down on once was bad enough, but he wasn't sure if he could endure it a second time. The thought of having an accident made him shudder.

"You've done it before, Thomas, and you can do it again," encouraged Toby.

"You can do it, you can do it!" chimed Annie and Clarabel together.

"I can do it ... I can do it ..." puffed Thomas nervously as he slowly edged forward. Before he knew it, the journey had begun and he was making his way along the icy tracks once again. The first few times he had to make a turn, he was very cautious with his judgement, but he managed to get through on each and every one of them, and the more he had to do it along the way, the more confident he got.

"Keep at it, Thomas!" cheered Annie. "You're doing very well!" added Clarabel.

"Persevere as much as you can right until the end!" said Toby.

Soon, Thomas had built up so much confidence that he once again felt no need to worry anymore. At every turn, he continued to slow down and puff with care, all while saying to himself, "I can do it ... I can do it ... I'm doing it, I'm doing it ... I've done it, I've done it!"

Icy rails were always hard to manage, but he felt good about having Annie and Clarabel, two of his closest confidantes, to help him every step of the way.


Time passed, and trouble was about to strike somewhere close to the home of the last passenger on Thomas' train. Earlier that day, BoCo had been around that area pulling a long train of trucks, but oil had been leaking from his engine, and now a very big and wide puddle of oil had been left on the tracks close to the last station. What was more, the line that this station was on sloped downwards, so the chances of something bad happening were quite considerable. BoCo had to go to the Dieselworks for an inspection, so he knew that there was currently something wrong with him, but he had no idea that his oil leak would eventually cause an almost fatal accident that night.

By now, a very thick fog had developed, and Thomas and Toby were finding it increasingly difficult to see, even with their lights on. Thomas was beginning to feel worried yet again; just when he thought he had made it through a challenging situation easily, another inconvenience had been dropped onto him at the most inopportune time. "Oh, no," he murmured. "What can I do now?"

"It's okay, Thomas," encouraged his driver. "It's only one more stop, and then we can go home again."

"Just keep doing what you've been doing before, and you'll be fine," added Toby.

Thomas shut his eyes, took a deep breath, opened them again and slowly began to edge forward. "Here goes nothing," he thought.

He trundled around the bend, and sure enough, he could see the sight of the last station ahead of him. He prepared to come to a stop, and for a moment everything seemed alright ... then suddenly, against his will, he felt himself begin to move faster and faster. The driver tried to put on the brakes, but it did no good.

"SMITE MY SMOKEBOX!" cried Thomas frantically. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

"Thomas, what on earth are you doing?" called Toby.

"I don't know! I didn't decide to do it!"

"Slow down, Thomas!" exclaimed Annie. "What are you trying to do, rip us apart?!" added Clarabel.

"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, I CAN'T SLOW DOWN!" shouted Thomas, a feeling of annoyance overlapping with the state of shock he was in. "THERE'S A SUBSTANCE ON THESE RAILS THAT IS REALLY STOPPING ME!"

The passengers on board Annie wondered what on earth was happening, too; they had just reached home and now were in a situation that was taking them further away from it.

As they neared the bottom of the slope, Thomas could see that there was yet another bend in the tracks - and it was a rather sharp one. "Oh, no!" he exclaimed. "At the rate I'm travelling at, we'll be sure to derail!"

And they did. As soon as they reached the bottom of the slope, Thomas came off the rails and crashed through a hedge into a field. As they barreled through the grassy paddocks, they still couldn't see straight ahead due to the thick fog still present, making them all horrifically unaware of the objects that would both separate and damage both the engine and the coaches.

Clarabel was up first. Approaching Thomas was a large pile of hay bales. As it came more and more into view, Thomas smashed through it hard enough to create a hole in some of them, and as he popped out the other end, Clarabel decoupled. Knowing she couldn't move without an engine, driver or guard, she accepted her fate as the hay bales came down on her and buried her.

"We've lost Clarabel, Thomas!" cried Annie. "Fire and smoke!" replied Thomas. "Things can't possibly get any worse than this!"

But they could. A few moments later, there was a sudden dip in the ground, and Thomas and Annie found themselves rolling down another slope, this one being much steeper than the previous one. Thomas shook as he continued to barrel downwards, while Annie jiggled, swayed and lurched from side to side. The passengers inside Annie were bounced like tennis balls on a racquet, and were beginning to sustain serious injuries after the impact of hitting the ceiling.

Suddenly, Thomas noticed that there was a big rock over to his left. Somehow knowing that Annie had been moving in all directions, he predicted that she could collide with the rock at any moment and yelled, "LOOK OUT, ANNIE!"

"What do you mean?" began Annie. Just before Thomas could answer, fate did it for him. Annie came into contact with the rock, and she moved up into the air, decoupled from Thomas and began to soar through the foggy sky above, spinning as she went. Then, she began to plummet back towards the ground, bounced around a few times and landed back-first in a pool of mud. Upon this impact, the two passengers had sustained so many injuries that they were now unconscious.

Thomas was soaking in the shock he felt at what he had just seen, unaware of what was soon about to happen to him. As he continued to roll out of control through the field, he noticed that there was a dark, thick forest coming into view. As he went into it, some low branches scraped the sides of his tanks, and he got poked in the face by a few twigs here and there. But we would presently come into contact with an object that would ultimately bring him to a stop. Ahead of him was a wide, thick oak tree, wide enough to stop an engine from going straight through part of a forest. It came closer and closer ... Thomas closed his eyes tight and braced himself for the impact ...

THUD! Thomas bumped the tree hard, and finally stopped. As he hit the tree, several acorns came falling off the branches, and landed all over him, scattered around his boiler, frames and wheels.

Thomas was almost at a lost for words; he couldn't even begin to describe how terrifying the experience he just had was. All he could say was a quiet, distraught "Cinders and ashes ..."

Toby had seen it all from afar, and was also pretty horrified at what he had witnessed. He never thought he would see the day when Thomas would have a crash as drawn-out and spectacular as that. He also knew that getting them back on the line would be difficult, far beyond what any lone engine could do, so he went for help immediately.


The Fat Controller was preparing to take himself home, as the station was being closed up for the night. He was about to take himself home and get some sleep, when he saw Toby rushing into the station, looking very frantic.

"Whatever is the matter, Toby?" asked the Fat Controller.

"Sir, Thomas has had a horrific accident!" cried Toby. "We were just finishing taking our last passengers home, and he slid down the tracks and crashed into a field. Now he, Annie and Clarabel are stranded in different areas of it and appear to have suffered some serious damage."

"Did he remember what I said about him being careful?"

"Yes, he did. He was being very cautious and careful as he went along the line, not least because of the fog that had developed. But as soon as he was about to stop, he just accelerated continuously and had the aforementioned crash."

The Fat Controller shuddered; a fear in him had just come true. "Ooh ... I thought this would happen," he said darkly. "You see, Toby, earlier today, BoCo had been doing some work around that area, and he was fine for the most part, but he did have a troublesome oil leak, and some of his oil has now been left behind on some areas of the branch line. I think this must be what happened with Thomas; he slipped on some of BoCo's oil."

"I should have known that," grunted Toby. "Only oil and ice could be the cause of such a thing."

"Well, thank you for alerting me, Toby," said the Fat Controller at last. "I will go and alert the Sodor Search and Rescue Team. You go back to the location of the crash, and you can supervise us in finding Thomas and the coaches."

"Certainly, sir," said Toby, and with that, he began to make his way back to where he had seen Thomas' crash, while the Fat Controller returned to his office to telephone the Search and Rescue Team.


Eventually, after what seemed like a million years, Harold, Butch and Rocky arrived at the scene of the accident. Harold, with the Fat Controller on board, surveyed the scene to seek out the locations of the stranded Thomas, Annie and Clarabel, while Butch and Rocky both took part in getting them back on the rails. The operation took some time, as the rescuees were so far apart from each other, but after plenty of hard work and effort, Thomas and his coaches were all back to the safety of their tracks.

Thomas was very relieved to be back where he was supposed to be; the crash had been one of the most terrifying experiences of his life. His crash into the tree had left him with a scrunched front and crooked side rods. He knew he was no stranger to this kind of accident; memories of when he dented his front on the day before he and his friends left for England and when he crashed into the stationmaster's house started to ring in his mind. As he saw the Fat Controller approach him, he prepared himself for the worst, thinking that he would have some stern words for him.

"I'm sorry, sir," began Thomas, "I made the silly mistake of stopping on a slippery spot ..."

To Thomas' great surprise, the Fat Controller replied, "You don't need to apologise for anything, Thomas. The accident wasn't your fault. There was some oil on the track which jeopardised your chances of stopping safely, plus there's no way you could have known about it being there because the fog was so thick."

"How did the oil get there in the first place, sir?" asked Thomas.

"You see, earlier today, BoCo was doing some work around here, but he had been leaving oil everywhere, unbeknownst to him," explained the Fat Controller. "He's now at the Dieselworks having his engine checked. Your accident was a cause of you being unfortunate enough to stop in one of the spots he left oil in."

"Oh, that makes sense," said Thomas thoughtfully. "Icy rails are already slippery as they are, and the oil certainly didn't help. Now, what's going to happen to Annie, Clarabel and myself now that this accident has occurred?"

"I'm both happy and sad you asked, Thomas," said the Fat Controller. "You will of course have to go to the Steamworks and have your buffers and side-rods mended, which I'm sure you were expecting to hear. Unfortunately, the situation is much more serious in the case of Annie and Clarabel - they won't be able to be mended on Sodor because we don't have some of the right tools to repair them with."

Thomas froze in shock. He definitely was expecting to go to the Steamworks for repairs, but he never thought that this event would have to take Annie and Clarabel away from him again. "For how long, sir?"

The Fat Controller paused ominously. He didn't want to tell Thomas this bit of news, but knew he had to if he wanted to know the honest outcome of the situation. "You're not going to like this, Thomas, but ... the damage Annie and Clarabel have taken may take up to two weeks to repair."

Thomas was so horrified that he couldn't speak. He couldn't bear to have his two beloved coaches be separated from him and taken to the mainland for two whole weeks. He really depended on them for support, guidance and advice, and he felt like he was going to lose a lot of his will without them around. The last time they were separated from each other for this reason, it only lasted for two days, and at least they were still on Sodor. Two whole weeks with them being elsewhere was a different matter entirely. Thomas knew he had other close friends to go to, but Annie and Clarabel were two of the closest companions he had ever had, and he was really going to miss them when they were gone.

"Don't worry, Thomas. Accidents need to happen every now and then," soothed Annie.

"You know things will turn out well in the end, don't you?" agreed Clarabel.

"Yes ... I guess so ..." murmured Thomas doubtfully.

"This is just a part of life, Thomas, and there's not much we can do about it," said the Fat Controller. "We just need to accept that these things happen."

Then, Rocky spoke up. "Well then, Thomas, let's not just sit here moping - let's get you over to the Steamworks!" He picked up Thomas and loaded him onto the flatbed that Toby was now carrying. Thomas looked ahead of him and saw Annie and Clarabel. He felt his eyes beginning to water. "I hope you're mended soon," he said to them sadly.

"It'll take time, Thomas, but we promise you we will be mended," replied Clarabel.

"Be a good engine for us, won't you?" said Annie.

"Yes, I will," sniffed Thomas.

"Harold, take Thomas' passengers to the hospital before Annie and Clarabel get taken away," ordered the Fat Controller.

"Jolly good, sir. Will do," replied Harold.

The two unconscious passengers were found in the coaches, and were carried into Harold's interior. As Harold began to take off, he turned to Thomas. "Get well soon, old chap," he said.

"Thank you, Harold," replied Thomas.

Everyone watched as Harold took off into the air and disappeared into the distance. Then Thomas looked at Annie and Clarabel one last time and said, "Well ... I guess this is it. Goodbye, you two. May fate be kind to you."

"We'll see you after we're mended, Thomas," said both the coaches. "Be strong for us."

And with that, Toby set off to the Steamworks with Thomas on his flatbed. Thomas knew he was going to have a rough time ahead of him, and this dramatic turn of events had left him feeling rather traumatised after what had happened to his beloved coaches. Even though the Fat Controller had told him that it wasn't his fault, he still felt very guilty that he had let this happen. And he really did want to be strong for them, but he was developing a sensation that would seriously impede his ability to be strong, one that would slowly get the better of him in the next few days to come.


Hello guys, welcome back to another story. This one is getting off to a pretty dark start, isn't it? There are times when I felt like I wasn't even writing a Thomas the Tank Engine story, particularly the crash scene - I feel as though it goes well beyond anything Season 5 would have done! But enough about that - this was a story I came up with as something of a sequel to the episode "Thomas Saves the Day" (the Season 8 episode, not "Thomas and the Breakdown Train"). I was imagining a "What if?" kind of story where Thomas suffers a hardship that involves two of his closest friends being taken away from him for a long period of time. As we all know, in the episode he eventually manages pretty well in the two days he spends without them, but I thought that it would be a lot more difficult for him to handle if they had to part ways for even longer.

This is going to be a multi-chapter story, and before you ask, yes, Thomas will go through an arc similar to the one he goes through in TSTD. I won't give away anything too important, though, what I just said is the most essential thing to know about the plot. The chapter that comes after this one will be a breather chapter, dealing with Thomas' emotional shatter after the accident, and the comfort he receives from some of his friends.

Until then, don't forget to let me know what you think of this story, and stay tuned for the next chapter, "A Lost Nerve".