The Great Discovery

**The Great Discovery** is the twenty-fifth episode of the ninth season, the 215th episode overall and the first special of the series.

## Plot

The railway is preparing for Sodor Day and Thomas and James are racing to the wharf to be given a special job by Mr. Percival. Thomas wins and is sent into the hills to collect lumber with Duncan. After Duncan teases Thomas by stating that Mr Percival wants him to work with Thomas because Duncan knows the tracks in the hills, Thomas teases back by calling Duncan small. This leads Duncan to pay Thomas out by sending him on an old, disused branch line which he claims will lead Thomas back to the wharf faster.

After avoiding an old, collapsing bridge, Thomas takes another route at the old junction and as he journeys further down the line, he comes across an old overgrown town.

The news of Thomas' discovery spreads and eventually reaches the Fat Controller, who tells Thomas that the town is Great Waterton - the largest town on Sodor when steam engines first came to the island that had since been thought to be lost. The Fat Controller decides that the restoration of the legendary lost town would be perfect for Sodor Day and calls the Pack to help. Thomas is told to take charge of the engines working around the town, while a new tank engine named Stanley is brought to do Thomas' regular jobs.

All of the engines take a liking to Stanley, who does a good job and has fun as well. Unfortunately, Thomas becomes jealous of Stanley after seeing him doing his jobs and fraternising with his friends. He is furious when Stanley takes his place at Tidmouth Sheds and the final straw comes when Thomas has an accident and Stanley takes his place as the leader of the restoration project. When Thomas comes back from the works, the Fat Controller decided to let Stanley stay in charge as he has done a good job.

Later, Thomas is shunting stone trucks for Stanley to take away when he decides to make Stanley look silly by giving him a train too heavy for him to pull. Unfortunately, the plan backfires - as Stanley ascends the hill, a coupling breaks and the trucks race down the hill, veering into a siding and crashing into the newly finished tower. The Fat Controller states that this will likely set back the restoration past Sodor Day and Thomas takes the blame.

Later that night, Thomas decides to clear the rubble out of the way. He is almost finished when he accidentally bumps a truck into an old mine shaft. Racing in after it, Thomas crashes into a blocked tunnel and falls down into the water where he floats down an underground waterway.

After the engines meet at Great Waterton, Stanley asks where Thomas is and the engines soon realise that Thomas is missing. The Fat Controller organises a search effort and everyone searches everywhere, but no one can find Thomas. While searching, Stanley realises about how upset Thomas has been about Stanley coming to Sodor and all that he had been doing and so decides to help put things right.

Everyone is just about to give up, when Percy reminds them that Thomas found Great Waterton on his own, that it is his town and that they cannot have the opening without him, and everyone agrees. Stanley thinks Thomas ran away after the incident yesterday and tries to find him in the hills. Meanwhile, Thomas continues floating in the dark tunnel until he reaches an opening to the mine and is flung across a canyon and down a hill without the wooden planks that made him float into the mine.

Stanley decides to make another search effort by himself before he returns to work. Thomas, with the last of his steam, sounds a loud, long whistle. Stanley hears it and hurries to where Thomas is stranded beside the track. The two make up and Stanley pulls Thomas back onto the rails, but the strain is too much for Stanley and a valve bursts. Thomas, using some of Stanley's coal, pushes him back to Great Waterton. The word soon spreads that Thomas has been found.

The standpipe tower is rebuilt, completing the restoration. As a sign of friendship, Thomas offers Stanley his last job - bringing the mayor to the festivities at Great Waterton. The engines gather at the town for the celebration and Thomas realises just how important his friends are.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Edward
* Henry
* Gordon
* James
* Percy
* Toby
* Emily
* Harvey
* Arthur
* Skarloey
* Rheneas
* Sir Handel
* Peter Sam
* Rusty
* Duncan
* Duke
* Mighty Mac
* Freddie
* Elizabeth
* Jack
* Kelly
* Alfie
* Oliver the Excavator
* Ned
* Byron
* Buster
* Max and Monty
* Nelson
* Patrick
* Topper
* Harold
* Cranky
* The Fat Controller
* Lady Hatt
* Miss Jenny
* The Thin Controller
* Terence *(does not speak)*
* Algy *(does not speak)*
* Brenda *(does not speak)*
* Bill and Ben *(do not speak)*
* Molly *(does not speak)*
* BoCo *(does not speak)*
* Mavis *(does not speak)*
* Salty *(does not speak)*
* Annie and Clarabel *(does not speak)*
* Rocky *(does not speak)*
* Bertie *(does not speak)*
* Trevor *(does not speak)*
* Diesel *(does not speak)*
* Arry and Bert *(do not speak)*
* Dennis *(does not speak)*
* Tiger Moth *(does not speak)*
* Duck *(cameo)*
* Donald and Douglas *(cameos)*
* Oliver *(cameo)*
* Murdoch *(cameo)*
* Rosie *(cameo)*
* Whiff *(cameo)*
* Daisy *(cameo)*
* George *(cameo)*
* Butch *(cameo)*

## Locations

* Great Waterton
* Great Waterton Sheds
* Morgan's Mine
* Brendam Docks
* Rolling River Bridge
* Green Hills Junction
* Maithwaite
* Ffarquhar Quarry
* Kellsthorpe Bridge
* Wellsworth
* Topham Hall
* Tidmouth Sheds
* Ffarquhar Sheds
* Sodor Steamworks
* Cronk
* Kellsthorpe Road
* Sir Topham Hatt's Office
* Crovan's Gate Wharf
* Crovan's Gate
* Crovan's Gate Sheds
* Cros-ny-Curin
* Ben Glas
* Glennock
* Lakeside
* Hawin Lake
* Blue Mountain Quarry
* Henry's Tunnel
* Knapford
* Knapford Yards
* Vicarstown
* Toby's Windmill
* Gordon's Hill
* Wellsworth
* Brendam School
* Lakeside Castle
* Ballahoo
* Ballahoo Beach
* Ballahoo Lighthouse

## Trivia

* This was the first special for multiple things:

* The first appearance of Stanley in the series.
* The first time in the series where each member of the Steam Team appears and have speaking roles.
* Before former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan was hired as a special guest narrator, Gwyneth Paltrow was in talks with HiT Entertainment according to SiF, thus would have made her the first female narrator for the English dub of the series, however no agreement was made.
* The line "Welcome Stanley!” has become a popular internet meme.