Goodbye For Real, Sir Topham Hatt

**Goodbye For Real, Sir Topham Hatt** is a story taking place in the Engine Realm by Thunderbird3InternationalRescue.

## Summary

*Sir Topham Hatt announces to the engines that he is retiring as controller of the railway, and that he has chosen a millionaire named Ernie Devlin, a good friend of his, to be his successor, and the engines, especially Thomas, all plan to make this day extra special.*

## Story

It was a beautiful day on the Island of Sodor. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. At Knapford Station, Sir Topham Hatt had called all of the engines together.

"Good morning, engines," said Sir Topham Hatt.

"Good morning, sir," said the engines.

"Engines," said Sir Topham Hatt, "I have an announcement to make."

"What is it, sir," asked Ryan.

Sir Topham Hatt sighed.

"It is with a heavy heart that I must pass on the following news," said Sir Topham Hatt, "At the end of the week, due to me wanting to achieve new goals in life and to spend more time with my family, I will be retiring from my position as controller of the North Western Railway."

Most of the engines were shocked, but Percy was confused.

"What does "retire" mean," asked Percy.

"It's another way of saying he's quitting his job," said Edward.

"Oh," said Percy.

"Sir," said Stanley, "I have a question."

"Yes, Stanley, what is it," asked Sir Topham Hatt.

"Since you're not gonna be our controller, what will you be doing as a career," asked Stanley.

"Well, Stanley," said Sir Topham Hatt, "I've been taking online courses on teaching, and because of it, I will become a school teacher when I retire."

"Nice," said Stanley.

"I have a question, too," said Ryan, "Who'll be our new controller?"

"I'm glad you asked," said Sir Topham Hatt.

Sir Topham Hatt then turned to the side and nodded his head. A man in his mid-forties approached his side. The man had dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and wore a 2-toned blue jacket over a white turtleneck, blue jeans, and dark brown shoes.

"Engines, meet Mister Ernest Devlin," said Sir Topham Hatt.

"You can just call me "Ernie"," said Ernie.

"Mister Devlin is a good friend of mine," said Sir Topham Hatt, "I think he'll be a great successor."

"And so do I," said Thomas.

"Well," said Sir Topham Hatt, "when the time comes to leave my post, I trust you will all give Mister Devlin just as much respect as you have given me?"

"Yes sir," said all the engines.

"Good," said Sir Topham Hatt, "Dismissed!"

With that, almost all the engines went their separate ways, but Thomas, Stanley, Percy, and Ryan stayed behind.

"You know," said Thomas, "Sir Topham Hatt's done so much for us."

"What do you mean," asked Percy.

"Well," said Thomas, "If he hadn't have bought you guys, we wouldn't be best friends, now would we?"

"Point taken," said Percy.

"But I still don't get what you're getting at," said Stanley.

"Neither do I," said Ryan.

"Well," said Thomas, "I thought "Why not throw him a surprise retirement party?"

"Now that's an awesome idea," said Stanley.

"Yeah," said Ryan.

"Let's do it," said Percy.

"Great," said Thomas, "I'll go talk to Dad and Edward about it."

And that's what Thomas did when he arrived at the shed he live in with Gordon and Edward, who both liked the idea of having a party for Sir Topham Hatt.

"That's a marvelous idea," said Gordon.

"Yeah, I agree," said Edward.

"Now the question is; where should we have it," asked Gordon.

"Maybe we can have it at Ulfstead Castle," said Thomas.

"Yeah," said Gordon, "Though, I think you should ask the Earl, just to be on the safe side."

"And ask the Earl I shall," said Thomas.

With that, Thomas went to Ulfstead Castle, and soon met up with the Earl of Sodor, Sir Robert Norramby, who was an old yet spry-looking fellow who wore a black dress jacket over a red patterned waistcoat, white shirt and blue ascot, with grey trousers and black boots .

"Why, hello, Thomas," said the Earl.

"Hello, Sir Robert," said Thomas, "I've gotta question for you."

"And what might that be," asked the Earl.

"Well, we're throwing a surprise retirement party for Sir Topham Hatt," said Thomas, "and we'd like to know if we can have it here."

The Earl smiled.

"Certainly," said the Earl, "I'll speak to my engines about this."

The Earl went to speak with his three engines; Stephen, Glynn, and Millie. All were thrilled at the idea of having a party.

"That's a wonderful idea," said Stephen.

"Yes, indeed," said Glynn.

"Oui," said Millie.

"Great," said Thomas, "Oh! And, uh, whatever you do, **don't tell Sir Topham Hatt!**"

"Oh, don't worry," said the Earl with a chuckle, "we won't!"

Thomas then left the castle, and returned to find Stanley, Percy, Ryan, and Edward waiting for him.

"Good, you're back," said Edward.

"Indeed I am," said Thomas, "So, what've we got planned so far?"

Edward got out a clipboard.

"Well," said Edward, "We've already decide we'd order pizza and a cake for the party, though we also thought we could let some of the guests bring in their own dishes if they wished."

"I like that," said Thomas.

"We also asked Ernie about a fireworks show," said Edward.

"I like that, too," said Thomas.

"And here's an invite list," said Percy.

Percy gave Thomas a list of engines and people to send out invitations to.

"Wow," said Thomas, "That's quite a list."

"Yeah," said Percy, "But, it's a good thing I got this."

Percy pointed to the mail car he was pulling.

"The invitations are already in there," said Percy.

"How'd you get all those invitations made so fast," asked Thomas.

"First we made a single one," said Ryan, "then we photocopied it several times."

"Nice," said Thomas, "Well, Percy, get those invitations delivered!"

With that being said, Percy wasted no time delivering all the invitations to the Narrow Gauge Railway, Rex, Bert, and Mike at the Arlesdale Railway, Connor and Caitlin on the Mainland, and all the other guests who were on the list. Soon, all the guests had arrived and some brought their own dishes. The Narrow Gauge Engines brought tater tot casserole and Rex, Bert, and Mike brought a pot of celery root soup. The cake and pizza had already been delivered, all paid for by Ernie, who had been invited as well as his six-year-old daughter, Rhonda, or "Bubbles" as she preferred to be called, who had blond hair, blue eyes, and wore a blue tank top with a black stripe, white stockings, and black Mary Jane shoes. She also wore dark blue hair clips in her hair. Ernie had brought along his grill and was cooking burgers and hot dogs on it, with help from the Earl, who himself had rented a cotton candy cart, a popcorn cart, and an ice cream truck as well as a dunk booth. He even hired Mr. Bubbles to perform.

"Alright," said Thomas, "now all we need is Sir Topham Hatt himself."

"I'll go get him," said Stepney.

With that, Stepney left the castle and went back to Sodor, where he found Sir Topham Hatt in his office packing all his stuff. Stepney whistled to get his attention.

"I'll be right there," said Sir Topham Hatt.

Sir Topham Hatt finished what he was doing and came outside to see Stepney.

"What's up, Stepney," asked Sir Topham Hatt.

"Can you come to Ulfstead Castle, please," asked Stepney.

Sir Topham Hatt was confused.

"Uh, okay, sure," said Sir Topham Hatt.

With that, Sir Topham Hatt climbed aboard Stepney's cab, and Stepney's driver tied a blindfold around Sir Topham Hatt's eyes.

"What's going on," asked Sir Topham Hatt, "You're not kidnapping me, are you?"

"No, no," said Stepney, "of course not!"

"Oh, okay," said Sir Topham Hatt.

Soon, they arrived, and Sir Topham Hatt stepped down, and Stepney got into his position.

"Can I take this thing off now," asked Sir Topham Hatt.

"Yes," said Thomas.

Sir Topham Hatt took off the blindfold.

"Surprise," all the engines shouted.

Sir Topham Hatt was surprised and happy.

"Wow," said Sir Topham Hatt, "A surprise party? For me?"

"Yes," said Thomas, "We've been working on it all day."

Sir Topham Hatt smiled at his engines.

"Why, I don't know what to say," said Sir Topham Hatt.

"How about "thank you"," asked Ryan, "Do you even know who much blood and sweat went into preparing this thing?"

Everyone laughed, and the party began. About 15 minutes into the festivities, Thomas spoke up.

"Everyone," said Thomas, "I'd like to take this time to read a speech I wrote."

Thomas then got out a sheet of paper, which was a speech that went something like this:

> Ladies and Gentlemen,
>
>

> I'd like to take this time to commemorate a man who served the North Western Railway on the Island of Sodor faithfully for many years, a man who loved all his engines very much like his own sons and daughters, a man who always knew what was best and sought to right every wrong and fix every problem anyway he can. This man is one Sir Topham Hatt. And now, his term has come to an end, for he will be moving on with his life. He will be missed, but his legacy shall live on in all our hearts and memories. Thank you, Sir Topham Hatt, for everything you have done for this railway. We will miss you.
>
>

Everyone was touched by Thomas' speech. Some were in tears, especially Ryan, who immediately started crying his eyes out. Stanley as well as Ryan's driver and firemen immediately comforted the purple engine.

"There, there," soothed Ryan's driver as he rubbed Ryan's smoke-box, "It's okay, buddy, it's okay."

"Thank you, Thomas," said Sir Topham Hatt as he himself wiped a tear from his cheek, "That was very well put."

"Thank you, sir," said Thomas, "I almost cried myself when I wrote this thing."

Eventually, things started to die down at the party, and everyone left. That very weekend, Sir Topham Hatt's retirement went into effect, so did Ernie's inheritance of the railway. Most of the engines had a hard time dealing with this change, while others adapted real quick. Thomas was one of those who adapted quickly, and the following Monday afternoon, while he was going back to Tidmouth, he saw Sir Topham Hatt, who was wearing a brown fedora, a blue blazer over a white button-down shirt, a red and yellow tie, brown pants, and dark brown shoes.

"Hello, Sir," said Thomas.

"Hello, Thomas," said Sir Topham Hatt, or just "Mr. Hatt" as he wanted to be called now, "How's it going?"

"Very well," said Thomas, "How was your first day of being a teacher?"

"It was okay," said Mr. Hatt, "but I had to give three students detention for throwing paper airplanes in class."

Thomas chuckled.

"Even though you no longer control us," said Thomas, "You're doing just as great at controlling students."

The two shared a laugh, and Thomas continued home, happy that Sir Topham Hatt was enjoying his new career.

**The End**