King of the Railway

**King of the Railway** is the first episode of the eleventh season, the 231st episode overall and the fourth special of the series.

## Plot

One morning at Knapford Harbour, Thomas and Percy are shunting, but not very carefully. Thomas biffs a truck into another, causing a crate to fall out. Inside is a suit of armour. Percy thinks it is alive and runs away, but Thomas stays and wonders why the suit of armour was there and who it belonged to.

Then, one day, all the engines and Thomas' coaches are sent to the washdown. None of them know why, but Emily knows Spencer is coming and James thinks a special visitor is arriving. The Fat Controller comes up and tells all the engines that his old friend Sir Robert Norramby will be arriving back on Sodor from travelling the world. All the engines become very excited and soon there are lots of preparations for the Earl's arrival. All the engines then gather at Knapford Station and soon Spencer steams in bringing the Earl. The Fat Controller greets a very surprised Sir Robert Norramby, who gets confused about whom the party is for. Thinking it is for somebody else, he clambers back into his coach and says goodbye to them all. He then mentions that he promised someone called Millie that he would be at the castle by 2:00, but none of the engines know who he is talking about.

The next morning, Thomas is sent to Brendam Docks to pick up some more crates to take to the estate at Ulfstead Castle. When he arrives, a little blue bubbly French engine rolls up next to him. Thomas guesses she that it is Millie, which she is. Millie explains that she had been locked up in her shed whilst the Earl was travelling, but she is now able to steam freely again. Sir Robert Norramby clambers aboard Millie’s coach and thanks Thomas for helping him. He then mentions something about King Godred's golden crown, leaving a rather puzzled Thomas.

Then, one evening, Spencer returns back to Sodor and arrives at Tidmouth Sheds, saying that the Earl has asked for him again. He then has a slight argument about who is faster with Gordon, ending with a decision to race the very next day. When morning comes, the two engines begin their race. Gordon thinks it is unfair that he has a long line of coaches behind him, yet Spencer does not. Nevertheless he works hard and is just about to catch up to Spencer, when the streamlined engine turns off the mainline, saying he has special work to complete with the Earl. This leaves a very annoyed Gordon. Later that morning, Percy is shunting at the docks, when he spies what he thinks is Thomas and jumps at him. However, it is Spencer, who jumps in surprise. Percy asks what Spencer is doing and he replies that he has taken the Earl to the docks for an important meeting with the dock manager. That afternoon, Thomas finds Spencer at the Blue Mountain Quarry. Spencer denies that he has anything to do with the long line of trucks behind him, until the Earl tells him to couple up to the train. Thomas laughs, telling him he is being "really useful." Spencer just groans.

At Knapford Station, some of the engines are discussing why the Earl would want rails and big heavy stones. They think there must be a new railway line, with a station. Suddenly, Toby rushes in, telling all the engines that Henry has burst his safety valve and the Fat Controller wants Percy to take his heavy goods train to the Earl’s estate. Percy excitedly puffs off, leaving a rather confused group of engines. They all know Percy is not strong enough to pull a heavy train.

At the docks, Percy pulls in to find James already at the front of the train. James says it is his train and not Percy’s. As the two begin to argue, Thomas pulls in and states that it is his train. The engines begin to argue, until the Fat Controller arrives and explains that all three engines will have to pull the train. So the engines set off. They have a rough time with the troublesome trucks, especially steaming up Gordon’s hill. But they make it and are soon heaving into the Earl’s estate. They are all surprised at what they see; the whole place looks like a building site and the engines cannot understand it. Thomas then sees Jack, who explains the Earl is helping to restore Ulfstead Castle. The engines now understand what he is doing and are very excited. Then the Earl arrives, explaining that one truck was supposed to be dropped off at the Steamworks. None of the engines understand why, but they are very curious to find out. So they all decide to travel with the Earl to find out. At the Steamworks, the crate is lifted off the truck, to reveal a very old, rusty engine named Stephen. The engines are amazed and ask Stephen lots of questions. They then ask the Earl why Stephen had been brought to Sodor. The Earl explains he has a special job for him, but he warns them not to tell him just yet, as he may get a little too excited. When they return back to Tidmouth Sheds, Thomas, Percy and James tell the rest of the engines all about him. The engines are thrilled and they all want to meet Stephen.

The next morning, as Henry’s safety valve is still faulty, he is taken to the Steamworks by Emily. Once they get there, they discover Stephen hanging from the ceiling. He explains he is having his undercarriage looked at. Just then, the rest of the Steam Team roll in and Stephen is very surprised that they all wanted to come and see him. He then tells stories of his past, about how he was the most reliable engine in his time, as well as being the fastest. He then goes on to say how he worked at some docks and the mines. He then sighs, saying how modern engines are much faster than he is and stronger. But nevertheless, he is happy to be fixed.

Over the coming weeks, Stephen's restoration is completed. All of the engines come to see him in his new paintwork and gleaming brass domes. But the Fat Controller is not very happy seeing all of his engines not working. However, he then tells Thomas, Percy and James to return to Ulfstead Castle at once, as the Earl has another job for them. Thomas is excited, but he sees Stephen’s sad face. Thomas knows it is because Stephen does not have a job and wants to go and make him feel better, but James warns him that the Earl said he was not supposed to tell Stephen about his special job. Thomas decides to anyway, only for Stephen to laugh when Thomas tells him, but thanks him for cheering him up. The engines return to the castle, where they find that plenty of progress has been made. There are even rails leading inside the castle. Sir Robert Norramby is very pleased with the work, but there was still some for the engines to do. They have to replace roof beams on the main castle building, by pulling a flatbed, known as the Traveller, which is very heavy. The engines have to work very hard together, but it is a big struggle.

Meanwhile, Henry leaves the Steamworks after being fixed. Stephen wants to leave, but he does not know what his special job is. Not even Victor or Kevin can tell him. At last Stephen cannot wait any longer and decides that he will have to find his new job and sets out at once to find it. Meanwhile, Gordon is out pulling the express, when Spencer steams up again, challenging him to another race. Gordon agrees and the two set off. Gordon begins to edge ahead of Spencer, pleased that he may win. Suddenly, he spots something ahead of him on the tracks; it is Stephen, steaming slowly along. Gordon slams on his brakes, finally slowing down, just in time. He tells Stephen to hurry up, but Stephen replies that he is travelling as fast as he can. Gordon groans as he watches Spencer race away, whilst he is stuck behind the slowest engine on Sodor.

Back at Ulfstead Castle, the engines are still moving the giant structure. Percy wobbles slightly, causing spanners to fall down. James tells him off, leaving Thomas warning the two to pay attention. He pulls ahead too sharply and it causes the roof beam to fall down, covering the place in dust. Nobody is hurt, but James’ lovely red paint is ruined. But the engines try again and finally, the roof beams are all in place. Everybody is very relieved.

Stephen however, arrives at the docks to look for work. Diesel and Paxton are shunting there and Diesel tells Stephen that there is no work for him at all at the docks and only modern engines should work there. Paxton tries to make amends by being friendly to Stephen, but he does not mind. He just sets off to find another job. He arrives at the Blue Mountain Quarry. He introduces himself to Luke, Skarloey and Rheneas, who let him pull some heavy trucks. Stephen however, only manages to pull one truck and almost derails at a bend. Skarloey tells him that maybe the jobs here are not so good for him, but there is an old mine up at Ulfstead Castle. Stephen decides he will go and take a look.

Back at Ulfstead, the Earl shows Thomas, Percy and James his collections of old artifacts that he collected from travelling the world. The engines are amazed, especially when they find out that Stephen is going to be the tour guide of the castle and grounds. The Earl tells Thomas he can go and tell Stephen this and finally, James is given permission to go and have a wash. Whilst he is there, two speedy engines rush past Hiro who's passing the Vicarstown bridge. They also race past James at the washdown, then Gordon and Spencer who are racing again. The engines introduce themselves as Connor and Caitlin, who have come to Sodor to take passengers up to Ulfstead Castle. They challenge the two engines to a race, but both Gordon and Spencer come up with excuses about why they should not, knowing that they have no chance of winning.

Stephen, meanwhile, rolls up to the bottom of the slope up to Ulfstead Castle. He is delighted to find the old mine and quickly puffs towards it. But when he reaches the entrance, he finds it all blocked up. He is extremely disappointed and concludes that Thomas must have been wrong about him having a special job. Whilst this is going on, Sir Robert Norramby realises that there are some Troublesome Trucks that need to be taken away. Thomas and Percy offer to take them, but the Earl is not so sure; he is worried the train will be too heavy, and decide to call the Fat Controller to send James back to help. But the two engines insist that do not need James' help and slowly push the trucks to the top of the hill. Suddenly, Percy shouts that there should be an engine at the front, but it is too late. The trucks pull the two engines down the hill, much too fast for the two tank engines to stop. Stephen is just backing up, when he hears the sound of the runaway train coming along his line. There is nothing he can do, except smash through the blocked entrance, which causes his funnel to fly off and rocks to fall down behind him, leaving him trapped. The trucks hit the fallen rocks and stop. Thomas and Percy are relieved and slowly pull the trucks backwards, unaware of Stephen's incident.

Sometime later, Thomas goes to the Steamworks to tell Stephen the good news, but when he arrives, Stephen is not there. Victor apologises, saying he does not know where he is, so Thomas goes to find Percy and James. James tells Thomas he was silly for telling Stephen he had a job. The engines then all go out to look for him. Percy looks at the castle, but neither Jack nor Millie have seen Stephen. James searches at the docks, but Cranky says that Diesel told him to keep out of the way. At the Blue Mountain Quarry, Thomas asks the small engines, but Luke explains about the trucks accident. Thomas is very worried.

Deep, deep down inside Ulfstead Mine, Stephen is whistling for help. But after a while, he decides that help will not be coming, so he decides to try and find his own way out. He patrols all of the tunnels, but he keeps getting to dead ends. Stephen feels very upset and rolls back, but accidentally knocks into some rocks, causing a rock fall. Rocks tumble from the ceiling and suddenly, Stephen spots an old wooden chest. Thinking it is junk, he bumps it out of the way. This makes it open up, however and inside is something that Stephen cannot believe he had actually found.

Next morning, Thomas, Percy and James all get up early and are about to go out and look for Stephen when Sir Topham Hatt arrives. He questions the engines on what they are doing and they reply back by telling him about Stephen. Just as they are saying this, Sir Robert Norramby drives in and asks if anybody has seen Stephen saying that Victor left the steamworks to him as well. In the end, the Fat Controller agrees to let Thomas, James and Percy go and look for Stephen. They start searching everywhere, with the help of Connor, Caitlin and the Sodor Search and Rescue crew. But no matter how hard they look, they just cannot find Stephen.

Down in the mine, poor Stephen is running out of steam. As he rounds a bend, he suddenly realises that he is now back at where he had started and had travelled in a big loop. He tries to steam back again, but he runs out of puff. Outside the mine, Percy suggests Thomas should go and look down the old track leading up to it. Thomas agrees and steams forwards. Just before the mine is some elevated track held by rotten wooden supports. Thomas is a little bit nervous when he steams over it. He reaches the end and finds the blocked tunnel. He sighs, knowing Stephen would not be down there. As he reverses, he suddenly spots Stephen's funnel. Thomas calls to Stephen, but Stephen does not respond, not having enough puff left. Thomas is about to steam away, when Stephen suddenly lets out a blast of his whistle. Thomas is extremely happy and knows exactly what he needs to do.

Thomas brings Jack down from the Castle and to the mine. Jack quickly clears away the rocks blocking the entrance and Thomas steams inside. He finds Stephen and pulls him out to safety. Stephen is very happy, as are Sir Robert Norramby, Percy and James, who have just arrived. Stephen is about to say something very important when suddenly the elevated section of track begins to collapse. Stephen is hanging off the broken end. Thomas pulls with all his might, but Stephen is still slipping. However, Jack comes along and pushes up with his bucket. Thomas finally manages to pull Stephen to safety.

The next day, everybody is ready for the grand opening of Ulfstead Castle. Stephen arrives, with a shiny new funnel and is greeted warmly by everybody. The Earl opens the castle and tells everybody that whilst Stephen was in the mine, he discovered King Godred's Golden Crown, which is a main artifact at the castle. Stephen, along with Millie, becomes a tour guide of the castle and the grounds and to end the occasion Connor and Caitlin are to race just like knights of old used to do. However, they persuade Spencer and Gordon to race too. They race off away from the castle.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Edward
* Henry
* Gordon
* James
* Percy
* Toby
* Emily
* Spencer
* Murdoch
* Belle
* Stephen
* Connor
* Caitlin
* Diesel
* Paxton
* Skarloey
* Rheneas
* Victor
* Luke
* Millie
* Annie and Clarabel
* Troublesome Trucks
* Jack
* Kevin
* Cranky
* The Fat Controller
* Sir Robert Norramby
* Rosie *(cameo)*
* Salty *(cameo)*
* Stafford *(cameo)*
* Winston *(cameo)*
* Peter Sam *(cameo)*
* Rusty *(cameo)*
* Henrietta *(cameo)*
* Harold *(cameo)*
* Captain *(cameo)*

## Locations

Island of Sodor:

* Knapford
* Knapford Yards
* Knapford Harbour
* Sodor Steamworks
* Crosby Washdown
* Sodor Search and Rescue Centre
* Brendam Docks
* Ulfstead Castle
* Ulfstead Mine
* Vicarstown Bridge
* Blue Mountain Quarry
* Maron
* Gordon's Hill
* Killdane
* Tidmouth Sheds
* Sodor Suspension Bridge
* Vicarstown *(mentioned)*

The Mainland:

* Rainhill *(backstory only)*

## Trivia

* This special marks the first appearances of Sir Robert Norramby, Stephen, Connor, Caitlin and Millie in the series.
* Thomas, James and Percy triple-heading the train is similar to what Thomas, Percy and Duck did with the express in the story Triple Header from the 27th Railway Series book, Really Useful Engines.
* This is the second special to show an engine being restored. The first being Hero of the Rails where Hiro was being put back into service.

## References to Other Stories

* The scene with Henry stating he is being unable to build up steam alongside James is a near-image of the beginning scene of the first season episode, Coal, where Henry complains about the same inability to James. Furthermore, both engines are in the same positions for both the aforementioned episode and this special.
* Gordon recalls the events of the Flying Kipper accident when Henry was rebuilt in a new shape and complains about him needing special coal, whereas Toby says those problems were fixed years ago.
* Jack uses his scoop to hold the trestle up, similar to how he had to support the bridge in the sixth season episode, A Friend in Need.