Treasure

**Treasure** is the ninth episode of the fourth season of the Stories of Sodor and the fifty-ninth episode overall.

Treasure/Transcript

## Plot

In the first few months of 1959, Sodor was experiencing another tourism boom, this time from the positive reception of the airing of a TV Documentary which Harold was instrumental in the production of. The program focused on a detailed look into the daily lives of Sudrians, including interviews with staff, locals and engines. Just like the last two tourism booms, every business took off considerably, but it brought a rise in vandalism, trespassing and destruction of property. The documentary also went into detail about the legend of King Godred.

At Barrow-in-Furness, Reginald, Sheffield and Diesel are talking about the main aspect: Godred's treasure, which was buried before he disappeared, hence the rise in vandalism. The people there aren't just looking for Godred's treasure, but they're also looking for Culdee's crown; Legend says those who wear it are given immortality, but they go insane, as apparently, Culdee had ruled Sodor for centuries and by the time Godred had invaded, his sanity had long since disappeared. Diesel also remarks that those searching for the crown as just as crazy, from what he learned from one person. Reginald also guesses this was why Godred buried his treasure and trekked up Culdee Fell, thinking his rival came back. Sheffield thinks Godred had buried his treasure at the top of the mountain, but Reginald dismisses the theory because the area is now a nature reserve and comments that greed makes people do foolish things. Diesel suggests to lock up those trying to find the treasure and throw away the key, as quoted by Sean Hainsley on the radio that morning. He also points out that there should be tougher penalties for treasure hunters, but Reginald tells him there are better crimes than prison sentences. Sheffield agrees with Reginald that something has to be done before things get worse, as he fears the wrong kind of people will start hunting for it.

Back on Sodor, three men are talking near Elsbridge. Barry McKinley instructs Stan and Kenny to sneak onto the Hainsley Estate and dig something that will be found in a crate, which he buried on the eastern side of the grounds. He wants them to do the task for him because the Estate is near the Skarloey Railway and doesn't want to risk going there to do it himself. Barry warns them not to look inside the crate or screw up the job and to leave when they're finished. That night, the two arrive at the Estate and have started digging. They had dug up the crate and carried it into the hood of their lorry. Suddenly, a dog barks and charges towards them. One man shoots the dog, knocking it out. The two men dash into their lorry and high-tail away. The dog was owned by Dennis, who had seen everything.

The next day, Duke tells Stuart and Falcon about what had happened. The dog survived, but Dennis is still worried. Duke thinks they might not really be treasure hunters, since the place used to be the home of Tom McKinley, the founder and the chairman of the Sodor Branch of the British Union. Falcon doesn't see this as plausible, since the party was dismantled during the war, though Duke adds some escaped after the group tried to blow up Knapford Harbour. McKinley was found dead shortly after the incident, so Duke thinks it could be an unexposed Union Member. Falcon guesses Hainsley will go in on this, since he is a politician and lives in the house of a former fascist, and he wants to limit the power of trade unions. Falcon and Duke briefly discuss unions before Stuart redirects the topic by asking Duke about the man he was talking to that morning. He was a military historian from South Africa who is writing a book about a company of soldiers that was formed on Sodor to fight in the Second Boer War and also knows some of the men who joined. However, most of them had passed away since then. Duke also helped the man to another surviving veteran.

Meanwhile, at Fort Sudrian, Whiff, the veteran Duke was referring to, is talking to military historian. Rosie, who was working, overheard their conversation and asks Whiff about the man. Whiff was speaking Afrikaans, which he had learned in South Africa. He tells Rosie he actually served in the Second Boer War. He usually delivered troops and supplies rather than fighting and he also carried out medical evacuations. On one of them, he met a young ambulance worker, Mahatma Gandhi (who would later be the leader of the independence movement in India) and a young war correspondent, Winston Churchill (who would later be Prime Minister of Britain during World War II). Whiff enjoyed his interview, until the historian asked about the Great Diamond Heist. He was the engine pulling the train and was blocked off from escaping when the Boers blew up the track and chopped down a tree. Suddenly, Benson storms in with a post train and barks at Rosie to move the trucks for him to deliver the "letters from the bank" to the ship's dispersing office so the ship can move off. He also barks at Whiff to leave the facility and he does so.

Letters from the bank was sometimes a code for money. The banks have used post trains for years to move their money across Britain, but they never came with security, only defended by being unidentified. While this was absurd, it was successful, as there has only been one successful robbery in the Post Train's history. The extra tourists who came to Sodor had given the Island's economy a big boost of money, which increased the size and frequency of cash shipments leaving Sodor. The Sodor Council was anxious, since the latest victim of alleged treasure hunters was on the estate of Sean Hainsley, who was Sodor's member of Parliament. Furious, he fought to regulate all treasure hunting on Sodor. A permit was now required and those who operated without one were arrested, put in prison or had to pay a fine. The police began cracking down hard on unauthorised excavations and sellers of counterfeit maps.

Barry McKinley calls out Stan and Kenny for their failure. Stan protests Barry didn't mention the dog, and Kenny admits they need more money if he can keep them on. Barry doesn't need them now and has arranged to ship the crate off of Sodor and orders them to leave. The two men get out of the building, and discuss what to do next. Kenny wants to rob post offices and cars, but Stan has other ideas.

That night, Geoffrey is taking a post train. His driver is grumbling about the baseless fear-mongering. After talking about communism and their freedoms for a short while, Geoffrey suddenly sees the lucky lamp sitting on the track in front of him. Just then, he hears something coming from a bush nearby, but it's just a deer. Suddenly, an owl hoots, startling him again.

Soon, the fog came down. Kenny is having doubts about Stan's idea, though he knew what to do in the circumstance. Suddenly, Old Bailey sneaks up behind them. He overheard their conversation and knows they won't be successful, as he had heard about his grandson's dog being shot. After more taunting from Stan and Kenny, Old Bailey gives them a beating.

This action put him in prison, but wasn't in there too long thanks to his son-in-law, Sean Hainsley, who wanted the men to be prosecuted. Stan and Kenny sold out Barry McKinley, Tom McKinley's brother. The police found Barry and the crate and inside it were documents that detailed the full extent of the British Union's crimes and the list of people involved. Many were politicians and businessmen, most of whom escaped justice after  the events at Knapford Harbour. Barry was asked why he wanted the documents and he admitted that he worked for a crime boss who planned to use them to extort money and influence from the figures. A massive operation was undertaken which gutted numerous crimes and careers, which Hainsley took advantage of to win reelection the following year. The engines were conflicted, but they admitted that the regulations he helped with curtailing treasure hunting. Going onwards, most attempts to find King Godred's treasure were legal and those not were quickly shut down. Soon enough, Dennis' dog would recover.

## Characters

* Diesel
* Reginald
* Sheffield
* James
* Whiff
* Rosie
* Benson
* Geoffrey
* Skarloey
* Falcon
* Stuart
* Duke
* Old Bailey
* Edward *(narration only; mentioned)*
* Harold *(does not speak)*
* Henry *(cameo)*
* Toby *(cameo)*
* Emily *(cameo)*
* Peckett *(cameo)*
* Samantha *(cameo)*
* Alfred *(cameo)*
* Rheneas *(cameo)*
* Duncan *(cameo)*
* Ivo Hugh *(cameo)*
* Stanley *(cameo)*
* Theodore *(cameo)*
* Mr. Zorro *(mentioned)*

## Trivia

* Treasure was originally going to feature Nazi gold, but it was changed to documents on the British Union, likely because Nazi gold just did not make sense. Also, Treasure was originally was going to take place in between the episode Mountain and the episode that eventually became Robbery.
* This is the first episode where Edward does not appear, although he does narrate this episode and is mentioned by Whiff.