A Better View for Diesel 10

***A Better Biew for Diesel 10*** is the second episode of the fifth series.

## Plot

One morning, Diesel 10 was complaining. This was annoying D199, who asks why the yellow ocre diesel complains all the time. Diesel 10 replies that he is a big engine that knows everything and shall complain whenever he wants, while D199 was just a small blue engine with ideas above his station. He also states that one day he will show just what a big engine can really do, and also insults Dennis for asking what a big engine can really do.

Later, Diesel 10 was ordered by the Fat Controller to pull an empty express train to Kirk Ronan for a dress rehearsal to test the new station building. At first, he refuses to do it since Class 40 usually likes idling in stations, but the Fat Controller didn’t care and tells him to do as he is told. But while along the way, he begins to feel sick. His oiler tells him that he should go to the Works as his pipes were clogged. Diesel 10 soon arrives at the new station. He was impressed but was disappointed when in front of him is a blank wall and a huge set of buffers. Diesel 10 remarks the "view" to be boring and says that important engines should have a panoramic view so that people can see him but is relieved when it is time for his return journey.

On the return journey, Diesel 10 tries to build up speed, but he breaks down and comes to a complete stop in a siding. His oiler tells him that something inside of him is broken and that he was in dire need of repairs at the Works. When D199 arrives to collect his coaches, he tells Diesel 10 that he was too oiled up in his smoke vents and it served him right.

When Diesel 10 was repaired a few days later, he was still boasting and claims he is the finest engine on the Island of Sodor, and probably the world. He then leaves for the official opening of Kirk Ronan with the Fat Controller riding in the cab with his crew. When he approaches the station however, there is trouble; his crew were unable to apply his brakes due to an unknown jam. His driver reduces speed, but Diesel 10 was still going too fast to stop in time and crashes through the back of the station, completely destroying the wall and suffering damage to his buffers and his front undercarriage. His crew and The Fat Controller were injured from the impact and arrive onboard a scissor lift, where the Fat Controller tells Diesel 10 that he knew he wanted a panoramic view, but that breaking through the wall was not the way to achieve it.

Upon his second return from the Works, Diesel 10 arrives back at the station for its second official opening and this time he arrives safely. Diesel 10 was delighted to discover the broken wall has been turned into a panoramic window, affectionately named, "Diesel 10’s View." The Fat Controller tells him that it was here to stay, and he trusts that he will always see through it from the safety of his own rails. Diesel 10 heartily agreed.

## Characters

* Diesel 10
* Diesel 199
* Dennis
* Sir Topham Hatt
* Class 40 (*does not speak*)
* Diesel (*cameo*)
* BoCo (*cameo*)
* Class 08 (*cameo*)
* Stephen Hatt (*cameo*)
* Bridget Hatt (*cameo*)
* Jeremiah Jobling (*cameo*)
* Sodor Island Council (*cameo*)
* Nancy (*cameo*)
* The Quarry-Master (*cameo*)
* The Storyteller (*cameo*)
* The Mid Sodor Railway Manager (*cameo*)
* The Dryaw Policeman (*cameo*)
* Mr. Walsh (*cameo*)
* One Little Boy (*cameo*)
* One member of the Railway Society (*cameo*)

## Trivia

* The episode is based off the third episode of the fifth series from *Thomas & Friends*, A Better View for Gordon.
* Diesel 10's crash at Kirk Ronan was inspired by the Gare Montparnasse derailment in Paris, France. On 22nd October 1895, the Granville-Paris Express ran through the buffer stop, across the station concourse, and crashed through the station wall, landing in the Place de Rennes below. This event was also depicted in the 2007 novel *The Invention of Hugo Cabret* and its 2011 film adaptation *Hugo*. David Maidment showed the production team a poster of the disaster. A small picture of the real-life incident can be seen in the Thomas & Friends Exhibition at Drayton Manor at Bluff's Cove in the waiting room.
* The barrel that the Fat Controller is standing on when he is talking to Gordon near the beginning is the "Best Quality Steam Coal" barrel from the fourth series episode, Bowled Out.
* This episode marks the first of several things:
	+ The first appearance of Kirk Ronan station in the television series, replacing Knapford for the fifth series.
	+ The first and only episode to have human characters sustain injuries during a locomotive crash, with Diesel 10's driver breaking his arm and the Fat Controller getting a black eye. This is the first episode to have human injuries in a crash.