A/N: this goes out to @Kieron0103 and his Haven Railway story, and I thought I'd get back in the saddle of making a Thomas and Friends story again. Also, this is tied in with @Kieron0103's book 'The Beacon Railway'.
Sodor is the island of the North...
With Darla now feeling better, as well as having some therapy lessons with Miss Sunohara, she was now feeling like her old self again, her old self back before her 1950's accident. She didn't mind taking the goods trains whenever one engine wasn't available, and even lends a buffer when double-heading passenger trains. Braedey, Diana, Shadow, Madeline, Anna. and the others are very pleased to have Darla on the team.
Benjamin, meanwhile, he had been sitting in the sheds for a while. But fortunately, good news came his way: Mr. Franklin had managed to procure a second-hand Gardner 8-cylinder engine, which was cleaned and had been prepared for use. Once it was installed and ready to go, Benjamin now felt like a new locomotive, and he soon got to work shunting trucks, wagons, coaches, and he was actually very good at his shunting duties.
~*~*~
Over on Sodor, Braedey, Anna, Darla, and Shadow had been taking some excursion trains from their railway to Sodor, by special request from Sir Topham Hatt. They were confused as to what the occasion was, and yet, it seems nobody else on the island knows about what's going on.
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At Knapford Station, the other engines have gathered up at the adjacent platforms and were wondering what was going on. Braedey and his fellow engines were all sitting on the adjacent tracks as well, all of them in confusion and curiosity as to what's going on. There was also a lot of photographers and cameras around at Platform 1, as well as a podium stand being set up.
Thomas steamed in from his branchline at Ffarquhar. "Hey. What's going on?" He asked.
"I don't know, Thomas. I've not seen anything like this before or for a while." Braedey answered back to him. "I've seen something like this back when the Josephine Railway first opened back in 1972. But if I had to guess on what's going on..."
"Possibly someone special is arriving here." Silver Link finished, reversing up alongside Gordon to take a local train. "Though, I've not seen so many photographers before. Last I saw of this was years ago in London."
"Whatever it might be, it's disturbing my timetable." Gordon fumed. He looked to the clock to see the time. "The express was to leave Platform 1 30 minutes ago."
"Gordon, the express was set back for a reason, and you know why." Edward lightly scolds him as he got his trucks to take to Brendam. "Sir Topham Hatt knows what he is doing. We should respect his ideas."
"And what might be the reason as to that?" Gordon raised an eyebrow at this.
Just then, a man in a black suit with a microphone in hand walked up the podium, the sound of the feedback from the microphone being heard for a short moment. As this happens, the faint sound of an approaching engine could be heard in the distance, Braedey and Thomas both hearing the sound as it's coming in fast.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. Boys and Girls. Locomotives of all shapes and size." The gentleman announced on the microphone. "Are you ready?" As some children cheer, the sound of a fast-approaching locomotive could be heard closing in fast to the station. "Diesels of the modern era, cower in fear..." Suddenly, a wall of steam erupts from out of nowhere, as the sound of some kind of engine pulled to a stop before the station with a hiss of its brakes.
