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...
The next morning, Braedey had collected his coaches for his morning run from Marion to Sodor, with Austin taking care of the shunting work, Liliana heading out onto the Lake District Line to do morning inspection before Shadow could go and take the sunny morning runs around the line. For Max, with his engine still broken, he'll have to be taken to the mechanic's shop to have his engine repaired. He was loaded up onto a flatbed trailer, and a semi-truck began to take him off to the workshop to be fixed.
With the engines now on their way with their work, Mr. Franklin had driven up to the sheds. He walked over to Diana's closed berth shed doors, and he opened them. He entered the berth, and he walked up to the C.R 812 Class engine, her paint shining a little in the sun.
"Good morning, Diana." Mr. Franklin spoke quietly to the royal blue engine. Diana remained quiet, all the while looking to Mr. Franklin silently and with sad eyes. "Listen, Diana. Your friends and my family are very concerned for you, and we want to see you back in steam once again." He gently patted her buffer-beam. "Fortunately, I have something for you to help you with your anxiety and nervousness." Diana looked to him with concern in her eyes. "I can assure you Diana, they can help out any engine or being." He said to her.
A moment later, the sound of a GNR steam whistle echoed out. Diana and Mr. Franklin could see a cloud of steam behind a large cluster of trees. A few moments go by, then a large green locomotive pulled up nearby the sheds, steam hissing from its pistons.
The engine was a Great Northern Railway (GNR) C1 Atlantic, a type of 4-4-2 steam engine. The engine is a female. She is painted in LNER light green with gold linings. The number 288 is painted on her cabs in gold, and the letters 'G.N.R' is painted on her tender in gold.
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The C1 Class, as it was known under both GNR & LNER classifications, was designed by Henry A. Ivatt, as an enlarged version of what became the LNER C2 Class. The principle of the design was to produce a powerful, free-steaming engine to haul the fastest and heaviest express trains on the Great Northern. They could thus be seen as the start of the East Coast 'Big Engine' policy.
"Hello, Alice." Mr. Franklin greeted to the GNR C1. "I trust that your journey wasn't too arduous."
"No, sir. It was rather enjoyable, and it was nice to go down your line." Alice then noticed Diana sitting in her berth. "You must be Diana. It's nice to meet you." She greeted. Diana remained silent, and Alice respected this. "I see. She's been like this for a while?" She asked to Mr. Franklin.
"Unfortunately, this has happened ever since the 1950's and 60's." Mr. Franklin replied, much to Alice's surprise. "She's just scared of being ridiculed and being treated as a lower-class engine, with other putting her down." He added on.
"Very well." Alice acknowledged. "Mr. Franklin, I'll do what I can." With a nod, the manager walked back to his car, climbed in, and he drove away. Alice slowly puffed up onto the turntable, and inches forward, stopping just outside of Diana's berth. "Diana. You don't have to feel afraid. I'm a friend."
