Saving Santa!

"Look, Santa's caught the train!" "I think the train caught Santa!"

- The children and Harold

Saving Santa! is a magazine story.

Plot
One winter's day, the ground has a thick layer of snow on it as Thomas puffs into the Main Station with the "Santa Special" train. Soon, all the passengers are onboard Annie and Clarabel and they set off. Thomas is having a hard time chuffing through the big snowdrifts and on the icy rails, but he battles on. Harold is hovering close by and Thomas tells him that they are going to see Santa flying over Wellsworth. As Thomas pulls into Wellsworth, he immediately spots a big, red Santa balloon.

As the last of the passengers step off the train, the Santa balloon breaks loose and soars into the sky. Thomas quickly builds up steam and races after it. The balloon passes Harold and Thomas asks him to help, but he cannot; his blades would burst the balloon if he were to get too close. Soon, the long cable that is trailing from the balloon gets hooked on a bridge. The driver grabs it tightly and they puff very proudly back to Wellsworth.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Harold
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Annie and Clarabel

Trivia

 * In this story, Thomas wears a dark grey snowplough instead of his usual blue one.

Goofs

 * It is said that all of the passengers climb out of Annie and Clarabel before Thomas chases the balloon, but in the final illustration, passengers can be seen onboard Annie.