Thomas Gives a Lift

Thomas Gives a Lift is a magazine story.

Plot
Strong winds have blown in from the north and are making things difficult for the engines. One day, The Fat Controller has an important meeting to attend and Gordon becomes most offended when Harold collects him instead of traveling on the express.

Harold begins to boast about how fast he can get The Fat Controller where he needs to go but Thomas tells Harold he is being rude. Harold just laughs and jokes that maybe one day he'll give Thomas a lift. Harold then tries his best to travel among the wind, regardless of The Fat Controller's worries. Thomas' driver tries to reassure him by saying that The Fat Controller only took Harold because of how busy the engines are.

Later, Thomas is taking the breakdown train to the harbour when he comes across a surprising sight. Harold, with a damaged rotor blade, has landed right on the track in front of him. Harold explains that he was flying low to escape the wind when a tree branch snapped and caught in his rotors so they had to make an emergency landing. Thomas is uncoupled from the breakdown train where he then moves to behind it and pushes the cranes into place so they can move Harold safely onto the hillside nearby. Harold's pilot goes off to call for a replacement rotor system and Thomas jokes how he was the one to give Harold a lift first.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Harold
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Gordon

Goofs

 * This story is previewed at the end of The Rescue despite The Thomas Club page of that issue referencing Things That Go Bump.