The New Track (1992 magazine story)

The New Track is a magazine story.

Plot
One day, The Fat Controller spends all morning in his office sketching out a plan for a new section of track that will be laid soon. When lunchtime arrives, he goes home and leaves the sketch in the office. Stephen Hatt - who is visiting Sodor for a holiday - is playing with a toy engine outside. The toy engine has become muddy after being played with by some puddles so Stephen goes into the office and waits for his grandfather to return, continuing to play with the toy engine on the desk. Unknown to Stephen, however, the toy engine's muddy wheels end up smearing The Fat Controller's sketch.

After lunch is finished, The Fat Controller has a talk with some men who will be making a model for the new track to make sure it will work properly before the real work is started. The Fat Controller informs the men that the plan is in the office. He gets quite a shock the next day, however, when the model is shown off and appears to have muddy looking lines on it.

The Fat Controller finds Stephen and asks if he has been playing with his toy engine on the desk. Stephen tells his grandfather that he was and the model maker admits he thought the muddy lines were part of the design. The Fat Controller is relieved that it was only the model and not the real thing that looked like that and Stephen promises to be more careful where he plays and to keep his toy engines clean.

Characters

 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Stephen Hatt
 * James

Trivia

 * Stephen's toy engine resembles Thomas.