Selling the Railway

Selling the Railway is a magazine story.

Plot
One day, Henry is waiting to be coupled to a goods train in the yard when The Fat Controller and another man pass by. Henry overhears The Fat Controller says that he plans to sell his railway and how his engines are getting old. The man, revealed to be a museum curator, plans to display the engines in the museum. Henry is horrified at the thought!

That night, Henry informs his friends of the news. Percy is scared, claiming to be too young for a museum. Gordon insists that every engine must work twice as hard to prove their usefulness to The Fat Controller.

In the morning, Percy and James get into an argument about taking a train to the quarry individually instead of together while Henry and Gordon argue about who can carry more passengers. Thomas begins to worry that all this arguing will lead to the engines being sold for sure.

On one passenger run, Thomas sees the museum curator climbing into Clarabel and pleads to him not to buy the engines. The curator laughs when Thomas explains what he had heard. The Fat Controller then informs the engines that he is selling his old childhood toy train set to the museum. The engines feel very foolish indeed.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Clarabel