The Service

The Service is a magazine story.

Plot
It is time for Thomas to visit The Works for a service. Thomas insists that he feels fine but his driver says that the engineers will make sure all of Thomas' parts are in good working order. Thomas, however, is disappointed at having to leave Annie and Clarabel behind.

Thomas is left at The Works where he is surrounded by some old, damaged engines, some of which are in pieces! The engineers soon get to work and in no time at all, Thomas feels splendid. Back at the yard, Annie and Clarabel are delighted to see Thomas and compliment him. Thomas then takes the coaches out to work.

But by the first station, Thomas can hear a loud clanging in his boiler. The driver is unsure what could be wrong since Thomas has just been serviced and goes to telephone The Fat Controller. The Fat Controller and Thomas' crew begin to inspect Thomas all over when a workman arrives with a letter. The Fat Controller reads the letter and learns that the chief engineer's special spanner has gone missing and that it may have been left inside an engine's boiler!

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * The Old Engines