Thomas Comes Home

"When is Thomas coming back? If he does, I shouldn't be surprised if he decides to stay as a museum piece!"

- Henry to Percy

Thomas Comes Home is the thirty-sixth book of The Railway Series.

Foreword
Dear Friends, Daisy was most upset when she heard that people were saying there were no female engines on the Fat Controller's Railway.

"You must do something about it", she told me indignantly. "There's me and Mavis and I was in charge while Thomas was away at that Great Railway Show, wasn't I?"

Well she wasn't really, but would you dare tell her? These stories are about what happened before Thomas came home. The Author

Snow Problem
While Thomas is still at York, Percy, Toby and Daisy are left to run the branch line. One day, a snowfall on the Other Railway delays the diesel for the Express, making Gordon late at Knapford. While Daisy waits for him, the blizzard blows over Sodor, covering everything in a blanket of white snow. Daisy is unconcerned and sets off, but the snowdrifts are too much for Daisy and she has to go back. Unluckily, the snow blocks her air-intake and Harold has to take her passengers to Dryaw, but he cannot do anything for Daisy. She is left stranded for a week until the snow melts enough to allow her to be rescued and by that point Daisy has a very different opinion about snow.

Washout!
After the snow melts, the water level in a stream near Hackenbeck rises to dangerous levels and Percy is worried. Toby brings news that the water level is dropping, to Percy's relief. Later, Henry jokes Thomas may actually be kept at the National Railway Museum and Annie and Clarabel are so upset Percy is late after soothing them; matters are not helped when he has to take on water at Elsbridge. Percy is later crossing the bridge when he hears an ominous creaking and no sooner has he crossed it than it is swept away. The line is closed while the bridge is mended and although things are back to normal after its rebuilding, Percy has always been careful while crossing it.

Toby's Megatrain
Toby does the shunting at Knapford Harbour while Percy takes Annie and Clarabel. There are many trucks and Toby is worried he may run out of water at some stage. One morning Mavis is unwell and is late to deliver her trucks, so Toby eventually racks up a load of forty-eight trucks. Toby, forgetting his small tank and the uphill journey, decides to pull all forty-eight trucks at once and at Elsbridge he discovers the water tower is empty. Toby's driver says they will have to go fishing like Thomas, but he is only joking and Toby goes to Ffarquhar to take on water, then runs back to take the trucks.

Thomas Comes Home
George is doing repairs on a road near the railway and threatens to flatten the branch line as Daisy passes by. The engines are not sure whether to call his bluff, but all thoughts of George are expelled when they hear Thomas is returning in a week. On the great day, Daisy sets off with a special train, but at the crossing a traffic cone is blown under her wheels by the wind, jamming her brakes. A fitter works swiftly to repair the damage and Daisy arrives just in time to see Thomas puff proudly in.

Snow Problem

 * Gordon
 * Daisy
 * Toby
 * Mavis
 * Harold
 * Thomas
 * Percy
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Sir Stephen Topham Hatt III

Washout!

 * Henry
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Murphy

Toby's Megatrain

 * Toby
 * Percy
 * Mavis
 * Thomas

Thomas Comes Home

 * Toby
 * Daisy
 * Sir Stephen Topham Hatt III
 * George
 * Thomas
 * Percy
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Henrietta
 * Mrs. Kyndley
 * Mr. Kyndley

Locations

 * Island of Sodor
 * Hackenbeck
 * Hackenbeck Bridge
 * Hackenbeck Stream
 * Ffarquhar
 * Ffarquhar Sheds
 * The Carriage Shed
 * Ffarquhar Yard
 * Knapford
 * Knapford Harbour
 * Knapford Harbour Bridges
 * Knapford Crossing
 * Dryaw
 * Elsbridge
 * Elsbridge Viaduct
 * River Els
 * Crosby Tunnel
 * Ffarquhar Quarry
 * The Mainland
 * York
 * British Railways
 * London
 * Great Yarmouth Docks

Trivia

 * This book marks the final appearance of George in The Railway Series.
 * Toby's Megatrain is based on an incident from the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway where LNER J70 No. 7131 was recorded leaving Upwell with 48 wagons of about 400 tons of fruit. By Elmbridge, it was short of water and had to run light to Wisbech to fill up. This had previously been adapted into the annual story, The Strawberry Special.
 * Despite being the titular character, Thomas only appears in the final story and does not have any lines.
 * Several references to past stories are made in this book:
 * In Snow Problem, Daisy's crew recalls Thomas getting stuck in the snow.
 * In Washout!, Percy recalls getting stuck in a flood.
 * In Toby's Megatrain, Toby recalls the time Thomas took on water from a river and Mavis' accident with a lorry.
 * The events of this book take place in early 1991.
 * This and Gallant Old Engine are the only books in The Railway Series to have a titular story. Coincidentally, George appears in both.
 * Washout! was based on a real event from The Railway Magazine.
 * Interestingly by coincidence, there is a Shining Time Station episode with that same title, which features Percy's Promise.
 * This was the last book of The Railway Series to be published in South Korea.

Goofs

 * In several illustrations, Clarabel is missing her face.
 * In "Toby's Megatrain", Toby is shown with a face on both his front and rear cabs, but in "Thomas Comes Home", Toby loses his rear cab face.
 * In the second-to-last illustration, the harbour and the main line bridge at Knapford are missing.

In Other Languages
Thomas Viene a Casa תומס שב הביתה Tomek Wraca do Domu