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| Thomas and Gordon |
The Fat Controller has decided to take a holiday away from the
Railway. In his absence, he has asked that Mr Conductor comes to look after the engines and the railway.
But an old foe, the mean and brutish Diesel 10, has decided to take advantage of the situation and set
his own plans for destruction and domination of the steam engines into action with a return to Sodor, along with two
of his friends, Splatter and Dodge. The villains are on the hunt for a lost engine who had escaped
him once before, who is thought to hold magical powers which keep the two universes intact. Diesel is intent upon
finishing what he started many years ago and destroying her.
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| The Magic Railroad Villains Meeting! |
The engines are worried by the development, but Mr Conductor
promises to take care of the situation with Diesel 10 by popping in and out with his sparkle to keep him
in order. However, his initial confidence is soon shaken by the fact that his gold dust supply is running very low,
and without it, neither he, his family nor his universe will survive. The only means of obtaining more is by solving
a clue which will lead to the source of the gold dust.
For many years, the lost engine, Lady, has been
hidden away by her keeper, former Railroad engineer, Burnett Stone, in order to keep her safe from harm.
Following the unfortunate incident with the cruel Diesel all those years ago, Lady crashed, and since then Burnett has never been able to bring her back to life
and make her steam again. Burnett has since become a depressive recluse, a prisoner of the guilt inside him for
the mistake he made at that time, choosing to spend most of his time
in his workshop on the other side of Muffle Mountain. He knows he doesn't understand about magic anymore, but his grand-daughter,
Lily, is about to prove to be a real player in the re-establishment of that.
The Gold Dust crisis deepens when Diesel 10 attacks the sheds,
demanding the whereabouts of the lost engine, and discovering first hand that Mr Conductor is losing his sparkle.
The engines are all as worried as he is, and he realises the importance of the situation when he dreams about what could happen,
with Stacy wandering aimlessly in a rundown Shining Time, calling for him in a sad voice - "The magic's all
gone..."
On her way to Muffle Mountain to visit her grandfather, Lily gets side-tracked
by Mutt the dog, who knows that Lily has the power within her to help the situation, puts her on the train to Shining Time
instead of her desired location of Muffle Mountain to meet up with C Junior, Mr Condutor's younger, blonder, Scottish
beach-bum cousin, who has been contacted to help in light of the Gold Dust crisis. She soon finds that
C Junior isn't the only intriguing thing she'll find on her visit to her distant grandfather; as she lies in bed that evening,
Lily, Patch and Grandpa Stone all hear the sound of Lady's whistle calling to them from inside the mountain.
Back on Sodor - Thomas and Percy's speculation on how Mr Conductor
travels to the island is being observed by Diesel 10, who's lurking in the shadows, and takes the most important clue he needs
to finding Lady from Percy's suggestion of Magic Buffers, and a Magic Railroad...! Luckily, Toby is on hand to delay
his plans and get him and his sidekicks trapped at the Smelter's yard. The location of the buffers is soon found, largely
by accident, when Thomas loses a coal truck. But the engines still have the problem of finding Mr Conductor - who is
found by Diesel 10, and after a cunning escape, still searching for the source of the gold dust.
Lily makes a return visit to Shining Time Station the following day,
and this time, makes a trip with C Junior all the way to the Island of Sodor, where they meet up with Thomas, and soon find
Mr Conductor at the Windmill. However, in the process, they've used up a lot of the emergency supply sorely needed by
Mr Conductor, and still need to find more, otherwise they will be stuck on Sodor, and to make matters worse, Junior gets hijacked
by Diesel 10, and worse still Splatter and Dodge are fully aware of the location of the Magic Buffers! Mr
Conductor knows there's only one person who can help them out of their jam - Grandpa Stone, but without gold dust or
the lost engine, there's no means of getting Lily back to Shining Time to warn him...except perhaps sending her onboard a
reluctant Thomas!
Thomas takes Lily onto the Magic Railroad, and back to her grandfather
at Muffle Mountain. It's there that Lily discovers Lady, and tells her grandfather all about what has been happening
to Mr Conductor, Junior and Thomas, and realises that Lady is part of the clue to the gold dust, but still Burnett's problem
persists - he cannot make her steam. But Lily knows how they'll do it - using coal from the coal truck Thomas lost
for Henry and they found on the Magic Railroad. Amazingly, they find it works and they're on their way back to Sodor
to help Mr Conductor, Junior and the engines. As they puff along, wonderful golden shavings fly up from the Magic Railroad
as it regains its energy and vibrant colour once again. And just in time too, as James and Junior uses up the last
of the supply to escape a dangerous situation with Diesel 10 at the Smelters.
But even though Lady is back on Sodor and the Magic Railroad has energy
again, Mr Conductor still has no idea how to create more gold dust in order for he and Junior to continue on - without it,
the magic cannot exist. And to make matters worse, Diesel 10 has seen them re-emerge from the Magic Railroad and is
about to give chase. But this time round, Burnett is ready and gives Lady his all to evade Diesel 10, with a little
help from Thomas. The viaduct crumbles after Thomas crosses and Diesel falls victim to it, and lands in a barge full
of filthy sludge and is towed away!
And when Thomas and Lady return, everyone puts their heads together
and manage to solve the clues to the gold dust. Lily's magical shavings are put in with some water from the wishing
well, and when thrown in the air, creates the gold dust that Mr Conductor and Junior seek.
In the end a number of important lessons have been
learned. Junior has gained from the experience and is now willing to work - so Mr Conductor gives him a very important
job, tending to the Magic Railroad. Mr Conductor himself now knows better than to take his gold dust forgranted.
Burnett Stone now knows that he never forgot about magic - it just took more time to reveal itself, and with it, brough
a smile back to his face. Thomas himself now knows what he believes is true - "Little Engines Can Do Big Things"!
And as for Lily, she and her grandpa have
been brought closer together, and understand each other better through their magical experience and their magical engine.
Knowing that forever, they'll always remember their shining time together...!
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