The Accident for Engine 96

I am a huge fan of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends since I was little, and I still do to this day. I still love it, after what happened recently. And you know, it turns out that Season 2 is meant to have 30 episodes.

One day, in the first day of summer vacation, me and my parents decided to go to Goodwill to buy some VHS tapes. I was looking at VHS tapes, when something caught my eye. It was a Thomas VHS named "Edward's Exploit and Other Thomas Thrills". It was a Thomas VHS that was never seen or heard of in years. I had to look at who narrated the stories. It was Ringo Starr, and wanted to hear differences in Ringo Starr US narrations of episodes never heard. Then, I looked at the stories: Edward's Exploit, Daisy, Percy's Predicament, Bertie's Chase, Donald and Douglas, The Deputation, The Diseasel, Wrong Road, Whistles and Sneezes and Percy and the Signal. But there's a episode I also never heard of before. It's called "The Accident for Engine 96". I also looked at the distributor. It was Anchor Bay Entertainment, and the cover is in the style of Thomas and His Friends Get Along, Thomas Comes To Breakfast and A Big Day For Thomas. Me and my family got this tape, along with recorded Sagwa tapes, Barney's Musical Scrapbook, Beauty and the Beast and Toy Story.

When I got home, I went upstairs and put in the Edward's Exploit VHS tape, to press play. And everything felt normal, and for the first time ever, I heard Ringo Starr say "Sir Topham Hatt", "conductor", "freight cars" and US lines in the said episodes. And we get to the last episode, "The Accident for Engine 96". And when the episode begun, Ringo Starr had started narrating.

.........

One morning, Bill and Ben were at the harbour, talking about something.

"I just heard something," said Bill.

"What is it?" asked Ben.

"A whistle from last night. I think it's a ghost."

Ben scoffed. "There's no such thing as ghosts. After all, they're make believe."

Just then Edward arrived with his freight train.

"What is that all about?" he asked.

"I just heard a whistle last night." Bill said. "It's echo-like."

"Do you mean the whistle from an engine that had a really nasty accident?" asked Edward.

"Who" asked the twins, "is he?"

"96." replied Edward. "He's an tender engine with no name, just a number. He came in for a while, before Percy came. He was painted blue, like me, Thomas and Gordon. He was aggorant, rude and greedy. It's my turn now" He told me.

(flashback starts)

I tried to explain to him that he shall take care slowly with his trains, but he took no notice.

"I am a unique engine!" snarled 96. "I shall never go slow! I can always go fast whatever I want."

"Well, Sir Topham Hatt wants us to be careful." I said. "Cause you aren't, you'll end up in an accident".

"Pooh!" snorted 96, and snorted off, leaving me very annoyed and cross.

One day, I was resting at Cronk Station, when 96 arrived. He was to take a mixed freight train to the harbour. He backed down on the train.

"You better go slowly." I warned.

"I am a strong engine!" 96 snapped. "We strong engines don't need to take any advice from you."

"Like I said before," I warned. "Because if you aren't careful, you'll end up in an accident."

"I don't care about what you say!" snapped 96. "I never had an accident!"

"Don't argue with me!" I snapped back. "You'd better listen to me-"

But 96 didn't listen and steamed out of the station and out onto the open line. I had a deep feeling that this will be the last time he'd seen 96 in one piece.

Further down the line, 96 won't stop showing off.

"I can show Edward that going very fast doesn't get me into a crash!" he said to himself.

"No you can't!" said the driver. "You'll get yourself into a horrible situation!"

But 96 didn't care. He was too busy thinking about what he would say to me when he met him again. He didn't notice that there were subsidence in the trackbed caused by a thaw of frost on the rails, til it was far too late, and he was mounting on the rails. His piston lifted clear of the rail, and his brakes fell out. He was now in a dangerous runaway.

"OH NO!" he wailed. "MY BRAKES ARE GONE! HELP! HEELP!"

I was right! 96 was going to have a accident. He couldn't stop.

The level crossing was ahead of 96. As a car was racing past, 96 crashed into the gates and smashed into the car. The car tumbled off the road and crashed into a ditch.

To make matters worse, there was a bend up right ahead, leading to a field.

"HORRORS!" screamed 96.

He raced off the tracks and into the field. As he kept rolling along, he left his tender laying on its side and freight cars derailed and some smashed to bits.

"NOW IT'S WORSE!! I'M OFF THE RAILS!!" screamed Alfred.

He was heading towards a fence, which led down to the cliffside beside the line.


 * CRASH! SMASH!*

96 had fell over the hillside and hit the bottom, beside the lines. He wasn't hurt, but he was in a terrible wreck. His boiler had been torn, his funnel was cracked, his cab was mangled, and his six wheels were broken. The driver and fireman had jumped clear, and went for help

Soon, Thomas and I arrived with the Breakdown Train to clear the mess. On board me was Sir Topham Hatt.

"96 was destroyed beyond repair, and we can't afford to repair him. So he'll have to go to the back of the shed."

"I tried to warn him." I said mounfully to Thomas. "But he didn't listen."

(flashback ends)

"What happened?" asked Bill and Ben.

"Well, as time went on, poor 96 got smaller and smaller til there's nothing left, and our drivers used 96's parts to repair us."

Bill and Ben stayed silent, just as they and Edward went back to work. Well, I don't want to tell you anymore. But I think there'd be another story the twins want to hear, in another day or so. Don't you?

.........

After the episode ended, we go straight to the end credits from Daisy and Other Thomas Stories.

I had decided to contract with Britt Allcroft about the episode.

"Dear (witheld name.

We are surprised you came across this tape. And it has the episode you've never heard or seen before, The Accident for Engine 96. It was originally meant to be the 26th episode of Season 2, as well as Thomas and the Hurricane, Old Groaner and Gordon's Stomaway as the 27th-29th episodes of the season, with Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree as the 30th episode, but they were dropped after their production, leaving Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree as the 26th episode of the season 2.

Yours truly, Britt Allcroft"

Okay, that makes sense, and that's the origin of what Season 2 is going to be having 30 episodes.