Thomas and Friends, based on the Railway series by Reverend W. Audrey,

created by Britt Olcroft, read by Mark Moran.

Welcome to the Island of Sodel, a small magical island surrounded by sparkling bright blue sea. It has fields of green and sandy yellow beaches,

castles to explore and bustling docks,

where giant cranes lift and load cargo from large ships.

There are also lots and lots of railway lines,

where engines work hard to deliver goods and passengers to their destinations.

Today's story is about Percy and how he came to work on Sir Topham Hats Railway.

Percy is a little green saddle tank engine.

He has four small wheels, a shiny dome, a shiny brass whistle, and a shiny black funnel.

Percy is a kind engine who is always willing to help his friends.

One day the trains were late and the passengers were unhappy.

There was trouble in the shed.

Henry Gordon and James thought they were too important to shunt coaches like tank engines did.

You fetch our coaches and we will pull them, said Gordon proudly. Tender engines don't shunt.

Sir Topham hat looked cross. We must all work together to make sure the railway runs on time, he said.

If you won't be really useful, then I'll find an engine who will be.

So the next day, Sir Topham Hat went to the engine workshop,

where he was shown all sorts of engines.

Then Sir Topham Hat saw a smart little green engine with four wheels.

That's the one, he thought. I'll call him Percy.

Sir Topham Hat took Percy back to the yard.

...