Out of This World - ThomasNATION Fanstory
May 25, 2024
It was a grand day at Brendam. After years of construction and gathering artifacts, it was time for the Brendam Museum of Science to open its doors. It had everything - relics from famous scientists, a state of the art planetarium, they even had rails for engines to give tours and witness the marvels of the world of science. But what Stanley was most interested in seeing was the outer space exhibit. And at the grand opening after they cut the ribbons, he wasted no time looking for it.
"Please be here, please be here, please be here..." Stanley prayed to himself as he puffed through the museum. Then, his eyes locked on a large machine. "Ha! There it is!"
Toby pulled up alongside him. "What is that? A big metal badminton shuttle?"
"That metal badminton shuttle is a scale model of the Sputnik 1!" Stanley gushed. "The first artificial Earth satellite to be launched into outer space! It's even bigger than I imagined."
As Stanley admired the model, Ruth walked over, fascinated by his space expertise. "Wow, you really know your stuff, Stanley. I had no idea you were such an astrophile."
"A what?" asked Toby.
"Astrophile." corrected Stanley. "It means I'm a big fan of space."
“Well, I’m gonna start a tour in about fifteen minutes,” Ruth offered, “how about you join me and you can show everyone how much you know?”
“Really?”
“Yeah! I need the extra help. Are you in?”
“Is Saturn encompassed by seven rings?” quipped Stanley as he and Ruth disembarked.
Before long, the two were doing their tour of the space exhibit. Stanley not only got a close glimpse at the relics of the history of space travel. Stanley was in his heaven! But all good things must come to an end as they came to their last monument: a detailed discussion on the Space Race.
“…and with that, that concludes our tour!” finished Ruth. “Now, Stanley and I will be happy to take any questions you have.”
One little boy raised his hand. “Can anyone go to space?”
“I think with hard work and dedication, they can.” smiled Ruth.
“Even Stanley?” asked a little girl in the back.
Ruth thought for a second, looking at Stanley. “It’d certainly be tricky, but I don’t think it’ll be impossible.”
The next day, Stanley didn’t have any jobs, so he decided to pay a visit to Thomas’ branchline. He made a quick stop at Knapford, where he was greeted by Thomas and a few of his other friends.
“Morning, Stanley!” said Thomas. “I heard you were giving tours at the new science museum.”
“Yeah, I was.” Stanley explained. “It was a blast! I’m just gonna make a little trip down your branchline real quick.”
“Really? Why?” asked Annie.
“Don’t you have any jobs?” asked Clarabel.
“Not really,” replied Stanley, “truth be told, I need to visit Ruth. Yesterday, she brought up an idea that I can’t stop thinking about.”
“What is it?” asked Thomas.
“I’m going to ask her to make me…” Stanley announced. “…the first railway engine in space!”
“What?” gasped Thomas.
Diesel couldn’t stop laughing. “A railway engine in space! That’s the silliest idea I’ve ever heard!”
“It could work!” Stanley protested. “You guys saw the flying car she invented. If she can make that, she can send me to space no problem!”
“How would that even work?” asked Daisy. “Is she going to attach rocket boosters to your wheels?”
“Maybe she’ll attach a thousand balloons to your dome?” thought James.
“Or maybe she’ll invent some sort of anti-gravity device so you can just float up.” pondered Thomas.
“Ooh, good thinking!” said Stanley. “I’ll need to bring those up when I see her.”
“But imagine that,” smiled Edward, “being the first railway engine in outer space!”
“Is no one going to point out that this is an impossible mission?” groaned Gordon, trying to bring his peers back down to earth. “How is Ruth supposed to lift him up to space?”
“Only one way to find out.” smirked Stanley as he disembarked.
Stanley finally made it to Ruth’s workshop, determined to make his dream come true. He saw Cleo frolicking in the field outside the windmill.
“Cleo!” shouted Stanley. “Hey! I need your help!”
“What’s the matter, Stanley?” asked Cleo.
“Is Ruth here? I have an idea.”
“Yeah, I’m here.” Ruth said, walking out of the windmill. “What’s the matter?”
“Yesterday at the museum, you said sending a railway engine into space wouldn’t be impossible, right?” asked Stanley.
“Yeah, that’s right. Why?”
“Well, I was thinking.” Stanley started to pitch his idea. “What if you built a large rocket? Or tied a bunch of balloons to me, or gave me an anti-gravity device?”
“…I don’t follow.” Ruth said, bluntly.
“Right, sorry. I want you to send me into outer space!”
Ruth was a little confused. “Wait, really?”
“Yeah! What do you think?”
Ruth had her reservations. For the first time, she wasn’t sure if this was possible. “Well, I’m not sure. I mean, the technology to send even a small car into space is roughly fifty years away, let alone a tank engine. This may be a stumper, Stanley.”
“What about the flying car?” asked Stanley. “Or the walking bridge? People thought they were impossible, and yet you did it!”
“…good point.” Ruth smiled, determined to pull it off. “Alright, Stan the Spaceman. You’re on! Let’s do this!”
Ruth and Stanley wasted no time in building a mighty rocket ship. Construction took hours, days, weeks, but their determination was unbreakable. They wanted to do the impossible and achieve that goal. After a long time, it was finally time for launch. A crowd of people and engines were gathered at the workshop.
“Thanks for coming, everybody!” Ruth declared to the crowd. “You are all about to witness history! Because we’re about to accomplish what people thought was impossible. We’re about to send a railway engine into space!”
Ruth unveiled the massive rocket ship. It towered over the engines and who else was attached to the side than Stanley, sporting a very snazzy space helmet!
“Stanley here is attached with little claw mechanisms attached to his wheels,” Ruth explained, “the same mechanisms that were used in the walking bridge. They won’t detach from Stanley’s wheels until he safely lands on the ground.”
“So how does this work?” asked Sidney.
“I’m going to launch Stanley to a height of 50 kilometres above Earth’s stratosphere. Afterwards, I’m going to activate the return navigation system to allow Stanley a safe return. And I’ll be able to communicate him through his helmet.”
“Does the rocket ship work?” asked Thomas.
“It hasn’t been tested, but I’ve calculated the success rates. It’s looking good.” Ruth said as she donned some goggles. “Ready to go, Stan the Spaceman?”
“Ready!” Stanley smirked.
And before long, it was time for the rocket to launch. At first, it well enough. The rocket was cruising through Earth’s skyline and Stanley was loving it. It was about to breach the stratosphere, when the engines…stopped.
“Uh, Ruth? We have a problem.” whimpered Stanley. Now he was plummeting back to Sodor at a blazing fast speed.
“Oh no.” gasped Ruth. “Don’t worry, Stanley! I’m engaging the emergency landing protocol!”
Ruth pushed a large red button, and a large parachute deployed from the top of the rocket ship. He landed safely outside the workshop.
“What happened?” gasped Thomas.
Ruth sighed. There was no other way to put it. “Sorry, guys. The mission is a failure. Sending a railway engine into space is currently…impossible.”
The engines disbanded as Ruth helped Stanley back onto the rails. “I’m sorry about this, Ruth. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“No, Stanley, it’s not your fault.” Ruth comforted the silver engine. “Hey, maybe someday it’ll be possible…right?”
“…sure.” Stanley sighed as he left.
A couple days later, Stanley had a delivery to make to Ffarquhar. He was still upset over the plan going awry. Then, all of a sudden, the fields of green around Stanley disappeared, turning into a black void full of stars and constellations. It looked like Stanley was in space!
“What?” gasped Stanley. “What is going on?”
The space disappeared around Stanley, going back to the fields and Ruth’s workshop. Ruth walked out, holding a small box.
“Say hello to the all new, spectacular 360 degree super-projector!” Ruth declared.
“A super-projector?” asked Stanley. “What does that do?”
“Essentially, it displays images all around you. It can transport you anywhere!” Ruth laughed. “I invented it just for you.”
“Just for me?” gasped Stanley. “Why?”
“I felt a bit bummed out about not being able to send you into space,” Ruth explained, turning the projector on. “so I brought space to you!”
“Wow! This is incredible!” Stanley gasped, on the verge of tears. “Ruth, thank you so much!”
“No thanks necessary, Stan the Spaceman.” Ruth smiled.
Stanley took his time letting the world of outer space around him sink in. At long last, his dream practically came true.
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