The Search of the Lost Engine

The Search of the Lost Engine is the Pilot of The Miniature Railway Adventures. It was first written in 2008, and later rewritten in 2015 by the series creator Michael White

Synopsis
Betty, the Model Engineers Society's engine, gets stolen during the night. It is up to two young drivers, Casey and Whitehouse, with the help of their friends to get it back before the club's annual inspection.

"*There were two version of this story written. The latter being more of a background to the characters than the 2008 version.*"

Plot (2008 Version)
While preparing for another busy day on the railway, Whitehouse feels that there is someone lurking about the railway. During the evening while putting the Society's engine, Betty, in the sheds, he is attacked and left unconscious. Come morning, he finds that Betty has been stolen and calls Casey and his cousin Corps to help him find the lost engine. Corps thinks he can by building a time travelling toilet which would pin point the time of the theft and track down where the engine is currently stationed. During this Casey becomes a prisoner to Cars who was the one that took Betty. He plans to use her to rid the world of railways after he was dropped from a video Whitehouse was making online. Whitehouse and Corps arrive to which a fight erupts. The contraption that Cars was planning on using to rid the world of railways overloads and his headquarters are destroyed with Whitehouse still inside. Thankfully Whitehouse survives and Betty is back operating at the railway.

Plot (2015 Version)
The story firstly takes place in 2015 as the Model Engineers Society prepare for the Spring runs. While doing some cleaning, Jane finds an old photo of her friends from 2008. She asks them about their early days which triggers some memories in the 4 to which Jane asks for them to tell her. After some consulting, they do so long as she doesn't tell anyone else.

We flash back to 2008 when Casey and Whitehouse were the only ones out of the group to work on the line. Whitehouse has not long joined and is being given driving lessons by Casey. They meet up with Cars and Corps who are looking for work. Corps has his work place planned out, making custom machines for buyers, while Cars is still searching for work after his last job gets closed down. He ends up being hired as a mechanic by Bernard Martin Williams, who sees potential in Cars when he shows what he can do. Bernard explains to Cars he has been trying to make better business only the miniature railway seems to be stealing all their customers and states that they have been doing the same with other businesses in the area. This angers Cars greatly, thinking that his friends were the ones responsible for his old job going bust. He then plots a way to make sure that the Motor Car Society is the best operated business in the area.

Meanwhile, Casey and Whitehouse are struggling with the amount of passengers that seem to have arrived at the railway. With many engines being away for repairs, they only have Betty to handle the workload.

While the railway is struggling, Bernard discusses with Cars about making a foundry to make his own brand of petrol, but needs a heating source to make it work. Cars suggests stealing Betty making things more difficult for the miniature railway. Enlisting the help of Grinder and Gears, they knock out Whitehouse and steal Betty during the night. When Whitehouse recovers he is worried that his reputation on the railway would be ruined unless he gets Betty back. Casey arrives to help and so does Corps who is out road testing his lasted custom made vehicle; an outhouse on the back of a chopper back - for long distant journeys and back up fuel source.

Casey begins the search while Corps tends to Whitehouse' injuries. Cars sees him and pretends that he borrowed Betty to help a friend who needs help. Casey offers his help but finds out what he had gotten himself into when he finds out who that friend was. Whitehouse and Corps are soon on the scene, having disgusting themselves as MCS workers. After seeing a combustive demonstration as to what damage the home made petrol can do if sold to the public, the two stop the production from being carried out. Angered, Cars tries to fight back, brandishing a pistol that Bernard had given him incase Casey pulled any stunts. In a bid to escape, Whitehouse hides in the room where the petrol vats are kept. As he hurries across an over head gangway to where an open window outside lies, he is shot by Cars and falls into the vat of petrol. Horrified that he may have killed him, Cars drains the vat but find no traces of Whitehouse anywhere, except a few patches of blood shaded red. Guilty of his crimes, Cars goes into hiding while Bernard is arrested.

Back at the railway, 2 weeks later, Casey still feels sorrowful of his friends death and begins to loose interest in running the railway at all. That is until a boy climbs into the guard's truck. It turns out to be Whitehouse, who survived the fall and is now back working on the railway, only thing thats different about him is his hair has changed colour, which he doesn't mind.

In between various parts of the story, it goes back to the present which sees Jane engrossed in the events that are being told to her by the others during various parts of the day. It also features her questioning herself and the others as to whether the events were true or not.

Rewriting history
Michael White wrote the first part of the story in Sept 2008 and the 2nd in Feb 2009 But suggestive items to make the story sound comical caused the original style to loose the plot, resulting in various characters having the ability to perform stunts that could not have been possible. In 2015, pleased at the turnout of his first chaptered story, Casey & the Traitor, Michael decided to rewrite 'Lost engine' and fix numerous potholes that some people questioned: These and a few other questions were answered in the story. Michael has stated that the 2015 version of the story is considered cannon to the series.
 * Why was Betty stolen and for what purpose?
 * Why is Whitehouse's hair blue?
 * Why was Cars evil to begin with?

Audiobooks
Both versions of the story are available as audiobooks on YouTube. The 2008 version being a full cast while the 2015 version is narrated by Michael White.

 2008 Version 

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

 2015 Version 

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Trivia

 * The 2008 version is referenced in the 2015 version, claiming that it was made up.
 * Jane is the only one who has been told the true story.
 * The alternative fuel for Corps' custom machine was inspired by an item in an episode of BBC's Top Gear where they see if a car can be powered by dung.