Well, that was a little longer than I had hoped, but I have several things I need to write down. Firstly, the military asked if they could take my journal to analyze exactly what happened to us, so I agreed. I kind of regret it a little as they didn't give it back until this morning. Anyway, while I didn't have this, several things have happened.

First, the Narrow-Gauge engines were brought off the island and are now in some sheds at Barrow. The engines that survived were Skarloey, Rheneas, Sir Handel, and Duncan. Peter Sam and Rusty are still not found, so it's unknown if they're dead or not. Secondly, they managed to find a few road vehicles, including Bertie, Trevor, and Terence! Bertie and Trevor were found in captivity at Cronk-Abbey, and Terence had run out of fuel near Killdane, but I'm just happy they're safe. The third thing is that I noticed that D261 hadn't come back at all and none of us had seen him leave Brendam. It wasn't until a few days ago that I asked the general about him and he said that his men had found him and the soldiers he had with him gutted in the back of the docks. I felt bad for the engine as all he wanted to do was help but ended up getting killed as a result, god he didn't deserve that. Lastly, the engines. All of them are doing alright, except for Thomas, Duck, and the Scottish twins. Thomas and Douglas are still dealing with trauma from what they experienced, Duck is depressed about losing Percy as he was one of his closest friends, and Donald is still in pretty bad shape. From what I've heard, he'll have to undergo a major overhaul from all his damage he suffered. We haven't been able to hear his story due to him being mostly unconscious, and Douglas is extremely worried about him.

Now, about returning to Sodor, well we aren't really sure if we can. Due to all the damage, professionals are believing it might be uninhabitable at its current state. Topham is trying his best to allow access onto the island to try and clear the mess, so we'll have to see if he gets anywhere with that. As for me, I'm not doing the best either. I'm still very upset over the loss of Percy and Greg, and I have no idea if I'll even get my job back. My wife has been trying to comfort me, but I can't stop worrying about all this. Trying to get my mind off of things, I went to speak with Henry and Bear to hear their stories as no one had asked them yet, and this is what they told me.

Henry and Bear's Story:

Henry had been in Tidmouth sheds getting steamed up to take a goods train to Crovan's Gate. Just as he was pulled out onto the turntable, he and his crew looked up at the sky and saw the German planes over Tidmouth starting to bomb the place! They turned on the turntable and sped off towards Tidmouth as they figured Knapford would be even worse. They sped past Thomas yelling at him to look out as the sheds got bombed behind them!

Henry sped down the line passing Edward at Elsbridge as he continued on. Just as he passed Wellsworth, he was switched down the Brendam branch and didn't stop until he got to the docks and hid in the far corner of the area. Several days passed until he and his crew heard the fight going on and decided to get out of there before something happened. They raced through the battle somehow escaping as they passed by Thomas and left the docks. Henry thought to try and get off the island so when he got back to the junction, his driver switched the points for the Mainline and they headed off. That was when he found Bear at Cronk-Abbey and decided to stay with him.

Bear said he had been at Killdane with a goods train due for Knapford when some planes arrived and started bombing the town! He luckily managed to escape unnoticed and stopped in the yard at Cronk-Abbey where he and his driver stayed until Henry showed up. They had planned their escape to the Mainland and we just happened to pass by being chased as they were leaving. I think we know the rest.

After that, I thanked them and decided to go back to my hotel room to talk with my wife again. I think that's about it I have to write about at the moment, so I guess that's it for now unless something else happens.

Well, I thought I was done writing today, but I guess not as I just got some fantastic news! Topham finally managed to gain access back to the island, which means we'll be doing a lot of restoration work to get everything back to the way it was! Another thing that has me really excited is that I haven't lost my job! Apparently while the engines were stuck at Brendam after we came to rescue them, Oliver's driver was accidentally shot and killed during the military raid, and since he needed a driver, I was called to do it! I was very excited about this, and shortly after, Topham properly introduced me to Oliver, and his fireman whose name is Arnold. He seems like a pretty nice guy, and I'm looking forward to working with him once Oliver has been fully restored. A few minutes ago, Topham left with Gordon to have a look at Vicarstown to see what damage has occurred, so we'll have to wait and see what'll need to be done once they get back.

Alright, so they were gone for a few hours, but they just returned and Topham told everyone his news. He said that everything was much more damaged than he originally thought, so he's not sure if we'll be able to fix all the destruction which made us all very worried. Edward then spoke up saying that if we were able to rebuild all the damage done during WWI and WWII, then why can't we do this? Topham thought for a moment and decided that we should rebuild everything that was damaged! Everyone cheered and we soon got everything arranged. The engines that were fixed would help with the reconstruction while the damaged ones got fixed. All the people we managed to get off the island will stay in Barrow or somewhere on the Mainland until we reach their towns. We'll be starting at Vicarstown and working our way down the branch lines. This project will take a long time to complete, so hopefully I'll have an update for you all in the near future.