On an occasion when Henry felt ill, Thomas took his morning passenger train since there were no other engines available, much to his delight. Perhaps as a result of his brief excursion beyond his boundaries, Thomas longed to see more of the world and become a part of it and became jealous of the bigger engines for having the chance to pull trains. Thomas vowed to never tease Gordon again. Eventually, Gordon managed to get back at Thomas by pulling out of the station before he could be uncoupled from his coaches, dragging him down the line at a tremendous speed. He enjoyed teasing the other engines, especially Gordon, who he would quietly sneak up on and whistle loudly while Gordon dozed in a siding. Thomas formerly worked as the station pilot at Vicarstown, shunting trains for the bigger engines on the Main Line to take out. Rather than face complications resulting from a change in their books, the LB&SCR quietly sold Thomas to the North Western Railway for a "nominal sum". Through an inquiry, Sir Topham Hatt found out that the LB&SCR had written off Thomas as being "lost on war service". By 1920, neither one wanted to leave the Island or their beloved engine.
His driver and fireman got along well with the local people and married Sudrian women. How this happened is unknown, but it is believed he was sent to Sodor in a wartime mix-up. Details of Thomas' arrival on the North Western Railway in 1915 show he arrived by mistake.