Thomas is given the job of transporting a crate consisting of a very special statue called The Lion of Sodor. However, he thinks his cargo is a real lion, so he decides to take extra care of it. On route to Knapford, Thomas decides to make sure the lion is well fed and comfortable, so he collects syrup from Henry, fish from Edward and straw from Toby, which are all put inside the crate. When Thomas arrives at Knapford station, the crate is opened up and everyone is shocked to see the Lion of Sodor in a terrible mess. Thomas feels very silly and owns up to what he thought of his cargo. The Fat Controller and Henry explain that the Lion of Sodor was a special statue which got broken. Thomas' cargo was the new statue of the Lion. Feeling silly, Thomas agrees to get the statue clean. Taking advice from Henry and Edward, he gets it cleaned at the wash-down and then polished at the Sodor Steamworks. Once the Lion of Sodor looks very clean, Thomas takes Toby's advice to a short-cut via the windmill to get back to Knapford station, where the Mayor of Sodor is overjoyed to see the new statue.