Hans

Hans is a tender engine.

Germany
Hans used to work for Deutsche Reichsbahm, a rail company based in Germany. There were lots of other engines that also worked the railway, but were all faceless. Hans mostly hauled long distance goods trains throughout Berlin.

In 1939, World War 2 started. Hans and the other engines were kept busy, hauling trains filled with weapons and supplies. By 1940, Germany was becoming powerful and Hans wanted to escape the country, to find safer grounds. One afternoon, while he was at the harbour, he saw a ferry that was going to France. Hans' chance had come and he snuck on the ferry, However, the ferry was full of cargo and Hans had to leave his tender behind. After a few minutes, the ferry soon departed Germany for France.

Belgium
The ship did not make it to France and arrived at a harbour later that night. When Hans was uploaded, he looked around. There were many army troops and cargo was everywhere. There was an old coal truck at the harbour, which Hans used as his tender. After looking at some papers on top of a crate, Hans found out he was in Belgium and the battle of Belgium was about to begin. Hans had to deliver a train of weapons to south Belgium. After delivering the train, Hans went to sleep in an old shed and was unsure if he would make it to France. Later on, he was about to go to sleep when he realised something, he was in south Belgium and France was just a few hours away. Hans decided to take the chance and after filling up on coal and water, he set off for France, past the stations and the line of troops.

France
After a few hours, Hans arrived in France at sunrise. He stopped at a big station. Hans was soon working for SNCF, a French rail company that was looking for engines to use. He was taken to the workshop and was repainted blue. There were a few other engines who also worked the line, that were also faceless. Hans was mostly used for reconstruction, as France was mostly destroyed due to the war.

In 1945, Hans started to miss his old life, but he knew he could not go back to Germany, as it had also ended up like France. Hans started to hear talks round the rail yards, about an island called Sodor, which was mostly unaffected by the war. After looking at a map, Hans found out that the UK was close to France and he might be able to travel to Sodor.

One day, when he was at the harbour, Hans saw some ships that happened to be going to Sodor. That was his chance to finally go to the Island of Sodor. One of the ships had rails inside it and room for Hans, so he went inside the ship. The ship departed for Sodor in the afternoon.

Sodor
After two days, Hans arrived on Sodor, which was just the kind of place he was looking for. There were lots of steam engines, this time they had faces and the island was in the best condition he could imagine. Hans soon met the Fat Controller and ended up working for the North Western Railway. He was taken to the works and was got to choose a new livery. He chose his original livery, which was black with red and yellow, the colours of the German flag. Sometime later, his tender was found in Germany and was shipped to Sodor. Hans soon had his tender back again.

Hans now works on the North Western Railway, hauling goods trains from Sodor to the mainland. He sleeps at Vicarstown Sheds.