SCRAPYARD STAKEOUT

Reg is the friendly and cheerful crane who works at Crock's Scrapyard on Edward's Branchline. He enjoys his job of collecting scrap and arranging it around him in different piles so it can be melted down and turned into something new. However, Reg doesn't enjoy the fact that sometimes he has to scrap machinery that still has some use left in it. Reg always stands by his motto of "One man's trash is another man's treasure."

One morning, Reg was picking up twisted bits of scrap metal from some trucks that Scruff had brought down from the Waste Dump.

"I'll be back later with some more scrap, Reg!" he called and blew his whistle as he puffed away.

"See you in a bit, Scruff!" Reg replied cheerfully. He began to hum to himself as he grabbed the scrap out of the trucks and turned around before chucking them onto either the conveyor belt behind him or the piles of scrap surrounding the scrapyard.

Suddenly, Reg swung his arm a bit too hard and a loose bit of scrap flew through the air and hit something hidden behind a pile of scrap with a loud thud.

"OW!" came a sudden voice.

Reg stopped. He didn't realise that someone else was at the scrapyard with him. He tried to think who it could be, until-

"A ghost!" he cried out in terror, "Please don't hurt, ghost! I'm just a simple crane! Don't hurt me!" he panicked.

"I-I-I'm n-not a g-ghost…" the voice replied, though very quietly.

Reg managed to calm himself down. He pulled away a few pieces of scrap to find the source of the voice. And behind a large mound of broken machine parts, he found a little tank engine. Though, a rather unusual looking one. It had a very square, angular saddletank raised high above its boiler. It had four clunky wheels squashed close together at the back, with a diesel bogie right at the front. Overall, it had a rather short and squat appearance. The engine finally managed to speak.

"P-p-please d-don't hurt m-me…" she squeaked nervously. Reg could see she was obviously very frightened.

"It's ok." Reg replied kindly, "I'm not going to hurt you."

The little tank engine began to look slowly up at Reg, before immediately looking back down.

"Y-you… you p-promise…?" she stammered.

"You have my word." he said with a smile.

The two of them sat in silence for a while before Reg spoke again.

"What's your name?" he asked.

The little engine took a deep breath and sighed before beginning to speak.

"N-Nelly…" she replied.

"Well Nelly, what are you doing here? I don't think the scrapyard is a place for someone like you."

"I'm hiding…" Nelly began, "I'm t-trying not to get caught… I don't want to be scrapped…" tears began to stream down her face.

"I'm not going to scrap you." Reg said firmly, "But, who exactly are you hiding from?"

"B-big s-scary... D-diesels…" she stuttered, "W-with bee st-stripes…"

Reg thought about who she might be referring to. And then, it hit him.

"Oh! I know who you're talking about! 'Arry and Bert!" he exclaimed.

Nelly sniffled.

"Y-you're not going t-to… t-tell them I'm h-here… are you, Mr. Reg?" she asked worriedly.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Reg smiled, "But how did you end up here in the first place?"

Nelly took another deep breath before speaking again.

"I-I used to work in a f-factory on th-the Mainland. I tr-tried to w-work hard, b-but the w-workmen didn't th-think so. They said I was…" she burst into tears almost immediately, "U-ugly and use-useless… so they... th-threw me away… on a train of s-scrap. Th-then… 'Arry and B-Bert… f-found me…"

Nelly was finding it very difficult to find her words.

"Th-they t-tried to p-put me… in a big f-f-fire pit thing… b-but I ran away… th-they chased me… and I t-tried to hide… but… I got lost… and some p-people came in the night and th-threw me away here…"

She began to cry again.

"Now, don't you worry, Nelly." Reg said, "I'm going to make sure that 'Arry and Bert never find you ever again. AND." he added grandly, "I'm going to see to it that you'll never be scrapped. You'll see."

Nelly looked back up at the big yellow crane, and gave a very small, barely noticeable smile.

"O-ok…" she sighed, still very scared.

For the rest of the day, Reg made absolutely sure to keep Nelly hidden from everyone else's sight except his own.

He moved her from one part of the scrapyard to the other, he hid her underneath one pile of scrap and behind another one.

Nelly was still very apprehensive, but Reg was certain that his plan would work.

Later on in the afternoon, Harvey arrived at the scrapyard.

"Ah, hello Reg!" he called up to the crane. "I accidentally left something important in some scrap that Scruff brought earlier, could I get it back please?"

"No problem mate! What does it look like?"

"It's someone's bicycle. I didn't realise that it wasn't scrap. They got really annoyed with me when they heard what had happened."

"Don't worry, Harvey. I'll get it for you." Reg replied. But as he turned round to get the bike for Harvey, he suddenly noticed that the bike was just in front of where Nelly was. If he moved it now, Harvey would see Nelly.

"Um, d-you mind just turning away for a bit, Harvey?" Reg asked nervously.

"Eh? Why would I do that?" Harvey felt very puzzled.

"N-no reason... It's just that… I… um… I'm doing… a um… speed test?"

"Speed test?"

"Y-yeah! I'm um… being tested on how… uh… fast I can get this bike over to you from this pile of scrap…"

Now Harvey was more confused than ever but decided to just go along with it.

"Um, a-alright then, Reg. But… why do you need me to look away-"

"I need to concentrate on this test!" Reg burst out.

"O-ok…" Harvey began to look away.

When this happened, Reg, as quickly as he possibly could, gently pushed Nelly back slightly with his claw and grabbed the bike, and turned right around, dropping the bike into Harvey's truck.

"Alright, there you go, Harvey!" Reg called.

"Oh! Um, thanks Reg…" Harvey whistled, and he puffed away.

Nelly watched Harvey leave and then looked back up at Reg.

"Th-thanks… Mr. R-Reg…" she whispered.

"No problem-" But before Reg could finish his sentence, two horns sounded out.

"It's them!" cried Nelly, and she started to hyperventilate.

"No. no, it's alright, Nelly. I have a plan." he explained and began to assemble some pieces of scrap together.

'Arry and Bert both pulled up alongside Reg and the two ironworks diesels eyed him suspiciously. Nelly desperately trying to hold her breath behind the piles of scrap behind Reg.

"Oi, Reg!" 'Arry shouted up to him, "We're looking for something important!"

Reg slowly turned around to face the two diesels, he tried to take his attention off of Nelly's hiding spot.

"I um… h-hello you two, what exactly are you looking for?" he asked, trying to smile through his fear.

"We're 'ere lookin' for a little steam engine. Ugly lookin' one too." Bert answered, "She escaped us yesterday, I bet she's hidin' round 'ere."

The two diesels looked around at all the piles of scrap surrounding Reg and then back up at him.

"Oh well I do have this... Um... steam engine for you…" he hurriedly turned around to the scrap pile he was working on, picked up and whisked around to show it to 'Arry and Bert.

The two diesels stared dumbfounded as Reg attempted to talk without moving his mouth, like he was a ventriloquist, and the scrap he had done his best to turn into a rather stumpy looking steam engine was his dummy.

"Um, hello there!" Reg began in a high-pitched voice, "My name is ur… Humphrey... Y-yeah... Humphrey the... Rusty Engine! And… um… you found me, hooray!" Reg was beginning to sweat slightly; he wasn't sure what to do or say now.

Nelly watched and tried her best not to giggle, as 'Arry and Bert sat simply staring at Reg and 'Humphrey'.

Bert looked back at the scrap piles whilst 'Arry continued looking at Reg.

"Well, I suppose we could take this with us." 'Arry began, "I know you're trying to hide something Reg. But we'll be back later. We have some more work to do."

"Alrighty then, chaps!" Reg replied, as he dropped 'Humphrey' into one of the trucks that 'Arry and Bert were pulling.

The two diesels gave Reg one last glare before they both honked their horns and rolled away.

As soon as she was sure that they had completely left, Nelly began to burst out in laughter.

"Haha! That was s-so funny, M-Mr. Reg!" she giggled.

Reg let out a slight chuckle.

"Thanks, but I'm just glad they managed to leave now."

Nelly looked back down at her buffers and sighed.

"H-hopefully… n-nobody e-else… finds me…" she stammered, a single tear slowly trickling down her cheek.

Reg looked at his new friend, Nelly, and then back at the tracks going past the scrapyards.

"Don't you worry, Nelly. I'll protect you with my life." he smirked confidently.

Meanwhile, Edward puffed into Knapford Station, he was pulling a train of empty trucks and was heading for Crock's Scrapyard. He then saw the Fat Controller walking out from his office towards him.

"Oh! Hello, Sir!" Edward whistled cheerfully.

"Ah! Edward! Perfect!" The Fat Controller exclaimed, "I need to head over to Suddery for an important meeting, but all the engines are busy at the moment. I hope you don't mind taking me along with you?"

"Well, Sir. I don't have any coaches with me, just some trucks." Edward replied.

"You could ride in the brakevan, Sir!" Edward's driver offered, "if you're alright with that?"

"That's grand, thank you very much!" The Fat Controller strolled to the back of Edward's train, and climbed into the breakvan.

Edward blew his whistle and pulled out of the station.

Back at Crock's Scrapyard, Reg was chucking bits of scrap onto the conveyor belt, whilst still protecting Nelly.

Nelly looked over to her right and she suddenly saw some scrap merchant lorries heading towards them from the nearby road.

"R-Reg!" she tried to whisper as loudly as she could without anyone hearing them, "L-Lorries!"

"Alright, hang on!" Reg swung his crane arm round and picked Nelly up, but as he brought her around to hide her from the lorries, Edward puffed up with his trucks and blew his whistle. Reg jumped when he heard this, and accidentally dropped Nelly, causing to fall onto a small pile of engine parts, blocking the line next to him, with a loud thud.

Edward and the Fat Controller were most surprised.

"Um, Reg?" Edward asked, "Are you alright?"

Reg quickly turned around, trying to block Nelly out of their view.

"Oh um, yeah Edward! Hello Edward! How are you, Edward? I'm fine! Nothing wrong here! All fine and dandy!" Reg desperately blurted out, trying to make it seem as though nothing unusual was going on.

The Fat Controller looked out from the brakevan, opened the door, and climbed out. He walked right up to Edward and Reg; he was very confused. So was Edward.

"What was all that about?" he asked. Reg swung his claw in front of Nelly, trying to hide her.

"N-nothing, Sir! D-do you need your trucks loaded up, Edward? C-coming right up!" And he quickly tried to pile some scrap in front of Nelly, whilst simultaneously trying to load up Edward's trucks with scrap, but it was too late. Edward and the Fat Controller had already seen Nelly.

"Reg?" Who is this engine?" asked Edward.

Reg stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned around to face Nelly, her eyes were shut tight as the Fat Controller walked up to her.

"What is this engine doing here, Reg? Don't tell me you were about to scrap her?" he began.

"Of course not, Sir!" Reg replied, "I wouldn't do that!"

Nelly slowly opened her eyes and looked at the Fat Controller, Edward, and Reg.

"Nelly here was running away from being scrapped and ended up here. I was trying to make sure that 'Arry and Bert didn't find her. They had been looking for her and had been trying to scrap her… Sir…" Reg's voice trailed, and he looked down sadly.

"I should have told you about this sooner…"

The Fat Controller smiled.

"Well, Reg. I am very pleased that you decided to do something so daring for Nelly. I'm glad you told me about this." He walked closer to Nelly.

"So where are you from, Nelly?" he asked.

Nelly looked at him and took several deep breaths.

"T-the Mainland, Mr. Controller… S-Sir…"

"Well, Nelly. I'm assuming that they are partially the reason why you ended up here, correct?"

"Y-yes…" Nelly looked down at her buffers, she was beginning to cry again.

"Well, you won't have to worry about them, or 'Arry and Bert again." he declared. "Nelly! How would you like to become an engine here on the North Western Railway?"

Nelly's eyes widened.

"Oh, Sir! Y-you mean it. I-I can work on this railway? W-with lots of nice engines I h-hope? And not near any scary p-places?"

The Fat Controller laughed.

"Oh, don't you worry, Nelly! After you've been sent to the Steamworks and have been fully repaired, I shall be sending you to work at Wellsworth Yard with Edward here. The yard needs a permanent shunter, and I think you'd be perfect for the job."

Nelly was absolutely astounded, but incredibly happy. She beamed from buffer to buffer.

"Oh th-thank you so, s-so much, Sir!" she exclaimed happily, "I-I won't let you d-down!"

"Excellent! Now, just sit tight here for a while. I just have to go to a meeting, but Edward will come by later with a flatbed to take you to be fully repaired."

The Fat Controller walked back over to Edward's brakevan, and after the trucks had been fully loaded up, Edward blew his whistle and puffed away.

"Nice to meet you, Nelly!" he called cheerfully.

"Well, how about that?" Reg asked happily, as the two of them watched Edward puff away into the distance.

"Thank you, Mr. Reg." Nelly smiled.

A little while later, Edward came back with a flatbed. Reg picked Nelly up and gently lowered her onto the flatbed.

"Right then, off to the Steamworks!" Edward whistled and he pulled slowly away from the scrapyard.

"B-bye, Mr. Reg!" Nelly called, "Th-thanks so much!"

"Not a problem!" Reg called back and smiled happily as he watched Edward and Nelly roll away. He chuckled and went back to arranging more scrap as usual.

"One man's trash is another man's treasure." he said to himself.

THE END

Well, I certainly enjoyed writing that story. Reg really deserved to have some kind of episode to himself in the official series, but alas, he never did. I honestly love the concept of this story, and I also love little Nelly. She's an adorable character who I'm looking forward to writing more about in the next episode. Which will feature a returnee. Pretty obvious who it is though if you just look at the episode title XD. Edward will be featured more in the next episode too, his relationship with Nelly will be explored there.

As always, here's what's coming up in the future:

Nelly and BoCo - Having been rescued from scrap, Nelly is sent to work at Wellsworth Yards to do some shunting. However, she gets very scared when she meets BoCo as she has a big fear of diesel engines. Can Edward help her out?

Gordon Goes Foreign - After getting into a heated argument with Flying Scotsman about what London Station is called, Gordon sets off to London to prove that it is named King's Cross.

Tea-Rex - Rex gets rather overconfident when he gets chosen to pull a special dining coach. Although, an angry stray goose manages to bring his ego down.

Knights of the Turntable - When Arthur hears about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, he decides to gather some engines to be his own knights, in order to help him out with a job he doesn't want to do. Unfortunately, disaster strikes when Emily becomes an impromptu damsel-in-distress.