BEAR TO THE RESCUE

Based upon "Rusty to the Rescue" by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

Sir Topham Hatt was in his office; it had been a few days since he had brought his engines to London over two trips, and some chaos had happened with the Midland engines which had resulted in Katie and Julie interchanging daily as to who was to shunt at the coal mine and who was supposed to help at Tidmouth harbor for the time being. It had also been a while since the visit of Flying Scotsman and Stepney, as well as the trial and acquisition of Diesel 7101, now going by the name of Bear. The other diesel, numbered 261 and nicknamed Bowler, had been sent away for being rude and nasty to the steam engines.

While in London, however, Sir Topham Hatt did get a couple of questions from some curious children, asking why there was a Steamworks, but not a Dieselworks.

"Hmm…" Sir Topham Hatt pondered. "I'll need to look into that, especially now that we've got six diesels on our island, if you include Rusty on the Skarloey line."

When he got home, he set about making plans, and he eventually came to Tidmouth sheds one morning. Henry, Gordon, James, Bear and Diesel all occupied the berths as of right now, though occasionally, Donald and Douglas would use the last two, if they weren't with Oliver and Duck on their branch line.

"Everyone," he announced, "a new Dieselworks will be built at Vicarstown. Bear, you are to help BoCo with the construction."

"Ooh, yes, sir!" said Bear excitedly.

"Finally," Diesel said firmly. "It really took this long to get a Dieselworks up?"

"Well, to be fair," said James, "the men over at Crovan's Gate didn't account for the invention of diesels when the Steamworks was first named."

"I suppose so," Diesel said quietly.

"Donald and Douglas will also help out if they are available," Sir Topham Hatt added. "The rest of you, it's business as usual."

Later on, Bear had taken up a supply train to help with the construction, as did BoCo.

"Oh, hello," said Bear when he saw some road vehicles at the site. "I'm Bear, who are you?"

"My name is Kelly," said the crane. "Over there is Alfie, Buster, Oliver-"

"Oliver?" asked Bear with confusion. "We know an engine by the name of Oliver."

BoCo chuckled. "It is a bit confusing, Bear, but I think we'll get used to it. It's confusing enough that we have both a Henry and a Henrietta on Sodor."

"That's understandable," chuckled Kelly. "Anyway, there's Byron, Ned, Nigel, Isobella, Patrick, and I believe you're familiar with Nelson."

"Oh, you and he were the ones who rescued Thomas from when he went through the buffers," Bear remembered.

"And Kelly and Nelson brought Duke home before you arrived on Sodor too," BoCo explained. Just then, two large, brutish dump trumps raced by, laughing as they did so.

"Oh, what was that?!" exclaimed Bear.

Kelly rolled their eyes. "That," they said, "was Max and Monty, our newest acquisitions. Be careful around them. They're always up for trouble."

"Oh dear…" sighed BoCo. "Something tells me Bill and Ben are angels compared to those two."

"I don't think those two mean any harm, really," commented Buster. "Though I suggest we all keep a lookout."

"I think you should meet the Skarloey engines sometime… er, Buster, was it?" said Bear. "I think I heard something along the lines of another steamroller giving Sir Handel grief."

"You mean George?" asked Isobella. "Oh yes, he's a downright terror to anyone, both road and rail. I'm glad Mr. Packard and Jennifer don't have him as part of the Pack. Max and Monty are trouble enough as it is."

"Though I think Bowler takes the cake when it comes to trouble," muttered BoCo.

"Bowler?" laughed Alfie. "What type of a name is that?" The two diesels explained about Bowler's trial, and how he got a bowler hat sucked through his air intake.

"Our Oliver came up with the name," laughed Bear. "According to Duck, he has this funny habit of doing that. He actually came up with my name of Bear too, though unlike Bowler, this was more of an affectionate gesture as I didn't have one."

"Ev'ry engine or road vehicle needs a name," said Patrick. "It makes ye feel like yer one o' the family."

As the day went by, Bear reflected back on the conversation about Bowler's trial.

"If he hadn't been such a prat to the steam engines," he said to himself, "we probably wouldn't have had to worry about needing help on the main line."

Bear was right; due to the visit to London, more and more people were coming to see the engines of the North Western and Skarloey Railways. Although this meant that the railways had a great deal of income, the engines couldn't keep up with the workloads. The construction of the Dieselworks only made things even busier, and Donald and Douglas were called in more often from the branch lines to help.

"That's another passenger train done," smiled Bear weakly when he pulled into Knapford. "I'd better go and get the building materials for the Dieselworks."

"I think I may need to be mended at the Dieselworks when it's built," sighed Diesel. "There's so much shunting here as it is!"

"Keep doing your best, Diesel," Bear said kindly. He buffered up to his train and headed to the Dieselworks.

When Bear saw BoCo at Vicarstown, the Hymek could see that the Metropolitan Vickers was just as exhausted as him.

"With the way we're going about on these runs," panted BoCo, "I can't tell which way I'm facing anymore!"

"It is hard to know if we're coming or going," agreed Bear; he was so engrossed in conversation he almost didn't hear Douglas' whistle. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say we're going to need another engine here."

"Most likely," BoCo said quietly. "Maybe one that could go on both the main line and the branch lines. A steam engine would bring in more tourists for sure."

"Where can we find another steam engine on the mainland?" asked Bear. "Heritage railways excluded."

"Maist likely at th' scrapyards," said Douglas, shivering a bit. "Thae days, it's diesels that gang tae th' mainland."

Bear winced, thinking about Oliver's narrow escape. "No engine should ever have to witness horrors like that." A determined glint came into his eye. "If steam engines can't safely go to the mainland, I will."

"Bit, Bear," gasped Douglas, "findin' Oliver wis a wee chance. Whit ur th' odds anither engine wull be foond?"

"Well, you never know," said Bear. "If you and Oliver both escaped here, who's to say other engines aren't trying?"

"Weel, if ye insist," Douglas smiled. "Ye kin tak' th' Midnight Goods th' nicht. We'll hae tae arrange it wi' Sur Topham Hatt."

Later that day, the two engines spoke with Sir Topham Hatt.

"Well, I don't object to saving engines," he said with feeling. "Very well, Bear. You can take the Midnight Goods tonight."

"Thank you, sir," said Bear gratefully. "Anything to make up for the fact Bowler was not a good choice for Sodor."

That night, Bear set out. When he passed Wellsworth, he caught sight of BoCo and Edward sleeping peacefully together in the sheds.

"BoCo also said some of his siblings were on the scrapheap too," Bear winced. "I can't imagine Sodor without him…" The Hymek was trying not to cry at such dark thoughts, but he pressed on with his - or rather, Douglas' - train.

Bear's journey to the mainland was rather uneventful for the most part. When he eventually got there, he left his trucks in a siding and headed off toward the scrapyards. Twisted remains of engines seemed to be at every turn, and Bear felt a wave of sadness and fear sweep over him.

The poor engines… he thought. Just done away with and with no second thought…

"WHO… ARE… YOU?" some voices echoed. Bear jumped; it was a line of diesels lined up and standing on guard. Despite the initial shock, Bear put on a brave face.

"I'm a shed and sidings inspection diesel," he said. "Have you any engines in the shed?"

"NO, NONE," the line of diesels boomed.

"Th-then, er, what about the sidings?"

"ONE. WE HAVE ONE."

Bear grew braver still. "Then I'll just go and inspect." And he purred away, trying not to wince at all the engines who had lost their lives.

I hope you found peace up there… he thought sadly.

At one of the sidings stood a lonely 4-2-2 tender engine. However, her tender was gone, most likely having been scrapped or repurposed for something else. Her funnel, whistle and siderods had also been removed, as had one of her buffers, and her cab looked as though it was bending under the weight of its roof. She almost looked as if she were a lost cause.

When Bear arrived at the siding, he was surprised upon seeing the engine. Seeing her in such a sorrowful state almost made him sob, but he managed to hold back tears.

"Excuse me," said Bear, "but how long have you been there?"

The engine looked over at the blue diesel with an alert expression. "I-is it my day to be broken up?" She spoke with a Scottish accent, but unlike Donald and Douglas, it seemed to be rather faint.

"No, I'm here to help you," smiled Bear. "I'm Bear."

"Oh. I'm… Emily," the rusted engine said at last. "I don't recall how many years I've been here."

"Well, you don't have to think about that anymore because we're getting you out of here."

Emily was in much worse condition than Oliver was when Douglas found him, and Bear knew he couldn't just couple up to her. Fortunately, he had thought ahead, and asked Diesel to shunt an empty flatbed onto the Midnight Goods.

"Do you know where we could find some cranes?" the blue diesel asked.

"I think there's one a few sidings down," said Emily.

Bear went to get it and the flatbed. Unlike Judy and Jerome, this crane wasn't sentient, which was probably a good thing in the long run.

"There you go," smiled Bear. "Don't worry, you'll be in safe buffers with us."

Emily was chained into place on the flatbed so she wouldn't fall off on the journey home, and once Bear had shunted the brake van into place, he was ready to go.

"WHERE'S SHE GOING?!" snapped the diesels.

"Away from you lot!" growled Bear. "And if you want to argue any cases, you'll have to answer to Sir Topham Hatt."

One of the diesels was about to retort again, but suddenly, Bear's engine started growling as he took off.

"I… think we should listen to this guy…" the diesel whimpered.

"Was that a bear on the loose?" asked Emily, also surprised by this sudden noise.

Bear just chuckled. "I get that a lot." He then explained about how the other engines commented on his growls, and how Oliver officially dubbed him the name Bear. For once, the blue diesel was glad that it had come in handy.

When Bear finally returned to Crovan's Gate, he shunted Emily's flatbed into the Steamworks.

"You get some rest," he said kindly. "I imagine you haven't slept well in that awful place."

"Not at all," she sighed, and she gently closed her eyes. "Thank you, Bear…"

The Hymek headed back to the sheds, and when the other engines woke up, he quickly called a meeting to let the other engines know of what had happened.

"She was in that deplorable condition?!" gasped Daisy. "The poor dear."

"Trying to evade ending up in the scrapyards is one thing," said Oliver, "but to be stuck in one for years? I can't imagine being in her wheels!"

"That's just horrific!" gasped Percy. Even though he and the others had heard about Stepney going through the same thing, at least they were still in reasonable condition to get back to East Sussex under their own steam.

"The Steamworks will take care of her," Toby said reasonably. "She'll be in good working order… eventually."

"I just can't understand why the mainland can't have steam engines and diesels working together," sighed Bear. "Sure, steam engines can take longer to start up, but we diesels are not without mechanical issues either."

"Indeed so, Bear," said Sir Topham Hatt, making everyone jump.

"Can you stop making us jump like that?" asked Duck.

"Oh, er, sorry about that," said Sir Topham Hatt. "I couldn't help but notice your, er… emergency gathering." He paused. "Bear, I heard your rescue was a success last night. You were very brave to help out poor Emily."

"How did you-"

"The Steamworks called me about the situation," he chuckled. "Unfortunately, Emily does not have a crew at the moment, so I will be looking around to see who I can hire. And it will take her a while to be restored, so I want you lot to keep up your jobs as best you can."

"We will, sir," smiled Bear.

"We'll have to keep each other updated on how her restoration is going," said Mavis.

"Well, you aren't going to do that if you are standing around the turntable," laughed Sir Topham Hatt.

"Oh, right," Bear chuckled. "Meeting adjourned." And everyone rushed off to do their work.

Of course, Emily's repairs would take a very long time - long enough for other engines to have reasons to go to the Steamworks for repairs or maintenance, and they'd keep Emily posted on the goings on of the North Western and Skarloey Railways. She enjoyed these visits, and found everyone to be quite friendly, if some of the engines were a bit rough around the edges.

But I'm afraid that Emily's time at the Steamworks carries through to many other stories on the North Western Railway, and her time in steam will have to wait.

THE END

Author's Comments

A brand new rewrite from me and Rachel is here, based upon the ever-controversial Rusty to the Rescue. As we'd established that Stepney is owned by the Bluebell Railway per real life, that means that the idea of a diesel rescuing a steam engine would have to be reutilized in some way. I decided upon Bear in the lead role as he was severely underused in the Railway Series, so I'm glad Rachel and I decided to make use of him after Enterprising Engines. We've also filled in a few more gaps such as the construction of the Vicarstown Dieselworks, and even re-established Nigel the transporter as part of the Pack. Not sure what to do with him at the moment, but hopefully we'll have an idea when we get to series six and seven. Speaking of which, Emily marks her premature debut in this story, as she'll be under restoration throughout series five. The actual series five didn't have any ongoing arcs, so that's what Rachel and I will be doing for what I'm calling Series 5 Redux.

Upcoming stories:

- Cranky Bugs

- Haunted Henry

- Toby and the Washout (rework)

- Thomas, Percy and Old Slow Coach

- Rumors and Speculation