Rebecca is a special kind of tender engine. Her boiler is a unique shape, as her designers believed it could help her move freight and passenger trains faster than the engines that came before her time.
Rebecca is a kind engine, and is well liked by everyone she meets. She is also known to be very helpful and useful. The fat controller often has Rebecca pull special passenger trains alongside Gordon and Henry, as this would reduce the strain on their wheels and joints.
Rebecca does this without fuss, for she feels very useful to help any of her friends in need. She always goes out of her way to help with a smile and a sense of accomplishment.
One evening, at the engine shed, Rebecca was telling Edward about her latest story of how she helped BoCo with a long goods train up Gordon's Hill.
"I am telling you, Edward, I had not seen such a long train like that before! I lost sight of BoCo before I could even reach the top of the Hill!"
"My word, that seemed like a lot of hard work," said Edward supportively.
"That isn't the half of it. As soon as I finished that, poor James broke down at the station, and I had to pull his local back to Knapford. It was a wonderful adventure," said Rebecca cheerfully.
Edward chuckled. He did enjoy Rebecca's stories, but he was a bit concerned as well, "It is good that you are taking joy in what you do and try to help where you can, Rebecca. But..."
"But what?," asked Rebecca, curious as to what Edward was going to say.
"But it is also very important that you also make sure not to overwork yourself," Edward continued, "If you damage yourself, you will not be helpful to anyone, and, most importantly, you may not be able to help yourself if the situation is worse."
"Awww Edward, you are very kind," said Rebecca, "but don't you worry about me, I feel as fresh as the day I was made. My cylinders are raring to go!"
The two continued to chat peacefully for the rest of the night. The next Morning, at Knapford Yard, Rebecca was steaming nicely, waiting for her next assignment. Just then, Murdoch trundled along the freight siding, completely exhausted.
"Murdoch, is everything alright," she asked?
"No, I'm knackered," Murdoch replied, "I've been doing an all nighter pulling this long good train from Brendam docks. I have to deliver this bit to a construction project in Kildane, but it's really heavy going".
Not wanting to see the big engine in such a state, Rebecca smiled and asked, "Well, I have nothing at the moment to do, why don't I pull it for you the rest of the way?"
"Are you sure you can pull this train?", asked Murdoch nervously.
"Don't you worry, Murdoch. I may not be as big as you are, but I can do it if I put my mind to it," smiled Rebecca.
Once both drivers agreed to the arrangement with the foreman, Rebecca was coupled to the long freight train as Murdoch rested on the outside sidings.
The guards whistle was blown, and Rebecca started to slowly, but surely, move the lumbering train behind her.
Due to the weight of the train, Rebecca's crew knew that they would have to have a banking engine come assist up Gordon's Hill.
However, they would never make it to Gordon's Hill...
During the run, just as Rebecca had passed Crosby, a strange "krr-shunk" noise was heard, followed by a wheel slip. The driver and fireman didn't mind the wheel slip, as Rebecca was known to do so due to her design. They were, however, curious as to what was the cause of the sound. They began to lower speed, in an attempt to bring Rebecca to a stop and inspect.
As they attempted to do so, the noise happened again, and Rebecca's wheel slipped once more. Suddenly, there was a huge plume of black smoke bellowing up from under Rebecca's wheels.
Then, it happened. As soon as Rebecca was at a complete stop, the black plume became bigger and bigger. And what followed was a tower of orange light, giving off intense heat."
"Oh goodness me," exclaimed the driver, "Fire, fire, Rebecca's on fire!"
Rebecca was horrified and screamed, "Ow, ouch! Driver! Fireman, put it out! Put it out!"
"We can't! It's an oil fire," the driver responded quickly, "We will have to get help, immediately!"
The fireman, wasting no time on his part, doused Rebecca's fire with water with whatever the crew had on board, and turned the water injectors on full, before clambering out. He ran down the train to the brake van to alert the guard before running to find the nearest emergency rail phone.
The guard, with his flags and whistle in hand, ran down with the fireman to stop any incoming trains that would be on the same line.
The driver, ran as far back as he could away from Rebecca, making sure that he could report to his crew any potential fire hazards for rescue to be mindful of.
All the while, poor Rebecca suffered immensely. By the time help did arrive, and the fire fighters had put out the oil fire, she had suffered severe structural damage.
An inspector was on hand to help with investigating the cause of the chaos that had occurred. Tipping his hat, he consoled Rebecca.
"It's not your fault, Rebecca, he said calmly, "Oil had spilt onto your boiler lagging. Most likely your brakes being applied lit it and the coal dust caught inside."
Poor Rebecca was inconsolable, "Oh fitter, it is my fault! What Edward told me yesterday was right. I thought I could help Murdoch with his train, and now- Oh dear, oh dear!"
"And what did Edward say," asked a familiar voice. It was the fat controller.
In between her sobs and tears, Rebecca told him what Edward had advised the night before.
The fat controller smiled and said, "And he is very wise for telling you this. Like you, he too learnt from his own exploits. You should ask him to tell you of his own mechanical tale when you are fully mended."
"Yes sir," Rebecca sniffled.
"And, in future Rebecca, if you are unsure, it doesn't hurt to ask for help from others. That is what makes you all really useful engines."
The End