Rebecca the stoutly engine was sent to the mainland for much needed repairs at Crewe. The fire incident she had suffered had caused considerable damage to her frame, and the Sodor Steam Works did not have the necessary parts to mend her.
When she arrived, she was shunted to a work siding to wait for her turn to be repaired. Rebecca was no stranger to the mainland, but she was rather worried. Not much of her kind was left after the days of steam had come to an end.
She had every reason to worry, for the talks at the workshop were not positive either. One day, Rebecca overheard the foreman speaking to one of the workers about what to do with her.
"Well," began the foreman, "what's the status of Sir Topham's Hat's engine?"
"To be honest, I'm not so sure we can repair her, sir. The damage is too severe, and some of her parts are no longer easy to be sourced."
The foreman dipped his head and sighed, "Can't be helped…we may have to look for other options then."
Poor Rebecca was heart broken at what she heard. 'Other options' usually meant one thing, and one thing alone…scrap. On the mainland, not so long ago, engines that were deemed irreparable were sent to the scrapyards to be taken apart and melted down.
This was the case as the mainland went to modernise their railway systems, where diesels were replacing steam engines by the dozens. Rebecca could only wonder what fate lay in store for her, and feared that the cutter's torch was not soon far behind.
That night, she was sobbing profusely. Oh how she wished this was a bad dream, and how she yearned to be back in Sodor. "Oh if only I had listened….then I wouldn't be in this mess."
The night porter, who was checking the grounds, overheard Rebecca, and came in to check on her, "Goodness me, whatever is the matter?"
In between her sobs, Rebecca recounted to him what she had overheard earlier.
The porter was lost in thought for a while, but then gave a kind smile and said, "Do not cry, dear Rebecca, all is not lost."
"How can you be so sure," asked Rebecca as she sniffled?
"Well, unless they actually meant to scrap you, you wouldn't be here in the first place. It also is not the same as it once was some time ago. Most of us tend to keep preservation well in mind. Perhaps they may be thinking something differently entirely? Anything is possible if your change your way of thinking."
This comforted Rebecca immensely and she was able to sleep peacefully the rest of the night. The next morning the foreman came to wake her.
"Wake up Rebecca," he said, "I have wonderful news for you."
"What is it, Foreman?"
"The lads and lasses of the workshop decided, in this case, that we shall rebuild you with a redesign fitting of your class. You will be a fine engine and you can also say goodbye to the issues that caused your incident to begin with."
Rebecca was cautious, but brave. She was happy to hear the news, and when the work was done she went back to Sodor on her on steam.
A welcoming party of her friends were waiting for her at the station. As she pulled into the station, the engines stood in amazement. She looked a completely different sort of engine. Gone was her air-smoothed casing, gone was her old valve gears, and in its place was a new classed design frame, a new smoke box, a new stack, and smoke deflectors.
Henry was the first to chime, as he had a similar experience, "How do you feel, Rebecca? Good as new?"
Rebecca smiled and replied, "Better than new, Henry, I feel like I can take on anything."
Edward smiled, "Anything?"
Rebecca chuckled, "In moderation of course, Edward. Out with the old, and in with the new. That's the outlook I see on my journeys ahead."
Thomas smiled and replied, "She may have new things, and a new outlook, but it's good to see our Rebecca is still the same cheery engine we all know."
The End