THE IMPORTANCE OF PASSENGERS

Based upon "Passengers and Polish" and "Gallant Old Engine" by The Rev. W. Awdry

Nancy Rushen is the daughter of one of the guards on the Skarloey Railway. She does like talking with the little engines, and sometimes polishes them before they start work. This morning, the little engines were waking up to the sunrise.

"Hello, everyone," greeted Nancy cheerfully.

"Good morning, Nancy," smiled Peter Sam. "We've had a bit of good news happening on the North Western Railway as of late."

"Oh?" she asked curiously. "And what would that be?"

"Well, for a start, the North Western Railway has acquired two new engines and a brake van," said Sir Handel. "Diesel's actually changed a bit since his first trial. He still causes trouble, but he's not being malicious as he was, and is doing a decent job in the yards as the station pilot."

"I thought Duck was the station pilot," Nancy exclaimed. "What's happened?"

"Duck's been promoted to run the branch line running up to Arlesburgh," said Rusty. "And Oliver and Toad help him, Donald and Douglas to run it."

"Oliver and Toad were rescued by Douglas," Peter Sam went on. "He slept at the Steamworks overnight with them and accidentally gave Donald a fright."

The four younger engines couldn't help but notice Skarloey was still snoozing.

"I think I know what to do," said Nancy with a cheeky smirk. She got up on his saddle tank and began to polish the brass ring around his funnel.

"Mmm," Skarloey mumbled. "Wh-what's going on?"

"Wake up, lazybones!" teased Nancy. "Your brass is filthy. Aren't you ashamed?"

"No," muttered Skarloey, groggily opening an eye. "You're just an old fusspot." Nancy tickled his nose with her rag; he tried to blow it away, but it proved fruitless.

"I was having a nice dream too," Skarloey grunted. "Rheneas and I were taking trains up the line together…" He sneezed from the rag waved in his face.

Nancy just giggled. "Once a crosspatch, always a crosspatch," she joked. "Don't you want to look nice when Rheneas comes home?"

Suddenly, Skarloey wasn't sleepy anymore! "What?! When?!"

"Tomorrow," she told him.

"Oh, we were going to surprise him, Nancy!" groaned Sir Handel.

"How long did you lot know about this?" asked Skarloey.

"Er, not long before George left," said Rusty.

"Well, you four did well to keep it hidden from me for this long," Skarloey commented. "The coaches too."

"Ah suppose it would be nice for all six of us to finally be together," Duncan admitted. "Rusty and Ah have yet to meet Rheneas."

"Indeed," agreed Skarloey. Then he started to worry. "Oh, Nancy, do I really look nice for Rheneas' return? Please check to see if you've missed a spot. There's a good, kind girl."

"Now who's the old fusspot?" joked Nancy.

"Oh, I have the first passenger run," said Sir Handel. "Must dash."

"And I have to pick up some trucks from the quarry," added Peter Sam. The pair hurried away, and started whispering to each other.

"So, after Rheneas comes home, how long should we wait after that?" asked Peter Sam.

"Well, we don't want Rheneas' return to be overshadowed," Sir Handel commented. "Maybe… two more weeks. Then we'll finally do it."

"Do what?" asked Rusty. But he didn't get an answer, for Sir Handel and Peter Sam were already far away. "Oh well; I'd better get to work inspecting the line before Rheneas comes home."

Now Skarloey and Duncan were the only engines left in the shed.

"Aren't ya going to give me a polish as well?" asked Duncan once Nancy had finished with Skarloey's brass.

"Sorry, but I don't have the time today," said Nancy. "I'm helping out the Refreshment Lady this afternoon to get ice cream ready for the passengers. Never mind, Duncan."

But Duncan did mind. "Why does life have to be so unfair to me?!" he sulked. "First Peter Sam gets a special funnel, then Sir Handel his special wheels, passengers get ice cream, and do I get a polish for all my hard work?! No!"

"Oh dear," sighed Skarloey. "Rheneas, I hope you can set the record straight when you get home."

The day's work carried on and soon it became the afternoon. Skarloey was taking a train with some of the old coaches - Ruth, Lucy and Beatrice.

"I can't believe it," Skarloey was saying. "After all this time, Rheneas is finally coming home tomorrow."

"So much for the element of surprise," sighed Beatrice.

"Well, Skarloey is happy," said Lucy. "We can't really fault him for that."

"It almost seems like yesterday when it was just Skarloey and Rheneas running the line," said Ruth. "And in just a couple of years, we've got four new engines for extra runs."

"Who knows if we'll get another engine," said Lucy. "I mean, there is this 'Granpuff' Sir Handel mentioned once."

"Yes, that is a bit peculiar, Lucy," Skarloey noted. But before he or the coaches could dwell on this, it happened. A rock had come out of one of Peter Sam's trucks by mistake, and as Skarloey and the coaches went over the track, there was a crash.

"Lucy!" cried Ruth, Beatrice and Skarloey. The passengers were more shaken than hurt, but Lucy had come right off the rails and now sat at an odd angle.

"Is everyone alright back there?" called Skarloey.

"We're okay," said one of the passengers from inside Lucy. "No one's been injured."

"We'd better call for help," said Beatrice as her guard jumped out to find the nearest telephone.

It wasn't long before help was on the scene. Unfortunately, it was Duncan who had been brought to help out, and he wasn't happy about this at all.

"All this extra work Ah have to do right now!" the yellow engine grumbled. "Ah'm already feelin' mah wheels wear out!"

"Duncan!" scolded Cora. "Skarloey, the coaches and the passengers need our help. Thank goodness you were the only engine available."

"Only after Ah'd finished mah passenger run," muttered Duncan.

"Come on!" grunted Cora. "None of the other engines would be complaining like you are now."

It wasn't long before Lucy had been re-railed again; some of her passengers had even helped to get her into position.

"Thank you for your help," smiled Lucy. "I'm so sorry this had to happen."

"Nothing to be sorry for," said a passenger. "We quite liked the adventure."

"Thank goodness," sighed Beatrice. "We'd better get on our way to the stations."

"And Ah've to take my next train once Ah get back to the yards," huffed Duncan. "And all without a minute to rest! Typical!"

"This will be a long trip…" muttered Cora.

Duncan's next run was with Ada, Jane and Mabel, with Cora once again acting as his van. The yellow engine was still in a bad mood, and he was short of steam, so his driver stopped him at Glennock station.

"How long has this been going on for?" asked Ada to Cora.

"Duncan's moodiness? Since this morning," Cora explained. "Though I believe he's been jealous of Peter Sam's funnel and Sir Handel's wheels since they got them."

"What else is new?" sighed Jane. "Say, Cora, speaking of those two, they've been acting a bit peculiar lately. They keep saying they are going to 'do something', but they never say what."

"Since you know them so well," said Mabel, "we thought you might know."

"Well, Sir Handel and Peter Sam don't really like talking about certain things with other engines and coaches they haven't known for a super long time," Cora admitted. "It's still taking time for them to adjust here."

"I guess that the Peel Godred plant took a number on them," said Jane softly. "I'd hate to imagine what horrors they've been through there." Duncan and his crew didn't hear much of the coaches' conversation.

"Come on, Duncan," insisted his driver. "The passengers have been waiting long enough for their train to move."

"Hmph! You always think about the passengers, yet never about me!" retorted Duncan.

Eventually, Duncan did build up enough steam to make the journey to Rheneas station, but he was still grumpy and tired.

"Ah'm overworked, and Ah won't stand it!" he fumed as they approached the viaduct. It was very high up and very narrow, meaning people couldn't cross when trains did.

"Come on, Duncan," encouraged his driver. "Just one more effort, and you can have a rest and a drink."

"You can keep yer old station!" snapped Duncan rudely. "Ah'm staying here!" And he did so too, right in the middle of the viaduct, and nothing his crew or the passengers could do would make him budge.

"Maybe we can nudge him forward," suggested Mabel.

"We can only do that if we're going downhill," sighed Ada.

"What are we going to do now?" grunted Jane. "Our passengers are stranded. They need to get home."

"The narrow viaduct sure doesn't help things," sighed Cora. "And I thought it was bad enough on… well, this one part of our old line if we got stuck."

Eventually, Skarloey had been called to help Duncan and the coaches to the station. The old engine was not happy with what he had heard.

"I'm ashamed of you, Duncan," scolded Skarloey. "Leaving your passengers like this? Not to mention poor Ada, Jane, Mabel and Cora?!" He was coupled on and the train started away.

"Girls," said Cora, "let's keep the brakes off as much as we can. I don't think Duncan's going to help…"

He didn't. When the train finally arrived at the top station, the passengers complained to Duncan and his crew about the delay.

"Who thinks the return trip isn't going to go down so well," sighed Ada. The other coaches and Cora wished they had hands to raise at this statement.

That evening, Mr. Percival spoke sternly to Duncan about his behavior today.

"No passengers means no polish!" he snapped.

"And no polish means no passengers…" Duncan muttered under his breath. It was fortunate for him that Skarloey and the others weren't paying attention, and Mr. Percival had already left.

"Are you alright, Skarloey?" asked Rusty.

"Not really," he sighed. "I'm glad the passengers and coaches are alright, but… Duncan is not getting it."

"It was a lack of passengers and goods that got our line to bite the dust," Peter Sam said quietly.

"Skarloey, you're really good at telling stories," Sir Handel put in. "Do you think you have one that could set this straight?"

"Anything to get Mr. Grumpy Wheels over here to listen," smirked Rusty. Sir Handel and Peter Sam couldn't help but laugh, and even Skarloey was amused.

"Well, first we need to get him involved in this little discussion." Skarloey cleared his throat. "You should have thought about your passengers!"

"Who needs 'em?" grumbled Duncan. "All they do is complain if yer late, even if it wasn't yer fault to begin with!"

"Passengers are our coal and water - or in Rusty's case, his oil," Skarloey grunted. "No passengers means no trains. No trains means no railway. Then we'd either be on the scrapheap or sheeted away and forgotten, and don't you forget that, my dear engine." Skarloey then noticed Sir Handel and Peter Sam exchanging a worried glance.

"Oh, sorry if that startled you both," he said quietly. "Bad choice of words."

"I-it's alright," said Peter Sam nervously.

"Y-you were talking about Rheneas earlier on today," Sir Handel said, trying to shift the subject. "A while ago, you mentioned he saved the railway."

"Yes, how does that go, Skarloey?" asked Rusty.

"Well," began Skarloey, thinking back, "Before you all came, things were very bad."

Rheneas and I were managing all the trains between the two of us. Passengers, goods, maintenance, the whole lot.

"How have the passengers been today, Rheneas?" I called one day.

"Very pleasant, Skarloey," he replied. "I'm meeting up with Henry later at Crovan's Gate. Did you hear the North Western Railway has a new engine named Thomas?"

"No, that's news to me," I said.

"Well, he's rescued James from a terrible accident and has been given his own branch line to run," said Rheneas. "Annie and Clarabel are his coaches now."

"Oh, that's a pity we're not going to see Annie and Clarabel that much anymore," I sighed. "But that's good for Thomas that he's working with them."

As more time went by, the problems took full force.

"Henry's had a rebuild and Toby and Henrietta have been rescued," I noted to myself one day. "Life on Sodor couldn't be bet- ouch!" I yelped. My crew inspected the damage.

"One of your cylinder linings has come off," sighed my driver. "Looks like you'll have to go back to the sheds while Rheneas takes over."

"Oh no…" I sighed, but I didn't have much of a choice.

"You've done more than your fair share of the work," Rheneas said kindly. "It's my turn now, Skarloey."

"Just be careful, old friend," I called. But I sighed. "I hope we get help down here sooner or later…"

Rheneas and I would often feel short of puff, but whenever we were on passenger runs, we'd make sure to reach a station before we could have a rest.

"The passengers wouldn't like it if we were to stop away from a station," Rheneas panted as he stopped at Glennock.

"Good job, ol' boy," soothed the driver. "James' connection is a guaranteed connection, so we'll have all the time we need."

"I just hope that the viaduct on the North Western Railway is fixed sooner or later," sighed Rheneas. "And it had to collapse so soon after Duck came too. That wouldn't have been a good first week for him."

"Hmph," scoffed Duncan, rolling his eyes.

"Passengers don't mind short rests at stations," continued Skarloey. "They can get out and walk about on the platform whenever they like, but they do get cross if we stop in the wrong places, say we're a bad railway and not return again. Well, Rheneas did stop in the wrong place once, but he couldn't help it…"

"Actually, Skarloey," said Peter Sam, "there was a train that was on our old line where we had to stop between stations. It was called The Picnic."

"Oh yes," said Sir Handel. "We had to stop at picnic areas, mostly. Then we had to bring the train to the port where they had to catch the boat."

"Who's telling the story here?" snapped Duncan.

"They were just commenting, Duncan," Skarloey interjected. "And they both have good points. In that case, that particular train had a different set of rules, and as you were following it, then that's good. Anyway, as I was saying…"

…it was a wet, windy afternoon, and Rheneas had a full train with all five of the old coaches. Even Beatrice the guard's van had a few passengers riding in her.

"Okay, ladies," panted Rheneas. "We can do this."

"You seem a bit short of steam, Rheneas," said Lucy worriedly.

"We definitely need to stop at Glennock," Ruth said firmly. "And have a drink while you're there too, Rheneas."

"When I'm at Glennock station…" Rheneas said in between breaths, "I may as well… open my water tank and… catch all the rain water."

"Okay, that's a good one," laughed Beatrice.

The journey was uphill, and the weather made it more difficult than it normally would be, and so Rheneas began to struggle as he started to climb.

"Brakes well off, girls," said Beatrice. "Rheneas needs all the support he can get." Rheneas didn't reply; he was concentrating hard on making it over the hill. He felt his wheels slip, but he wouldn't give up so easily.

"We must get the passengers home," he whispered. "Come on, not far to the top now…"

Finally, Rheneas and the coaches cleared the hill.

"The worst is over," Rheneas said thankfully. "Okay, girls, we're away no- Agh! I've got a cramp!"

"Rheneas!" the coaches exclaimed in shock. His crew quickly checked him over.

"What happened, Rheneas?" asked Agnes.

"I… I don't know," groaned Rheneas. "It was all going so well too…" He had stopped on the loneliest part of the line, far away from any nearby cottages and buildings. His crew began to examine him, and Rheneas could feel the passengers' cross expressions staring at him.

"It's not his fault we've stopped!" snapped Agnes. "He's in a lot of pain at the moment." That managed to subside the passengers.

"Your valve gear's jammed," said Mr. Hugh. "We've unfastened the rods and tied them up. Now, we need to get to the next station. Can you get us there on one cylinder?"

"Glennock?" asked Rheneas. "But that's not the right station. Won't the passengers be cross?"

"Don't worry," said Mr. Hugh. "They know we can't reach the top station today. Bertie, Algy, Bertrand and a few other buses will take them the rest of the way to Crovan's Gate to meet up with Gordon."

"I'll give it my best shot," promised Rheneas. "We can't let the passengers down!"

Rheneas waited patiently as everyone made last minute adjustments. The fireman sanded the rails, passengers from Beatrice pushed the train from behind, and Mr. Hugh eased open the regulator. The coaches helped too, gently nudging Rheneas forward if he started to slow down.

"We've got to do it," Rheneas panted. "If not, the passengers will be cross and the railway will close."

"You're doing well, Rheneas!" called Lucy. "Keep it up."

"I've got to get there or bust," Rheneas kept on saying to himself. He didn't hear Lucy, the other coaches or passengers cheering him on, for he blurred it out.

"Oh, my old wheels can't turn another yard," he groaned, but they did. And another, and another, and another, until at last…

"I've done it!" Rheneas cried with triumph. He let off steam in relief. The passengers poured out of the coaches and cheered Rheneas for getting them to the station despite being crippled.

"Well done, Rheneas!" cried Jemima. "We knew you could do it!"

"Rheneas, I am so proud of you," smiled Mr. Percival, who was at the station to greet him. "You're a gallant old engine. Once you've rested up, we'll give you repairs so that you'll be ready for tomorrow."

"Thank you, sir," panted Rheneas gratefully. He went to get a drink at the water tower, and as he was still resting from his long journey, the buses took the passengers away, and they were still singing Rheneas' praises. Before Rheneas could take the coaches back to the sheds, he, the coaches and Mr. Percival heard another urgent honking.

"Algy?!" cried Mr. Percival. "What are you doing back here? The passengers have all been taken to Crovan's Gate."

"It's an urgent message from Gordon, who heard it from James," said Algy. "There's two engines at the Peel Godred project who are being threatened with scrap, and need a new home."

"Scrap?!" exclaimed Rheneas. "That's horrible!"

"You focus on getting the coaches back to the sheds, Rheneas," said Mr. Percival. "I'll see to this situation. Take me there at once, Algy."

"That's where me and Sir Handel came in," said Peter Sam.

"Thank goodness we were able to see the back of that horrible place," muttered Sir Handel.

"That's right," smiled Skarloey. "But even before you two arrived, Mr. Percival and Mr. Hugh made sure that Rheneas and I were always ready for tomorrow. And we're very glad you both came when you did."

"Bless this railway for getting you two out of there," sighed Rusty.

"And for savin' me from a worse fate," Duncan said softly. "Thank you for tellin' us about Rheneas, Skarloey. Ah suppose Ah was wrong; passengers are important after all." For the first time since that morning, Duncan smiled.

"We'd better… get some sleep, everyone," yawned Peter Sam. "It wouldn't do to have us tired when Rheneas comes home."

"You're right," said Sir Handel. "It's getting late out there."

The five engines all went to sleep, and before they knew it, the big day had arrived. Edward was tasked to bring Rheneas home.

"It's so good to see you again, Gallant Old Engine," Edward grinned as he was coupled onto his flatbed. "I know someone else who will be thrilled to see you."

At Crovan's Gate, Thomas, James, Percy, Henry and Gordon were all lined up to see Rheneas' grand return to service. Unfortunately, the others couldn't attend, but they all told the other engines to wish him well.

"Here we are," said Edward cheerfully.

"Rheneas!" Skarloey cried happily. "Oh, it's been far too long, old friend."

"I've missed you too, Skarloey," smiled his brother. "It's great to be home again."

"You'd be surprised how much you've missed," said Skarloey. "Let's get you down and we can talk."

Skarloey went to help Rheneas onto his own rails. This was the signal for cheers and whistles - toots in Rusty's case - from engines large and small.

"You threw this all together for my little return?" Rheneas said, touched by the big welcome. "Thank you, everyone."

"Welcome home, Rheneas!" said Peter Sam cheerfully.

"It's nice to meet you at long last," said Rusty. "Skarloey told us about how you saved the railway last night."

"New engines," gasped Rheneas. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise. What are your names?"

"Ah'm Duncan," said the yellow engine. "And the diesel who just spoke to you here is Rusty."

"Pleased to meet the two of you," smiled Rheneas. "You aren't the only new arrivals on the island since I was gone, were you?"

"Far from it," chuckled Sir Handel. "There's been five coaches that have been built - or restored, depending on which ones you're speaking to, and a new guard's van who has also been restored. And that's just here."

"Donald and Douglas have passed their trials!" Percy grinned. "And we've even got another new steam engine called Oliver to run a branch line with Duck. And Oliver came with a friendly brake van named Toad."

"Duck's on a branch line now?" gasped Rheneas. "Well then, give my congratulations to him! But wait a minute, what about the yard at Knapford? Who's the station pilot there?"

"It's a long, complicated story," said Henry. "But… Diesel's changed quite a bit, and has taken charge of the yards."

"And we've another diesel named BoCo on my branch line," Edward added. "He's about as friendly as Rusty, so you'll have no trouble getting to know him."

"That's good to hear you have someone else to work with, Edward," smiled Rheneas. "Any luck on the Midland engines?"

"Oh, they still aren't officially part of the railway," Thomas sighed. "But they at least have been given more consistent jobs. Lauren and Nicole are on the Kirk Ronan line, Johnson is assigned to the main line and does odd jobs, and Katie and Julie..." he shuddered.

"They're at the... coal mine," whispered Gordon. "Er... Thomas had a bad experience with the lead mine on his branch line."

"Oh, I see," Rheneas realized. "I missed out on a lot," he went on, trying to change the topic. "You are going to have to let me take this all in."

"Of course, Rheneas," said James, a surprising amount of warmth in his tone. "Take all the time you need."

That evening, the six little engines were all in their sheds together for the very first time.

"The family's all together at last," smiled Rusty. "We've been waiting for a long time for this day, Rheneas."

"And it's especially good I'm back now," Rheneas commented. "If I was away for too much longer, I'd have probably missed the centenary of the line and mine and Skarloey's hundredth birthday."

"I wouldn't want to celebrate that without you," chuckled Skarloey. The younger quartet were surprised.

"A hundred years old?" exclaimed Duncan. "Ya must've been through a lot by yerselves!"

"Indeed we have," Skarloey commented. "I think something very special is going to be planned for it."

"That's quite right, Skarloey." The little engines jumped to see Mr. Percival.

"It's wonderful that Rheneas has returned to service," Mr. Percival continued, "and with all six engines finally together, I've decided to invite someone very special to join us for the centenary of the line."

"Who is it, sir?" asked Peter Sam.

"Ah, that's a surprise," said Mr. Percival. "All I will say for now is that he's very important."

This left the engines in suspense, but not the dreaded kind; it was an excitable prickle down their boilers - radiator in Rusty's case. Who was that special someone? I'm afraid that's a story for another time.

THE END

Author's Comments

Here's the latest installment of Classic Sodor Adventures, based upon the stories of Passengers and Polish and Gallant Old Engine! The book of the same name really works as two individual arcs; one being about Peter Sam and Sir Handel being given modifications to improve performance, and the other about Rheneas' return and Duncan seeing sense, with the latter affected by the former. At long last, all six of the original Skarloey engines are together as a group, but this is not the last time we'll see them in CSA. Not much else to say other than apart from expanding upon some scenes, not a whole lot was changed up from the original stories.

More stories to come!