Foreword:

Dear all the fans of the Railway Series books,

The Thin Clergyman has documented many stories and adventures the engines of Sodor have had over the years, but there many that he has missed. We are not saying this to shame him, he has done a lot of great work over the years, but there are many stories that we felt were worth sharing. You all know Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby, Duck, Donald, Douglas, and Oliver, but there are other steam engines on the railway too. This includes Emily, a handsome Stirling Single, rescued from a museum, Rosie, an American-built tank engine, sent as a gift from the Bluebell Railway, Ryan, a tank engine and distant-relative of Gordon's, another gift from the National Railroad Museum, Harvey, a peculiar crane-engine built by the railway to handle derailments. In this book, however, we would like to tell you about one of our favorite engines, Princess Helena, or known by most as Helen. She is one of the hardest working engines on the Island of Sodor. She is dignified, honorable, and never late. This is the story of how she became an official member of the railway.

Chapter One: As Good as Gordon

Our story begins back in 1969, when for every one passenger and goods train that you'd see on a branch line, five more you would see bustling back and forth between each end of the mainline. This was never an easy task, but Henry, Gordon, James, Emily, and Bear always did their best. They did get help from Donald, Douglas, and BoCo on occasions but even they could get busy with other work. It was on one Autumn day that their limits were truly tested, when the Fat Controller came to the sheds. "The new mayor of Sodor has requested a special tour of the Island by one of my engines." he said proudly, "It is only appropriate in my eyes that Gordon be the one who gives him the tour."

Gordon was thrilled! "Me sir? I'd be honored!"

"I knew you would, Gordon. I'm sure you would like a break from the express once in a while." This was actually true, but a big question lingered in Gordon's mind.

"Of course sir, but… Who will cover for me today while I'm away?" he asked

"I haven't quite decided." said The Fat Controller "Any volunteers?"

It was to the Fat Controller's surprise that most of the engines were occupied with other jobs. James was scheduled to take a goods train to Edward's station, Bear had already been assigned to the limited, and Henry was to take a slow goods to the end of the line.

"Why not let Emily try it, sir?" suggested Henry "She hasn't pulled the express before."

"If there are no other engines available, then yes Emily, you may." The Fat Controller answered, but Emily was worried.

"Henry, I don't think I'm adequate for something like the Express!" she complained "I can't go as fast as Gordon nor have I ever pulled long passenger trains that size. I'm too old for that kind of work-"

"If you don't want to do it Emily," interrupted James, "you can always take my goods train and I'll-"

"Shut it, James." barked Henry, "You just want to show off; And rubbish Emily, of course you're adequate. Maybe if you give it a try, you'll come to like it! Weren't some of your Stirling brothers and sisters about to get up to 80 miles an hour?"

"You're pushing her limits too much, Henry." said Gordon, "My Doncaster brothers and sisters could go a hundred! I suggest you or Bear, the express can't be late." Gordon was actually concerned for Emily, but Henry misinterpreted what he said.

"You boast too much, Gordon. I believe in her!"

"Stop quarreling you three…" said Emily at last "I'll do it. I can be as good as Gordon" (Emily leaves)

"That's the spirit!" said Henry "I knew she was capable."

But she was going to push herself too hard. When Emily arrived at the station, the coaches were already there. As soon as she coupled up, the guard's whistle blew before she realized it, and she strained to pull out of the station!

"Goodness me… These coaches are heavier than I thought!"

But she still struggled on. It was true that her siblings were capable of doing 80 miles an hour, but that was only on lighter trains. They had never pulled trains as heavy as the express. Instead, she was only going about 50 by the time she reached Edward's station, and was already exhausted! It didn't help that her driver was new to the railway. His name was Clark Wilkins and he had driven diesels on the other railway, but knew nothing about steam engines… He didn't realize the importance of water.

"Driver… Can't we stop for a drink?" panted Emily

"Yes, but not for a rest…" he replied "Once the tank's full, we HAVE to make up for lost time!"

They quickly filled up Emily's water tank and she was soon on her way again. "Expresses were never this difficult on the Great Northern…" Emily said to herself "I really am obsolete."

Gordon's hill didn't help much either. She barely managed to make it over the hill but was very close to losing her breath. "If I stall on this hill… I'll never hear the end of it from Gordon!" She didn't even notice that Bear overtook her on another track while making her paces. She did, however, use gravity to her advantage when making her way down, which did help, but not for long. She was able to stop for another drink, but soon her driver could hear the passengers complaining.

"What's with all these stops?!" said a grumpy passenger "We're already half an hour late!" Clark was getting anxious. He wanted to make up for lost time. "Come on, old girl." he said, "Let's try to conserve this water for the next station, we can't let the passengers down."

Emily knew he was right, but she was still very exhausted… It didn't help that when they did reach the next station, her water tank was almost empty again. "Can we stop for another drink, driver? I'm thirsty…" she complained.

"The next station isn't that far from here… Let's try to push a little further" he encouraged.

"I don't think we can make it Clark…" said Emily's fireman, "The tank's really low."

"Will it be enough to get to the next station though?"

"We'd be cutting it close…"

Clark made a decision "I say give it a shot… The passengers are complaining." Emily struggled on, but she could soon see Vicarstown in the distance.

"Nearly there…" she panted "Maybe this wasn't such a bad run after all!" But it was. At that moment Emily's puffs changed to wheezes, and she began slowing down even further. "What's happening to me?... I feel even more out of breath than ever." she wheezed

It was at that moment that Emily finally had grounded to a halt, and it was very clear on what had happened. She had run out of water. Her fireman quickly dropped the fire.

"I told you we wouldn't have enough water." he complained, "This is why I always say we should carry extra!"

Clarke now felt very foolish. "I was just trying to make up for lost time…"

As soon as her fireman dropped the fire, Emily felt better, but she thought that she had left everyone down… Even worse still, now Henry was approaching with his slow goods.

"Emily?... Why have you stopped?" he asked.

"I ran out of water…" replied Emily, "It's no use, Henry, I'm not as good as Gordon. I should have let you take the express, I-"

"Emily, relax, relax… I'll give you a push to the station…" But a wave of guilt then rushed through Henry. "And… I'm sorry I tried to push you. I should have known your limits."

Henry pushed Emily and the express coaches to Vicarstown, where the Fat Controller was there waiting. He had a few stern words with Emily's driver.

"I understand wanting to be on time, but you must never put a steam engine in this kind of situation Mr. Wilkins... If you hadn't dropped the fire once your engine ran out of water there could have been dangerous consequences. I'm putting you on suspension until I can trust that you know how to take care of a steam engine."

"I'm sorry boss…" said Clark, sheepishly.

"You'd better be…" said the Fat Controller crossly. He then turned to Emily "This incident wasn't your fault Emily, we should have realized that you simply weren't technologically capable of pulling the express. You should have a rest at the sheds, you've earned it."

Emily wearily agreed, and Henry took over the express duties. That night at the sheds, the engines all had their own problems to let out with each other.

"I told you Emily wasn't capable of pulling the express Henry" said Gordon, "now look what's happened because of your foolish suggestions!"

Bear the diesel finally had enough. "Gordon… Just shut up, all Henry wanted was for her to have a chance at trying something new!"

"Emily never gets the chance to pull big mainline trains like the express…" added Henry, "And you all know how she's always doubting herself like that, I thought it'd give her a boost of confidence."

"Well I doubt this incident will make her confidence any better…" huffed Gordon

"Still Gordon, you should at least give Emily credit," said Bear, "she tried her hardest to cover for you while you were galavanting off doing nothing but giving one person a joyride!"

Gordon was so cross at this remark that he couldn't argue any longer!

"All the same…" said Henry, "Perhaps this goes to show that we need another engine to help us out here on the mainline."

"Nonsense." said Gordon, "This was a one-time thing. As long as you remember to have engines such as me pulling long express trains, and leave little engines like James and Emily to take care of the branchline trains and goods work, this railway would run more smoothly."

But all the same, Henry had a point. It was never easy for the five engines to run the mainline on their own. Little did they know, though, that they would soon find a solution to their predicament, and it would all be thanks to a certain bear, but that's another story...

To be continued...