Chapter Two: Bear and Barry

The more Bear thought about Henry's suggestion of a new engine, the more he began to wonder where they could find one… So one day when he saw Douglas at the yards, he decided to finally talk about his idea.

"Do you think I'd be able to find another engine, Douglas?"

"Where?" asked Douglas.

"Anywhere!" answered Bear "Such as, say, where you found Oliver."

"Ye mean... On the other railway?" asked Douglas.

"Exactly that." answered Bear eagerly, "Henry thinks we should get a new engine to help out on the mainline, and I couldn't help but wonder… If maybe there's more real engines out there."

But Douglas wasn't so sure "Stuff an nonsense, Bear. These days, it's only diesels thon prowl the other railway. Gin ye think ye coud find another steam engine bud, guid luck wi thon."

"How could you say that, Douglas?..." asked Bear, perplexed. "Don't you want another steam engine?"

"O course A dae! But we both know whit the other railway is like nowadays, I'm juist tryin tae think realistically."

"Well I, Douglas, would rather think optimistically…"

"You're welcome tae it…" said Douglas, doubtfully.

Bear told the other mainline engines about his plan as well, and they too felt a little skeptical.

"We're barely even allowed to go any further than Barrow, Bear" said Gordon. At the time this happened, Gordon's brother, Flying Scotsman, was the only steam engine allowed to run on the other railway. "If you want to find another steam engine, I'm afraid you're on your own."

"Then perhaps I'll start taking on duties of goods trains that go to the mainland…" said Bear, still determined. "Any objections to that?"

Nobody objected, so Bear put his plan into action. But no one really thought he'd find a "Real engine". And the more time passed, the more and more even Bear was beginning to lose hope. All he'd see every day he went to the mainland was diesel after diesel. The only steam engine that was allowed to run on the Other Railway after all was Flying Scotsman, but he wasn't for sale. It all felt futile to him as Bear took on fuel one day.

"What was I thinking?..." said Bear, now losing hope. "I'll never find a 'Real engine'..."

His disappointment was soon disrupted by the horn of another diesel. The diesel surprisingly seemed friendly.

"Why hello there! You don't see many Hymek's these days, I'm 47384. What brings you this way?"

"Oh, hi…" said Bear "Just delivering some cargo from the North Western Railway, got to go back soon, can't stay and chat…"

"You're from the North Western Railway, hmmm?" said the diesel. "Isn't that the place that still runs steam engines? How have you been getting on there?"

"Uhhh, very smoothly actually…" said Bear "They really are a dedicated team."

Bear didn't entirely trust 47384. Even if he seemed friendly, Bear didn't think he would care for steam engines. He wouldn't dare tell him what happened to Emily if it meant being teased by yet another diesel that only viewed steam engines as out of date.

"… I'm just not in the greatest mood." he eventually let out "I'm trying to help look for another engine to join our railway, preferably a steam engine though."

"Any luck?"

"What do you think? I didn't realize that by 'Abolished steam' on the Other Railway, it was this extreme…"

Bear expected the diesel to tease him. His actual response was a huge surprise.

"Hmmmm... Have you ever heard of the Woodham Brothers?"

"The Woodham Brothers?..." said Bear, intrigued. "No, I can't say I have, why?"

The diesel smiled "The Woodham Brothers is a scrapyard in Barry that has hundreds of old steam engines stored away for sale. I've been given rumour that their intent is to sell most of them to any preservation group that wants to buy them."

"Are you for real?!" exclaimed Bear, "That sounds too good to be true."

"I've been to Barry before, I can assure you it's a real place." said the diesel. "Maybe that's your key to finding a steam engine."

"But Barry is really far away…" said Bear "I don't know how I could get there."

47384 paused for a moment… Then made a proposal.

"Perhaps we could form a deal... I can give you one of my jobs so that you can get down to Barry, and I can cover for you while you're away… I've never been to the North Western Railway before, I wonder what it's like."

"Really?!" said Bear excited "You got yourself a deal! Once you get there, tell them about our plan. I'm sure they'll miss me and want to know my whereabouts."

"Sounds good to me!"

And so it was arranged. Bear took a goods train to Barry, and 47384 took a brief visit to Sodor. The other engines obviously weren't sure whether or not to trust 47384 at first, but once he explained why he was there, they all began to warm up to him… Except for James, but more on that later. Bear meanwhile was in for quite the surprise when he saw Barry for himself.

"My word… That other diesel was right! Look at all those engines!"

Bear took a minute to gaze at all the rusty old steam engines lined up in sidings. True to the other diesel's words that there must have been hundreds of all shapes and sizes! Bear couldn't even identify all of the types of engines, but one of the first engines to notice him was near the front. It was a girl, and she tried looking away from him at first, until Bear tried to greet himself.

"Hello… I'm from the North Western Railway and my name is Bear, what's yours?" he asked.

The engine looked surprised. Clearly no engine had been as friendly to her as Bear was recently, so she nervously replied.

"… Helena… Or, Princess Helena, as I was known on the Great Western."

"You're a Great Western engine?" asked Bear

"Was, until diesels like you came along and replaced us…"

Bear gulped "I've heard that talk before, but please, I'm sorry if I scared you… I just wanted to say hello…"

Princess Helena was a little surprised at this, but she gave a smile… But just as she was about to say something, a foreman came in to see Bear.

"Ah, hello there. I see you've brought some old wagons, much obliged!"

"You're welcome, sir…" said Bear, "But may I ask a question or two about this engine here?"

"This engine here?" asked the foreman, "Oh, she's a Great Western Princess class! Been here for quite a while, much like the rest of these old steamers. We'd love to give her and the others a home, but… It all depends on whether or not anyone comes and buys them. Money is tight."

Bear looked at the old engine, she was now looking at her buffers in sadness. Something though, told Bear that this was exactly the engine he had in mind when on the hunt. He turned to the foreman.

"Have you ever thought of contacting Sir Topham Hatt?"

"Topham Hatt?" said the foreman. "Well, we only wait for people to come to us, the interest must come from others."

"Well, I actually work for his railway, and… Came all the way here because I heard there were lots of steam engines for sale here. So I was wondering if, perhaps, you could try giving him a call letting him know what I've discovered? We really could use another engine, and… I thought Princess Helena here might be a good fit. She'd be a great assistant to Henry and Gordon." explained Bear.

Helena was surprised at these news "You're… From the North Western Railway?"

"Yes I am! Ever heard of it?"

"Yes!" said Helena, "The books written by that clergyman have been the talk of railways in England. But… I thought they didn't have any diesels."

"They do even though it's a steam-friendly railway." said Bear "I'm not the only one, there's a few other diesels on the railway too, like Daisy, and BoCo."

"Would you like us to give your controller a call?" asked the foreman.

"Yes, that would be lovely," said Bear.

"Right… I'll talk to my boss and I'll see what we can do."

While arrangements were being made, Bear stayed in the area, doing odd jobs around the island. He wanted to make sure to keep an eye on Helen, the new nickname they gave her. One day, two giant flatbeds were brought into the island. Bear wasn't sure what they were doing there until The Fat Controller showed up as well to speak to him.

"It's good to see you Bear. I must say, you had quite an interesting plan… Running away from my railway to find another steam engine."

Bear blushed with embarrassment.

"Not to worry…" said the Fat Controller, "47384 told me everything, and I gotta say, you're very dedicated. This is why you're one of the best diesels I have."

The Fat Controller spoke to Helena next.

"Bear has told me all about you, and I have officially purchased you for my railway… Now can you promise me you'll work hard? We've been in need of another engine after all. I've had a few incidents where I couldn't spare a suitable engine for the express. Earlier this year I had to get three tank engines to take it and just recently I had a smaller tender engine that couldn't do it!"

"Of course I'll work hard, sir!" said Helena, excited. "Anything to get out of here… By the way, you can also call me Helen for short."

"Good, Helen it shall be." announced the Fat Controller. "We will be loading you and your tender onto this flatbed. Bear, you're going home, but not without her. I want you to take her with you on your way back to Sodor."

"Yes, sir!" said Bear, happily.

Soon, Helen was loaded onto one flatbed and her tender onto the other. Bear was soon to finally leave Barry Island, with her as his load, all the way back to the Fat Controller's Railway. As soon as they made it home, he dropped her off at the works, where he found 47384 waiting.

"I don't know how to repay you 47384, you were a great help." thanked Bear.

"Not to worry! But please, call me Crovan. It's a new nickname for me since I've been helping out around here."

"I see. That reminds me, I never gave you my name, I'm Bear. It's a pleasure to be acquainted with you."

"Likewise!" said Crovan, happily.

Helen was soon restored and things went smoothly for her return to service. I'm sorry to say, however, that her arrival started a bit of controversy among a few other engines, particularly Gordon, but he'd soon learn his lesson… The hard way.

To be continued...