Moral: railway safety/the importance of helping a friend

Short Synopsis: Rusty discovers fog detonators on the track, so Mr. Percival warns his engines to have their tail lamps fitted on for their evening trains. Unfortunately, Peter Sam and his miss the memo. As a result, Peter Sam gets caught in an avalanche, and Rusty comes to his rescue.

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It was a cold wintry morning. The biting wind had kicked in throughout the night as the snow fell heavily. But that didn't stop the engines from working hard as they carried on with their morning trains.

Duncan was picking up passengers at Glennock when Rheneas arrived with his coal trucks.

"Good morning, Duncan!" he whistled cheerily.

"Huh! Even though there's nothing good aboot it!" Duncan huffily replied.

"Really?" Rheneas gasped in surprise, "whatever's the matter?"

"It's these cold wintry mornings. That's what's the matter. On top of that, I have spend the whole morning putting up with these grumblin' passengers! Peter Sam's got Lakeside special he always takes. Perhaps he can take 'em."

"Passengers are urgent, Duncan. Every engine knows that," Rheneas reminded, "besides, your passengers don't look too miserable to me. And no passengers will be complaining when I deliver coal to all the station waiting rooms so that they can keep themselves comfortable while they wait for their trains."

"Huh! At least your job is worth while, Rheneas," grumbled Duncan, as his guard's whistle blew. Then he whistled and left the station, Rheneas giggling as he watches the train disappear.

The little engines on the Narrow Gauge railway are quite accustomed to the snowy weather nevertheless. But out of all of Mr. Percival engine's, Rusty seemed to be the most used to it. Striving hard, the little diesel would often perform odd jobs around the line, and usually, this would call for a morning run of routine maintenance with the workmen. This morning, Rusty was busy clearing heavy lines of snow on his way to pick up the workmen at Crovan's Gate. This way, his friends would be able to run their journeys safely throughout the day. But the snow seemed to be heavier than usual, and Rusty and his driver Mr. Hugh were aware of it.

Rusty panted heavily, as he plowed the drifts of snow heavily and sighed, "It's always the same with these cold wintry days, isn't it, Mr. Hugh?" Rusty sighed heavily to his driver.

His driver laughed and replied, "quite so, old boy. All the same, it's a good thing the Thin Controller requests routine maintenance on a more daily basis now. After all, my men seemed very enthused by it too. In the olden days, even before you arrived, Rusty, you wouldn't have been my only engine to look after. Those were hard times, you see, but it all seems better now that this railway has more engines, and more drivers in addition."

Rusty chuckled slightly, feeling much better, as he plowed the next drift.

Mr. Hugh held the position of head foreman for as long as he could remember working on the Thin Controller's railway, and had been Rusty's driver ever since the little diesel's arrival. They both made a great team, and worked well with the workmen in that regard.

At the "Works Station", some of Henry's passengers were transferring over to Peter Sam's train. This way, Peter Sam would start his journey off by dropping his passengers off at Lakeside, before taking them on the scenic route and showing them all the splendid sights there were to see.

"At least you and I making good time, youngster," Henry told Peter Sam cheekily, and then he joked, "better still, it's better you got here on time this evening, otherwise your passengers would have to wait quite a long time for the next train to come."

And he chuffed away as soon as his guard's whistle blew. Peter Sam watched his coaches glide steadily out of the station.

"Oh, that Henry," he sighed in amusement, "he must know by now that I realize he's a guaranteed connection."

Just then, Rusty honked his horn as he pulled into the platform on the other side of Peter Sam's platform. The workmen were waiting as he stopped beside Peter Sam.

"Good morning, Rusty! How are you holding up so far in this weather?"

Rusty sighed, as the workmen lined up on the platform to wait for their foreman, and replied, "well, Peter Sam. I do think Mr. Hugh and these workmen are inspecting the line as usual for a particular reason. But it's best we listen to what my driver has to say before either of us leave."

Mr. Hugh hopped off Rusty's cab and walked towards the workmen as they lined up before him on the platform.

"Alright, men. Do listen up," he began, "apparently, weather reports depict that a big freeze is due sometime later today, and we all have an very important job to do by inspecting the line in case of any damage. This isn't just any old maintenance run we usually do, but we must check every bit of track on our route to ensure safety for the other engines. Cyril the fog man will be standing by too just in case matters could get any worse then we realize."

The men chattered and nodded in agreement, as they boarded the brake coach one-by-one.

"Do you see what I mean, Peter Sam?" Rusty said, as he glanced over at his friend, "we must all take extra caution today as we go about with our work. You, in this case, must make sure that your passengers make it back here safely."

"I get your meaning, Rusty," Peter Sam replied, "but the passengers and I have our entire day planned with the Refreshment Lady. We must make it to Lakeside in enough for Miss Neptune to set up her stand."

"Mind how you go then, Peter Sam," Rusty advised, "Mr. Hugh and I wouldn't want anything to happen to you or your passengers in this weather."

The guard's whistle blew, and Peter Sam quickly chuffed out of the station, as he replied "I'll be sure to do that, Rusty. Don't you worry. And thanks!"

Rusty watched with concern, as Peter Sam left the station. Just then, Mr. Hugh hopped aboard his cab, and just as they began leaving the platform, he leaned out of his cab and said, "don't worry, Rusty. The boys and I know exactly what we're doing. You have not much to be concerned about for that matter."

"I hope you're right, sir," the little diesel sighed, as their journey started.

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