THE INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY SERIES No. 8
ENGINES OF THE SAME METALS
Loosely inspired from "Steam Team to the Rescue" by Davey Moore
Adapted by Zack Wanzer, James Riddle and Rachel Ravens
Foreword
Hello, everyone, it's Diesel here today.
To this day, very few things have scared me to the point where I still have nightmares even now, but there are three things that come to my radiator. The first was Duck's near Final Firing at the buffers of my own brothers. Second was Thomas nearly being engulfed in flames partly because of my stupid decisions. And the third…
Well, I guess I should let you read for yourselves. All I will say is that… she gave Cockade a run for his money.
Jasper, a.k.a. "Diesel".
THE SUBSTITUTE CONTROLLER
Original lyrics to "Don't Stop" by Kevin Roberge, Carl Taylor and Noah Berg
One morning at Knapford station, Sir Topham and Lady Amanda Hatt were carrying a few bags of luggage with them. Their niece, Annabelle Percival, was there to see them off.
"You look after the railway, dear," Sir Topham Hatt said as he hugged her.
"Don't worry, uncle Charles," she smiled. "The engines will be in good hands with me."
"We sure will," said Merlin as he pulled up. "The way I heard it from Edward, Annabelle ran the railway so well last time, the engines were running themselves."
Annabelle blushed modestly. "Thanks. Now, Merlin, I need you to get my aunt and uncle to the airport on time. And make sure the coaches aren't invisible," she joked.
"I'll be sure to keep my invisibility off, ma'am," the silver engine replied as the Hatts boarded his train.
"Just call me Annabelle, dear," insisted the stand-in controller. "I don't want to be seen as anything different."
Merlin whistled and puffed away.
"Annabelle is in charge?!" gasped Rebecca. "Oh, she's so sweet."
"She sure is," said Henry. "We'll have to run the railway as best we can for her."
"Especially with it being the summer rush," said Emily.
"And with James on a ship to India," added Bear, "how will we get everything done?"
"Come on, everyone!" said Gordon. "We have to keep going. We can't let anything get in our way!"
Don't stop, keep on moving!
Sun's hot, we'll keep on cruising!
Helping each other every day!
Gordon, Rebecca, Emily, Henry and Bear passed each other with passenger trains, whistling and tooting greetings.
With extra loads of cargo
Moving up and down the tracks!
Murdoch passed through Cronk with a goods train, whistling to Merlin, Derek and Lexi, who whistled and tooted back.
We're grunting and we're shunting
There's no time to relax!
Stanley, Charlie and Stafford were working Knapford yards while Rosie woke up a sleepy Dennis so they could carry on their shunting at Vicarstown.
We have to keep on keeping on
Like a well-oiled machine!
Thomas, Toby, Percy and Nia passed each other on the Ffarquhar branch line, the former two with their respective coaches in tow.
With the summer rush upon us
There's no time for daydreams!
Edward and BoCo passed Philip at Wellsworth yards in opposite directions.
Don't stop! Let's work together!
'Cause the sun's hot! We'll go on forever!
There's nothing standing in our way!
Salty and Porter arranged some trucks for Cranky to unload, Bill, Ben and Timothy came in with trucks from the China Clay Works.
"Whew! It's not even noon and I'm already exhausted," panted Pug.
"Keep going!" called Jinty. "You're doing great, Pug!" Barry came up, covered in dust they collected from the Blue Mountain Quarry.
"Looks like it's a trip to the washdown for– ah… ah… choo! …me!" they sneezed. Jinty and Pug laughed.
We're doing our best!
We work as a team!
Johnson, Julie and Lauren all met at Kirk Ronan harbor and whistled hello to Tess.
We don't stop to rest!
Diesel, electric and steam!
Molly, Arthur and Sidney greeted Beresford at Norramby wharf.
Don't stop, keep on moving!
Sun's hot, we'll keep on cruising!
Paxton greeted the Skarloey engines at the Blue Mountain Quarry.
Helping each other every day!
Ryan and Daisy saw the Arlesdale engines and brought goods and passengers to Arlesburgh.
Don't stop, let's work together!
'Cause the sun's hot! We'll go on forever!
Duck, Oliver and the Scottish twins passed by each other, the Westerners with their coaches and the twins double-heading a goods with Toad.
There's nothing standing in our way!
Pamela, Selina, Kyle and Harleen were passing each other on the Peel Godred line, and tooted to the mountain engines as they passed.
No, not today!
No, not today!
There's nothing in our way!
Mavis and Scarlett were arranging trucks at Anopha quarry.
No, not today
And we won't stop!
Whiff and Scruff were shunting trucks at the waste dump.
At the Vicarstown Dieselworks…
"Phew!" panted Diesel. "I think we shunted every truck in the yard, and then some."
"Well, we have to put on our best performance for Annabelle," said Den.
"They don't call 'er the Railway Girl fer nothin'," added Dart.
"Say, you knew her as a kid, Diesel," said Den. "Was she any different then to how she is now?"
"Well, she hasn't changed much," Diesel admitted. "If anything, she's grown more determined to help all engines, regardless if they're steam, diesel or electric. Her former friend Addison, however…" He paused, as if the memory of believing Duck had been killed by the Black Water had come back to him. "…she became a monster…"
"Oh, yes, Duck told us about that," shuddered Dart. "But… the way we 'eard it, Addison 'ad a grudge against diesels, not steam engines."
"So why would she suddenly try and…" Den gulped. "…kill Duck?"
Diesel blinked in confusion. "That's a scary, but valid question. I guess we were so shocked about Duck we didn't even pause to think about it."
"Then again, that 'Ockings was 'er grandfather," said Dart. "'E might've forced 'er to do it.
"Or Arry and Bert themselves," suggested Den.
"Oh, yes… their petty grudge," shuddered Diesel. "Well… I'm just glad Addison's out of our paintwork for good. We haven't seen her since the night of Hockings' death."
"And I agree with you, dearie," said a familiar voice.
"Evening, Annabelle," said Diesel. "What can we do for you?"
"I just came to check on you," she smiled. "Diesel, Den and Dart, you all did a wonderful job today."
"Aw, thanks, Annabelle," said Dart. "You're doin' a good job too."
"Thank you, Dart," she replied. "Although, your conversation about the, er… Ironworks incident has given me a lot to think about. Diesel, I… hate to pry, but do you remember anything unusual about the incident?"
"What do you mean by unusual?" pondered Diesel.
"Addison's behavior," Annabelle elaborated. "Was she calm, shaky, or did she say or do anything weird?"
"I'll have to get back to you on that one, Annabelle," Diesel admitted. "Again, I was so scared for Duck and angry at my brothers that Addison wasn't on my radar at the time. But Lily was with me when it happened – maybe she saw something I didn't."
"Hmm… I'll have to talk with her about this tomorrow," suggested Annabelle. "Thank you, Diesel." She turned back to the trio. "And all three of you, sleep well tonight. We've got another busy day tomorrow."
"Goodnight, Annabelle," they called as Annabelle walked back to her car and drove off.
"Why couldn't Addison turn out as nice as Annabelle?" asked Den.
"Wot 'e means is why Addison chose not to get the 'elp she needed instead of letting 'er 'atred of diesels boil over," Dart corrected.
"Goodness knows why," sighed Diesel. "But if she's planning something beyond the pale… actually, that's something I don't want to think about."
"Same here," Den and Dart chorused. And on that note, the trio decided it was time to go to sleep.
That night, Duck was puffing through a misty and cloudy landscape. It was so thick he wished he had four headlamps to see where he was going. But then, he saw a massive flare of burning orange and red!
"Huh…" he blinked in shock. "F-Fire! We'll need to call the Search and Rescue Centre!"
"No need, my brother!"
Duck shot a glance at the voice. He shouldn't have been hearing it, but there, on another track, was a black tank engine with the number 6737.
"Collet?!" he exclaimed. "Wh-what are you doing here? Aren't you…"
"Use your water to put out the fire!"
"What?!" Duck was shocked. "This fire is huge! We need the professionals!"
Even as he was speaking, Collet instantly started using his water. Sure enough, the fire was slowly fading away. Too shocked to speak about this, Duck too started using his water as well. The fire was eventually quenched.
"That was too close," sighed Duck.
"My dear brother," Collet said quietly. "That... was merely the beginning."
"How, Collet…" asked Duck. "I mean... since you're here, this is just a dream... right?"
Collet seemed to hold his gaze. He took a deep breath.
"Some fires are quenched by water.
Others need an extra hand.
But some need to burn out
Before harm can cross our land."
"What kind of cryptic message is that?!" cried Duck. Before he could ask anymore questions, Collet started to fade away. "Collet? Brother, come back! Please, what does that mean?!"
Duck gasped as his eyes opened. He was back at Arlesburgh sheds with Donald, Douglas and Oliver, all of whom were still fast asleep. Duck felt very confused over the dream he'd just had, as well as the cryptic message his brother Collet had left him with.
"'Some need to burn out before harm can cross our land'?" he said quietly to himself. "What does that mean…?" Duck thought long and hard about this, but he couldn't come to a definitive conclusion. With a tired yawn, he closed his eyes again and went back to sleep.
The following morning, Annabelle was inside her uncle's office at Knapford station. She was on the phone with Lily McMains, the station mistress for Haultraugh on the Little Western.
"Well," Lily said, "I… I was crying at Duck's side while Diesel ranted at Arry and Bert. But…" She paused. "When Arry ordered Addison to get the scrappers' torches, Addison claimed a water pipe burst with them right near it. I was going to investigate further, but I found the Green Water barrel, and showed it to Diesel and Duck."
"A water pipe shorted out the scrappers' torches?" gasped Annabelle. "Hmm… that is peculiar. But doesn't it seem a little fishy that a pipe would burst as soon as Duck was given the Green Water? Something's not adding up."
"That is very strange," said Lily. "We can't possibly investigate the matter for ourselves – the Ironworks at Barrow have long since been shut down."
"Unfortunately, you're right," sighed Annabelle. "Well, I don't think asking Duck about it would be a good idea – the poor dear would get nightmares again. And Arry and Bert… ugh, give me a break!" As caring as Annabelle was towards the engines, Arry and Bert even gave her the creeps.
"Indeed so," shuddered Lily. "Well, I'd better get back to work. Duck's coming and I don't want him to know we've been discussing this."
"Nor do I," agreed Annabelle. "I'll talk to you soon, Lily." The two hung up, and Annabelle put her hand to her head and drank some water. I know there's something we're not getting, she thought, but what? What are you hiding from us, Addison?
While she was in thought, Annabelle looked out the window and noticed her parents, Henry and Barbara Regaby, standing on the station platform. Curiously, she got up and walked outside the office to see them.
"Oh, good morning, Annabelle," said Barbara. "I hope we weren't intruding on anything."
"Oh, no, it's not that, mom," said Annabelle. "I was just wondering what you and dad were doing here today."
"There's an emergency on the mainland, Anna," said Henry Regaby. "An engine named Boris has gone missing from British Railways. But from reports we've read, he wasn't the only engine to vanish without a trace."
"We're making a trip to Scotland Yard to help with the investigation," added Barbara. "While we're gone, you must keep an eye on your uncle's engines. Can you do that?"
"Of course I can," smiled Annabelle. "Uncle Charles has entrusted me to look after the railway while he and aunt Amanda are on holiday."
"That's great," said Barbara as she and Henry Regaby got onto Gordon's train. "We'll see you when we get back. Love you, honey."
"I love you too, mom and dad!" she called.
Gordon was lost in thought as he headed off. "Boris… Boris… that name rings a bell." Duck had just come into Knapford with the slip coaches, and overheard everything.
"That's Sadie and Delilah's friend from Bridlington!" he cried. "Could this incident be the fire Collet warned me about…?"
"Duck!" called Percy. "Are you alright? Is there anything on your mind?"
"Huh?!" gasped Duck. "Oh… oh, Percy. No…" he trailed. "I, er… I was just tired from last night. I had a strange dream."
"Oh," said Percy. "Really? I guess we were all working hard yesterday. Try to take it easy today, okay?"
"I will, Percy," smiled Duck. "Thank you for your concerns."
"Of course," said Percy as his guard's whistle blew. "We Sudrians stick together."
And I think we need to now, more than ever, thought the pannier tank.
Far away from Sodor, at a place called Leadford, a group of steam engines were in a rather large shed.
"This is getting too risky," said a purple Robinson Atlantic called Heather. "What if… if the authorities catch us?"
"We'll all be scrapped for kidnapping and aiding in murder!" gulped a dark blue tender engine.
"Now, now, Francis," said the woman in charge. "We'll be making sure we won't get caught."
"But it's all over the blooming papers!" said a dark blue tank engine who looked like Ryan; she was called Roxanne. "Pictures and all."
"Thankfully, my steam covered up most of the shots," said Holly. "Next time, I recommend that more of us go out there so we don't get witnesses."
"Oh, I knew this whole thing was a bad idea," whimpered Fiona. "I don't want to end up in the Underground Railway for this!"
"Oh, my dear Fiona," said the woman. "You won't be going to the Underground Railway. It's for the greater good. You lot will be helping to put steam back on the map."
"By having diesels scrapped alive?!" gasped a tank engine who looked like Porter.
"Diesels and electrics, yes," said the woman, sounding slightly irritated. "Lest any of you forget, they're the reason steam died off on British Railways all those years ago."
"You can't argue with her," said a tank engine looking like Rosie; his name was Nathan. "My brothers and sisters were the pride of Southampton docks before those 07s took over."
"Not to mention how the Southern Railway were foolish to even think of electrifying their lines to begin with!" agreed a dark red tank engine. "They're much like worms; cut them in half, and they won't even so much as yelp!"
"Quite so, Charleston," said the woman. "Now, my engines, as my spy has informed me, it turns out that this Scotland Yard investigation has gotten Mr. and Mrs. Regaby out of the way, as well as Sir Topham and Lady Hatt. Which means Annabelle will be managing things on the North Western Railway until they return. Knowing the engines absolutely adore her, they'd be working extra hard… which means we can strike pretty easily."
"We're really going there, Addison?" asked a very small amber tank engine.
"Indeed we are, Barnaby," she smiled. "We're going to make Sodor the world's first all steam railway in years, and I need everyone's full cooperation. Who's with me?"
Many of the engines cheered and whistled with excitement, while a few others cowered in fear. But Addison Darnell didn't pay much attention to the minority and grinned evilly.
Prepare yourself for failure, Annabelle Regaby, she thought to herself. Sooner or later, you'll come to realize that diesels and electrics deserve to be scrapped, and steam will live on forever!
Author's Comments
And so we finally approach our long-anticipated rewrite of Steam Team to the Rescue! A fun, albeit heavily flawed, mini-special, it suffered mainly from Sodor not feeling as big as it could've been, especially given the size of the cast at that point. That was more or less addressed during the "Don't Stop" sequence, which we absolutely had to keep. Because the diesels are not out of action (at the moment), the lyrics had to be changed in order to properly reflect upon that. Plus, Annabelle being left temporarily in charge of the North Western Railway serves as a plot element that will affect things in the next three chapters, as the Hatts have gone on holiday and the Regabys are away on business on the mainland.
Next time, find out what happens When Diesels Go Missing!