Thomas awoke to a bright, sunny morning. I hope everything's better today, he thought. Yesterday, there had been a rockslide in a Quarry near the Great Wall. Thomas and Yong Bao were almost trapped, but Shan Qui managed to save them. Yong Bao's smokebox had been mended too.

Then, the Shed Master arrived onboard an engine Thomas had only seen on his first visit to China. She was a big diesel with shiny black paint and an engine that made a very quiet purring sound. "Hullo," said Thomas. "You're the engine that helped my friend, Nia when she derailed in the Himalayas. Oh, I didn't get your name last time."

"My name is Xin Ya," said the diesel, "and hello to you, Thomas. I was hoping I would see you again."

The Shed Master stepped forward. "I'm afraid the rockslide at the Great Wall Quarry has blocked off some of our water supply," he said, "so I have asked Xin Ya to help us out for a while. Shan Qui, you will have to help Thomas and Yong Bao to the next town for more water. Hong-Mei, as you use less water than they do, you can refill your tanks here today, but remember, there is only so much water to go around right now, so don't waste it and no racing about either."

"Yes, Sir," Hong-Mei answered, and the engines set off for work.


Hong-Mei collected An An and Yin-Long from their siding. The two coaches had heard everything, and they were worried.

"I hope we can still get our work done," said An An.

"It would be terrible if our passengers got stranded," Yin-Long agreed.

"Don't worry, you two," Hong-Mei replied. "I'll be careful." And she puffed along as carefully as she could. She knew racing about would waste her steam and then she would need more water.


Luckily, Hong-Mei made good time and the passengers were pleased. Soon, she was puffing alongside the Chang Jiang River near the Paddy Fields. "Shouldn't we stop for more water?" An An asked. "There's plenty of it here."

"I still have enough to make it to the next station," said Hong-Mei. "We can get more water there." But the coaches weren't so sure.


Hong-Mei was right. She did have enough water to make it to the next station. As the passengers got off, she was uncoupled and rolled forward to the water tower. Her Fireman tuned the tap, but just as the water started pouring into her tank…it stopped.

"Oh dear," said the Fireman, "the water supply must be cut off here too."

"I knew we should have stopped by the River," said An An.

"What do we do now?" asked Yin-Long.

"Maybe we should go back," said the Fireman thoughtfully.

"If we do go back, we'll be late," Hong-Mei protested. "Can't we make it to the next station."

"I'm not sure," her Driver pondered.

"Isn't there an incline before the station? That could help," said Yin-Long.

"We have to try," An An agreed.


So, with the passengers onboard and the Fireman carefully watching the water-level, they set off again and Hong-Mei tried hard to use as little steam as possible…but they had forgotten about the line climbing before the top of the hill.

"Will we be able to make it?" asked An An.

Then, an idea flew into Hong-Mei's funnel. "If I race up the climb, we will get to the top faster."

"But that could use too much water," said her Fireman.

"It might be our only chance," said the Driver. "It's either that or we strand our passengers."

Hong-Mei began to speed up. Her pistons pumped hard as she raced to the top of the climb. Suddenly, she began to feel hot. "Oh no," she panted, "I'm running low on water."

"You can do it, Hong-Mei!" called An An.

"Keep going!" shouted Yin-Long.

Hong-Mei held her breath as she puffed on. Wheel-turn by wheel-turn, she continued to climb and with one big pant…she reached the top.

"That's it!" called her Driver. "Well done, Hong-Mei!"

"You did it!" cheered the coaches.


The Fireman damped down Hong-Mei's fire and they coasted down the steep hill into the station. Everyone cheered and Hong Mei breathed a sigh of relief, but her happiness didn't last long.

The Fireman put the water tower's hose in Hong-Mei's tank, but it was no good. "There's no water here either," he said.

"So…we're stranded," groaned Hong-Mei. "Oh, this is all my fault. I should've stopped for more water when I had the chance."

"It's not your fault," said An An.

"We didn't know there was no water at the last station," agreed Yin-Long.

"And you managed to get us home," said the passengers. "You were very brave to carry on the way you did."

"That's right," said her Driver. "Despite our situation, you never gave up."

Hong-Mei smiled. She felt much better now, but she still had no steam left, so the Stationmaster telephoned for help.


Shan Qui brought his friends back to the shed and the workmen inspected Hong-Mei. Luckily, her boiler wasn't damaged, and she would be fine after a drink. When the other engines arrived, they and the Shed Master all praised Hong-Mei.

"That was very brave, indeed," said Yong Bao.

"And Really Useful too," added Thomas.

"It seems we have many brave engines around here," said the Shed Master. "You are all a credit to the Chinese Railway." The workmen clapped and the engines honked and whistled in delight…except for Hong-Mei who just smiled. "And I have some good news," the Shed Master continued. "The maintenance crews have been working hard to clear the fallen rocks and our water supply will be restored tomorrow evening." Everyone was very grateful.