Very Old Engines

Part I: Skarloey The Crosspatch

Based on Crosspatch by Reverend W. Awdry

adapted by Michael White

Long ago, when Rheneas and Skarloey first started working on the railway, the pair were both young and silly…

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Morning, Rheneas!"

Rheneas looked over to see Skarloey smiling, covered in mud.

"Oh…"

He managed a slight chuckle.

"…good morning, Skarloey!"

"I clean up nice, don't I?"

Rheneas chuckled aloud, rather sensibly.

Rheneas was sensible and Skarloey was sulky and bouncy…

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Oof!" Skarloey winced, as he took a tug at the line of trucks.

"Show a wheel there, Skarloey!" his driver insisted.

"My wheels are aching! I'm not fit for work today!"

Rheneas gasped, as he buffered up from behind.

"Nonsense, Skarloey! There must be a reasonable explanation!"

"You'll have to take these trucks today, Rheneas!"

"All of these? What's gotten into your funnel?"

"Never you mind! I'm just not feeling it!"

… he and Rheneas quarreled a lot …

"Don't be silly!" Rheneas shoved. "Carry on!"

"I won't! So there!"

"Come on, Skarloey!" Rheneas pushed, a little more forcefully.

"Don't push it, Rheneas!"

"Get those wheels moving!"

… which often led to trouble…

Rheneas rammed right into the back of the train when…

CLANG!

The pair looked up and gasped.

"Oh, no!" Skarloey groaned.

CRASH!

"Broken truck…!" Rheneas gasped, observingly.

"That was your fault!" Skarloey blamed.

"My fault?!"

"Yes, if you hadn't rammed into the back of the train…"

"Well, if you haven't been so stubborn and just pulled along…"

"Maybe, if you could just listen and understand…!"

…which their manager Mr. Mack wasn't too happy about!

"Rheneas and Skarloey!"

The pair looked over to see their manager walking towards them, hands on his hips, and glancing sternly at them.

"Now, would either of you mind explaining to me what happened?"

"It was his fault, sir!" the two engines blamed on each other.

Mr. Mack groaned, facepalming.

It was near the end of a busy afternoon; Edward was just passing through Crovan's Gate after delivering his last goods train when…

"Oh, yes, Nancy! That spot right there's just perfect!"

Edward gazed, stopping by the shed.

The guard's daughter laughed.

"You're acting rather peculiar today, Skarloey!"

Skarloey laughed.

"I feel it! After all, Rheneas and I have another milestone around the corner and…!"

He stopped at the sight of an old friend.

"Oh…" he gasped.

"Hello, Skarloey!" Edward greeted.

"Edward! My old friend! How are you doing?"

"Fine, just peachy, thank you! Just finished up with my last goods train for the day before I head back to Wellsworth!"

"Good for you, old friend! Feels like it's been ages!"

Edward laughed.

"Indeed! Like when I would bring you your passengers for a lovely tour of the line!"

Skarloey chuckled.

"Oh, yes, indeed! And Rheneas and myself would bring them up to see the Lake!"

He sighed, reminiscingly.

"Oh, yes! Those were the days, Edward…"

Edward smiled, then surveyed the shed, rather wonderingly.

"I say, though, where is Rheneas?"

"He's finishing his last passenger train for the day! He's due in for a polish as well before we head on back to our shed at the Depot…oof!"

Nancy laughed.

"You first, Skarloey!"

Skarloey smiled, then sighed as she ran the rag against his red coat.

"Still, his absence does feel like it did all those hundred years ago when we first arrived, and I was the first to come off the ship…oof!"

Nancy ran the rag right through his funnel, causing him to groan, slightly smiling.

"That tickles!" he exclaimed. "Not again, Nancy! Please!"

"It's just a teeny little polish! Don't you and Rheneas want to look nice by the time your hundredth birthday comes around?"

"I am nice!"

He yawned, without a care.

"You're just an old fusspot…"

"And you're a horrid old crosspatch!" she replied jokingly, as she ran vigorously at his funnel.

Edward laughed.

Skarloey opened a sleepy eye, smiling.

"You know, I really was a crosspatch once! Shall I tell you both?"

"Oh, my…" Edward expressed.

"Yes, please!" Nancy replied.

"I suppose I have a bit of time before my journey back to Wellsworth…" Edward decided.

"Very well!" Skarloey chuckled, then looked up. "Come on down then!"

"Huh?"

Nancy glanced with disbelief.

"Well, I can't tell it properly while you're fussing up at my funnel!"

Nancy sighed, climbing down.

"Fine…but just five minutes then; no longer!"

"Oh, do make it quick!" Edward agreed.

Skarloey chuckled, as Nancy sat down on a box, gazing at him.

"Oh, alright, here goes. It all started long ago…"

And so Skarloey began…

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"…shortly before me and Rheneas first arrived arrived on the railway. We were both built together in England…(he chuckled impressively)…along with Tallylyn and Dogloch of course…"

Rheneas and Skarloey looked to the side amongst the workshop against two other engines.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Nancy stared.

"Tallylyn and Dogloch? Who are they?"

Skarloey laughed.

"Well, Rheneas and I's twin brothers, of course!"

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

The four engines at the workshop gazed and smiled amongst each other.

"Tallylyn was my twin, and Dogloch was Rheneas'! Their railway is at Towyn in Wales, and they're 100 as well!"

The four little engines all made an exit from the workshop, side-by-side.

"Tallylyn and Dogloch were both green, and Rheneas and I red!"

Tallylyn looked down towards his buffers, blushing slightly.

"Why, my brother and I both had four wheels back then, and no cab!"

Skarloey smiled, as he and Tallylyn rolled alongside each other.

"We thought we were wonderful, and would all talk about how splendid we looked pulling coaches!"

Skarloey laughed, as he rolled alongside Tallylyn and Dogloch.

"Morning, guys! Don't I look splendid?"

Tallylyn laughed.

"Oh, yes, brother. Extraordinary!"

"But then again, so do we!" Dogloch added, as their passengers boarded their trains.

"Oh…"

Skarloey marveled, chuckling slightly, as Rheneas pulled up alongside with his own coaches, laughing.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"What about trucks?" Edward wondered.

Nancy sniggered from atop of her box.

"Surely you had use for them!" she assumed.

Skarloey chuckled.

"Not really! They weren't exactly a priority for us!"

"Oh…" Nancy marveled.

"Wow…" Edward gasped. "Go on, Skarloey!"

"Well…" the old engine continued.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"I was finished first, you see. I was sent away to work on Sodor whilst Tallylyn went off to Wales!"

Skarloey groaned, as the tides rose above the ship and covered him in water.

He coughed loudly.

"The journey to Sodor was very uncomfortable; I didn't like it at all! The ship wobbled dreadfully and by the time I got there, things were no better!"

"Coming through!" an engine whistled, as he exited with a goods train.

Other engines glanced up.

"Boy, don't he look funny!" one remarked.

"I'd say…" another agreed.

They were caught off guard by the sound of another loud whistle.

"Out of my way!" a passenger train called.

The two engines hurried over so that he could cross over to the next track with his coaches.

Skarloey sighed anxiously.

"The Big Railway kept me waiting for sure! Other engines would need to get through, and there were no cranes to lift me off the ship! It wasn't The Fat Controller's railway back done, you see! He would have managed it much better!"

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"So what did they do instead to get you on the ground?" Nancy wondered.

"Simple; they used the ship's derricks!"

"What's a derrick?"

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"A derrick is a part of the ship's mast; since there were no cranes back then, derricks would be used to lift and load engines and other cargo off of ships!"

Skarloey looked down as he was lifted off.

"Oh, my," he groaned, as he was left dangling against the wind.

"They nearly turned me upside down and left me hanging while they arrange the flatbed and another engine to take me away!"

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Nancy chuckled.

"You must have looked funny!"

Edward couldn't help but laugh too!

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"Oh, yes. I felt it! I didn't like it at all and other engines would laugh at me! I got crosser and crosser!"

Skarloey glared as engines passed through, glancing up and laughing at him.

"The biting wind swung me back-and-forth! The couldn't of the tides didn't help much either and caused the ship to roll back-and-forth too! The circumstances would increasingly frustrating…!"

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Edward and Nancy both laughed.

Skarloey glanced, smiling.

"…till at last…" he continued, rather daringly.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"… they lowered me to the ground and I was fastened along to a flatbed. at that point, an engine came along that I've never seen before!"

"Hello!"

"He was green and small, and looked rather unusual!"

Skarloey stared.

"Who are you?"

"Name's Neil! Welcome te Sodor! What's yer name?"

Skarloey smiled slightly.

"Skarloey!"

"Well…Skarloey, glad te have ye!"

He pushed Skarloey off with a jolt.

"Oof!" Skarloey winced, chuckling slightly.

"Neil spoke with a very peculiar accent! At least I could make out most of what he was saying!"

Skarloey gazed at the small engine as he spoke.

"I've been working on tis railway fer quite some time new! I've seen engines of all sorts of shapes and sizes and…"

He paused, catching Skarloey gazing at him.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that…"

"What? Ye'd never seen an engine as strange-looking as me before?"

Skarloey gasped.

"No, no, it's just that…"

Neil chuckled.

"Never ye mind, laddie! I get it all te time! Most engine on dese parts won't even talk to me!"

"Is that so?"

"Yes! They judge me for my appearance! They t'ink I'm too ugly!"

"Oh, my," Skarloey gasped.

"Nothing te sweat 'bout! I'm used te it!"

Skarloey frowned.

"They weren't very friendly towards me when I was hanging up there either! Always gazing at me or saying teasy things! I'll probably get used to it from being around here!"

Neil smirked.

"So y'er bound for de Wee Railway then?" he guessed.

"Precisely!"

"What fun! Ye might want to put some order into dose trucks tho'!"

Skarloey's eyes widened with horror.

"Trucks?!" he spluttered.

"Oh, yes. The havers they make, ye'd barely believe…"

" I didn't like the sound of that but I was too tired to argue…"

"…anyways," Neil finished. "I'm sure ye'll fit in just fine!"

Skarloey sighed.

"So, Neil," he began, "what do you do on this railway then?"

"Me? Goodness, where do I start? Well, fer one thing, I work primarily at the docks by Kirk Ronan, transporting smaller engines dat come in far across de island. I also haul other unloaded goats from ships te places all 'round Sodor! But I pop in an' out of the Depot every now and then te see how de trucks are doin' an' keep them in line!"

"The Depot?" Skarloey wondered with confusion.

Neil laughed.

"Yes, Skarloey! Dat's where ye'll be going!"

"Oh…right…" Skarloey expressed, frowning slightly.

"Dinna be a dowie, laddie! W'er almost there! Y'er gonna love it there! I promise ye!"

Skarloey smiled down at his new friend.

"I truly admired Neil's optimism! Something about that small green engine brought a smile right to my face…"

The sound of cheers and chattering quickly caught his attention as he looked all around.

"Oh…" he marveled, glancing down amongst the crowd.

"Plenty of people were waiting when we got to the Depot! They were all waiting for a train to take them out!"

"I say," one passenger marveled. "Is this our engine?"

"Sure looks small!"

"But rather useful!"

Skarloey chuckled amongst the verge of chattering passengers.

"Quiet, everyone, please!" said a sudden voice.

A tall figure made his way through the crowd, standing at attention before all the passengers.

"Now, now, I promise you all will have a train ride before the day is out!" he told them.

He turned towards the new engine.

"Greetings! You must be Skarloey! I am your controller, Mr. Mack!"

"Oh, well, errrrrm…pleased to meet you, sir, but errrrr…"

"Sit tight now, as you may have some passengers before the day is out!"

Skarloey sighed as he stood back and stared at the flatbed, deep in thought.

"Our controller back then was Mr. Mack; he was fairly thin, sort of like Mr. Percival, and wore a top hat, like Sir Topham. He also bore a long brown coat. He looked very serious indeed…"

Skarloey smiled nervously as Mr. Mack kept his eye especially on him.

The passengers continued to gaze with awe and wonder.

"Will we eventually get to ride that engine?"

"Oh, I bloody well hope so! We've been waiting here for ages!"

Skarloey groaned, as the hours passed into sunset.

"I was kept waiting all day long and it was dark before they finally had me lifted onto the rails…"

He sighed, glancing aside at the wooden pole that was fasten down with ropes tied around it.

"…I was very relieved, but also very disappointed. All the passengers had gone home by sunset and now I was left all on my own, lonely and unhappy, and wishing that my friend Rheneas was there too!"

His thoughts were cut off by a familiar whistle.

"Hello, laddie!"

Skarloey jumped, looking to his left.

"Oh…"

He laughed.

"Hello, Neil!"

"Y'er not still fretting 'boot bein' on dat flatbed, are ya?"

"No, no, I'm over that! Nothing under my control, understood!"

"Oh, good!"

"It's just that…"

"What?"

"…that…"

Neil stared.

Skarloey sighed.

"I do wish my friend Rheneas was here by my side!" he admitted.

"Oh…" Neil expressed, understandingly.

"Our brothers Tallylyn and Dogloch were sent off to work in Wales and he was supposed to arrive shortly after me but I think his ship got delayed."

He sighed heavily.

"I do hope he makes it soon!"

Neil smiled.

"Never ye mind, Skarloey! There's a nice warm shed where ye can cool yer pistons, rest yer wheels and ease yer axles before the day's work ahead!"

"Thank you, Neil. You've been very kind! Kinder than any other engine's been to me on this railway so far!"

"Get some rest, laddie! Ye'll feel much better tomorrow when yer hard at work!"

Skarloey smiled, heading slowly off towards his shed.

"So I headed off to my newfound shed; it wasn't much but it was comfy enough and for the first time all day, it was quiet…"

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Nancy raised an eyebrow with confusion.

"So when exactly does Rheneas come into the story?"

Skarloey laughed.

"Oh, don't worry, Nancy! I'll get to that soon enough!"

Edward chuckled wisely, as Skarloey went on…

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"It was morning before I knew it! I woke up to the most peculiar sound; to a rattle and a roar; it sounded like something I've never heard before!"

"Rise and shine, little engine!" a chorus of voices called out cheekily.

Skarloey opened a sleepy eye and looked outside the shed, then yawned.

A line of trucks sniggered quietly from beside the shed.

Skarloey trundled slowly out, waking up a little bit more, before looking aside in horror!

"Trucks?!" Skarloey spluttered.

"By the time I'd arrived, they've already been spread everywhere around the yard; ones I truly wanted nothing to do with!"

"Mornin', Skarloey!" Neil greeted, reversing from the back of the train! Jus' get a load of how long this train is!"

"Mmm…" Skarloey observed, surveying the train from front to back.

"Oh, were they bouncy and silly, and rather noisy as well! Oh, no, no, I had no use for them!"

"There's no engine!" Skarloey pointed out.

Neil glanced with confusion, as the foreman walked up, chuckling.

"Neil was able to push them down the hill by gravity!" he explained. "Now, the cargo just needs to be unloaded at that top station, so the empty ones can be pulled up! That's where you come in, Skarloey!"

Skarloey thought for a moment.

"How can trucks go up by gra-whatever-it-was-you-said?"

The foreman laughed.

"Gravity brings things down! We need horses, or engines like you to pull them up again!"

"Oof!"

Skarloey felt the weight of the train from behind him.

"What?!" Skarloey spluttered. "Have I to pull trucks?"

"Of course!"

"Ugh! I won't! So there!"

"Don't be silly, Skarloey!" his driver chuckled, as he hopped aboard his cab. "Surely you can pull one train!"

"You'll get used to it once you set off!" the foreman added.

Neil rolled up alongside.

"Go on, Skarloey! Ye can do it!"

Skarloey grinned over at his newfound friend, than took a deep breath.

"Here goes…"

"I lurched swiftly forward with my load; I needed to make it to the top station just inches ahead of me, but you know those trucks; they hold an engine back so!"

"On! On! On!" the trucks shouted.

"Ugh!" Skarloey groaned.

He surged forward.

"I tried starting again, but to no avail; in fact, the trucks had slipped the brakes on…hard enough to prevent me from moving forward!"

"Hold back! Hold back!" they giggled quietly to each other.

"Come on, Skarloey!" the foreman called encouragingly. "Put some back into it!"

His wheels stopped just as he pulled the train an inch forward.

"Oh, my…"

Neil whistled cheerily, rolling up alongside.

"Try pullin' em lighter, Skarloey!" he suggested quietly. "Dat way ye can catch 'em by surprise and have leverage!"

Skarloey was puzzled.

"Huh…oof!"

One truck biffed suddenly into the back of him.

"Sorry!" he remarked sarcastically, blowing a raspberry.

Skarloey raised an eyebrow and glared towards his perch of trucks.

"That one truck biffed me on purpose! Oh, I know he did!"

He took a deep breath, then gave another tug, his cheeks going slightly red.

The trucks giggled and gossiped quietly amongst each other.

"One…more…try!"

"So I advanced slowly forward, lightly so as not to catch their attention too closely when…"

SNAP!

Skarloey gasped.

"…I'd done it! Thanks to Neil's suggestion, it all became easier and I was able to put an end to their silly games!"

"Well done, Skarloey!" Neil whistled in congratulation.

Skarloey groaned, rolling slowly forward.

"Steady now!" Neil went on, "don't let them beat you!"

The trucks giggled quietly from behind..

"Or at least for the time being; the trucks had their own little joke ready…"

"All of you slip your brakes on at once when I say…" the first truck whispered to the other half of the train.

They all sniggered quietly, holding their brakes up as tight as they could, as Skarloey reached the platform, smiling confidently.

"NOW!"

Their brakes all slipped and the train surged forward.

"Whooooaaaaa!" Skarloey wailed.

The porter waiting at the platform was surprised and tipped over, as his trolley went rolling.

"The trucks all slipped their brakes on at once and caused to spin out of control!"

"Hold on, Skarloey!" his driver called, starting at his regulator to slow the train down.

"I can't stop! I can't stop!"

His driver slammed on the brakes, slowly the train gradually down.

Skarloey shut his eyes tight as they reached the next bend. They came to a stop with a jolt.

"Oof!" Skarloey winced.

He glared back amongst the giggling perch of trucks.

"Skarloey!" Neil whistled, racing into sight.

He stopped right beside him.

"Skarloey, are ya okay?"

"No…" Skarloey moaned. "I was right from the start! Trucks are silly things!"

The foreman ran over.

"Come on, Skarloey!" he called. "The track is level, so you can get these trucks back to the station easily!"

Skarloey glared.

"I want coaches!"

His driver struggled to get his regulator going, as Skarloey kept his wheels tightly put where he was.

"Don't be silly, Skarloey! Let's get going!"

"I won't pull the train any FURTHER! So there!"

The foreman sighed.

"Very well…"

He walked away, chuckling.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"So I remained where I was; another tank engine eventually came along and took the train away. I was very relieved to not have to pull trucks. I waited a little while, hoping to have some coaches to pull when…"

"Ahem!"

Skarloey looked to his side to see Mr. Mack walking up to him, tapping his foot.

"Mmm…"

"Sir!"

"Skarloey…"

"Mr. Mack had a particular book in his hand; a group of workmen crowded around as he opened it…"

"W-w-what's going on, sir?" Skarloey asked curiously.

"We're going to steam you, Skarloey; that way, we can get you rolling along again!"

Skarloey gasped.

"Does this mean I can pull coaches?"

"No, certainly not!" Mr. Mack bluntly replied. "In fact, you won't be pulling coaches for quite some time!"

"Oh, I sure didn't like the sound of that! I gave him such a look! So, he went ahead and showed the men my parts from the book!"

Mr. Mack held the book out closer.

"This book will show us exactly what to do! After all, it's all about how to steam engines!"

The men nodded understandingly as they listened to him go on.

"And to no surprise, they sure didn't understand engines, so it was easy! They did what they could, but my fire wouldn't burn, and I made no steam!"

One workman went ahead and tried to light the fire from inside Skarloey's cab but it wouldn't go up through his funnel.

"All I did was blow smoke at them at every attempt they tried to get me to move! They called me bad names, but I didn't care…!"

The men coughed from amongst the cloud of steam.

"Billering boiler!" one blurted.

"Sloshy steamer!" another spat.

"There, there, gentlemen!" Mr. Mack insisted, coughing slightly. "I'm sure there's another solution!"

He walked away, thinking hard.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"They tried methods day after day to steam me; the next day, they attempted to push me along from the back of my cab…"

The men all grunted as they pushed to the back.

Mr. Mack watched from the front.

"Come along, men!" he called. "Put some back into it!"

Skarloey shot him a look, slightly blowing steam towards him.

"When that didn't, they tried pulling me instead…"

Mr. Mack tugged along from the back of the line as the men attempted to pull Skarloey forward with a coil of rope.

"… my wheels move slightly, but I would not go any further and I only blew steam at them all!"

They all coughed slightly as clouds of steam below in their direction.

Mr. Mack dropped the rope, grunting in deep thought.

"Huh!" Skarloey huffed, amongst the chattering workmen.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"The day after that, they tried forcing coal and water into my system, but that didn't work for them either!"

The driver attempted shoveling coal at Skarloey's firebox, whilst the men poured buckets of water into his tank.

"I only continued blowing steam at those pitiful men and the day after that, they actually had the nerve to try and force water into my tanks from a fire engine cannon!"

Skarloey groaned at the sound of the firetruck as water was sloshed into his tanks.

"But I still didn't budge; at last, the Manager gave up…"

Mr. Mack signaled the queue to shut off the water cannons. The siren died down as he looked at Skarloey directly.

"That's it, Skarloey! We've done all we can!"

"I won't pull trucks, sir! I…want…COACHES!"

"Very well, go ahead and be a crosspatch! But we're not going to look at your sulky face all day! We're going to cover you up and leave you until you're ready to be a better engine!"

Skarloey gasped.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"And so that's what they did!" the old engine explained.

Nancy gazed from atop the box.

"How did they do it?" Edward wondered.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

"They brought back a large tarpaulin and covered it up right over my funnel! I didn't like that at all!"

Skarloey glared as the tarpaulin was placed over his cab.

"There you are!" Mr. Mack told him. "Now you can just stay there! Hopefully, it will teach you to obey orders!"

Neil watched with sympathy, as he trundled by.

"Sorry, Skarloey…"

"Oh, my…" the young engine groaned, looking sadly up at the tarp from above.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Nancy scoffed.

"Huh! I, for one, I think it serve you well!"

Edward chuckled.

"As do I!" he admitted. "Trucks can be silly things, but it takes a lot of work to get them to cooperate!"

"Mmm, indeed…" Skarloey groaned.

"Are you even sure that's what happened?" Nancy demanded. "What sort of railway controller comes up with such silly ideas as steam engines and making one a crosspatch?"

"Never mind her, Skarloey!"

"Tell us what happened next!"

Nancy turned in surprise.

A group of passengers had quietly come up to listen while Skarloey was telling his story…

Edward smiled, as Skarloey chuckled.

"Oh, alright," he decided. "Pay close attention now! I'm sure you're going to enjoy this next part…"

And so, as the passengers gathered around, Skarloey decided to go on with the rest of his story…

Part I of my Very Old Engines DVD; it was fun to include characters like Skarloey and Rheneas (whom you'll obviously see more of the next two stories) in the spotlight, and I enjoyed the expansions I took here with the original story; giving Neil more of a role, expanding more of Skarloey's stubbornness to a point where he gives up and ends up as a crosspatch and of course, having Edward, an old friend of Skarloey, get to hear the story as well. Mr. Mack was a fun character to introduce and write too, being a rather wacky authoritative figure as opposed to the more sensible Sir Topham Hatt or Mr. Percival. I hope you all enjoyed the liberties I took with this story to make it come out as a unique adaptation, Brenner-style, like with the Arlesdale stories. Be sure to come back tomorrow and listen to Skarloey continue his story of the olden days, and went from being a crosspatch to a...

Bucking Bronco - Skarloey continues his story to where Rheneas first arrived; the latter was more sensible than Skarloey, who yet still refuses to take his advice and lands into trouble with the coaches…!

Stick-In-The-Mud - …Rheneas finishes of the story of when he and Skarloey first arrived...of how he and Skarloey quarreled of a new set of wheels, and he came to the latter's rescue after a landslide!

Luke's Discovery - Luke discovers Rheneas and Skarloey's old friend: Neil, and plans to surprise the two by having him restored! This goes horribly wrong when it conflicts with his other jobs, which he persuades other engines into doing as well as his own!

Duck And Dukes - after the Thin Controller sends Duke away just mere days before Skarloey and Rheneas' hundredth birthday party, Peter Sam is horrified when Duck tells him that there are no Dukes left. He takes this literally and causes a debate amongst the other engines…!

No Need To Prove - Neil the Box Tank Engine overhears other engines talking about how strange and peculiar he is; he takes this is a sign that they are judging him and feels the need to prove himself by taking on more than he can pull…!