THE INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY SERIES No. 7

PERCY AND THE CHINESE ENGINES

Based upon the original episodes by Davey Moore

Adapted by Zack Wanzer, James Riddle and Matt St. Onge

Additional material by Rachel Ravens

Foreword

Hello, everyone! It's Percy, and I've just come home from the best trip ever!

Remember when Thomas accidentally went to Africa? Well, it was that incident which partially influenced the decision for me to go to China. That, and Thomas' big surprise for us around Christmas last year. I met the tank engine who won last year's Great Railway Show's shunting challenge, Hong-Mei, though Emily and Catlin were right to warn me about her. For one thing, she…

Oops, I think I'm saying too much. Please, read the stories for yourselves.

Percy the Small Engine, and I've got to get back to the branch line.

BLUE ISN'T YOUR COLOR

Based upon "Number One Engine"

A large ship pulled into Shanghai harbor. The marks on its sides translated to "Zhiyuan" in Chinese. Percy woke up and looked about his surroundings as he was slowly lifted onto the rails. What looked different about our little green friend was that he'd been fitted with knuckle couplers and had some temporary cowcatchers and a bell fitted on him.

"Wow," Percy exclaimed as his wheels rested on the rails. "So this must be China. If only I could show everyone else back home this too."

Just then, he heard a whistle and noticed a large red engine pulling up to him.

"Nǐ hǎo," he greeted in Chinese. "That means 'hello' in our language. Aren't you Percy of the Island of Sodor? I thought I met you back at the Great Railway Show."

"That's me," smiled Percy. "I even won at the Shunting Challenge. You're Yong Bao, right?"

"In the metal," the red engine said in response. "It is an honor to have you visiting our railway, Percy."

Percy's fire was soon burning brightly; he felt eager to get to work after days of nothing to do on a ship at sea.

"Where do I go first?" he asked excitedly. "What's my first job? I can't wait to get out there and show what a useful Sudrian I can be!"

"Slow down there, young one," chortled Yong Bao. "In order to be useful and helpful, you'll need to understand the route first."

"Oh, right."

Yong Bao showed Percy the route of his railway, explaining how to get to certain areas and what jobs were done. Percy listened carefully, trying to remember every last detail.

"Did you get all of that, Percy?" asked Yong Bao.

"I did," answered Percy.

Yong Bao was pleased, "Very good. We'll start by introducing you to the coaches you'll be pulling first thing tomorrow."

The coaches in question were called An An and Yin-Long; they were each painted bright mint with lime green wheels, four lime green stripes underneath their windows with three symbols painted in the middle of them.

"Zǎoshang hǎo, you two," greeted Yong Bao.

"Yong Bao!" the first coach said back, before noticing Percy, "Oh, who are you?"

"I'm Percy!" replied Percy. "I've been assigned to pull you for today."

"I'm An An, and that's Yin-Long," An An, as she was named, introduced herself.

"Nǐ hǎo, Percy!" Yin-Long added.

"Hello! Er, I mean, nǐ hǎo!" Percy corrected himself. Yong Bao, An An, and Yin-Long each laughed in good humor.

Percy, An An and Yin-Long were soon out on the main line.

"So this is what China's countryside looks like," Percy admired. "It's a lot different than back home."

"Where are you from, Percy?" asked An An.

"The Island of Sodor," answered Percy, "I'm an engine of the North Western Railway."

"Oh yes, we've heard a little bit about it from Yong Bao," remembered Yin-Long. "He once made an accidental stop at the harbor while on his way to the English mainland for the Great Railway Show."

As Percy and the two coaches talked, they heard a whistle sound. It came from a dark blue Chinese tank engine with red wheels, who was pulling some trucks.

"Oh! You're not from around these parts," said the tank engine, who was female, "My name is Hong-Mei. Who are you?"

"Percy," the green engine said back. "I'm from the Island of Sodor."

Hong-Mei grinned. "You're a Sudrian tank engine? How fast can you go?"

"One time, I beat a helicopter in a race!"

"I see," chuckled Hong-Mei. "Well, I bet you can't beat me in a race."

"Go for it, Percy!" giggled An An excitedly.

"We love a good race!" added Yin-Long.

"You're certainly more eager than Annie and Clarabel," chuckled Percy.

With that agreed to, Percy and Hong-Mei stopped at the next station so the former could let passengers on and off. Once the coaches were full, Percy's driver and Hong-Mei's driver started counting down.

"Three…" began Percy's driver.

"Two… one…" put in Hong-Mei's driver.

"Go!" Percy and Hong-Mei finished at the same time. And with that, they both sped out of the station.

The two tank engines and their respective trains were now speeding through a forest of cherry blossom trees. But as Hong-Mei rounded the corner, some stones flew out of her trucks, thankfully missing Percy and the coaches, instead landing either on the ground or onto a nearby river.

"Oh no," groaned Hong-Mei.

"Feeling tired yet?" Percy called out to her.

"Ngh…" grunted Hong-Mei in agitation. Alas, her driver had to stop the train so the stone could be picked up and put back in the trucks. Percy didn't have time to stop and help, for he just carried on his way.

"Looks like Percy's won this race already!" chuckled An An.

But Percy had to stop at another station to let passengers off, and allow new passengers in. This gave Hong-Mei time to catch up and pass by.

"Now who's winning this race already?" joked Hong-Mei.

"It's not over yet!" insisted Percy. Once An An and Yin-Long were full, the green engine set off again.

Hong-Mei and Percy were closing in on their destination when they had to stop at a signal. Percy slowed down so that he wouldn't give his passengers an uncomfortable stop.

"See you later!" Hong-Mei laughed, but then she saw the signal and came to a much sharper stop, again causing some stones to fall out of her trucks — luckily, none had landed on the tracks.

"That can't be good if your stone keeps falling out," said Percy, stopping alongside the blue Chinese tank engine. "This will only cause more delays for you."

"You think I don't know how to handle my trains?" Hong-Mei snapped as her crew began to clear away the mess. As they were doing so, a large black diesel came passing by with a goods train.

"The superiors may happen to agree, Hong-Mei," said the diesel. "You should consider yourself lucky nobody was hurt because of you."

"S-stop being silly, Dai Yu!" protested Hong-Mei, blushing in embarrassment. "I've never gotten anyone hurt. And I've never had accidents."

"That's not what Quan Song said when you sent those coaches to rest on the actual platform!"

"It was that signalman's fault!" snapped Hong-Mei. "How was I to know that the points weren't set properly?!" But Dai Yu didn't respond, for she was already too far away to hear.

The signals turned green, meaning that Percy, An An and Yin-Long could carry on their journey, leaving Hong-Mei and her crew to clear up their mess.

Percy and the coaches had made it to the end of the line without mishap. Minutes later, Hong-Mei pulled in, red in the face with exhaustion.

"What kept you?" Percy innocently asked. "Too much stone to handle?"

"No!" snapped Hong-Mei. "I've had to wait for ages while the stones I'd dropped were recovered, and then I had to make up for lost time! As engine number one on the railway, I have a high standard to uphold!"

Percy looked at the yellow symbol on Hong-Mei's side tank. "That's a number one?"

"It's how we write it in Chinese," retorted Hong-Mei, "except that we call it yī."

"I was only asking," muttered Percy, feeling a bit hurt by Hong-Mei's response.

"Anyway," Hong-Mei continued, "since you've won this race, I challenge you to a rematch!"

"A rematch?" asked Percy. "What for?"

"To show you who the best racer is," insisted Hong-Mei. "Last time, you only won cause you got lucky."

Percy didn't say anything for a moment, before giving a determined look. "You're on." As soon as the engines were ready, the stationmaster waved a green flag to kick off the rematch.

"Sān-èr-yī-zǒu!" Hong-Mei called, leaving just as quickly as she spoke.

"After her, Percy!" cried An An.

"She's gaining the lead!" Yin-Long added.

"Not if I've anything to say about this!" called Percy as he sped off.

"I'm going to win this time!" Hong-Mei bragged as she sped along.

"Dream on!" protested Percy cheekily. Neither engine realized, however, that the signalman had accidentally set the points to another line. And before Percy realized it, he had been diverted off the main line.

"Looks like I'm winning now!" Hong-Mei laughed. She hadn't noticed more stones flying out of her trucks as she continued to speed up.

Meanwhile, Percy found himself on an unfamiliar route.

"I don't remember Yong Bao showing me this part of the railway," he said to An An and Yin-Long.

"We know this line like the back of our buffers," insisted An An. "This is a scenic route."

"It's a much quicker shortcut too," explained Yin-Long.

Percy wasn't so sure about the route being scenic, but he knew he didn't feel very safe surrounded by high rock faces covered with vegetation. Not helping were steep slopes and sharp corners; it felt as if they were floating on clouds!

Percy and the coaches then went through a short tunnel before coming to a stop on a large bridge.

"Ohh, bust my buffers, that's high!" Percy gulped. "Are you sure this is safe? I've never seen a bridge without any middle supports before!"

"Come on, Percy," insisted An An. "It's okay!"

"We've been on this route loads of times before," added Yin-Long. "We need to keep going if you're going to beat Hong-Mei!"

Maybe agreeing to this rematch wasn't such a good idea, Percy thought to himself. "Okay…" he said out loud. Wheel turn by wheel turn, Percy slowly began to cross the bridge. The middle portion felt very scary to cross, but Percy kept on going until he and the coaches reached the second span before slowly speeding up.

"Phew… That felt very frame-racking," he remarked as he went through the second tunnel. Thank goodness it was me and not Toby, he added to himself.

After what felt like forever, Percy, An An and Yin-Long finally made it to the next station. But to the green engine's surprise, there was no sign of Hong-Mei or her trucks.

"Where did she go?" Percy wondered. "This shortcut couldn't be the reason I beat her, right?"

"Maybe she forgot to take on more water," An An suggested.

"She does get overconfident enough to make mistakes like that," agreed Yin-Long.

Just then, they saw the guard of Hong-Mei's train running towards them. He was very tired and out of breath. Thankfully, they gave him a drink so he could relax.

"There's been an accident," he explained once he had caught his breath. "Hong-Mei's been derailed."

"Derailed? How did that happen?" asked Percy.

"She ran over some of the stones that fell out of her trucks," said the guard. "It wouldn't have happened if she hadn't been so careless."

"Where's the nearest breakdown crane?" asked Percy.

Meanwhile, Hong-Mei lay on one side. As the guard said, she'd hit one of the stones that fell out of her train, causing her to come off the rails.

"Oh dear," she moaned. "I hope nobody finds me like this." But alas, fate was not to be tempted, for soon a whistle sounded. "Oh no…"

Sure enough, it was Percy pulling the breakdown train behind him.

"Are you alright, Hong-Mei?" he asked in concern.

"Of course I'm not alright!" snapped Hong-Mei. "Not only did I get into an accident, but I somehow lost again!"

She soon wished she hadn't said that, for out of Percy's cab stepped a well-dressed woman with long dark hair and glasses.

"M-Ms. Kim!" gulped Hong-Mei.

"Showing off in front of our guest, were you?" Ms. Kim frowned, shaking her head. "I am surprised, Hong-Mei. I thought you knew better than to be this boastful and careless. Others could have gotten hurt thanks to your racing."

Hong-Mei was far too embarrassed to speak; she just let off steam feebly. Before long, the cranes had lifted her back onto the rails.

"Percy," offered Ms. Kim, "would you mind taking Hong-Mei's trucks for her so as to prevent any more incidents? Yong Bao will show you the way."

"Of course I will, ma'am," smiled Percy. "We always try to be really useful back on Sodor."

"That's a good engine," smiled Ms. Kim before she glanced at Hong-Mei. "And as for you, I hope spending the rest of the day in your shed will help you think of how you can be better behaved tomorrow."

"B-But what about Percy?" protested Hong-Mei. "He was racing too! Why doesn't he get punished for it?"

"Only because you challenged him to," argued Ms. Kim. "Now go to your shed!"

Without another word, Hong-Mei puffed away, but not before glaring darkly at Percy. The little green engine hoped that her attitude would change for the better before he returned to Sodor, but what do you think?

Author's Comments

The International Railway Series is back with its second season! Kicking things off is the first book of the season, Percy and the Chinese Engines, with this rewrite of Number One Engine. An above average start to the final era of the original series, though having Thomas being the star of every international episode of Series 22 was a major detriment to the international characters as they barely had a chance to shine as... well, characters. This is one thing that I'm hoping to fix, alongside not having Thomas be a screen-hog. I thought that Percy would work better against Hong-Mei as I felt that she'd be more likely to take advantage of Percy's naivety. Meanwhile, Thomas just competed with Hong-Mei because they were both blue and had the number one, which doesn't make for a very interesting conflict; not helping was that it seemed to be it for Hong-Mei as she faded into the background and became generic. This time around, she's far more active as a character, and you'll be seeing a lot of her as this saga continues.

Speaking of which, next time, we have an encounter Percy's Dragon!