THE INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY SERIES No. 10

REBECCA THE YELLOW ENGINE

Based upon the episodes by Davey Moore and Becky Overton

Adapted by Zack Wanzer, James Riddle and Rachel Ravens

Foreword

Hi, everybody! It's Rebecca here!

When I heard that there were stories about me being published with my name as the title, I asked the authors if they could call it The Two Express Engines instead. I mean, Gordon starred in two of the stories, one of which was alongside me, so it didn't seem fair that he should be left out of it.

Apparently, that didn't work out as they thought that it'd be better if it was named after me since I got more focus than Gordon did. I hope he isn't too upset over it, but I also hope you enjoy reading about what we went through together! Yay us!

Rebecca

REBECCA AND THE TRUCKS

Based upon "Chucklesome Trucks" by Davey Moore

"Can you imagine everything that's happened so far this summer?" Percy was saying one night at Tidmouth sheds.

"I know; it's a lot to take in, Percy," agreed Thomas. "Belinda and Elsie are now helping us on the Ffarquhar branch, as are Victoria and Helena for the Brendam branch."

"Don't forget that they've also been joined by Alfred and Leopold," remarked Emily. "And now Dexter's joined the Sodor Search and Rescue team."

"And now we've got Henney and Ali on Sudrian rails," continued Gordon, "Diesel with a new livery, and the Steamworks and Dieselworks have been renamed as well. And I thought the last two years brought about so many changes to Sodor."

"James will be in for quite a surprise when he comes home from India," said Percy. "You know, it almost feels like yesterday when Nia and Rebecca first joined the railway."

"Well, it sure wasn't yesterday," giggled Nia. "I feel like I've been here for years."

"You and me both, Nia," smiled Rebecca. "The island is so beautiful. Sometimes, I wish I could slow down a bit to admire the scenery. But it's hard when taking the express."

"Rebecca," piped up Emily, "have you ever taken goods trains before?"

"Well… actually, no," said Rebecca. "I mean, we were classified as mixed traffic engines during the Second World War, but… I had a feeling that it was an excuse to cover up the truth."

"Wait, really?" gasped Percy. "Why would your designer do that?"

"Because no express engines were allowed to be built during wartime," Thomas explained. "I quickly realized the truth after seeing some of Rebecca's siblings on express trains."

"How did you not see Becky back then?" asked Emily. "You two were in the same region!"

"That's like saying Spencer and I would have crossed paths because we were in the same region," said Gordon. "And until he visited Sodor one day, we didn't."

"Plus, my siblings and I were mostly allocated to one area following the war," added Thomas. "As were Rosie, Nathan and their siblings."

"That's a fair point," said Emily. "Anyway, Rebecca, would you like to try taking a goods run?"

"Would I?!" asked Rebecca excitedly. "Oh, that does sound like fun!"

"Fun?!" The others all raised eyebrows; even Nia was surprised at the yellow engine's response.

"Well, yes," said Rebecca. "I never got the opportunity before. Wouldn't you be excited if you were given a chance to do something new?"

"Trucks on Sodor are tricky, Rebecca," said Thomas. "The first time I took them, I was bumped straight down Gordon's Hill! Nearly ran off the rails too if the buffers didn't stop me. But, thanks to Edward, I have handled them expertly since."

"Then what about the time where you took too many trucks from the quarry–"

"Percy, that was Diesel and Mavis' fault too by running off!"

Nia and Rebecca raised eyebrows, but Thomas' glare made them drop the questions.

"Sounds like you've rubbed off on him a little bit, Thomas," chuckled Gordon.

"Unfortunately, yes…" huffed Thomas.

"It's probably for the best that James isn't here," sighed Emily. "It would've evolved into a battle of egos over handling trucks the worst."

Rebecca and Nia giggled, while Thomas rolled his eyes.

"Let's all get some sleep," said Gordon. "You're especially going to need it, Rebecca…"

The following morning, Rebecca spoke to Sir Topham Hatt about wanting to work on goods trains.

"I'm surprised I didn't organize this sooner," gasped the controller. "James usually takes a goods as his first train, and if you handle it instead, that would save Bear a trip."

"Oh, that would be fantastic, sir!" she beamed. "I'll go and collect it. Thank you!" And with that, Rebecca puffed off to where the goods train was waiting.

Stafford had just shunted the brake van into position when he heard a cheerful whistle coming into the yards.

"Is that Rebecca?" he wondered. "She doesn't usually come here."

It was Rebecca; she was now backing down onto the trucks, but she was going a bit faster than she'd realized, and accidentally bumped into them.

"Oof!" the trucks cried. "Who's that backing down?"

"It's Rebecca," said one of them, "but she doesn't usually pull us!"

"She's big and yellow, just like a banana!" called another. "And slippery like one too!"

The trucks hooted with laughter, but Rebecca tried to be nice to them.

"You know, trucks," said Rebecca, "it's not very nice when you insult the engines like that. I want a smooth ride, okay?"

"You might want to take care with this lot, Rebecca–"

"Eep!" A startled Rebecca bumped into the trucks again, causing them to groan.

"Oh dear…"

"Oh, hi, Stafford," the yellow engine greeted. "I didn't hear you coming up alongside me."

"Ah, yes; sorry about that, Rebecca," said Stafford. "It happens a lot of the time. But anyway, this lot of trucks is particularly rowdy today, so just keep your guard up."

"My guard is asleep?" asked Rebecca, glancing back. "Er… don't worry, Stafford, he's up."

"Well, yes, that's a given," chuckled Stafford, before speaking more seriously. "What I meant was, you should take care with trucks. They can bump engines when they aren't expecting it, but there are a select few that they never mess with, like Donald and Douglas."

"I'm sure I can find a way for them to behave themselves too," said Rebecca. The guard's whistle sounded, and she began to set off. "Bye, Stafford! See you later!"

"Oh! Er, good luck, Rebecca!" called Stafford as he watched the train leave the yard. She'll need it, he thought worriedly.

As Rebecca moved onto the main line, the trucks began to try their tricks on her.

"Look out, lads!" called the leading truck. "Bumpy Becky's pulling us today!"

"Keep up with your bumps, and you'll break a coupling or two!" jeered another truck.

"I think I'll develop some wobbly wheels at the rate that she's going!" cried a third.

Despite all the taunts being thrown at her, Rebecca didn't raise her voice at the trucks. "You lot behave yourselves back there, please," she called. "The last thing I need is nonsense."

"We'll give her nonsense," the trucks snickered amongst themselves, and they began to sing:

"Becky's pulling us along,

Becky's pulling us along,

Becky's pulling us along,

Let's give her a bump!"

"Whoa, easy there!" cried Rebecca. "This will be put on Sir Topham Hatt's record for sure. You don't want to be on any out of use sidings, do you? Percy said that happened to some trucks that pushed him into the sea."

Some of the trucks took that warning seriously, having been on Percy's train that day. Others, however, were annoyed.

"We'll be back on trains before you know it," scoffed one.

"But it was still a long time ago!" protested another.

"Hey, don't forget what happened to Scruffey!" cautioned a third. "He was on that train, and Oliver ripped him to pieces sometime later! That could be one of us someday!"

Rebecca didn't hear what the trucks were talking about, for she was now approaching Gordon's Hill.

"Got to be careful," she hummed to herself. "Come on, Becky; you can do it…"

At first, things seemed to be going first rate. The trucks coasted behind her as she climbed.

"I never get tired of the view," she smiled. "Okay; brakes, please, guard!"

"Time for Plan B, fellas!" called the leading truck.

"Becky's pulling us along,

Becky's pulling us along…"

Then something happened that they didn't expect:

"I am pulling trucks along,

Go on, give me a bump!"

"Huh?!" The trucks' eyes nearly popped out.

"This wasn't a part of the plan!" cried the leading truck.

"We were going to bump her anyway, right?" called another truck.

"I don't know!" called a third. "When Mavis asked for that years ago, she took out her anger on me for bumping Toby instead…"

"What's wrong, guys?" called Rebecca. "Are you too tired to bump me?"

"Too tired?!" exclaimed the leading truck. "We'll show her, won't we?"

"Yeah!" most of them agreed, surging into her. By now, Rebecca was past the peak of Gordon's Hill, and so she began to go faster as she went downhill.

At Maron, Bear and Merlin were waiting with trains of their own.

"I say, Bear!" said Merlin. "Gordon said Rebecca's on goods trains this morning. Her first time too."

"Is she nervous?" asked Bear.

"Quite the opposite," chuckled Merlin. "She's very excited!"

"Hmm…" Bear considered. "Usually, that leads to coming down Gordon's hill too fa–"

"Wheeeeee!"

"Aaauugh!" wailed the trucks. "Brakes, guard! Brakes!"

Bear and Merlin looked on in disbelief.

"Is it Opposite Day?" asked Merlin.

"No, that doesn't exist!" scoffed Bear. "But something is wrong…"

"I am pulling trucks along,

I am pulling trucks along,

I am pulling trucks along,

Go on, give me a bump!"

And so it went for the rest of the journey to Vicarstown. Rosie was surprised with how early Rebecca was.

"Hi, Becky," gasped Rosie. "I, er… thought you learned how to keep to our timetables by now. You're about twenty minutes early!"

"Heh… oops… sorry," Rebecca giggled nervously. "But at least I got the goods here. Oh, Rosie, I had the best morning!"

"That's fantastic, Rebecca," grinned Rosie. "A smooth journey, right? You rest up for the return back, I'll handle these trucks."

"Never better!" said Rebecca. "You see, the trucks were singing a song about trying to bump me–"

"Oh dear…" groaned Rosie. "Don't worry, I'll handle these guys…"

"…but I ended up playing along with them, which is why we got here early," finished Rebecca. "Thanks for the fun journey, trucks! Take care now!" She was uncoupled from them and went over to the water column, leaving Rosie staring on, gobsmacked.

"…what just happened?" she asked. The trucks were too stunned to say anything.

"Rosie…" gasped Dennis. "Did I just have a strange dream?"

"I think I did too…" the red tank engine trailed.

The return trip to Knapford was very much the same; whenever the trucks tried to trick Rebecca, she ended up playing along with them, leaving them utterly baffled.

"What sort of engine actually enjoys what we do?!" one of them said. "This is too much fun, even for us!"

"Yippie!" Rebecca grinned. "I don't know why the other engines were so worried! This is great!"

But she'd spoken too soon. At Wellsworth, Philip was shunting trucks into a siding over the crossover.

"Rebecca!" Philip tooted his horn. "Look out!"

"Philip!" Rebecca's brakes screeched on, as did her brake van's. Even the trucks held back when they should have for once. "Urgh, come on… Please don't fail on me now!"

Rebecca slowed right down to a crawl… just before she hit the first truck.

"Whoa, Rebecca!" cried Philip. "Are you alright?"

"Mostly," she breathed. "You?"

"Yes," sighed Philip. "But now we'll need Rocky or Judy and Jerome to clear this up."

It wasn't long before Belle brought Rocky over to help clear the mess.

"Rebecca, Philip, report," said Belle.

"I… was coming in really fast, Belle," sighed Rebecca. "The trucks were singing about bumping me… and then I was encouraging them to do it."

"You what?!" Belle, Philip and Rocky exclaimed.

"Rebecca, you were lucky this wasn't a rake of filled coaches!" snapped Belle. "Don't you know how many passengers get injured or killed in railway accidents?!"

"And staff too," added Rocky. "Your crew and guard could have been in hospital right now!"

"Rebecca," Philip piped up, "railways aren't playgrounds. When I first got here, I challenged Gordon to a… 'race'. But I neglected my duties and the yard was a mess. And due to my challenging Toby to a race as well… he nearly crashed into Thomas. I only realized this after Vinnie came here and was a massive jerk…"

"My word," sighed Rebecca. "That is pretty serious. Again, I deeply apologize…"

"Sir Topham Hatt will not be pleased…" Rocky muttered.

And indeed, he wasn't.

"I know you were eager to pull goods trains for the first time, Rebecca," he said, "but on the railway, eagerness does not supersede safety or common sense!"

"I know, sir…" Rebecca said quietly. "I'm sorry…"

"You're to stay in the sheds until I can trust you again," he said firmly, before walking away. "We cannot have this serious of an accident…" He grunted to himself. "And with James still away, I'll need to do more rearranging!"

"So much for that going well…" sighed Rebecca. "Guess my kind really aren't cut out for goods after all…"

"Hey, when your punishment is lifted, we'll show you how to handle goods trains," said Emily.

"Not many engines get it right the first time," added Percy. "Though, you're the first engine I heard of to play along with the trucks' antics."

"Yeah…" Rebecca looked down at her buffers.

"Percy, now's not the time!" huffed Thomas; Percy looked up apologetically. "Don't give up, Rebecca. It just takes practice. You can do it."

"You… believe that I can?" asked Rebecca.

"Of course," said Gordon. "Some of us may not like it that much, but we've all taken goods in the past. We'll all pitch in."

"You and trucks?" Thomas couldn't help but smirk. "That'll be a sight."

"Thomas–"

More chuckles erupted from the shed, but even Gordon had to admit, it was quite humorous to think about.

Despite the near accident, it wasn't all bad news, for the trucks now had another engine they could add to their "do not pull tricks on" list…

"Take care around Rebecca, and never sing when she's around! Turns out there's such a thing as too much fun!"

Author's Comments

We now approach our tenth International Railway Series book, focusing on Rebecca! And yes, the reference to Oliver the Western Engine in the foreword was more or less intentional. Out of the cut Series 21 episodes, Chucklesome Trucks is probably the most disappointing, as it almost felt like the references to The Adventure Begins, Dirty Objects and Percy Takes the Plunge took precedent over actual storytelling, of which the focus was extremely confused as to what it wanted to be about. Even the ending sequence after the actual episode didn't seem sure about its message! With that in mind, the basic idea of Rebecca pulling trucks for the first time is still intact, but she learns that encouraging bad behavior only leads to trouble and gets consequences for it. It also kicks off a few things that take place throughout this book.

Next time, find out what happens with Gordon and Rebecca, Coming Through!