Tales from the rails

Rhys' Express

Dan had returned from the works, and some things had changed. Signals were added outside of some tunnels, so engines had to stop in them and wait from time to time. "This is disgraceful! Sitting in the tunnels have ruined my paint!" Said Tracey one morning. She was one of the big engines, and was grumpy a lot of the time. "Tell me about it," Said Rhys, Suddenly Dan rolled in, he had a new coat of paint of black with blue lining. "I envy you!" Rhys said, "The soot matches your paint! no engine would know if you were covered in soot unless it was on your face!" Dan laughed, he knew Rhys was joking, but he was also right. "Have you guys seen Jojo?" Asked Dan, and the two engines gestured towards the sheds. There sat an angry Jojo, looking down in pity of himself. "Stupid shunting!" He said quietly to himself, "Got me into this. Now I've lost the express to some diesel!" Dan looked confused, "A diesel pulling our express? The Controller would never!" But Dan was wrong.

Rhys pulled into the station after shunting some trucks for an engine, he saw Edward, Hanna, and a big diesel. "I do think you should take a rest, engines as old as you need it or else they fall apart!" Said the diesel, and Rhys saw that Edward looked sad. "Is there a problem here?" He interrupted, looking sternly at the diesel. "Oh, you must be the shunter, I'm Dylan, a pleasure to meet you. I'll have my express coaches now, thank you." He said with a sly look. "Hmph, okay." Rhys said as he backed into the yards. Next to the express were these new branchline coaches. They were GNR coaches, with axles so they looked old but they happened to be brand new. Three of them were chatting while Rhys backed up to the express. One of them said hello to Rhys, but he didn't notice. The coaches were still chatting when he left.

"Here are your coaches." Said Rhys to Dylan, "Why thank you, and Edward, do go get some rest my dear engine, I would hate to see you fall to bits, maybe this, uh, engine can take your passengers." Hanna then spoke up, "Oh don't listen to him, You're as fine as a fiddle! You can get checked later by Matt and he'll patch you up!" Edward sighed in relief, Hanna always had his back and this time would be no different. Dylan rolled his eyes, he began to back down when he started to splutter! "My engine! what has happened to me?!" He wailed. "Oh Fitter! where is my fitter?!" But the fitter was busy looking for his coat that had been sucked into Dylan's injector! Rhys and Hanna laughed, But Edward looked scared. "Who will pull the express?" He asked nervously. The coaches looked too heavy, and then, an idea flew into Rhys' funnel! "I'll be right back!"

Rhys puffed though the countryside, the wind whistled passed as he and the coaches cruised along. "Go faster Rhys!" Said a coach, "Yeah, go faster, faster!" Said another. "How do you know my name?!" "You have nameplates darlin'!" Said the last coach. "D-darlin'?" The coach nodded, "Yep, it's how we gals say things 'round here!" "Uh-huh!" Said the others. Rhys smirked. "Alright, here we go!" Rhys then gained speed as the coaches swooned.

"Stupid signal! It's taking forever!" Complained a passenger. "Express should have passed already!" Said another. Dan had been waiting in a tunnel for the express to pass. "I do wonder where it is." He pondered as he heard a whistle. Suddenly, a streak of blue flashed past and into the tunnel. Dan knew it was his best friend Rhys, "Go on Rhys! You can do it!" Rhys rocketed down the line, entering and passing Lickey station. He then charged up the hill, his wheels began to slip, he rolled down the hill, but he regained speed as Josh buffered up behind him, "Come on Rhys! You can do it!" He called. Rhys charged over the hill and coasted down the line. Rhys then got to the work station where Eddy with some express coaches sat to pick up the passengers. "Ten minutes early Rhys, nice job!" He said as he whistled loudly, beginning to set off. "Phew, thank you." He panted, he went to get some water from the water tower. The coaches were tired themselves. "Hey, do you girls want to be my coaches? I could use some on the branchline." He offered them. "Oh yes! Thank you Rhys!" They said almost in unison. Rhys chuckled, "Alright, now lets get home, you might like to meet my brake van."