Rheneas the little engine-
"Who are you calling little?"
Sorry, Rheneas. I'll start again. Rheneas the narrow gauge engine, despite his age, is a well loved and greatly valued member of the Skarloey Railway fleet, being the Gallant Old Engine who saved the railway from closure many years ago. He is a good worker too, and he and Yona can be relied upon to do practically anything asked of them, given that both of them are young (in a sense, given that Rheneas had most of his parts replaced at the last overhaul).
One morning, as the engines were being lit up for duty, Mr Percival came over to the sheds to issue the day's work. "Good morning!" he called.
"Good morning Mr Percival!" the engines and their drivers chorused.
"I am here to give you your work orders today," Mr Percival continued. "Peter Sam, Silverstream, Sir Handel, Gallus, and Skarloey and Ocellus, you're on passenger duties today."
"See?" Silverstream giggled. "I told you Tuesdays were great!"
"I beg to differ," grumbled Sir Handel. He was still a little sleepy.
Mr Percival went on, ignoring the conversation. "Duncan and Smoulder, I want you two to bring a slate train down from Blue Mountain. They've had a heavy load lately, and I want Rusty and Sandbar to assist with braking."
"Yes sir!" Smoulder replied. "Think you have what it takes, Sandy?"
"I was born ready," Sandbar smirked. "Rusty's got good brakes too."
"Just be careful," Ocellus said nervously. "Those gradients are pretty steep."
"What about me, sir?" Rheneas asked.
"I have a special job for both you and Yona," Mr Percival replied.
"Hooray!" Yona cried, bouncing about on Rheneas' footplate. "Yona love special jobs!"
"Rheneas not love being used as a trampoline!"
"I," Mr Percival continued, "want both of you to take a special train with a group of schoolchildren and their teacher onboard. They are travelling up to the lake for a field trip. You must make sure they have a good time and are back before 5."
Rheneas' face fell. That work did sound very difficult indeed, and he wasn't too sure about schoolchildren.
Rheneas puffed into the platform at Crovan's Gate with two open air coaches. He recognised quite a few of the children from summer trips, as well as their teacher, Miss Cheerilee. They must have been from Knapford Secondary School. As they boarded, Rusty rolled to a stop in the loop with a line of vans.
"Rusty," Rheneas asked, "can I have some advice on how to make this trip special? I'm not that up to date on what is 'hip and cool' amongst youngsters."
Rusty laughed. "I'm probably not the best engine to ask. I am more than 60 years old now, but I have some good ideas for fun. Children often react well to a good performance from the engine, as I recall from that time I helped with a massive train at the Leighton Buzzard!"
"Just do what you always do!" Sandbar said. "You know this line better than anybody else. Show them the best sights!"
Just then, the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag. Rheneas set off, not convinced his best would be what the children wanted to see. At least there was no WiFi coverage at the lake.
As they proceeded up the line, Yona would periodically stop the train to point out sights of interest. "That over there is Rheneas waterfall!" she said. "Yona love to hike by waterfall, as waterfall very pretty!"
Some of the students at the back sniggered at Yona's poor English, whilst Cheerilee took the opportunity to give a quick language lesson. "Rheneas means waterfall in Sudric. So, in a sense, it's the waterfall waterfall!"
Rheneas rolled his eyes. This wasn't special at all. He went by it every day. "I must find something special!" he said.
"This is Skarloey Lake! Yona recommend lake for swimming!"
"Skarloey also translates as lake," Cheerilee told the class. "So, we are next to the lake lake! Bala, in North Wales, has the same etymological route."
"Train now crossing big viaduct! Big viaduct takes line over big ravine! Ravine not scary to Yona, though ravine full of spiders." Yona shuddered at that thought. "Yona not like spiders."
Rheneas was still worried, although the children were seemingly enjoying themselves.
Meanwhile, Rusty was running along the other part of the loop, when he suddenly lurched into the air. "Oh my gears and axles!" he exclaimed. "This track is bad! If it continues like this, I'll stall!"
Sandbar brought him to a stop. He got off and inspected the track behind them. "No wonder it's so bumpy," he said. "The heavy weight of the construction vehicles building that new quarry, as well as the recent rains, have compromised the trackbed. We'll need to close the loop and make it safe." Getting back aboard, he opened up the throttle towards Blue Mountain Quarry.
Rheneas stopped at the Lake station for his allocated stop, and the students went away on their nature walk. Rheneas looked glum.
"What's wrong, Rheneas?" Yona asked. "Engine look glum!"
"We really need to make this trip special!" Rheneas exclaimed. "And nothing we've seen so far is special."
"Children happy!" Yona said. "That alone makes it special. Now, Yona off to get a bite to eat at Sugarcube Corner. See you later!"
Rheneas sat there, looking about. A few hours later, the children got back onboard, and they set off again. Unfortunately, the track crew had forgotten to warn them the other portion of the loop was out of action. Rheneas soon realised his mistake when he raced past two red flags. "This section is out for maintenance!" he cried. "Brakes!"
Yona slammed the brakes on, but the track, which thanks to the damage and subsidence was now at a gradient of 1 in 17, prevented the train from stopping. Rheneas skidded past another loop where Rusty was sitting with the maintenance train.
"Slow down!" Rusty shouted. "It's not safe!"
"I CAN'T!" Rheneas called back.
Sandbar's face went pale. "The slate train's still in the section ahead!" he cried, grabbing his phone. "I need to warn control to switch them off."
Rheneas flew down the damaged track with dangerous speed. He bounced back and forth on the poorly maintained track, and the coaches rocked back and forth. Yona held on for dear life, but the children seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Ahead, he saw the slate train slowly pulling into the loop. He whistled frantically. "HURRY UP! HURRY UP!"
Duncan shot forwards and cleared the siding just in time, as Rheneas rocketed past. "What was that?" he asked. "And why is the camera tilted?"
Smoulder groaned. "Duncan, please don't break the fourth wall!"
Rheneas, on the other hand, continued to fly along at high speed. All other traffic on the line had been halted to let Rheneas through safely, and he whizzed through Cross-ny-Cuirn, past a very amused Gallus.
"He's in a hurry."
The little red tank engine continued to bounce along the track, whizzing under Rheneas waterfull with such force that Cheerilee almost lost her hat! She looked somewhat ill, but the children seemed happy.
At long last, Yona brought the train to a stop at Crovan's Gate, and the children and their teacher got off. "Phew," Cheerilee replied. "That was a wild ride, and I had a fair few with Duke. But we're back on time."
Apple Bloom looked ecstatic. "That were a wild ride!" she exclaimed. "Course, Ah know some hair raisin' times, like those vans on Gordon's Hill..."
"We have a great day out!" said Scootaloo. "You might want to fix the track, though..."
Mr Percival emerged from his office to speak to Rheneas and Yona. "Very well done, you two," he said. "You gave the children a wonderful day out. I knew I could count on you two."
Rheneas could only beam in happiness.