- “Thank you, your Grace, and everyone, for your kind wishes. You've given us both a lovely 100th birthday.”
- ― Rheneas addressing the crowd
Very Old Engines is the twentieth book of The Railway Series.
Foreword
Dear Friends,
One hundred years ago, when Skarloey and Rheneas first arrived on their Railway, they were young and silly. Skarloey was sulky and bouncy. He and Rheneas quarrelled… But they learned sense, and the Owner has just given them a lovely 100th birthday.
Talyllyn and Dolgoch, at Towyn, are 100 too. How about going to wish them "Many Happy Returns"?
The Author
Stories
Crosspatch
Nancy is polishing Skarloey, but Skarloey calls her a fusspot. Nancy replies by calling him a crosspatch. Skarloey remembers he once was a crosspatch, and tells Nancy the story...
Skarloey was built in 1864 and sent to Sodor on a ship the following year. After being lowered onto a flatbed using the ship's derricks, he was taken to Crovan's Gate by an ugly but kind engine named Neil. The people there were not used to engines, and it was dark by the time he was on the rails. The next morning, he was told to take some trucks, but he wanted to pull coaches. The manager, Mr. Mack, and some workmen came and tried to make him steam, but he refused to do anything, day after day. Eventually, they got tired and covered him up with a tarpaulin.
Nancy says it served Skarloey right, but a crowd which has come to listen tells him to go on…
Bucking Bronco
At last, Mr. Mack came and Skarloey said sorry. Mr. Mack told him that Mr. Bobbie, an engineer who helped build Skarloey, had come, and Skarloey worked hard to finish the line before the inspector arrived.
When Rheneas first arrived he was a sensible engine, unlike Skarloey, who was bouncy and excited. When Skarloey was told to pull the directors' train, Rheneas told him to be careful, but Skarloey scoffed at him and got Agnes, Ruth, Jemima and Beatrice. The coaches had never met him before, and their leader, Agnes, did not trust him. When Skarloey began to bounce, Mr. Mack, who was riding on Skarloey, closed the regulator too quickly and the coaches bumped into each other. They bumped him back, and Mr. Mack was knocked into a bush. He rode in Beatrice for the remainder of the journey.
The directors were cross, and told Rheneas to pull the inspector's train instead. The inspector was satisfied, but told the directors to give Skarloey an extra set of wheels…
Stick-in-the-Mud
Rheneas starts telling the rest of the story. When Skarloey returned with another pair of wheels and a cab, the coaches were impressed and Skarloey became conceited. He told Rheneas he should get a cab, but Rheneas disagreed. Skarloey called him a stick-in-the-mud, and the argument went on until the two fell out. Then, one morning, Skarloey was taking the workmen to the quarry in the rain. When Rheneas was warming up, the guard arrived and told them Skarloey was stuck in a landslide beyond the tunnel. Rheneas refused to help at first, but went when reminded of the workmen and crew. Afterwards, Skarloey apologised, and they burst out laughing when they realised Skarloey was the stick-in-the-mud after all.
Duck and Dukes
Duck tells Peter Sam that there are no Dukes, having all been scrapped. Peter Sam, who remembered the Thin Controller saying the Duke of Sodor was coming to Skarloey and Rheneas' hundredth birthday, is horrified, and when he tells the others, they argue over who is right. (Peter Sam may have been thinking of Duke from the Mid Sodor Railway, but Sir Handel's reaction is never revealed). But the next day, the engines are happy when they wake up, for it is Skarloey and Rheneas' birthday. Later, Peter Sam takes the television train and films Rheneas. After Skarloey arrives and takes the Duke around the new loop line around the Lake, the Duke makes a speech, during which Peter Sam interrupts and asks him if he is real. The Duke tells him he is, and Rheneas makes a speech asking everyone to visit his and Skarloey's respective twin brothers, Dolgoch and Talyllyn.
Characters
Full Book
- Duck
- Skarloey
- Rheneas
- Peter Sam
- Duncan
- Nancy
- Agnes, Ruth, Jemima and Beatrice
- Sir Handel Brown II
- Mr. Peter Sam
- Sir Handel (does not speak)
- Rusty (does not speak)
- Talyllyn (does not speak)
- Sir Charles Topham Hatt II (does not speak)
- Ada, Jane or Mabel (cameo)
- Lucy (mentioned)
Characters Introduced
- Neil
- Mr. Mack
- Richard Robert Norramby
- Dolgoch (does not speak)
- Mr. Bobbie (does not speak)
- Douglas (cameo)
- The Dukes (indirectly mentioned)
- Duke (indirectly mentioned)
Crosspatch
- Neil
- Skarloey
- Nancy
- Mr. Mack
- Rheneas (does not speak)
- Talyllyn (does not speak)
- Dolgoch (mentioned)
- Peter Sam (cameo)
- Sir Charles Topham Hatt II (mentioned)
Bucking Bronco
- Skarloey
- Rheneas
- Agnes, Ruth, Jemima and Beatrice
- Mr. Mack
- Mr. Bobbie (does not speak)
- Neil (cameo)
Stick-in-the-Mud
- Skarloey
- Rheneas
- Mr. Mack
- Mr. Bobbie
- Agnes, Ruth, Jemima and Beatrice (do not speak)
Duck and Dukes
- Duck
- Skarloey
- Rheneas
- Peter Sam
- Duncan
- Sir Handel Brown II
- Mr. Peter Sam
- Richard Robert Norramby
- Sir Handel (does not speak)
- Rusty (does not speak)
- Talyllyn (does not speak)
- Dolgoch (does not speak)
- Agnes, Ruth and Jemima (one appears; remainder mentioned)
- Douglas (cameo)
- Ada, Jane or Mabel (cameo)
- Sir Charles Topham Hatt II (cameo)
- Lucy and Beatrice (mentioned)
- The Dukes (indirectly mentioned)
- Duke (indirectly mentioned)
Locations
Full Book
Crosspatch
- Island of Sodor
- The Mainland
- Fletcher, Jennings & Co.
- Tywyn (mentioned)
Bucking Bronco
- Crovan's Gate
- Skarloey Engine Sheds
- The Thin Controller's House
Stick-in-the-Mud
- Skarloey Engine Sheds
- Rheneas Tunnel (mentioned)
Duck and Dukes
Trivia
- The first three stories were inspired by events that actually happened on the Talyllyn Railway.
- Mr. Bobbie was a real-life engineer that worked for Fletcher, Jennings & Co.
- The Reverend acknowledged the help given by members of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society in the preparation of this book.
- The book was published in 1965, yet Kaye and Ward editions from 1968 onwards incorrectly state that it was published in 1961. Curiously, early copies of Branch Line Engines share this error, mixing up the same two years.
- This is the only book of a few things:
- The only book to feature Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice with faces and also their last speaking roles in the Railway Series.
- Neil's only appearance.
- Rusty's only appearance in the Edwards illustrations.
- In the original unpublished second illustration of the story "Bucking Bronco", Neil was depicted as having blue eyes, technically making him the first and only engine or vehicle character to be depicted with an eye-colour other than black until All Engines Go!
- On the third illustration of "Crosspatch", the American flag can be seen on the boat where Skarloey is being unloaded onto Neil's flatbed.
- This was the last book before James and the Diesel Engines to not have any of its stories adapted for the television series.
- The present day events of this book took place in the former half of 1965. The first two stories' events took place in 1865. "Stick-in-the-Mud" took place in 1867.
- In Crosspatch, Mr. Mack is seen reading a book called "How Engines Work".
Goofs
- In the second illustration, Talyllyn is painted green with black and yellow lining when he was first built, but Talyllyn's original livery is now believed to have been Indian red with black and white lining. Though when the book was written the green livery was believed to be the original livery.
- In the silhouette on the cover of the early edition, Skarloey is portrayed as being cabless with a 0-4-2 wheel arrangement, yet in the book he did not gain trailing wheels until he was given a cab.
- In the fifth illustration of "Bucking Bronco", Beatrice has a ticket window on her right side.
In Other Languages
| Language | Title |
|---|---|
| Chinese Mandarin | 百岁小火车 |
| Japanese | 100さいの機関車 |
| Korean | 아주 오래 된 기관차들 |