RWS #40: New Little Engine

We've got three more RWS books to cover - New Little Engine, Thomas and Victoria, and Thomas and his Friends. Let's start off with the final book featuring the Skarloey engines!

THE OPINIONS, THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS IN THIS BLOG POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF ZACK WANZER, NOT THE THOMAS FANDOM IN GENERAL

(special thanks to the Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia for the images)

The Railway Series Book #40

New Little Engine

Written by Christopher Awdry

Illustrated by Clive Spong

Published August 8, 1996

In 1991, the Talyllyn Railway built their official No. 7, Tom Rolt. So it seems appropriate that the Skarloey Railway would have a new No. 7 of their own based off Tom Rolt. How does it stack up?

Dear Friends,
Peter Sam has been working on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales. The Thin Controller's Railway became so busy that he had to bring Peter Sam home to help. Sir Handel was jealous, but Peter Sam told us about the time he was ill while he was in Wales. It seemed too good a story to waste, so I decided to share it with you. I hope Peter Sam isn't too upset...
The Author

Speedkiller

Rusty has been given the boring job of spraying weedkiller on the rails as Fred is ill... or so he claims. Meanwhile, Rheneas runs later when he fetches another coach due to the huge influx of visitors. He slows down at a steep hill for the hedgecutters, which makes him run later still. The weedkiller also causes Rheneas to slip down the hill, and so his crew put sand on the rails to give Rheneas a better grip on the rails. The passengers might have had little time to admire the scenery by the lake, but they praise Rheneas' efforts to get them to the next station.

Yeesh, this was Gallant Old Engine all over again, except that story showed Rheneas' true bravery to save his railway from closing. Yes, he also needed to get his passengers to the next station, but did Christopher have to rewrite Gallant Old Engine just to start the book? Seriously, this is getting really annoying... I also don't like how they could've used it to give Fred some screentime, but they didn't.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Sir Handel's Plan

Sir Handel isn't happy when Peter Sam makes a return from Wales just to help with the engine shortage, and just to further infuriate him, Sir Handel knocks his firebars loose on purpose when he thinks Peter Sam is grinning at him from the shed. However, Sir Handel realizes that his plan to get back at Peter Sam has resulted in everyone ignoring him and when the Thin Controller finally comes in, Sir Handel apologizes for what he did. The Thin Controller then arranges for Sir Handel to have new firebars, but he never tells him they just came in that morning...

Considering Duncan showed some maturity in Great Little Engines, you'd think that Sir Handel would show some maturity from the start...! Although, to be fair, he does own up at the end for his recklessness and is soon brought back to work. But it still puzzles me to why he'd be jealous with Peter Sam...

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Dirty Water

Whilst Kathy and Lizzie clean Peter Sam, he recalls an incident on the Talyllyn Railway when something was put into the water to enhance its flavor. However, Peter Sam found it awful one day, and suddenly, a spray of filthy white sludge was blasts from his funnel, and he ends up staying on a siding while Talyllyn took over his train. It turns out that too much special funnel had been put in the water, and afterwards, Peter Sam gets a good washout. Kathy and Lizzie find the story hilarious, but Peter Sam doesn't think so!

Poor Peter Sam - he just can't get a break, can he? (By that, I mean go through one book without something embarrassing happening to him.) If I were in his wheels, I wouldn't find it funny either if people laughed at my own story about an embarrassing incident happening to me. Definitely a good step up from the previous two stories, but why does it look like in the fourth illustration that he's on the Skarloey Railway when Peter Sam is telling his story?

Rating: 9 out of 10

I Name This Engine...

Everyone is wondering about the new engine's identity, but it is kept under covers from public ears. On the big day, Skarloey is chosen to pull the special train to collect guests and bring them to Crovan's Gate. However, on the way back, a sow (female pig) and her piglets stray onto the line, and the guests help bring them back to their field. The train makes it safely, although late, and Mr. Hugh does the naming, surprised that the engine was named in his honor - Ivo Hugh.

Wow, what a letdown after all that build up. Introduce a new engine to the line, and he pretty much says and does nothing - and people thought Bertram did nothing. They could've at least given Ivo Hugh a line or two, or at least mention a little bit of his personality, but instead, they gave us... nothing. At least in Jock the New Engine, the titular engine had done something! Also, where's Rusty and Fred?

Rating: 5 out of 10

Stray Observations

Wow, the illustrations really let the book down, didn't it? In Speedkiller, Rheneas is a 0-4-2, and Rusty has a circular window on both sides of his cab - how is his driver going to get inside?

In the second illustration of Sir Handel's Plan, Peter Sam isn't in the sheds, but in the next illustration, he suddenly appears.

I Name this Engine... pretty much created its own list of illustration errors:

• Duke's tender - gone.
• In the first illustration, Sir Handel's got round buffers.
• In the second and third illustrations, Skarloey has a red dome, and in the later, Ivo Hugh's tanks aren't covered.
• In the sixth illustration, Duke's lost his coupling hook, and Ivo Hugh's curtain is white, but in the final illustration, it's purple.

Overall

Bottom line, this is the weakest RWS book overall, more so than James' two outings, Wilbert's outing, and Jock's outing. They could've used it to show what Ivo Hugh and Fred's characters were like, but instead, Ivo Hugh got no dialogue, and Fred had no physical appearance. It's a shame that after Wilbert died, we had no more books for eleven years, leaving Ivo Hugh and Fred blank slates. And yes, while no NWR engines appeared, I don't judge anything based on who appears and who doesn't (I'm looking at you, Duck!) I feel more effort should've gone into this book. A lot more.

Overall Book Rating: 7 out of 10

The Railway Series Scorecard

1. The Three Railway Engines: 8.4

2. Thomas the Tank Engine: 9
3. James the Red Engine: 7.5
4. Tank Engine Thomas Again: 9.5
5. Troublesome Engines: 8.1
6. Henry the Green Engine: 8.4
7. Toby the Tram Engine: 9
8. Gordon the Big Engine: 8.6
9. Edward the Blue Engine: 9.3
10. Four Little Engines: 8.8
11. Percy the Small Engine: 8.9
12. The Eight Famous Engines: 8.8
13. Duck and the Diesel Engine: 8.5
14. The Little Old Engine: 8.9
15. The Twin Engines: 9.1
16. Branch Line Engines: 9.3
17. Gallant Old Engine: 9.3
18. Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine: 8.5

19. Mountain Engines: 8.9
20. Very Old Engines: 9.1
21. Main Line Engines: 9
22. Small Railway Engines: 9.3
23. Enterprising Engines: 9.5
24. Oliver the Western Engine: 8.9
25. Duke the Lost Engine: 9.4
26. Tramway Engines: 9.1
27. Really Useful Engines: 8.3
28. James and the Diesel Engines: 7.5
29. Great Little Engines: 9
30. More About Thomas the Tank Engine: 8.5
31. Gordon the High-Speed Engine: 9.3
32. Toby, Trucks and Trouble: 9.1
33. Thomas and the Twins: 9.3
34. Jock the New Engine: 7.9
35. Thomas and the Great Railway Show: 8.5
36. Thomas Comes Home: 8.6
37. Henry and the Express: 9.4
38. Wilbert the Forest Engine: 7.7
39. Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines: 8.5
40. New Little Engine: 7