Rheneas

From TrainSpottingWorld, for Rail fans everywhere
Rheneas, on the cover of Gallant Old Engine

Rheneas is a fictional locomotive from The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry and the children's TV series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. He is one of the oldest engines on the Island of Sodor. Rheneas lives and works on the Skarloey Railway as Engine No.2, and is known as the "Gallant Old Engine" because he saved the railway.

He arrived shortly after his brother Skarloey, and was the more sensible of the two engines. He was a hard worker right from the start, and when Skarloey became too ill to work, he took charge of the line on his own. It was at this time that he saved the railway when he took a train full of passengers home despite being badly hurt. When Sir Handel and Peter Sam arrived, the Thin Controller was able to send him away for repairs. He returned better than ever, and these days he mainly pulls passenger trains. In 1965, he celebrated his hundredth birthday with Skarloey, both of whom are nearing the ripe old age of 150 by now.

Rheneas is based on the locomotive Dolgoch which works at the Talyllyn Railway in Wales.