The New Adventures on Rails

The New Adventures on Rails is a continuation of Adventures on Rails.

This series includes single-stories written after the series finale of Adventures on Rails. The first story of the first volume was released on 5 March 2019 and concluded on 29 December 2019. The first story of the second volume was released on 5 January 2020 and the final story was released on 24 December 2020. The first story of volume three was released on 3 January 2021.

Overview

The series was created by MainLineEngines to formally catalogue all the episodes that had been released. Originally, the writer had planned to focus just on shorts after the release of Ceremonium. It was not until early 2018 that the thought of going back to single stories came back. During the writing of That's What Friends Are for, there came many news ideas. One was the introduction of Jessie, as the 'Austerity' tank engine the Fat Controller planned to acquire after Wilbert's trial. Also, Dodger, David, and Molly were given proper backstories. All this cemented the Writer's writing style and with that came a lot of story ideas. These were going to be put on hold, then the Writer thought again and decided to write them out and release them periodically. The first episode released was Dirty Sidings on 5 March 2019, followed by two more on 11 March. Story ideas kept coming and the number of episodes grew to twenty-six by 29 December.

These stories use the most up-to-date information about each engine. They are slightly different from previous Adventures on Rails seasons in terms of writing style which has changed over the past few years. Not all the stories from the original series carry into this new series. In fact, certain things have been retconned by the Writer to make it more in line with his standards.

History

After a hiatus in single-stories, Dirty Sidings was released on 5 March 2019 and was the beginning of many stories throughout the year. By the end of December 2019, twenty-six stories had been released. These were compiled into volume one.

On 5 January 2020, volume two began with the release of Taking Toby to the Works. It was also announced the stories would be categorised by the year of release. Thus, all stories released in 2020 would be part of volume two. The Writer also mentioned that this volume would have at least twenty stories although that was later increased to twenty-two. The volume will be complete on 24 December with twenty-four stories.

More details about volume three will most likely be announced after the previous volume is complete. However, the Writer is keen to integrate more material from the Railway Series along with some original ideas. Since 2021 will also mark the ten year anniversary of Adventures on Rails, a good number of stories are expected. On 27 December, some information about volume three was released. Twenty-six stories are expected and will see the re-introduction of Jinty and Pug. Several story arcs are expected so as to give a sense of continuity to the series.

On 3 January, volume three began with the release of James and the Pipes.

Volumes

The series will be divided into volumes. There is no fixed number of stories that will be released nor any specific release dates, although the first day of the month tends to be quite common.

Volume one

The first volume contains twenty-six episodes which were released from 5 March to 29 December 2019.

1. Dirty Sidings - James runs into some trouble in the sidings on Edward's line.
2. Tenderfirst - James gets stuck on Edward's line and has to run tenderfirst.
3. Signals Crossed - Toby is worried about the signal gantry at the Big Station.
4. Stuck in the Snow - Heavy snow strands Pip and Emma, so Donald and Douglas have to rescue them.
5. Oily in the Morning - Daisy leaks oil which causes trouble for Ryan.
6. Old and New - Molly collides with a car.
7. Warm Coaches - When travelling with Daisy, Annie and Clarabel cannot get their interior heated.
8. Garage Sale - A large sale is hosted at the Big Station.
9. The Fire - A fire breaks out at the Big Station and momentarily halts all trains.
10. Record Breaker - Marion tries to set a new record for most earth moved in a day.
11. High Tide - High tides cause trouble on Duck's Branch Line.
12. Blown Away - A storm approaches the west coast of the Island of Sodor.
13. Too Many Trucks - Jessie tells the other engines a story of her back at East Moors Steelworks.
14. Saving Edward - Edward needs repairs, but he still tries his hardest to do his work.
15. Nose-diving - James begins to experience nose-diving and is worried if the Fat Controller finds out.
16. The Trouble with the Enthusiasts - Bill and Ben love enthusiasts but are horrified when they focus more attention to Thomas.
17. Coal Strike - Dodger and the workmen at the Coal Mines are not on board with many of the new manager's ideas.
18. Motivation - Rusty tries to get Fred to do some work.
19. Behind the Gate - The work carried out by the Ministry of Defence becomes a talking point along the Skarloey Railway.
20. The Monster of Brendam - Percy gets the engines on Edward's line to scare Bill and Ben with one of Salty's stories.
21. Down at the Station - The engines and staff at Ffarquhar meet Liza.
22. Jessie and the Frozen Points - Jessie feels down, but soon proves her worth.
23. Ryan and the Boats - Ryan is fascinated by the fleet of boats at Arlesburgh Harbour.
24. Emily and Molly - Emily unknowingly hurts Molly, so Dodger is determined to cheer her up.
25. Christmas with Friends - Thomas has enjoyed working on Edward's line, but doesn't know whether to stay there or go back home to his branch line for Christmas.
26. Thomas's Snowplough - Thomas has some mishaps with his snowplough.

Volume two

This volume consists of twenty-four stories which were released from 5 January to 24 December 2020.

1. Taking Toby to the Works - James and Henry argue over who will take Toby to the Works.
2. Gordon's Last Run - Pip and Emma take over pulling the Express from Gordon.
3. Daisy and the Milk - The milk train is still one of Daisy's jobs - even on a new line.
4. New Livery - David and Dodger get new coats of paint.
5. Daisy, Ryan, and the Cows - Cows cause trouble on the Harwick Branch Line.
6. Easter at Harwick - It is Eastertime, and the town of Harwick celebrates.
7. Cliffhanger - Duncan finds himself hanging quite literally at the Blue Mountain Quarry.
8. Percy and the Mud - Percy gets stuck in the mud.
9. Gordon's Buffers - Edward tells the engines how Gordon got his square buffers.
10. Trevor's Visit - Trevor gets to visit the Ffarquhar Branch again.
11. The Trouble with Sheep - A dog chases sheep onto the line which causes trouble for Thomas.
12. Barrier Wagons - Dodger tells James and Molly how he had to handle gunpowder wagons in the war years.
13. Quarantine - Most of the engines are stuck inside, but that doesn't mean they are completely down.
14. Snow Rescue - Donald and Douglas rescue Dodger from the snow when Terence is unable to.
15. Edward's Brass Band - After an accident, Edward helps the Brass Band catch their train home.
16. Quarantine at Ffarquhar - Thomas and Percy are stuck in the sheds due to the pandemic.
17. Jessie and the Old Engine - Jessie has to go to the Works and meets another engine.
18. Thomas and the Lighthouse - Thomas is tasked with delivering a new light bulb to the lighthouse at Norramby.
19. Percy and the Left Luggage - Some luggage gets left behind at Ffarquhar so it is up to Percy to get it to the Junction on time.
20. Duck, Henry and the Tenders - Duck's tenders come into use after Henry damages his own tender.
21. Molly's Idea - When the Norramby Branch Line re-opens, Molly is tasked with running it. However, it soon proves to be too much for her so someone else must run the line.
22. Emily's New Route - Emily takes charge of the evening service but she soon runs into some trouble.
23. Christmas Help - A past visiting engine comes to help the engines with the heavy workload.
24. Christmas at Norwich - Dodger and Molly meet whilst allocated at Norwich Thorpe in 1952.

Volume three

Currently in progress.

Began on 3 January 2021. Expected to conclude in December.

1. James and the Pipes - James has to deliver a train of pipes to Vicarstown but that proves to be harder than expected.
2. The Back of the Train - Bill and Ben argue over who has to go the back of the train.
3. The Goods Train - James is upset when he gets stuck with the slow goods after David is assigned the fast goods train.
4. The Re-opening - The re-opening of the Arlesdale Railway does not got as smoothly as planned.
5. Change in the Air - Molly, Dodger and David adjust to Emily working on the Norramby Branch Line.
6. Banker Engine - The engines realise that a designated banker engine is needed.
7. Edward and Jenna - Jenna settles into her new job as a banker alongside Edward.
8. Pilot Engines - When both Norman and Jessie need repairs, James surprisingly steps in to help with the shunting at the Big Station. That is, until another engine arrives.
9. Help Wanted - Pug starts work as pilot engine and gets to meet all the engines.
10. Thomas in Charge - Thomas is left to work on his branch line all by himself.
11. Toby and the Lorries - Toby recalls when lorries first started taking over his work on his old tramway in East Anglia.
12. The Milk and the Post - Toby gets stuck with the new night-time jobs.
13. James and the Tar Wagons - James has trouble when he is tasked with delivering tar wagons.
14. Jessie and the Coaches - Jessie has to learn to pull coaches and she double-heads a train with James.
15. The Hose - The hose used to wash down the engines is also used at times to fill the engines with water.
16. The Queue - Henry complains about having to wait in queue at the water tower.
17. The Trouble with Ballast Trucks - The ballast trucks are behaving worse than ever, so the engines recruit Oliver to help put the trucks in their place.

Cancelled episodes

So far, there has only been one cancelled story.

1. Percy's New-Old Friends - The original concept for introducing Jinty, Pug, the Norramby Branch Line, and Kirk Ronan Branch Line. Released on 15 August 2021.

The Cast

Since the series follows the course of The Railway Series, all the characters and locations in the books are also canon to the series. However, it is known that not every single thing is covered in the books and so the Author has worked to bring to light anything that the Awdrys did not cover. As a result, there are characters that appear in the series that do not make an appearance in The Railway Series.

The following is a complete and up-to-date list of all the engines (both diesel and steam) on the North Western Railway who are part of the series. NWR Engine Roster. The engine roster has some details about the engines such as allocation, build date, and number. The works at Crovan's Gate keep record of the last time an engine came for a Works visit and the Author greatly acknowledges the Chief Mechanical Engineer at the Works for the information for each engine since Works visits are key in maintaining the engines in operational status. It is also worth noting that not all characters that appeared in the original Adventures on Rails are listed in the roster. Furthermore, there may still be a few additions as the series progresses but that will be announced at a later time.