Laughing Stock

At the finish line of the last heat, all the characters assemble to give their opinions on who's made it into the final.

Context[]

At the end of Race: Heat Three, Poppa is exhausted and close to death, but has won a place in the final. Poppa nominates Rusty to take his place in the Final, in front of the Freight and Belle, but Rusty is reluctant.

Then Greaseball, and his gang, Electra with Pearl and his components, the National engines and the coaches, all find them and laugh at Rusty. Pearl publicly sides with Electra, which provokes Rusty to fight back, and take Poppa's place in the final race. Caboose speaks up and reminds Rusty he's right there to help. The ensemble leave Rusty calling him a "Laughing Stock", and saying "He hasn't got a chance".

However, with Caboose being cut in the 1992 London Revamp, Rusty instead interrupts Pearl and yells, "Stop! I'll take Poppa's place!" This change was added in the Bochum 2001 production, with the translation being, "Stop! Ich spring für Papa ein," but then, in 2003, they decided to add Caboose's line back, but still keep Rusty's interruption. In 2008, they decided to go back to the 2001 change.

Rusty is left alone to sing Starlight Express at the end of act 1.

Lyrics[]

Original London Lyrics[]

RUSTY:	Hey there, Poppa, you were great
	Poppa, look at you, your boiler is cold
DUSTIN:	My fault
	I'm too heavy for an engine that old
	He should not be pulling freight

POPPA:	Rusty, Rusty listen to me, I can't carry on
	Looks as though my racing days have just come and gone
	Proved I could do it, showed I was once great!
	Can't do it now, though, can't manage the weight.
	But got me a position, got a placing in the race
	Now Rusty, I can trust you,
	Take it for me, go and enter in my place!
	Get in there and win the game!
RUSTY:	No, Poppa, No!
POPPA:	Must I kill myself to make you see sense?
RUSTY:	Poppa! I do not believe, no point in pretense
	And I couldn't take that losing shame!

GREASEBALL:	Well lookie here, they said this train could go
	If it could go at all, it'd sure go slow!
	Don't stop now - you gotta keep it going all night
	Will you be racing in his place?
FREIGHT:	Should do!
GREASEBALL:	Then you can prove that steam is really through!
	Don't stop Poppa, don't stop Rusty
FREIGHT:	Leave old Poppa, leave young Rusty
FREIGHT/GANG:	Leave old/don't stop Poppa, leave young/don't stop Rusty

ELECTRA:	Clear my track, what's all this rubbish?
	This rusty wreck must go! Clear my track!
PEARL:	Clear my track, this is my train now!
	This could be my dream! Clear my track!

CABOOSE:	All alone, you think you're on your own
	You think there's no one in the world
	But look behind,
	And then you'll find
	There's me.

RUSTY:	I'm gonna race you, Greaseball
GANG:	Hahahahahaha!
RUSTY:	I'm gonna race you, Electra!
COMPONENTS:	hysterical digital shriek
RUSTY:	I'm gonna show you just what steam can do!

ALL:	Rolling stock, he'll be a laughing stock!
	Rolling stock, laughing stock!
	Rolling stock, laughing stock...(as they exit)

POPPA:	That's my boy - I knew you'd believe.
RUSTY:	Poppa, I have to believe...
	I have no choice...

1997 Mexico + Translation[]

El Bufon del Riel (The Fool of the Rails)^[1]

TIZNE:	Jefe fuieste el mejor	DUSTIN:	Poppa, you were the best!
	Jefe que pasó? se enfrió tu vapor		Poppa what happened? Your steam is cold
	Por mi, peso mucho para un viejo vapor		It's because of me, I weigh a lot for an old steamer
	Ya no debe de cargar		Now he cannot carry cargo

JEFE:	Ferro, Ferro oyeme bien	POPPA:	Rusty, Rusty, hear me well
	Ya no puedo más		I can't do anything more
	No podré volver a ser		I can never go back to
	Lo que fuí, jamás		What I was
	Pero fuí grande y lo demostré		But I was great and I showed them
	No puedo seguir. mi fuerza agoté		I can't go on, my strength is spent
	No obstante en la carrera		Despite that, in the race
	Yo me pude colocar, ahora		I have a place right now

	Es tu turno, eres joven		It's your turn, you're young
	Entra y corre en mi lugar		Enter, and run in my place
	Entra y se el ganador		Enter and be the winner

FERRO:	No jefe, no	RUSTY:	No Poppa, no
JEFE:	Lo entenderás al verme morir	POPPA:	You won't understand until you see me die
FERRO:	Ya no tengo fe, no quiero seguir..	RUSTY:	I don't have faith, I don't want to follow...
JEFE:	Naciste para perdedor	POPPA:	You were born to be a loser

TURBO:	Si dicen que tu eres el mejor	GREASEBALL:	If they say that you were the best
	No quiero imaginar quien es el peor		I don't want to imagine who was the worst
	Sigue así te falta mucho que demostrar		You must have much to show us
	Acepta ir en su lugar		Accept it and go in his place

GANGS:	Ten fe	GANG:	Have faith!

TURBO:	Y al entierro del vapor ir	GREASEBALL:	And steam will be buried
	Sigue Jefe, Sigue Ferro		Keep going Poppa, Keep going Rusty
	No, no Jefe, no, no Ferro		No, no Poppa, No, no Rusty
	Sigue Jefe, Sigue Ferro.		Keep going Poppa, Keep going Rusty

ELECTRA:	Vía libre que se vaya el tasto de vapor	ELECTRA:	Clear the tracks the steamer must go!
	Basta Ya!!		That's enough!!
PERLA:	Vía libre, aunque se que este en mi tren	PEARL:	Clear the tracks, this is my train
	Basta Ya!!		That's enough!!

FERRO:	Basta Ya!!	RUSTY:	That's enough!!
	Correré en lugar del Jefe...		I'm going to run in Poppa's place...
	Voy a ganarte Turbo		I'm going to beat you Greaseball
	Voy a ganarte Electra		I'm gonna beat you Electra
	Voy a enseñarles que es el vapor		I'm going to teach you what steam is!

CÍA:	Tú serás el gran Bufon del Riel	COMPANY:	You'll be the great fool of the rails
	Tú Serás Bufón del Riel		You'll be the fool of the rails
	Tú serás Burla del Riel		You'll be the fool of the rails
	Tú serás burla del Riel		You'll be the fool of the rails
	Tú serás burla del Riel		You'll be the fool of the rails
	Jamás podrás ganar		You never can win
	Tú serás burla del riel		You'll be the fool of the rails

JEFE:	Veo que recobras la fe	POPPA:	I see you have recovered faith
FERRO:	Pero, me queda ya muy poca fe	RUSTY:	But I have so very little faith left

In the 2024 Wembley Production, “Must I kill myself to make you see sense?” was changed to “Must I exhaust myself to make you see sense?”.

German Lyrics[]

RUSTY:	Oh man, Papa, du warst toll!
	Aber Papa schau, dein Kessel ist kalt!
DUSTIN:	Ich weiß! Bin zu schwer für ihn und er ist zu alt.
	Dieses Rennen war zu doll.

PAPA:	Rusty. Rusty, hör' mir zu, ich kann jetzt nicht mehr.
	Dieses Rennen war für mich wohl doch zu schwer.
	Ich hab' gewonnen, ich hab' es geschafft.
	Doch wie du siehst, hab' ich nicht mehr die Kaft,
	Jetzt noch einmal zu rennen, bis zum Schluss dabei zu sein.
	'Drum Rusty, dir vertrau' ich,
	Du musst für mich rennen, sollst der Sieger sein.
	Rusty, du musst für mich los!
RUSTY:	Nein, Papa, nein!
PAPA:	Deine Zweifel bringen mich noch ins Grab!
RUSTY:	Ich glaub' nicht, dass ich dabei Chancen hab'...

GREASEBALL:	Ich hab' gehört, der macht beim Rennen mit?
	Der glaubt im Ernst, er sei tatsächlich fit?
	Du machst mit und keiner kann dich bremsen, heut' Nacht?
	Nimmst du jetzt seine Stelle ein?
GANG:	Na klar!
GREASEBALL:	Beweist dann allen: Dampf ist viel zu schwach.
	Mach' mit Papa, mach' mit Rusty!
ROCKIES, DUSTIN, CABOOSE:	Lass es Papa, lass es Rusty!
	Lass es Papa, lass es Rusty!
GREASEBALL, FLAT-TOP, HASHAMOTO:	Mach' mit Papa, mach' mit Rusty!

ELECTRA:	Aus dem Weg, was soll der Unsinn?
COMPONENTS:	Der Rost kann doch nicht fahr'n?
ELECTRA:	Aus dem Weg!
PEARL:	Aus dem Weg, ich will mit ihm geh'n.
	Er ist jetzt mein Traum, aus dem Weg!

CABOOSE:	Ganz allein, niemand will bei dir sein
	Die Welt scheint leer und ohne Sinn
	Schau zu mir hin, du weißt ich bin
	Dein Freund.

RUSTY:	Ich renn' gegen dich, Greaseball!
GREASEBALL, FLAT-TOP, TURNOV, HASHAMOTO:	Hahaha!
RUSTY:	Ich renn' gegen dich, Electra!
COMPONENTS:	Hihihi!
RUSTY:	Ich werd' euch zeigen, was Dampf noch kann!
GREASEBALL, ELECTRA, COMPONENTS, FLAT-TOP, TURNOV, HASHAMOTO:	Rolling Stock, Bummellok!
ROCKIES, CABOOSE, DUSTIN, COACHES:	Er hat doch keine Chance!
GREASEBALL, ELECTRA, COMPONENTS, FLAT-TOP, TURNOV, HASHAMOTO:	Rolling Stock, Bummellok!
ROCKIES, CABOOSE, DUSTIN, COACHES:	Er hat doch keine Chance!

PAPA:	Ich wusste es, du glaubst also doch.
RUSTY:	Papa, ich muss doch glauben, hab' keine Wahl.