Thomas & Friends

Paxton the diesel engine has been told not to be silly, but when he wobbles over a bumpy track he can't help but think that it is fun. He persuades Thomas to have a go, but Thomas accidentally backs into Toby at the water tower and gets his firebox wet. Poor Thomas must wait for his firebox to dry out. When Paxton overhears Toby saying that Thomas has lost his puff, Paxton misunderstands and heads off across the Island of Sodor to look for it. Stafford, the battery operated engine, doesn't run on coal and water like the steam engines, he runs on a battery which is very quiet. So when Stafford overhears some children saying he's too quiet and doesn't sound like a proper engine, he is very upset. Stafford asks Thomas and Percy to teach him how to make the same chuffing sounds they do. But when he is sent to collect some lambs for Farmer McColl, his new noisy sounds make the lambs run away. Stafford soon realizes that being a quiet engine is actually Really Useful.

When a team of railway inspectors come to the island of Sodor, they question whether Sir Topham Hatt needs two fire engines. This causes concern for Sodor's fire fighting team, Flynn and Belle. When Belle beats Flynn to two fires in a row, Flynn really starts to question it himself. He tells Belle to take his place on guard at the Castle Fireworks display and sulks in his shed. But when another fire starts on the same night, Flynn races to put it out, proving Sir Topham Hatt really does need two fire engines after all. Gordon is a proud engine who believes he is the fastest and the best. But when a stone from one of Paxton's trucks bounces off his boiler, Gordon doesn't want to wait to be checked over and hurries on his way, only to find that he has to keep stopping again and again to take on more water. When Gordon finally runs completely out of water, he realizes that his boiler was damaged by the stone and has been leaking. Soon the once proud engine is being shunted to the Steamworks to be repaired. Oh the indignity!

Scruff works with Whiff at the Waste Dump collecting rubbish trucks. When Sir Topham Hatt sees how rusty and dirty Scruff looks, he insists that he goes straight to the Steamworks to be repainted. Soon the other engines are telling Scruff how smart he looks, so he decides he doesn't want to work at the dirty Waste Dump anymore. He tries asking Percy, Thomas and Gordon if he can do their jobs instead, but eventually Scruff realizes that the only way to be Really Useful is to do his own job at the Waste Dump, even if it means getting really dirty. Winston Sir Topham Hatt's track inspection vehicle, but unfortunately the Sir Topham Hatt is not a very good driver and Winston feels embarrassed when the other engines laugh at him. So one da,y when Sir Topham Hatt leaves his handbrake off, Winston starts to roll forward on his own and is soon racing down the tracks without a driver. Sir Topham Hatt jumps into Thomas' cab and they chase after Winston. Winston thinks driving on his own is exciting at first, but when he realizes he can't stop, his journey gets rather frightening. Soon Thomas and Sir Topham catch up with him. He is very cross, until he realizes it's his own fault for leaving Winston's handbrake off.

Cranky the crane is very busy down at Brendam Docks. He struggles to keep on schedule, so Sir Topham Hatt decides to send Kevin from the Steamworks to help him. The only problem is that Cranky doesn't want any help. Kevin is very disappointed and he tries to please Cranky by working hard and picking up things Cranky has dropped. Soon there is trouble when Kevin falls off the docks into the water. But it's Cranky who rescues him and Kevin eventually realizes that Cranky does like him after all and appreciates his help. Henry and Hiro are both very strong engines, but one day as they are working together, they both start to billow dark smoke from their funnels. Duck tells them they have taken on some of the bad coal that was delivered early that morning. Henry is worried that the bad coal will damage his firebox if he continues working, so he decides to head back to his shed. Hiro wants to keep on puffing and delivers their heavy load on his own. When Henry realizes Hiro can keep on puffing with bad coal, he decides that he should be able to do that too!

Caitlin is a big, fast passenger engine from the mainland. When the Vicarstown Bridge is closed for repairs Caitlin can't get back and has to spend the night on the Island of Sodor, but she is so excited she keeps waking the other engines up. They try sending her off to pull the Mail Train and the Flying Kipper, but Caitlin is so excited that now she wakes everyone else up on the island. In the morning however, the bridge is re-opened and it is Caitlin who is the most tired of all. Luke is the smallest narrow gauge engine on the island of Sodor. One day, up at the Blue Mountain Quarry he finds a nervous and scared young deer. The other narrow gauge engines warn Luke that the quarry is no place for an animal, but Luke remembers when he first arrived and how he was nervous and scared. He wants to help the young deer so he tries to get the other engines to work quietly. That is not an easy thing to do in a big noisy quarry and after one accident too many the other engines finally convince Luke that the best place for the deer is in the grounds of Ulfstead Castle.

When Harold the helicopter breaks down near Callan Castle, Duck and Thomas are sent to take him to the Sodor Search and Rescue for repair. Thomas wants to give Harold a tour of the island and show him the sights from an engine's perspective but Duck insists that there are only two ways to do things: the Great Western Way and the wrong way. Thomas and Duck have to learn to work together. When Luke is sent to Ulfstead Castle to deliver stone he meets Millie, the Earl's private narrow gauge engine. The two engines compare jobs, boasting how much they like their own work and so the Earl agrees to let them switch jobs for the day. Luke stays at the estate pulling passengers around the castle grounds and Millie goes to work at the noisy Blue Mountain Quarry. By the end of the day both engines are firm friends, but agree they like their own jobs better.

One night James tries to scare Percy by telling him that there's a ghost at Ulfstead Castle. Stephen reassures Percy that there is no such thing as ghosts, but James comes to the castle to try to scare both of them. Percy and Stephen each end up falling into the moat, but James doesn't know where they are and when he hears them whistling, he ends up believing his own story and scaring himself! After a couple of mishaps involving a torn sack of mail and some cargo on the line, Percy begins to feel like he has too much bad luck. Stephen lends Percy a lucky charm which helps him regain his confidence. But when Percy realizes that he doesn't have it with him, he has to find the confidence to help pull Bill and Ben back onto the rails without it.

Connor is a new engine to the island of Sodor, so when Bill and Ben see him for the first time they decide to play a trick on him and pretend to be able to go faster than him. But it's really Bill at one end of the race and Ben at the other. When Connor tries to race them again he nearly has an accident. Sir Topham Hatt is cross and sends Bill to be repainted so that he and Ben don't look the same and can't play tricks anymore, but Bill and Ben still have one last trick up their funnels! Charlie is the small purple engine who likes to tell jokes. One day Charlie discovers an elephant on the line and tries to alert the other engines, but they all think he is joking. Finally Charlie alerts the Sodor Search and Rescue Center where Harold takes him seriously. Then, with Harold's help, Charlie finally recovers the elephant and returns it to the Sodor Animal Park. Charlie soon proves that he's not always just the joker; he is in fact a Really Useful Engine!

It is a snowy day, but Thomas doesn't want to wear his snow plow. So he decides to hide it on a siding and pretends he doesn't know where it is. Sir Topham Hatt has no choice but to leave Thomas in his shed and send Emily out to clear the tracks instead, but when Thomas sees Emily having fun in the snow he soon feels like he's missing out. Eager to join the fun Thomas goes in search of his snow plow, but the snow has covered everything and Thomas soon becomes stuck in the thick snowfall. One cold evening the steam engines return to Tidmouth Sheds and discover the turntable is frozen stuck, meaning only one berth is accessible. Gordon thinks he should have it, but Thomas insists they need to save it for Percy who is out on the mail run. All the other engines find other places to stay for the night, but none of them are good enough for Gordon who comes back and takes Percy's berth. But soon the tables are turned when it is Gordon who becomes stuck.

No one knows who is taking the Steamies' Christmas decorations from Tidmouth Sheds. Until Percy discovers Diesel 10 stealing them and chases him back to the Dieselworks, where he also discovers poor forgotten Sidney hanging from the ceiling waiting for new wheels. Percy surprises everyone by deciding to give Sidney a Christmas present and his kindness does not go unrewarded. Thomas is sent to bring a real sleigh for Sir Topham Hatt to ride in when he plays Santa at the Ulfstead Castle Christmas Fair. When the sleigh slips down the hill with Sir Topham Hatt in it, Thomas has to rescue him and ends up pulling the sleigh back up the hill with fallen branches round his funnel, making Thomas look more like a reindeer than an engine!

When Salty, the dockside diesel, develops engine trouble he worries he will be sent away from the docks. Porter, a new steam engine, arrives to help out, but Salty becomes convinced that Porter has been sent to replace him. Salty is sent to the Dieselworks, but rushes away as soon as he is repaired, spilling oil over himself. Salty races back into the docks slipping and sliding out of control. When Porter saves Salty from causing an accident, the two engines become the best of friends. Bill and Ben, the tank engine twins, see Harvey, the crane engine, at Brendam Docks. They tease him about having a hook and ask if he is going fishing. Porter helps Harvey see the positive side of being both a crane and an engine, and encourages him to help pull some trucks. Harvey is not very confident, but when he has an accident and derails his trucks, he soon realizes just how useful being a crane engine can be.

Stephen becomes very excited when the Earl gives him the special job of collecting the ingredients for the afternoon teas at the Castle. But Spencer teases him about being too old and slow. Stephen, however, asks Thomas and the other engines to give him a push, and he's soon speeding along. When it's Spencer's turn to give Stephen a push he goes too fast, forcing Stephen to lose control and splatter jam all over the unsuspecting guests. Stephen learns that being steady and reliable is more important than being fast. One evening at Tidmouth sheds, James teases Percy about being scared of the dark. Henry challenges James to take the Flying Kipper that night for him. James agrees, but when he realizes that the fish from the Flying Kipper are really smelly, he tries to back out of the challenge. James convinces Henry that he didn't offer to pull the Flying Kipper--Henry must have been dreaming. James soon gets his come-uppance when he becomes the Smelly Kipper…. Phew!

Hiro is one of the strongest engines on Sodor. He is also very polite and gentle, even when he's pulling the naughty Troublesome Trucks. Diesel tells Hiro that the only way to get the trucks to behave is to give them a bang and a bump, but Hiro is not convinced. So Diesel sneaks up behind Hiro and encourages the Troublesome Trucks to misbehave even more, forcing Hiro to lose his temper and cause an accident. Thomas blows the whistle on Diesel, who soon finds himself learning from Hiro how to deal with Troublesome Trucks in a more polite and gentle manner. Thomas and Bertie love racing, but Thomas gets annoyed when Bertie starts winning all the time. When Thomas discovers Bertie's been re-routed and has taken a shortcut, he decides to try to take a shortcut too, despite Annie and Clarabel's objections. But when Thomas comes off the rails, he realizes the error of his ways.