Thomas and the Trucks

Thomas and the Trucks, retitled Trouble for Thomasin American releases, is the sixth episode of the first season. It aired in the US on the Shining Time Station episodes, And the Band Played Off, Jingle, Jingle, Jingle and Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales. In this episode, Thomas learns why trucks are troublesome.

Plot
Thomas was bored with his job of shunting coaches and complains to the other engines about it night after night. The engines get incredibly annoyed, for they have to listen to Thomas' complaining all night long. One night, Edward comes to the shed and felt sorry for Thomas. He offers Thomas his train of trucks, while Edward would shunt coaches. With this, Thomas happily agrees.

The next morning, their drivers agree and Thomas set off happily for the yard. The Troublesome Trucks are very silly and noisy, and often don't attend to what they're doing. They also often play tricks on engines who aren't used to them. Edward had warned Thomas to be careful before his journey, but in his excitement, Thomas didn't listen. Thomas soon starts to pull the train, but the trucks weren't ready. Despite their cries to stop, Thomas just storms out of the station stubbornly.

Thomas goes faster and faster along the journey, but as he went faster and faster, the trucks grow crosser and crosser. Thomas eventually slows down at Gordon's Hill, but as he applies his brakes at the top, the trucks begin to push Thomas down the hill. Thomas loses control of the trucks as they rush into Maron. He swerves into the goods yard and barely stops at some buffers, preventing an accident. The Fat Controller arrives and questions Thomas' speed. Thomas explains what had happened, and the Fat Controller advises Thomas that he should learn more about trucks if he's to become a Really Useful Engine.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Henry (cameo)
 * Gordon (cameo)
 * James (cameo)

Locations

 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Knapford
 * Henry's Tunnel
 * Elsbridge
 * Gordon's Hill
 * Maron
 * Cronk Viaduct (deleted scene)

Errors

 * Edward was said to feel sorry for Thomas, but just before, he looked as annoyed as the others.
 * At the beginning, because of an alternate shot, Gordon is in the middle of the shed with Thomas and Henry to the left and James and Edward to the right, but in the close-ups, Thomas was in the middle, Gordon and James are on one side, and Edward and Henry are on the other. This appears to be unused footage shot for Edward and Gordon as the engines are all in the same positions.
 * The narrator says that the guard blew his whistle and a whistle sound was heard, but the guard was only holding a green flag.
 * When Thomas rushes through Elsbridge, the left-hand track stops dead and a hand can briefly be seen in the upper right-hand corner.
 * When Thomas arranges his train, no shunter can be seen.
 * One of the trucks has glue smeared over its face.
 * In the close-ups of Thomas pulling a truck, the rest of the train was missing and the truck was facing backwards instead of forwards.
 * When Thomas backs out of the siding, his wheels slip and the goods coach jolts.
 * Thomas' trucks are constantly changing throughout his journey.
 * In the restored version, the scene of the trucks bumping Thomas isn't cut properly, so the buffering sound effects are out of sync.
 * When Thomas opens his eyes, his face was slightly crooked and his eyes are wonky.
 * When Thomas was first seen shunting, the siding he was on doesn't have buffers at the end.
 * James appears briefly, but he wasn't introduced until the next episode.
 * In some US releases and on PBS Sprout, the episode was out of sync and the final music cue was played twice.
 * In the close-up of Thomas hitting the buffers, the sides of his buffers are black as opposed to red.

US Home Video Releases

 * Thomas Gets Tricked and Other Thomas Stories
 * A Big Day for Thomas
 * Best of Thomas