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This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the DVD or the book.

“Merry Christmas, Harold!"
"Ho, ho, ho, ho!”
― Thomas and Father Christmas

Last Train for Christmas is the eighteenth episode of the eighteenth series.

Plot

It is Christmas Eve on the Island of Sodor and people are hurrying home to be with their families. It is snowing and Oliver, Duck and Thomas are out ploughing the Little Western. Thomas is looking forward to Christmas because no trains run and they all get to stay in their warm sheds without their snowploughs.

Connor is on the Mainland collecting passengers who are returning home for the holidays. Unfortunately, Connor's train is soon full and some passengers are left at the station, including a little boy on crutches who is worried about making it home for Christmas. Connor promises that he will come back for them as there is still one more train before Christmas.

By the time Connor reaches Knapford, it is getting very late. Connor tells the Fat Controller that if he has more coaches, he will still be able to get everyone home for Christmas. The Fat Controller is concerned; more heavy snow is on the way. Connor assures the Fat Controller that he is a very fast engine and will not get caught in the snowfall.

Connor heads into the sidings, looking for more coaches. Suddenly, he hears a chorus of voices calling out to him. Connor does not know where the voices are coming from, but Thomas does. Thomas reverses into the siding and nudges a snowdrift. Snow falls the ground revealing Duck's slip coaches. Thomas explains that the slip coaches will be ideal because Connor can uncouple them without even having to stop.

Connor steams back across the island with the slip coaches. Heavy snow starts to fall over Sodor which causes trouble for the engines. Paxton even manages to get stuck. This is enough for the Fat Controller to take action. He goes out onto the platform at Knapford to make an announcement to his engines. He tells them all that there can be no more trains and that the last train for Christmas will have to be cancelled. Percy is upset that so many people will not be able to get home to spend Christmas with their families. The Fat Controller spots a family standing lovingly together on the platform and has a sudden change of heart. He tells the engines that if they work together as a team, they have a good chance of clearing the line for the last train.

All of the engines get to work. Thomas and Percy clear the line to Wellsworth. As they stop outside the station, Percy spots some lights in the sky. Percy believes it to be Santa Claus, but it turns out to be Harold who is on duty looking for anyone stranded in the heavy snow.

Edward and Henry busily clear the tracks beyond Maron, but it is Emily who has the hardest job of all; clearing the tracks from Vicarstown to the Mainland where the snow is deepest of all. She is quickly running out of steam and reverses into a siding, preparing to give up, when she hears a loud whistle. It is Hiro coming from the opposite direction. He has no trouble charging his way through the snowdrifts. He pulls off to join Emily in the siding so Connor can pass, shouting his thanks for Hiro's help. Hiro then spots something in the sky and thinks it might be Santa, but it is only Harold once again.

Connor drops the first slip coach off at Kellsthorpe Road Station, the second at Maron and the third and final one at Wellsworth. Unfortunately, he uncouples the last coach too close to the station and it does not stop at the platform, it overshoots. The passengers will be left stranded in the snow until the coach is quickly pushed back to the platform. Luckily, Thomas is there and is able to shunt the coach back to the platform.

When Connor finally arrives at Knapford, the little boy he had met earlier that evening thanks him for getting them all home for Christmas. Then, the Fat Controller arrives and thanks Connor for all his hard work and determination. Connor says that his efforts would have been in vain if it had not been for his friends helping out. The Fat Controller thanks all the engines for their help and leaves, wishing them a Merry Christmas and good night as he heads home to join his own family for Christmas. The engines leave, too, except for Thomas who sees a red light in the air; he calls up to wish Harold a "Merry Christmas" and reverses away. However, this time it is actually not Harold; it is the real Santa Claus with the light Thomas saw being Rudolph's red nose.

Characters

Locations

Cast

UK

US

  • Martin Sherman as Thomas, Percy and Diesel
  • William Hope as Edward
  • Kerry Shale as Henry, James, Sir Topham Hatt and Some Passengers
  • Jules de Jongh as Emily and the Blond-haired Boy
  • Steven Kynman as Duck and the Third Slip Coach
  • Joe Mills as Oliver
  • Jonathan Forbes as Connor
  • Jonathan Broadbent as the First Slip Coach
  • Rebecca O'Mara as the Second Slip Coach
  • Togo Igawa as Hiro
  • Keith Wickham as Santa Claus

Trivia

  • Going by production order, this is the fourteenth episode of the eighteenth series.
  • The station on the Mainland that Connor is at is actually a modified Crovan's Gate.
  • This episode marks the first appearance of Father Christmas since the second series episode, Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree and his first appearance in CGI not counting the Fat Controller dressing up as him in certain episodes.
  • In Australia, this episode was first available to view on the ABC iView online service on 21st December before its television broadcast.
  • The blond-haired boy with his crutches may be a reference to Tiny Tim from Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol.
  • In the US, this episode aired before Duck and the Slip Coaches, meaning that the audience may not know who the Slip Coaches are.
  • The first episode to air in the United Kingdom and Australia on the same day.
  • Near the Fat Controller's telephone there is a poster from the Hero of the Rails intro.
  • This is the last episode of a few things:
    • The Slip Coaches' last speaking roles.
    • Father Christmas' last appearance, not counting mentioned appearances.
    • The last episode with Jonathan Broadbent as the voice of the first Slip Coach and Rebecca O'Mara as the second Slip Coach.
    • The last episode produced solely by Robert Anderson.
    • The last episode where Duck is voiced by Denis Bespaliy in Russia.
    • The final episode to air on Four Kids in New Zealand a few days before it got shut down and replace by Bravo.
  • Apart from saying "Yes sir", Edward and Henry do not have any dialogue in this episode.
  • In the Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Baltic Russian and Vietnamese dubs, the UK dub can be heard in the background as a dubbing track was not used.

Goofs

  • In two shots during the meeting at Knapford, Henry is not rendered properly, as his body has raised from his chassis.
  • The number of Connor's own coaches changes at Wellsworth from three to four.
  • In the shot of the last slip coach uncoupling from Connor, the slip coach's coupling is one that can unhook from other couplings. In the next shot, it is a standard coupling.
  • When the engines leave Knapford, Henry's siderods are not moving.

Merchandise

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese O Ultimo Trem para o Natal
Czech Poslední vánoční vlak
Danish Det sidste juletog
Dutch De Laatste Trein voor Kerstmis
French Une Promesse Impossible
Hungarian Az utolsó karácsonyi vonat
Italian L'ultima corsa prima di Natale
Japanese クリスマスのさいしゅうれっしゃ
Korean 크리스마스 마지막 열차
Latin American Spanish El Último Tren de Navidad
Lithuanian Paskutinis Traukinys Kalėdų
Norwegian Siste tog før jul
Polish Ostatni Pociąg na Święta
Romanian Ultimul tren înainte de Crăciun
Russian Последний поезд перед Рождеством
Spanish El Último Tren de la Navidad
Ukrainian Останній Потяг Перед Різдвом

Home Media Releases

UK

DVD Boxsets

US

  • The Christmas Engines (Direct-to-Home Video)
  • Season 18

DVD Boxsets

AUS

  • The Christmas Engines

FRA

JPN

THA

China


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