- “We should have left this part of the Island alone...”
- ― Sir Topham Hatt
Rusty and the Boulder is the twenty-fifth episode of the fifth season.
Plot
On the Island of Sodor, high up in the mountains, there is a mysterious boulder that has stood alone for a long time. But one day, a new quarry is built near the mines on the land below and Rusty is afraid the giant boulder would fall onto the line. He confesses his fears to Thomas and Percy. Edward arrives with a new machine called Thumper to help with the mining process. Soon, Thumper is working hard. The men are pleased, but no one bothers to check the boulder. But when it started raining, the workmen left. Rusty gazed up and shivered as above stood Boulder. Suddenly, a large slab of rock lands on the rails. Rusty is shocked and worried by this, but his driver is concerned. His driver thinks the rock has been loosened by the rain, but Rusty thinks it is Boulder telling them to go away. As they leave, a face mysteriously appears on Boulder and then disappears.
The next day, the sun is shining again and Thumper begins working harder than ever. Suddenly, Rusty notices something; Boulder begins moving, but his driver does not believe him until Boulder falls down and lands on the rails in front of them and begins to chase Rusty. Boulder rolls along the line of the rails as Rusty quickly drives himself backwards to get away from Boulder. Rusty and his driver stop at a junction and wait for Boulder to pass by, but Boulder is nowhere to be seen. Then, they soon realise that Boulder is behind them. Just ahead, they see a small junction, so Rusty races towards it. Rusty takes the line that goes uphill, while Boulder thunders past by them.
Meanwhile, Skarloey is making his way up to the quarry, but he sees Boulder heading for him and catching up fast. He becomes surprised and immediately reverses, but soon slips into a siding, while the Boulder passes by. Boulder destroys the water tower that was in between the tracks. Skarloey tells Rusty that they have to warn the yards, but he does not know how. Boulder was headed for Rheneas and he races back as fast as he can to get away from Boulder until he ran into some buffers with Boulder just passing by him, but his driver sighs that it is rather a smash than a squash. At the yards, Percy is collecting trucks when he heard and saw Boulder approaching. Boulder crashes nearby into the sheds, causing a large, fiery explosion and Boulder to go up in flames.
When the Fat Controller inspects the damage, he has no choice but to close the mine. Then he looks at Boulder with the shed, demolished. He realises that they should have left this part of the island alone. At night, they move Boulder to a hill close by the yards so it would never harm anyone or anything on the island anymore. Rusty is sure that, on a clear night, it is gazing high up at the mountains in the distance and that its sighs are being carried on to the wind where it once used to stand, proud and silent.
Characters
- Thomas
- Edward
- Percy
- Skarloey
- Rheneas
- Rusty
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Thumper (does not speak)
- Terence (cameo)
- George (cameo)
- Butch (cameo)
Locations
Trivia
- Going by production order, this is the twenty-sixth episode of the fifth season and the season finale.
- Boulder's face is based upon Gordon's upset face.
- The same model for Boulder is used for both the large-scale and normal-scale sets.
- This episode marks the first and only appearance of Thumper to date.
- The UK and US versions of this episode have some musical and sound effect differences:
- In the US version, when Edward says "It's called Thumper!" a small musical ditty is heard, but in the UK version, it isn't.
- In the UK version, when Skarloey and Rheneas see the boulder, they shout "Yikes!" but it's changed to "Help!" and "Hurry!" in the US version respectively.
- In the UK version, when Rusty's driver says "Oh no, it's behind us!" to the point to where the narrator says "Boulder thundered past," the music is omitted.
- In the UK version, when Skarloey shouts "We must warn the yards!" and Rusty asks "Yes, but how?" the music is omitted.
- In the US version, when Boulder falls off the cliff and lands on the tracks, a sound effect is heard, but in the UK version, it's not heard.
- In the US version, when Rheneas crashes, the impact sound effect is loud, but in the UK version, it's not.
- In this episode, the quarry was brand new and closed in a short amount of time, meaning the events of Bye George! and Duncan Gets Spooked must have taken place during the events of this episode, as they also took place at the Boulder Quarry yards at the base of the mountain. Furthermore, George is seen at Thumper's dig site before Boulder gets loose, meaning that he served his week-long punishment and was brought back to the quarry to help.
- The scene where Boulder chases after Rusty is a reference to the Indiana Jones film, Raiders of the Lost Ark. This reference was later used in the Thomas' YouTube World Tour short, Thomas Goes for Gold.
- Rusty's small-scale model is used at the beginning and end of the episode, but his large-scale model is used throughout the rest.
- This is one of Davey Moore's favourite episodes alongside Thomas' Train.
Goofs
- Due to his model being changed, Rusty's face gets bigger and then smaller again throughout the episode.
- In the close-ups of Rheneas, the hook attached to the camera he is pulling along is visible.
- In the close-up of Rheneas' driver, his right eye (viewer's left) appears overloaded of black marker. Also, he appears to be in Rusty's cab instead than Rheneas'.
- In the second close-up of Percy when Boulder was approaching, it appears that the shed has already been destroyed as the wood from the shed is laying on Percy's trucks.
Merchandise
- Wooden Railway - Boulder Mountain Set
- Tomica (discontinued)
- Take Along (discontinued)
- TrackMaster (discontinued)
- Wind-up Trains (Japan only) - Boulder
In Other Languages
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Home Media Releases
UK
DVD Boxsets
AUS
DVD Boxsets
NZ
US
DVD Packs
JPN
GRCMYSPHLDKGERDVD BoxsetsITASWEWALTHA |
| #01 Cranky Bugs | #10 Toby and the Flood | #19 Happy Ever After |
| #02 Horrid Lorry | #11 Haunted Henry | #20 Sir Topham Hatt's Holiday |
| #03 A Better View for Gordon | #12 Double Teething Troubles | #21 A Surprise for Percy |
| #04 Lady Hatt's Birthday Party | #13 Stepney Gets Lost | #22 Make Someone Happy |
| #05 James and the Trouble with Trees | #14 Toby's Discovery | #23 Busy Going Backwards |
| #06 Gordon and the Gremlin | #15 Something in the Air | #24 Duncan Gets Spooked |
| #07 Bye George! | #16 Thomas, Percy and Old Slow Coach | #25 Rusty and the Boulder |
| #08 Baa! | #17 Thomas and the Rumours | #26 Snow |
| #09 Put Upon Percy | #18 Oliver's Find | |