Tenders and Turntables

This article is about the episode. You may be looking for 'the magazine story or the VHS'.

“Take care. You might stick too!"
"No fear! I'm not so fat as you!”

― Gordon and James

Tenders and Turntables is the fifteenth episode of the first season. In the US, this episode aired on the Shining Time Station episodes Whistle While You Work in 1989 and Schemer's Robot in 1993.

Plot

Life has been harder at the yard since Thomas left to run his branch line. With no tank engine to shunt or fetch coaches for them, Henry, James, and Gordon must shunt in the sidings and fetch their own coaches which soon makes them very cross, causing Sir Topham Hatt a great deal of trouble. In addition, while Thomas, being a tank engine, does not need a turntable, the larger tender engines do, as it is dangerous for them to go backwards too fast.

One windy afternoon, Gordon arrives at the other end of the line with his train and heads for the turntable. The turntable is by the sea, so the wind is very strong and unless an engine is perfectly balanced on the turntable, it becomes difficult to turn. Gordon is in a bad mood and is unable to get perfectly balanced, and neither his driver nor fireman can get him to cooperate. After trying again and again, they give up and he is forced to pull his next train tender first.

When Gordon arrives at the junction, a group of boys joke around and taunt him by calling him a tank engine. Thomas, who is waiting at the junction, laughs and suggests that Gordon should "scrap his tender and get a nice bunker." James flies by with his train and laughs as well. Gordon warns James that he may also stick on the turntable, but he claims that he won't because he is "not so fat as him."

When James gets to the sheds; he carefully lines up on the turntable, allowing it to move very easily. But the strong wind has other ideas and begins to spin James around like a top. Gordon arrives just in time to see the whole thing. When the turntable finally stops spinning, James backs into the shed looking rather sick, dizzy and humiliated.

That night, Gordon, James, and Henry hold an indignation meeting. They decide it would be best, after the day's events, to go on strike.

Characters

Thomas
Henry
Gordon
James
The Little Boys
Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)
Sir Topham Hatt (does not speak)
Bertie (cameo)

Locations

Trivia

This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, Troublesome Engines.
James' whistle after being spun on the turntable is absent in both Ringo Starr versions, but can be heard in all other versions.
Two freeze frames are used when Thomas talks to Gordon about pulling his train backwards and when James is in the shed by himself.
A behind the scenes photo from this episode shows that the Märklin engine was used.
This is the first episode not to feature a character's name in either its UK or US title.

Goofs

When the engines say, "We get no rest! We get no rest!" there are two orange coaches behind Henry. But in the next scene when the coaches say, "You're lazy and slack! You're lazy and slack!" Henry is coupled up to three coaches.
When the narrator says, "The big stations at both ends of the line..." Henry is shunting the same coaches as he was when James came past shunting his. Also, the first coach behind Henry seems to have a dented roof.
James' brake coach is backwards when he rushes through Elsbridge.
In the close-up of James spinning on the turntable a crewmember's face is reflected in his paintwork.
When the turntable stops spinning it connects the last berth on the right, but when James reverses the turntable leads to the middle line.
When Thomas and Gordon are at Elsbridge, Clarabel is facing forwards and Gordon's left (viewer perspective right) buffer is wonky. Also both of their puffing noises are heard before they start to move.
When James puffs onto the turntable, he is facing towards the sheds but in the closeup of him as the turntable turns, he is facing away from the sheds.

Merchandise

Magazine Stories - Tenders and Turntables

In Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
German	Kohlewagen und Drehscheiben	Coal Wagons and Turntables
Norwegian	Store tog og snuplasser	Big Trains and Turning Places
Brazilian Portuguese	O Descontentamento dos grandes	The Discontent of the Large
Spanish	Vagones y Plataformas	Trucks and Platforms
Welsh	Troi mewn Cylchoedd	Turning in Circles
Japanese	おおきなきかんしゃとてんしゃだい	Big Engines and Turntables
Polish	Parowozy i Obrotnice	Locomotives and Rotors
Hungarian	A rakoncátlan mozdony	The Unruly Engine
Dutch	Kolen Wagons en draaitafels	Coal Wagons and Turntables
Italian	Locomotive Arrabbiate	Angry Locomotive
Finnish	Hiilivaunuveturit Karusellissa	Tender Engines' Merry-Go-Round
Croatian	Tenderi i okretaljke	Tenders and Turners
Hebrew	קטרי הפחם ומשטח הסיבוב	The Coal Engines and the Rotation Surface
Slovenian	Težave lokomotiv pri obračanju	Problems Locomotives Turning
Russian	Тендерные паровозы	Tender Locomotives
Ukrainian	Тендери і поворотні кола	Tenders and Turning Circle
Chinese	煤水车和转盘	Coal Waterwheel and Turntable
Korean	고든, 제임스, 헨리의 끙끙이	Wow this Gordon, James, Henry
Romanian	Tendere şi Plăci Rotative	Tenders and Turntables
Slovak	Tendrovky a Točne	Tenders and Turntables
Swedish	Stora Lokomotiv	Large Engine
Czech	Tendry a točny	Tenders and Turntables
Serbian	Lokomotive i okretnice	Locomotives and Turntables
Danish	Kulvogne og drejeskiver	Tenders and Turntables
Greek	Προσφορών και Πικάπ	Tender and Turntable
Thai	หัวรถจักรน้อยใจ	Offense Engine