Thomas Goes Fishing

This article is about 'the episode'. You may be looking for 'the Buzz Book, the board book, the Step into reading book, the pop-up book or the Jigsaw book'.

“I want to fish!"
"Engines don't go fishing!"
"Silly stick-in-the-muds!”

― Thomas and James^[src]

Thomas Goes Fishing is the twelfth episode of the first season. It aired in the Shining Time Station episodes Faith, Hope and Anxiety in 1989 and Is Anybody There? in 1991.

Plot

Along his branch line, Thomas often looks forward to the sight of the river, and the people that fish there. He often wants to stay and watch, but his driver decides against it, worrying what would happen if they fell behind schedule by stopping to fish. Whenever he meets another engine, he shares with them his desire to fish, but they all tell him that "engines don't go fishing". However, he unknowingly gets the chance when he finds the water tower at the junction out of order. Thomas is cross, but his crew decide to get water from the river.

The crew find a bucket and rope and hurry to the bridge. There, they lower the bucket down to the river, but unfortunately the bucket has five holes, and water leaks out fast, meaning that they have to hurry before the water drains out. The crew repeat this several times before at last Thomas' thirst is quenched.

Before long, Thomas develops a pain in his boiler. Steam rushes from his safety valve, and Thomas is alarmed that he may burst. The crew dampen the fire and struggle on to Ffarquhar. Annie and Clarabel are uncoupled and Thomas, still aching, is stopped in a siding as the guard phones an inspector and the Fat Controller. Workmen put signs saying "DANGER KEEP AWAY" all around Thomas. The inspector and the Fat Controller arrive, who consul Thomas of the situation. The driver explains what had happened, and the inspector concludes that the feed pipe is blocked.

The inspector looks inside Thomas' tank, he climbs down and asks the Fat Controller take a look in the tank as well. What the Fat Controller sees shocks him, and both agree that it was fish. They deduce that fish were collected in the bucket along with the water. Thomas' crew fish them out with instructions from the Fat Controller and afterwards have a meal of fish and chips. The Fat Controller asks if Thomas has learned his lesson, to which Thomas replies that he now understands why engines don't go fishing: "It's too uncomfortable".

Characters

Locations

Trivia

This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, Tank Engine Thomas Again.
Alternative stock footage from Thomas' Train and Thomas and the Trucks are used.
This is the first episode to have the same title in both the US and the UK version of the episode.
The episode can be seen in a Japanese game, Magical Adventure.
In the Welsh narration, only one of the "DANGER KEEP AWAY" signs is translated into Welsh, while the others remain English.

Goofs

In one scene, Annie and Clarabel are facing the wrong way.
The river water is brown when it is lifted in the bucket, but when it is poured into Thomas' tank it is clear.
Thomas' driver was said to have hung "DANGER" signs on Thomas' front and back, but they are propped a few metres in front of and beside him.
The narrator says the bucket has 5 holes but when theres a close up of the bucket it has 6
In the close of the bucket it has dirty water but the shot when the driver is pouring the water its clean..
Thick pencil marks are visible on the "DANGER KEEP AWAY" signs.
The narrator says they putted two "DANGER KEEP AWAY" signs front and back when they actually putted one in front and the other next to Thomas.
When the Fat Controller says "That was good!", Ringo Starr can be heard in the background very faintly. This is a goof you'll only find in the American version of the episode.
When the men are first seen with the "DANGER" signs, the red lining around Thomas' number is torn.
Thomas is wearing Percy's tired face in two scenes.
In the restored version, studio equipment can be seen when Thomas says: "Bother! I'm thirsty!" and when the Inspector looks inside Thomas' tank.
When the inspector is climbing to Thomas' tanks so studio equipment can be seen in the top right.
When the inspector clambers up to check Thomas' tanks, Thomas abruptly stops hissing steam. But when the inspector comes down, he is hissing steam again and once the Fat Controller climbs up, the steam vanishes. Then again, when the Fat Controller asks Thomas' driver how the fish got there, the steam reappears. And throughout all of this, the hissing sound continues even when Thomas is not letting off steam.
When Thomas is at Elsbridge, the siding usually seen at the water column is not there except in the close-up of the out of order sign. When it is seen, it ends in the grass.

Merchandise

In Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
German	Thomas geht angeln	Thomas Goes Fishing
Norwegian	Thomas på fisketur	Thomas On Fishing Trip
Welsh	Tomos yn Pysgota	Thomas Fishing
Japanese	トーマスとさかなつり	Thomas and Fishing
Italian	I trenini non vanno a pescare!	Engines don't go Fishing!
Finnish	Tuomas Veturi Kalassa	Thomas the Tank Engine is Fishing.
Hebrew	תומס הולך לדוג	Thomas Goes Fishing
Croatian	Tomica ide u ribolov	Thomas Goes Fishing
French	Thomas va à la pêche	Thomas Goes Fishing
Dutch	Thomas gaat Vissen	Thomas Goes Fishing
Danish	Thomas på en fisketur	Thomas on a Fishing Trip
Chinese	托马斯去钓鱼	Thomas Goes Fishing
Korean	물고기 소동	Fish and Bustle
Slovenian	Tomaž gre na ribolov	Thomas Goes Fishing
Hungarian	Thomas Halászni Megy	Thomas Goes Fishing
Czech	Tomáš na rybách	Thomas on Fish
Swedish	Thomas på fisketur	Thomas on Fishing Trip
Romanian	Thomas se duce la Pescuit	Thomas Goes to Fishing
Spanish	Thomas va de pesca	Thomas Goes Fishing
Slovak	Thomas ide na rybačku	Thomas Goes for Fish
Polish	Tomek Jedzie na Ryby	Thomas Goes to Fish
Russian	Паровозы не ловят рыбу	Locomotives No Fish
Serbian	Tomas na pecanju	Thomas Fishing
Brazilian Portuguese	Thomas vai pescar	Thomas Goes Fishing
Thai	โธมัสอยากตกปลา	Thomas Wants Fishing

Home Media Releases

UK

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (Betamax/VHS)
Troublesome Trucks and other stories
Troublesome Trucks, Coal and other stories
Thomas the Tank Engine (VHS)
Bumper Special
Thomas and Gordon, Troublesome Trucks and other stories
Thomas and the Breakdown Train (DVD)
Thomas Gets Bumped and 17 Other Stories
Your Favourite Story Collection
Playtime
Thomas and Gordon (2005 UK VHS/DVD)
The Complete First Series

DVD Boxsets

Classic Collection
3 DVD Triple Pack (Thomas and Gordon/Thomas and Bertie/The Flying Kipper)
The Thomas Collection - 9 DVDs (Thomas and Gordon – Better Late Than Never)
The Bumper Collection - 12 DVDs (Thomas and Gordon – Trust Thomas)
Head Box Set - 6 DVD Box Set (Thomas and Gordon, Percy Runs Away, Thomas, Percy and the Coal, Woolly Bear, Dirty Work & Trust Thomas)
Ultimate Collection - 20 DVD Set (Thomas and Gordon - Henry and the Elephant & Happy Ever After)
Muddy Puddles Collection - 4 Pack DVD Set (Thomas and Gordon - The Flying Kipper & Woolly Bear)