Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia
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This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the UK/AUS/NZ VHS, the US/Canadian VHS/DVD, the Dutch DVD, the Turkish VCD, the Turkish DVD or the Buzz Book.
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“We couldn't pay James back for bumping us, so we'll play tricks on Thomas instead. One engine is as good as another.”
The Troublesome Trucks discussing their plan

Trust Thomas is the thirteenth episode of the third series. It is loosely based on the magazine story Bertie's Bumpy Road written by Andrew Brenner.

Plot

It is a beautiful day and Thomas is puffing along his branch line with Annie and Clarabel, enjoying himself enormously. He soon meets Bertie, who is having a most unpleasant journey driving over the bumpy roads. At the station, Thomas finds out that Bertie has lost his trust in the railway's service after it failed to deliver tar to mend the roads two weeks earlier and resolves to find the source of the problem.

Meanwhile, James is complaining about having to do Percy's work while the green saddletank engine is at the harbour and takes his anger out by bumping his trucks, who vow to pay him out. Gordon advises James that if he pretended to be sick, he would not have to shunt trucks or go to the quarry and James happily decides to try it. When Thomas arrives, James pretends to be ill and Thomas offers to take James' trucks for him to the Quarry. The Troublesome Trucks, who are still cross at James for bumping them, decide to take their anger out on Thomas, deciding that one engine is as good as another. But Thomas does not hear them. On the way back from the quarry, the trucks push Thomas over some points and onto a jetty, which floats across a muddy pond and sinks. Thomas finds the unexpected incident humiliating, especially since the day started so well too.

ThankYou,Thomas!11

"Now I know I can trust an engine, especially if his name is Thomas!"

Duck handles the trucks and Edward brings Thomas home on a flatbed. On the way, Thomas then remembers about the missing tar and informs Edward about it; he recalls a tar tanker was left at Wellsworth and offers to collect it to ensure it reaches Bertie's road. James and Gordon apologise for the trick and Bertie arrives saying the road is being mended and he has regained his trust in the railway. Gordon and James slowly leave for the shed but Thomas is still not alone, for it so happens that a toad from the pond has stowed away on his valence for company and is looking forward to a ride home.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • James' subplot of pretending to be ill as suggested by Gordon and another innocent engine facing the brunt of it, is loosely adapted from Sir Handel's subplot in Trucks!. The story of origin would be adapted in the following series.
  • Due to scenes on a particular set across the series being filmed in one go, this episode was probably filmed alongside No Joke for James, as the train of tankers seen coupled to Gordon are the same ones that Thomas gives to him in that episode.
  • B-Roll footage of Thomas running on Toby's Branch Line from the first series is used at the beginning of this episode.
  • A promotional image shows Gordon and James smiling after Thomas has his accident. The others show Thomas with his worried and his surprised face when he crashes onto the jetty.
  • This episode marks:
    • The first appearance of Bertie's angry face.
    • The last appearance of Gordon's depressed face mask until the fifth series episode Thomas and the Rumours.
    • The last appearance of the red lining on the back of Thomas' coal bunker until The Adventure Begins, the red lining's last appearance in an episode until the nineteenth series episode Who's Geoffrey?, and the last to do so in the model era.
    • The last to feature George Carlin's dub in the background of the Ukrainian voice-over.
  • In most releases of the US dub, as well as the Ukrainian voice-over and the New Zealand release of Trust Thomas and Other Stories, the trucks laughing is omitted after Thomas had his accident. However, the echoed version of the US dub does include the trucks laughing, which is heard on the 1995 version of Trust Thomas and Other Stories, as do both UK dubs and other international ones.
  • In the original UK dub, the music is omitted when James snorts about in the yard.
  • The music heard when Thomas crashes onto the jetty which is Thomas' danger theme used in the third and fourth series would later be reused for the fourth series episode Thomas and the Special Letter.
  • The steel rig from the TUGS episode High Tide can be seen at Knapford Yard.
  • A scene from this episode is shown in the 2006 British Drama film After Thomas.
  • After this episode was repeated on 2 April 1993, the series went on hiatus for two weeks for Easter 1993 and returned on 23 April 1993 with the next episode.
  • The JEI TV version of the Korean dub added subtitles to inform viewers what tar is.
  • When Thomas is seen derailed on the jetty, his eyebrows on his sad face are placed at farther angles than where they usually used to be.
  • A slide whistle plays when Thomas travels on a raft and crashes a little bit.

Goofs

  • Percy is said to be at the harbour but he is actually seen shunting trucks in the background when Gordon advises James to feign illness to avoid working for a while.
  • While Thomas passes the camera while taking the trucks to the quarry, the last truck's face is falling off.
  • When Thomas leaves the quarry and when he crosses the bridge, his trucks have no faces, even though they had them before and after.
  • Thomas passes the points leading to the muddy pond before the narrator has time to say so. However, this line is not said in both UK dubs.
  • While Thomas was being pushed by the troublesome trucks into the pond, Thomas' weight moved the track slightly.
  • At the pond, the front truck's right eye is covered in white residue.
  • The narrator said that Thomas' driver applied the brakes but his wheels are still moving.
  • In the close-up of Thomas after he floats across the pond, the jetty has already sunk into the pond but in the next shot of his wheels, it has not sunk yet.
  • Edward says a truck of tar was left at his station but two appear in the flashback.
  • The toad on Thomas' front at the end has adhesive underneath its feet.
  • In the restored version, James goes past the camera completely when pushing the trucks, resulting in the sound being heard later after James hits the trucks and James' actions being repeated when he meets Gordon in the next scene.
  • In the first scene, Clarabel is facing the wrong way.
  • In the first shot of the yard, Edward is seen pulling express coaches and there is also a goods train passing through next to him but in the next shot, both trains have disappeared.
  • Edward, Duck and a guard's whistles can be heard many times during the exchange between Gordon, James and Thomas.
  • When Bertie arrives at the yard to thank Thomas for helping to find the tar, some stone trucks are in the siding to Bertie's right. However, when the shot switches to a close-up of Bertie, the trucks have disappeared.

Quotes

Thomas: Bad luck, Bertie. Now, if you were a steam engine, you would run on a pair of reliable rails.
Bertie: Hmmph! The railway was supposed to deliver tar to mend the road two weeks ago! You can't trust a thing that runs on rails.
Thomas: I run on rails. You can trust me, Bertie. I'll see if I can find out what's happened.

[Thomas sees James and Gordon looking miserable]
Thomas: Cheer up. It's a beautiful day.
Gordon: Yes but not for James.
Thomas: What's the matter?
Gordon: He's sick!
James: Yes, he is. I mean, I am! I don't feel well at all.
Thomas: Don't worry. I'll help out if you're ill.

Edward: [having been informed by Thomas about the missing tar] That's strange. A truck full of tar has been left in my station. That must be it. Driver will make sure it gets to Bertie now.

James: I'm sorry about your accident. And so is Gordon. We didn't mean to get you into trouble.
Gordon: No, indeed! A mere misunderstanding, Thomas. All's well that ends well.

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese Confiar em Thomas
Chinese Mandarin 相信托马斯
Czech Věřte Tomášovi
Danish Stol trygt på Thomas
Dutch Vertrouw maar op Thomas
Finnish Tuomakseen voi luottaa
French La confiance de mieux
German Vertrauen ist besser
Greek Ένα έμπιστο τρενάκι
Hungarian Thomas a megbízható
Italian Fidati di me!
Japanese しんじられるきかんしゃ
Korean 토마스의 대단한 하루
Latin American Spanish En Thomas puedes confiar
Norwegian Stol på Thomas
Polish Czy można polegać na Tomku? (Original)
Zaufajcie Tomkowi (Alternate)
Romanian Să aveți încredere în Thomas
Russian Томасу можно верить
Serbian Veruj Tomasu
Slovenian Na Tomaža se lahko zanesete
Swedish Lita på Thomas
Turkish Thomas'a Güvenebiliriz
Ukrainian Довіряйте Томасові
Welsh Dibynnu ar Tomos

Merchandise

Home Video Releases

UK

UK DVD Packs

WAL

US

CAN

  • Trust Thomas and Other Stories (Direct-to Home-Video)
  • Thomas and His Friends Get Along (Direct-to Home-Video)
  • The Greatest Stories

US/CAN DVD Packs

AUS

AUS DVD Packs

NZ

ZA

IND

MYS

ITA

NL

GER

NOR

DK

SWE

FIN

  • Thomas, Percy and the Dragon

SVN

SRP

GRC

GRC DVD Boxset

TUR

THA

JPN

JPN DVD Boxset

KOR

CHN

HK

Episode

References



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