Thomas, Percy and the Coal

This article is about 'the second season episode'. You may be looking for 'the thirteenth season episode, the Buzz Book, the annual story, the magazine story, or the 2012 magazine story'.

“Oh, I don't know. I like my brown paint."
"I've always been green. I wouldn't want to be any other colour either."
"Well.. well anyway... blue is the only colour for a really useful engine! Everyone knows that!”

― Toby, Percy, and Thomas

Thomas, Percy and the Coal, retitled Double Trouble in American releases, is the first episode of the second season. It aired in the US on the Shining Time Station episode, "Finders Keepers".

Plot

Thomas claims to have the best paintwork on Sodor and brags to Percy and Toby about it. When they tell him they like their paint, Thomas insults them by saying blue is the only proper color for a really useful engine.

Later that day, Thomas was resting by the coal hopper when Percy arrived to fill up some trucks. Thomas decides to be cheeky, warning Percy of the trucks antics and some unsafe buffers behind him. The trucks then push Percy into the buffers and the last truck passes the coal chute causing a pile of coal to bury Thomas and ruin his paintwork; Percy thought this was very funny. It took so long to clean Thomas that Toby had to pull his next train.

That night at the sheds, Thomas was angry with Percy; he thought Percy caused his accident on purpose. Percy then became cross with Thomas for thinking so, whilst Toby thought it was a great joke. The two tank engines spent the rest of the night arguing.

The next day. Thomas was feeling more cheerful as Percy brought in a train of trucks from the junction. The trucks were heavy and Percy wanted a drink, so he went into the siding where the water tower was. As Percy crept down the siding, he found he couldn't stop! He crashed through the buffers and landed in a pile of coal. Thomas had seen everything and left when his signal turned to green.

That night, Percy and Thomas forgave each other and both vowed to be more careful with coal.

Characters

Thomas
Percy
Toby
Annie
Clarabel (does not speak)
Sir Topham Hatt (does not speak)

Locations

Trivia

This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, More About Thomas the Tank Engine.
In the UK version, Thomas says "Help! I'm choking!", but in the US version, he says "Help! Help!".
This episode replaced The Missing Coach after Britt Allcroft decided the storyline of "The Missing Coach" would be too difficult for young viewers to understand.
In the restored version, Percy moves his eyes up and down faster after his accident. Also, Thomas moves his eyes down when the scene fades out.
When the narrator says, "It took so long to clean Thomas, that he wasn't in time for his next train," a first season-styled truck is seen.
This is the first episode to have the Troublesome Trucks with the actual face, rather than the sticker mouth and eyes. Also, this is the only episode in the entire series to have both the Season One face and the actual face in the same episode.

Goofs

Underneath the bridge Thomas crosses at the beginning, there is some black plastic.
At the beginning, Clarabel is behind Thomas instead of Annie.
The coal hopper pours down too much coal to fill just one truck once Percy has passed.
When the narrator says that Thomas is resting in a siding, Thomas' eyes are wonky.
In the panning shot of Thomas being cleaned, look to the back of the shed behind Thomas and you will see a moving shadow, possibly that of a crew member. Thomas' eyes are also looking in different directions and his face is tilted.
When Toby backs up to Annie and Clarabel, his face is slightly loose and blu-tak is sticking out from the side of his face.
It is implied that the siding at the coal hopper and the siding by the water tower are the same siding, when they clearly are not.
Percy was supposed to be exhausted after pulling his train, so it seems illogical that he was still coupled when he went to the water column.
As the signal drops, studio equipment is reflected in the middle of the signal.
In the restored version, some studio equipment can be seen at top of the screen when Toby pulls Annie and Clarabel past the signalbox.
In a rare picture, a black plastic bag, which is used to simulate water, can be seen at the bottom while Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel pass the watermill.
Percy's eyes are wonky when he says that he has always been green.
When Toby takes Annie and Clarabel away, Clarabel's roof isn't attatched properly.

Gallery

Episode

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