Down the Mine

"Down a mine, is he? Ha, ha, ha! What a joke!"

- Gordon

Down the Mine is the twenty-fifth episode of the first season. In the US, it aired on the Shining Time Station episodes, Too Many Cooks and Wrong Track.

Plot
One day while Thomas is waiting at the junction, Gordon, who is in disgrace after causing trouble and falling into a ditch, pulls in with some trucks. As soon as Gordon stops, Thomas cracks a joke about ditch water. Before Gordon can respond, Thomas leaves with his coaches.

Annie and Clarabel are shocked at Thomas' behaviour, and scold him for it. Thomas is pleased with his clever joke though and runs off to go to the lead mine, leaving his coaches still in shock as they respect Gordon deeply. The mine was made a long time ago by miners who made tunnels under the ground. The roofs of the tunnels are strong enough to hold up trucks but not engines. At the points, there is a board warning engines not to enter the area.

Thomas has often tried to pass the board, but has always failed. This time however, he has made a plan. When Thomas' fireman leaves the cab to change the points, Thomas bumps the trucks hard and knocks his driver off the footplate allowing him to pass the board. Then he moves over the unsafe rails, even as his driver warns him to come back, which collapse and leave him teetering into a chasm, and feeling very silly.

Then the Fat Controller arrives, having seen everything. After telling Thomas off for his naughtiness, he begins to think about how to get Thomas out. A crane would be too heavy for the ground to support, so he decides to call in Gordon to pull Thomas out. Thomas feels uneasy about this, thinking that Gordon may still be cross with him.

Shortly afterward with a winch attached to his buffer beam, Gordon heads to the rescue and surprisingly laughing at the situation. Arriving at the mine, Gordon promises to get Thomas out "in a couple of puffs". A long cable is fastened between them and after a lot of hard work and pulling, Gordon is able to finally get Thomas out of the chasm.

Thomas tells Gordon how sorry he is for his cheekiness earlier. Gordon accepts Thomas' apology and tells him that he found his joke very funny. Now both engines are in disgrace, so they agree to form an alliance and help each other in the future. With that, the two engines are coupled together and head back to the shed.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Gordon
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Sir Topham Hatt

Locations

 * Lower Tidmouth
 * Knapford
 * The Lead Mines
 * Rail Under Road Bridge and Signalbox

Trivia

 * This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, Gordon the Big Engine.
 * According to a SiF interview with Steve Asquith, this story was the pilot episode of the series.
 * Stock footage from Thomas and the Guard and Thomas and Bertie is used.
 * A reference to Off the Rails is made.
 * In the shot of Thomas leaving Knapford, his model from the original pilot cut is used. The scenery in Knapford is slightly different in this shot as well.
 * The buffers of the truck Thomas bumps into are lowered specifically so that Thomas can hit them properly.
 * Some of the trucks at the mine have "N. E." written on them.
 * A CGI recreation of the scene where Thomas falls down the mine was made for Blue Mountain Mystery.
 * In the Welsh version, Thomas is not seen bumping into the trucks.
 * The following events of this episode, will later continue in the fourth season episode, Paint Pots and Queens.

Goofs

 * When Thomas shunts Annie and Clarabel, his eyes look wonky and Annie and Clarabel are missing their names.
 * The sign says: "Danger! Engines must not pass this board!" But when Thomas passes the board it says: "Danger! Engines must not pass this point!"
 * When the Fat Controller says "Let me see", the man to the right is losing his cap's brim.
 * In the close-up of Thomas down the mine, after the Fat Controller suggests that Gordon could pull Thomas out, a hair is stuck on Thomas' side.
 * When Gordon and Thomas leave the mine, Thomas' wheels drag along the line for a few seconds before he blows his whistle.
 * The sign is different at one point when Thomas is passing it in the Welsh version.
 * Thomas' siderods are in different positions after he is pulled out of the mine and when he and Gordon puff away.
 * When Annie and Clarabel say "He's dreadfully rude. I feel quite ashamed." Annie is facing the wrong way.

Merchandise

 * Buzz Books - Thomas Down the Mine