Train Stops Play

"They have their uses. They can save the wear on a poor cars wheels!"

- Caroline changing her opinion on engines.

Train Stops Play is the seventeenth episode of the fourth season.

Plot
Stepney is puffing past a cricket field with some "empties" when a batter hits a "six" and the only ball lands in a truck. Stepney doesn't realise, and when his driver sees Caroline the car racing after them with the desperate cricketers inside he mistakes them for joyriders and speeds up, to Caroline's annoyance. At last, Caroline arrives at Ffarquhar and the men get their ball back, but Stepney's driver notes Caroline looks exhausted, and suggests Caroline be rolled onto a flatbed. The cricketers ride back in a brakevan, and Stepney and his crew watch the game end.

Characters

 * Percy
 * Stepney
 * Caroline
 * Thomas (does not speak)
 * Toby (does not speak)
 * Henry (cameo)
 * James (cameo)
 * Duck (cameo)
 * Donald or Douglas (cameo)
 * Bulgy (cameo)

Locations

 * Bulgy's Bridge
 * Knapford Harbour
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Ffarquhar
 * Shunting Yards

Trivia

 * This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine.
 * In Germany, this episode is called "No Game Without the Ball".

Goofs

 * As Stepney arrives at Knapford Harbour, Thomas is seen leaving with some trucks, but he was still at Tidmouth Sheds when Stepney left. Also, his first truck derails before it goes off screen.
 * Studio equipment is visible in the shots of the cricket field.
 * Stepney has Rheneas' whistle sound.
 * At Knapford Harbour, Henry and James' eyes are wonky.

Episode
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