Not So Slow Coaches

"This is the fastest we've ever been!" "I don't like it...AT ALL!" "I've got my eyes closed!" "Does it help?" "No, not really!"

- Clarabel and Annie

Not So Slow Coaches is the second episode of the eighteenth season.

Plot
Annie and Clarabel often complain about Thomas' speed which Thomas uses as an opportunity to be cheeky. When they complain that he is going too fast, Thomas slows right down until they are just crawling along. When they tell him to speed up, he does so and they complain about his speed again.

One day, Thomas is so busy teasing Annie and Clarabel, that he is late arriving at Dryaw. His next job is to take some trucks up to the quarry, so he has to leave Annie and Clarabel in the shunting yard and rush off. While he is away, Caitlin arrives at the yard. She leaves her coaches there while she visits the Steamworks to get her bolts tightened.

Soon, Thomas has completed his delivery to the quarry and is hurrying back to the shunting yard. Caitlin arrives back at the yard first and Charlie tells her a funny joke. Charlie is so busy laughing that he shunts Annie and Clarabel with Caitlin's coaches. Caitlin is coupled up to her coaches and is unaware that she also has Annie and Clarabel as she pulls away. Annie and Clarabel had been sleeping, so they do not know it is actually Caitlin who is pulling them along until they see Thomas puff into the yard. Thomas arrives just in time to see Caitlin pull away with his coaches. He tries to stop Caitlin, but she does not hear him.

Annie and Clarabel are not enjoying their journey with Caitlin at all. They are being pulled along faster than they have ever gone before. Eventually, Caitlin pulls into Wellsworth Station where she meets up with Connor. She challenges Connor to a race and, much to Annie and Clarabel's horror, he accepts the challenge. They pull away just as Thomas enters. Once again, Thomas calls out, but the streamlined engine does not hear him.

As Annie and Clarabel are racing towards Ulfstead Castle, they vow never to complain about Thomas again. Finally, Thomas makes it to the Ulfstead Castle hill, just as Caitlin is coming back down. Thomas calls out, but Caitlin thinks he is just saying hello and speeds on her way.

Thomas knows he needs to stop Caitlin before she gets to the Vicarstown Bridge to go to the Mainland. As Thomas arrives at the bridge, Caitlin has already crossed it. He feels very upset. Just then, Hiro arrives on his way back from the Mainland. He has Annie and Clarabel coupled to him. Thomas is delighted to see his two faithful coaches again.

Later on, Thomas apologises for being so cheeky and Annie and Clarabel apologise for their complaining. Annie and Clarabel then can't resist telling Thomas that he is going too fast which causes them all to laugh.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Hiro
 * Charlie
 * Caitlin
 * Connor
 * Mavis
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Farmer McColl (cameo)
 * One of Dowager Hatt's Friends (cameo)

Locations

 * Shunting Yards
 * Ffarquhar Quarry
 * Wellsworth
 * Dryaw
 * Ulfstead Castle
 * Vicarstown Bridge
 * Sodor Steamworks (mentioned)

Trivia

 * This episode is similar to the magazine story First-class Carriage.

Goofs

 * There are two models of Farmer McColl seen at his farm.
 * The workman should have known not to couple Annie and Clarabel to Caitlin's coaches, considering how different the two coaching sets are from one another.
 * Caitlin turns around too quickly at Ulfstead Castle.
 * Thomas' crew could have asked a stationmaster or a signalman to telephone ahead to another station or signal box to stop Caitlin.
 * When Thomas says, "Cinders and ashes! I'm supposed to be taking some trucks to the quarry after this!", a man getting off Annie and going into the station seems to overlap the ceiling as his head goes right through it.
 * After the shunter uncouples Thomas from Annie and Clarabel, he gives the driver a thumbs up; but this isn't a hand signal. The hand signal the shunter should've used is either arm moved in a circular manner away from the body, which denotes to the driver to move the engine away from the coaches.
 * When Charlie and Caitlin first meet up in the shunting yards, Charlie's eyes are wonky.
 * Hiro's fly crank is missing.
 * Thomas and Caitlin go from Ulfstead Castle to Vicarstown Bridge in a short amount of time, but both places are on different parts of the Island.
 * Charlie should have realised that he was shunting Annie and Clarabel.