Paint Pots and Queens

"Well, you're not a pretty picture."

- The painter sneering at Henry

Paint Pots and Queens, retitled Thomas Meets the Queen in American releases, is the twenty-third episode of the fourth season. It aired in the US on the Shining Time Station episode Queen for a Day in 1995.

Plot
In a follow-up to Off the Rails and Down the Mine, Thomas and Gordon arrive back at the sheds to discover decorations are being put up. The Fat Controller tells the engines that the Queen is coming to visit Sodor. Henry brags he'll pull the Royal Train, but when his paintwork is spoilt by a spilt paint pot the Fat Controller decides to make other arrangements and gives Thomas the duty of shunting the coaches and Gordon the Royal Train. The day comes, and Gordon proudly puffs into Knapford with the Queen, who personally greets each and every one of the engines and is sent away with a fanfare of whistles by the delighted engines.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Queen Elizabeth II (does not speak)
 * Duck (cameo)
 * Donald (cameo)
 * Henrietta (cameo)

Locations

 * Vicarstown Sheds
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Knapford
 * The Lead Mines
 * Shunting Yards
 * Wellsworth (deleted scene)

Trivia

 * This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, Gordon the Big Engine.
 * Stock footage from Off the Rails, Down the Mine, and Thomas and Stepney is used.
 * As the narrator says, "When it was time to leave," "God Save the Queen" can be heard in the background.
 * On PBS Kids Sprout airings, this episode is given the UK title.
 * This was the last episode based on one of Wilbert Awdry's stories.
 * The Norwegian title for this episode is "Paint Spills and the Queen". In Italy it is "Here Comes the Queen".

Goofs

 * At the end of Down the Mine, the cable that Gordon used to pull Thomas out of the mine was taken off by the workmen. However, at the beginning of this episode, Gordon still has the mechanism on his front.
 * The narrator said that Thomas and Gordon whistled into the shed, but only Thomas' whistle was heard.
 * When Thomas rolls his eyes, his face moves a little.
 * Thomas mysteriously vanishes after the Fat Controller leaves and when Gordon says, "I'm in disgrace".
 * Henry's smoke is coming from his cab, and not his funnel.
 * Gordon, James, and Duck have the same whistle sound.
 * Sir Topham Hatt wanted Thomas and Gordon to speak to him one at a time, but he only lets Gordon speak.
 * At the end of the episode, a crowd of people can be seen at Knapford, but in the close-ups of James and Henry, the people disappear and then reappear.
 * When the engines whistle, Donald and Douglas' whistles can be heard but they are nowhere to be seen.