The Frozen Turntable

"I am not sleeping at a smelly waste dump. It's simply out of the question."

- Gordon

The Frozen Turntable is the twentieth episode of the seventeenth season.

Plot
One cold evening, the steam engines return to Tidmouth Sheds, only to discover the turntable is frozen solid. Only one berth is accessible, and Gordon quickly demands that he uses it. Thomas and Edward, however, believe Percy should use it, as he is pulling the mail that night and will need somewhere to sleep when he finishes. The rest of the engines decide to look elsewhere.

Flynn offers them two berths in the shed at the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre. Gordon is not pleased with this; the noise made in the case of an emergency would keep him awake. James and Emily sleep at the Rescue Centre, whilst the other engines go to the Steamworks instead. Victor explains there is only room for two engines, but Gordon states he would not get any sleep, as being at the Steamworks makes him think about breaking down. Victor suggests sleeping at Whiff's Waste Dump, but Gordon outright refuses.

Edward and Henry choose to stay at the Steamworks, leaving only Thomas and Gordon. Norman explains that one of them can sleep at the Dieselworks, but once again, Gordon refuses to accept the offer, claiming he doesn't like the smell, so Thomas goes to the Dieselworks instead. Despite his best efforts, Gordon is unable to think of anywhere else suitable for him to sleep, until he remembers Tidmouth Sheds. He heads back, thinking the workmen will have fixed the turntable, only to find it is still frozen.

However, Gordon has another idea. As Percy has not yet returned from his mail run, he decides to sleep in the available berth instead. When Percy finally does arrive, there is no longer any room for him, and he is forced to go to Whiff's Waste Dump. However, Gordon's hopes for a peaceful night's sleep are quickly shattered when work begins on the turntable, keeping him up all night.

By morning, the turntable is finally unfrozen. Before Gordon can leave, though, a test-run goes wrong, and the turntable freezes again, away from Gordon's berth and preventing him from leaving the shed. The Fat Controller soon learns about what happened and puts James on Express duties whilst Percy does his work instead. Gordon is horrified, but there is nothing he can do about it.

It is getting dark by the time the turntable is finally unfrozen again. Gordon is relieved to be able to leave the shed, but unhappy about the fact he hasn't been able to do any work. The Fat Controller decides to give him Percy's mail duties that evening, much to Gordon's dismay.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Flynn
 * Norman
 * Victor
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Some Workmen
 * Henry (does not speak)
 * Emily (does not speak)
 * Whiff (mentioned)

Locations

 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Sodor Steamworks
 * Sodor Search and Rescue Centre
 * Sodor Dieselworks
 * Whiff's Waste Dump (mentioned)

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the twenty-first episode of the seventeenth season.
 * This is the second time the engines have to find a place to sleep while Tidmouth Sheds is being repaired, the first was in Calling All Engines!.

Goofs

 * Norman should have had a lamp on whilst out at night.
 * Victor stated that there was one shed in Whiff Waste' Dump, so why is Thomas finding a shed to sleep if Victor said that before he asks Norman?
 * Gordon's crew should know better than to let Gordon rest at the sheds while the turntable is under repair, especially since he has to pull the express.
 * The workmen should have let Gordon come out of the sheds before testing the turntable.
 * Norman somehow turns to go the Dieselworks while he was with Thomas.
 * It is unknown where the engines' crews rest, as when the engines are finding sheds it was like 12:00am; at that hour buses are unavaible (Although it could be they took a taxi).
 * The workmen should've installed lamps for see more easy.
 * When all the engines arrived at Tidmouth Sheds, Henry is a few centimetres away from the turntable. But when the camera zooms in, Henry is a liitle bit away from the turntable.
 * Why Norman is taking scrap to the Dieselworks, when he should be taking it from the Dieselworks.
 * The narrator said that the engines come from working, but Percy is seen coming from a siding. Unless Percy is waiting at the siding, he should be coming from a track as he was coming from working.
 * The engines should have been wearing snowploughs.