Rusty and the Boulder

"Better a smash than a squash."

- Rheneas' driver

Rusty and the Boulder is the twenty-fifth (twenty-sixth in Australia) episode of the fifth season.

Plot
On the Island of Sodor, high up in the mountains, there is a mysterious boulder that has stood alone for a long time. But one day, a new quarry is built near the mines on the land below and Rusty is afraid the giant boulder would fall onto the line. He confesses his fears to Thomas and Percy. Edward arrives with a new machine called Thumper to help with the mining process. Soon, Thumper is working hard. The men are pleased, but no one bothers to check the boulder. But when it started raining, the workmen left. Rusty gazed up and shivered as above stood Boulder. Suddenly, a large slab of rock lands on the rails. Rusty is shocked and worried by this, but his driver is concerned. His driver thinks the rock has been loosened by the rain, but Rusty thinks it is Boulder telling them to go away. As they leave, a face mysteriously appears on Boulder and then disappears.

The next day, the sun is shining and Thumper begins working harder than ever. Suddenly, Rusty notices something; Boulder begins moving, but his driver does not believe him until Boulder falls down in front of them and begins to chase Rusty. Boulder rolls along the line of the rails as Rusty quickly drives himself backwards to get away from Boulder. Rusty and his driver stop at a junction and wait for Boulder to pass by, but Boulder is nowhere to be seen. Then, they soon realise that Boulder is behind them. Just ahead, they see a small junction, so Rusty races towards it. Rusty takes the line that goes uphill, while Boulder thunders past by them.

Meanwhile, Skarloey is making his way up to the quarry. Then, he sees Boulder heading for him catching up fast. He becomes surprised and quickly reverses, but soon slips into a siding, while the Boulder passes by. Boulder smashes up the water tower that was in between the tracks. Skarloey tells Rusty that they have to warn the yards, but he does not know how. Boulder was headed for Rheneas and he races back as fast as he can to get away from Boulder until he ran into some buffers with Boulder just missing him, but his driver sighs that it is rather a smash than a squash. At the yards, Percy is collecting trucks when he heard and saw Boulder approaching. Boulder crashes nearby into the sheds, causing a large, fiery explosion and Boulder to go up in flames.

When The Fat Controller inspects the damage, he has no choice but to close the mine. Then he looks at Boulder with the shed, destroyed. He realises that they should have left this part of the island alone. They move Boulder to a hill close by the yards so it would never harm anyone or anything on the island anymore. Rusty is sure that, on a clear night, it is gazing high up at the mountains in the distance and that its eyes are being carried on to the wind where it once used to stand, proud and silent.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Percy
 * Skarloey
 * Rheneas
 * Rusty
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Thumper (does not speak)
 * Terence (cameo)
 * George (cameo)
 * Butch (cameo)

Locations

 * Boulder Quarry
 * Rheneas Viaduct
 * Echo Pass Ravine

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the twenty-sixth episode of the fifth season and the season finale.
 * Boulder's face is based upon Gordon's upset face.
 * The same model for Boulder is used for both the large-scale and normal-scale sets.
 * The UK and US versions of this episode have some musical and sound effect differences:
 * In the US version, when Edward says "It's called Thumper!" a small musical ditty is heard, but in the UK version, it isn't.
 * In the UK version, when Rusty's driver says "Oh no, it's behind us!" to the point to where the narrator says "Boulder thundered past," the music is omitted.
 * In the UK version, when Skarloey says "We must warn the yards!" and Rusty says "Yes, but how?" the music is omitted.
 * In the US version, when Boulder falls off the cliff and lands on the tracks, a sound effect is heard, but in the UK version, it's not heard.
 * In the US version when Rheneas crashes, the sound is loud, but in the UK version, it's not.
 * This episode marks the first and only appearance of Thumper to date.
 * In this episode, the quarry was brand new and closed in a short amount of time, meaning the events of Bye George! and Duncan Gets Spooked must have occurred during the events of this episode, as they also took place at the Boulder Quarry yards at the base of the mountain. Furthermore, George is seen at Thumper's dig site before Boulder gets loose, meaning that he served his week-long punishment and brought back to the quarry to help.
 * The scene where Boulder chases after Rusty, is based off of the Indiana Jones film Raiders of the Lost Ark. This reference was later used in the Thomas Around the World short, Thomas Goes for Gold.
 * Rusty's small-scale model is used at the beginning and end of the episode, but his large-scale model is used throughout the rest.
 * This is one of Davey Moore's favourite classic series episodes alongside Thomas' Train.

Goofs

 * Due to his model being changed, Rusty's face gets bigger and then smaller again throughout the episode.
 * In the close-ups of Rheneas, the hook attached to the camera he is pulling along is visible.
 * In the close-up of Rheneas' driver, his right eye (viewer's left) appears overloaded of black marker. Also, he appears to be in Rusty's cab rather than Rheneas'.
 * In the second close up of Percy when Boulder was approaching, it appears that the shed has already been destroyed as the wood from the shed is laying on Percy's trucks.

Quotes

 * The Fat Controller: (about the boulder) We should've left this part of the island, alone.

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway - Boulder Mountain Set
 * Tomica (discontinued)
 * Take Along (discontinued)
 * TrackMaster (discontinued)
 * Wind-up Trains (Japan only) - Boulder

Home Media Releases
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UK

 * Spooks and Surprises (Direct-to-Home Video)
 * The Very Best of Thomas and Friends
 * The Complete Series 5

DVD Boxsets

 * Classic Collection
 * The Fogman and Other Stories/The Very Best of Thomas and Friends Double Pack

US

 * Spills and Chills and Other Thomas Thrills
 * Quarry Adventures On Sodor
 * Thomas & Friends Classic Volume 5

DVD Packs

 * Totally Thomas Volume 1
 * New Friends for Thomas/Spills and Chills Double Feature

JPN

 * Sing-Along and Stories 2
 * The Complete Works of Thomas the Tank Engine 2 Vol.2
 * Thomas the Tank Engine Character Encyclopaedia

AUS

 * Spooks and Surprises
 * The Very Best of Thomas and Friends
 * The Complete Series 5
 * The Best of Thomas and Friends - Volume 1

DVD Boxsets

 * 60th Anniversary - Limited Edition Boxset
 * Complete Series 1-10
 * Classic Collection
 * Series Five and Series Six Double Pack

NZ

 * Spooks and Surprises

GRC

 * Time for Work

MYS

 * Busy Going Backwards and Other Adventures
 * Salty's Secret and Other Thomas Adventures

PHL

 * Sir Topham Hatt's Holiday (Philippine DVD)

DK

 * Forward and Backward and Other Stories

GER

 * Heroes on Rails

DVD Boxsets

 * Thomas and His Friends Box Set 1

ITA

 * Back All!

SWE

 * Hidden in Snow

WAL

 * Fleas and 15 other Stories

THA

 * Thomas and Friends Volume 13 (Thai DVD)
 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 19 (Thai DVD)
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