Tickled Pink

"What are you doing James? You're a big pink steamie!"

- Diesel

Tickled Pink is the third episode of the thirteenth season.

Plot
The Fat Controller sends James to the Sodor Steamworks for a new coat of paint. Emily has broken down while picking up Bridget Hatt to take her to a birthday party and no other engine is available, so Sir Topham Hatt has to send James, who is still painted in his pink undercoat. First Emily laughs at James, so to prevent the others from doing the same, James decides to hide.

He sees Toby coming down the line and hides beneath a willow tree but Gordon rushes past and blows the tree branches up and Toby sees him and laughs.

Then he sees Diesel who is shunting trucks. James really does not want to be seen by Diesel so he hides behind the waiting trucks. Eventually, Diesel shunts them all and James and his pink paint are revealed. Diesel laughs at James.

Finally, James tries to hide from Gordon in a tunnel. Thomas and Percy arrive to see what is going on. Gordon insists that the engine in the tunnel reveal himself so that the express can get through. So, James is left with no choice but to reveal himself and after James is laughed at, he realises he is running late. So he steams to Maithwaite passing Henry and Spencer who also laugh, but James does not mind; he just wants to be a really useful engine.

James thinks Bridget and her friends will laugh at him, but they do not. Pink is their favourite colour.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Emily
 * Spencer
 * Diesel
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Bridget Hatt
 * Bridget Hatt's Friends
 * Edward (cameo)
 * Henrietta (cameo)
 * The Maithwaite Stationmaster (cameo)

Locations

 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Sodor Steamworks
 * Henry's Tunnel
 * Maithwaite
 * Town Hall

Trivia

 * The plot is similar to Henry Sees Red from the Railway Series book, Henry and the Express.
 * A deleted scene from this episode can be seen in Percy's Parcel and Being Percy.
 * In some shots of Maithwaite, an adult can be seen by the children, talking to a stationmaster. This could be Stephen and Bridget's mother.
 * In Italy, this episode is called "James the Pink Engine".

Goofs

 * Diesel somehow changes directions when shunting his coal trucks.
 * James' undercoat is only applied on the surfaces of his red paintwork when it should have been applied all over him including his smokebox, cab roof, number, and lining.
 * Diesel's bufferbeam is black in one scene.
 * The willow tree is placed very close to the line.
 * In real life, it would take longer than a morning for James to have his old paint scraped off and his undercoat painted on.
 * Diesel could have easily seen James when he was hiding behind the trucks.
 * James could have simply puffed quickly away when Diesel passed him the first time, instead of hiding behind more trucks.
 * Gordon should have been on the left track going through the tunnel.
 * How does Gordon get in front of James when he passed him earlier?
 * When James meets Emily, the narrator says that she was waiting for a workman. Most logically, Emily would be waiting for an engine to take her to the Steamworks.
 * What is Spencer doing on Sodor?
 * Why were James and Gordon traveling along the same track in different directions?
 * In the scene with Spencer, the brake coach of James' train is at the front.
 * If the pink paint was an undercoat, then why did the workmen paint James' number and the black stripes on his splashers, cab, and tender? Should they not go on last?
 * When Gordon races past Toby, the brake coach is at the back of the express and facing the wrong way, but in the next shot, the brake coach is in the middle and facing the right way.
 * The narrator states that every engine was laughing at James's pink colour, but this is proven false, as in one scene, Thomas is not heard laughing at James when he is with Percy and Gordon.

Quotes

 * Emily: "Cinders and Ashes! You're bright pink James!? Ha! Ha! Ha!"


 * Toby: "Fizzling Fireboxes James! You're a big pink engine! Ha! Ha! Ha!"


 * Percy: "James... you're all....pink! Ha, ha! What a funny colour!"


 * Gordon: I'd hide, too, if I was bright pink!


 * Spencer: "Oh, dear James. Bright pink really isn't your colour!"