Thomas Goes Fishing

"Engines don't go fishing!"

- James

Thomas Goes Fishing is the twelfth episode of the first season. It aired in the Shining Time Station episodes Faith, Hope and Anxiety and Is Anybody There?.

Plot
Thomas wants to go fishing in a river, and is annoyed when the others say, "Engines don't go fishing". But he unknowingly gets the chance when the water column at the junction breaks down and his crew must use a bucket to pull water from the river to fill his tanks.

Thomas later develops a pain in his boiler because of a blocked feed pipe. Thomas is stopped in a siding as the driver summons an inspector and the Fat Controller. They look inside Thomas' tank and deduce that fish were collected in the bucket along with water. Thomas' crew fish them out with instruction from the Fat Controller and have a lunch of fish and chips. The Fat Controller asks if Thomas has learned his lesson and Thomas says that he has and that fishing is too uncomfortable.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * James
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)

Locations

 * Elsbridge
 * Ffarquhar

Trivia

 * This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, Tank Engine Thomas Again.
 * Stock footage from Thomas and the Trucks and Thomas and the Guard is used.
 * This is the the first episode to have the same title in the US and UK.
 * The Italian title of this episode is "The Trains Do Not Go Fishing!". In Japan, this episode is called "Thomas and Fishing".

Goofs

 * In one scene, Annie and Clarabel are facing the wrong way.
 * The river water is brown when it is lifted in the bucket, but when it is poured into Thomas' tank it is clear.
 * Thomas' driver was said to have hung "DANGER" signs on Thomas' front and back, but they are propped a few metres in front of and beside him.
 * Thick pencil marks are visible on the "DANGER KEEP AWAY" signs.
 * In the American narration by George Carlin, listen carefully after the Fat Controller says "Mmmm . . . " Ringo Starr can be faintly heard saying "Mmmm . . . " in the background.
 * When the men are first seen with the "DANGER" signs, the red lining around Thomas' number is torn.
 * Thomas is wearing Percy's tired face in some shots.
 * Studio equipment can be seen when Thomas says, "Bother! I'm thirsty!" and when the Inspector looks inside Thomas' tank.
 * When the Inspector clambers up to check Thomas' tanks, Thomas abruptly stops hissing steam. But when the Inspector comes down, he is hissing steam again and once the Fat Controller climbs up, the steam vanishes. Then again, when the Fat Controller asks Thomas' driver how the fish got there, the steam reappears! And throughout all of this, the hissing sound continues even when Thomas is not letting off steam.