Thomas and the Magic Railroad



"Thomas and the Magic Railroad" is a film based on the well-known television series and its American spinoff. The film was produced and distributed by Destination Films, and released to theatres by 2000.

Plot
The film begins with Mr. Conductor introducing Thomas and the Island of Sodor. At a station, Gordon complains to Thomas, who is late. Thomas replies that Gordon is being bossy and then says that he has to find Mr. Conductor, who is looking after the North Western Railway while the Fat Controller is taking a much-needed holiday. Gordon isn't so sure about Mr. Conductor being needed, until Diesel 10 speeds by. ..

Thomas is later talking to James at Tidmouth Sheds when Diesel 10 shows up and voices his plan to destroy a lost engine and thus the remaing steam engines. James is confused, but Thomas is worried and goes to find Mr. Conductor.

Meanwhile, at Shining Time Station, Patch has just finished painting the town's sign. After seeing Billy Twofeathers' map and noticing some strange lines on it, Patch has a talk to Billy about it before heading off to Muffle Mountain to see Burnett Stone.

There's something on Muffle Mountain, a secret that Burnett only shared with his childhood friend and future wife Tasha. He remembered he had promised Tasha he would drive an engine and take her with him. When Patch shows up and sees the engine, Burnett reveals the engine's past - the engine's name is Lady, and she has been sealed off from the rest of the world inside Muffle Mountain ever since Diesel 10 crashed her long ago. Burnett says that he had fixed her up, and only thing he needed was coal.

Back on Sodor, Diesel 10 admires a carving he made of himself on a rockface. When his two bumbling sidekicks named Splatter and Dodge arrive, he tells them of his plan. The two diesels report that Mr. Conductor is coming to Sodor, so Diesel 10 decides to destroy him too.

Meanwhile, Mr. Conductor prepares to leave Shining Time, while Billy prepares his next train. Stacy Jones and Mutt don't want either to leave, but they must.

Mr. Conductor is having some difficulty with his gold dust, but soon meets up with Thomas on Sodor. Thomas reports about Diesel 10 and Mr. Conductor decided to use his gold dust to keep Diesel 10 in order.

At Muffle Mountain, Burnett looks at a painting of Lady and thinking of failing to guard her might as well create a doubt of his belief in magic. Meanwhile, at a big city during a rainy day, Lily, Burnett's granddaughter, tells her mother about her concerns about her visit to her grandfather, as he had been sad since Tasha's death. Her mother comforts her by giving her a hug, and Lily then climbs up to her apartment through the fire escape. She takes out her toy bluebird and tells him that she's taking him along with her.

Back at Tidmouth Sheds, Thomas and James begin talking about who should have taken Mr. Conductor. When Gordon agrees with James, he tells Thomas that he is too small. Splatter and Dodge are spying on the engines while Henry, Toby, Percy and James are talking about Lady, who is more powerful than Diesel 10. Splatter and Dodge are still teasing Thomas, but Harold flies by, spreading dust all over them as well as Thomas.

In Sir Topham Hatt's office at Knapford, Mr. Conductor reads the letter Sir Topham Hatt wrote to him. He tries on the Controller's top hat, but when seeing a portrait of the Controller looking angry, he quickly puts the hat back. Mr. Conductor then recieves a phone call from Sir Topham Hatt and recieves his instructions.

That night Diesel 10 creeps up and demolishes the side of the Tidmouth Sheds with his powerful claw. Mr. Conductor reprimands Diesel 10 for demolishing Tidmouth Sheds, but then he discovers that he has run out of gold dust. Diesel 10 is delighted and tries to convince Mr. Conductor about the lost engine's whereabouts, but Mr. Conductor is able to frighten Diesel 10 away with a bag of sugar. Mr. Conductor then tells Thomas about the problem with his gold dust, but tells the engines to go back to sleep.

Mr. Conductor then talks in his sleep, which Percy hears. He then has a nightmare of Stacy standing in a Shining Time in ruins while calling out his name in despair. He realizes that his universe is in danger and that he has to find more gold dust.

The next morning, Mutt goes to the big city with Billy, as he knows that Lily can help Mr. Conductor, but only if she meets someone special at Shining Time first. And therefore, puts her on the wrong train.

Mr. Conductor goes to the windmill in search of more gold dust, but gets lost. Meanwhile, the engines gather for a meeting. Bertie passes by and tells them to smile, but James is worried about Mr. Conductor and Henry's smokebox is feeling stuffed up from Diesel 10's fumes. Toby then says that if he finds the lost engine they all will be destroyed by all the other diesel engines regardless of size, much to Gordon's dismay. Thomas then heads off to look for Mr Conductor. Toby also decides to get back to searching. On the way Bertie asks Thomas for a race, but Thomas refuses, saying he has to find Mr. Conductor and solve some mysteries instead.

Mr. Conductor tries a carrot and a stick of celery to make him think properly. He then gets an idea from them and calls Junior, his beach-loving cousin, via a "bellflower" to tell him of the situation, but Junior has almost used his gold dust too. He tells Junior to go to Shining Time and get his emergency whistle, then go to Sodor. Junior tries to ask his cousin for more information, but the line goes dead.

Lily arrives at Shining Time and Mutt barks at her to get off the train. Lily finds the station empty and meets Junior, and after a talk Lily picks up the gold dust Junior leaves behind. At Sodor, Mr. Conductor is sleeping by a bush when he has another nightmare. He wakes up hearing Thomas calling his name, Mr. Conductor tries to call out for Thomas but it seems that the little engine can't hear him.

Lily meets Stacy who takes her to Burnett. That night, both Burnett and Lily hear a train whistle coming from the mountains; Patch, who is outside with his horse, hears it too.

Meanwhile, Percy is doing his nightshift of taking the mail train from Ffarquhar to Knapford. At Knapford, Percy talks with Thomas about Mr. Conductor and the two conclude that Mr. Conductor travels to Sodor on a magic railroad. However, Diesel 10, who is in a shed nearby, hears them and goes to the scrapyards on the Other Railway where he tells Splatter and Dodge his plan to destroy the magic railroad. Fortunately, Toby interupts them by ringing his bell and Diesel 10, whilst trying to catch him, bangs his claw on the shed causing the shed roof to crash down on him as well as on Splatter and Dodge.

Thomas goes to a siding to find Henry with a bad cold. Thomas offers to go get six coal trucks of Welsh coal to make Henry better, but while collecting them he fails to notice that the sixth truck had bounced away into some magic buffers. Bertie sees this and tells Thomas that he has five coal trucks. Thomas is confused and supposed to have six.

Later, Thomas discovers Percy at a siding and tells him about the missing truck. They figure out that the buffers where the truck disappeared is in fact the buffers that leads to the Magic Railroad. Thomas tells Percy to guard the buffers while he goes to find Mr. Conductor.

Meanwhile, Mr. Conductor is wandering aimlessly when suddenly Diesel 10 emerges. Mr Conductor tries to flee but is captured Diesel 10's claw. Diesel 10 takes Mr. Conductor to the viaduct and says that he knows about the magic railroad and when Lady is found, him and all the steam engines would be history. Diesel 10 then theatens to drop Mr. Conductor if he doesn't reveal the whereabouts of the magic buffers, but Mr Conductor cuts a tube to Diesel 10's claw with spraying liquid and catapulting Mr Counductor to the windmill where he sees the words "Stoke up the magic in the mountain and the Lady will smile, then watch the swirls that spin so well".

Later, Diesel 10 is talking to Splatter and Dodge. Splatter and Dodge ask Diesel 10 on how he let Mr. Conductor escape. Diesel 10 tries to bluff but the two sidekicks are not fooled and start teasing him. Angry, Diesel 10 hits a coalhopper causing coal to pour down on him, making Gordon, James and Henry laugh at him.

Lily is introduced to Patch who offers her a horse ride to Shining Time, where she meets Junior again who takes her to the Sodor via the magic buffers. After a climb up a hill, they meet Thomas. Thomas agrees to help and together they find Mr. Conductor at the windmill.

Mr Conductor tells Junior about his clue to the gold dust, and after a call from Sir Topham Hatt, Lily is introduced to Mr. Conductor. Junior then goes on the windmill, but it goes so fast that he is shot into the air and lands on Diesel 10's back.

Back at Muffle Mountain, Patch tells Burnett Stone that he couldn’t find Lily at Shining Time Station, but Burnett comforts Patch and said that they will find her.

At night time on Sodor, Percy goes to the magic buffers at only to see that Splatter and Dodge have discovered them. Percy decides to warn Thomas about it.

Meanwhile, Mr. Conductor and Lily camp out with Thomas. Through their conversation they realize that Burnett may hold the key to the clue of the gold dust.

Back at Burnett's workshop, Burnett reveals to Patch that Lady is magic and they realize that the railroad is vanishing due to lack of energy.

Meanwhile, Percy has told Thomas everything and that they will have to get Lily back to Muffle Mountain before Diesel 10 destroys the magic railroad. Mr. Conductor then asks Thomas to take Lily through the buffers. Thomas is hesitant at first, but with a little encourage from Mr. Conductor, and a smile from Lily, he agrees.

Thomas takes Lily to the magic buffers and through the help of a talking tumbleweed, they succeed in entering. While journeying through the Magic Railroad, they discover the missing truck and Lily works out the connection between the truck and the clue, so Thomas backs up to collect the truck before continuing their journey. They soon arrive on Muffle Mountain and Lily leaves to find her grandfather, but a gust of wind blows Thomas off the cliff, leaving the truck at the top while Thomas rolls all the way down the mountain and back into the Magic Railroad through a mysterious portal at the bottom.

Lily finds Patch, who takes her to Burnett's workshop, where she is reunited with her grandfather. When Lily discovers Lady she figures out that Welsh coal is the only fuel to get Lady to steam, so she sends Patch to collect the coal from the truck left behind at the top of the mountain.

Back at Sodor, Diesel 10, with Junior still on his back, zooms into the Smelters where he encounters James. Junior lands on James' cab roof and tries to whistle both of them out, only to discover that he too is out of gold dust. Diesel 10 is delighted and tries to destroy James and Junior by forcing them into a melting pit, but Junior then uses up the last of his extra gold dust to teleport him and James away. The two arrive near the buffers where Mr. Conductor is there waiting. They realize that they are out of gold dust, but are still not giving up hope.

By now, Burnett Stone has finally got Lady to steam, and along with Lily, Patch and Mutt, they set off into the Magic Railroad. The Magic Railroad, upon receiving energy from Lady, comes back to life. Lady’s face then magically appears and remarks to Burnett that he never lost his faith in magic. The team briefly encounter Thomas on the Magic Railroad before appearing on Sodor where they reunite with the two conductors.

Suddenly, the diesel engines emerge and Diesel 10 starts to give chase, but Splatter and Dodge back out, leaving Diesel 10 to do the chasing himself. Thomas offers to help Lady while Burnett, determined not to let Lady down again, climbs onto her cab to start her. Mr. Conductor warns them to watch out for the collapsing viaduct, and after the engines had set off, realizes that Lady is in fact part of the clue to the gold dust.

Diesel 10 chases Lady, Burnett and Thomas before they finally arriving at the viaduct, which is now collapsing. As Lady and Burnett pass, a gap appears on the viaduct. Thomas manages to jump through the gap before it could grow wider. When Diesel 10 approaches the bridge, the gap is so big that he can’t jump through. He applies his brakes, but it was too late and he falls off the viaduct. He grabs onto a sleeper with his claw but the sleeper breaks and Diesel 10 falls onto a barge filled with sludge and is towed away.

Thomas, Lady and Burnett return, where they and the rest of the team work out on the clue. After realizing the answer, they collected water from a well, and Lily mixes it with some golden shavings she collected from the Magic Railroad. She tosses the mixed shavings into the air, where they transform into magic gold dust. The conductors are delighted and immediately re-supply their whistles, while Thomas calls Lady a “Really Helpful Engine”.

Afterwards, Patch and Mutt go to look around, while Junior gives Lily some gold dust. Junior then tells his cousin that he wants to work now, so Mr. Conductor gives Junior his conductor’s hat and sends him to a railroad “with palm trees and sunny spells”. After Junior leaves. Sir Topham Hatt calls through a bellflower and says that he is on his way back now, so Mr. Conductor sets off to the sheds to welcome him. Lily then offers her gold dust to her grandfather, who pours it on her toy bluebird, so that they will “always remember [their] Shining Time together”.

With Lady and the Magic Railroad back to life, Shining Time is restored to its former glory. The movie ends with Thomas puffing home into the sunset

Quotes

 * Splatter: Uh, so boss . ..
 * Dodge: How come you let Twinkletoes escape?
 * Splodge: Yeah?
 * Diesel 10: Oh, that. Well, I did it on . . . purpose. You know, I . . . was . . . testing him to see if he could escape.
 * Splatter: Liar, liar.
 * Dodge: Pants on fire.
 * Splatter: Does he wear pants?
 * Dodge: Well, training pants.
 * Splatter: Oh, yeah.
 * Diesel 10: All right! Playtime's over, Splodge!
 * Splodge: Uh-oh.
 * Diesel 10: Now it's time for the next lesson. Huh?! I call it: "How to Stop Being Stupid."
 * ''(Diesel 10 uses Pinchy to hit the coal chute. Coal spreads all over him and James, Henry, and Gordon laugh)


 * Diesel 10: Uh, now that's gonna ruin my facial.
 * ''(Splodge groans)


 * Andy Panda: My wife


 * Splatter: Hey hey! Just watch what happens to that blue puffball--
 * Dodge: When Harold the 'Flopper-Chopper' flies past here!
 * Splatter: Right!
 * Harold: Routine fly-by, chaps! Hello!
 * Splatter: The boss dumped sneezing powder everywhere!
 * Dodge: Let's start laughing now!
 * ''(Splodge laugh and Harold descends, causing Thomas, Splatter and Dodge to be covered in powder.)


 * Harold: Sorry, fellas! Bit of a dust up! Loved to stay and clean up. Got to go! Bye now!
 * Splatter: Uh, did you mean to look like that?
 * Dodge: Uh, no.
 * Splatter: Uh, neither did I.
 * Thomas: This must be Diesel's doing! A-choo! Choo!


 * Splatter: What are you gonna do.
 * Dodge: Oh yeah, yeah. That's a good question.
 * Diesel 10: It's time to finally put Twinkletoes' lights out.
 * Splodge: Oh, oh.
 * Diesel 10: This is a job for the boss!
 * ''(Pinchy opens and shuts.)


 * Toby: I've got to delay him, I've got to distract him. Hmmmm, hmmmmm.
 * ''(Toby rings his bell.)


 * Diesel 10: It's the old teapot. Smash him!
 * ''(Pinchy knocks against the shed beams, knocking them down and trapping Diesel 10, Splatter and Dodge. Pinchy thens breaks through the collapsed roof.)


 * Diesel 10: Pinchy, get back here. Pinchy, don't make me come up there. I hate it when you do this, Pinchy!
 * Toby: Good show!
 * Splatter: Uh, boss.
 * Dodge: Did you mean to let the roof fall in?
 * Splatter: Yeah, all the way in?
 * Diesel 10: I always mean what I do, you rattle traps.


 * Diesel 10: Aha, there's the blue puffball, and look who he's with. Splodge, come and destroy.
 * Splatter: No, you do it yourself.
 * Dodge: We don't like you.
 * Splatter: Yeah we mean that.
 * Dodge: Emphatically.
 * Splatter: Yeah, what does that mean?
 * Dodge: I have no idea.
 * Splatter: It's a good word.
 * Thomas: Run Lady, quickly. And I'm going to help you.
 * ''(Burnett Stone quickly climbs into Lady's cab.)


 * Burnett Stone: So am I my, m'Lady. I won't let you down again.
 * Diesel 10: Ah, who needs you Splodge.

Criticism
Sadly, the movie was a box office flop. Some people felt it focused too much on the people in the movie, instead of the engines which the audience had come to see. Britt Allcroft, director of the movie had made some last minute changes to the movie, and so the actual movie has never been seen. Also, the British audience had never known about Shining Time Station, as it was a way to introduce the show to the American audience. Another problem is the Diesel 10/Pinchy engine, who may inspire alarmingly aggressive imitative behavior in toddlers/preschoolers.

Errors

 * When Gordon, Thomas, Henry, Toby and James are talking when Bertie races by, Toby looks happy when he says "And I fear that it'll destroy us all." The fact that his voice actor delivers it in an upbeat tone does little to assist the matter.

Featured characters
In the original script, Cranky was to have a larger role and George was to appear as one of Diesel 10's helpers. Oddly enough, Edward was never in any script for the movie that has been recovered. Horace Schemer does not exist in this motion picture.
 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Diesel 10 (with P.T. Boomer)
 * Splodge (Splatter and Dodge)
 * Lady
 * Mr. Conductor
 * C. Junior
 * Lily
 * Stacy Jones
 * Burnett Stone
 * Patch
 * Harold
 * Cranky (leg cameo only)
 * Butch (cameos only)
 * Billy Twofeathers
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Henrietta
 * Donald & Douglas (with scrap model)
 * City of Truro (scrap model)
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * Breakdown Train