Special Attraction

"Oooogh! I'm sinking!" "Serves you right! You were always barging in and moaning!"

- Bulstrode and the troublesome trucks

Special Attraction is the twenty-fifth episode of the fourth season. It aired in the US on the Shining Time Station episode Queen for a Day in 1995.

Plot
Toby is delighted to be invited to a seaside festival held every year as a "special attraction", but when he gets there, he finds there is no room for him in the parade.

Toby chuffs back to the junction, and when Percy sees how sad Toby is, he wants to know why, but The Fat Controller tells him to take care of some important work in the harbour, and his driver says that it'll be trouble with Bulstrode, a disagreeable barge who never stops complaining.

At the harbour Bullstrode and the trucks are arguing on whether he or them are not where they belong. Then, when Percy arrives, the trucks want to be shunted into a siding to load him up, so he can leave.

Percy unfortunately loses control while shunting, and the trucks topple off the wharf and land in Bulstrode's hull, which nearly sinks him much to the other trucks amusement. After being emptied, Bulstrode is towed to a beach for children to play in. When Percy returns, Toby is over his disappointment and tells Percy that his driver says that both of them are Special Attractions after all.

Characters

 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Bulstrode
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Trevor (cameo)
 * Jem Cole (cameo)
 * The Vicar of Wellsworth (cameo)
 * Farmer Trotter (cameo)
 * The Refreshment Lady (cameo)
 * The Dryaw Policeman (cameo)
 * The Crovan's Gate Policeman (cameo)

Locations

 * Elsbridge
 * Knapford Harbour
 * Tidmouth Beach
 * Gordon's Hill
 * The Lighthouse
 * The Seaside Village
 * Norramby Church Station
 * Road Beside Rail and Canal Runby (deleted scene)

Trivia

 * This episode is based on the stories Toby's Seaside Holiday and Bulstrode from The Railway Series book, Toby, Trucks and Trouble.
 * The models for O.J., Izzy Gomez, and Big Mickey from TUGS are seen.
 * This episode marks the first and only appearance of Bulstrode to date, although his model and face were used in later seasons.
 * This was the last episode to be featured on Shining Time Station.
 * In the US version, after Bulstrode says "Come on, come on!", George Carlin hiccups.

Goofs

 * Studio equipment can be seen when Toby puffs through the seaside.
 * When the trucks say "There's no engine and we can only go where we're put! You're in the wrong place, not us!" one has wonky eyes and another truck's face is loose.
 * When Percy's trucks land in Bulstrode's hull, Percy's wheels derail and he is crooked on his chasis.
 * The buffers Percy hits are placed quite a distance ahead of where the track actually ends.
 * In a close-up of Toby at the seaside, his left window (viewer's right) appears to be burnt.