Cows

"Well, well, well! Two big engines afraid of a cow?" "Afraid? Rubbish!"

- Edward and Gordon

Cows, retitled A Cow on the Line for American releases, is the second episode of the second season.

Plot
On a bright sunny market day, Edward clanked along with some empty cattle trucks to bring to a market town. He soon passed a field, where some cows were grazing nearby. These cows were not used to trains and were disturbed by the smoke and noise. Some of the cows charged Edwards' train and broke the coupling, leaving several cars and the brakevan behind. When the big engines heard about this, they teased Edward a lot. Toby tried to stick up for the old blue engine, but it was no use.

One day, Edward was picking up his passengers when Gordon rushed through with the express. Gordon teased him by saying, "watch out for those cows". Gordon was feeling very pleased with himself as he rocketed across the open fields of Sodor. Presently, he came to a bridge and he thought he saw something ahead on the tracks and began to slow down. The object turned out to be a cow. Gordon knew that this was his chance to show Edward that a cow is nothing to an engine. He tried to "shoo" the cow, but that did nothing. Henry soon came with his train. The green engines' own antics did nothing either and Henry backed to the last station to alert the signalman. Percy was sent to to pick up the cow, whose name was revealed to be Bluebell. After the matter was taken care of, Gordon and Henry continued with their trains and agreed to keep their incident secret.

By the end if the day, all of the engines had heard about the big engines encounter with the cow. Gordon tried to explain an excuse to Edward, but he felt that Edward only knew too well.

Characters

 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * Toby
 * Percy (does not speak)
 * Thomas (cameo)
 * James (cameo)

Locations

 * Wellsworth
 * Lower Suddery
 * Brendam
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Rolf's Castle
 * The Viaduct
 * Crosby

Trivia

 * This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, Edward the Blue Engine.
 * In the British narration, the porter notes that Bluebell's calf is "waiting to go to market". In the American narration it is said to be "looking for her mother"; it is not clear why the line was changed, although the reference to cow slaughter may have been removed due to censorship issues.
 * In the Ringo Starr narrations, Gordon and Henry whisper to each other, "Not a word. Keep it dark". But in the George Carlin version they whisper, "Not a word. Keep it secret".
 * A rare picture shows Henry on the bridge without his coaches.

Goofs

 * When Edward crosses the viaduct he is pulling five trucks. However, in the next shot, he is pulling four trucks but when the cows break the coupling, he is pulling five again.
 * The narrator says that "some trucks were left behind", but only one truck was left behind.
 * When Gordon comes through Wellsworth he is pulling two brake coaches at the rear of his train.
 * When Gordon goes on the bridge he stops but his wheels go on for a few more seconds.
 * When Gordon is looking into the camera in the last shot his right eye is slightly off-centre.
 * The coaches are assembled without most of the undercarriage.
 * Edward's eyes are wonky in some scenes, including the ones with his angry face.
 * When Percy is on the bridge, he has a large lump of glue keeping his middle lamp iron on.
 * When Percy puffs through Crosby, he passes Henry, but in the next shot Percy passes Henry again.
 * When Edward says, "Well, well, well, two big engines afraid of a cow?", Gordon can be seen next to him.

Episode
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