Fish

"Hello Duck! Going fishing? I'd take care If I were you." "Why?" "Well for one thing, if fish get into an engines boiler, they always cause trouble. And for another, fish can be awfully smelly. And I know what I'm talking about. Good night."

- Thomas advising Duck

Fish is the twenty-fourth episode of the fourth season. In the US, it first aired on Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales in 1996.

Plot
A special load of fish is ordered and extra vans are needed for "The Flying Kipper" and, to Henry's annoyance, the only ones available are old and unsafe. Duck shunts them into position and moments later, Thomas asks Duck if he's going fishing and he warns him to take care, remembering his own experiences with fish. Henry is still complaining about his extra load, but his driver tells him that at least another engine would help them up Gordon's Hill. At Wellsworth, Duck acts as a banker to help Henry up Gordon's Hill, though he is not coupled to the train. While Duck is pushing him up the hill, Henry is pulling his train harder than he realizes, and the tail-lamp falls off, and Henry slows down while Duck lags behind and eventually crashes into the train. No one is hurt, but a strong smell of fish hangs in the air. The mess is cleared up in the morning, and workmen find the broken tail lamp at the bottom of the hill. The Fat Controller tells Duck that the accident was not his fault and that the workmen should have fitted the tail lamp properly, and Duck reflects that Thomas' earlier advice about fish was right.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Duck
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Edward (does not speak)
 * James (cameo)
 * Percy (cameo)
 * Skarloey (cameo)
 * Rheneas (cameo)
 * Jeremiah Jobling (cameo)

Locations

 * Lakeside
 * Brendam
 * Wellsworth
 * Gordon's Hill
 * The Lighthouse

Trivia

 * This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, Really Useful Engines.
 * Stock footage from A Bad Day for Sir Handel is used.
 * A crate labelled "Fulton's" can be seen during the episode; this is a reference to Fulton's Fish Market in New York City.
 * The Italian title of this episode is "It Stinks of Fish!". In Japan, this episode is called "Put the Fish Into Van".

Goofs

 * Duck's eyes are wonky after Thomas leaves with the post train.
 * Throughout the episode, Thomas has Edward's whistle sound.
 * How could Duck puff from the docks to Edward's station in that amount of time?
 * Nothing is said about Henry after the crash.
 * At the part where Henry passes Duck so that he can connect to the back of the train a troublesome truck face can be barely seen resting slanted against the scenery near Duck.