Thomas and the Rubbish Train

"Phewey! You're the stinkiest steamie I've ever smelled!" "I may be stinky, but I'm being really useful! Bye, Diesel!" "Huh! Useful(!)"

- Diesel trying to tease Thomas

Thomas and the Rubbish Train, retitled Thomas and the Garbage Train for American releases, is the seventh episode of the sixteenth season.

Plot
Thomas puffs into the docks where the Fat Controller tells him to be a back engine for Whiff's long rubbish train destined for the dump. Thomas is happy to help his friend. Just as Thomas rolls up to the train, Diesel rattles by. He teases Thomas by saying that pushing the rubbish train will make him a smelly engine. Thomas dismisses Diesel's jibe and he and Whiff set off.

At Maron, Thomas and Whiff have to wait for a signal. On the platform, Thomas is surprised to see the Duchess of Boxford looking sad. She explains that she wants to go to tea with Lady Hatt, but Spencer is busy with the Duke. Thomas offers to take her after finishing his jobs. He tells her to go and wait for him at Wellsworth. The Duchess happily wanders away, leaving Thomas delighted with his very important job. Then Diesel's words echo in Thomas' mind. Thomas thinks that the Duchess will not want him to take her to tea with Lady Hatt if he smells of rubbish. The signal drops and Thomas and Whiff set off once again.

Whiff and Thomas soon arrive at a junction where one track leads to a branch line. Thomas has an idea. He decides to chuff down the branch line and meet back up with Whiff at the next junction. This way, Thomas does not have to be with the rubbish for so long. The signal changes and as Whiff continues along the main line, Thomas switches onto the branch line where he passes a meadow of flowers. Thomas rejoins Whiff at the next junction as planned. Whiff had not noticed that Thomas had not been there. Gordon grandly pulls up next to Thomas and remarks that both he and Whiff are really smelly. Thomas, embarrassed, decides he must find another track to get away from the rubbish. At the next junction, Thomas switches onto the coastal line and puffs alongside the sea. Thomas buffers back up to the rubbish train at the next junction. By now, the heavy rubbish train is taking its toll on poor Whiff. Suddenly, Emily whooshes by. She remarks that Thomas is a stinky engine which makes Thomas blush with embarrassment and becomes very worried. So, at the next junction, Thomas diverts himself onto the track which passes the bakery.

At Wellsworth, the Duchess is waiting for Thomas who is running late. Thomas rounds the bend into Wellsworth and does not see an exhausted Whiff standing at the platform until it is too late. Thomas collides with the rubbish trucks making them topple off the tracks, sending smelly rubbish and oily engine parts everywhere. The Duchess is shocked and asks Thomas if he is all right. Thomas is fine and confesses to being a very silly engine and feeling embarrased about his accident. Then Thomas has an idea. He asks the Duchess to travel to Lady Hatt with Whiff while he fetches Rocky to help clear up the mess. The Duchess thinks this is a very good idea and Whiff feels honoured to have such an important passenger.

Later, Rocky has picked up all the rubbish and put it back into the trucks. Thomas huffs to the rubbish dump with his very heavy and smelly load. On the way, he meets up with Diesel who calls Thomas stinky again. Thomas admits that he may be stinky, but he is being really useful. Diesel just scoffs.

On the way back from the rubbish dump, Thomas meets Whiff, the Duchess, and Lady Hatt at the level crossing. The Duchess cheers for all of the very useful engines on Sodor.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Gordon
 * Emily
 * Whiff
 * Diesel
 * Rocky
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * The Duchess of Boxford
 * Stanley (does not speak)
 * Scruff (does not speak)
 * Lady Hatt (does not speak)
 * Henry (cameo)
 * James (cameo)
 * Toby (cameo)
 * Hiro (cameo)
 * Cranky (cameo)
 * The Teacher (cameo)
 * The Two Bakers (cameo)
 * Spencer (mentioned)
 * The Duke of Boxford (mentioned)

Locations

 * Sodor Dairy
 * Whiff's Waste Dump
 * Brendam Docks
 * Shunting Yards
 * Maron
 * The Lighthouse
 * Sodor Bakery
 * Wellsworth
 * Bluff's Cove

Trivia

 * In the UK narration, Whiff's voice has changed since the fifteenth season.
 * In the UK narration, when he sees Thomas for the second time, Diesel says "Huh! Useful!" while in the US narration, he simply scoffs.
 * This is the only sixteenth season episode to have a different title for the US and UK.
 * Going by production order, this is the tenth episode of the sixteenth season.

Goofs

 * A brakevan should have been added to Henry's train, and to the rubbish train.
 * Why did the Duchess need Spencer to take her to see Lady Hatt?
 * Diesel tells Thomas that pulling the rubbish trucks would make him a stinky engine, but he was going to push them, not pull them.
 * Thomas should have ignored Gordon and Emily by calling him really stinky.
 * Thomas knows that he had only like one of the most to make him feel embarrassed is that bigger engines make fun of him when he pushes the rubbish train.
 * Thomas knows he had embarrassing accidents sometimes.
 * Not only would the points have had to change much too quickly, but they were not even set so that Thomas could leave or rejoin Whiff.
 * Branch lines are not meant to rejoin the main line later on.
 * How did the Duchess even know that Thomas was at Wellsworth if she was facing the other way?
 * The Duchess should not have traveled in Whiff's cab.
 * Going past flowers and the sea would not have made Thomas smell better.
 * Thomas should have been coupled to the train.