Skarloey the Brave

"Weeee!"

- Skarloey

Skarloey the Brave is the twenty-second episode of the ninth season.

Plot
One morning, Skarloey and Rheneas are shunting at the incline, when a line of trucks break away, and come racing towards Skarloey. Skarloey hurries away and rolls into a siding, where the trucks thunder past. As they head into the Transfer Yards, Rusty quickly tells the workmen to set the points, so the trucks hit some snow. Skarloey thinks he was very brave, but Rusty gets all the credit. This annoys Skarloey, and tries to show everybody how he is very brave. So when he starts shunting the next day, he doesn't uncouple from his trucks and is pulled up the incline. However, all that happens is that Skarloey breaks the winch and races down the hill, ending up in a snowdrift. Skarloey realizes that as a consequence of his actions, several mountain villages will not get any coal as the winch is unable to get the trucks down that Skarloey needs. He decides that it's his fault, so he climbs up the steep railway to get to the top of the winch the other way. Rheneas and Duncan ask him if he's going to be brave and race down the incline. But this time, Skarloey refuses, and delivers to coal to all the villages who are extremely grateful.

Characters

 * Skarloey
 * Rheneas
 * Duncan
 * Rusty
 * Mr. Percival
 * Thomas (does not speak)
 * Mighty Mac (cameo)

Locations

 * Mountain Village Station
 * Skarloey Railway Slate Quarry
 * Transfer Yards

Trivia

 * The Tea Room model before its restoration can be seen next to Skarloey after he gets pulled out of the snowbank.
 * Going by production order, this is the twenty-fifth episode of the ninth season.

Goofs

 * The points should have been switched after Skarloey ran away from the trucks into the siding.
 * The snow "explodes" before Skarloey hits it.
 * Rheneas has never been frightened of the incline before.
 * Skarloey is significantly out of character in this episode.
 * The track sinks slightly when Skarloey races past Thomas.
 * The trucks coming down the incline are filled with coal, when the incline is supposed to be located in a slate quarry.
 * Brakevans should have been added to Skarloey and Mighty Mac's trains.
 * When Skarloey races down the hill, there are only two tracks, but in the next shot there are three.
 * The workmen should have remembered to uncouple Skarloey from the trucks.
 * Duncan should have known better than to think going up an incline is brave.