Thomas Puts the Brakes On

"Hello Thomas! Your brakes don't sound good."

- Stanley

Thomas Puts the Brakes On is the seventeenth episode of the twelfth season.

Plot
The Sodor River Bridge is being repaired, and Thomas has been helping with it. He now has one more delivery: four sets of special blocks made specifically for the bridge. The Fat Controller warns Thomas that there are no more like it anywhere. Thomas sets off for the bridge. As he chuffs to the bridge, he applied his brakes at a red signal next to Stanley. His breaks were squeaking loudly, and it took a while to brake. Stanley offers to take the blocks for him, but Thomas is determined.

Along the way, Emily warns Thomas to slow down because of a sharp bend. Thomas applies his brakes, but the squeak is much longer, and his brakes don't work right. Hitting a bump, some sets of the special blocks bounced off of his flatbed. Thomas is too concerned about his brakes to notice. He keeps on puffing. He soon decides to go slowly, but as he goes down Gordon's Hill, he rushes down thanks to the weight of his delivery. Gordon comes with the express and tells Thomas to slow down. Thomas puts the brakes on, but as before, there's a squeak and the brakes don't work. Worser still, the squeak is louder. Thomas veers into an emergency siding and bashes the buffers. More blocks fall off. Thomas is too concerned about his brakes to notice.

Thomas soon sees the bridge up ahead. Thomas is excited, but as he chuffs down, his brakes fail altogether. Thomas clatters off the track and onto the broken part of the bridge. The flatbed hit Thomas' rear buffers, knocking the rest of the blocks into the river. This is where Thomas discovers that he lost all his blocks. Stanley helps Thomas back onto the track, and they set off to recover the blocks. With Murdoch taking Rocky, the blocks are recovered and Thomas goes to the works. When Thomas returns to the bridge, his brakes don't squeak and he instantly stops. Thomas and Stanley are pleased, and spend the day on the newly built bridge.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Gordon
 * Emily
 * Stanley
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Murdoch (does not speak)
 * Rocky (does not speak)

Locations

 * Sodor River Bridge
 * Gordon's Hill
 * Shunting Yards
 * The Lumber Mill (deleted scene)

Trivia

 * Behind the scenes footage for The Great Discovery included Pierce Brosnan narrating the episode.
 * Stock footage from Dream On and Don't be Silly, Billy are used.
 * When the bricks fall off the flatbed, they are being projected off.
 * This episode marks last of a several things:
 * Murdoch's last appearance to date.
 * Stanley's last appearance until Misty Island Rescue and his last speaking role until Day of the Diesels.
 * This episode aired before The Great Discovery premiered in the UK, meaning the audience would not have known about Stanley.

Goofs

 * The chain between Thomas and the flatbed gets longer when Thomas derails at the bridge.
 * When Stanley goes to collect the bricks on the hill, a track disappears.
 * The brakevan at the end of Thomas' train disappears when Stanley shunts Thomas back to the yard.
 * In a picture of where they found the blocks from the hill, red and brown wires are visible.
 * When Stanley shunts Thomas back to the yard, Thomas' eyes are missing.
 * A string can be seen pulling Gordon when he passes Thomas.
 * In the shot of the bricks flying off of Thomas' train when he is going over the bumpy tracks, he is not bouncing.
 * In the very last shot of this episode, Thomas and Stanley do not have faces.
 * In the scene where Stanley is pulling Thomas off the bridge, his piston rod is crooked.

UK

 * The Complete Twelfth Series

AUS

 * The Complete Twelfth Series

DVD Boxsets

 * The Essential Collection (5 DVD Boxset)

US

 * Railway Friends

DVD Boxsets

 * Adventure Pack
 * Full Steam Ahead

FRA

 * Best Friends (French DVD)

GER

 * Best Friends (German DVD)

Merchandise

 * Books - Thomas and the Bumpy Ride and Thomas' Mixed-Up Day/Thomas Puts the Brakes On