Rusty and the Boulder

"Rather a smash than a squash!"

- Rheneas' driver

Rusty and the Boulder is the twenty-sixth episode of the fifth season.

Plot
A new quarry is being built near the mines and Rusty is afraid a giant boulder will fall onto the line. He confesses his fears to Thomas and Percy. Then Edward arrives with a new machine called Thumper to help with the mining process. One rainy day, Rusty is gazing up at Boulder when a huge piece of rock falls onto the line. Rusty is worried by this, but his driver reassures him. The next day the sun is shining and Thumper is working on the rocks below Boulder. Rusty realizes that Boulder is moving, but his driver does not believe him until Boulder falls down in front of them and begins to chase Rusty.

Rusty quickly reverses to get away from Boulder. Rusty and his driver stop at a junction and wait for Boulder to pass by. They soon realise that Boulder is behind them and race towards another junction. Rusty takes the line that goes uphill while Boulder passes by them. Meanwhile, Skarloey is making his way up to the quarry when he sees Boulder heading for him. He quickly reverses, but boulder is catching up. Skarloey slips into a siding while the Boulder passes by. Boulder rounds a bend starts heading for Rheneas, who reverses and smashes into some buffers with Boulder just missing him. At the yards, Percy is collecting trucks when he hears Boulder. Percy closes his eyes and Boulder crashes into the shed, causing a fiery explosion. The Fat Controller decides to close down the mine, realizing they should've left this part of the island alone.

They moved Boulder onto a hill close by the yards so that it would do no more harm. Rusty is sure on a clear night it is gazing up at the mountain top and its sighs being carried on the wind, to where it once used to stand proud and silent.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Percy
 * Skarloey
 * Rheneas
 * Rusty
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Thumper (does not speak)
 * Boulder (does not speak)
 * Terence (cameo)
 * George (cameo)
 * Butch (cameo)

Locations

 * Boulder Quarry
 * The Skarloey Railway Viaduct

Trivia

 * Boulder's face is based upon Gordon's.
 * The same model for Boulder is used for both the large-scale and normal-scale sets.
 * This episode marks the first and only appearance of Thumper to date.
 * In this episode, the quarry was brand new and closed in a short amount of time, meaning the events of Bye George! and Duncan Gets Spooked must have occurred during the events of this episode as they also took place at the Boulder Quarry yards at the base of the mountain. Furthermore, George is seen at Thumper's dig site, meaning that he served his week-long punishment and was brought back to the quarry to help.
 * In Japan, this episode is called "Boulder Rock". The Spanish title is "Rusty and the Rock".
 * This is the last episode to be narrated by Gro Solemdal in Norway.
 * This was the last episode of a few things:
 * Britt Allcroft's last episode as producer and writer.
 * Angus Wright's last episode as executive producer.
 * David Maidment's last episode as railway consultant.
 * The last episode narrated by Manfred Steffen in Germany, Gérard Boucaron in France and Diego Brizzi in Latin America.

Goofs

 * Rusty's small-scale model is used at the beginning and end of the episode, but his large-scale model is used throughout the rest.
 * When Boulder falls off the cliff, it hits an outcrop but still falls vertically onto the track.  It should have rolled over the side of the track since there was nothing in the way to stop it.
 * Boulder is still covered in moss while it chases Rusty. However, once it appears behind him, all the moss has vanished.
 * Skarloey looked scared before he realized Boulder was coming.
 * In the close-ups of Rheneas, the hook attached to the camera he is pulling along is visible.
 * The viaduct should have collapsed under Boulder's weight.
 * Engines cannot simply "swerve" into sidings. The points would not have just been switched at the last second for the relevant characters. To add to that, Boulder was never seen running past any signalboxes or workmen to explain all the points being switched.
 * As Boulder approaches the sheds, the ground bounces.
 * When Boulder collides with the shed, it is set on fire and there is an explosion, but no reason is given.  Unless there was a flammable substance inside, Boulder wouldn't have been able to cause a fire and an explosion on his own.
 * Building so close to a boulder would have not been authorized in real life.
 * No natural boulder would be that round or have been able to form independently from the rest of the rock formation.
 * The dialogue and footage leads us to believe that Thumper is working near Boulder. However, the site where Thumper and the workmen are only has one narrow gauge line leading toward buffers. The area where Rusty observes Boulder has two lines, no siding, and Thumper and any other machines are not seen. So where exactly was Thumper working?
 * In the US version, the term "trucks" is used at one point.
 * When Boulder approaches Skarloey at the water column, Skarloey does not have a driver, but when the column is smashed, his driver is seen leaning out of the cab.
 * The close-up of Rheneas' driver is actually of the circular window on the left side of Rusty's cab.
 * When Boulder races past Rheneas, the same scene from earlier in the episode when Boulder races pass Rusty is used.
 * No explanation is given as to how Boulder got behind Rusty.
 * Brakevans should have been added to Skarloey and Edward's trains.
 * When the water tower pieces crash onto Skarloey, his driver gets hit by the timber.
 * When the boulder was chasing Rusty, it should have knocked the tree down instead of just nudging it.

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway - Boulder Mountain Set
 * Take-Along (discontinued)
 * Wind-up Trains (Japan only) - Boulder