Thomas the Jet Engine

"Hi Gordon! Bye Gordon!"

- Thomas

Thomas the Jet Engine, retitled Thomas and the Jet Engine in American releases, is the twenty-second episode of the sixth season.

Plot
Gordon is boasting about how fast he can go, when Thomas is given the job of delivering a jet engine to Dryaw. Thomas now wishes he could go faster than Gordon.

Thomas is very excited when he arrives at the docks and is soon ready to leave, but Cranky is taking his time. Thomas tells him to hurry up and Cranky gets cross because he does not like to be told what to do by an engine. Suddenly, Cranky carelessly turns the jet engine on with his hook. The jet engine is soon rocketing Thomas along the track. Thomas' driver tries to apply the brakes, but Thomas cannot stop.

Signals were changed and points were switched for the runaway Thomas. Thomas is very excited and soon flies by James, Henry, and Percy, who were all very amazed. When Bertie sees Thomas, he asks Thomas to have a race, but when Thomas whooshes past him, he quickly changes his mind. Gordon, who is pulling the express, does not know Thomas is racing on the main line. Soon Thomas whooshes past Gordon, who is very surprised.

At last the jet engine runs out of fuel and Thomas is back to his normal speed. Thomas steams gently into Knapford and teases Gordon by saying he is the fastest engine. Henry and James agree, Percy feels sorry for Gordon and tells the engines that he does not have to go as fast as a jet engine even though James says that Gordon is full of hot air. Gordon fumes away.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Bertie
 * Cranky
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Donald (cameo)
 * Tiger Moth (cameo)
 * Dowager Hatt (cameo)
 * Jeremiah Jobling (cameo)
 * Cyril the Fogman (cameo)
 * Farmer Trotter (cameo)

Locations

 * Crosby Tunnel
 * Knapford
 * Maron
 * Dryaw
 * Lower Tidmouth
 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Shipping Company
 * The Viaduct
 * The Watermill
 * Gordon's Hill

Trivia

 * Stock footage from Bye George! and Gordon Takes a Tumble is used.
 * Dowager Hatt is one of the passengers at Lower Tidmouth.
 * This is the first time that Knapford Stations's real name is mentioned in the TV Series.
 * Inspiration for this episode could have come from the jet-powered rail-sleds used by the United States Air Force.
 * This is the second episode to have a rendition of William Tell's Overture, the first being Busy Going Backwards.
 * In the episode, Thomas is smiling when he races past Lower Tidmouth, but in a promotional photo, he is shocked instead.
 * Three posters at Knapford read "Alicia Botti in concert tonight at the Castle".
 * Toad's scrap model from Escape can be seen in one of the shots of Thomas racing out of the Docks.
 * The events of this episode were mentioned by Thomas in Emily Saves the World.

Goofs

 * When James says "Speed isn't everything" his brakepipe is severely damaged. Later, when he says "But he's still full of hot air!", the pipe appears to have been cut off, with only a small bit still attached. Also his tender is off-balance in one of the close-ups.
 * When Thomas says "But being reliable and really useful is!" the track he is on simply ends behind him.
 * When the Fat Controller tells Thomas to collect the Jet Engine, and Percy asks what a jet engine is, there are fingerprints on the Fat Controller's hat and shoulder.
 * When Gordon is talking at Knapford, some wires are visible in Percy's cab window.
 * When Cranky knocks the switch, the chain holding the jet engine disappears.
 * The jet engine's switch is already on before Cranky hits it with his hook, so the engine would have been turned off.
 * When the jet engine starts some barrels and crates are beside it, but after Cranky says "Uh-oh" they have moved.
 * When Thomas rushes through Lower Tidmouth, the people are huddled close together, but in the next shot some have disappeared and the rest are spaced further apart.
 * In the shot of the girder bridge, the left-most track leads to the background shrubbery. This can be noticeable before Thomas overtakes Gordon.
 * Just after Bertie says "Want a race, Thomas?" the lines where Thomas came from lead to the bushes; when Thomas runs alongside Gordon the tracks up ahead lead to the bushes.
 * When Gordon's brake coach reveals Thomas, Thomas is not moving.
 * The jet engine is hollow: in the close-up of it running out of fuel, you can see the red tank through the nozzle.
 * In the last close-up of Percy, his left buffer has excess on the bottom and a girl in pink looks like she's boarding Percy's train of vans.
 * Because of stock footage, Gordon looks angry when the narrator says "He loves speeding across his line with the wind blowing across his funnel".
 * In the Russian narration, when the engines are at the station the second time, Michael Angelis's narration is heard in the background.

Quotes

 * Thomas: Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooa!
 * Bertie: Want a race, Thomas? (Thomas whooshes by) ... (Uh) Never mind.
 * Cranky: (after he accidently starts the Jet Engine) "Uh oh!"

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway
 * Capsule Plarail
 * Take-Along (discontinued)
 * Motor Road and Rail (discontinued)
 * TrackMaster (UK only; discontinued)
 * Pocket Fantasy (discontinued)