Down the Mine

Down the Mine is the twenty-fifth episode of the first series.

Plot

One day while Thomas is waiting at the junction, Gordon, who is in disgrace after recently causing trouble by falling into a ditch, pulls in with some trucks. As soon as Gordon stops, Thomas jokes about him smelling of ditch water. Before Gordon can respond, Thomas leaves with his coaches.

Annie and Clarabel are shocked at Thomas' behaviour, and scold him for it. Thomas is pleased with his clever joke though and heads off to collect trucks at the lead mines, leaving his coaches still in shock. The mine was made a long time ago by miners who made tunnels under the ground. The roofs of the tunnels are strong enough to hold up trucks but not engines. At the points, there is a "Danger" board warning engines not to enter the area.

Thomas has often tried to pass the board, but has always failed. This time however, he has made a plan. When his fireman leaves the cab to change the points, Thomas bumps the trucks hard and knocks his driver off the footplate allowing him to pass the board. Then he moves over the unsafe rails, which collapse and leave him lodged in a chasm, and feeling very silly.

Then The Fat Controller arrives, having seen everything. After telling Thomas off for his naughtiness, he begins to think about how to get Thomas out. A crane would be too heavy for the ground to support, so he decides to call in Gordon to pull Thomas out. Thomas feels uneasy about this, given how much he laughed at Gordon for his own accident.

Shortly afterward with a winch attached to his buffer beam, Gordon heads to the rescue feeling much happier after hearing about Thomas' situation. Arriving at the scene, Gordon promises to get Thomas out "in a couple of puffs." A long cable is fastened between them and after a lot of hard work and pulling, Gordon is able to finally get Thomas out of the chasm.

Thomas tells Gordon how sorry he is for his cheekiness earlier. Gordon accepts Thomas' apology and tells him that he found his joke very funny. Now both engines are in disgrace, so they agree to form an alliance and help each other in the future. With that, the two engines are coupled together and head back to the shed.

Characters

• Thomas
• Gordon
• Annie and Clarabel
• Sir Topham Hatt
• One Little Boy (stock footage cameo)

Locations

• Lower Tidmouth
• Knapford
• The Lead Mines
• Rail Under Road Bridge and Signalbox (stock footage)

Trivia

• This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, Gordon the Big Engine.
• Stock footage from Thomas and the Guard and Thomas and Bertie is used.
• The scene where Thomas falls down the mine was recreated in full CGI for Blue Mountain Mystery.
• The events of this episode are mentioned by James in Journey Beyond Sodor and Diesel in Big World! Big Adventures! during the song, Where in the World is Thomas?
• The following events of this episode would later continue in the fourth series episode, Paint Pots and Queens.
• Some of the trucks at the mine have "N.E." written on their sides. likey a refrence to the livery worn by lner rolling stock (including locos) during world war 2
• The buffers on the truck Thomas bumps into are lowered specifically so that Thomas can hit them properly.
• According to Britt Allcroft, this episode and All at Sea are her favourite episodes.
• In the Welsh version, Thomas is not seen bumping the trucks.
• The Korean title of this episode shares the same name as Thomas and Gordon, which was also from the first series.
• When Thomas leaves Knapford to go to the lead mines, Thomas' model from the Unaired Pilot is used.
• Gordon passes by Mrs. Kyndley's Cottage at one point.

Goofs

• When Thomas shunts Annie and Clarabel, his eyes look wonky and Annie and Clarabel are missing their names.
• In the sign's closeup, it says: "Danger! Engines must not pass this board!" but when Thomas passes the board, it says: "Danger! Engines must not pass this point!"
• When the Fat Controller says "I'm not sure, we can't lift you out with a crane..." the man to the right is losing his cap's brim.
• When Gordon and Thomas leave the mine, Thomas' wheels drag along the line for a few seconds before he blows his whistle.
• When the narrator says "But (Thomas) didn't want to meet Gordon just yet," a small piece of hair is seen on the left side of Thomas' smoke box.
• Thomas' side rods are in different positions both before after he is pulled out of the mine.
• When Annie and Clarabel say "He's dreadfully rude. I feel quite ashamed," Annie is facing the wrong way.

In Other Languages

Merchandise

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Books Name Published Publisher Highlights Photo Thomas and Bertie and Thomas Down the Mine 1984 Ladybird Books Ladybird book Also features Thomas and Bertie Thomas Down the Mine 1990 Buzz Books Buzz book

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