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- “We Tender Engines have a position to keep up. It doesn't matter where you go but we are important and for the Fat Controller to make us do shunting, fetch coaches and go on some of those dirty sidings it's- it's- well, it's not the proper thing.”
- ― Gordon to Thomas
Tenders and Turntables is the fifteenth episode of the first series. It is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book Troublesome Engines.
Plot
Ever since Thomas left the yard to run his branch line, life has become harder for Gordon, Henry and James. Without a station pilot, they must shunt in sidings and fetch their own coaches and their complaining causes the Fat Controller a lot of trouble. In addition, while Thomas, being a tank engine, does not need a turntable, the larger tender engines do, as it is dangerous for them to run fast backwards. However, Gordon soon starts acting as though his tender is a symbol of his importance.
One windy day, after talking to Thomas about the recent work, Gordon heads for the turntable at the end of the line. The turntable is near the ocean, so the wind is very strong and it becomes difficult to turn unless an engine is perfectly balanced on the turntable. Gordon is in a bad mood and is unable to get perfectly balanced and neither his crew nor the workmen are able to get him to cooperate. After several attempts, they give up and tell Gordon that he has to pull his next train backwards.
"'Hello,' called Thomas. 'Playing tank engines?'"
When Gordon arrives at Elsbridge, a group of schoolboys taunt him by calling him a tank engine. Thomas, waiting on the other side of the platform, laughs and suggests that Gordon should scrap his tender and get a nice bunker. Feeling humiliated, Gordon says nothing. James passes by with his train and he laughs at Gordon too. Gordon warns James that he may also stick on the turntable, to which James replies that he is not "fat" like him.
James later returns to the sheds and carefully lines up on the turntable, allowing it to move very easily. Gordon arrives and watches as the strong wind begins to spin James around like a top. When the turntable finally stops spinning, James is very dizzy and his face has turned green. Gordon laughs and asks James if he was playing "roundabouts" as James silently backs into the shed, still dizzy, green-faced and completely humiliated.
Gordon, James and Henry hold an indignation meeting that night. After the day's events, they decide it would be best to go on strike.
Characters
- Thomas
- Henry
- Gordon
- James
- Green Express Coaches
- Orange Branchline Coaches
- Old Coaches
- One little boy
- The Little Boys
- The Stone-dropping Boys
- Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)
- Sir Topham Hatt (does not speak)
- Bertie (cameo)
Locations
- Tidmouth Sheds
- Elsbridge
- Vicarstown (mentioned)
- Knapford (mentioned)
Trivia
- This episode's opening exposition is taken from the story Henry and the Elephant, which was not adapted for television until the fourth series.
- This episode is one of the few instances where the term "fat" is kept intact in the US dub; in other episodes such as Thomas and the Conductor and Gordon Takes a Dip, the word is replaced with less pejorative terms due to broadcasting concerns.
- James' whistle as he puffs onto the turntable and goes into the sheds after being spun is absent in both of Ringo Starr's dubs and the Ukrainian voice-over.
- A behind-the-scenes photo taken at the time of filming for this episode shows that the Märklin Engine was used. The photo also shows Thomas with the same train he pulled in Troublesome Trucks, indicating that the beginning of said episode was filmed alongside this one.
- Freeze frames are used when Thomas talks to Gordon about pulling his train backwards and for James' closeup in Tidmouth Sheds.
- The ditch that Gordon later fell into is briefly seen at the top of the screen when he tries to balance himself onto the turntable.
- In the restored version, the scene of James spinning around on the turntable is slowed down.
- This is the first episode in which:
- The Fat Controller appears and is named but does not speak.
- Vicarstown is mentioned, albeit indirectly.
- The JEI TV version of the Korean dub added subtitles to inform viewers what tank engines and tender engines are.
Goofs
- When the engines say they "get no rest", Henry has no crew in his cab and his train also has no brake coach.
- The second coach slightly bounces a few times when the rest tell the big engines they are "lazy and slack".
- In the close-up of the Fat Controller looking upset, his hat's brim has two chips in it.
- When Gordon is on the turntable the first time, some wires can be seen inside his cab.
- The narrator says that "the fireman tried to turn the handle" on the turntable but there is a workman stationed at the turntable booth instead.
- When Thomas and Gordon are at Elsbridge:
- Clarabel is facing the wrong way.
- Gordon's left buffer is crooked.
- Both engines' puffing noises are heard before they start to move.
- When James passes through Elsbridge, his brake coach is facing the wrong way.
- When James puffs onto the turntable, he is facing the sheds but, in the close-up shot of him, he is facing away from the sheds. Also, throughout the scene, he's missing his cab doors and floor.
- In the close-up of James moving on the turntable, the reflection of crew member Frank Schultz can be seen in his smokebox and his dome is also scratched.
- The turntable stops on the last berth to the right but, when James backs into the shed, the turntable is in the center.
- The Korean title of the episode is 고든, 제임스, 헨리의 꿍꿍이 (Godeun, Jeimseu, Helliui kkungkkungi). However, this is incorrect grammar and the correct title should have been 고든, 제임스 그리고 헨리의 꿍꿍이 (Deun, Jeimseu Geurigo Helliui kkungkkungi).
- The back of the Fat Controller's car is missing some paint on its back at the beginning of the episode when James is grumbling.
In Other Languages
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Merchandise
- Magazine story - Tenders and Turntables
Home Video Releases
Episode
References
| #01 Thomas and Gordon | #10 James and the Express | #19 The Flying Kipper |
| #02 Edward and Gordon | #11 Thomas and the Guard | #20 Whistles and Sneezes |
| #03 The Sad Story of Henry | #12 Thomas Goes Fishing | #21 Toby and the Stout Gentleman |
| #04 Edward, Gordon and Henry | #13 Thomas, Terence and the Snow | #22 Thomas in Trouble |
| #05 Thomas' Train | #14 Thomas and Bertie | #23 Dirty Objects |
| #06 Thomas and the Trucks | #15 Tenders and Turntables | #24 Off the Rails |
| #07 Thomas and the Breakdown Train | #16 Trouble in the Shed | #25 Down the Mine |
| #08 James and the Coaches | #17 Percy Runs Away | #26 Thomas' Christmas Party |
| #09 Troublesome Trucks | #18 Coal | |