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- "Thank you. You were very brave to help me."
- ― Rheneas to Skarloey
The Old Bridge, lengthened to The Old Iron Bridge in half-hour broadcasts, is the fourth episode of the seventh series.
Plot
Rheneas and Skarloey love to puff along the narrow gauge railway. But an old wooden bridge has been damaged by a storm. One day, Skarloey is enjoying his journey when he is puffing across the bridge. Unfortunately, he ends up on the broken beam, which he does not see until the last second. This leads to him dangling precariously above the river, frightened but Rheneas pulls him to safety.
A few days later, the Fat Controller tells the engines that the bridge has been mended. He also tells Skarloey to collect the worker's trucks that have been left there. He agrees but he is afraid to go on the bridge again, worried that it could be already unstable again. Skarloey arrives and sees the trucks on the other side of the bridge. He puffs forward towards them but becomes afraid and remembers what happened before and stops halfway across. His driver tries to tell him that the bridge is safe but Skarloey is doubtful since he is too scared, so they leave without the trucks and arrive back at the sheds. Rheneas' driver offers to pick up the trucks instead but Rheneas angrily warns Skarloey that the Fat Controller will be cross if he does not cross the bridge soon.
Now Rheneas, still angry, has to take Skarloey's trucks as well as his own. He puffs across the bridge with his heavy train. Meanwhile, unlike Skarloey's driver who kindly understands his fears, the Fat Controller does not realise this, thus he punishes Skarloey for not doing as told by making him shunt trucks until he will do as told.
The next morning, Rheneas takes his long train as usual and puffs through the countryside towards the old bridge. But while halfway across the bridge, he soon runs out of water. The yard manager tells Skarloey, who sets off to help him immediately. Skarloey arrives and sees Rheneas stranded. He is very scared but he is determined to help his friend and bravely chuffs onto the bridge. It creaks and groans underneath him but he finally reaches Rheneas and gets coupled up to him and pulls Rheneas to safety.
Rheneas takes on water and tells Skarloey that he was very brave to help him. Now, Skarloey is no longer afraid of crossing the bridge and he loves his journeys more than ever.
Characters
- Skarloey
- Rheneas
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Duncan (cameo)
Locations
- The Depot
- Sodor Castle
- Valley View
- The Old Trestle Bridge
- Passing Loop and Water Tower Runby
- Rheneas Viaduct (stock footage)
- Skarloey Bridge (stock footage)
Trivia
- Going by production order, this is the eleventh episode of the seventh series.
- Stock footage and a deleted scene from Dunkin Duncan is used.
- This episode marks the first of a few things:
- The first appearance of Skarloey's large scale shocked/horrified face and it is also the first appearance of his large scale wincing/sleeping face made in the same series.
- The first appearance of Sodor Castle since the fourth series episode, Gallant Old Engine (not counting stock footage appearances in the fifth series).
- This episode aired exactly a year after Percy's Chocolate Crunch, exactly five years after Sir Topham Hatt's Holiday and exactly nineteen years after the television series premiered.
- The plot is somewhat similar to the 1993 magazine story, The Viaduct!.
- Small scale narrow-gauge trucks from the fourth and fifth series are seen in shots below the bridge to create perspective.
- The water tower that Thomas smashed into from It's Only Snow appears at the depot as Rheneas puffs away with his long train but can only be seen in the original 16:9 widescreen version of the episode.
Goofs
- On UK Nick Jr. airings and US PBS Kids airings of the block "Difficulties", this episode is titled The Old Iron Bridge in spite of the titular bridge being wooden, not iron.
- Skarloey's eyes are misaligned in the third shot and while he is shunting coaches at the yard.
- Skarloey falls down the broken rail on the bridge and hits the broken bridge rail on the other end smokebox first. But in the following scene, Skarloey is a short distance away in between his smokebox and rail before Rheneas helped him out.
- Skarloey is wobbling when Rheneas pulls him away from the bridge.
- When Skarloey leaves for the Old Bridge, Rheneas' eyes are misaligned.
- When Rheneas leaves the yard with Skarloey's trucks, the last van and the brake van bounce and start to derail.
- When Rheneas approaches the bridge for the last time, he is pulling a train that he was seen pulling in the beginning of the episode rather than the train he was previously seen pulling. This is because the shot was likely intended to lead into the first shot of Rheneas crossing the bridge.
- Rheneas is wearing Skarloey's content face when he is rescued.
In Other Languages
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| #01 Emily's New Coaches | #10 Toby's Windmill | #19 Bulgy Rides Again |
| #02 Percy Gets It Right | #11 Bad Day at Castle Loch | #20 Harold and the Flying Horse |
| #03 Bill, Ben and Fergus | #12 Rheneas and the Roller Coaster | #21 The Grand Opening |
| #04 The Old Bridge | #13 Salty's Stormy Tale | #22 Best Dressed Engine |
| #05 Edward's Brass Band | #14 Snow Engine | #23 Gordon and Spencer |
| #06 What's the Matter with Henry? | #15 Something Fishy | #24 Not So Hasty Puddings |
| #07 James and the Queen of Sodor | #16 The Runaway Elephant | #25 Trusty Rusty |
| #08 The Refreshment Lady's Tea Shop | #17 Peace and Quiet | #26 Three Cheers for Thomas |
| #09 The Spotless Record | #18 Fergus Breaks the Rules | |