There Once Was an Engine Who Ran Away

There Once Was an Engine Who Ran Away is a song from the seventh series dedicated to Fergus. It is based on his theme.

Lyrics

There once was an engine who ran away,

Just up and went,

And ran away, ran away.

Stacked up his tender, and headed down the line,

Toot toot, farewell, goodbye!

He overheard the wicked old Diesel say,

He was heading for the scrapyard any day.

He didn't wanna wait for the fateful day.

So the little old engine ran away.

He huffed and he puffed, his wheels started turning,

He chuffed and he chuffed, his little firebox burning,

He slipped his brake, let his whistle fly,

Toot toot, farewell, goodbye!

And the little old engine ran away,

Just up and went,

And ran away, ran away.

Didn't feel part of the railway,

So the little old engine ran away.

(instrumental)

And when the other engines heard he'd gone,

They felt so sad, 'cos they knew he had got it wrong.

No matter what Diesel had to say,

Sir Topham Hatt has the final say.

So he thought and he thought,

Where could he be, could he go?

Some searched high, the others searched low.

Where did he run, where did he go?

We gotta bring the little engine home.

So they all went out to look around,

Far and wide, and up and down

No matter where they searched, no one seemed to know

Oh where did the little old engine go?

Thomas finally tracked him down,

He was cold and blue, and all alone.

He told him he was needed back urgently.

"Who me, really?"

"Yes you, you silly engine!"

'Cos he's the pride of the railway!

So he huffed and he puffed,

His wheels started turning,

He chuffed and he chuffed his little firebox burning,

He slipped his brake and he was on his way,

Toot toot, hip hip, hooray!

Now the little old engine's heading home,

To toots and cheers, hear the whistles blow.

'Cos now he's the pride of the railway!

"Look everybody! Here comes Fergus!"

"Hooray!"

Yes the little old engine's coming home!

Characters

• Thomas
• Edward
• Henry
• Gordon
• James
• Percy
• Duck
• Donald
• Stepney
• Harvey
• Fergus
• Diesel
• Daisy
• BoCo
• Mavis
• 'Arry and Bert
• Skarloey
• Rheneas
• Rusty
• Harold
• Big Mickey
• Sir Topham Hatt
• Farmer Trotter

Locations

• Sodor Ironworks
• Sodor Cement Works
• Heavy Industrial Area
• Toby's Branch Line
• Castle Loch Causeway
• Maithwaite Quarry Mine
• Tidmouth Sheds
• Knapford Harbour
• The Railway Works
• Gordon's Hill
• Lakeside
• Lakeside Bridge
• Lakeside Junction
• Knapford
• The Seaside Village
• Tidmouth Beach
• Standard Gauge and Narrow Gauge Viaduct
• Vicarstown Goods Depot
• Ffarquhar Quarry

Footage Used

• Diesel Does it Again
• The Trouble with Mud
• A Bad Day for Sir Handel
• Rusty to the Rescue
• Thomas and Stepney
• Fish
• Harvey to the Rescue
• A Bad Day for Harold the Helicopter
• Scaredy Engines
• Gordon Takes a Tumble
• Bill, Ben and Fergus
• Fergus Breaks the Rules

Deleted and Extended Scenes

• The Trouble with Mud - A deleted scene of Sir Topham Hatt thinking.
• A Bad Day for Sir Handel - The bird's eye shot of Lakeside at night has been extended.
• Rusty to the Rescue - An extended shot of Rusty and Stepney going over the bridge after escaping the scrapyard.
• Thomas and Stepney - Stepney chuffing past a signalbox with his special train.
• Fish - A deleted scene of Henry pulling the Flying Kipper in an opposite direction.
• Harvey to the Rescue:
  • An extended shot of Harvey talking to the engines at Tidmouth Sheds.
  • A deleted scene of Thomas and Harvey sad at Tidmouth Sheds.
  • A close-up of Henry at Tidmouth Sheds.
• Fergus Breaks the Rules:
  • A coloured shot of Fergus and the workmen at the Cement Works.
  • Close-ups of Fergus' flywheel and firebox.
  • Fergus' driver pulling the lever.
  • An alternate wide-shot of Fergus leaving the Smelters.
  • A deleted scene of Fergus going under a pipe.
  • A deleted scene of Fergus puffing along Toby's line at night.
  • A deleted scene of Thomas puffing past the castle.
  • An alternate scene of Thomas finding Fergus and chuffing towards him.
  • A deleted scene of Thomas and Fergus going under a pipe.
  • A deleted scene of Fergus at the Smelters while passing 'Arry and Bert.

Trivia

• This song currently has not been released on VHS/DVD in the UK, although the song was featured on the US VHS/DVD Percy Saves the Day and Other Adventures, Roundhouse Rhythms the unreleased promotional US VHS, as a part of Sing-a-Long the Malaysian/Chinese/Singaporean DVD/VCD, and in Japan. On 12 February 2014, the song was released on the Official UK Thomas and Friends YouTube channel.
• The song lyrics reference the storyline of Fergus Breaks the Rules.
• Stock footage from Boo! Boo! Choo-Choo is used during the instrumental break.
• According to Junior Campbell, the melody was influenced by the works of Scott Bradley and Carl Stalling.
• Part of a Large Scale model of Fergus was built for the close-up scenes.

Goofs

• The lyrics say that:
  • Fergus "stacked up his tender and headed down the line," but Fergus is a tank engine.
  • Fergus overheard Diesel say he was to be scrapped, but in the episode, Diesel directly told Fergus that he has to go work at the smelters.
  • Everyone searched for Fergus, but in the episode, only Thomas was sent to find him.
• In the deleted scene of Thomas pulling Fergus under the pipe, Fergus' front wheels are not turning.

In Other Languages

Home Media Releases

US

• Percy Saves the Day and Other Adventures

DVD Boxsets

• Totally Thomas Volume 6
• Adventure On the Tracks

JPN

• Original Songs 2

Malaysia/Singapore/China

• Sing-a-Long

CDs

• The Railway Stories: Branch Line Engines and other stories

Music Video

There Once was an Engine who Ran Away - Music Video

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