The Flying Kipper (T&F)

The Flying Kipper is the railway workers' nickname for the high-speed goods train that runs overnight, usually pulled by Henry, that transports fish from Tidmouth to the Mainland. The train is made up of different vans, utility vans and salt vans. On occasions, two trucks full of fish crates are added to the front of the train.

James, Caitlin, Gordon and Emily have also been seen pulling the flying kipper.

History
In its first appearance, Henry collided into a stationary goods train while pulling the Flying Kipper. In its second appearance, while acting as a banker for Henry, Duck once crashed into the rear van, after a faulty tail-lamp fell off.

At some point, instead of catching fish and taking it straight to Tidmouth in their boats, the fishermen at a small seaside village decided to have Thomas take it up in his vans. One day, Thomas was delayed by a crate falling on him and eroded ballast underneath the rails and by the time he arrived at Tidmouth, the "Kipper" was long overdue; Henry was so cross at the delay that he deliberately ignored Thomas' warning about the rails. This meant greater haste was taken to couple the vans to the "Kipper" and by the time Thomas' crew had warned the yard manager about the rails Henry had left Tidmouth. Another attempt to warn a Signalmen down the coast failed when poor reception meant he was unable to hear the warning in time and at last Henry ran off the rails and into the bay. It was not until morning that Henry and the vans were able to be rescued.

Until the sixteenth series, the "Kipper" seemed to have been replaced in favour of taking fish from the Norramby Fishing Village in trucks.

In the seventeenth series, when Caitlin was spending the night on Sodor, Henry decided to let her take the "Kipper" so the engines could get some sleep. However, she was not being considerate and she woke up all the animals at the Animal Park. Later Henry challenged James to pull the "Kipper" but James tricked Henry into pulling it anyway; because of this, the "Kipper" was late. Sir Topham Hatt told James off and made him pull it the next night. At the docks, Cranky accidentally spilled some of the fish on James.

In Tale of the Brave, James had to pull the Flying Kipper whilst Henry was on the Mainland and unexpectedly met Gator. As Gator's lamp was out, James mistook him for a monster and ran away, derailing at the Fenland Track.

In Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, Henry was pulling the train, when he spotted what he thought was a ghost boat gliding along the rails. It was only Skiff, but Henry was so frightened that he ran into a siding and accidentally bumped his buffers. He later encountered Sailor John and Skiff again one afternoon and the same night as well, while pulling the "Kipper".

In the twentieth series, because Henry had pulled the express that day, the Fat Controller asked Gordon to pull the "Kipper". However, the express engine utterly refused to pull it, thinking it beneath him and smelly until Henry and Thomas tricked him into pulling it anyway. On another night, Henry was late with the "Kipper" because Bradford noticed Henry's lamp had a crack in it so it had to be replaced before he could leave Brendam Docks.

In Journey Beyond Sodor, it was said by the Fat Controller that Emily took the "Kipper" while Henry was out of service at the Steamworks.

Stops

 * Knapford Harbour
 * Brendam Docks
 * Kellsthorpe Road
 * Vicarstown

Appearances
{{Scroll box|
 * -|Television Series=

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 1 - The Flying Kipper and Off the Rails
 * Series 4 - Fish
 * Series 5 - Something in the Air and Oliver's Find
 * Series 7 - Peace and Quiet and Not So Hasty Puddings
 * Series 16 - Whiff's Wish
 * Series 17 - Calm Down Caitlin and The Smelly Kipper
 * Series 18 - Toad's Bright Idea
 * Series 20 - Henry Gets the Express, Bradford the Brake Van and Henry in the Dark
 * Series 22 - An Engine of Many Colours

Specials

 * 2014 - Tale of the Brave
 * 2015 - Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure
 * 2017 - Journey Beyond Sodor
 * 2018 - Big World! Big Adventures!

Music Videos
}} {{Scroll box|
 * Series 4 - The Island Song
 * Series 5 - Night Train, Accidents Will Happen, The Snow Song and Sir Topham Hatt
 * Series 6 - Little Engines, Down by the Docks and Never, Never, Never Give Up
 * Series 7 - There Once Was an Engine Who Ran Away
 * Series 17 - Hey, Hey Thomas!
 * Tale of the Brave - Monsters Everywhere and Let's Be Brave
 * Thomas' YouTube World Tour - Night Train and That's What Friends are For
 * Series 20 - It's Halloween
 * -|Other Media=

Magazine Stories

 * 1988 - The Flying Kipper
 * 1991 - Duck's Service
 * 1997 - Henry's Busy Day
 * 2001 - Henry

Books
}}
 * 2009 - Thomas the Tank Engine Owner's Workshop Manual

Trivia

 * In an Interview with SiF, Steve Asquith explained that complaints about fish being transported in open wagons were ignored due to the belief that children would understand a story better if they could see what was in the trucks. As a result, from the eighth to fifteenth series, all fish were transported unhygienically.
 * In the CGI series, the Flying Kipper starts from Brendam Docks instead of Knapford Harbour.

Merchandise

 * Meccano
 * Wooden Railway
 * Take Along
 * Take-n-Play
 * Collectible Railway
 * Bachmann
 * Hornby
 * Motor Road and Rail
 * TrackMaster
 * Lionel Trains
 * Minis
 * Pocket Fantasy