A Crack in the Track

"I learned a big lesson from one little crack. A train is only as good as its track."

- Thomas A Crack in the Track is an original picture book published by Random House.

Description
Thomas is proud of his hard work on the Island of Sodor and believes that there is absolutely nothing that can stop an engine. One day, Henry cannot take his passengers as he has boiler ache, so he offers to take Henry's train. While on his journey, his driver suddenly stops him as a hail storm has caused one of the rails to crack and they cannot go any further. Bertie offers to take the passengers where they need to go, although he soon encounters his own problem as he stops due to a toad stuck on the road. The passengers end up having to walk to the station, but learn that no engines are running due to Thomas still stuck and blocking the line with Percy, Gordon, and James behind him. With James’ trucks refusing to go back, the engines are forced to wait until workers come to mend the crack. Finally, Thomas is able to take the passengers home, learning that there can sometimes be things that might stop an engine.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Bertie
 * Harold
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Toby
 * Mrs. Kyndley

Locations

 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Elsbridge

Trivia

 * This rhyming book is sold under the "Beginner Books" brand, which is most famous for being used on books written by Dr. Seuss.
 * The conductor's outfit resembles Mr. Conductor's.
 * In this book, Annie and Clarabel are shown to have corridors.
 * This book was seen in a promo for Thomas & Friends books on some VHS and DVDs from 2001-2002.
 * This story is similar to Thomas Gets Bumped.

Goofs

 * On the second last page of the book, Gordon's tender bufferbeam is blue.
 * Throughout the book, Percy's coal bunker is coloured green.
 * The toad is out of scale.
 * On the title page, it is shown that Thomas is pulling trucks/freight cars, but is shown pulling Annie and Clarabel in the actual story.