Runaway Truck

"To stop the moving truck, don't just block it, move together. Move with the truck!"

- Yong Bao

Runaway Truck, retitled Runaway Car  in North American releases, is the seventeenth episode of the twenty-second series.

Plot
In China, Yong Bao is chasing a runaway box van named Lei down the mountain in an attempt to stop him. Thomas is nearby and decides to try and stop Lei himself. Yong Bao is about to stop Lei when Thomas intervenes and rams into Lei at full force, derailing him. Yong Bao is annoyed that Thomas used force to stop Lei and likens the method he was going to use with tai chi, a Chinese martial art. He tells Thomas he will show him at the town square in the morning and leaves to get a crane.

The next morning, Thomas collects some trucks and meets Yong Bao in the square, where several people are all practicing tai chi in unison. Yong Bao points out the way the people are all moving together and suggests that instead of crashing into Lei and derailing him, Thomas should have backed up with him and slowed him down.

At the shunting yard in the mountains, Yong Bao, Thomas and Lei all begin practicing. Yong Bao demonstrates by reversing as Lei is coming towards him, moving with him to slow him down instead of using brute force. Thomas derails Lei several times before eventually stopping him. They are about to try again, but a signalman accidentally leaves the points set to the main line instead of Yong Bao's track, causing Lei to careen down the mountain. Thomas rushes after him.

Thomas chases after Lei and switches tracks so he can pass him, but a rock on Lei's track causes him to be thrown onto Thomas' line. Thomas finds a passing loop that allows him to get in front of Lei. Remembering Yong Bao's advice, Thomas gradually slows down instead of braking sharply, allowing him to stop Lei safely. Yong Bao catches up with Thomas and congratulates him for mastering the core principle of tai chi: moving with the flow of energy instead of against it.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Yong Bao
 * Lei
 * Hong-Mei
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * The Chinese Breakdown Train

Locations

 * China
 * Chinese Railway Sheds
 * Chinese Railway Shunting Yard
 * Himalayas
 * Town Square

UK

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Dan Li as Yong Bao
 * Chipo Chung as Hong-Mei
 * Windson Liong as Lei

US and CAN

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * Dan Li as Yong Bao
 * Chipo Chung as Hong-Mei
 * Windson Liong as Lei

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the ninth episode of the twenty-second series.
 * This is marks the only with a few things:
 * The only episode of the twenty-second series set in China where An An and Yin-Long are absent while being the only episode not to have Siu-see Hung and Windson Liong as part of the voice cast.
 * Lei's only appearance in the twenty-second series.
 * When Thomas rescues Lei towards the end of the episode, a variation of Big World! Big Adventures! plays.
 * On the Nick Jr. US airing of this episode, it was paired with Hunt the Car.

Merchandise

 * Magazine Stories - Runaway Truck

UK/AUS

 * Here Comes the Steam Team!

GER

 * Big World! Big Adventures! - China

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