Cows

Cows, retitled A Cow on the Line in North American releases, is the second episode of the second series. It is based on the story of the same name from the Railway Series book Edward the Blue Engine.

Plot
Edward's age is beginning to show due to having some worn-out parts that make clanking sounds. One day, Edward is pulling some cattle wagons to a nearby market town; the trucks are making a lot of noise, as is he by this point. Near the line is a field where some cows are grazing, and they become provoked by the noise from the train as they are not used to them. As Edward passes by the fence, a number of cows break loose, charge across the line and break a coupling, causing the last truck and the guard's van to be left behind. Believing the jerk to be the trucks misbehaving, Edward continues on his journey, and it is not until he arrives at the next station that he and his driver realise what happened.

Gordon and Henry hear about the incident and find it very funny. They then tease Edward about letting a few cows break his train and brag that they could handle cows easily, to his annoyance. Toby is also indignant towards the larger engines as he knows they have never encountered cows like he has and do not understand the trouble they cause.

A few days later, Edward's is still in a bad mood when Gordon sails through Wellsworth with the express, still teasing him. Gordon continues down the line, telling the coaches to hurry until he and his driver think they see something on the upcoming bridge. The driver shuts off steam and as Gordon slows to a stop, he sees that the obstacle is a cow. He tries to shoo it, but she refuses to budge from her loneliness due to the fact that her calf has disappeared. Gordon's crew and passengers try to get the cow to leave, but to no avail.

Henry soon comes by with his train and also thinks that the cow can simply be ordered away, but he also fails to make her move and nervously reverses back to Crosby. Once back at the station, Henry's guard tells the stationmaster about the cow blocking the line. The porter realises that it is Bluebell, declaring that her calf is at the station and that they will send it to the bridge in a truck pulled by Percy.

Arriving at the bridge, Percy reunites the calf with its mother and the two cows are easily led away by the porter. Gordon and Henry make an agreement not to tell anyone about the incident, but the story quickly gets around. That night, Edward is ready to tease Gordon and Henry in the shed. Gordon defends himself and Henry, claiming that they stopped to prevent Bluebell from running up against them. Edward says that he understands, but Gordon worries that Edward understands all too well.

Characters

 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * Toby
 * Green Express Coaches
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * Percy
 * Thomas
 * James
 * Mrs. Kyndley
 * One Naughty Boy

Locations

 * Brendam Docks
 * Lower Suddery
 * The Viaduct
 * Hawin Ab
 * The Cow Field
 * Wellsworth
 * Crocks Scrap Yard
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Tidmouth Goods Station
 * Crosby
 * Crosby Bridge
 * C&B Barber
 * MC BUNN

Trivia

 * In the UK dub, the porter notes that Bluebell's calf is ready to go to market. However, in the US ones, the line was changed so that the calf is looking for her mother, to remove the reference to cow slaughter.
 * Henry regains his wheel arches in this episode and his stepladders become solid.
 * This is the first appearance of the Red Coaches, Brendam Docks, and Crosby Station in the television series and the first appearance of the line leading to Crocks Scrap Yard.
 * A deleted scene shows Henry on the bridge without his coaches.
 * In 1986, when originally first broadcast in the UK as a double bill with the previous episode, the credits showed the story title of the previous story credited. However, because this story's original end credits mention the previous story as being written by Christopher Awdry, when aired individually later from 1991, the end credits from Duck Takes Charge are used.
 * In George Carlin's dub, the owl sound effect during the shot where Gordon is on the turntable in the final scene is much clearer. Two more owl sounds are also added when Edward starts teasing him and Henry about their mishap.
 * This episode was never released on VHS and DVD in South Korea.
 * This episode features new laughing faces for Henry, Gordon and James which would be used frequently later on.
 * This episode marks the first time Edward's angry face is fully used since its debut in the first series episode, Thomas and the Trucks as well as Toby's cross face since it appeared only once in the first series episode, Toby and the Stout Gentleman.

Goofs

 * When Edward crosses the viaduct, he is pulling five cattle trucks. However, in the next shot, he is pulling four, but when the cows break the coupling, he is pulling five again.
 * In the first shot of Edward passing the cows, he hits a bush close to the tracks.
 * The narrator says that some trucks were left behind, but only one truck and the brake van were left behind. This was due to using the original dub from the Railway Series story, in which six (or seven) trucks and the brake van are shown cut off from the back of the train in the second illustration.
 * When Gordon comes through Wellsworth, he is pulling two brake coaches at the rear of his train. But when he crosses the viaduct, the middle coach has changed into a composite one.
 * When Gordon goes on the bridge, he stops but his wheels go on for a few more seconds.
 * When the first shot of Bluebell comes on in the UK the narrator appears to say "he" instead of "she"
 * When Gordon is looking into the camera in the last shot, his right eye is slightly off-centre.
 * In some scenes of Edward, his eyes were misaligned, including the ones with his angry face.
 * The narrator says that Henry backed away nervously, but he is actually smiling.
 * When Percy puffs past Crosby:
 * He passes by Henry twice.
 * His brake van's roof is slightly crooked, and lifted.
 * A set of points leads to nowhere.
 * The track Percy is on wobbles.
 * In the close-up shot of Percy watching the cows being lead away:
 * His right eye is wonky.
 * A large lump of glue is keeping his middle lamp iron on.
 * His face appears to be a bit loose.
 * A piece of sticky tac can be seen above his face.
 * When Edward says, "Well, well, well. Two big engines afraid of a cow?" Gordon can be seen next to him, but in the following scene, Gordon is just backing off the turntable.
 * In the Japanese dub, Henry has James' whistle sound when he passes Gordon toward the end. This sound seems to have been taken straight off the sound effects track of Percy and the Signal since James' whistle sound is present with the puffing.
 * When Henry goes on the bridge, his eyes move very weirdly.
 * The porter has a big stain around his mouth, due to his original mouth being painted over with the wrong colour. Additionally, there was a piece of sticky tac on his right arm (viewers' left).
 * Towards the end of the episode, Gordon has a bunch of scratches on his paintwork.

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway
 * Music Box
 * Magazine stories - Cows
 * My Thomas Story Library - Edward

Home Media Releases
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UK

 * Thomas, Percy and the Coal and Other Stories
 * The Best of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
 * Thomas' Christmas Party and 17 other stories
 * Chases, Races and Runaways
 * The Complete Series 2
 * Thomas, Percy and the Coal

DVD Packs

 * Classic Collection

US

 * Thomas Breaks the Rules and Other Stories
 * Thomas Gets Tricked and Other Stories
 * Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Other Thomas Adventures
 * Thomas' Useful Stories
 * Thomas & Friends Classic Volume 2

CAN

 * Thomas Breaks the Rules and Other Stories
 * Thomas Gets Tricked and Other Stories
 * Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Other Thomas Adventures

VHS/DVD Boxsets

 * Special Video Collector's Set
 * Adventure On the Tracks
 * Totally Thomas Volume 9

AUS

 * Thomas, Percy and the Coal and Other Stories
 * The Complete Series 2

DVD Boxsets

 * Complete Series 1-10
 * Classic Collection
 * Series One and Series Two Double Pack

NZ

 * Saved from Scrap and Other Stories
 * Thomas, Percy and the Coal and Other Stories
 * Bumper Video Collection Volume 2

FRA

 * Saved from Scrap
 * The Magic of Sodor

PHL

 * Down the Mine

JPN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine Volume 7
 * The Complete Works of Thomas the Tank Engine 1 Vol.4
 * Fun Animals on Sodor Island
 * The Complete DVD Box 1

GER

 * The Christmas Party and 4 Other Adventures
 * Thomas and His Friends Vol. 3
 * Thomas Animal Adventure

NL

 * A Nasty Case
 * The Greatest Stories: The Adventures of Edward, Toby and the Diesels

UKR

 * A Train Thomas and Friends

NOR

 * Thomas Celebrates Christmas
 * Thomas the Tank Engine 3

DNK

 * The Runaway Train and Other Stories

MYS

 * Henry's Forest and Other Thomas Adventures
 * Tenders and Turntables and Other Adventures

FIN/ISL

 * Thomas the Tank Engine 3

ITA

 * A Daring Rescue

LATAM

 * The Visit of Thomas

DVD Boxsets

 * The Adventures of Thomas

BRA

 * The Earliest Adventures of Thomas

IN

 * Down the Mine and Other Stories

ROM

 * Thomas and the Great Runaway

DVD Packs

 * Triple Pack 1

SER

 * Thomas the Tank Engine 2

HRV

 * Thomas in Trouble

CHN

 * Thomas and Friends Season 1-4

THA

 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 4

HK
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 * Thomas and Friends Volume 3
 * Thomas and Friends Volume 8

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