Best Engine Ever

"She's so fast Victor, it was incredible! She must be the best engine ever!"

- Emily telling Victor about Caitlin

Best Engine Ever is the sixteenth episode of the nineteenth series.

Plot
One day, Connor and Caitlin are having a race, when Caitlin has to stop suddenly; Emily has broken down on her track. Emily apologises, but Caitlin says she does not have to as everyone breaks down sometimes. Emily then asks Caitlin to push her onto a siding, but Caitlin is hesitant and changes tracks to get around her instead.

It is not long before Caitlin comes back after dropping off her passengers. Caitlin backs up to Emily and is coupled up. Caitlin then proceeds to pull Emily to the Steamworks. On their way, Connor puffs up and Caitlin decides to race him. Connor is winning until he has to stop at Kellsthorpe Road. Emily is extremely impressed with Caitlin.

Caitlin drops Emily off at the Steamworks and leaves her. Emily is still in awe of Caitlin and thinks she must be the best engine ever. Victor reminds Emily that speed is not everything, but Emily says she loves Caitlin's sleek shape, too. Emily imagines herself as a streamlined engine and asks Victor if the engineers can change her shape, but Victor tells her she is great just the way she is. Despite the truth to his words, Emily feels saddened she cannot be streamlined like Caitlin.

A few days later, Emily has been repaired and is back at work on the main line. Caitlin comes up alongside and remarks how well Emily looks. Emily tells her that she will never be as good as Caitlin, but Caitlin says that is nonsense and tells her that she is a brilliant engine who gets to pull a wide variety of trains, while Caitlin only ever pulls coaches.

Emily sadly pulls into the shunting yard with her train of trucks. She tells Thomas that Caitlin is better than her at everything, but Thomas is sure that is not true. Then, Marion arrives and says that Emily should be proud to be herself, but Emily takes no notice and puffs sadly away. That night, all the other engines try to cheer Emily up, but nothing works, and Emily goes sadly to sleep.

One day, Emily has to make a delivery to Ulfstead Castle. When she gets there, she is surprised to see Caitlin being examined. Caitlin explains that her driver had heard a strange noise and is just checking her over.

Emily heads back down the steep slope, away from the castle, still demoralised about not being as good as Caitlin. Then, she hears Caitlin calling for help; her brakes have failed and she is rolling along, out of control. She runs into the back of Emily, who knows she has to slow Caitlin down or there will be a bad accident if Caitlin derails on the cliff coming down from Ulfstead Castle. Emily applies her brakes and bravely manages to stop Caitlin at the bottom of the hill.

This time, it is Caitlin who has to go to the Steamworks and Emily is delighted to be the engine to take her there. Caitlin's skirt has been damaged and she reveals that is why she never shunts. Now, Emily understands why Caitlin did not push her onto the siding. Caitlin says she wishes she had buffers at the front like Emily. Caitlin then thanks Emily for her bravery and says she is lucky to have a friend like Emily and Emily knows she is lucky to have a friend like Caitlin, too.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Emily
 * Connor
 * Caitlin
 * Marion
 * Victor
 * One of Dowager Hatt's Friends
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * The Bird Watcher
 * A School Boy
 * The Great Railway Show Judge

Locations

 * Vicarstown Bridge
 * Henry's Tunnel
 * Knapford Hill
 * Kellsthorpe Road
 * Sodor Steamworks
 * Victor's Shed
 * Knapford Yards
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Tidmouth Goods Station
 * Ulfstead Castle
 * Ulfstead Mine
 * Arlesburgh

UK

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Keith Wickham as Gordon, James and Some Passengers
 * Nigel Pilkington as Percy
 * Teresa Gallagher as Emily
 * Jonathan Forbes as Connor
 * Rebecca O'Mara as Caitlin
 * Olivia Colman as Marion
 * David Bedella as Victor

US

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * Kerry Shale as Gordon
 * Rob Rackstraw as James
 * Christopher Ragland as Percy
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily
 * Jonathan Forbes as Connor
 * Rebecca O'Mara as Caitlin
 * Olivia Colman as Marion
 * David Bedella as Victor
 * Keith Wickham as Some Passengers

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the eighteenth episode of the nineteenth series.
 * This episode takes place during Salty All at Sea, Den and Dart and No Help at All:
 * In No Help at All, while Sir Topham Hatt is trying to figure out who could help out at Brendam Docks, he mentions Emily being at the Steamworks and Mavis at the Dieselworks, referencing this episode and Den and Dart, respectively.
 * The end of Salty All at Sea also takes place during No Help at All.
 * An instrumental version of Emily's theme by Robert Hartshorne is heard when she is being pulled by Caitlin.
 * James suggests that Emily could be his back engine as he heads up the coast to Arlesburgh the next day, which could be a reference/foreshadow to Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, in which James is seen bringing a goods train to the construction yard at Arlesburgh.
 * This episode marks the following things:
 * Connor's only speaking role in the nineteenth series.
 * The first episode of the series to have three directors.
 * The last episode where Rebecca O'Mara voices Caitlin. Jules de Jongh takes over from Engine of the Future onwards.
 * In the Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Baltic Russian and Vietnamese dubs, UK dub can be heard in the background as a dubbing track was not used.

Goofs

 * Emily's front bogie wheels spark, even though they are not fitted with brakes.
 * Emily's brake pipe is facing downwards when she is at the Steamworks, and also seems to be floating in mid-air when Caitlin is pulling her.
 * In the shot after she says "The race is on!" Caitlin, Connor and Emily's wheels are not rendered properly.
 * In the two close up shots of Caitlin when she says, "You are a great big steam engine, like me!" Emily is gone from behind her.
 * Throughout the whole episode, Connor's coupling rods are not connected to his rear wheels and the parts that would connect them do not move at all. In some shots, the parts that connects Connor's eccentric rods to his coupling rods are disconnected and do not move.

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway - Streamlined Emily
 * Books - Race to Callan Castle/The Best Engines Ever

UK

 * Start Your Engines!
 * The Complete Series 19

US

 * Start Your Engines!
 * Season 19

AUS

 * Start Your Engines!

CHN

 * Reds vs. Blues

Source

 * 

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