Thomas and the Guard

Thomas and the Guard, retitled Thomas and the Conductor  in North American releases, is the eleventh episode of the first series. It is based on the story of the same name from the Railway Series book Tank Engine Thomas Again.

Plot
Thomas the Tank Engine is enjoying his new life running the branch line, of which he is very proud and considers the most important part of the railway. His two coaches, Annie and Clarabel, agree with him. Thomas loves his coaches very much, even though they are old and need new paint. When taking trains, Annie can only take passengers, but Clarabel can take passengers as well as their luggage and a guard. Thomas and his coaches often sing to each other while taking trains and journeys often proceed smoothly. Annie and Clarabel know how important pleasing the Fat Controller is to Thomas, and whenever he is cross, that is only with the main line engines who make him late.

One day, Thomas waits impatiently at the station for Henry's train coming from the Loop Line, which is late again which angers him greatly. Eventually, Henry feebly arrives, complaining that his system is out of order. But Thomas assumes that Henry's problem is his own laziness. Thomas, desperate to leave, starts as soon as the guard blows the whistle, but he leaves the platform before the guard is aboard. The guard waves his red flag, but it is no use as Thomas is already hurrying down the line.

Thomas sings to his coaches as usual, but Clarabel will not sing as she is upset that her guard has been left behind. Annie is upset as well and tries to tell Thomas that the guard is missing, but he is in too much of a hurry to listen. The two coaches try to apply their brakes, but they cannot without the guard. Eventually, Thomas stops when he reaches a red signal and he and his crew wait for the guard to tell them what is the matter, but of course he has been left behind which only Annie and Clarabel know, and they finally tell Thomas once he asks.

Soon, the passengers notice the guard running down on the tracks as fast as he can. When he reaches the train, he is very hot, so he has a drink to cool down and tells everyone what happened. Thomas apologises for the incident; the guard accepts the apology and points out that the signal has dropped, then Thomas and his coaches proceed the trip. With the guard back aboard, both Thomas and his coaches feel much better and manage to reach the end of the line in record time.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Bertie
 * One Little Boy
 * One of the stone-dropping boys
 * The Ffarquhar Stationmaster
 * Sir Topham Hatt

Locations

 * Hackenbeck Tunnel
 * Terence's Field
 * The Windmill
 * The Wide-Arched Bridge
 * Dryaw
 * Dryaw Airfield
 * Dryaw Signal Runby
 * Elsbridge
 * Elsbridge Viaduct
 * River Els
 * Knapford Signal Runby
 * Rail Under Road Bridge and Signalbox
 * Ffarquhar

Trivia

 * Pre-filmed footage from Thomas Goes Fishing, Thomas and Bertie and Down the Mine, stock footage from Thomas and the Breakdown Train, a deleted scene from James and the Coaches, mirrored stock footage from Thomas' Train and deleted opening footage from the opening sequence is used.
 * The shots of Thomas passing under the bridge before entering the tunnel and arriving at Ffarquhar station were used for the original opening credits.
 * This is the first episode of three things:
 * The first episode in which James does not appear.
 * The first episode where the outro music is not heard during the ending.
 * The first to be introduced individually by Rod Hull and Emu on 2nd December 1985.
 * This episode was never released on VHS and DVD in South Korea.
 * This is the only episode adapted from Tank Engine Thomas Again not to have a song based on it.

Goofs

 * In the opening shot and towards the end of the restored version, studio equipment is visible in the top-left corner.
 * In many scenes, Annie and Clarabel are facing the wrong way.
 * On some close-ups of Thomas, Annie and Clarabel are not behind him.
 * When Henry puffs into the junction, his brake coach is facing the wrong way.
 * When Thomas says "You're too fat!" ("You're too slow!" in the US dub), his eyes are a little wonky.
 * Due to stock footage, in one close-up of Thomas his coaches are not coupled behind him.
 * When Thomas says "Bother that signal! What's the matter?" the background is different showing a set of buffers, but previously, there was just bushes. This can be identified more in a deleted alternate scene which had Thomas facing the signal from the opposite direction.
 * In the close-up of Thomas' driver, his cap's brim is broken.
 * The guard only has his red flag when he is said to have had two flags.
 * The guard's facial hair changes from having a full beard to being clean shaven between scenes. On the platform, he is clean shaven; after catching up to the train, he has a mustache, and when talking to Thomas, he has a full beard.
 * Before the episode ends, a camera connector is on Thomas' front coupling rod.
 * In the close-up of the guard waving his red flag, Henry and his train are not in the background.
 * As Thomas, Annie and Clarabel enter the tunnel, camera equipment can be seen in the top-left corner, and Bertie can be seen for a split second. This is due to the shot being pre-filmed footage from Thomas and Bertie.
 * In the first close-up of Thomas' whistle, the hill beside him is gone. The same thing happens in the close-ups of the guard.
 * Some of the figurines have Blu-tack beneath their feet.
 * Annie is still sad when the guard catches up to Thomas.

Home Media Releases
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UK

 * Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Cassette 1
 * Troublesome Trucks and other stories
 * Troublesome Trucks, Coal and other stories
 * Thomas the Tank Engine
 * Bumper Special
 * Thomas and Gordon, Troublesome Trucks and other stories
 * Thomas Gets Bumped and 17 Other Stories
 * The Biggest Ever Christmas Collection
 * The Complete Series 1
 * Thomas and the Breakdown Train

DVD Boxsets

 * Classic Collection

WAL

 * Troublesome Trucks and 8 Other Stories

US

 * James Learns a Lesson and Other Stories
 * The Early Years
 * Thomas and Friends Classic Volume 1

CAN

 * James Learns a Lesson and Other Stories
 * The Early Years

Home Media Packs

 * Special Video Collector's Set
 * Totally Thomas Volume 9

AUS

 * Troublesome Trucks and other stories
 * The Biggest Ever Christmas Collection
 * The Complete Series 1
 * My First Thomas with Thomas

DVD Boxsets

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

NZ

 * Troublesome Trucks and other stories
 * James and the Express and other stories
 * Bumper Video Collection Volume 1
 * The Biggest Ever Christmas Collection

FRA

 * The Magic of Sodor

JPN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine Vol.3
 * The Complete Works of Thomas the Tank Engine 1 Vol.2
 * The Complete DVD Box 1
 * Nice to Meet You Thomas!
 * Tell Me Stories, Thomas

PHL

 * Thomas and Friends Collection

GER

 * Thomas and the Guard and 4 Other Adventures
 * Thomas and His Friends - Volume 1
 * Thomas and His Friends Vol. 2
 * Rail Free for Steam and Diesel!

HRV

 * Thomas and Brakesman

NOR

 * Thomas-Festival
 * Thomas the Tank Engine 1

FIN/ISL

 * Thomas the Tank Engine 1

ZA

 * Volume 1

NL

 * ...Taken by the Nose!
 * The Greatest Stories: The Adventures of Thomas

SWE

 * Thomas and the Guard

ITA

 * A Freight Train Troublemaker

ROM

 * Thomas and the Trucks

DVD Packs

 * Triple Pack 1

SER

 * Thomas the Tank Engine 1

SVN

 * Thomas and the Guard

IND

 * Thomas and Gordon and Other Stories

CHN

 * Thomas and Friends Season 1-4

DNK

 * Thomas and Gordon and Other Stories

HK

 * Thomas and Friends Volume 2 (Hong Kong DVD)

THA

 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 2

MYS
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 * Thomas and the Breakdown Train and Other Thomas Adventures
 * Thomas and Gordon and Other Adventures

Thomas und der Schaffner Thomas y el Conductor תומס והכרטיסן Thomas e il capotreno とりのこされたしゃしょう Tomek i Konduktor Томас и проводник