Flatbeds of Fear

"I don't want to hear the Flatbeds of Fear, I don't want to hear the Flatbeds of Fear."

- Henry

Flatbeds of Fear is the third episode of the eighteenth series.

Plot
It is a very misty day on Sodor and Thomas is at the docks to collect a flatbed of pipes. While they are being unloaded, Thomas hears an eerie whistling noise. Salty tells Thomas that the noise is "the Flatbeds of Fear." Salty explains that, long ago, some flatbeds broke away from an engine on a hill and, to this day, they roll the island whistling and wailing, looking for an engine to couple up to.

Soon, Thomas is puffing through the countryside with his flatbed of pipes when he suddenly hears the spooky noise again. Thomas looks around, but he cannot see anything that could have made such a strange whistling sound.

Henry and Emily are at the shunting yard when Thomas arrives with his flatbed. Thomas tells the two engines all about the Flatbeds of Fear and that he has heard them. Emily thinks this is ridiculous and is sure there is a sensible explanation, but Henry is worried.

The next morning, Henry is sent to collect the pipes from the shunting yard and take them to Vicarstown. On his way to the yard, Henry gets a fright when he hears a loud noise. Fortunately, he realises it is just a cow in the field. Then, as Henry passes through Wellsworth, he hears another loud noise. He thinks it is the Flatbeds of Fear, but notices that it is just the stationmaster blowing his whistle.

It is not long before Henry has collected the flatbeds of pipes and is on his way to Vicarstown. During the journey, Henry hears the ghostly whistling. He is terrified and slows right down. Thinking something is wrong, the driver pulls Henry onto a siding. Once on the siding, Henry refuses to budge.

Emily is called to take over Henry's train. She thinks Henry is being very silly, but he insists that he actually heard the Flatbeds of Fear. Emily is still convinced there is a sensible explanation as she is coupled to flatbeds of pipes.

As Emily puffs along, she hears the eerie noise herself. She thinks it is Thomas playing a trick on her at first, but when she realises Thomas is not there, and she thinks it’s Henry, who wasn’t there either, she speeds off as fast as she can. Now thinking the Flatbeds of Fear are real, Emily goes faster and faster to escape them. She goes round a bend much too fast and the pipes topple off the flatbeds. She even lifts partially off the tracks as well. Rocky is called to put the pipes back on the flatbeds.

Meanwhile, Thomas arrives at the docks as Cranky is unloading more pipes for him. As Thomas is waiting for Cranky to load the pipes, he hears the spooky noise again. Thomas thinks it is the Flatbeds of Fear again until Cranky tells him it is just the wind whistling through the pipes he is loading. Thomas is not very happy with Salty, who admits he had just been teasing.

That night, Emily arrives back at the sheds very late. She admits that the Flatbeds of Fear are real. Thomas tells her that she had been right all along, there was a sensible explanation. Emily feels very foolish and abashed when she is told it was just the wind whistling through the pipes. After that, no-one ever mentions the Flatbeds of Fear again - except Salty who tells the story to a very worried looking Bill and Ben. As Emily jokingly tells him to stop telling made-up stories as she enters the docks with Henry and Thomas, the Flatbeds themselves roll away from behind Bill and Ben.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Emily
 * Salty
 * Cranky
 * Rocky
 * Stanley
 * Edward
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Bill and Ben
 * Charlie
 * Stafford
 * Farmer McColl
 * The Lady with the Big Hat
 * The Schoolchildren

Locations

 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Shipping Company
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Wellsworth
 * Knapford Yards
 * Gordon's Hill
 * Vicarstown

UK

 * Ben Small as Thomas
 * Keith Wickham as Henry and Salty
 * Teresa Gallagher as Emily
 * Matt Wilkinson as Cranky

US

 * Martin Sherman as Thomas
 * Kerry Shale as Henry
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily
 * Keith Wickham as Salty
 * Glenn Wrage as Cranky

Trivia

 * An instrumental version of Emily's theme by Robert Hartshorne is heard.
 * The whistling pipes make different sounds in both narrations.
 * Stanley is the old engine pulling the flatbeds of pipes.
 * The events of this episode were mentioned by Thomas in the nineteenth series episode, Salty All at Sea.
 * In the Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Baltic Russian and Vietnamese dubs, the UK dub can be heard in the background as a dubbing track was not used.

Goofs

 * The narrator says, "But it was just the stationmaster blowing his whistle," but it is the guard who is supposed to blow the whistle.
 * When Emily tries to stop, her leading and trailing wheels spark, but they are not fitted with brakes.
 * Some descriptions claim Salty is the one who was scared by the noises.

Quotes
Emily: You are being very silly, Henry. There really are no such things as the "flatbeds of fear".

Henry: But there are. I heard them.

Emily: Nonsense. What did you actually hear?

Henry: (whistles) I heard a whistling and a wailing sound, just like Thomas said.

Emily: Oh. Well, I still think there must be a sensible explanation.

Merchandise

 * Magazine stories - Flatbeds of Fear

Home Media Releases
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UK

 * Trouble on the Tracks
 * The Complete Series 18

DVD Packs

 * 10 DVD Boxset

US

 * Trouble on the Tracks
 * Season 18

AUS

 * Trouble on the Tracks

FRA

 * Series 18

THA

 * Not So Slow Coaches

CHN
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 * Disappearing Diesels

Episode
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