Thomas and Bertie

"Hello, who are you?" "I'm Bertie. Who are you?" "I'm Thomas. I run this branch line." "So you're Thomas, eh? I remember now. You got stuck in the snow. I took your passengers, and Terence the Tractor pulled you out. I've come to help you with your passengers today." "Help me? I can go faster than you." "You can't!" "I can!" "I'll race you!"

- Thomas and Bertie

Thomas and Bertie, lengthened to Thomas and Bertie 's Great Race  in North American releases, is the fourteenth 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 is waiting at a junction where a bus drives up alongside him. The bus introduces himself as Bertie, who remembers Thomas from the time he took his passengers home after Thomas crashed into a snowdrift and tells Thomas that he has come to help his passengers today. Thomas claims that he can go faster than Bertie, who challenges Thomas to a race. Their drivers agree and Thomas and Bertie begin their race.

As it takes Thomas a while to build up speed, Bertie takes a head start at the beginning until he reaches the level crossing, where Thomas passes him and takes the lead. After that, the road leaves the railway and Thomas stops at the next station to collect passengers. He tells them to get in quickly and as he starts off again, he sees Bertie zooming over the bridge and retaking the lead. Thomas tries to catch up, but he has to stop at Elsbridge because the signal is up. Bertie continues on gleefully while Thomas feels sure that he will lose the race, but he feels better after a drink and is ready to continue just as the signal drops.

While crossing the bridge, Thomas finds that he still has a chance to win, seeing Bertie waiting on a traffic light. As Bertie starts again, Thomas reaches full speed and takes the lead as he passes Bertie at the tunnel and makes it to the last station, winning the race. Everyone cheers for Thomas, but they also give Bertie a big cheer. Bertie congratulates Thomas for the victory and remarks that he would have had to be an aeroplane to beat him over the tunnel hill.

The two friends now work together and often talk about their race, but the passengers do not like to be bounced around and the Fat Controller warns Thomas about running at dangerous speeds. Although it does not seem likely, the two still hope for a chance to race again.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Bertie
 * Mrs. Kyndley
 * The Ffarquhar Stationmaster
 * Terence
 * Sir Topham Hatt

Locations

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

Trivia

 * Stock footage from Thomas and Gordon and Thomas and the Guard is used.
 * The shot of Thomas passing the windmill was featured in the TV show's original opening.
 * A reference to the previous episode is made.
 * The events were referenced and mentioned by Thomas in the fourth series episode, Thomas and the Special Letter, and Bertie did the same in the sixth series episode, Harvey to the Rescue.
 * The episode can be seen in the Japanese PC game, Magical Adventure.
 * At one point, Thomas is on Toby's Old Tramway, albeit not yet mentioned.
 * This marks the last appearance of Terence's Field until the fourth series episode, Train Stops Play, not counting stock footage in the second series episode, Better Late Than Never.
 * The house by the level crossing is really the Lower Arlesburgh station building.
 * When this episode was featured on the VHS tape, The Tomica World Show, the end credits to the episode were omitted.
 * This episode was never released on VHS and DVD in South Korea.
 * This marks the first time Thomas and Bertie race each other. They would try to race each other again in Three Cheers for Thomas and successfully race a lot more in the CGI series.

Goofs

 * When Thomas and Bertie meet, Thomas' boiler has a chip in it.
 * During the first met of the two, the narrator says Thomas was waiting at the junction, but he is actually on a bus depot. This is because the narration was taken from the book, where Knapford is the junction with the Main Line and Thomas' Branch Line, while Knapford in the television series is the big station instead of Tidmouth.
 * When Thomas and Bertie are about to start their race, in the bottom left corner of the screen, a camera shadow can be seen.
 * Thomas has Percy's tired face mask on when he puffs into Elsbridge.
 * The narrator says "After that, the road left the railway so they couldn't see Bertie," but there is a road right next to Thomas.
 * The plane that is seen taking off as Thomas and his coaches leave Dryaw suddenly stops moving before they have passed the camera.
 * In a close-up of Bertie, he has no driver.
 * In the shot of Thomas racing past Lower Arlesburgh, the end of the set is visible in the background.
 * In the shot of Thomas entering the tunnel, in the top left corner, studio equipment can be seen.
 * Annie and Clarabel keep changing positions throughout the race.
 * In the restored version, studio equipment can be seen when Thomas pulls into Ffarquhar after the race.
 * In a close-up of Thomas, a camera capture can be seen on his coupling.
 * The narrator says Bertie was fuming at the gates, but Bertie is smiling. This is because his cross face had not yet been made; Bertie was given only one face in the first series.
 * Because stock footage is used, sometimes Annie and Clarabel are not behind Thomas.
 * When Thomas stops at Elsbridge, he passes the end of the platform, but when he is drinking water, he has moved backward.
 * As Bertie congratulates Thomas, the number of people near Bertie differs between shots.
 * In the final scene, studio equipment can be seen in the top left corner.

Home Media Releases
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UK

 * Further Adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
 * Troublesome Trucks and other stories
 * Troublesome Trucks, Coal and other stories
 * Thomas and the Breakdown Train and Other Stories
 * Bumper Special
 * Thomas and Gordon, Troublesome Trucks and other stories
 * Thomas Gets Bumped and 17 Other Stories
 * Playtime
 * My Little Thomas and Bertie Adventures
 * The Tomica World Show
 * The Complete Series 1
 * Thomas and Bertie

DVD Boxsets

 * Classic Collection

WAL

 * Troublesome Trucks and 8 Other Stories

US

 * James Learns a Lesson and Other Stories
 * Thomas and Bertie's Great Race and Other Adventures
 * 10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
 * Thomas' Trainyard Adventures
 * The Early Years
 * Engine Friends
 * Thomas and Friends Classic Volume 1

CAN

 * James Learns a Lesson and Other Stories
 * 10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
 * The Early Years
 * Engine Friends

VHS/DVD Boxsets

 * Special Video Collector's Set
 * Best Tales on the Tracks
 * Ultimate Thomas Collection
 * Totally Thomas Volume 7
 * Totally Thomas Volume 9

AUS

 * Troublesome Trucks and other stories
 * Playtime
 * 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

 * James and the Express and other stories
 * Troublesome Trucks and other stories
 * Playtime
 * Bumper Video Collection Volume 1

JPN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine Volume 4
 * Best of Thomas
 * Let's Sing Thomas Songs Together Vol.3
 * The Complete Works of Thomas the Tank Engine 1 Vol.8
 * Nice to Meet You Thomas!
 * Keep It Up Thomas!
 * The Complete DVD Box 1
 * Thomas and Bertie's Race
 * Magical Adventure

PHL

 * Thomas and Friends Collection
 * Thomas, Terence and the Snow

FRA

 * The Magic of Sodor

GER

 * Thomas and His Friends Vol. 1/Thomas and His Friends Vol. 2
 * Thomas and the Guard and 4 Other Adventures
 * It's Great to be a Locomotive!
 * Thomas in Trouble

DVD Boxsets

 * Thomas and His Friends Box Set 1

SWE

 * Thomas in Trouble

NL

 * The Great Race!
 * The Greatest Stories: The Adventures of Thomas

UKR

 * A Train Thomas and Friends

NOR

 * Thomas-Festival
 * Thomas the Tank Engine 2
 * Sports Special

FIN/ISL

 * Thomas the Tank Engine 2

DNK

 * Thomas in Trouble and Other Stories

IND

 * Thomas and Bertie Adventures

ITA

 * Trouble in Store

HRV

 * Thomas and Brakesman

ROM

 * Thomas and Percy

DVD Packs

 * Triple Pack 1

SER

 * Thomas the Tank Engine 1

SVN

 * Thomas and the Guard

GRC

 * The Adventures of Thomas

MYS

 * Thomas, Terence and the Snow and Other Adventures
 * Thomas and Gordon and Other Adventures

CHN

 * Thomas and Friends Season 1-4

THA

 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 2

HK

 * Thomas and Friends Volume 2

LATAM
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 * Personajes Favoritos Vol. 2

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