Thomas the Jet Engine

"Hi, Gordon! Bye, Gordon!"

- Thomas overtaking Gordon

Thomas the Jet Engine, lengthened to Thomas and the Jet Engine in several North American releases, is the twenty-second episode of the sixth series.

Plot
Gordon is boasting about how fast he can go, which none of the other engines care about, when The Fat Controller needs Thomas to deliver a jet engine to Dryaw. So, Thomas now wishes he could go faster than Gordon.

Thomas is very excited when he arrives at the Docks and sees Cranky lowering the jet engine onto the rails. He is soon ready to leave, but Cranky is taking his time. Thomas tells him to hurry up, worried that he would not be able to deliver it on time, but Cranky gets cross because he does not like to be told what to do by an engine when a load needs to be delivered in a hurry. Suddenly, Cranky carelessly turns the jet engine on with his hook. The jet engine starts to whine loudly, and is soon rocketing Thomas along the track. Thomas' driver tries to apply the brakes, but Thomas cannot stop.

Signals are changed and points are switched for the runaway Thomas, who is very excited and soon flies by James, Henry and Percy, who are all very amazed by the high speed action. When Bertie sees Thomas, he asks him if he would like to have a race, but when Thomas whooshes past him, Bertie quickly reconsiders. Gordon, who is pulling the Express, does not know Thomas is racing on the main line. Soon Thomas whooshes past Gordon, who is very surprised.

At last, the jet engine runs out of fuel and Thomas is back to his normal speed. Still on his way to the jet engine's destination, he steams gently into Knapford and teases Gordon by saying that he is the fastest engine. Henry and James agree, but Percy feels sorry for Gordon and tells the engines that he does not have to go as fast as a jet engine, even though James says that Gordon is full of hot air, and Gordon fumes away.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Bertie
 * Cranky
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Donald
 * Tiger Moth
 * Farmer Trotter
 * Dowager Hatt
 * Cyril the Fogman
 * The Boy
 * One Little Boy
 * One stone-dropping boy
 * The Railway Society
 * Cricket Umpire
 * The Important Passenger
 * Mid Sodor Railway Manager
 * The Portly Man
 * Big Mickey
 * Toad
 * Allicia Botti

Locations

 * Knapford
 * Elevated Town Runby
 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Shipping Company
 * Brendam Warehouse
 * Wellsworth Crossing
 * Lower Tidmouth
 * Crosby Tunnel
 * Crosby Road Bridge
 * Dryaw
 * Dryaw Airfield
 * The Watermill
 * Maron
 * Gordon's Hill
 * Three-Track Road Bridge
 * The Viaduct
 * Hawin Ab

Trivia

 * Extended stock footage from Bye George! and Gordon Takes a Tumble is used.
 * This is the first time that Knapford Station is referred to by name in the television series.
 * In the US, this episode first appeared as a storybook adaption in the James and the Red Balloon and Other Thomas the Tank Engine Stories book as well as a ViewMaster reel before being released on home video.
 * Inspiration for this episode could have come from the rocket-powered rail-sleds used by the United States Air Force.
 * This is the second episode to have a rendition of the runaway theme combined with the William Tell Overture (Finale), the first being Busy Going Backwards.
 * The Hot Air Balloon was indirectly mentioned when Thomas explains to Percy what a Jet Engine was.
 * This episode marks the last of a few things:
 * The last appearance of The Elsbridge Cricket Club and the Little Boy with his Father.
 * The last appearances of Lower Tidmouth and the Crosby Road Bridge in the television series.
 * The last physical appearance of Crosby in the television series, although it makes a deleted scene appearance in the eighth series episode, Henry and the Wishing Tree and it was later mentioned in the seventeenth series episode, Gordon Runs Dry.
 * The opening, runaway and ending themes for this episode were officially released on Junior Campbell's YouTube channel.
 * In the episode itself, Thomas is smiling when he races past Lower Tidmouth. But in a promotional photo, he looks shocked.
 * The shot of the jet engine being lowered onto the tracks appears to be shown in reverse.
 * Some shots of Thomas with the jet engine are sped up.
 * Three posters at Knapford read Allicia Botti in Concert Tonight at the Castle.
 * Toad's scrap model from Escape can be seen in one of the shots of Thomas racing out of the Docks.
 * The events of this episode were referenced by Thomas in the eighteenth series episode, Emily Saves the World.
 * In a photograph of Thomas passing Henry on Gordon's Hill, the former is on the left track instead of the middle.
 * An excerpt of this episode was used on Ponkickies 30th Anniversary Special, where some children had a dubbing experience with Leo Morimoto and Chisato Nakajima.
 * This was the second of the two sixth series episodes to be dubbed in Croatian.
 * This was the only episode past Series 4 to be broadcast by Nelonen in Finland.

Goofs

 * In the close-up of Gordon's driver in his cab, Knapford is missing.
 * In Thomas' first close-up at Knapford, the track he is on simply ends behind him.
 * The Fat Controller tells Thomas to take the jet engine to the airfield, but at the end of the episode, he takes it back to Knapford.
 * When Percy asks what a jet engine is, there are fingerprints on the Fat Controller's hat and shoulder.
 * When Gordon is talking at Knapford, some wires are visible in Percy's cab window.
 * When Cranky knocks the switch, the chain holding the jet engine disappears.
 * The jet engine's switch is already on before Cranky hits it with his hook, so the engine would have been turned off.
 * When the jet engine starts, there are some barrels and crates beside it. But after Cranky says "Uh-oh," they have moved.
 * When Thomas rushes through Lower Tidmouth, the people are huddled close together, but in the next shot, some have disappeared, and the rest are spaced further apart.
 * In the picture of a deleted scene, the station footbridge at Maron is missing.
 * When James gets covered in the dust, his body is crooked.
 * In the shot of the girder bridge, the left-most track leads to the background shrubbery. This can be noticeable before Thomas overtakes Gordon.
 * Just after Bertie says "Want a race, Thomas?" the lines where Thomas came from lead to the bushes; when Thomas runs alongside Gordon, the tracks up ahead also lead to the bushes.
 * In the shot where Gordon is going under a bridge, Thomas can be seen standing still in the background before suddenly moving again.
 * Just before Thomas overtakes Gordon, in the wide shot of Thomas before the point of view shot, Gordon's brake coach is seen at the edge of the screen showing that the train is not moving.
 * When Thomas passes Gordon, the Jet Engine does not appear to be switched on since no fumes are coming out of the back. In the same shot, the tracks lead into some bushes.
 * A chain can be seen pulling Gordon along as well as moving to its right as the camera shows Thomas racing past him. In the same scene, his buffers and coupling are crooked.
 * The jet engine is hollow, but in the close-up of it running out of fuel, the red tank is visible through the nozzle.
 * In the last close-up of Percy, his left buffer has excess rubber on the bottom and a girl in pink looks like she is boarding Percy's train of trucks.
 * In the Russian dub, when the engines are at the station the second time, Michael Angelis' narration is heard in the background.
 * In the Polish dub, no narration is heard when Bertie is waiting at the level crossing.

Quotes
_______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________
 * James: Speed isn't everything.
 * Thomas: But being reliable and useful is.
 * Gordon: You slow engines will never understand, because you'll never go as fast as me.
 * Cranky: (after realising he accidentally started the Jet Engine) Uh-oh!
 * Thomas: [taken on a wild ride driven by the jet engine] WHOOOO(OOOOO)OOOOOOOA...!
 * Bertie: Want a race, Thomas? (Thomas whooshes by) Uh, never mind...
 * Thomas: [after his wild ride] Sorry for overtaking you back there, Gordon.
 * Gordon: Overtake me? I didn't notice.
 * Henry: You didn't notice the fastest engine on the Island of Sodor?
 * Thomas: Yes. I am the fastest.
 * Percy: Gordon doesn't have to go as fast as a jet engine. He's a steam engine.
 * James: But he's still full of hot air!

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway
 * Capsule Plarail
 * Take Along
 * Motor Road and Rail
 * TrackMaster
 * Pocket Fantasy
 * Books - Thomas and the Jet Engine and the German version
 * Egmont - Thomas and the Jet Engine
 * Magazine Stories - Rocket Power

Home Media Releases
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UK

 * The Chocolate Crunch and other stories
 * Bumper Party Collection!
 * Thomas and the Jet Engine
 * The Complete Series 6
 * 1st Class Stories

DVD Packs

 * Classic Collection
 * Bumper Party Collection!/Truck Loads of Fun Double Pack
 * Pulling Together!/The Chocolate Crunch Double Pack
 * Brave Little Engines/The Chocolate Crunch Double Pack
 * Peep Peep Party, Engines to the Rescue, & The Chocolate Crunch Triple Pack
 * Double DVD Giftset

WAL

 * Percy Yummy! and Other Stories

US

 * Thomas and the Jet Engine and Other Adventures
 * Thomas and the Jet Engine
 * Thomas & Friends Classic Volume 6

CAN

 * Thomas and the Jet Engine and Other Adventures

DVD Packs

 * Totally Thomas Volume 8
 * Play Date Pack
 * Adventure On the Tracks

AUS

 * Thomas and the Jet Engine
 * The Complete Series 6

DVD Packs

 * 60th Anniversary - Limited Edition Boxset
 * Complete Series 1-10
 * Series Five and Series Six Double Pack

SWE

 * Percy's Chocolate Dip

NOR/DK

 * Percy's Chocolate Crash

DK DVD Boxsets

 * Danish DVD Boxset

SVN

 * Chocolate Percy

MYS

 * Thomas and the Jet Engine and Other Thomas Adventures
 * Scaredy Engines and Other Adventures

JPN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine Series 6 Vol.1
 * Will Not Stop

KOR

 * Character Special Edition Series Vol. 2
 * A Story That Builds Confidence

PHL

 * Edward, the Very Useful Engine

ITA

 * The Jet Engine

HK

 * Thomas and Friends Volume 15
 * Thomas and Friends Volume 5

THA

 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 22

TWN
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 * Thomas and Friends Volume 5

Tomos a'r Jet Thomas y el Jet תומס קטר הסילון ジェットエンジンのトーマス Tomek, Odrzutowa Lokomotywa Томас - реактивный двигатель