RWS #15: The Twin Engines

Losh sakes, laddies and lassies! It's tha Scottish twins, Donal' and Douggie in tha spotlite!

THE OPINIONS, THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS IN THIS BLOG POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF ZACK WANZER, NOT THE THOMAS FANDOM IN GENERAL

(special thanks to the Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia for the images)

The Railway Series Book #15

The Twin Engines

Written by The Rev. W. Awdry

Illustrated by John T. Kenney

Published 1960

With two more engines left to finish the Awdry 11 in the CGI series, and with their hopeful return in season 19, I feel it's high time I reviewed Donald and Douglas' book!

Dear Friends
Sir Topham Hatt has just been having a disturbing time! He ordered one goods engine from Scotland and was surprised to receive two!

They had both lost their numbers and no one knew which was which. So he didn't know which engine to keep.
The Author

"Hullo Twins!"

With the mainline busier than ever, the Fat Controller brings in a goods engine from Scotland to help, but is surprised when TWO arrive instead, having lost their numbers, and go by Donald and Douglas. Suspicious, the Fat Controller decides to give them numbers and will determine who's to stay.

Before you say anything about Duck not being here, he was the only other (known) engine working on the mainline, while Edward was on his branchline, as were the Ffarquhar Three (Thomas, Percy and Toby). That aside, it's quite short, but a good build up to the main events of the book.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

The Missing Coach

Cancelled Season 2 Episode

Donald and Douglas have been given numbers, 9 and 10 respectively. They work hard, but it all goes wrong one day when Douglas forgets to shunt Thomas' special coach, and so he swaps tenders with Donald. However, the Fat Controller isn't fooled and can see right through their trick.

Why was this cancelled?

Ah yes, the infamous episode that was cancelled due to being "too complicated" for kids. I say bull to that statement! The episode should never have been cancelled; it was a great build up to Donald and Douglas being desperate to stay together and avoiding scrap, and it was also an even stronger build up to the next two stories. Since David Mitton has died, God knows what's happened to the footage filmed for the episode. Maybe it'll be remade for CGI...?

In short, it's another of the greatest stories which has never been adapted, and the episode that replaced it was pretty pointless, which I'll get to soon enough.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Break Van

Season 2, Episode 16

With the threat of being sent away on their minds, Donald and Douglas resolve to be as good as each other, which isn't helped because of a rude brakevan who takes a dislike to Douglas, until Donald sets him straight. One day, Donald crashes into a signalbox, and James is made to take goods trains, much to his fury. The brakevan plays tricks on James, but when Douglas tries hard to push him up the hill, the brakevan falls apart, and the Fat Controller is unsure of what to do...

Clever play on words in the title, innit? :P

Because The Missing Coach was cancelled for very pointless reasons, the opening is rushed. However, you do feel bad for the twins; they were so prone to making mistakes, which tainted their good reputation to the Fat Controller's eyes. Also, if I'm honest, I thought the brakevan was used simply as a plot device, but he did have personality, at least. The way he was crumpled like an accordion was brilliantly filmed. The episode is good, but it loses a point due to the rushed opening.

RWS Rating: 9 out of 10
TV Series Rating: 8 out of 10

The Deputation

Season 2, Episode 17

Winter comes early to Sodor, and Donald and Douglas help to clear the snow, especially when Henry gets stuck, but they still worry about being sent away. Edward tells Percy that they need a deputation, but Percy misinterprets the word and is chosen to be the "disputation". Percy tells the Fat Controller that Donald and Douglas could be scrapped if they're sent away, but he's already decided to keep them both and give them new coats of paint.

Donald and Douglas' best story to date, buffers down, and it was adapted perfectly. It really shows how desperate times call for desperate measures; you shouldn't try it at home, unless it's really necessary like it was here.

RWS/TV Series Rating: 10 out of 10

Stray Observations

The illustration I chose for The Deputation just feels... wrong. Edward is here, and yet he didn't correct the engines about how "deputation" was pronounced! Had it been James or Donald (or was it Douglas?) in his spot, it wouldn't have looked out of place. Also, how'd he get there before Percy?

"Now which of you is 57646?" No such engine, Charles - they only went up to 57465!

Gordon calls the twins "Tugboat Annie" - that's a 1950s Canadian television series about a tough old widow in charge of a tugboat.

Overall

Another great book, and the first to be 9/10 or higher since Edward's book. This was the first to show how passionate Awdry was about preserving steam engines in the series; just a shame he didn't save a lot in the 1960s, really - given that there's over eighty engines in charge of the NWR, who knows what other engines work there?

Overall Book Rating: 9.1 out of 10

The Railway Series Scorecard

1. The Three Railway Engines: 8.4

2. Thomas the Tank Engine: 9
3. James the Red Engine: 7.5
4. Tank Engine Thomas Again: 9.5
5. Troublesome Engines: 8.1
6. Henry the Green Engine: 8.4
7. Toby the Tram Engine: 9
8. Gordon the Big Engine: 8.6
9. Edward the Blue Engine: 9.3
10. Four Little Engines: 8.8
11. Percy the Small Engine: 8.9
12. The Eight Famous Engines: 8.8
13. Duck and the Diesel Engine: 8.5
14. The Little Old Engine: 8.9
15. The Twin Engines: 9.1

Thomas and Friends Season 2 Scorecard

2. Cows: 8

3. Bertie's Chase: 9

4. Saved from Scrap: 9.5

5. Old Iron: 10
7. Percy and the Signal: 9
8. Duck Takes Charge: 8
9. Percy and Harold: 8.5
11. Percy Takes the Plunge: 6.5
12. Pop Goes the Diesel: 9
13. Dirty Work: 8
14. A Close Shave: 8.5
16. Break Van: 8
17. The Deputation: 10