RWS #16: Branch Line Engines

I think we've seen enough of the mainline engines for the time being. How about a journey back on Thomas' branchline?

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 #16

Branch Line Engines

Written by The Rev. W. Awdry

Illustrated by John T. Kenney

Published 1961

Rarely is there a dull moment on Thomas' branchline, especially when the engines there get into mishaps!

Dear Friends,
We never have a dull moment on our Branch Line. Thomas was silly and got into trouble, so a Diesel Rail-car called Daisy came. She caused trouble, but has now promised to be good, so the Fat Controller has kindly given her another chance.

Meanwhile Toby chased a bull, Percy got into a predicament and...

But you must read the stories for yourselves.
The Author

Thomas Comes to Breakfast

Season 2, Episode 18

Thomas becomes conceited after his driver remarks that he might not need him anymore, but when a careless cleaner meddles with his controls in the morning, Thomas runs away into the stationmaster's house and is made to go to the works for a while.

I love this episode! It's funny to how after Thomas crashes into the stationmaster's house, the stationmaster doesn't freak out, but instead, with a sigh of annoyance, he shuts off the blue tank engine's steam while the wife scolds Thomas for his carelessness. (Granted, the cleaner was involved, but that's another matter.) Strange that Donald and Douglas weren't repainted blue in this episode, but what the heck, you can't have it all, and I'll get to why later.

RWS/TV Series Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Daisy

Season 2, Episode 19

After Thomas' accident, a diesel railcar named Daisy is brought in to do his work, but is hard to please when she refuses to share the carriage sheds with Annie, Clarabel and Henrietta, and especially at the thought of pulling the milk wagon - it's bad for her swerves, apparently!

Poor Daisy; she's only had three speaking roles in the series (as well as two cameos) and was completely ignored. I would love to see her make a full comeback in CGI; she would the Ffarquhar crew, and maybe she'll look more like her RWS counterpart. Her debut was incredible, and she does what Diamond Tiara most likely won't - she learns that being a brat will get you nowhere in life. Interestingly enough, the females dominated the number of males in the episode - Daisy and the coaches to Percy, Toby, and the Fat Controller.

RWS/TV Series Rating: 9 out of 10

Bulls Eyes

Season 4, Episode 21

Daisy teases Toby for his cowcatchers and sideplates, thinking that he's afraid of getting hurt, even if he explains that they're to keep him safe from hurting animals should they stray onto the line; Daisy, however, thinks that they'll move if you toot and look them in the eye. However, when a runaway bull named Champion strays close to the line, Daisy eats her words when she can't scare him off, and to add insult to injury, Toby shoos Champion by wheeshing at him.

In season two, several stories were skipped, and Bulls Eyes is a prime example; in the following story, Daisy had changed her ways, but here, it feels like she reverted to her old personality when it was held back for season four. I would've had books 9-16 for season two, and books 17 and 20-26 (barring 25) for season three, to more or less follow the original book order, with Stepney's and Duke's respective books being specials. Nothing wrong with the adaptation; it's in the wrong place, and the fact that Daisy feels like she went backwards doesn't help at all.

RWS Rating: 9 out of 10
TV Series Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Percy's Predicament

Season 2, Episode 20

Percy is in a bad mood when Daisy leaves the milk behind, so Toby offers to let Percy take his trucks for him from the quarry, but it doesn't end well when Percy is rude to the trucks, and they push him into a train of stone trucks for revenge. Percy and Daisy are both scolded by the Fat Controller, but he agrees to give Daisy another chance when she worked hard after Percy's accident. Thomas returns home with his running plate straightened and all are now friends.

Two things:

1. Percy has been to the quarry before in Percy and Harold (TV series, at least), so to see he's never been there before makes no sense.
2. Because Bulls Eyes wasn't adapted before this, how is Daisy afraid of bulls and cows?

Even though the original and the adaptation are of the same quality, the adaptation loses a point due to the second fault I have.

RWS Rating: 9.5 out of 10
TV Series Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Stray Observations

Thomas being scolded in Thomas Comes to Breakfast might sound unfair, but here's the key thing - he tried to move on his own, plus he was being arrogant and got punished for it. As for the wife caring more about the breakfast than her house? Well, let's just say that she probably wasn't thinking straight. And Donald (or is it Douglas?) still in black? They probably didn't have the blue paint ready for them, or they couldn't be repainted until the workload on the mainline had died down.

Thomas Comes to Breakfast had been arranged so Awdry could alter the shape of Thomas' running plate. I wonder how it'd have gone if he remained a J50...?

The crash depicted in Percy's Predicament had been met with indignation from a railwayman writing to Awdry that the accident wasn't possible; he was wrong, and Awdry was right - Percy's Predicament was based on an incident on April 13, 1876 where a 0-6-0 Class H No. 123 "Phyllis" lost control and ran into the back of a stationary coal train and came to rest on two coal trucks. Like Awdry said: "Whatever happened to Thomas, Gordon, Henry and the others had to have actually happened to some engine at some time somewhere, and have a railway-like explanation which fitted."

Overall

Another fantastic book featuring the Ffarquhar engines (must be another of my personal biases!), and an equally fantastic introduction to Daisy, a great, underused character. I guess what I like about the books focusing on the Ffarquhar branchline written by Wilbert is that the line was used sporadically - Tank Engine Thomas Again and Percy the Small Engine, as well as one or two stories from Toby the Tram Engine, Gordon the Big Engine and The Eight Famous Engines each were all focused on this famous line. The other books by Wilbert featuring the line as the central focus in at least one story are Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine and Tramway Engines; this is in contrast to Christopher's era, where the branchline was focused upon a lot, but I'll get to all those soon enough.

Overall Book Rating: 9.3 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
16. Branch Line Engines: 9.3

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
18. Thomas Comes to Breakfast: 9.5
19. Daisy: 9
20. Percy's Predicament: 8.5

Thomas and Friends Season 4 Scorecard

5. Four Little Engines: 7
6. A Bad Day for Sir Handel: 6.5
7. Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady: 9.5
8. Trucks!: 8
9. Home at Last: 8.5
10. Rock 'n' Roll: 9
19. Henry and the Elephant: 7
21. Bulls Eyes: 6.5
22. Thomas and the Special Letter: 8.5
23. Paint Pots and Queens: 8