THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE
TENDER ENGINES
Originally written by
The Rev.W.Awdry
Adapated for Television by
Britt Allcroft and David Mitton
Air Date:
17/02/92
Plot:
Gordon was annoyed that Duck and James were annoying him and later on, he saw two tenders sticking out from the harbour yard, belonging to the world's most famous steam locomotive, 4472 Flying Scotsman. Diesel came and told Gordon that the diesels are taking over the railway. Next day Gordon was cross and as he backed down on the express, the Fat Controller told him that Diesels taking over the railway will never happen on his railway. And with the visitor, he has two tenders because of long distances between coaling depots which made Gordon a lot better. But Henry was jealous of the visitor and wanted his own, Duck played a trick on Henry that he has six tenders, which are grimy, old and filled with boiler sludge.
PRO:
- Thankfully 'Flying Scotsman's' model was not made, I'll tell you all later.
CON:
- Why can't Gordon recognises his own brother? They were both built in Doncaster.
- Flying Scotsman does not have two coal tenders.
- The story is not focused on the original.
Out of all the episode in this series, this one is my absolute favourite. Here is the reason why I'm glad that Flying Scotsman is not in the episode, despite not getting any recognition with a mention, its nice to see Scotsman getting an appearance with his tenders, but its a shame that the model was too expensive to make, according to Steve Asquith's interview on SiF. Yes the model being 'dropped' or 'damaged' at the studio is all a rumour. Here is the reason why I'm glad that 'Flying Scotsman' is not in the series at all. No, I'm not one of the Anti-Scotsman people, heck, I respect the engine with a passion since I saw a video of the real engine making her epic trip to Alice Springs in Australia in 1989.
But here is the reason, there is Stepney, who is really preserved at the Bluebell Railway in season four and later on when Britt Allcroft and HIT bought the rights to the Railway Series, in full ownership his railway is not on the mainland, its somewhere far away, he's been treated as one of the Fat Controller's engines around (5, 6 and 12, despite a cameo) and as a fictional character and think might what happens if HIT's writing staff used him (Flying Scotsman) in the series today? They would completely disgrace the engine's history and legacy.
As much as I would love to see Flying Scotsman in TTTE, I believe the tenders were a good choice to show, despite that they're filled with coal as the real two tenders are for coal and water since British Railways took down the water towers during the end of steam. And its also a shame that the famous engine was not mentioned as well. But to be fair, it's an enjoyable episode and I will watch it again and again.
Rating: 4/5
