Down the Mine

**"Down the Mine"** is the twenty-fifth episode from season one.

Thomas goes to a lead mine to collect some trucks but foolishly passes a danger board and falls down a mine.

*“Down a mine, is he? Ha, ha, ha! What a joke!”*
―Gordon

## Plot

One day while Thomas is waiting at the junction, Gordon, who is in disgrace after recently causing trouble by falling into a ditch, pulls in with some trucks. As soon as Gordon stops, Thomas jokes about him smelling of ditch water. Before Gordon can respond, Thomas leaves with his coaches.

Annie and Clarabel are shocked at Thomas' rudeness, and scold him for it. Thomas is pleased with his clever joke though and heads off to collect trucks at the lead mines, leaving his coaches still in shock. The mine was made a long time ago by miners who made tunnels under the ground. The roofs of the tunnels are strong enough to hold up the weight of trucks, but not engines. At the points, there is a "Danger" board warning engines not to enter the area.

Thomas has often tried to pass the board, but has always failed. This time however, he has made a plan. When his fireman leaves the cab to change the points, Thomas bumps the trucks hard and knocks his driver off the footplate allowing him to pass the board. Then he moves over the unsafe rails, which collapse and leave him lodged in a small chasm and feeling very silly.

Then The Fat Controller arrives, having seen everything. After telling Thomas off for his naughtiness, he begins to think about how to get Thomas out. A crane would be too heavy for the ground to support, so he decides to call in Gordon to pull Thomas out. Thomas feels uneasy about this, given how much he laughed at Gordon for his own accident.

Shortly afterward with a winch attached to his buffer beam, Gordon heads to the rescue feeling much happier after hearing about Thomas' situation. Arriving at the scene, Gordon promises to get Thomas out "in a couple of puffs". A long cable is fastened between them and after a lot of hard work and pulling, Gordon is able to finally get Thomas out of the chasm.

Thomas apologizes to Gordon for his cheekiness earlier. Gordon accepts Thomas' apology and tells him that he found his joke funny. Now both engines are in disgrace, so they agree to form an alliance and help each other in the future. With that, the two engines are coupled together and head back to the shed.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Gordon
* Annie and Clarabel
* Sir Topham Hatt
* Troublesome Trucks (*do not speak*)
* One Little Boy (*stock footage*)

## Locations

* Lower Tidmouth
* Knapford
* The Lead Mines
* Rail Under Road Bridge and Signalbox

## Trivia

* This episode is based on the story of the same name from *The Railway Series* book, Gordon the Big Engine.
* The events of this episode directly continue into the fourth season episode, Paint Pots and Queens.
* The events of this episode are also mentioned by Thomas in Percy Takes the Plunge, James in Journey Beyond Sodor, Diesel in Big World! Big Adventures! during the song Where in the World is Thomas? and Thomas in Deep Trouble.
* Furthermore, there is a full-on flashback to this episode in Blue Mountain Mystery. The scene where Thomas falls down the mine was recreated in full CGI.
* Stock footage from Thomas and the Guard and Thomas and Bertie is used.
* In January 1985, when originally first broadcast in the United Kingdom as a double-bill with Off the Rails, this episode was shown before the previous episode, meaning that the viewers would not understand the latter being mentioned. Early VHS releases instead pair it with Thomas' Christmas Party, as do Norwegian and Swedish broadcasts.
* Some of the trucks at the mine have "N.E." written on their sides, which is likely a reference to the livery worn by LNER rolling stock (including locomotives) during World War II.
* The buffers on the truck Thomas bumps into are lowered specifically so that Thomas can hit them properly.
* According to Britt Allcroft, this episode and the third season episode, All at Sea are her favourite episodes.
* In the Welsh version, Thomas is not seen bumping the trucks.
* The Korean title of this episode shares the same name as Thomas and Gordon.
* This is the time in the classic series where Sir Topham Hatt is used in the Latin American dub.
* When Thomas leaves Knapford to go to the lead mines, Thomas' model from the unaired pilot is used.
* Pictures of this episode were used for the end credits section of Mister Moose's Fun Time.

## Goofs

* When Thomas shunts Annie and Clarabel, his eyes look wonky and Annie and Clarabel are missing their names.
* In the sign's close-up, it says: "DANGER: Engines must not pass this **board**," but when Thomas passes the board, it says: "DANGER: Engines must not pass this **point**" instead.
* When Gordon and Thomas leave the mine, Thomas' wheels drag along the line for a few seconds before he blows his whistle.
* When the narrator says "But he (Thomas) didn't want to meet Gordon just yet," a small piece of hair is seen on the left side of Thomas' smoke box.
* Thomas' side rods are in different positions both before and after he is pulled out of the mine.
* When Annie and Clarabel say "He's dreadfully rude. I feel quite ashamed," Annie is facing the wrong way.
* Due to reusing footage from the unaired pilot, Thomas's splashers briefly lose their lining.

## Home Media Releases

UK
* Further Adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
* Coal and other stories
* Troublesome Trucks, Coal and other stories
* Bumper Special
* Down the Mine and Other Stories
* Your Favourite Story Collection
* Chases, Races and Runaways
* The Complete Series 1

DVD Boxsets
* Classic Collection

US
* Better Late Than Never and Other Stories (*Ringo Starr's narration*)
* Thomas and His Friends Help Out
* Thomas and His Friends Get Along
* Best of Gordon
* The Early Years (*Ringo Starr's UK narration*)
* Thomas and Friends Classic Volume 1

VHS/DVD Packs
* Ultimate Thomas Collection
* Thomas and His Friends Help Out/Thomas' Trackside Tunes **Double Feature**
* Totally Thomas Volume 2
* Totally Thomas Volume 3
* Best Tales on the Tracks
* Thomas' Useful Stories
* Best of Collection

AUS
* Coal and other stories
* The Complete Series 1

DVD Boxsets
* Complete Series 1-10
* Classic Collection
* Series One and Series Two **Double Pack**

NZ
* Coal and other stories
* Percy Runs Away and Other Stories
* Bumper Video Collection Volume 3

FRA
* The Talkative Trains

KOR
* Stories to Raise Cooperation

JPN
* Thomas the Tank Engine Volume 6
* The Complete Works of Thomas the Tank Engine 1 Vol.7
* The Complete DVD Box 1
* I Love Thomas DVD Collection
* Try to Get Along

PHL
* Down the Mine

NL
* A Nasty Case
* The Greatest Stories: The Adventures of Thomas, Percy and Gordon

UKR
* A Train Thomas and Friends

BRA
* Helping the Friends

NOR/FIN/ISL
* Thomas the Tank Engine 3

GER
* Thomas and His Friends Vol. 3
* Toby and the Elegant Men and 4 Other Adventures
* In The Mine
* Lots of Little Helpers

DVD Boxsets
* Thomas and His Friends Box Set 2

SVN
* Bertie's Race (Slovenian DVD)

IN
* Down the Mine and Other Stories (DVD)

MYS
* Henry's Forest and Other Thomas Adventures
* Tenders and Turntables and Other Adventures

ITA
* The Grumpy Locomotive

ROM
* Thomas and Percy

DVD Packs
* Triple Pack 1

SER
* Thomas the Tank Engine 2

HRV
* Thomas in Trouble

WAL
* Letting Off Steam and 8 Other Stories

CHN
* Thomas and Friends Season 1-4

HK
* Thomas and Friends Volume 3

THA
* Thomas and Friends - Volume 4

DNK
* Thomas in Trouble and Other Stories