Toby Takes the Road

**Toby Takes the Road** is the sixth episode of Season 1 of Sudrian Stories.

## Synopsis

Terence takes care of the shunting for Percy while he is at the harbour, and brags about how he can "go anywhere and do anything". Then one day, Toby is going to the quarry one hot afternoon. At the crossing, the tracks buckle due to the heat, derailing Toby and creating two long ruts in the road nearby. With some quick thinking on the driver's part Toby gets back on the rails, and he heads home. Sir Topham Hatt soon finds out, but all he says is that Toby should stick to the railway. Toby happily agrees.

## Plot

Following Thomas' absence while he's traveling across the world, work on his branchline increased, meaning Percy and Toby were working harder than ever before. Percy and Toby begin to grow fed up having extra work, but Sir Topham Hatt congratulates them on their hard efforts, keeping the branchline running with one less engine. Nevertheless, Sir Topham Hatt has an idea to bring in an "extra shunter" to help. Percy and Toby are excited and begin to wonder who it will be. To their surprise, it's... Terence the Tractor?

Terence lets Toby know that he'll be helping with the shunting, but Toby doesn't understand. Terence is adaptable, but the engines aren't too sure a tractor can be as efficient as an engine. Terence worked well in the yard, pulling coaches around, which helped take a bit of the workload off Percy and Toby, who grew impressed as he continued to work.

However, the next morning was hotter than ever. On his way to the quarry, Toby slips off the rails in a flash, not noticing that they have buckled underneath him. Toby had ended up on the road! Forunately, his wheels had made ruts in the ground and he was able to reverse safely back onto the rails and head to the quarry at last.

That night, Sir Topham Hatt arrives at Ffarquhar and jokes about Toby being a traction engine for the day. Sir Topham Hatt tells Toby that he should leave the roads for what they were made for, and Toby wholeheartedly agrees. The next day, Thomas and Nia return to Sodor across the Vicarstown Bridge.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Percy
* Toby
* Nia
* Terence
* Sir Topham Hatt
* Toby's Driver
* Annie and Clarabel (*do not speak*)
* Mavis (*cameo*)
* Henrietta (*cameo*)
* Elsie (*cameo*)
* Trevor (*fantasy*)
* Jem Cole (*fantasy*)
* Duck (*mentioned*)
* Oliver (*mentioned*)

## Cast

* Ilovetrains323 as Percy
* MainlandStudios as Toby
* EpicLafiteau as Terence
* Papa Mainland as Sir Topham Hatt
* Queen Cynthia as Toby's Driver
* John Hasler as Thomas (*stock audio*)
* Yvonne Grundy as Nia (*stock audio*)

## Trivia

* This episode was adapted from the Railway Series book, *Toby, Trucks & Trouble*.
* Percy mentions that he "once plowed a field and didn't like it." This is a reference to Ilovetrains323's series, Thomas: The Trainz Adventures.
* This is the first episode written by Ilovetrains323.
* Papa Mainland and Queen Cynthia join the voice cast.
* Thomas is absent during this episode because it takes place during *Big World! Big Adventures!*.

## Goofs

* In one shot, Percy's lamp is missing.
* Before Sir Topham Hatt arrives, Toby is facing the sheds. In the next scene, he has turned around. There was actually a now deleted scene explaining that Toby turned around to get ready for his next job.
* The Narrator says Toby's wheels had made ruts in the road, however no ruts can be seen. This is due to the fact that the dirt rut textures kept clipping through the road so EpicLafiteau decided to remove them completely.
* In a now unlisted livestream, EpicLafiteau and Ilovetrains323 both commented that Sir Topham Hatt's role should have been Mr. Percival as Sir Topham Hatt would have been off Sodor while Thomas was going around the world.