A Surprise for Percy

**A Surprise for Percy** is the seventeenth episode of the fifth season and the 126th episode overall.

## Plot

Percy has been working at the coal mines and is fed up with the work. His driver tells him they need to make the best of a bad situation, and Percy agrees to try. But the next morning, the trucks start teasing Percy and sing about him being small, useless and slow, which angers Percy and he bumps some trucks hard. He takes some trucks to be loaded with coal, then he glumly takes them up the hill to the yards at Kellsthorpe Road. On his way back down, he has to stop at a crossing where Algy the Blue Bus is waiting. Percy explains his situation to Algy, and he tells Percy that excitement is surprising; no one knows when it will happen, otherwise it would not be exciting. As Algy leaves, Percy thinks about how things would be exciting if something surprising happened.

Later that day, Percy stops at the Elsbridge water tower where Toby is waiting. Percy says that things are boring, so Toby tries to cheer him up by suggesting he have a few fast spins on the turntable, but Percy thinks it will just make him dizzy. As he leaves, Toby tells him that he will soon know more about trucks than any other engine, and that would be exciting. When he returns to fetch more coal trucks, there are more trucks than ever, and they all begin complaining that Percy is too small to pull all of them uphill, calling him slow. Percy crossly biffs them, making the trucks giggle at his temper.

Percy is soon coupled up to a line of trucks and pulls them backwards towards the hill. The trucks continue joking about Percy being slow and taking all night and into the next day to get up the hill, but Percy finally snaps and demands them to be quiet. At that moment, just as he reaches the top, his coupling breaks and the trucks race backwards down the hill. They speed backwards through the level crossing where Algy is waiting, and Percy hurries down to the signal box. His driver tells the signalman, and the Kellsthorpe Road stationmaster tells the Fat Controller that the trucks are heading for the next hill. The hill would slow them down, but they may roll back into the village. The Fat Controller declares that they will just have to stop the trucks themselves.

In no time, the workmen board Algy, and he and the Fat Controller chase the trucks down the road, while Percy follows them on the track. As the Fat Controller and Algy reach the hill, they overtake the trucks. They come to a stop near the top of the hill just as the trucks begin to climb it themselves. The trucks slow to a stop, and the workmen manage to put chocks under the trucks' wheels to keep them from rolling away again, and then secured their brakes. Just then, Percy arrives, and Algy asks him what he thought of a chase. Percy admits that the chase was exciting and surprising. He decides that Algy was right: a Really Useful Engine should never be surprised by surprise.

## Characters

* Percy
* Toby
* Troublesome Trucks
* Algy
* The Fat Controller
* Henrietta *(cameo)*

## Locations

* Kirk Ronan Coal Mine
* Mr. Jolly’s Chocolate Factory
* Kellsthorpe Road
* Elsbridge
* Sir Topham Hatt's Office

## Trivia

* This episode is inspired by a runaway in the Garw Valley that occurred during David Maidment's time as Area Manager at Bridgend. That true story would later inspire Busy Going Backwards, the next episode after this one.