Gordon Runs Dry

> Umm... Gordon? Have you got your, uh, brakes on?"
> "Maybe..."
> "Well, take them off, will you? How can I push you with your brakes on?
>
> Paxton and Gordon

**Gordon Runs Dry** is the fourth episode of the seventeenth series.

## Plot

At Knapford, Gordon is waiting impatiently for Percy to shunt his express coaches. He is only made more upset when Thomas suggests that he should fetch his own coaches. Gordon claims express trains are more important than local trains because local trains stop at every station.

Meanwhile, Paxton is pulling a stone train from Blue Mountain Quarry. Before he reaches the junction to the main line, the signal turns red. He avoids a near collision with Gordon, but one of the rocks from his train bounces off Gordon's boiler. Instead of allowing his crew to check over the damage, Gordon hurries away to stay on time. Gordon's boiler begins to run dry, but instead of filling up on water, he passes by the water tower. However, he cannot help but think about water when he passes a lake and a stream.

Eventually he does stop to fill up, but his passengers complain about being behind schedule. At Wellsworth, Henry makes fun of Gordon for being late. Once again, he passes by a water tower instead of filling up, but a little further, he cannot help but stop. On his way with the Local, Thomas notices a trail of water on the tracks that lead to Gordon. They conclude that the rock had put a hole in Gordon's boiler.

Thomas takes Gordon's express passengers and Paxton shunts the express coaches into a siding before shunting Gordon to the Steamworks. At first, Gordon keeps his brakes on, embarrassed that he has to be shunted. After being repaired, the engines still make fun of him for letting his boiler run dry.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Henry
* Gordon
* James
* Percy
* Paxton
* Annie and Clarabel Template:Do not speak
* Toby Template:Cameo
* Victor Template:Cameo
* Henrietta Template:Cameo
* The Bird Watcher Template:Cameo
* Two Schoolchildren Template:Cameo
* Dowager Hatt's Friends Template:Cameo
* The Great Railway Show Judge Template:Cameo
* The Female Puppet Show Entertainer Template:Cameo
* Sir Topham Hatt Template:Mentioned

A man's voice is also heard over a station speaker.

## Locations

* Tidmouth Sheds
* Knapford
* Kellsthorpe Road
* Crosby Lake
* Wellsworth
* Maron
* Sodor Steamworks
	+ Victor's Shed
* The Fenland Track
* Blue Mountain Quarry Template:Mentioned
* Tidmouth Template:Mentioned
* Crosby Template:Mentioned
* Cronk Template:Mentioned

## Cast

### UK

* Ben Small as Thomas
* Keith Wickham as Henry, Gordon, James, Percy and the Maron Station Speaker
* Steven Kynman as Paxton

### US

* Martin Sherman as Thomas and Percy
* Kerry Shale as Henry, Gordon and James
* Steven Kynman as Paxton
* Keith Wickham as the Maron Station Speaker

## Trivia

* Going by production order, this is the second episode of the seventeenth series.
* Some fade effects are missing in both the UK version and the televised US version.
* Stock footage from Wayward Winston is used.
* This is the first episode of a few things:
	+ The first episode directly written by Andrew Brenner. Previously, eleven episodes of the third series and one episode of the fifth series were adapted from magazine stories written by him.
	+ The first time that Tidmouth, Crosby and Cronk have been mentioned in the CGI series.
* When Gordon is naming the stations, they are in the order in which they would appear on a map of Sodor.
* This episode's plot is similar to the magazine story Too Hot.
* An alternate cut of this episode exists containing some different shots than in the original release of the episode. In this version, the scene where Gordon admits his mistake to Thomas and Paxton uses a different camera angle and an extra shot of Paxton trying to push Gordon is added. Gordon's lamp is present in all of these shots, while it is not seen in the rest of the episode. This version is used for television airings in the US, Australia and Norway and is also used on the UK/AUS DVD release of Railway Mischief and The Complete Series 17 UK DVD.

## Goofs

* The Bird Watcher is one of the passengers in Gordon's express, but when Paxton is pushing Gordon to the Sodor Steamworks, the Bird Watcher is standing on the platform at Kellsthorpe. Also, the Great Railway Show Judge boarded Gordon's train at Wellsworth, but is standing on the platform at Maron. A young boy can also be seen on the train, but is later seen stood on the platform at Wellsworth.
* The hole in Gordon's boiler moves throughout the episode.
* After the first close-up of the grumpy passengers Gordon whistles, but no steam is seen coming out from his whistle and he does not move.
* After Gordon leaves the first water tower, there is no coal in his tender.
* When James says "Watch out for flying stones," his face slightly moves.
* When Thomas first arrives at Knapford, the bookstall appears to be missing.
* For most of the episode, Gordon is running under North American directional rules.
* James is seen moving at Maron with no steam.
* When the camera zooms in on Paxton, it is an editing zoom which causes pixelation.
* When Gordon almost crashes into Paxton, all of his wheels spark, including his tender wheels, when only his driving wheels should spark as they are the only wheels with brakes.