Cows

**Cows** is the second episode of the second season and the 32nd episode overall. It is based on the story of the same name from the ninth Railway Series book, Edward the Blue Engine.

## Plot

Edward's age is beginning to show due to having some worn-out parts, causing him to make clanking sounds. One day, Edward is pulling some cattle wagons to a nearby market town; the trucks are making a lot of noise, as is he by this point. Near the line is a field where some cows are grazing, and they become provoked by the noise from the train as they are not used to them. As Edward passes by the fence, a number of cows break loose, charge across the line and break a coupling, causing the last truck and guard's van to be left behind. Believing the jerk to be the trucks misbehaving, Edward continues on his journey. It's not until Edward gets to the next station that he or his driver realised what happened.

Gordon and Henry hear about the incident and find it very funny, leading them to tease Edward about letting a few cows break his train and brag that they could handle cows easily to his annoyance. Toby is also indignant towards the larger engines as he knows they have never encountered cows like he has and do not understand the trouble they cause.

A few days later, Edward's mood is still bad when Gordon sails through Wellsworth with the express, still teasing him. Gordon continues down the line, telling the coaches to hurry until he and his driver think they see something on the upcoming bridge. The driver shuts off steam and as Gordon slows to a stop, he sees that the obstacle is a cow. He tries to shoo it, but she refuses to budge from her loneliness due to the fact that her calf has disappeared. Gordon's crew and passengers try to get the cow to leave, but to no avail.

Henry soon comes by with his train and also thinks that the cow can simply be ordered away, but is also unable to get her to move and nervously reverses so as not to hurt her. Once back to the station, Henry's guard tells the stationmaster about the cow blocking the line. The porter realises that it is Bluebell, declaring that her calf is at the station and that they will send it to the bridge in a truck pulled by Percy.

Arriving at the bridge, Percy reunites the calf with its mother and the two cows are easily led away by the porter. Gordon and Henry make an agreement not to tell anyone about the incident, but the story quickly gets around. That night, Edward is ready to tease Gordon and Henry in the shed. Gordon defends himself and Henry, claiming that they stopped to prevent Bluebell from running up against them. Edward says that he understands, but Gordon worries that Edward understands all too well.

## Characters

* Edward
* Henry
* Gordon
* Toby
* Green Express Coaches
* Troublesome Trucks
* Percy *(does not speak)*
* James *(cameo)*

## Locations

* Brendam Docks
* Suddery
* The Viaduct
* The Cow Field
* Wellsworth
* Tidmouth Sheds
	+ Tidmouth Goods Station
* Crosby
	+ Crosby Bridge
	+ C&B Barber

## Trivia

* This is the first appearance of the Brendam Docks in the series.
* This episode is based on two events. One, in South Africa, involved a herd of elephants charging and breaking a train on 28 November, 1952, and the other involved a herd of cows blocking the line and leaving three passenger trains stranded for an hour and a half on Boxing Day, 1952.