Stepney's Noon on Sodor

**Stepney's Noon on Sodor** is the third episode of the first season.

## Plot

Stepney the Bluebell Engine has friends on both Sodor and the Mainland, but his best friend of all was Rusty, the little diesel who saved him from scrap. One day, Stepney has finished all of his jobs early and intends on visiting the little engines at the wharf when he sees the Fat Controller at Vicarstown Station and asks him to do some odd jobs. At first devastated that this will mean he cannot go to the wharf, he has an idea: if he can ask someone to help him with one of his jobs, he might be able to get to the wharf.

Stepney's first job is to shunt some trucks at Bridlington Goods Yard, as the diesel shunters were too busy to help him. He asks Bluebell for help, but she is too busy. Then Stepney has to take some empty flatbeds to the Steelworks so they can be loaded with steel. On the way, he asks Connor for assistance, but he is running late and has no time to help. So Stepney took a shortcut nearby, dropped off the flatbeds, and hurried off before he could be locked in. Finally, Stepney has to help Beresford with some cargo and asks Wilbert to share the workload, but Wilbert was busy delivering a piston rod. However, Beresford states that the ship has been caught in rough seas and will not arrive until the next morning, leaving Stepney enough time to visit his friend Rusty at the wharf on Sodor.

On the way back, however, he meets the Flying Scotsman, who asks Stepney where he is going. After Stepney states about his jobs and how he had tried to ask Bluebell, Connor, and Wilbert for help, the Flying Scotsman states that they were too busy to help Stepney because they were helping him. The Flying Scotsman had broken down, and Bluebell was getting him some extra coal and water, Connor was taking away his passengers for him, and Wilbert was taking him his piston rod. Stepney feels ashamed for thinking they were being unkind. Now knowing why his friends were unable to help, he offers to take the Flying Scotsman's coaches. This shocks the big engine, since Stepney will now miss his afternoon off, but Stepney knows that it does not matter if he helps his friend the Flying Scotsman. But when the Flying Scotsman tells Stepney that they needed to go to Vicarstown Goods Yard on Sodor, Stepney realises that he'll have just enough time to see his friend Rusty. As Stepney pulled the heavy coaches to Sodor, he chuffed across the Vicarstown Bridge and arrived safely at the goods yard, where the yard manager told him to take a generator to the wharf, much to Stepney's delight. Stepney was relieved to see friend Rusty after nearly an entire day of doing his other jobs as he delivered the generator. At first, Rusty was sad, but then his mood changed when he saw that Stepney had brought a new generator for him and explained why he was sad in the first place. Now Stepney realised that he had helped two of his friends after all.

## Characters

* Flying Scotsman
* Stepney
* Bluebell
* Wilbert
* Connor
* Rusty
* Beresford
* Sir Topham Hatt
* The Mainland Diesel Shunters (*do not speak*)
* Thomas (*cameo*)
* Caitlin (*cameo*)
* Samson (*cameo*)
* Skarloey (*cameo*)
* Sir Handel (*cameo*)
* Duncan (*cameo*)
* Annie and Clarabel (*cameo*)
* Gordon (*mentioned*)

## Locations

* Island of Sodor
	+ Vicarstown
		- Vicarstown Bridge
		- Vicarstown Yards
	+ The Wharf
	+ Kirk Ronan Junction
* The Mainland
	+ Bluebell Railway
	+ Dean Forest Railway
	+ Bridlington Goods Yard
	+ The Steelworks
	+ Manchester Canal
	+ The Mainland Junction

## Cast

* Andrew Hager as Connor
* Cheeky Chuffer as Wilbert
* Dueling Express as Stepney
* Holden Stafford as Rusty
* Mason Hagen as Flying Scotsman and Beresford
* Ryatron 12 as the Vicarstown Goods Yard Manager
* SteamTeam3211 as Sir Topham Hatt
* Yilin Zhou as Bluebell

## Trivia

* This episode marks the first of a few things:
	+ The first episode to feature Andrew Hager, Cheeky Chuffer and Ryatron 12 in the cast.
	+ The first episode in which Thomas appears but does not speak.
* This episode marks the only time of a few things:
	+ The only episode to feature Dueling Express as a leading role.
	+ The only episode to feature Yilin Zhou as Bluebell, as well as the character's only speaking role in the first season. Starting from Season 2, the role was given to Dana-Kenzie due to some complications during the second half of the first season.
* The events of the episode, Rusty to the Rescue were mentioned a couple of times throughout the episode.
* This episode is based off the Season 10 episode, Toby's Afternoon Off.

## Watch Episode

Stepney's Noon on Sodor (Thomas & Friends ERTL Adventures; Season 1; Episode 3)