Conner's Bad Day

**Conner's Bad Day** is the third episode of Season 1.

## Plot

One morning, Mr. Brown wakes a drowsy Conner and gives him his first job, which is a freight train to Cheyenne. Conner wants to sleep in, but Mr. Brown forces him out.

At Jefferson yard, Conner is waiting for his train with Byron when they notice Mr. Thompson in a bad mood. He explains that he had a bad morning, which Conner laughs at. An annoyed Byron tells him off, telling him that he wouldn’t like it if he had a bad day. Conner just ignores him and leaves the yard with his train, but not before Ben starts a brief confrontation which Byron manages to settle.

Down the line, Conner begins to doze off despite his engineer’s warnings. He ends up missing three signals and almost crashes into Sheldon’s train, though he doesn’t think too much of it. This changes while he is resting at Cheyenne yard when a furious Sheldon attacks him. Conner escapes and flees to Greenwood, abandoning his next job.

At Greenwood, Conner tries to search for a hiding place, confusing Ryan and Cabott (who were expecting him with another train from Cheyenne). He hides behind Amtrak’s San Francisco Zephyr, but he is too late as the train is already leaving. Conner takes a moment to curse Amtrak before fleeing again after hearing a horn that sounded like Sheldon’s (it was actually another UP C30-7).

Conner returns to Port Van Den Hoven, but is ambushed by Sheldon. His attack is intervened by Byron, who restrains him to give Conner a chance to escape. Sheldon breaks free and resumes his pursuit.

Conner stops to rest at Sundermeyer, but is confronted by Jeff for touching a BN boxcar without permission. An argument ensues until Sheldon arrives. Since they have a history, Jeff shifts his focus on Sheldon and the two begin another quarrel. Conner uses this to escape, but is soon pursued once more. This chase ends when the three crash into the back of another train.

After the crash, Conner is scolded by Mr. Brown and Mr. Thompson for abandoning his work and causing a mess. Sheldon and Jeff are taken away to be repaired while Conner is to be kept in the roundhouse to think about his actions.

At the workshops, Conner sees the error of his ways and apologises to Byron for his rude behaviour. Meanwhile, Jeff and Sheldon continue to argue while undergoing repairs.

## Characters

* Mr. Brown
* Conner
* Byron
* Mr. Thompson
* Ben
* Conner's Engineer
* Sheldon
* Ryan
* Cabott
* UP #2472 *(not named)*
* Jeff
* PO&N #4609 *(not named)*
* Aubert *(deleted scene)*

## Locations

* Port Ogden, AZ
* Jefferson, CO
* Cheyenne, WY
* Greenwood, CO
* Port Van Den Hoven, CO
* Sundermeyer, CO
* Stevens, UT

## Trivia

### Fun Facts

* The episode is a rewrite of Austin's Bad Day.
	+ Sheldon's "Oh no!" line is reused from said episode.
* The episode reveals Conner's dislike towards Amtrak for choosing the California Zephyr over the City of San Francisco.
* Conner’s “flapper” joke was suggested by ahatbears.
* In a deleted scene, Aubert was a parody of Austin from G2.

### Cultural References

* Ben's line "say sorry with sugar on it" is a reference to the *Looney Tunes* short "Hare Lift".
* 2026 Productions improvised a reference to *Big Bang Theory* during Ryan’s brief rant about Sheldon.
* Music from *The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly* and *The Ecstasy of Gold* plays during Sheldon and Jeff’s argument.
* Jeff and Sheldon's confrontation is similar to a fight between Mike and Fred in the *Tales on the Thompson and Western* short "Happy Easter".
* Mr. Brown almost says the popular “confusion and delay” line from *Thomas & Friends* before being cut off by Conner.
* Audio from the *Looney Tunes* cartoon “All a Bir-r-r-d” is used when Lionel tells Jeff to shut up.

### Continuity

* Conner's train consists entirely of Union Pacific boxcars. This is because a UP equal of Jeff swapped all non-UP boxcars, causing a delay that allowed Conner to sleep in for a bit.
* Ben works at Jefferson instead of Port Ogden. He was probably transferred as a punishment for his cheeky behavior, or he could be substituting the Jefferson switcher.
* The events from this episode would later be mentioned in Jeff's Burlington Northern Guide.

## Goofs

* Despite the great distances between Port Ogden and Cheyenne, the events of the episode seem to take place in one day. However, this was made before AllosaurFan created the basic map.
	+ Another goof resulting from this is that Highland Valley and Cheyenne are located in the incorrect places.
* Throughout the first act, the arrangement of Conner’s train changes in between scenes.
* During Conner’s travel montage, he slows down and speeds up in between shots.
* Conner passes the same signal twice after his near miss with Sheldon.
* In a shot of Conner after nearly colliding with Sheldon, the railroad crossing activates too late.
* During Conner’s second dream, the edge of the track is visible.
* When Conner flees from Sheldon at Cheyenne, he is facing backwards. However, he is facing forwards when he arrives at Greenwood. This happens again when Conner flees from Sheldon backwards at Port Van Den Hoven, yet is facing forwards again when he arrives at Sundermeyer.
* Throughout most of the Greenwood scene, the music is too quiet.
* In some shots during the Port Van Den Hoven confrontation, the edge of the set is visible.
* When Jeff stops on the turntable, the shot skips a few frames. This is most evident if you look at the smoke above him.
* When Conner reverse to get away from Jeff, he has accelerated greatly. However, he appears to be moving slower in the next shot.
* Jeff is facing Sheldon during the argument at Sundermeyer, yet is facing away from him during the chase.
* When Ben is attached to Conner at Stevens, he is pulling by his tender. However, he appeared to have pulled him by the front when he leaves him at the workshops in the next shot.

## Media

The Port Ogden Rail Chronicles- Conner's Bad Day