Thomas, Gordon and the Race

**Thomas, Gordon and the Race** is the fourteenth episode of Season 1 of Thomas’ Friendship Tales.

## Plot

One day, Thomas stops at Knapford Station to drop off passengers for Gordon, who criticizes him for being late. Both engines begin to exchange insults to each other and boast about who's faster. Gordon suggests having a race from the junction to Brendam the next morning, to which Thomas more than eagerly agrees to. Early next morning, Thomas and Gordon start their race and speed off down the line, neglecting their own work. Henry arrives at Knapford to find an annoyed James pulling Annie and Clarabel as Thomas is nowhere to be found, to which Henry realizes neither is Gordon. Sir Topham Hatt arrives and asks Henry to take Gordon's goods train.

Thomas and Gordon continue their race down the line, where Thomas overtakes Gordon, who barely stops in time to avoid hitting Terence the Tractor. Up ahead, Edward is waiting when both engines startle him by running past him at full speed. Soon, Thomas and Gordon have to stop at a red signal. The two engines bicker about who will win, when Edward pulls up alongside and asks Thomas and Gordon if they should be working. The two blue engines lie to Edward, claiming that they were heading to Brendam for a special job and that they were running late. Although skeptical at first, Edward soon believes their lie and sets off. Just then, the signal turns green, and Thomas and Gordon resume their race.

Meanwhile, Henry arrives at Wellsworth with Gordon's goods train, much to the surprise of the stationmaster, who was expecting Gordon. After Henry explains the situation, the stationmaster tells him that Gordon was meant to take the train to Brendam, as it is very important. Henry offers to take it there, as he has a train of his own to bring to Brendam. The stationmaster is unsure about Henry pulling Gordon's train as well as his own, but the big green engine insists. Soon, he couples Gordon's train to his own and sets off. The train is now very heavy, but Henry is certain he can manage pulling it.

Elsewhere, Thomas and Gordon are still racing along the line, both believing that they can win against the other. They speed past Winston and Sir Topham Hatt, who are quick to notice them and decide to follow them. Meanwhile, Henry has stalled at an intersection due to him struggling to pull his heavy train. He and the nearby signalmen were oblivious to Thomas and Gordon approaching. The two blue engines suddenly notice Henry and his long train right in front of them and brake as hard as they can, but they end up crashing straight into the train, leaving broken trucks laying everywhere. Soon, Sir Topham Hatt arrives on Winston and is shocked at what has happened. He scolds Thomas and Gordon for causing a serious accident as a result racing at high speeds and leaving Henry to do Gordon's work as well as his own. The two blue engines now feel guilty for what they had done, and promise to help clean up the mess.

Later that evening, after helping to clear the line, Thomas and Gordon head back to the sheds, where Sir Topham Hatt scolds them for their behavior and punishes them by making them stay in the sheds for a week. Thomas and Gordon apologize to each other for their actions and promise not to do silly races with each other again. Eventually, they are let out of the sheds and return to their normal duties, still keeping their promise never to engage in racing competitions with each other again....at least for a while, anyway.

## Characters

* Thomas
* Edward
* Henry
* Gordon
* James
* Winston
* Annie and Clarabel
* Sir Topham Hatt
* Percy (does not speak)
* Toby (cameo)
* Emily (cameo)
* Terence (cameo)
* Scoop (cameo)
* Dizzy (cameo)
* Bertie (mentioned)

## Cast

* LittleBlueTrain67 as Thomas
* Shunting Yard Studios as Edward and Sir Topham Hatt
* Brandon Polley as Henry, Winston, and the Grumpy Passenger
* Electro Gamer as Gordon
* TheGermanofSodor as James
* LizProductions5784 as Annie and Clarabel
* Liam Fitzgerald as the Stationmaster

## Trivia

* From this episode onwards, all human characters are shown using cutout images for their closeups.
* This is the final episode to show the original model for Knapford, it would later be used for a generic station in Duck and the Diesel Engine.
* This is the final episode to use Toby's Adventures model, he would gain a new Take-N-Play model in the following episode.
* This episode marks Gordon's first leading role in the series.
* Liam Fitzgerald join the voice cast.