[bouncy music]
♪ ♪
children:
♪ They're two, they're four ♪
♪ They're six, they're eight ♪
♪ Shunting trucks
and hauling freight ♪
♪ Red and green
and brown and blue ♪
♪ They're the really
useful crew ♪
♪ All with different roles
to play ♪
♪ Round Tidmouth Sheds
or far away ♪
♪ Down the hills
and round the bends ♪
♪ Thomas and his friends ♪
♪ ♪
[whistle toots]
[steam hisses]
[soft music]
male narrator: Useful Railway.
[whistle toots]
male narrator: Sometimes,
Thomas brings passengers
up to Arlesburgh Junction,
where they can ride
on the mini engines
of the miniature railway.
[whistle toots]
- Hello, Bert.
Hello, Mike.
[whistles tooting]
Oh, hello, Rex.
[whistle toots]
- Hello, Thomas!
narrator: Thomas likes
the miniature engines,
his passengers do too,
but they don't take
the little railway
very seriously.
- [giggles]
- Oh, they're so cute.
- And so tiny!
- Oh, look, Daddy!
Look at them!
- I know!
It's just like a toy railway,
isn't it?
- "A toy railway," indeed.
We're not a toy railway.
We may be small,
but we do a lot of heavy work
and are really useful.
- Of course we are, Mike,
Keep your steam in.
They're only human.
[chuckles]
- Rex is right, Mike,
the passengers didn't mean
to insult you.
♪ ♪
narrator:
Mike is often grumpy.
He loses his temper
much too easily.
[brakes hissing]
- Oh, shoo! Shoo!
[sheep bleating]
[horn toots]
[horn blaring]
What is the matter
with you silly animals?
Get out of the way!
[sheep bleating]
Oh! Some of us
have work to do, ya know?
[sheep bleating]
narrator: That night
in the sheds,
Mike complained
to Rex and Bert
about the sheep.
- Sheep are nothing
but trouble.
Oh, I don't see the point
of them silly things.
[both laughing]
- They're silly,
but they're useful too, Mike.
- Useful?
[scoffs]
Don't talk nonsense, Rex.
- It's true!
Farmers sell their wool
for people
to make clothes from.
You know, those things they wear
instead of paint.
[footsteps approaching]
- Quite right, Rex.
narrator: The engines
were surprised
to see that Mr. Duncan,
the Small Controller,
had come to their shed.
- The farmers have asked us
to take their wool to market.
If we do it well,
it will show everyone
that we're
a really useful railway!
So you must all do your best.
- I don't understand, sir.
We can't drive sheep
along the line.
They wouldn't go straight!
It's like what happened
to Mike today.
- Don't be silly, Bert.
We don't drive the sheep.
We take their wool in bales
on our cars.
This is an easy job.
- Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!
Easy?
I don't know how easy
it will be, Rex,
but seeing as you seem to know
all about it,
you can take the first train.
- Thank you, sir!
I'm telling you,
it'll be easy-peasy.
- I bet it won't be easy.
narrator: The next morning,
Rex took some cars
and set out to collect the wool
from the farmers.
[whistle toots]
♪ ♪
They started loading
at the far end of the line.
The wool from the sheep
had been made
into big bales that could be
stacked on Rex's cars.
The farmers
helped to tie them down.
♪ ♪
Rex stopped to load wool
from each farm along the way.
♪ ♪
[whistle toots]
♪ ♪
- Nearly finished!
- I knew it would be easy.
That's what I told Mike and Bert
last night.
Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy!
- That's right!
[both chuckling]
Only one more load,
and we're away!
[whistle toots]
narrator: But Rex's driver
didn't know
that the last load
belonged to Willie.
Willie was one of the farmers,
but he was often dawdling
and always ended up
running late.
- Oh!
[bell ringing]
- Oh, Willie!
Your load's slipping!
- Oh, dear!
Uh...
Oh, but I can't stop now.
I'm already late.
I hope it'll hold.
narrator: The load did hold
but not quite long enough.
- [shouts]
[metal creaking]
Whoa!
[crashing]
Oh, crumbs!
That's torn it!
[whistle toots]
[gasps] It's Rex!
[dramatic music]
Oh! Oh!
- I said it was easy!
[laughs]
I said it was easy!
narrator: Then everything
happened at once.
- Rex!
Rex! Watch out!
Slow down!
- [gasps]
Stop! Stop!
[brakes squeal]
♪ ♪
- [slow-motion yelling]
Whoa!
- [slow-motion] No!
♪ ♪
- [slow-motion] Rex!
♪ ♪
[brakes hissing]
- [slow-motion] No!
[crashing]
- [gasps] Oh, no!
- Oh, no...
narrator: The Small Controller
came to see
what had happened.
- I'm sorry, sir.
I tried to slow down,
but I didn't realize
the line was blocked
until I passed under
the bridge.
- Uh, I lost control
of the load.
I-I took the corner
too quickly, and, well,
heh, oh, I'm very sorry,
Mr. Duncan.
- Don't tell me.
Tell Rex.
- Sorry, Rex.
narrator: Soon,
they sorted out Rex's cars.
Bert lost no time
in taking them away
to deliver the wool
to market.
- I guess maybe pulling
wool trains isn't as easy
as it looks, eh, Rex?
[whistle toots]
[chuckles]
- [sighs]
narrator: Poor Rex
had to stay where he was.
He didn't like it one bit.
[whistle toots]
- That looks like an easy job,
all right,
lying there on the bank.
- [sighs]
[whistle toots]
- I say,
what happened here?
[indistinct chatter]
- Oh!
narrator: Eventually,
they managed
to hoist Rex
back onto the rails,
and Bert and Mike
helped bring him home.
[whistles tooting]
♪ ♪
- I suppose that accident
served me right
for being so full of myself.
- No, it wasn't really
your fault at all.
- It was that farmer Willie.
♪ ♪
narrator: The Small Controller
was in the yard
when they arrived back
at Arlesburgh Junction.
[steam hisses]
- Ah, Rex, you're back!
Glad to see you.
I'm proud of you, Rex.
Indeed, I'm proud of you all.
Thanks to Rex managing
to slow down when he did,
the accident
caused little harm,
and you, Bert and Mike,
have worked like heroes.
I think our customers
all admire the way we managed.
- Well done!
- Oh, thank you!
- Great job!
- Good for you!
- You've done a splendid job.
- Never overlook
a little engine, eh?
- They may have thought
we were a toy railway before,
but now, everyone says
we're really useful,
and when we finish
with the wool,
they've promised us
plenty more work.
- Ah, extra work won't be
a problem for us, sir.
Just ask Rex.
[together] It'll be
easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy!
[both laughing]
[all laughing]
♪ ♪
[steam hisses]
[gentle woodwind music]
♪ ♪
[children singing]
[whistle blasts]
[upbeat music]
♪ ♪
20x20 - Useful Railway
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British series Based on The Railway Series books that follows the adventures of Thomas, an anthropomorphised blue steam locomotive on the fictional North Western Railway on the Island of Sodor, and several other friends Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, and Toby.
British series Based on The Railway Series books that follows the adventures of Thomas, an anthropomorphised blue steam locomotive on the fictional North Western Railway on the Island of Sodor, and several other friends Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, and Toby.