History Fridge / ThomasTheTankEngine

* At first this troper wondered why Diesel 10 needed Paxton to help him steal the Christmas decorations in season 17's "The Missing Christmas Decorations", despite being able to do it himself thanks to his claw. But then, the one time Paxton refused to go along with him, Diesel 10 was caught in the act by Percy who happened to pass by. Diesel 10 needed Paxton to keep watch , while he does the dirty work. Without him, the whole plan would've gone to pieces much quicker.

* At first this troper wondered why Diesel 10 needed Paxton to help him steal the Christmas decorations from Tidmouth in "The Missing Christmas Decorations", despite Diesel 10 being capable of doing it himself thanks to his claw (and because of it, he's also the only one who could do it without help). But then it struck her: he needed Paxton to keep watch to make sure that there were no other engines around. Not to mention that Percy caught him in the act during the one time Paxton refused to go along with him.

* New train engineers are often told that at some point in their career their train will kill someone. These accidents are almost never the train crew's fault - [[WhatAnIdiot people try to beat trains over crossings]],[[TooDumbToLive play on the tracks]], or just commit suicide. This is traumatic enough for someone sitting in a cab; many engineers suffer from PTSD, and a few have even [[DrivenToSuicide taken their own lives.]] Now imagine being able to ''feel'' the metal crumple under your buffers.

* New train engineers

* Barring accident or lack of maintenance, [[TheAgeless engines are effectively immortal, with some over 100 years old]]. This means all but the diesels and the youngest steam engines have probably outlived their drivers and firemen at least once.

** This Troper is under the assumption that Toby was talking about a ghost Percy had been joking about earlier.

** On a similar note, take away the cutesy elements of the show, and it's really pretty apparent that the engines are [[CrapsaccharineWorld in slavery.]] Even though they're fully sentient, ''none'' of the humans seem to care[[hottip:* : Though Sir Topham Hatt is generally fair and sympathetic, he is still, essentially, the 'master' He got ''very'' upset with Percy and some of the others in 'The Deputation,' for instance, when they tried to interfere with his decision-making process.]]. They've been bought and sold, banished for minor offenses, callously separated from 'family,' have no say whatsoever in where or how they work, they're automatically blamed when things go wrong, and don't appear to ever get any R&R.

*** May be an oversight, since the original novel mentions all three shooting out when Henry crashes (the driver is left tending to both whining firemen in a comical fashion).

*** A few of the diesels-- Iron 'Ary and Bert--actually seem to ''enjoy'' working in this sort of "funeral home" so much that they tried to scrap Stepney, just for fun.

*** Mentioning of the engines getting rest is mentioned every once in a while, even if it usually means another engine working twice as hard to compensate. Thomas and Toby have both been shown given whole days off, only to be guilt tripped by the other working engines into doing their jobs anyway.

* In 'Ghost Train', Toby says "Percy's had an accident" as well as "It looked like Percy's ghost". Toby is basically implying that Percy died. This was just part of their trick but Thomas treats it as if it happened. His reaction is "Huh, who cares?" Thomas and Percy are meant to be best friends by the way.

* ''Gordon and the Famous visitor'' reveals that Gordon believes that engines without domes are 'not respectable'. It's worth noting that Flying Scotsman (Who, in the books, was Gordon's brother) was exhibited at the 1924 Wembley exhibition alongside a much smaller express locomotive with no dome, and this loco was proven to be the more powerful of the two engines, so Gordon's dislike for domeless engines may just be an act of jealousy.

** Though the later seasons have slipped on this a bit, the engines really can't do ''anything'' without humans helping them. They need a driver and brakeman to move, the foundry crew to keep them in good repair. The possibility for blackmail is enormous.

*** According to the WordOfGod, most of the characters are at least 20 years old, and some of the narrow-gauge engines are almost ''100''. They've been putting up with that crap for a long time.

* {{YMMV}} on this but in 'Ghost Train', Toby says "Percy's had an accident" as well as "It looked like Percy's ghost". Toby is basically implying that Percy died. This was just part of their trick but Thomas treats it as if it happened. His reaction is "Huh, who cares?" Thomas and Percy are meant to be best friends by the way.

* YMMV on this but in 'Ghost Train', Toby says "Percy's had an accident" as well as "It looked like Percy's ghost". Toby is basically implying that Percy died. This was just part of their trick but Thomas treats it as if it happened. His reaction is "Huh, who cares?" Thomas and Percy are meant to be best friends by the way.

YMMV on this but in 'Ghost Train', Toby says "Percy's had an accident" as well as "It looked like Percy's ghost". Toby is basically implying that Percy died. This was just part of their trick but Thomas treats it as if it happened. His reaction is "Huh, who cares?" Thomas and Percy are meant to be best friends by the way.

*** Even worse: That story was based on a real life accident in which 14 people were killed.

** ''The Flying Kipper'' is creepy enough, even without FridgeHorror, but there's a very dark FreezeFrameBonus if you're paying attention: There are three men in the brakevan that Henry smashes into, but only 2 of them are mentioned jumping clear of the wreck.

* ''ThomasTheTankEngine''. Really, where to even start with this show?