Wilbert the Forest Engine is the 38th book of The Railway Series published in 1994. The four stories are as follows:
- Percy's Porridge: Donald and Douglas are exhausted, so the Fat Controller arranges to borrow an engine, Wilbert, from the Dean Forest Railway. Percy is disappointed to hear Wilbert may not come to Thomas' Branch Line, but forgets it when the weather becomes cold and wet. One day at Elsbridge, the stationmaster and a porter are stacking poorly-sealed sacks of oatmeal on the platform. When Percy comes in, some sacks fall on the ground, scattering oatmeal everywhere. Percy runs into the sacks and is covered in the resulting glop, and Wilbert is quickly re-routed to Thomas' branch line to take Percy's place.
- Cab Over Wheels: Wilbert's first job is at the lead mines. Thomas warns him to follow the rules, but Wilbert, who once worked in a colliery, knows what to do and proceeds to tell the engines the story of Sixteen, a bored engine who worked at a steelworks taking trucks of slag to a place called the "tip". Sixteen wanted to go past a "danger" board and, despite several warnings not to, managed to do so one wet day, attributing it to the trucks. Sixteen's fireman was told to shunt him back, but it was too late: some unsafe rails tilted and Sixteen landed on his side on the ground. He was sent to the shed in disgrace, but, luckily for him, he was bought and now works in the Midlands.
- Foaming at the Funnel: There is a dairy farm at Toryreck. Wilbert is given the job of taking milk tankers to Knapford each morning. One day, he spends too much time talking to James at Knapford, and has to take on water at the dairy. Unfortunately, he stops at the wrong hosepipe and instead of water being poured into his tank, milk flows in. Thomas takes him back to Ffarquhar, and Wilbert's tank is emptied out.
- Wired-Up: Percy returns and Wilbert is sent to the Little Western, where Duck, Oliver and the small engines make him welcome. One day, Wilbert is taking some ballast trucks to Tidmouth when the coupling gear on a truck falls off. Thinking quickly, Wilbert borrows a coil of wire and has it looped around the hole and his coupling. Wilbert gets home safely, and when it is time for Wilbert to return to the Dean Forest Railway the Fat Controller has no doubts about him.
This book contains examples of:
- Author Avatar: Played with, in that the real Wilbert is a real steam engine named after the Rev. Wilbert Awdry in 1987.
- Call-Back:
- Thomas warns Wilbert not to go past the danger notice, referring to the time he fell down a mine.
- Bert tells Wilbert about the time he used glue to glue the coaches.
- Covered in Gunge: Percy has a run-in with some bags of oats, leading to his front being covered in "porridge".
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Subverted in a sense for Sixteen, considering he got better than he deserved as outlined by Wilbert. Some preservation people buy him and he now resides in the midlands. He was EXTREMELY LUCKY to earn a happy ending.
- Go to Your Room!: After being rescued, Sixteen is sent to the sheds in disgrace without being repaired.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Sixteen tilts over the tip and lands on his side on the ground.
- Never My Fault: Sixteen blames the trucks for going past the danger sign when it was him who told them to pull him past it. Since Sixteen had been trying to sneak past several times beforehand, none of the crew buy his story.
- No Name Given: Sixteen.
- Sequel Hook: At Wilbert's introduction, the Fat Controller makes a reference to a steam engine just like him that the railway might acquire.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: "Foaming at the Funnel" was based on a story that George Awdry told to Christopher Awdry.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The Fat Controller's mention of an engine like Wilbert who he might purchase was intended as a Sequel Hook; with the series likely now concluded, this thread will probably not be followed up on.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Sixteen's driver scolds him for going past the sign and didn't buy it when he blamed the trucks.
- Whole Episode Flashback: The events of this book took place in 1993. Sixteen's story in "Cab Over Wheels" took place in 1943.
