Air date: November 19th, 1986
Adapted from: Branch Line Engines, "Thomas Comes to Breakfast"
"You miserable engine! Just look what you've done to our breakfast! Now I shall have to cook some more!"
Thomas' driver jokes that Thomas could almost run his branch line without him. Thomas doesn't realise he's joking though and becomes very conceited. He brags to Percy and Toby later at the sheds and both tell Thomas that he needs a driver, but to no avail.
The next morning, a firelighter comes and starts the engines' fires. Thomas wakes up as the warmth spreads through his boiler and then realises his opportunity to run by himself and prove Percy and Toby wrong by stopping and wheeshing in front of them. Thomas slowly starts moving along the track, but doesn't know that he's only moving because a careless cleaner has fiddled with his controls. Thomas realises too late that he can't do anything about it without his driver.
At the end of the tracks sits the stationmaster's house. Thomas crashes through the front window just as the family is sitting down to breakfast. Plaster and broken glass are everywhere - the stationmaster's wife is furious with Thomas for ruining their breakfast.
After workmen lays rails through the garden, Donald and Douglas arrive and pull Thomas free of the house. Thomas' front has been badly damaged by his visit and is in disgrace.
Back at the shed, the Fat Controller tells Thomas off for his actions and tells him that a diesel railcar is going to be brought in to run his branch line while he's sent to the works for long repairs.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: Thomas takes his driver's compliments to heart a bit too much...
- Actually Pretty Funny: Despite being in the middle of lecturing Thomas, even the Fat Controller can't resist making a small grin at his predicament.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed, but Donald and Douglas comfort Thomas as they pull him out of the house, while in the books they just laugh at him, telling him not to forget his driver next time.Donald: Dunna fach ye self, Thomas. We'll soon have you back on the rails.
- Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: Similarly to "A Close Shave", the episode makes some concessions to account for the models being track-powered that bring up some logic issues; The book has Thomas hope the buffers will stop him, only to see the siding he is running along has no buffers, causing him to run along the road into the stationmaster's house on the other side. Here, the track leads straight into the stationmaster's house with no buffers. Guess the stationmaster and his family got the raw deal for real estate...
- Anachronic Order: In the US, this episode was aired before Toby, Donald and Douglas were introduced properly.
- An Aesop: Don't let little compliments go to your head.
- The Artifact: The original Railway Series story was written so that Thomas could be sent to the Works to be mended and come back with a flat running board. When he comes back in the TV series, however, he still has the distinct dip in his running board.
- Artistic License – Physics: It is most likely that the stationmaster and his family would... not have survived Thomas crashing into their house if this was Real Life.
- Bowdlerise: In the UK ending, The Fat Controller says to Thomas "You are a very naughty engine.", but in the US, he says "You're in a lot of trouble, Thomas.".
- Break the Haughty: This happened to Thomas who became conceited in believing he can go without a driver. He also gets quite shaken when the Fat Controller informs him that a diesel railcar will do his work.
- Car Meets House: Steam Locomotive meets a stationmaster's house, actually. This is the third time one crashes into a building, the first being Duck and the barber shop in "A Close Shave", and the second being Donald and the signal box in "Break Van". The barber shop accident was only four episodes ago.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Thomas crashes into the stationmaster's house, the stationmaster's wife chews him out for ruining their breakfast, even though she really should be concerned about the safety of her family and herself.
- Creator Cameo: One of the workmen at the scene of Thomas' crash was modelled after series narrator Ringo Starr.
- Didn't Think This Through: Sure, stationmaster and family, live in a house built at the end of a train track without any buffers. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
- Door Slam of Rage: After yelling at Thomas for ruining the family breakfast, the stationmaster's wife slams the door, causing more plaster to fall on Thomas.
- Downer Ending: Thomas breaks into the stationmaster's house, gets a stern talking to by the Fat Controller for taking his driver's joke seriously and is informed that a diesel is taking his place while he's at the Works. Punctuated with the final shot of Thomas' miserable expression along with Percy and Toby's reaction.
- Failed a Spot Check: You have to wonder how nobody In-Universe noticed the obvious danger of a house being built at the end of a train track without any buffers.
- The Freelance Shame Squad: Donald and Douglas were amused with Thomas crashing the house, but still helped him out. Played a lot straighter with Percy and Toby in the end.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Donald's tender is seen merged into the signal box when Thomas pulls into Tidmouth and in the first close-up of Percy at Ffarquhar Sheds, meaning the episode was filmed at the same time as "Break Van".
- I Was Just Joking: Thomas took his driver's comment too seriously, and look at the trouble it got him into.
- Lethally Stupid: It's not a good idea to build a house at the end of a train track without any buffers. If not for Artistic License, the stationmaster and his family would have almost certainly been killed by Thomas crashing through their wall.
- Lost Food Grievance: The station master's wife is annoyed over Thomas ruining the breakfast she made for the family.
- No OSHA Compliance: Who's idea was it to not put a pair of buffers between the tracks and the station master's house?
- Oh, Crap!: Thomas when he realises he can't stop without his driver.
- Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: "Then I'll stop and 'wheeeeeesh!'"
- Skewed Priorities: "Just look what you've done to our breakfast!" Lady! He nearly crushed you and your family! Get some perspective!
- Space Whale Aesop: Never think that you can go without your driver, or someone will mess with your controls, causing you to crash into a stationmaster's house and it'll all be on you.
- Stock Footage: Footage from "Thomas and the Guard" is used in the beginning of the episode along with deleted footage of "Thomas, Percy, and the Coal".
- Too Dumb to Live: The stationmaster and his family live in a house that was built at the end of a train track, with no buffers for protection. They never realise anything wrong with this. They would have all been seriously injured at best and most likely killed, if the same accident happened in real life.
- Unbuilt Trope: In retrospect, Thomas believing he can drive by himself, and subsequently crashing into a stationmaster's house, can seem like a Deconstructive Parody of later seasons where the engines can seemingly do anything without their driver and fireman.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His driver joking that Thomas could manage without him was what caused all the trouble he got into.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Nothing was said about the careless cleaner after he messed with Thomas' controls, thus making him this and an Idiot Houdini. Doesn't help that this was also a problem the original story had.
