Enterprising Engines is a YouTube fan series of Thomas & Friends created by Matt Michaud, better known as the Youtuber Enterprising Engines 93/EE93.
The series begins when Sir Topham Hatt has announced a grand plan for the future, and a series of extension projects to go with it. The series follows the engines of Sodor as they go through many misadventures and mishaps throughout the project. Meanwhile, more sinister things are going on in the background, and are slowly coming to play more and more...
Enterprising Engines provides examples of:
- 13 Is Unlucky: The guest character Young Tucker from the episode of the same name is considered a jinx, and fittingly is numbered 13.
- Adaptation Expansion: Many one-off characters such as Derek, Bear, Lady, and Molly, just to name a few, receive either spotlight roles or enough supporting roles to get a better grip on their personalities or unveil a new dimension to said personalities after canon essentially left them alone.
- Adaptation Origin Connection: In regards to Arthur and his spotless record. It is revealed in Asbestos that much of his initial reputation came from being mentored by Bradford the Brake Van, with both having worked on the LMS in the past.
- The series' adaptation of Christopher Awdry's "Cab Over Wheels" reveals that Wilbert and Sixteen are the same character.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Instead of being a magic engine from Shining Time, Lady is a private engine from another railway on the Mainland.
- Anachronic Order: Some of the non-story arc episodes of Season 3 have been released before the season 2 finale to make up for the finale's
long production. - Arc Villain: General Zen serves as this for the Munitions multi-parter. At least until Sir Frederick Aura and Ricky Mason show up.
- Big Bad: Sir Frederick Aura, a mysterious businessman who is head of the Smelter's Yard on Sodor with unknown goals. What is known is that he has connections to the military and an entire league of hitmen and hired guns in his pocket, including Ricky Mason, The Doctor, and Walter Richards, the owner of the Culdee Fell Railway.
- Brain Bleach: "James Goes on a Streak" has James end up crashing in a nudist colony and in The Stinger, a man bends over right in front of him.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Remember the Doctor from the episode where James gets high? Turns out he's working for Aura.
- Darker and Edgier: Sometimes when compared to the show and even other fan series. The series notably plays for drama and deconstructs several aspects of mainstay features of the franchise as a whole, which play a role in many episodes.
- Deconstruction Fic: Technically a video series rather than a fic, but the spirit still applies. Enterprising Engines notably plays for drama several mainstay elements of the Thomas franchise, showcasing how some of these elements might play out if examined another way...
- The constant Aesop Amnesia concerning engines like Bill and Ben is brought up by Diesel, whereupon despite constant reminders, no matter how serious the accident, said engines always seem to fall back in their habits. How it affects other relations of the characters is also examined. Derek, usually The Pollyanna, notably starts becoming more guarded, and while he normally dismisses Diesel's paranoid conspiracy theories, vows to be more observant in future.
- In said episode where this is discussed, Villain Has a Point is also deconstructed. While Diesel's complaint about Bill and Ben is considered legitimate enough by some of the other engines, said complaint is laced with his usual hatred of the steam engines, preventing said point from actually fully going through and costing him supporters.
- Denser and Wackier: Not quite as much as how the television series became starting from Season 19, but very much so compared to the books. The series tends to use a lot more blatant comedic humor and freely uses crashes on the level of Season 5. Amusing when this series is also Darker and Edgier in several regards.
- Episode Zero: The Beginning: There's an entire Season zero which consists of adaptations of Railway Series and annual stories set prior to Lift Bridge. Strangely season 1's "Buffer Bashing" is an adaptation of a Railway Series story, yet is considered part of the main series, likely due to a case of Early-Installment Weirdness.
- Faux Affably Evil: At first glance, Arry and Bert seem frendily despite their reputation on Sodor as they offer Patriot a place to stay when he’s lost. It’s quickly revealed to be a facade to lure unsuspecting engines into the Ironworks to scrap them.
- Ghost Train: Proteus serves as a Friendly Ghost example of one. Patriot later becomes one too.
- Killed Off for Real:
- Goliath dies at the end of his only episode, and unlike Patriot he shows no sign of coming back.
- Muddle, Mayhem, and Filibuster, Zen's military jeeps, from Munitions get blown up.
- Mean Boss: Carlo Debris, the foreman of the Sodor Logging Company, has treated all of his workers poorly to the point that they revolted against him in "Swashbuckler".
- Named by the Adaptation: This series give the name "Doc" to the nameless Ballast Spreader who appeared in the Railway Series book Small Railway Engines. The Big City Engine from "Gordon Goes Foreign" is dubbed Patriot here.
- Original Character: Primarily on the human side of things, such as Gregory Larson, an engineer who becomes head of Crovan's Gate Works, and the series Big Bad, Sir Frederick Aura. There are still engine characters of course, that do not exist in the show or the books, like Young Tucker.
- Sequel Episode: "Hibernation" is one to "Tag-Team".
- Take That!: "James Goes on a Streak" is one to the Thomas Wood line that briefly replaced Thomas Wooden Railway, back when the models were half-painted. James spends the episode half-painted and is not happy about it at all, eventually having a run-in with a nudist colony.
- Track Trouble:
- Early in "Rising to the Occasion", Donald comes off the tracks when he runs over some damaged rails. He crashes into a bridge support, and as a result, Frank falls off the bridge when he tries to cross it and lands near Donald.
- In "Greg and Lars", the two titular lorries work near a bridge on the Narrow Gauge line. Greg, who believes he's blind but is actually just wearing some sunglasses that make him think he is, accidentally backs into a support, damaging the bridge. With no way of warning Sir Handel, who is about to cross the bridge, Lars gets the idea for Greg to stand underneath the bridge so his tall load can support it. Greg does so, and Sir Handel safely crosses the bridge. Greg congratulates himself for a job well done, only for the foreman to remind him that he was responsible for damaging the bridge in the first place. Sure enough, when Greg moves out of the way, the bridge collapses and when Freddie crosses it, he falls off it.
- Villain Has a Point: While his rant is laced with his irrational hatred of steam engines, Diesel isn’t wrong to say that Bill and Ben get off too lightly for all of their antics.
- Wham Episode:
- Snowblind became one retroactively. Originally a simple accident-of-the-week episode, when it remastered it was made 9 times the original length, about a third of which was two post credit scenes. One showed that Carlo Debris and his lumberjacks are smuggling weapons for a hired gun named Ricky Mason, and that 'Arry and Bert, Diesel 10, and Splodge are in on it. The second show what the package Arthur took was for: It's parts for a military plane Gregory Larson and Paul are restoring.
- Grim Messengers of Doom starts off with Sir Topham Hatt trying to guide a new engine, Patriot, who Gordon and Duck have met before, to Sodor from the mainline. Patriot ends up lost and seeks shelter at the Sodor Ironworks. After his Crew is shot and killed by Ricky Mason he is led into a shed by 'Arry and Bert which turns out to be an incinerator which promptly kills Patriot and melts him down. While all this is going on, the owner of the Ironworks shows up laughing maniacally, giving the first appearance of the series' Big Bad.
- Dead End manages to be one despite being only 2 minutes long. It shows Patriot ending up in some sort of limbo after being killed, which consists of a single stretch of track with buffers at both ends.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Derek calls Bear out for lying to Fergus in "Tag-Team", even if it was to make him feel good.
