Air date: July 24th, 1995 (UK), November 4th, 1996 (US)
Adapted from: Four Little Engines, "Sir Handel"
Peter Sam and Sir Handel arrive on the Skarloey Railway. Peter Sam is kind, but Sir Handel is bad-tempered and insults Skarloey and the sheds. Then Sir Handel is chosen to pull the train to the top station. He does so grudgingly, and, after insulting the coaches by calling them "cattle trucks" and surprising Gordon with his knowledge of coaches, makes his way to the top station. There, he is angry to discover by his driver that he is expected to go to the quarry and collect trucks, and refuses to do so, punctuating his point by deliberately derailing himself. In the end, Peter Sam helps Sir Handel back on the rails and the Fat Controller puts Sir Handel in the shed as punishment.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- Adapted Out: The coach's identities (Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemimah, and Beatrice the break van) are removed from the continuity, turning them into just generic coaches. Also, them holding Sir Handel back on the hill to get back at him for calling them cattle trucks (because none of them have bogies) is removed as well.
- Bad Mood as an Excuse: Peter Sam apologises to Skarloey for Sir Handel's behaviour and explains that he was upset at the time (most likely from having to leave his old home and Duke behind).
- Compressed Adaptation: It was two bad days in the book version. In the first the coaches played tricks on Sir Handel for his rudeness, while in the second he was sent to work despite it being Peter Sam's turn, further provoking his deliberate crash.
- Everyone Has Standards: Sir Handel is so arrogant that even infamously pompous Gordon is left speechless after meeting him.
- Go to Your Room!: The Fat Controller orders Sir Handel to stay in the sheds until he can be trusted to behave.
- Jerkass: Sir Handel calls complains about the small shed, calls Skarloey rubbish, calls the coaches cattle trucks and deliberately derails to get out of pulling trucks. Although this is because he was homesick.
- Laser-Guided Karma: For his behaviour, Sir Handel is put in the shed by the Fat Controller.
- Series Continuity Error: This episode introduces Sir Handel and Peter Sam to the Narrow Gauge railway, despite them being shown there since the previous episode.
