Air date: October 19th, 1998 (UK), September 6th, 1999 (US)
One winter day on the Island of Sodor, a thick layer of snow has fallen and all engines have gone to work except Percy, who is stuck in a snowdrift. Thomas finds Percy and tells him that there is no time for resting, but is told that Percy's crew have just left to seek help. Thomas scoffs at this but continues his journey to clear the rest of the snowed in railway lines. Later, he has to clear snow from a tunnel entrance, but the snow is deep enough for him to get stuck, much to Thomas' annoyance. Rusty is working close by, and remarks how his driver compared this winter to a past one that was the worst they had ever had. Thomas is curious, so to pass the time, Rusty tells him about that winter.
The story takes place at the slate mines in the Skarloey Railway's mountains. When the snow came, it started causing problems for those working there, but it also allowed the workmen to use it as a "double buffer zone", piling it behind buffers at the end of tracks to help prevent trucks from breaking through and falling down into the ravine below, close to where the line runs through on its way up to the mine's yards.
One day, Skarloey comes up the line with some empty trucks. His driver stops inside the ravine, worried about the snow overhead and the possibility of triggering an avalanche with Skarloey's noise if he continues. To test the snow's stability, the driver sets an emergency cap on the rails and has Skarloey run over it to set off a small explosion. The sound rattles through the gorge, but nothing happens. Satisfied, the driver decides to make a quick cup of cocoa and then proceed through up to the mines.
Unfortunately, trouble strikes at the mine yards above. The winch used to haul trucks up and down the mountainside to the mines was experiencing problems that day, which come to a head when, during the process of sending a long line of full trucks down the slope from the mine, the empty trucks being pulled up alongside them derail and catch on the tracks. Eventually, a coupling snaps and the loaded trucks run away down the slope. Despite the snow-fortified buffers, the trucks break through and plunge into the ravine, crashing down into the snowbank right above Skarloey. The force of their impact dislodges the snow, and Skarloey is buried by the resulting avalanche. However, when the workmen arrive to dig him out, they are amused to discover that Skarloey's heat created an igloo, and that his crew are nonchalantly drinking their cocoa as though nothing had happened.
Thomas breathes a sigh of relief for Skarloey's crew before going on to say how the whole accident is another example of how trucks can be so troublesome. Rusty counters that the same can be said for snow.
By now, the workmen have finally cleared the snow from behind Thomas, but then Gordon arrives with a snow machine to clear away drifts. The Big Engine loudly lets off steam and winds up burying himself in an avalanche of snow off the mountain over the tunnel entrance. Gordon cries for help, and Thomas jokes that if Skarloey could emerge from an avalanche laughing, Gordon could surely do the same. In reply, Gordon just scoffs and falls silent as the snow.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- An Aesop: Sometimes even if you believe your situation stinks, others who suffered like you did bounced back from said setback.
- Artistic License: Contrary to popular belief, loud noises don't actually cause avalanches. Their really caused when loose snow is distributed. This however is played straight in the episode, as the avalanche that buried Skarloey was directly caused by the slate trucks crashing into the ravine.
- Framing Device: Rusty telling Thomas about Skarloey's winter troubles at the slate mines about a year ago.
- Jerkass Ball: Thomas holds this when he snaps at Percy for not doing anything, despite the fact that Percy couldn't do anything due to being stuck.
- Lighter and Softer: Especially compared to the two previous episodes that came before it.
- No Sympathy: Thomas was dismissive when Percy explains that he was unable to work because he was stuck in the snow.
- Oh, Crap!:
- When the cars crash into the ravine which triggers the avalanche, Skarloey and his driver notice and call out, "AVALANCHE!!!"
- When the noise from his snow machine honks loudly, knocking loose a heap of snow on the roof of the shed, Gordon utters a very meek "Uh-oh! (UK)/Oh, no! (US)" right before the huge heap of snow falls and buries him.
- One-Word Title: "Snow".
- Runaway Train: The trucks caused this which resulted the avalanche.
- Season Finale: Of Series 5.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: We never find out if Percy got free from the snow.
