Air Date: October 17, 2003 (UK), October 22, 2005 (US)
There are many beautiful places on Sodor, such as the water mill, the canals, and Lord Callan's Castle, but Toby's favorite place on Sodor is an old windmill owned by Dusty Miller. Because of how worn the windmill is, it cannot produce much flour now, but Toby loves to watch the sails spin around, and Dusty is his friend.
One day, Toby arrives at the windmill to collect flour to take to the market. When he arrives, he becomes distracted watching the windmill's sails and doesn't look where he's going. He crashes into the trucks, ruining the flour inside them. This upsets Dusty, who tells Toby that he'll have to close down his windmill if he can't sell his flour. Toby apologizes, and Harvey arrives to put the trucks back on the rails. As Harvey cleans up the mess, Toby worries about what will happen to Dusty if he closes down his windmill. Toby's driver tells him that they have to hurry home, as there is a storm coming.
That night, as a thunderstorm breaks out, Toby can't sleep. It isn't the thunder and lightning keeping him awake, though, as he is still worried about Dusty and his windmill. Suddenly, lightning strikes the windmill, destroying it.
The next morning, Toby makes his way to the windmill, finding lots of fallen trees and damaged farm buildings. When he gets to the windmill, he finds the most shocking sight of all. The windmill is destroyed, and as a result, Dusty's flour business is no more. Dusty can't rebuild the windmill because he can't afford the timber to make the repairs. Toby wishes there was something he could do to help Dusty.
As Toby travels across his line, wondering if there's anything he can do to help Dusty, he comes across a fallen tree on the line, and Harvey and Terence trying to move it out of the way. The Fat Controller is with them, and he is cross, as the storm has caused confusion and delay. He orders Toby to remove the tree immediately. Upon seeing the fallen tree, Toby gets an idea. He tells the Fat Controller about the damaged windmill, and that the wood from the tree can help repair it. The Fat Controller likes this idea, and Harvey and Terence load the fallen tree onto Toby's flatbed.
Toby proudly takes the fallen tree to Dusty, who is delighted, as now he can use the wood from the tree to rebuild the windmill. Toby watches as Dusty and the workmen turn the tree into planks of wood. After a long time, the windmill is repaired and looks better than ever before. The Fat Controller is impressed, and Dusty thanks Toby for saving his windmill. Toby smiles happily upon hearing this.
The windmill now produces more flour than ever before, and Toby makes twice as many deliveries to the market. Toby never tires of watching the sails spin around and is very proud that Dusty has named the windmill "Toby's Windmill" in honor of his heroic actions.
This episode provides examples of:
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Toby gets distracted looking at the windmill's sails, and as a result, he accidentally crashes into some trucks and ruins the flour inside them.
- Big Storm Episode: Midway through this episode, a lightning storm breaks out that scatters trees across the line, damages farm buildings, and destroys Dusty's windmill.
- "Eureka!" Moment: When Toby sees the fallen tree on the line, he gets the idea to use the wood from it to rebuild the windmill.
- Series Continuity Error: Due to the use of Stock Footage from "Trucks", Peter Sam once again has his old funnel, rather than his special funnel he receives in "Special Funnel".
- Stock Footage: This episode features footage of Rheneas and Peter Sam at the station from "Trucks", a
Deleted Scene of Toby crossing the canal from "Time for Trouble", footage of Toby arriving at Norramby Church Station from "Special Attraction", and a close-up of Toby's driver from "The Fogman". - Windmill Scenery: While windmills are common scenery in the TV series, this episode uses a windmill as its plot point.
