Air date: June 6th, 2013 (UK), October 8th, 2013 (US)
At Knapford, Gordon is waiting impatiently for Percy to shunt his express coaches. He is only made more upset when Thomas suggests that he should fetch his own coaches. Gordon claims express trains are more important than local trains because local trains stop at every station.
Meanwhile, Paxton is pulling a stone train from Blue Mountain Quarry. Before he reaches the junction to the main line, the signal turns red. He avoids a near collision with Gordon, but one of the rocks from his train bounces off Gordon's boiler. Instead of checking over the damage, Gordon hurries away to stay on time. Gordon's boiler begins to run dry, but instead of filling up on water, he passes by the water tower. However, he cannot help but think about water when he passes a lake and a stream.
Eventually he does stop to fill up, but his passengers complain about being behind schedule. At Wellsworth, Henry makes fun of Gordon for being late. Once again he passes by a water tower instead of filling up, but a little further, he cannot help but stop. On his way with the local, Thomas notices a trail of water on the tracks that lead to Gordon. They conclude that the rock had put a hole in Gordon's boiler.
Thomas takes Gordon's express passengers and Paxton shunts Gordon to the Steamworks. At first Gordon keeps his brakes on, embarrassed that he has to be shunted. After being repaired, the engines still make fun of him for letting his boiler run dry.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Gordon names all of the stations to avoid thinking about the water.Gordon: Let's see... Tidmoth, Knapford, Crosby, Wellsworth, Maron, Kronk, a lake... (screams, as he passes an actual lake)
- Break the Haughty: Gordon's pride and smug attitude at the beginning results in him not checking himself for damage, causing him to run late, get stranded on the line, and be shunted to the Steamworks by Paxton.
- Continuity Nod: Thomas jokes that Gordon should fetch his own coaches, which is reminiscent of what he, Henry, and James were doing in "Tenders and Turntables".
- The Freelance Shame Squad: In the ending, Thomas, Percy, and James laughed at Gordon for his boiler running dry.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Not that Gordon could really feel pain, but even after a flying stone leaves an obvious dent in his boiler, he insists it's nothing.
- Mortal Wound Reveal: Downplayed in that the audience sees the dent and it's not a lethal wound, but it's only later revealed that the impact from the rock punched a hole in Gordon's boiler and caused it to leak, which is much more serious than he or the audience were lead to believe.
- Potty Emergency: Not an actual one but Gordon's desperate attempts to keep his mind off the bodies of water he passes, the trail of water on the tracks, and the teasing he has to endure from the other trains for his embarrassing accident is reminiscent of this trope, particularly the "Don't forget to fill your tank up, Gordon!" line from Thomas.
