Stuck in Gear

Harvey, no one makes fun of a broken down engine and, sometimes, a bit of a fuss is what's needed to get the job done!” ―Thomas Stuck in Gear is the fourth episode of the twenty-first season.

Plot
It is the morning after a heavy storm on the Island of Sodor, and there is a lot of damage. There are downed trees, flooded tracks, and everyone is working hard to clear up the island.

Emily is pulling passengers over Gordon's Hill, but she runs over a branch which snaps beneath her wheels. She chuckles at first, but then she runs over another branch, and then at the bottom of the hill, many larger branches have fallen across the line. Emily safely stops, but she has no way of continuing. At that very moment, Harvey comes along on the other track, ready to help move the branches with his crane.

As Harvey begins to move the branches off the line, Emily and her passengers begin cheering for Harvey. Even though he is special, it makes him feel embarrassed when everyone admires him and cheers. Often, he will swing his crane arm around in response; he does this, and he drops the branch back onto the track. Emily remains cheerful, but Harvey feels silly.

Later on, Harvey comes across a much bigger tree that has fallen onto the line. He initially decides to go fetch Rocky, but he has second thoughts afterwards. So, he decides to try and squeeze through the tree's branches, but it proves very difficult. With all his might, Harvey pushes his way through the tree. He makes it past the tree, but then he realises that a branch has gotten stuck in his crane gears. He feels silly about trying to push past the tree, and even sillier for getting a branch stuck in his crane gears. But, he decides to pretend that nothing is wrong and carry on with his work.

Down at Brendam Docks, Harvey's crane begins creaking very loudly, but he denies it to Thomas. Then, his crane stops moving altogether, pointing out to his left side. However, he is too shy to ask for help, so when Cranky and Salty ask him what was wrong, Harvey decides to play I-Spy with them. Harvey tells them he spies something starting with an 'O', and as Cranky and Salty discuss their ideas, Harvey tries to sneak away from them. However, he nearly hits a pillar of the large dockside building, and because his crane is jammed, he can't go through. So, he quickly reverses out of the Docks, just as Salty calls out another idea.

Still feeling embarrassed about his accident, Harvey decides to hide from the other crane-less engines so he will not be laughed at. He soon approaches a tunnel, and he decides to hide inside it. Unfortunately, because his crane is pointing to the side, he cannot fit inside it. Then, Harvey decides to try and fix his crane himself by pushing it against the tunnel wall. But as Harvey pushes forward, his crane pushes his wheels off the rails, and he ultimately ends up derailing himself. Now, Harvey feels even sillier, but then he hears an engine coming from inside the tunnel, and he calls out to the engine to stop. As it turns out, the engine is Salty, who has finally figured out what Harvey had spied that starts with an 'O'.

Eventually, Harvey is hoisted back onto his wheels and onto a flatbed, and Thomas takes him to the Steamworks to be repaired. Thomas tells Harvey that because he always helps other engines, he is more than happy to help Harvey. Still, Harvey admits that he did not want to make a fuss, or be teased about his crane being damaged. Thomas kindly explains to Harvey that broken-down engines are not made fun of, and sometimes a fuss is needed to get the job done.

Once at the Steamworks, Harvey is fixed with very little time and fuss, and his crane gear is smoother than ever before. But at the Docks, Harvey begins spinning his crane arm very fast again, and he accidentally throws a crate through the air. He admits to his mistake, but then notices his chain is tangled around his crane. This time, Harvey asks for help, and the dock workers are happy to help him.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Bill and Ben
 * Harvey
 * Emily
 * Salty
 * Cranky
 * Some Dock Workers
 * Victor (does not speak)
 * Rocky (does not speak)
 * Edward (cameo)
 * Henry (cameo)
 * Gordon (cameo)
 * James (cameo)
 * Percy (cameo)
 * Duck (cameo)
 * Stanley (cameo)
 * Caitlin (cameo)
 * Big Mickey (cameo)
 * The Dock Manager (cameo)
 * One of Dowager Hatt's Friends (cameo)
 * The Welsh Bird Watcher (cameo)

Locations

 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Gordon's Hill
 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Shipping Company
 * Sodor Steamworks
 * The Dinosaur Park

UK

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Jonathan Broadbent as Bill and Ben
 * Keith Wickham as Harvey, Salty, some Passengers, some Dock Workers and Emily's crew
 * Teresa Gallagher as Emily and some Passengers
 * Matt Wilkinson as Cranky
 * Rasmus Hardiker as an angry Dock Worker (uncredited)

US

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * Jonathan Broadbent as Bill and Ben
 * Keith Wickham as Harvey, Salty, some Passengers, some Dock Workers and Emily's crew
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily
 * Glenn Wrage as Cranky
 * Teresa Gallagher as Some Passengers
 * Rasmus Hardiker as an angry Dock Worker

Trivia

 * A large rail section has been built at Brendam Docks between Cranky and Big Mickey, which foreshadows the arrival of Carly when she is introduced later in the season.
 * Going by production order, this is the fifth episode of the twenty-first season.
 * This episode marks Rocky's only non-cameo appearance in the twenty-first season.
 * This episode marks Bill, Ben and Stanley's only appearance in the twenty-first season.
 * In the Nick Jr USA broadcast of the episode, it is paired with Dowager Hatt's Busy Day.
 * A shortened version of the episode, narrated by Joseph May as Thomas, can be found on the Nick Jr website.

Goofs

 * Towards the end of the episode, Victor is on standard gauge rails.
 * David Bedella is credited in the UK credits despite none of his characters speaking in that dub. This may have been because Victor was originally supposed to speak.

Merchandise

 * TrackMaster - Helpful Harvey