Fish


 * ''“Hello Duck! Going fishing? I'd take care If I were you."

"Why?" "Well for one thing, if fish get into an engine's boiler, they always cause trouble. And for another, fish can be awfully smelly. And I know what I'm talking about. Good night.”''
 * ―Thomas advising Duck

Fish is the twenty-fourth episode of the fourth season.

Plot
A special load of fish is ordered and extra vans are needed for The Flying Kipper and, to Henry's frustration, the only vans available are old and unused. Duck shunts them into position and moments later, Thomas arrives with the post train and he warns him to take care, reminding him of his own experience with fish. Henry is still complaining about his extra load, but his driver tells him that at least another engine will be there to help.

At Wellsworth, Duck waits for Henry and when he arrives he moves to the back to help him to the top of Gordon's Hill without getting coupled up. As the train nears the top of the hill, Henry begins to inadvertently pull away from Duck. As this happens, the tail-lamp on the last van falls off. After that, Henry slows down while Duck suddenly loses sight of the train and as he frantically runs after it, he crashes into the last van causing loads of fish to spill out and bringing the train to a halt.

Edward soon arrived to help clean up the mess later that morning and the missing tail lamp is found at the bottom of the hill. The Fat Controller tells Duck that the accident was not his fault and that the crew should have fitted the tail lamp on properly. Duck reflects that Thomas' earlier advice about fish was right.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Duck
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Edward (does not speak)
 * James (cameo)
 * Percy (cameo)
 * Skarloey (stock footage cameo)
 * Rheneas (stock footage cameo)
 * Gordon (mentioned)

Locations

 * Tidmouth Harbour
 * Wellsworth
 * Gordon's Hill
 * The Lighthouse
 * The Seaside Village
 * Road Beside Rail and Canal Runby
 * Lakeside
 * Lakeside Bridge

Trivia

 * This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, Really Useful Engines.
 * This episode marked the last of two things:
 * Duck's last leading role until the seventeenth season episode, The Thomas Way.
 * Edward, Henry, Skarloey and Rheneas' last appearances in the Railway Series.
 * Stock footage from A Bad Day for Sir Handel is used.
 * Crates labelled "Fulton's" can be seen during the episode; these are either a reference to Fulton's Fish Market in New York City or set dressing props from the sister television series TUGS. O.J.'s model, Lakesider III, from said series also appears in the episode.
 * A reference to the first season episode Thomas Goes Fishing is made.

Goofs

 * Duck's eyes are wonky in some scenes.
 * Throughout the episode, Thomas has Edward's whistle sound.
 * Thomas' eyes are wonky in the first close up shot of him.
 * When the narrator says, "Henry was pulling his train harder than he realised," Henry's eyes are wonky.
 * Henry's lamp is not on his lamp iron.
 * In a close-up shot of Duck, his lamp has no light.
 * In the Finnish dub, Gordon's English name is used once by accident.

Quotes
<< Season 3
 * The Fat Controller/Sir Topham Hatt: The accident wasn't your fault; we should have checked if this tail lamp was fixed on properly. We'll soon have you in working order again.
 * Duck: Thank you sir, Thomas told me to be careful about fish. They got me in a right pickle, didn't they?

Season 4

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