The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor and A Shed for Edward

The Fastest Red Engine and A Shed for Edward are episodes from the twenty-first season.

Plot
One day, James rushes in and brakes sharply at Knapford, causing him to be told off by the Fat Controller and Emily. Thomas teases James about how his brakes caught fire once, but James reminds him that good things came out of that accident; he was repainted red and does not have brake problems anymore, claiming to be the “fastest red engine on Sodor.” Thomas tells James that Rosie has been repainted red, much to his shock and dismay.

James is already in a bad mood from having to pull trucks, and seeing Rosie’s new livery on the mainline does not help. James screeches to slow down, making a horrible squeaking noise in the process. To see who is the fastest, James challenges Rosie to a race to Crovan’s Gate. This, however, leads to James almost crashing into Henry, as James’ brake take a while to work. Rosie comments that something is wrong with James’ brakes, so James gives Rosie his trucks and sets off for the Steamworks.

On the way, however, James does not hear any noises from his brakes and concludes that the problem was the trucks pushing him. Edward is puffing down the line when he meets Philip. James speeds past the engines and Edward tells him to slow down, or else he will have a crash. Edward is right; James’ brakes do not work and he ends up crashing into the back wall of Tidmouth Sheds. Little does he know that he is leaking brake fluid. Having not heard the noise since he gave Rosie his trucks, James forgets the Fat Controller’s warnings and races down Gordon’s Hill. At this point, James has run out of brake fluid, and the driver cannot slow James down. James races through Knapford and into the shunting yards, where Rosie tries to catch up and save him.

As the driver and fireman jump clear, James crashes face-first into the back of Tidmouth Sheds. Rosie and the Fat Controller arrive at the scene of the accident; the latter is very mad and tells James off for not listening. Rosie claims that James was having problems with his brakes and he even went to get them checked, though James admits he did not wait at all. The Fat Controller tells James that he should have checked before his small problem turned into an even bigger one. Rosie then says that for a while, James really was the fastest red engine on Sodor, getting a small chuckle out of him as the workmen, construction vehicles, including members of the Pack, and the Search and Rescue Team arrive on the scene.

That night, as James is lifted out by Rocky, The Fat Controller comes to the shed and tells Edward that he has to sleep somewhere else because of the damage when James had bad brakes. Philip, who is nearby, suggests to Edward that he can sleep in his shed near Wellsworth. Edward goes to Philip's shed, but Philip keeps on talking about the time he had a race against Gordon and the time he rescued James from crashing until morning. Edward did not get any sleep. He goes back to Tidmouth Sheds to see how the repairs are going. The Fat Controller tells Edward that the repairs will take a week. That night, Edward sleeps at Brendam Docks. Edward begins to fall asleep, but Salty starts singing sea shanties in his sleep. Porter reveals to Edward that Salty sings Sea Shanties in his sleep every night.

The next morning, Edward meets Philip, who says how fun it was that Edward slept at his shed and then starts talking about it. Edward leaves as soon as the signal goes green, making Philip a little sad. That night, Edward sleeps at the Steamworks. He manages to doze off, but is suddenly woken up as Victor, Kevin and the workmen are repairing James. Edward leaves the Steamworks. He tries sleeping on a ship but is awoken by the ship's horn as sea water splashes on his boiler. He then tries sleeping at Ulfstead Mine, but then the men start blasting. He finally tries sleeping in the forest, but cannot get to sleep because of owls hooting multiple times. The next morning, Edward is very tired. He falls asleep as he pulls into Knapford. He is about to collide into Percy, but Philip wakes him up with his horn. He thanked Philip and Philip says that it is sad that Edward does not like sleeping in his shed. Edward says he likes sleeping there but needed sleep and could not do so because of Philip talking. Philip apologises and asks Edward to sleep in his shed tonight. He promised not to talk. That night, Edward falls asleep. Philip is about to wake him but remembers not to talk during that time.

The next day, Edward returns to see the sheds fixed. Philip says how much he enjoyed Edward staying and wishes he could stay again, even forever maybe. Edward says he could stay another night, in which the Fat Controller says if he wants to move out of Tidmouth Sheds, then he is more than welcome to do so. Edward agrees to stay. In the end, both Edward and Philip happily go to their shed. The other engines will miss Edward and wonder who will join them at the sheds to fill his berth.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Emily
 * Rosie
 * Porter
 * Salty
 * Philip
 * Victor
 * Kevin
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * A Knapford Station Workman
 * Duck (cameo)
 * Charlie (cameo)
 * Belle (cameo)
 * Flynn (cameo)
 * Annie and Clarabel (cameo)
 * Rocky (cameo)
 * Harold (cameo)
 * Butch (cameo)
 * Jack (cameo)
 * Oliver the Excavator (cameo)
 * Max and Monty (cameo)
 * Kevin (cameo)
 * Cranky (cameo)
 * Carly (cameo)
 * Big Mickey (cameo)
 * The Teacher (cameo)
 * The Welsh Bird Watcher (cameo)
 * The Lady with the Big Hat (cameo)
 * Albert's Wife (cameo)
 * Dowager Hatt (mentioned)

Locations

 * Knapford
 * Knapford Station Yard
 * Knapford Yards
 * Sodor Steamworks
 * Gordon's Hill
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Shipping Company
 * Wellsworth
 * Wellsworth Sheds
 * Ulfstead Mine
 * Suddery Junction
 * Crovan's Gate (mentioned)
 * Knapford Sheds (mentioned)
 * Bridge Over Tunnel Runby (mentioned)

UK and AUS

 * John Hasler as Thomas
 * Keith Wickham as Edward, Henry, Gordon and The Fat Controller
 * Rob Rackstraw as James, Toby, James' Driver and the Knapford Workman
 * Teresa Gallagher as Emily
 * Nicola Stapleton as Rosie
 * Steven Kynman as Porter
 * David Bedella as Victor
 * Rasmus Hardiker as Philip
 * William Hope as the Miner
 * Christopher Ragland as the Troublesome Trucks
 * Rasmus Hardiker as the Troublesome Trucks
 * Kerry Shale as the Troublesome Trucks
 * Matt Wilkinson as Kevin

USA and CAN

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * Kerry Shale as Henry, Gordon and Kevin
 * Rob Rackstraw as James, his driver and the Knapford Workman
 * William Hope as Edward, Toby and the Miner
 * Jules de Jongh as Emily
 * Nicola Stapleton as Rosie
 * David Bedella as Victor
 * Keith Wickham as Salty and Sir Topham Hatt
 * Christopher Ragland as Percy and the Troublesome Trucks
 * David Menkin as Porter
 * Rasmus Hardiker as Philip

Trivia

 * A flashback from The Adventure Begins is used. A reference to the aforementioned special and the first season episode, Thomas and the Breakdown Train are also made.
 * Going by production order, this is the thirteenth episode of the twenty-first season.
 * The ending of this episode takes place during the opening scenes of A Shed for Edward. The premise of A Shed for Edward is based on the repercussions from this episode.
 * This episode marks a few milestones for Rosie:
 * Her first episode as a main character since the twelfth season episode, Rosie's Funfair Special.
 * Her first speaking role in an episode since the sixteenth season episode, Sodor Surprise Day.
 * The first time in an episode she is voiced by Nicola Stapleton in the UK and US, taking over from Teresa Gallagher and Jules de Jongh, respectively.
 * This episode marks the first time that a tanker has been seen with a face since the fourth season episode, Toad Stands By.
 * James’ crash has some similarities to Thomas' in the second season episode, Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Gordon's in the fifth season episode, A Better View for Gordon; along with Old Stuck-Up's in The Railway Series story of the same name from James and the Diesel Engines.
 * James discovering that Rosie is red like him shows proof that Journey Beyond Sodor takes place after the twenty-first season, since James did not say anything about her paintwork in the special. However, in said movie, Edward is still sleeping at Tidmouth Sheds despite leaving it permanently in A Shed for Edward, which takes place right after this episode.
 * Going by production order, this is the fourteenth episode of the twenty-first season.


 * There are several references to past episodes:
 * References to the nineteenth season episodes, The Little Engine Who Raced Ahead and Philip to the Rescue are made.
 * Philip mentions Dowager Hatt having a new hat, which is a call back to the episode, Dowager Hatt's Busy Day.
 * The opening events of this episode takes place during the ending scene of The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor. Edited stock footage from said episode is also used.


 * The premise of this episode (and Edward leaving Tidmouth Sheds) was done in response to criticism of the show "not being diverse enough" in relation to there being only one female engine at Tidmouth Sheds. In addition, the engines talking about whose going to take Edward's berth is foreshadowing the arrival of Nia or Rebecca (both of whom are female engines) in Big World! Big Adventures! and the twenty-second season.
 * This episode initially did not have any narration (apart from the episode’s title being read) when it aired on Milkshake!, but it was later fixed in the US, Australian and Japanese dubs, as well as the UK dub that aired in Japan and the On the Go with Thomas DVD.
 * This episode marks the first appearance of two locations:
 * The first appearance of Suddery Junction since the second season episode, The Diseasel.
 * The first appearance of Wellsworth Sheds in the television series.


 * The first appearance of Suddery Junction since the second season episode, The Diseasel.
 * The owl hooting sound effect is used from the Classic Series.

Goofs

 * In the first scene of Toby following the butterfly, it disappears for one frame before reappearing again.
 * In the scenes at Knapford Station, the lighting is off, resulting in the engines’ faces lacking shadows from the station canopy.
 * Thomas' whistle does not emit steam when he leaves Knapford station.
 * As James is braking for the signal, Rosie's side rods do not move. Additionally, Rosie passes through the signal.
 * As James and Rosie are arguing over James’ brakes, Henry's train seems to double in size then what it had been in the previous scene.
 * James is shown and said to have leaked brake fluid, but steam engines do not use brake fluid; they are equipped with vacuum or air brakes.
 * During the close up of James braking before and on Gordon's Hill, he suddenly has his external brake shoes from The Adventure Begins but for the rest of the episode, they are absent.
 * When Rosie is trying to rescue James, a white strip appears under her chin.
 * Up until James stops at a signal on his way to the Steamworks, his rear tender axle boxes clip through his rear buffer beam.
 * William Hope is not credited in the UK credits for voicing the miner in Ulfstead Mine.
 * When Edward almost crashes into Percy, the scene is not cut properly; for a split second, Edward suddenly shoots forward (which was done so he could be closer to Percy).

Merchandise

 * Capsule Plarail - Broken Tidmouth Sheds Berth

UK

 * On the Go with Thomas