Steamies vs. Diesels is the final episode of The Narrow Gauge Engines: The Movie. It is split into two parts.
Plot[]
Part 1[]
It has been a few days since the Skarloey Railway engines have used the S.M.I.F.T.A.E to become standard gauge engines and take over the North Western Railway. Needless to say, things on the North Western Railway couldn't have been better; all the engines' trains have run perfectly on time, there are now more steam engine enthusiasts than ever before, and best of all, the Troublesome Trucks have completely stopped causing accidents and playing tricks.
On the opposite side of things, however, Sid and his diesels have transformed the Skarloey Railway into a desolate wasteland. Rarely anybody has come to visit the railway, and those who do would end up complaining about missing their trains as well as the toxic aroma of diesel oil polluting the air. Worst of all, the trucks and coaches have been bashed, broken apart, and left to rust.
Meanwhile, Nuria and Settebello (the only two "good" narrow gauge engines left on the railway) are revealed to have been in hiding since the diesels kidnapped their friends and took them to the smelters. Worried about what happened to the other engines, Nuria leaves to investigate, but Settebello insists that she stay with him in order not to get caught. Nuria explains that they helped her and Settebello find a new home, so it would make sense to help them in return. Settebello cannot help but agree and goes with her to find the other engines, unaware they are being followed by 19 and 20.
Back on the North Western Railway, the engines are preparing for Burns Night. Duncan, Donald and Douglas tell the other engines all about Scotland. Donald tells Peter Sam about the Loch Ness Monster and this scares him. That night, as he pushes a train of bagpipes, he hears an errie noise coming from around him, believing that to be the Loch Ness Monster. However, he looks inside his trucks and realizes the sound is coming from his load of bagpipes, as the wind is pushing right through them and making the eerie sound. Peter Sam presses on until he hears another strange noise. He initially believes it to be from the bagpipes, but soon the strange noise becomes a desparate cry for help.
When Burns Night arrives, a party is held at Vicarstown station, which makes the Scottish engines very happy. However, Peter Sam tells Skarloey about the cry for help he had heard earlier. Skarloey and Peter Sam investigate and discover that Nuria and Settebello are being held hostage by the diesels at the Blue Mountain Quarry. Skarloey and Peter Sam know the diesels have gone too far and finally decide to take back the Skarloey Railway and save Nuria and Settebello, but they are spotted by the diesels before they could do anything and barely make their escape. Fortunately, since the diesels are now narrow gauge, they cannot go where Skarloey and Peter Sam are going.
Back at the station, Skarloey and Peter Sam warn the other engines about the diesels, asking desperately for their help. Gordon explains that they cannot help, as they are standard gauge engines that are too big to fit on narrow gauge tracks. Peter Sam insists that they must help, because they made a promise to help Nuria and Settebello. Skarloey adds that engines must help engines no matter how big or small they are, and that since they helped the North Western Railway, the North Western Railway should help them. Thomas and the other North Western Railway engines agree that helping the Skarloey Railway engines take back the Skarloey Railway and save Nuria and Settebello is the right thing to do, but Percy asks how they plan on doing it.
Fortunately, Skarloey knows exactly what they need to do.
Part 2[]
Skarloey shows the other engines the S.M.I.F.T.A.E, and demonstrates its ability to shrink a standard gauge engine down to the size of a narrow gauge engine. Percy gets the idea to have all the standard gauge engines become narrow gauge engines so they can overthrow Sid and his army of diesels. Skarloey agrees with Percy, explaining that with all the standard gauge steamies "narrow gauge-ified", the diesels would certainly be outnumbered.
One by one, the standard gauge engines use the S.M.I.F.T.A.E to become narrow gauge engines (with Thomas being saved best for last). With Skarloey leading the way, the steamies charge ahead as one huge cavalry.
Back at the Blue Mountain Quarry, Sid prepares to force Merrick to drop Nuria and Settebello into the rock crusher. However, Skarloey and his steamie cavalry arrive to declare war on the diesels. Sid, not wanting to back down, orders his diesels to attack the steamies. One by one, the steamies manage to derail the diesels. Merrick loads Nuria and Settebello back onto the rails and apologizes for doing Sid's bidding. However, 19 and 20 couple up to Nuria and Settebello, and take them away. Peter Sam rushes off to the rescue and tries to couple up to Nuria, but 19 is too fast. Fortunately, Thomas helps push Peter Sam and together they are able to catch up to 19 and couple up to Nuria. In the process, 19 derails, but Nuria is safe.
Meanwhile, 20 is leaving with Settebello in tow. Blister I and Blister II try to help, but Bill and Ben couple up behind them and do the "why are you hitting yourself" routine with them. 20 crashes into Blister I and Blister II and all three diesels derail. Harvey is able to use his hook to uncouple Settebello from 20.
Soon, now that Nuria and Settebello are free, they join their steamie comrades in derailing the diesels. However, Diesel 10 shows up to put a stop to it, but Marion steps in and uses her shovel to wrestle with Diesel 10's claw. Belle rushes by and shoots water in Diesel 10's face, and Diesel 10 proceeds to grab Belle with his claw. Marion uses this opportunity to use her shovel to knock Diesel 10 off the tracks. Upon doing so, Diesel 10 lands on his side but attempts to push himself back upright. However, his claw is destroyed due to not being strong enough to support his weight.
At last, all of the diesels surrender, leaving the steamies to declare a sucessful victory, until they notice that Sid is nowhere to be seen. To their uttee horror, Sid is planning on using the S.M.I.F.T.A.E to enlarge himself and become the world's biggest and most powerful diesel. However, this backfires immensely as the S.M.I.F.T.A.E explodes, leaving behind a dark cloud of smoke. When the smoke clears, Sid is revealed to have been shrunk to the size of a jellybean.
Ruth shows up and is shocked that the S.M.I.F.T.A.E is destroyed. Duncan asks her if she can build a new one, but here is what Ruth has to say:
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!! I have wasted my ENTIRE LIFE on the S.M.I.F.T.A.E.!!! Ever since I was five, I had worked tirelessly day and night so I could flawlessly perfect the size-altering capacitor that it needs in order to work! I went to Harvard University and earned by engineering degree specifically for the S.M.I.F.T.A.E., nothing else!!! Twenty-five YEARS have went into this one invention, and do you know how old I am now? THIRTY!!! I thought I could revolutionize the world with the S.M.I.F.T.A.E., but now that you guys have selfishly taken advantage of my life's work, I now realize what a big mistake I have made! So, to answer your question, NO!!!! I will NOT be making another S.M.I.F.T.A.E.!!! In fact, I will NEVER be making another invention EVER AGAIN!!! I QUIT!!! .....C'mon, Cleo! I'm taking you with me to America."
Soon, the engines look at the clock and realize that Mr. Percival will be returning in one hour. Quickly, they clean up the mess they've made and put all of the derailed diesels on flatbeds. Just then, Mr. Percival arrives and is confused as to what's going on. The engines decide to tell Mr. Percival everything that has happened. Afterwards, Mr. Percival asks who is responsible for letting it all happen, and the engines explain that Mr. Wichem is to blame. Mr. Percival is beyond frustrated and storms into Mr. Wichem's office, blaming him for letting his diesels take over and demanding that he leave Sodor and never return.
After Mr. Wichem and Ruth leave for America, Mr. Percival and Sir Topham Hatt realize that without another S.M.I.F.T.A.E., they cannot revert the North Western Railway engines back to their former selves, at least not without extensive and costly overhauls that could take years to complete. However, Victor explains that he has a quicker and much less expensive solution; inspired by Flynn's retractable railway wheels, the North Western Railway engines are converted into dual gauge engines. Though they are still the size of narrow gauge engines, they are now able to run along standard gauge rails as well as narrow gauge rails with special retractable wheels.
Later, Mr. Percival is introduced to Nuria and Settebello. Surprisingly, the three are able to recognize each other. Skarloey is confused, and Mr. Percival explains that Nuria and Settebello were his engines a long time ago, and one day he had told them to wait for him to give them instructions on what to do next, but he had soon forgotten about them when he became controller of the Skarloey Railway. Now that Nuria and Settebello are on Sodor, he plans on giving them work on the Skarloey Railway. Nuria and Settebello forgive Mr. Percival and agree to work for him.
The next day, things have never been better for Sodor. Mr. Percival sends Nuria to work at a tomato farm, which immediately reminds her of her old home in Spain. Meanwhile, Settebello is sent to pull express trains alongside Cosgrove. Sir Topham Hatt has given the North Western Railway engines jobs to do on the Skarloey Railway, and the engines use their new dual gauge abilities to work alongside the Skarloey Railway engines more efficiently.
The episode ends with Thomas and Skarloey traveling along the Proteus Line into the sunset.
Characters[]
- Skarloey
- Rheneas
- Sir Handel
- Peter Sam
- Rusty
- Duncan
- Freddie
- Thomas
- Edward
- Henry
- Gordon
- James
- Percy
- Toby
- Nia
- Rebecca
- Bill and Ben
- Marion
- Harvey
- Nuria
- Settebello
- Sid
- 19 and 20
- Diesel
- Diesel 10
- Blister I and Blister II
- Frank
- Sigrid of Arlesdale
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Mr Percival
- Ruth
- Mr. Wichem
Trivia[]
- The title of this episode is named after the DVD Steamies vs. Diesels and Other Thomas Stories.
- The first half of the episode features elements from the annual story Pipe Dreams. Similarly to said story, Duncan and Peter Sam are portrayed as standard gauge engines.
- Thomas mentions that he had to learn that standard gauge engines are too wide to fit on narrow gauge tracks "the hard way", which is a callback to Blue Mountain Mystery.
- It is revealed that Ruth is 30 years old.