This special contains examples of:
- Heel–Face Turn: Shane has a change of heart after hearing stories about the engines caring for their passengers.
- Mythology Gag: There are references about engines caring for their passengers in spite of the circumstances. One, BoCo brings up the time Edward brought the passengers home without his siderods. Then Henry brings up the time Percy bringing the passengers home during the storm, and then the time he took the Express while being half-painted.
- Noodle Incident: We get two noodle incidences. One with Percy giving Shane a lecture in the main yard, and another where Henry had a near miss at the curve just before East Knapford.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Despite being allowed to pass a faulty signal, Shane states that he won't pass it since it's at danger, but Donald and BoCo tells him that he can still go for the passengers' sake.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Gordon's eagerness to prove Shane wrong in his time trial challenge has led to his accident with the lorry.
