A new bridge between Sodor and the mainland has led to increased competition from the roads.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Name Change: At the end of the episode, it's revealed that Bulgy's actual name is Rupert.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Bulgy insists that Bertie stop calling him 'Bulgy', as he hates that nickname. Bertie finally refers to him as Rupert... when the latter is at the repair yard, having bashed his top half into a tunnel he underestimated the size of.
- Breather Episode: This episode's tone is much lighter than its predecessor.
- Didn't Think This Through: As in the original book, Bulgy/Rupert thinks he can use a shortcut to beat Duck to Waterton, but he misjudges the height of a bridge he needs to pass under and smashes into it. Since he can't pass under, his passengers board Duck's train when he turns up, leaving Rupert fuming.
- In a fit of temper, both Oliver and George start a fight on the rails. All they succeed in doing is derailing each other, although George apparently comes off worse, and both get reprimanded severely.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Bulgy is this for Rupert - he snaps at Bertie for calling him by that name.
- Humble Pie: Onslow is forced to eat a big slice of it when he breaks down on a railway crossing. Edward assures us that this event helped him learn sense and he still works on Sodor to this day.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Both Bulgy and George are severely punished for their behaviour. While Bulgy's fate is unclear, George is sent to build motorways across Britain and is never seen again on Sodor. Oliver is also reprimanded sharply by Sir Topham for his duel with George.
- The Last Straw: George's duel with Oliver proves to be this with the steamroller's managers.
- Mythology Gag: Edward likes to think Bulgy ended up as a henhouse, much as he did in Oliver The Western Engine. Bulgy's insults to Bertie are also word for word.
- George's tiff with Oliver is similar to the one he had with Sir Handel.
- Sheffield uses Bulgy's original complaint from the book above having a breakdown in protest. The context is changed from bringing passengers to the station to bringing vans to the station, as his job has been given to Onslow instead.
- Two to TUGS:
- Bulgy quotes Zebedee when he tells Maggie she's past it.
- As he pushes Onslow of the level crossing, George grumbles Warrior's catchphrase "suffering stacks."
- Two to "Horrid Lorry:"
- Bulgy insults Maggie by telling her that she belongs in a museum, similar to how Lorry 3 told Toby.
- Bertie dubs George, Bulgy, and Onslow the Brothers Grimm, something Thomas did to the three Horrid Lorries at the end of their titular episode, although Bertie replaces "Broken" and "Sunk" with "Scuppered" and "Squished."note Which makes some sense as none of the Terrible Trio here suffers Lorry 1's fate of reversing into the sea.
- Terrible Trio: Bulgy, George, and Onslow. All three were massive jerkasses toward the steam engines and rolling stock. They're also cruel towards Bertie. Subverted in the end with Onslow, who become much more friendlier with the steam engines.
