Air date: November 27th, 1984
Adapted from: Troublesome Engines, "Trouble in the Shed"
At Knapford, there is no sign of the morning train, causing the passengers to become angry. The Fat Controller is told by the stationmaster that Henry is refusing to leave his shed, so he goes to find out what is going on. Gordon tells him that he, Henry and James will no longer fetch their own coaches or shunt in sidings. The Fat Controller is angry that the bigger engines are trying to tell him what they're willing to do and leaves for Wellsworth to enlist Edward as a station pilot to ensure that the day's trains run as normal, noting to himself that life at the yard hasn't been the same since Thomas left to run his branch line. Edward is happy to shunt the coaches and the rest of the day's trains run as usual.
Next day, the Fat Controller visits the yard to see how Edward is getting along. To his dismay, he sees Gordon puff by and wheesh loudly at Edward. Edward tells the Fat Controller that the big engines have been insulting and wheeshing steam at him. The Fat Controller assures Edward that tender engines do shunt, but decides that he must bring a new tank engine to the yard to permanently fix the problem.
Visiting the engine workshop, the Fat Controller is shown all kinds of engines. Soon he sees a smart green saddletank and knows this is the one he wants. The Fat Controller asks the engine if he is willing to work hard. The engine eagerly responds that he is. With that, the matter is settled. The Fat Controller names him Percy and takes him back to the yard.
The Fat Controller asks Edward to get Percy acquainted with the yard and the pair set off for work. Edward is very impressed by his hard work and loud wheeshing - something he learned in the workshop so as to be heard. The Fat Controller then decides to send for Thomas and calls all three engines to the yard for an announcement: He tells them that he has shut-up the big engines in the shed until they learn to behave and that, in Gordon, Henry and James' absence, the two tank engines and Edward will run the railway.
Edward and Thomas are put in charge of the main line, while Percy takes care of Thomas' branch line as well as looking after Annie and Clarabel. While there are fewer trains, the passengers don't mind as they understand that the three engines are doing their best to keep the railway running and that the big engines were in the middle of learning a lesson.
In the sheds, Gordon, James and Henry are left cold, lonely, and miserable. The three finally start to realise just how silly they have been.
Tender Engines Don't Trope!:
- Achilles in His Tent: Gordon, Henry (who had previously done this in "The Sad Story of Henry"), and James did this by going on strike. The Fat Controller responds by getting a station pilot, though also leaves the three in their shed as punishment for bullying Edward for shunting.
- Aesop Amnesia: Apparently, Henry hasn't learned that Achilles in His Tent doesn't work with the Fat Controller.
- Bowdlerise:
- The word "common tank engines" was used in the UK, but in the US, it says "little tank engines".
- In the UK, The Fat Controller tells the big engines that engines on his railway do as they are told. In the US, he says that no engine on his railway is too important for small jobs.
- In the UK version of this episode, Edward claims that the big engines told him he had black wheels. This insult is a play on the word "blackleg," which is a derogatory term for someone who works during a strike. In both US versions, it was changed to "grey" wheels, likely to avoid confusing American audiences.
- Break the Cutie: Edward becomes unhappy when Gordon, James, and Henry bully him for shunting "like little tank engines" and call him "black wheels" ("grey wheels" in the US narration).
- Bully Hunter: The three tender engines hiss rudely at Edward for interfering with their strike. When Percy arrives, he responds to this by wheeshing loudly at Henry, sending him back into the sheds startled.
- Go to Your Room!: Gordon, Henry, and James were shut up in the sheds for a couple of days for their harassment of Edward and their vehement protests that "tender engines don't shunt".
- Jerkass Realization: The end of the episode shows Gordon, Henry, and James alone in the sheds realizing how silly they were for going on strike.
- Hypocritical Humor: In the UK dub, the other tender engines accuse Edward of having "black wheels". This is a play on the British insult "blackleg" attributed to strike workers, though the pun plays badly against James who is not only a mixed traffic engine, but has literal black wheels.
- Jerkass: Gordon, Henry and James, but Gordon takes it up to eleven by wheeshing Edward in front of the Fat Controller.
- Kick the Dog: The big engines (particularly Gordon) rudely hissed at Edward for being a scab and said he had black wheels.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Gordon, Henry, and James were sent to the sheds for a few days for their protests about tender engines shunting as well as mistreating Edward while they were reluctantly sent back to work.
- Pet the Dog: Edward becomes distressed when the other tender engines tell him he has "black wheels". The Fat Controller tells him he has nice blue wheels and he's proud of him.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite voicing his distain for the strike, the Fat Controller does try to appease the big engines, first getting Edward to shunt their trains, and then at fail, buying a tank engine to pose as a full time station pilot. It is only when the big engines resort to bullying Edward for being a "black wheel" that he punishes them.
- Sixth Ranger: Percy. This is even literal since he was given the number 6.
- Stealth Pun: The above entry of Hypocritical Humor. James is literally calling the kettle black.
- Stock Footage: Footage from "Thomas' Train" is used.
- Strike Episode: Gordon, Henry, and James go on a strike. The Fat Controller sends Edward to shunt coaches for them, but they were not happy about this and treated Edward horribly for being a scab.
- Title Drop: "There's trouble in the shed, sir."
- Token Good Teammate: Edward is the only tender engine who was nicer to Percy and never complains about shunting his own trains.
- Too Proud for Lowly Work: Gordon, Henry, and James insist that certain jobs are beneath them, such as having to shunt their own coaches for their passenger trains. This becomes a plot point in this episode; when Thomas leaves the shunting yard to run his own branch line, the Fat Controller makes the bigger engines shunt their own coaches until he can find another small tank engine like Thomas to do so. In response, the bigger engines decide to go on strike, leaving Edward to tackle their work by himself. The Fat Controller is inspired to get a new tank engine called Percy to help Edward with the extra work while the bigger engines are punished for going on strike. The bigger engines quickly grow bored of doing nothing and promise to work hard again, no matter what the job if the Fat Controller lets them out (which he does in the next episode).
- Ungrateful Bastards: Edward gets coaches for the big engines, but instead of being grateful they don't have to shunt their own coaches anymore, or at the very least be relieved that they don't have so much work to do, they thank him by hissing him, and saying he has black wheels (gray in the American dub).
- Verbal Tic: Percy, when speaking to the Fat Controller, repeats "sir" after every sentence.
- You Are Grounded!: Gordon, Henry and James are shut up in the shed for their actions.
