Thomas’s line runs along part of the coast as well as the rest of the railway considering if you look at the maps the whole line runs along the coast from west to south to southeast to east
I enjoyed that. Poor Ethel, she really was having a problem and she didn't want to admit it. But I loved how she came up with an idea to help save the day when they discovered the broken track.
4:08 "An enthusiast (who looked far from enthused) took down Oliver's number in a green notebook and said 'Take note, North Western number 11, that you are pulling AUTO coaches, *not* SLIP coaches. Good day,' and boarded Isabel."
I love it when the engines make the coaches sing. :) Seriously, though, everything about the way Winnie and the coaches get along reminds me of the first time we see Peter Sam pulling Skarloey Railway coaches in The Railway Series. The engine's chipper personality and the rhythmic dialogue of the coaches, with lavish praises mixed with generous servings of one-two step onomatopoeia, almost like railway sounds, just the way the Reverend Awdry wrote his books. STORY SPOILER: Funnily enough, this story feels like the inverse of Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady.
@TheBuriedTruck I just realized how perfectly Ethel being female works for this story. You know how most engines in The Railway Series and (For a long time, at least) Thomas and Friends are male, but people often refer to engines as "she" in real life? Why do people call engines "she?" Not just because they seemed to be living creatures; "He" would work just as well for that. If "Set Up Running: The Life of a Pennsylvania Railroad Engineman" by John W. Orrstead is anything to go by, it was because some engineers would tend to their engines with such care that their coworkers would joke that they needed to spend less time washing down their engine and more time with their wives. Yet most engine drivers in Thomas and Friends, at least, seem distant rather than doting. I mean, how many times has a stranded Percy been ditched by his driver and fireman in favor of a warm night at the pub? Just weather the storm with your engine and keep his fire running! Yet Sir Topham Hatt's relationship with Ethel seems something special. Ethel is like a daughter to him, and his fatherly role in her life will prepare him to be a father figure to engines in whose construction he took no part. That is why Ethel being female is perfect. She still makes me smile, by the way. A very heartwarming character.
This might just be me, and this could be because I watched Trampy movie 16, but am I the only one who can see Ethel sporting some side plates and cow catchers?
@@landonmarlin6116 I can’t say that Ethel herself will - but some of the coffeepots I plan to introduce next will absolutely have cowcatchers/side plates!
The closest I could find to a real life basis for Ethel is a locomotive called 'Hall & co chain-driven loco no 9'. By no means 100 Per cent identical but still a decent counterpart eitherway. 😊
It is fascinating, in fact he was the engineer who built Glynn the coffee pot engine and the other coffee pot engines, and even though he did shut Henry in the tunnel, he did give Henry another chance and never gave up on him and then when he retired, his son Charles, who is the fat controller did help Henry too and sent him to Crewe for his rebuild and now Henry is really useful again
@@TheBuriedTruck Ah. Well, thanks anyways! Hope someone adapts these stories soon (Although it would mean the extra effort of creating new maps in Trainz). Ethel is such a lovable character, by the way. Her innocent enthusiasm endears her to the audience, and it's a joy to watch it endear her to her human co-workers. Also, seeing young Sir Topham Hatt as a spunky innovator mellowing out into a father figure is a pleasure to witness.
Poor Ethel, nobody likes to fear about anything going wrong on the big day. Her dream of where she falls into a hole is quite scary. Even the coaches weren't being any help to her either. I like how Topham and Mr Dry were there to help cheer her up.
This was a great story. I liked how Ethel came to help make Mr Dry feel better. It was nice of him to apologise to her for not appreciating her to start with.
Me learning that the work I spent a year to complete was literally swept away and now I’ll have to start chipping away at the headlands till the foreseeable future: Edit: I got a heart on my comment in 8 minutes, possible new record for me =D
I like what I'm hearing. The Fat Controller in his early days creates a brand new steam engine. I can see Mr Dry and his workers are having some doubts about Ethel.
Hello, Buried Truck. I have a question about this story. Was Ethel as a portable engine sentient, or did she gain sentience as a locomotive? And if she WAS alive as a portable engine, are things like stationary ship boilers alive in their own rights too?
@@theflyingscotsman4472 I like to think she was, which is why she remembers not being able to move on her own. As for whether or not stationary ship boilers are alive, that’s a whole other debate that I haven’t given much consideration to!
@@caledonianrailway1233 this story is the end of the current volume. For Ethel’s “improvements” - and some more new faces - you’ll have to wait for the next volume!
@@matthewspencer7948 she’s a strange contraption - her boiler and smoke ox come from a portable engine (basically, a traction engine that can’t move without assistance), which Topham Hatt mounted to a wagon chassis and rigged up with gears to allow her to move.
That’s great news I just wanna see what she is rebuilt into and what the line becomes I do know that eventually Glynn and the other coffee pot engines take over the line and it becomes the Farquhar branch and then Thomas takes over with his 3 coaches . Annie clarabel and the missing coach who I head cannon as rolly Then toby joined cuz of the quarry (the events of the episode play like a trampy episode . It was too funny ) Then finally Percy joined to assist with goods whilst Thomas became passenger and Toby became mixed traffic Then daisy to help with passengers Finally mavis to shunt the quarry with Toby for there full time engine making Toby just a goods engine 2 passenger engines thomas and daisy 2 goods engines Percy and Toby 1 quarry engine mavis That’s the history as far as I know from the coffee pots to the engines on the branch in current day
