Break Van, retitled Donald and Douglas on North American releases, is the sixteenth episode of the second series. It is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book The Twin Engines.

Plot

A pair of black twin tender engines named Donald and Douglas have arrived on Sodor from Scotland to work on the railway; however, the Fat Controller had only expected one engine. He assigns each of the two engines a number: Donald is 9 and Douglas is 10, but still intends to send one of the two engines back to Scotland.

A brake van in the yard takes an instant disliking to Douglas. Whenever Douglas needs to take him out, he deliberately delays Douglas' trains, causing Douglas to be unfairly blamed. One day, Donald, who has heard about the brake van's mischief, confronts him for treating Douglas in such a cruel manner. Donald bumps him violently, threatening him with more to come should he continue to misbehave. Afterwards, he starts behaving better for several days. One day, when Donald is reversing on some slippery rails, he crashes tender-first through some buffers and into a signal box. The Fat Controller is disappointed that this has happened because he had intended to send Douglas back to Scotland, but since Donald needs to have his tender repaired, James will need to do his goods work, which the Fat Controller knows James will hate.

The Fat Controller is proven right; James is furious about having to do extra work. Douglas mentions James' accident with the tar wagons, which worsens his bad mood because he hates being reminded of the accident. James then pulls another goods train, which includes the Spiteful Brake Van, who decides to make work difficult for James by encouraging the trucks to hold back, which tires James out.

Meeting Douglas at Wellsworth, James asks for his help in climbing up Gordon's Hill and Douglas obliges. The two engines work as hard as they can, but James starts losing steam halfway up the hill. Between the weight of the train and Douglas' force, the van is crushed to pieces. Fortunately, his Guard manages to jump clear while no one else is hurt, and Edward comes with the breakdown train to help clear the mess, with the Fat Controller on board. As the van's remains are lifted away, the Fat Controller is initially disappointed that Douglas had also caused an accident, but Edward vouches for him, having heard what happened. The Fat Controller walks away, trying to make up his mind about something.

Characters

• Edward
• James
• Donald and Douglas
• Troublesome Trucks
• The Spiteful Brake Van
• Sir Topham Hatt
• Thomas (cameo)
• Henry (cameo)
• Gordon (cameo)

Locations

• Island of Sodor
  • Tidmouth
    • Tidmouth Sheds
      • Tidmouth Goods Station
      • The Works
    • Tidmouth Yards
      • Tidmouth Yard Sheds
  • Suddery Castle
  • Wellsworth
  • Gordon's Hill
• Scotland (mentioned)

Trivia

• Originally, Hullo Twins was going to serve as Donald and Douglas' proper introduction in the series before the episode was cancelled. Two shots from said cancelled episode are reused for the opening scene of this one.
• The episode's original UK title is a pun and portmanteau of the word "Break" and the UK term Brake Van.
• This episode marks:
  • The first time a character suffers an injury to their face (the brake van is seen with a black eye after the crash).
  • The only appearance of the Spiteful Brake Van.
• This episode was filmed alongside Thomas Comes to Breakfast, as in the latter episode, Donald's tender can be seen sticking out of the signal box when Thomas pulls into Tidmouth Station and in the close-up shot of Percy at Tidmouth Yard Sheds.
• The rag used to wipe down Donald and Douglas' tender is blu-tack.
• A reference to the first series episode, Dirty Objects is made.
• In the restored version, an extended speed-up scene of Donald's wheels sliding is used.
• During filming of the scenes of Gordon's hill, Douglas' nameplate was accidentally left on. In the original version, it was hidden by a black bar in post-production and the footage was cropped to hide it.
• This episode was paired up alongside the third series episode, The Trouble with Mud, in an airing of Storytime with Thomas.
• Because this episode was originally broadcast alongside Better Late than Never, when it was later released on its own, some versions, most notably on VHS and Cartoon Network, still had Christopher Awdry's episode listed in the end credits.
• Donald's accident in this episode was later mentioned in the twenty-first series episode, Emily in the Middle.
• Better Late than Never and this episode aired on 24 April 1989 with another gap in the middle of airings, this second gap coincided with May Day Bank Holiday and aired The Deputation/Thomas Comes to Breakfast on 8 May.
• The JEI TV version of the Korean dub added subtitles to inform viewers what brake vans and tenders are.
• This episode was never released on home video in South Korea.

Goofs

• When Donald bumps the brake van, the bumping sound is late by a second.
• In the restored version, a string that ties to the end of Donald's tender pulling him can be seen just before he crashes.
• When Donald crashes into the signal box:
  • The M in the Tidmouth Sign is missing but, in the next shot, the M is seen.
  • The alarm falls off but, in the next shot, it is still intact.
• When Donald says "I'm sorry, sir." there is a gap between his right eye (viewer's left) and face.
• At the Tidmouth Sheds yard, Henry, Gordon and James' eyes are very misaligned.
• When James leaves the yard:
  • His goods train changes rolling stock.
  • A salt van from his train jolts.
  • His tender body is not properly assembled to its chassis.
• When James passes Suddery Castle, the brake van does not appear to have a face.
• Douglas has his nameplate at Gordon's Hill in the restored version as well in two shots of the original version.
• The brake van turns brown when Douglas crushes him and he is also smiling.
• When Douglas crushes the brake van, his wheels are bluish-grey. This is due to his wheels and other areas of his model being covered in Fuller's earth, which the crew would douse trucks or structures the engines were going to crash into and destroy with in order to create a scale effect and make the slow motion appear more dramatic.
• Douglas is wearing his happy face when he smashes the spiteful brake van when is seen wearing it when Edward helps to clean up the mess.
• Edward's eyes are misaligned when he is heading for the accident.
• When the brake van's wreckage is being cleared away:
  • A workmen’s overalls are not fully painted on his back, with another one having sticky tac around his neck in the close up of Edward.
  • Douglas' face is clean but, later, his face is dirty and his nameplate is also crooked and peeling.
• In the close-up shot of Edward, he is derailed.
• When the Fat Controller says "I don't know," Douglas' face moves slightly.

In Other Languages

Merchandise

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Trading Cards Name Released Discontinued Highlights Image Donald & Douglas 2002 Unknown My Thomas Story Library Name Published Publisher Highlights Photo Donald and Douglas 2003 Egmont Publishing My Thomas Story Library book

Home Video Releases

Episode

Break Van - UK

UK Narration

Donald and Douglas - US

US Narration

References