The Quarry Disaster (Banned Season 3 Thomas And Friends Episode)

Thomas The Tank Engine is the single best kid’s show in existence. It’s a funny, heartwarming, wholesome program. However, starting with Season 5, the show got far more violent, but I still loved it. However, something that happened concerning the show’s 3rd Season has tested my resolution on the show. I had been trying to suppress memories of the episode in question, but the time has come to tell my story, and I don’t regret it…..

 

It was 1 summer ago, exactly a week after that year’s 4th Of July. I had been staying with my grandparents for about a week while my parents were on a business trip. At around 2:30 in the morning, I woke up very suddenly with a stomach bug like no other. It felt like something was possessing me. I was sleeping in the downstairs TV room, so I decided to turn on the TV, foolishly hoping it would help me fall back asleep. I decided to tune into PBS Kids. Maybe, I told myself, Thomas The Tank Engine would be on. So I switched on the TV and turned to PBS. A commercial concerning the premiere of a new season of Arthur that was to air later that morning was on. I watched the whole commercial, and then the whole screen went black, save for a small, white, flashing dot in the top left-hand corner accompanied by a just-audible beeping. This went on for about a minute. Realizing I should record this, I quickly grabbed a blank VHS tape, popped it into the player, and hit the record button. About a minute after this, the screen changed. It went to an Army Green card with some rigid-looking white text that said the following:

 

“The following broadcast is a banned episode of the 3rd season of Thomas The Tank Engine. It was only aired once before, on August 16th, 2005. It was pulled from airing because of the brutal deaths of two well-loved characters. The episode “Heroes” was written and adapted in its place. This is the last time it will air. Watch at your own risk.”

 

This stayed on the screen for about 30 seconds, accompanied by some just-visible static. After that, the episode began. The opening scene was normal, with the catchy music and Thomas puffing cheerily past. The part where the episode’s title was showed displayed the name “The Quarry Disaster”. Assuming this was nothing more than a rarely-aired version of “Snow Engine” or something like that, I kept watching. The episode started out with stock footage from the opening scene of the episode “The Diseasel”. The narrator said that Bill and Ben were good, hard-working quarry engines that loved their job. It then showed some B-Roll footage of those two engines pulling some trucks between two mountains while the camera moved upwards away from them. It then cut to a shot of Bill and Ben in their sheds with Sir Topham Hatt in front of them. “Bill and Ben, The quarry up in the mountains need some heavy repairs.” “What are you saying here, sir?” Said Bill, sounding somewhat confused. “I’m saying the 2 of you are the best engines for the job.” Sir Topham Hatt replied. “Oh, joy! We love the mountains!” Ben said gleefully.

 

The just-visible static then got significantly worse to the point where almost nothing was recognizable, with Bill and Ben merely being yellow blobs. After about 30 seconds of this, it got better at a point where it showed Bill and Ben sitting on a bridge in the mountain quarry. The narrator said that they felt ill and decided to catch some air on a bridge. It then cut to an incline with some Troublesome Trucks on it. “This is boring.” said one truck. “Let’s make some trouble.” Said another. They then started tugging at the winch. The Narrator said that Bill and Ben had realized what had happened, and they were trying to get off the bridge, but they couldn't move. “My wheels are too full of rocks!” Moaned Bill. “My whistle is full of sand!” Shouted Ben. Then the winch broke and the trucks started rolling towards the bridge. Bill tried to whistle for help, but it was too late. The trucks collided with the bridge’s weak, wooden supports, causing it to collapse, taking Bill and Ben with it. But it got worse. A very loud “BOOM” was heard, and the camera cut to a shot of rocks tumbling down one of the surrounding mountains. It cut to a 1st-person shot from Bill’s perspective of a large rock falling on top of him. It went to a bird’s-eye view of the whole affair just as the rock landed on Bill with a heart-stopping “CRUNCH”. From a distance, I was treated to a scene of the rocks sweeping Bill, Ben, The bridge and the 6 trucks which had caused this whole accident in the 1st place down the mountain and into the valley below. It then faded to black, with some just-audible buzzing in the background.

 

It then went to a rather wide shot of the 1st 11 engines, plus Toad, Boco, Mavis and Daisy in the harbor all gathered around two unidentifiable objects loaded onto flatbeds with looks of frantic worry upon their faces. When the camera moved a little closer to the flatbeds, I realized what they were with a shiver going down my spine. It was Bill and Ben, but they were totally unrecognizable. They had no more paint, Ben’s face was cracked, they had 6 missing wheels between them, both boilers appeared to have both exploded and melted at the same time, the place where their funnels should have been was smoking rather copiously,  both of their buffers were badly twisted, Bill’s funnel was making an eerie screeching noise from a large crack down the center, and they both had an oddly burned look about them. “Wh-what happened?” Said Ben weakly. “There was an Rockslide.” Said Edward. “ You two were found in a valley near the sight of the crash by me N’Douggie.” Said Donald, a slight quake in his voice. “The Sodor Repair Works can’t handle this kind of damage,” Boco said, his voice sounding choked up. “W-where are we going?” Croaked Bill. “Overseas,” replied Mavis weakly.

 

Percy then pushed their flatbeds towards the loading dock, where they were loaded onto what looked like a larger, chocolate-colored, faceless, steam-powered Bulstrode. It then cut to an audioless scene of the boat splashing around in some very stormy-looking waters. It went on like this for about a minute or two. What happened next still leaves me with chills. A lightning bolt hit the boat’s funnel, an abnormally large wave hit the part of the boat where Bill and Ben were loaded, and an odd howling issued from the captain’s cabin. After the wave petered out, the boat had disappeared, probably going to a watery grave. It then went to the credits.

I let the credits roll, then stopped the recording and ejected the tape. I promptly fell back asleep until about 10:30 that morning, when I was awakened by the sound of a commercial for a marathon of Thomas episodes from seasons 2-6 “Until the cows come home!” It started right after that, but what was odd is that all the episodes with Bill and Ben in them from those seasons were absent from this marathon. Not “The Diseasel”, Not “Heroes”, Not even “Percy Takes The Plunge”, where their names aren’t even mentioned! Did the airing of “The Quarry Disaster” mess with normal broadcasts of that day? Even odder, when I decided to watch the tape with that episode on it later that afternoon, it wasn’t even on there! All I got was a bad-quality recording of “Heroes” as well as “One Good Turn”. If anybody has a copy of this episode, please send it to me. I have just one question, though…. Why would someone make something like this in the 1st place?