C&O Spy

C&O Spy is the third episode of Pride of the PRR and the Season 1 finale.

Plot
One day, Nicholas is complaining about the rumor of his "RS3L being replaced by a P3". As he and Benjamin talk about it, Mr. Edwards overhears and decides to tell the story of when a certain rumor struck the PRR.

It is December of 1955. Alfred is talking to Elaine and Joey about Rosa Parks getting arrested in Alabama for not surrendering her seat on a bus. Just then, they see an unusual locomotive arriving in the yard. The three engines start talking about them.

That night, Mr. Edwards tells the engines that the engine is here to help out while traffic levels are higher. The locomotive pulls into the shed and introduces himself as Matthew. While Alfred is nice to him and recognizes him, Nick, Frank, and Joey start making rude remarks about his design, such as calling him a "spy".

The next day, Mr. Edwards assigns Matthew to take a coal drag. After he delivers the coal, he returns the empties and sets off for another job. That evening, he meets Sam, a Nickel Plate Road Berkshire.

Matthew continues his good work for the next few days, which makes the other engines less tired. Regardless, they still criticize Matthew.

One night, Nick is waiting to head out when he sees another J1 pass by. He assumes Matthew is calling in "his allies" and wants to declare war.

Another day, Nick is assigned to take a freight train east. He is to stop at Conway Yard on the way to pick up more freight, as it is the pre-holiday rush. Nick later sets off. When he passes Johnstown, he thunders by Matthew. Nick, thinking he won't need help, charges up the grade. But, due to the weight of his train and the icy rails, begins struggling.

Matthew finally arrives and agrees to help Nick. Nick's engineer is surprised about how good Matthew is pulling, but Nick is less than thrilled. He takes over the rest of the way once they arrive at Altoona.

That evening, Mr. Edwards reprimands Nick for the rude comments he made toward Matthew. Matthew tells Nick that the reason he has a C&O design is because while PRR needed bigger engines to haul more during World War II, they were unable to build new designs because of wartime restrictions, so they tested an N&W A Class and a C&O T1, the latter which won, thus PRR modeling the J1s after the C&O T1s. Nick is impressed, but still hopes for a normal PRR engine next time.

When the story ends, Nicholas and Benjamin are impressed while Ely arrives to check in on what he missed.

Characters

 * Nick
 * Elaine
 * Joey
 * Alfred
 * Frank
 * Matthew
 * Mr. Edwards (PRR)
 * Mr. Edwards
 * Sam
 * Nick's Engineer #1 (not named)
 * Nick's Fireman
 * Nick's Engineer #2 (not named)
 * Bob
 * Nicholas
 * Benjamin
 * Ely
 * Richard (cameo)
 * Josiah (cameo)
 * Kaiba (cameo)
 * Kevin (cameo)
 * Cure Dream (mentioned)
 * Alan (mentioned)
 * Zach (mentioned)
 * Mater (mentioned)
 * Darin (mentioned)
 * Horace (mentioned)
 * Warrior (mentioned)
 * Waluigi (mentioned)
 * Margaret (mentioned)
 * Arthur (mentioned)
 * Jaden (mentioned)

Locations

 * Highland Valley
 * Industrial Wasteland
 * Pittsburgh Line

Trivia

 * This episode marks the first of a few things:
 * First episode to not be directly inspired by a Thomas and Friends episode.
 * First episode to not use any text to speech voices.
 * First appearances of Matthew and Richard.
 * Bob's first speaking role.
 * This episode was inspired by the creator buying the PRR J1 from K&L Trainz.
 * Rosa Parks' arrest is referenced.
 * When Sam says "Don't recall seeing you before, what brings you this way?", it is a reference to the Thomas The Tank Engine episode "Rusty Helps Peter Sam".
 * The idea of the engines accusing Matthew as a spy might have to do with the U.S. currently being a part of the Cold War.
 * Joey saying "J1s! J1s everywhere!" is a reference to a Toy Story 2 meme.

Goofs

 * Elaine pronounces "used" wrong.
 * Lag is encountered in some scenes.
 * The rails don't appear to be icy.
 * When Mr. Edwards talks to Nick, his megaphone appears to be a bit big for the window.