What is the title of the first episode of Thomas & Friends?

The first episode of Thomas & Friends is titled “Thomas and Gordon.”

“Thomas and Gordon” introduces Thomas as a small tank engine who works at the big station but dreams of becoming a really useful engine. He is eager to pull coaches, yet his impatience and teasing often create trouble with the larger and more experienced Gordon.

The episode centers on a race between the two engines. Thomas boasts that he can beat Gordon, but the contest teaches him that speed is not everything. Thomas eventually uses his smaller size and quicker acceleration to his advantage, while Gordon’s greater power is better suited to express work.

The story was adapted from The Railway Series and became the television series’ opening episode when Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends premiered in 1984. It is sometimes confused with “Thomas’s Train,” because that story is also an early Thomas adventure and supplied material for the first broadcast sequence in some listings. The official premiere title, however, is “Thomas and Gordon.”