- Gordon and Henry tease Edward when he loses a few freight-trucks while avoiding a pair of loose cows, but their claims of how they'd deal with cows are put to the test when one won't move off the railway.
- Edward's age is beginning to show due to some of his worn-out parts, causing him to make clanking sounds. One bright and sunny day, Edward has to pull some cattle wagons to a nearby market town; the trucks are making a lot of noise, as is he by this point.
Near the line is a field where some cows are grazing, in which the noise and smoke produced by the train disturbs the cows, who aren't used to it. As Edward passes by, a number of cows break the fence, run across the line, and break a coupling, causing the last truck and the brake van to be left behind. Believing the jerk to be the trucks causing trouble, Edward continues on his journey, oblivious of the mishap. It's not until Edward gets to the next station that he or his driver realize what happened.
Gordon and Henry hear about the incident, making them laugh, tease Edward about letting a few cows break his train, and brag that they could handle cows easily, which makes him very angry. Toby is also indignant towards the larger engines, as he knows they've never encountered cows and don't know the trouble they cause.
A few days later, Edward's mood is still bad when Gordon sails through Wellsworth with the express, still teasing him. Gordon continues down the line, telling the coaches to hurry until he and his driver think they see something on an upcoming bridge. Shutting off steam, the driver applies the brakes, and as Gordon gets closer, he sees that the obstacle's a cow, so he tries to shoo the cow away, but she refuses to budge due to her loneliness about the fact that her calf has disappeared. Along with the passengers, Gordon's crew tries to get the cow to leave, but to no avail.
Henry soon comes by with his train, also thinking that the cow can simply be ordered away, but it fails to work, so he nervously backs off, not wanting to hurt her. Reversing back to Crosby Station, Henry's guard tells the Stationmaster about the cow blocking the line. The porter realizes that it's Bluebell, who's calf is at the station. The two men decide to send the calf in a truck pulled by Percy, who passes Henry on the way.
At the bridge, arriving with the calf, Percy reunites it with its mother; the two cows are then easily led away by the porter, and as they leave, Gordon and Henry make an agreement not to tell anyone about the incident, but the story quickly spreads.
That night, Edward is ready to tease Gordon and Henry in the shed. Gordon defends himself, claiming that he and Henry didn't want to hurt Bluebell by running up against her. Edward tells Gordon that he understands, making Gordon worried that Edward understands all too well.
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