Continuity in Chuggington

Chuggington is an episodic series, but there are numerous instances in the series in which events in one episode affect the events of another. Additionally, there are instances in which elements of the setting of the series have been either changed or added. These changes have affected only one episode as well as the remainder of the series.

Series 1

Continuity

• A period known as the Glory Days of Steam which began around 150 years ago is referenced in multiple episodes. Physical elements of the period appear, being Old Puffer Pete, Olwin, Old Chuggington, Old Puffer Pete's ice cream wagon, and the paint wagons.
• The night shift run to Tootington is introduced in Can't Catch Koko and is run by Harrison, but it is not referenced in any other episodes.
• The training gimmick of the trainees having to earn different badges is introduced in Wilson and the Elephant, laying the groundwork for the plots of many episodes to come, and even a spin-off series, Chuggington: Badge Quest.
• The Safari Park changes location in Wilson and the Elephant.
• The trainees learn to use switches in Koko and the Tunnel in order to start making deliveries outside of the city, implying that the episode was the first one of the series to happen chronologically.
• The Chugger Championship takes place in the episode of the same name.
• The trainees advancing in their training is shown systematically. The trainees spend many of the early episodes practising different jobs only to work those jobs a few episodes later, often referencing the training lessons. Examples of such instances include:
  • The trainees learn to use the Mail Cars in Brewster Goes Bananas and start their actual mail runs by the events Wake Up Wilson.
  • Frostini tests the trainees for their ice cream badges in Bang Klang Wilson, allowing the trainees to start their ice cream runs by the events of Cool Wilson.
  • The trainees start practising passenger runs with dummy wagons in Wilson's Smooth Moves, become qualified for the job by earning a badge in Koko Pulls it Off and are seen performing the job in the second half of the season.
  • Olwin's navigation lesson for the trainees that was taught in Outward Bound Olwin is referenced in Wilson and the Wild Wind.
• Eddie is gifted a caboose as a mobile home in Late Again Eddie in order to stop him from being late for work; however, his new home is never brought up again, and Eddie is late again in the second series episode, Hodge Sails Away.
• The first series is the only series to attempt to establish the geography of Chuggington by associating locations with the coloured lines.

Series 2

Continuity

• Hoot and Toot are introduced with the implication that they arrived in Chuggington shortly before their introductions in Babysitter Brewster.
• Hoot and Toot experience a similar progression to Wilson, Brewster, and Koko's throughout the first series, for Hoot and Toot are originally confined to Chuggington Depot but begin to make deliveries later in the second series.
• At the end of Hoot v. Toot, the Coloured Tunnels are modified to accommodate lights due to Hoot's colourblindness. The change is final, altering the tunnels' design for the rest of the series.

Changes to setting

• Speedy is introduced in Frostini's Meltdown with the implication that he has always lived in Chuggington. Speedy was previously mentioned in the first series epsiode, Famous Emery. Speedy's presence can be justified by the fact that he lived in Old Chuggington with Old Puffer Pete, Olwin, and other steam chuggers during the Glory Days of Steam.
• Chug Town, referred to as the city centre, is introduced in the first episode of the series, Koko's New Look. The city centre was previously mentioned in the first series episode, Training Time Harrison.
• The shed next to the Repair Shed is introduced as the Spray Shed where chuggers and rolling stock are repainted.

Series 3

Continuity

• Piper and Skylar arrive in Chuggington on screen in Toot's New Friend and Brewster's Crane Training respectively.
• Dunbar is written out of the series in Brewster's Crane Training when he retires and leaves Chuggington to pursue travelling. Skylar replaces Dunbar as Wilson, Brewster, and Koko's teacher in Brewster's Crane Training, Wobbly Wheels, Top Secret Koko and Skylar's Squad.
• In Magnetic Wilson, the Storm Maker from the first season episode "Wilson and the Wild Wind" makes a comeback, with implications it has been continuously used in the training of the trainees for the past two seasons.

Changes to setting

• Decka is introduced in Toot's New Friend with the implication that she has always lived in Chuggington. Decka was planned to receive an episode about her in the third series, but it was not produced.
• As of Wobbly Wheels, the mountains gain a new set of track known as the Chug Catcher; a set of points that sends runaway chuggers into a pile of sand to stop them from going any further. This would later used again in the fifth series episode, Delivery Challenge.

Series 4

The fourth series of Chuggington marks the first of two major changes in continuity in the series, in addition to format and writing changes. This continuity, which lasts through the fifth series, exists with the implication that it does, in some form, take place after what has come before it in the first three series.

Continuity

• Wilson, Brewster, and Koko enter advanced training with Chug Patrol, the Chuggineers, and Speed Fleet respectively.
• Silver Hopper Station is constructed by the Chuggineers in The Old Silver Mine Line.
• The High Speed Link is constructed as the passenger route to Tootington, replacing Border Bridge. The plans for the line are mentioned in Special Rescue Team, and the construction of the line serves as the premise of the special, Chuggineers: Ready to Build.
• Payce, a tunnel runner from Tootington, begins working in Chuggington by running the High Speed Link and appears running passenger services in Chuggington through the fifth series.
• Asher, a firefighting chugger from another Chug Patrol squad, visits Chuggington in Blazin' Wilson to teach Wilson fire training. He returns in Team Trainee to run Chug Patrol during the Track Dash Fun Race. He appears to have joined Chuggington's Chug Patrol squad by the events of Round Up Wilson.
• The only reference to previous episodes is made in Back Up Brewster when Zack tells Brewster that "Skylar tells [Zack] that [Brewster's] got some solid training skills," referencing the third series episode, Brewster's Crane Training.
• The mine tunnel collapse from Rescue at Rocky Ridge is investigated by Speedy in Back Up Brewster.
• The Parade of Lights takes place in Winter Whiteout.
• The Track Dash Fun Race, first mentioned in Special Rescue Team, takes place in Team Trainee.

Changes to setting

• Chug Patrol, which originally appeared as a railway inspection duty in the Chuggington: Badge Quest episode, Chug Patrol, is introduced as Chuggington's rescue service in Rescue at Rocky Ridge. Chug Patrol replaces Calley's breakdown duties from the first three series.
  • Jackman is introduced in Rescue at Rocky Ridge with the implication that he has always lived in Chuggington.
  • Calley appears as a member of Chug Patrol and is painted in the Chug Patrol livery.
  • Chug Patrol Headquarters appears in Chuggington Depot in between the Coloured Tunnels and the Repair Shed.
  • Wilson idolises Chug Patrol and claims that it is his dream job in Rescue at Rocky Ridge.
• The Chuggineers are introduced as Chuggington's construction and engineering crew in Rescue at Rocky Ridge.
  • Zack, Fletch and Tyne are introduced in Rescue at Rocky Ridge with the implication that they have always lived in Chuggington.
• Speed Fleet, a team of high speed passenger and goods chuggers, is introduced in Rescue at Rocky Ridge.
  • Hanzo is introduced in Rescue at Rocky Ridge with the implication that he has always lived in Chuggington.
  • The Chug-a-Sonic Speed Track is introduced as the site of Speed Fleet and other group's training.
• The mountainous region of Chuggington is reintroduced as Rocky Ridge.
  • The quarry that was previously known as the mountain quarry is reintroduced as Rocky Ridge Quarry in Rescue at Rocky Ridge.
  • The mine that first appeared in the second series episode, Frostini's Meltdown, is reintroduced as Rocky Ridge Mine in Rescue at Rocky Ridge.
  • Speedy appears as Rocky Ridge Quarry's chugger and works with Karen.
• The Working Wheels Yard is introduced in the interstitial segment of Chug Patrol: Ready to Rescue as Chuggington's primary refueling station, replacing the Fuel Yard.
  • Howie is introduced in the interstitial segment of Chug Patrol: Ready to Rescue with the implication that he has always lived in Chuggington.
  • The Fuel Yard still appears in the fifth series episodes, Delivery Challenge and Skipper Stu and the Steam Crane, due to it being the location of Eddie's workshop.
  • The lack of appearances of the Working Wheels Yard in previous episodes is explained in Chug Patrol: Ready to Rescue when the trainees and Dunbar imply that trainees are not allowed to use the yard.
• Chug Town's station is named Chuggington Central Station with a new design in Wilson's Forest Flare.
• A series of rural passenger stations, being Checker Junction, Covered Bridge, Water Tower Way, and Spindle-Hill Station, are introduced in Wilson's Forest Flare.
• The Drop and Load Yard is introduced in Brewster Makes Tracks as Chuggington's primary freight yard.
  • Old Puffer Pete appears as the freight yard's manager.
  • Cormac is introduced in the interstitial segment of Chuggineers: Ready to Build as Old Puffer Pete's colleague with the implication that he has always lived in Chuggington and worked at the Drop and Load Yard. Cormac's absence from earlier appearances of the freight yard is not explained.
• The Rolling Stock Yard, the Spray Shed, and numerous platforms, one of which was the site of Morgan's house, no longer appear in Chuggington Depot. The Rolling Stock Yard and the Spray Shed are removed in order to make room for the Working Wheels Yard and Chug Patrol Headquarters respectively, and the platforms are replaced with dirt patches.
  • Despite their physical absence, the Rolling Stock Yard and the Spray Shed are still treated as though they exist.
    • The Rolling Stock Yard is mentioned in Fearless Wilson.
    • The Spray Shed appears in The Old Silver Mine Line, Fearless Wilson, and the fifth series episode, Tour Guide Harrison. However, the Spray Shed is located on the two tracks between the Repair Shed and the Loading Yard only in the scenes that it appears in the fourth and fifth series.
• Chuggington is revealed to have once operated a line to a silver mine that was closed and abandoned in The Old Silver Mine Line.
• The city skyscraper that first appeared alongside Chug Town's introduction in the second series changes design in High Rise Rescue.
• The concept of chugger and trainee plaques no longer exists. Characters whose models were created during or following the production of the fourth series do not have plaques. However, plaques are not removed from any previously existing models.
• Chuggers no longer queue to be told their tunnel colours for their deliveries.
• The concept of training badges no longer exists.
• Despite Dunbar's retirement in the third series, he appears as the trainees' teacher throughout Chug Patrol: Ready to Rescue, implying that either Dunbar returned to his position or the events of Brewster's Crane Training did not occur in this continuity, which contradicts Zack's reference to the events of the episode in Back Up Brewster.

Series 5

Changes to setting

• Chuggington Docks, a location that was previously mentioned in the first and fourth series, is introduced in Koko Express.
  • Skipper Stu, Russ, Harry and Hamish are introduced with the implication that they have always lived in Chuggington.
  • The docks appears as the primary source of goods in Chuggington. In Delivery Challenge, a lack of freight arriving at the docks means that there is nothing for the freight chuggers to deliver.
  • The lack of appearances of the docks in previous episodes is explained in Koko Express when Russ tells Koko that "[he doesn't] see [Koko] around [the docks] often."
• Daley is introduced with the implication that he has always lived in Chuggington and becomes the primary deliverer of Chuggington's mail, replacing the mail services that lacked a designated chugger and appeared in the first three series.
• In Trainee Camp, Hoot and Toot are shown to be with Wilson, Brewster and Koko in the Working Wheels Yard with implications that they were promoted to advanced trainees some time either before or during the events of the season.

Notes

• Despite the physical removal of the Rolling Stock Yard, Dunbar still manages the rolling stock in the fifth series by organising the cleaning of the Underground Rolling Stock Store in Cormac Patrol.

Series 6

The sixth series of Chuggington marks the second of two major changes in continuity in the series. Unlike the previous continuity, the sixth series does not exist with the implication that it takes place after what has come before it.

Continuity

• Rosa arrives in Chuggington after travelling from San Locomota on screen in Not From Around Here.
• Tai is introduced with the implication that she arrived in Chuggington from Zheng-Chu shortly before her introduction in The 3 Ways of the Track.
• Radio Chuggington, which first appears in Wilson's Broadcast Blues, reappears in Rock 'n' Rollers and The Record Breakers.
• After Rosa is recruited as a Chuggineer in Not From Around Here, she continues to work as part of the group during the series.
• The spy personas that Wilson, Brewster, and Koko adopt in Spy Train reappear in The Great Chugger Caper.
• The Chugtastic Games take place in The Fast, The Strong and The Wilson.
• The Rip Roaring Relay Race takes place in Odd Train Out.
• The Parade of Lights takes place a second time in Chugging Home for the Holidays, but it is referred to as the Festival of Lights and takes place in Chuggington Depot instead of Chug Town.
• Contradictions of previous events are prevalent in the sixth series:
  • In Odd Train Out, Zephie mentions that she has never raced before, contradicting he participation in the Chugger Championship in the first series.
  • As shown in Glow Koko, Koko is afraid of the dark and has no knowledge of nocturnal animals, directly contradicting the plot of the first series episode, Koko on Call.
  • Brewster is given his "first solo Chuggineer job" in The Trainee and the Tree, but he had one before in On Track Brewster.
• Brewster, Hodge and Eddie construct a new water towrr near an intersection on the Red Line. Events will be mentioned again in the series finale, You for a Day.
• The Spooky Chugger and The Zephie Express, the two sixth series episodes that were written by Thomas Hall, do actually reference earlier events and elements of the series. This anomaly is likely a result of Thomas Hall's previous involvement with the series.
  • The Spur Line, which only referred by name in the second series episode, Chilly Chuggers, appears in The Spooky Chugger.
  • Old Puffer Pete mentions his time in Old Chuggington and Cannonball Cooper in The Spooky Chugger.
  • In The Zephie Express, Koko references the brake training lesson that Hanzo taught in the fourth series episode, Stop Koko Stop!.

Changes to setting

• Dunbar, Calley, Harrison, Chatsworth, Olwin, Irving, Speedy, Skylar, Decka, Fletch, Tyne, Harry, Russ, Daley, Karen, Dr. Ling, and Howie no longer appear.
• Locations in Chuggington are reduced to Chuggington Depot, the Safari Park, Rocky Ridge, the Building Site, the Ice Cream Factory, the Chug-a-Sonic Speed Track, the Drop and Load Yard, Chuggington Docks. The countryside is reduced to a series of junctions and intersections.
  • Chug Town appears and the Foundry is mentioned in Discover Chuggington: All Aboard! shorts, Brewster's Song and Choosing Chuggers respectively.
• Old Puffer Pete appears as Rocky Ridge Quarry's manager.
• A radio service called Radio Chuggington is introduced in Wilson's Broadcast Blues and is said to have existed during the Glory Days of Steam.
• Wilson, Brewster, and Koko perform regular freight deliveries in addition to their advanced training jobs in multiple episodes.
• Chuggington is revealed to have a land border with San Locomota, a Spanish-speaking country, that is connected by rail across the High Mountain Pass in Chugging Home for the Holidays.
• In The Spooky Chugger, Zephie sleeps in the roundhouse that belongs to Hoot and Toot in actuality.
• In Chugatronic Cargo, the trainees are depicted as having to travel through the countryside intersection in order to reach the Roundhouse Park from Chuggington Depot, when the park is located within it in actuality.