- “I was going to pass you... until then. But you've failed.”
- ―Mr. Simpkins failing Wilson
Koko Pulls it Off is the twenty-third episode of the first season.
Plot
Emery brings Mr. Simpkins, a representative from the Department of Chuggers, to test the trainees for their passenger badges. In the middle of an excited Koko starting her test, the Jiggle-O-Meter, a device Simpkins uses to measure the smoothness of the ride, goes haywire and starts making a loud beeping noise. This scares Koko who accidentally bumps into her coach and misunderstands Simpkins' confusing instructions. Simpkins, however, brushes everything off as Koko's fault and not only angrily fails her, but also tells her she wouldn't be allowed to retake the test for an entire year.
Koko runs off crying and eventually meets Irving, who, after noticing how devastated she is, asks her what's wrong. Upon hearing about the incident, Irving decides to have a word with Simpkins, asking Koko to come along too. They arrive at the Training Yard right when Wilson is finishing his test. Irving bumps into Wilson's coach after he has decoupled from it, resulting in Simpkins falling down and the Jiggle-O-Meter going crazy. Simpkins fails Wilson without the blink of an eye, making the unfairness of his review methods even the more evident - and giving Irving the perfect moment to speak up. He scolds Simpkins hard, really hammering down the importance of being able to swallow your pride to admit your mistakes.
Simpkins, now completely embarrassed, apologises for his previous rude behaviour and both passes Wilson and lets Koko retake her test successfully - even leaving the Jiggle-O-Meter behind entirely. Having learned his lesson, Simpkins is proud to present the trainees with their passenger badges.
Characters
Rolling Stock
- Red Tipper Wagons
- Passenger Carriages (debut)
Locations
Cast
UK
|
US
|
Trivia
- Going by production order, this is the twenty-second episode of the first season.
- This episode marks the first for two things:
- The first episode to be written by Jimmy Hibbert.
- The first and only appearance of Mr. Simpkins.
- Going by the European airing order, this is the twenty-fourth episode of the first season.
- This is the first and only time when a chugger (Koko) is seen crying.
Goofs
- Koko is missing her rear truck frame on her right-hand side on several occasions throughout the episode.
- The trainees are consistently shown to be leaving the platform in the Training Yard on the track closest to it despite it leading to a dead-end.
- Throughout the episode, some of the buildings in the background of the Training Yard disappear and reappear in-between shots.
- The shadow cast by the passenger car's coupler is not visible in a few shots.
- Koko's plow briefly clips through the rails on two occasions during the episode.
- Brewster's wheels clip through the rails when Wilson makes his first joke.
- When Brewster backs down onto the carriage, one of the switches is visible in front of Wilson, and another one appears to be hovering next to another switch.
- When Emery laughs at Mr. Simpkins falling down, his coach is facing the wrong way.
- Mr. Simpkins' shoes clip through the platform after he gets back up from getting surprised by Brewster's honking.
- Irving's sweepers clip through the rails when Koko moves out of his way.
- When Irving smirks at Koko, his wagon disappears.
- Brewster's front bogie wheels on his right-hand side are missing when Mr. Simpkins and Irving first speak to each other.
- During her retest, Koko's rear bogie wheels leave the rails when she goes around a bend.
- In the remastered version, Paul Panting is credited for voicing Irving the US dub instead of John Pohlhammer.
Other Languages
| Language | Title |
|---|---|
 Czech
|
Koko to dokáže |
 Finnish
|
Koko reputtaa kokeen |
 French
|
Une Seconde Chance Pour Koko |
 German
|
Das Passagierabzeichen |
 Hungarian
|
A nagy vizsga |
 Italian
|
Un esame difficile |
 Japanese
|
ココとテスト |
 Latin American Spanish
|
Koko Lo Logra |
 Norwegian
|
Koko blir pepet ut |
 Polish
|
Pasażerski egzamin Koko |
 Russian
|
Коко на экзамене |
 Slovenian
|
Koko le uspe |
 Swedish
|
Koko klarar provet |
 Turkish
|
Koko Vagonu Başarıyla Çekiyor |