The Mountain

The Mountain is the main obstacle in The Little Engine That Could. Its appearance and role vary depending on the movie or book.

Original Appearance And Role
In the original book by Watty Piper, the Mountain appeared more like a stereotypical hill than a mountain. It only had a single track that ran down the middle. This version of the Mountain appears much easier to climb than the other depictions, surely easy for the Little Engine. Some versions of the book depict a storm building as the Little Engine climbs, but she ultimately rounds the summit and descends down the track to the town.

The 1991 Movie
In the 1991 Movie, the Mountain is shown in the opening titles as more mountain-like. It has a pointed peak and even has clouds near the summit. A major change to the Mountain's appearance it also revealed in the opening credits, being the rather precarious path that winds over the mountain, which includes crudely constructed bridges and a scary looking cave.

Perhaps the most puzzling thing about the Mountain is that only Tillie seems to have a hard time going over the Mountain, while the other engines are able to speed along without giving much thought to it. My guess is that Tillie, having never left the yard until this point, took the path shown in the opening credits under the assumption that she was going the right way. Georgia turned on to said track shortly before she broke down, indicating that the other engines use a track that isn't nearly as hazardous as the track Tillie took. It would've made sense to considering the seemingly crude appearance of the track and bridges, making them unable to support heavy engines, like Farnsworth and Pete. Even Georgia would've crushed any of those bridges. Thus, it's safe to say that Tillie, assuming she was on the right track, went over the Mountain using tracks only she was small and light enough to use, unaware of the safer track the other engines used.

​==The 2011 Movie== Again, the Mountain's appearance is mountain-like, but its role is changed completely. Instead of being a mere obstacle, it serves as a vital barrier between the Real World and Dreamland. It also has a tunnel going through it that collapses and causes a crisis. The track that goes over it is unused due to how dangerous it was to take it, which is what led to the Tunnel's construction.

When Little Engine takes the Mountain Track, she comes across and engine who inhabits the same tracks with different intentions, the Nightmare Train. He is derailed toward the end of the film, but the encounter nearly causes Little Engine to give up entirely.

Tom and Jerry version of the 1991 movie
The Mountain's appearance is mountain-like just like the original, with its role now expanded in Tom and Jerry & The Little Engine That Could. It's located between Little Golden Book Land and the Big City. The old tracks that leads to crudely constructed bridges and a scary looking cave is unused due to how dangerous it was to take it, which is what led to the construction of the new safer track, which includes a shortcuts and rust-proof iron bridges.

When Tillie takes the old Mountain Track, she comes across and engine who inhabits the same tracks with different intentions, the Ghost Train. Its summit is where the chase between Tillie, Tom, Jerry, Mr. Grimm and the Ghost Train.