Thomas & Friends: Hero of the Rails is a 2009 British animated adventure film and the third feature-length special based on the British television series Thomas & Friends. The film was produced and distributed by HIT Entertainment with animation production by Canadian-based Nitrogen Studios. The movie centres on Thomas finding a long-lost engine from Japan named Hiro and attempts to repair him in secret; although Spencer is on the verge of discovering Thomas' secret and getting Hiro scrapped.