Branch Line Coaches

“You're lazy and slack! You're lazy and slack!”

― Orange Coaches, Tenders and Turntables, first season

Red Coaches
CGI Series Model Series

Orange Coaches
CGI Series Model Series Railway Series File:OrangeCoachesCGI.png

There are two types of Branch Line Coaches on the North Western Railway.

There were a number of orange four-wheeled coaches used on secondary and branch line services. They were usually pulled by Edward, Henry and James. As of the third season, Annie and Clarabel seem to be the only type of these coaches left. In the Railway Series, these coaches were depicted as bogie coaches. James once bumped the coaches so hard, that Jeremiah Jobling's bootlace had to be obtained to mend the brake pipe.

In the television series, the red coaches are usually pulled by Duck and Oliver on their branch line, by Edward on his branch line, by Percy on Thomas' Branch Line and occasionally by Ryan on the Harwick Branch Line, but are also used by Henry and James on the Main Line. They were also pulled by Stepney on his branch line. Thomas also pulls these when Annie and Clarabel are being repaired.

Toby was seen pulling them in Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

Thomas pulled green coaches in Really Useful Around the World when travelling around in the United Kingdom and other countries.

Basis

The branch line coaches are based on LB&SCR Stroudley four-wheel coaches. Annie and Clarabel are also members of this basis.

Appearances

The orange coaches only appeared in the first and second seasons, however they were also seen in a Learning Segment. The red coaches appeared in every season from the second onwards.

Voice Actors

Kōzō Shioya (Japan; James and the Coaches)
Shinobu Satouchi (Japan; James and the Coaches)
Toshio Kobayashi (Japan; Tenders and Turntables)

Trivia

The branch line coaches in the model series were made using Tenmille Gauge One LB&SCR Stroudley coach kits.
In the annual story, Pantomime Pranks, one of the orange branch line coaches was painted green. In the magazine story, Rain or Shine, one of the orange branch line coaches was painted yellow.
In Hero of the Rails and the thirteenth season episode The Lion of Sodor, one of the red branch line coaches is painted brown. Coaches painted blue, green, yellow, orange, black and white were featured in the game "Lift, Load and Haul" on the Official Website.
In The Adventure Begins, Henry is shown pulling the red branch coaches in Edward's flashback of The Sad Story of Henry, while in the actual story Henry was pulling the express. Also during the events of Thomas' Train, Henry's train is again made up of red branch coaches, while in the actual story Henry's train was made up of express coaches.
The orange branch line coaches resemble Annie and Clarabel and from the third season onwards, the two of them are the only known coaches left.
The orange branch line guard compartments did not have the duckets that feature on the red or LB&SC Railway examples. Instead a piece of card or plastic covers over this area.
The duckets on the red branch line coaches are beaded. This makes them similar to the Stroudley coaches that received modification work from 1911 onwards, as they were originally flush and fashioned from three sections of iron sheet.
The red branch coaches also differ from the Stroudley coaches with their oil lamp pots, as they have a round base instead of the square base ones that were used on the LB&SC Railway.
In Really Useful Around the World, Thomas is accompanied by a green variation of the red branch line coaches.
Annie and Clarabel, The Play Coach, Victoria, Annie and Clarabel's Old Friend and some orange coaches in the Classic Series are the only known branch line coaches to have faces.
In the first season, Annie and Clarabel were often used to represent the orange coaches during a speaking role.