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Lady/Behind the Scenes

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This is a behind the scenes subpage for Lady.
 This subpage contains all behind the scenes material relating to said article.

Background Information

Lady was introduced in the 2000 film, Thomas and the Magic Railroad as a major character, but made no appearances afterwards due to the film's low performance. She would make a reappearance in 2005's Calling All Engines! in a dream sequence. According to model maker Chris Lloyd in his interview with SiF, the reason why Lady was only featured in a dream sequence in Calling All Engines! and was not meant to be seen again in the series was because in the show's continuity, Lady is not real, thus implying that Thomas and the Magic Railroad is not canon to the show, although places from this movie have been featured on Sam Wilkinson's 2014 map of Sodor and Diesel 10 has appeared since the movie.

Voice

The character was voiced by Britt Allcroft, the creator of the series herself. Allcroft gave Lady a British accent, much like most of the steam engine characters in the film.

Originally, Lady was not going to have a speaking role in Thomas and the Magic Railroad; her only way of communicating was telepathically with Thomas when he was on Muffle Mountain and her whistle. In the original script, as Thomas can understand Lady telepathically, he can also understand her pain and sadness. Thomas talks to her, but gets no verbal response from her. She was later given lines to help smooth over cuts made to the film.

Behind the Scenes

Concept art

Gauge 1 model

Lady’s model was custom built to run on gauge 1 track. The model was built from brass and painted in a matte finish.

The chassis was constructed from scratch (CNC). It had two motors, both powered by electricity from the track via the pickups on the metal wheels. The main motor powered the wheels, while the second motor (located at the back) powered an inside piston for the smoke mechanism.

The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired.

Originally, Lady's model under construction had a small smokebox and parts that were longer than the screen model on running board, wheelbase, buffers and funnel. These were changed at some point during production, but her original design can be seen on the blueprint that appeared in the film.

Reference Sheets

Thomas and the Magic Railroad
Calling All Engines!

Faces

Seven different facial expressions were sculpted for Lady, although only three were used on-screen, one of which, a second smiling face was used in her promotional image from Calling All Engines!, while a duplicate shocked face and two concerned faces were left unused. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould. A smokebox door was also sculpted for the model, which can be seen in a few behind the scenes pictures of shooting the film.

In addition to her final faces, it is known that Lady had at least three prototype faces sculpted, with two being painted.

Reference Sheets
Usage and Evolution
Present Day

Lady's second smiling face would be put on display at the 'History of Thomas & Friends' exhibition at the Midland Railway Centre in May 2019.

Fonts

The following fonts were used on Lady's Gauge 1 model:

  • CommercialScript BT Bold (lettering)

Present Day

In August 2021, Lady's model was taken to the 'Clearwater Weekend' event at the Midland Railway Centre but only present in the "V.I.P" area along with BoCo, Caroline, Duck, City of Truro, one of the Old Tenders, Toad's scrap model, Diesel 10, the plastic model of Henry and Gordon, Annie and Clarabel's Gauge 3 models, the Sodor Suspension Bridge, the Lighthouse and the Warehouse.

A few spare unused decal sheets made for Lady are currently owned by Twitter user TomsProps. Two of her nameplates from the nameplate sheet owned by Tom are currently in possession of ThomasTankMerch on Twitter.[3]

At some point following Thomas and the Magic Railroad, replica models of Lady and Thomas' Gauge 1 models were created and sent to Japan. Her replica model was previously on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum, although as of 2023 it appears to be in storage.

Life-sized model

A life-sized model of Lady was built for scenes where she would have to interact with the human actors. The model is sixteen feet long, six feet wide and ten feet tall, and was constructed primarily out of wood. It also had a face and a smokebox door.

During the launch of Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Lady's model was transported from New York to Los Angeles for the film premiere in Downtown. Once the premiere ended, many of the model's "Thomas-like" features were repossessed by the rights holders, such as the face, buffers, coal bunker, dome, whistle, lamps and the original smokebox door. It is unknown what became of those parts after they were removed.

Lady's model was stored in a warehouse following the premiere, until it had to be removed due to management at work. The man who had transported the model from New York to Los Angeles kept the model in his backyard and had it repainted should legal issues arise, painting the model in Christmas colours, shortening the funnel, removing the buffers, whistle, dome, and the coal bunker. A new smokebox door was created as well. A thin strip of tape was also placed along the lower right corner of her right tank in order to preserve her original colours.

On 24th November 2017, the life-sized prop was listed for sale on LetGo.[4] The model was soon removed from LetGo, when a fundraiser ($2000 USD) was started to purchase the model.[5] The fundraiser was successful, and Lady was soon transported to a storage facility, awaiting restoration.

In 2019, the prop was taken out of storage and transferred to Florida ready for its restoration. During the process of transportation, several parts had to be removed for safety reasons. In 2020, the undercarriage wheels were replaced due to the original pair of wheels waring out over the years. Along with this, the prop would be dismantled in order for the owners to figure out how to fix certain sections of the prop. As of 2024, there were no new information nor photos of the restoration process has been shared. Her new owners go under the name "Restore the Magic", a non-profit organization who have campaigned to try and release the director's cut to Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

CGI model

Lady's model was used in a green screen during filming of the Magic Railroad, CGI was used most notably to animate her face when being restored and the background.

Firebox

The firebox scene with Lady was actually filmed during the winter of early 2000 in the alleyway of GVFX's Toronto office.[6][7]

Burnett's Treasures

Items related to Lady are placed in Burnett Stone's Workshop.

Thomas Land (Japan)

The “Fun Ride” model used at Thomas Land (Japan) from May 2001 to May 2010 was made at Hayauchi MFG Co., Ltd.[8]

Voice Actors

References

[9]

  1. ↑ Discussion of the green thing under Lady's chassis
  2. ↑ Lady face reference sheet
  3. ↑ Twitter post by ThomasTankMerch
  4. ↑ Red and green train in Los Angeles
  5. ↑ Restore the Magic: Large Lady Prop!
  6. ↑ "Other Fun Magic Railroad Facts with Sodor Island Fansite"
  7. ↑ "Phil Fehrle's interview with Sodor Island Fansite about Thomas and the Magic Railroad"
  8. ↑ Production list of Hayauchi MFG Co.,Ltd.
  9. ↑ list
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