Other Narrow Gauge Rolling Stock

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Many different types of rolling stock have been used on the Skarloey and the Mid Sodor Railways.

Trucks

Trucks (Type 1)
Trucks (Type 2)
II
Trucks (Type 3)

Trucks (called cars in the US narrations), are also commonly referred to as Troublesome Trucks because some of them can be quite troublesome to the narrow gauge engines. They resemble the coal trucks used by the North Western Railway. They are used for carrying coal, stone, flour, tools and other materials. They take a disliking towards Sir Handel, like the slate trucks and love to play tricks on an engine.

Livery

The trucks were brown and grey in the fourth and fifth seasons, black from the sixth to twelfth seasons and appear in grey, red and green from the sixteenth season onwards.

Basis

The trucks are based on several different narrow gauge trucks on the Talyllyn Railway. The Bachmann narrow gauge trucks were based on the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway's 4-wheel goods wagons. In the magazines, the trucks are often incorrectly depicted as Standard gauge trucks.

Voice Actors

• Nobuaki Kanemitsu (Japan)

Trivia

• Several large scale trucks are currently on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum. A small scale type 2 truck with a face is currently in possesion of Twitter user ThomasTankMerch.

Merchandise

• Wooden Railway (Tan, black, orange, red and blue variants)
• Bachmann
• Take Along (discontinued)
• Take-n-Play (discontinued)

Vans

This article is about 'narrow gauge trucks'. You may be looking for 'the standard gauge trucks'.

Vans

Vans, known as Boxcars in the US, are used all around the narrow gauge railway for carrying special goods and other things and are used to transport them to different locations.

Livery

In the Railway Series, all vans were painted blue, but in the television series, they are commonly painted red. In the ninth season up until the twelfth, vans were also painted grey, brown and dark green. Since the sixteenth season, the vans are also painted yellow.

Basis

The vans are based on the Talyllyn Railway's Covered van No.28, as well as Tool van No.6 and No.29, with added buffers. The carriages were originally owned by the Penrhyn Quarry Railway and have since been rebuilt with roofs. Replicas of the Penrhyn Quarry Railway carriages have been built for the Old Kiln Light Railway.

Trivia

• The vans resemble Cora from the Railway Series. However, Cora has room for a guard to be housed.
• One large scale and one scale red vans are in possession of Twitter user ThomasTankMerch.

Merchandise

• Bachmann
• TrackMaster (discontinued)
• Take Along (discontinued)
• Take-n-Play (discontinued)
• Wooden Railway (discontinued)

Brake Vans

Brake Vans
Talyllyn Railway Brake Vans

There are several four-wheeled brake vans used on the Skarloey Railway in the television series. They are often used for passenger trains, goods trains and breakdown trains. They can also be found scattered around the yards.

The brake vans have ticket windows on both sides. They are used mainly to carry the guard and workmen, but on rare occasions when the coaches are full, the guard will allow passengers to travel in the brake van.

Livery

In the television series, the brake vans are painted blue, red, brown, grey and dark green. However, from the sixteenth season onwards, only brown brake vans have been seen thus far.

Basis

The brake vans appear to be based on the Talyllyn Railway's No.6  tool van with ticket windows added on both sides like on the No.5 guard's van.

Appearances

The brake vans have appeared in every season since the fourth season with the exception of the eighth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth and nineteenth seasons. They have also appeared in Blue Mountain Mystery.

Trivia

• In the Railway Series, Beatrice is the only known brake van on the Skarloey Railway. However, Cora is occasionally used as a brake van when Beatrice is not available. Millicent, a bogie coach, has room for a guard to be house.
• Since the sixteenth season, the brake vans became slightly smaller.
• All brake vans were run facing backwards, with the ticket windows facing away from the train/coaches until the eighteenth season when they were running the correct way.
• A Talyllyn Railway brake van briefly appeared at the Blue Mountain Quarry in the special, Blue Mountain Mystery.
• A blue small-scale model of a narrow gauge brake van is in posession of Twitter user ThomasTankMerch.

Merchandise

• TrackMaster (discontinued)

Gunpowder Vans

Gunpowder Vans
II

Gunpowder Vans, as their name suggests, transport gunpowder. Because gunpowder is very dangerous, engines must take the most careful way when shunting them, and they are usually put in the middle of trains for safety.

In the television series, these vans can be seen on the Mid Sodor Railway, the Skarloey Railway, and at the Blue Mountain Quarry.

Basis

In the fourth season, the gunpowder vans were based on the Curtis's & Harvey Number 152 gunpowder van used on the Ffestiniog Railway. Since the sixteenth season, the gunpowder vans have reduced in size, and are based on 2 foot gauge gunpowder vans used to carry gunpowder from Porthmadog to the Blaenau Ffestiniog quarries on the Ffestiniog Railway.

Livery

In the fourth season, the gunpowder vans were painted black with "D. FUSIT" on the sides in white and "GUNPOWDER" underneath in red. Since the sixteenth season, they are painted grey and dark green and have explosives hazard warnings on them.

Trivia

• The name "D. Fusit" is a play on words of "De-Fuse It".
• The ERTL packaging refers to "D. Fusit" as a male character and implies that he is sentient.

Merchandise

• ERTL (discontinued)
• TrackMaster (discontinued)
• Take-n-Play (discontinued)

The "Weedkiller"

The "Weedkiller"

The "Weedkiller" is a special maintenance train pulled by either Rusty or Fred that is only used once a year. It consists of a flat truck with a large yellow tanker attached on it and a pipe hangs across the line behind the trucks' buffers. The pipes are designed so that weedkilling liquid is sprayed across the track.

It only appears in the Railway Series book, New Little Engine. However, tankers resembling the "Weedkiller" appear in the books, Risky Rails! and Blue Mountain Mystery.

Basis

The "Weedkiller" is likely based on the Talyllyn Railway's No. 19 wagon, which for a time was fitted with a 120 gallon weedkiller tank. The wagon was built in 1952 as a locomotive by David Curwen.

Quarry Trucks

Quarry Trucks (Quarry Cars)

Quarry Trucks (called Quarry Cars in the US narrations) resemble tall, wooden coal trucks and are used exclusively at the Blue Mountain Quarry for transporting stone. They were first introduced in the special, Blue Mountain Mystery and have appeared from the sixteenth season onwards.

Livery

The quarry trucks come in two shades of red and green and have the Blue Mountain Quarry logo on both sides. In the TrackMaster range, they are painted blue with the Blue Mountain Quarry logo.

Merchandise

• TrackMaster (discontinued)
• Wooden Railway (normal and Day Out with Thomas 2012 Exclusive)

Flatbeds

Flatbeds

Flatbeds are used several times on the narrow gauge railway to carry and transport vehicles, engines and various objects.

In the ninth season, Rheneas had to deliver a dinosaur skeleton on a flatbed.

Merchandise

• Capsule Plarail (discontinued)
• TrackMaster (discontinued)
• Motor Road and Rail (discontinued)
• Take Along (discontinued)

Conflats

Conflats (Type 1)
Conflats (Type 2)

Conflats are used several times on the narrow gauge railway to carry and transport vehicles, engines and various objects. There have been two types of these so far.

In the Railway Series, the weedkiller train consists of a large tanker attached to a conflat. In the fourth season, Duke was transported to the Skarloey Railway via a conflat equipped with narrow gauge rails; the same type of conflat was later used for Skarloey. In the eleventh season, Rheneas accidentally bumped his conflats loaded with pipes when Thomas blew his whistle and surprised him. Rusty accidentally demolished a flat truck loaded with bricks when Thomas was playing a trick on him. In the twelfth season, Duncan delivered the Hot Air Balloon via a conflat.

Merchandise

• TrackMaster (discontinued)
• Plarail (discontinued)

Well Wagons

Well Wagons

Well wagons are used to carry tall loads like statues, to make them more stable or lower by placing the load in a dipped space between the bogies.

In the seventh season, Duncan transported an elephant statue on a well wagon to Elephant Park. In the twelfth season, Peter Sam found a statue of Proteus on a well wagon.

Basis

The well wagons are based on GWR 'Crocodile G' 35-ton bogie well wagons, scaled down accordingly.

Merchandise

• TrackMaster (discontinued)
• Wooden Railway (discontinued)

Slab Wagons

Slab Wagons

Slab Wagons are commonly used on the Skarloey Railway, especially at the Blue Mountain Quarry. They are used to transport slabs of slate and are painted various colours. They have been seen since the sixteenth season.

Basis

The Slab wagons are based on the slate slab carrying wagons of the Maenofferen Quarry.

V Tipper Trucks

V Tipper Trucks

V Tipper Trucks (called V Tipper Cars in the US narrations) are probably the most used piece of rolling stock at the Blue Mountain Quarry. They are filled with slate, which is then either tipped into a mill or transferred to standard gauge trucks after being transported on the incline.

Basis

The V Tipper trucks are based on the narrow gauge V Tipper trucks on the Talyllyn Railway.

Merchandise

• Wooden Railway (discontinued)
• Take-n-Play (discontinued)

Art Transporters

Art Transporters

A few Art Transporters can be seen around the Blue Mountain Quarry.

Basis

They were used at the start of World War II when the government requisitioned Manod Quarry in order to hide valuable pieces of art underground. It is unknown what their precise purpose at the Blue Mountain Quarry is.

The Sleigh Wagon

The Sleigh Wagon

The Sleigh Wagon was made by workmen out of an old truck for the Fat Controller, dressed as Santa, to be pulled in around the Skarloey Railway. It was featured only in the 2011 magazine story, Reindeer Rescue.

Mid Sodor Railway

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* RWS only | ** T&F only

Skarloey Railway

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* RWS only | ** T&F only

Ulfstead Castle

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Talyllyn Railway

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