The Horrid Lorries/Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes

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

Background Information

Television Series

The Horrid Lorries are fictional small lorries created by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton.

In 1998, The Horrid Lorries made their debut in the fifth series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends in the episode, Horrid Lorry. However, they have not appeared since, making them three of the few characters introduced in the fifth series to not appear afterwards.

The Horrid Lorries are based on Foden OG range lorries, which were once a common sight around railway yards.

Around 2001-2005, the Engine Depot on the Official Website^[1], Trading Cards and various magazine articles, stated that the Lorries were "especially built to work at Sodor Construction Company". It is therefore possible that they may have been originally intended to be members of the Pack. If they had appeared in a mini-series, large scale models of them would've had to be built.

On the other hand, the biography on the back of product cards such as ERTL, Wooden Railway and Take Along does not state that they are members of the pack.

Behind the Scenes

Gauge 1 Models

The Horrid Lorries' models were vacuum-formed from styrene and built by model-maker, Chris Lloyd.^[2] They had a remote-controlled powered-motor mounted inside the chassis as well as an eye mechanism. They were front-wheel drive (FWD). According to an SIF interview with Chris Lloyd, a single set was made, originally used to be for the crash scenes and later refurbished as their "clean" versions. The lorries would be burnt to give them damage and then, when the clean versions were needed, new bodies would be vacuum-formed from the original props for the cabs. The new bodies would be detailed and weathered, replacing the damaged bodies.

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 eyeballs were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eyeballs would move however the crew member desired.

The lorries each had grey tarpaulins over their flatbeds which were removable. The flatbeds were also used to carry various types of cargo. In addition, the lorries could often be seen with miniature scaled figures inside their cabs and these figures represented drivers. The lorries each had individual registration plates to make them distinguishable from one another.

A smashed model of Lorry 2 was required for scenes in the fifth series episode, Horrid Lorry. The lorry's cab was significantly dented, and the windows, front wheels, headlights, cylinders and cab-interior were subsequently removed. A tarpaulin covered the lorry's flatbed. In addition, he was given a black eye and the eye mechanisms were pushed back. The "smashed" model was later recycled as scrap model-dressing at Maithwaite Quarry Mine and the Sodor Ironworks. The scrapped model appeared throughout the sixth and seventh series.

After his accident, Lorry 3's model was covered in flour and his rear wheels were removed to simulate him being "broken". Whereas, Lorry 1's model was covered in seaweed and lichen to indicate him being "sunk".

After the events of their episode, the lorries had their faces and eye mechanisms removed and replaced with a radiator. They were reused as background props from the fifth series until The Great Discovery.

Reference Sheets

Series 8 (Lorry 2)

Faces

Five different facial expressions were made for each lorry, although only four were used on-screen and one of which a worried face was left unused. Each lorry appears to be depicted with individually shaped noses and eyebrows, however there have been several instances in which the lorries share the same style faces. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made of a silicone mould.

Reference Sheets

Usage and Evoloution

Present Day

One of Lorry 1's faces is owned by Twitter user TomsProps. One of Lorry 2's faces, alongside it's storage bag, are owned by YouTube and Twitter user ThomasFan01. Four of Lorry 3's faces are also currently owned by Twitter user ThomasTankMerch. All of these faces along with 7 other faces were previously owned by a private collector. Duplicates of all three of the Lorries' faces have also been worn on their models at Drayton Manor.

Present Day Ruler Reference Photos

Present Day

After production of the model series wrapped in 2008, most of the models and sets would be put into storage, with some being put on display at Drayton Manor Theme Park. All other models would be logged and referenced from 2010 till early 2011 by HiT Entertainment, from this HiT would decide on which models were to enter storage once again, which would be given to crew members and which to be disposed off. Due to only having one set of models made in gauge 1 scale, the Lorries' models, alongside Lorry 2's smashed model, would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

Lorries 1 and 3's models were on display at the Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition at Drayton Manor Theme Park, they gained faces in 2020 but in 2022, Lorry 1 had his replaced with one of Lorry 2's faces and Lorry 3 had his replaced with one of Lorry 1's. Lorry 2's main model is also in storage alongside his smashed model. Lorries 1 and 3's models were removed and returned to storage after the exhibit closed and a new layout was constructed elsewhere in the park. As of late 2023, Lorries 1 and 3's models are currently on display at Drayton Manor on the new layout. One of their radiator parts was also on the flatbed by 'Arry or Bert.