Toys
 

Thomas

From Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia

"Thomas is a tank engine who lives at a big station on the Island of Sodor. He's a cheeky little engine with six small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler and a short stumpy dome."
— Ringo Starr, "Thomas and Gordon", first season
Thomas the Tank Engine
  • Designer: L. B. Billinton
  • Builder: Brighton Works
  • Configuration: 0-6-0T
  • Arrived on Sodor: May 1915

Thomas is a blue tank engine. He came to Sodor in May 1915 as a station pilot at Vicarstown until 1946, at which time he was transferred to Wellsworth following an incident with some trucks. Later that year, after rescuing James after his crash, he was given charge of the Knapford-Ffarquhar branch line and two coaches whom he named "Annie" and "Clarabel".

Contents

Bio in the Railway Series

Main article: Thomas in the Railway Series

Bio in the television series

From the eighth season onwards, Thomas was given more duties on the main line.

Persona

Thomas is rather cheeky, but is good at heart and generally behaves well, except when he is getting into mishap. Thomas loves teasing the others and on occasion brags about his superiority, but is always brought down to earth in due course. If Thomas has one major character flaw, it's that he's forgetful, and slightly impatient. However, he's also optimistic and idealistic.

Although their friendship has been turbulent at times, Percy is generally portrayed as Thomas' best friend.

Basis

Thomas is based on the Billington E2-Class 0-6-0T locomotives built for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway between 1913 and 1916. He is apparently one of the last batch built as only these engines featured his distinctive extended-side-tanks, projecting forward over the leading wheels and little downsweeps at each end of footplate. The E2s were introduced in 1915 to replace earlier members of the E1 class, which had been scrapped. The last five in the ten strong class had extended side tanks to give a greater water capacity, but all engines had two inside cylinders and driving wheels 4'6" in diameter.

Running plate

Thomas's running-plate was allegedly a source of some contention to the Reverend W. Awdry during the course of the Railway Series. As originally drawn, it had a distinctive dip at the front, but none at the back. The story goes that, to Awdry's eyes, this meant that Thomas' buffers would be at different levels, an operational inaccuracy and impossibility. This seems curious on Awdry's part, as all the artists had drawn Thomas as having an extra-deep rear bufferbeam to compensate, thus putting the front and rear buffers at the same level.

Be it a matter of taste or inaccuracy, the issue of the running-plate had to be settled: thus Thomas' excursion into the Stationmaster's house at Ffarquhar was arranged. After his repairs at Crovan's Gate, Thomas returned with a new running plate that was flat and level from smokebox to bunker.

The E2's on which Thomas was based had dipped running-plates at both front and rear, and the Hornby Thomas model displays these features, having been retooled from a set of moulds formerly used by Hornby to make E2 models.

His television counterpart however, retains the unique-forward-dipped running plate.

Livery

Thomas is painted in the NWR's standard blue livery with red-and-yellow lining and the number "1" painted on his tank sides in yellow with a red border.

Appearances

Thomas' Railway Series appearances are listed below:

Thomas has also appeared in every series of the television series and all related specials. He also appeared as a guest in a 1996 video called "Kids for Character".

Too much Thomas?

While he may seem innocent enough, poor Thomas created a fair bit of trouble for Christopher Awdry and Egmont Books, publishers of the Railway Series, when the latter started asking for more books about the happy little tank engine. Granted, Thomas was the most popular character in the original Railway Series books, but Egmont went too far and thus the problem continues. With the advent of the television series, Egmont started asking for more Thomas and to this day Thomas has eight Railway Series volumes under his undercarriage. Two of the titles actually have very little to do with Thomas - "Thomas Comes Home" dealt with the adventures of the branch line engines during Thomas' visit to York, while "Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines" actually only featured one story about Thomas, although he did appear in two of the other three stories. As a result of Thomas' fame, classic characters like Oliver and Bear have become largely neglected.

Thomas and the toddler

When the Reverend W. Awdry created Thomas, he existed only as a wooden toy made for his son Christopher. This engine looked rather different from the character in the books and television series, and was based on a LNER J50 or a Hudswell Clarke with smaller side tanks and splashers. He was painted green with yellow lining, and carried the letters "NW" on its side tanks. Awdry claimed that this stood for "No Where", but later works would identify the railway Thomas and his friends worked on as the North Western Railway.

Oh, the Payne

For the illustrations of "Thomas the Tank Engine" Edmund Ward, then-publisher of the Railway Series, hired illustrator Reginald Payne, who decided to base Thomas on the LB&SCR E2 Class. (Awdry was annoyed that Thomas was obviously not the tank engine he had first drawn, but was satisfied when Payne explained that he was drawn after a real prototype). Unfortunately, Payne did not receive any credit for his work; it is only since the publication of Brian Sibley's "The Thomas the Tank Engine Man" that he has started to receive recognition.

Thomas on the big screen

In 2000, Thomas made it to cinemas in the box-office flop "Thomas and the Magic Railroad", in which he was voiced by Edward Glenn. He was the only engine from the television series to play a major role in the story, and even left Sodor briefly.

Despite the film's over-all failure, Thomas kept on puffing and later featured in straight-to-video features "Calling All Engines", "The Great Discovery", and "Hero of the Rails".

Popular culture

The Nene Valley Railway at Peterborough, England, was the first railway in the world to possess a full-scale replica "Thomas", an industrial tank engine built by Hudswell Clarke so nicknamed for its blue livery and resemblance to the famous tank engine. In 1971 the name was made official by the Reverend W. Awdry. Other tank engines the world over have since been dressed up as Thomas. Some railways have even gone so far as to rebuild locomotives to produce a better replica. Unfortunately this has created a divide between preservationists: some claim it disfigures historic locomotives and trivializes the preservation movement, others say it attracts visitors and can potentially spark an interest in railways amongst young children.

A "Real Thomas" was used in a special play staged to celebrate the eightieth birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, starring beloved characters from children's literature. In the play, Thomas was used to convey Sophie Dahl, the late daughter of author Roald Dahl, to center stage, and was greeted by thunderous applause and cheers from the audience of two thousand children and their parents.

Another "Real Thomas" is used during "A Day Out With Thomas" events where people actual ride in his passenger coaches and get their pictures taken with Sir Topham Hatt. Additional atractions include petting zoos, pony rides, story telling, viewing of "Thomas and Friends" videos and temporary tattoos.

Stage performances called "Thomas and Friends Live" are where people get to see Thomas and his friends perform live on stage. Two different plays are made which is called "Thomas Saves the Day" and "A Circus Comes to Town."

Thomas has also been known to be seen in amusement parks. In America, Thomas is usually found in "Six Flags" parks. In Drusilla's Zoo Park over near Alfriston, Sussex, England, a special attraction was opened where Thomas carried passengers through the zoo; it also featured James, Diesel, Cranky and the Fat Controller. At the United Kingdom's Drayton Manor Theme Park, a special place called "Thomas Land" is dedicated to fans to ride on multiple rides based on "Thomas and Friends." The model of Thomas used in the TV Series is on display here in the "Discover Thomas and Friends" exhibition.

Voice Actors

Merchandising

  • ERTL (normal, silver, metallic, remote controlled, motorized, miniature, Gold Rail, and in multipacks - discontinued)
  • LC Wooden (normal, gold, motorized, metallic and in multi-packs)
  • Take-Along (normal, silver, metallic and in multi-packs)
  • My First Thomas (normal and with speaking functions)
  • TOMY/Trackmaster (normal, metallic, silver, talking, and in multi-packs)
  • Hornby
  • Bachmann
  • Lionel
  • Tomix
  • My Thomas Story Library
  • Bandai Tecs

Trivia

  • Thomas was the the first engine to be illustrated with a number from the very beginning.

Gallery

Thomas the tank engine when he was first created

Thomas in The Railway Series

Thomas, Annie and Clarabel in the Railway Series

Thomas and Stephenson's Rocket

Ringo Starr with Thomas in 1984

Thomas and the Christmas Tree

Thomas party promo

Thomas in the first season

Ringo Starr with Thomas' model

Behind the Scenes of Thomas' season 6 model

A promotional image of Thomas with his CGI face

A scene from "Thomas and the Stinky Cheese" in CGI

Thomas crashes through a wall

Behind the scene photo Thomas' season 3 model

Behind the scene photo Thomas season 3-5 model

Thomas in full CGI

Thomas with snowplough in Season 5

Thomas' Nameplate

Thomas and Percy with CGI faces

Thomas with a Chrismas hat on his funnel

Thomas in Hero of the Rails

Thomas crashes into the Stationmaster's house

Thomas in a Hero of the Rails Promo photo

Thomas with his Snowplough in Season 7

Thomas in Season 2

Thomas is covered in coal

Thomas meets the Queen

A promotional photo of Lady and Thomas

North Western Railway
Thomas • Edward • Henry • Gordon • James • Percy • Toby • Duck • Donald and Douglas • Oliver • Barry • The red engine • Bill and Ben • Daisy • BoCo • Bear • Mavis • The Works Diesel • Pip and Emma • Peel Godred Engines
Harvey • Emily • Fergus • Arthur • Murdoch • Molly • Neville • Rosie • Whiff • Billy • Stanley • Hank • Flora • Hiro • Victor • Charlie • Diesel • Derek • Salty • Diesel 10 • Dennis
Retrieved from "http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/Thomas"
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