Thomas is a little blue tank engine who works on the North Western Railway. He formerly worked as the station pilot at Vicarstown/Knapford but dreamed to leave his yard to go out and see the world. After helping to rescue James from a nasty accident, Thomas was rewarded with two new coaches, Annie and Clarabel, and was given the responsibility of running the Ffarquhar Branch Line, where he works on to this day, and finally saw the world. He is the central protagonist of the sprite series.
Biography[]
The Railway Series[]
Details of Thomas' arrival on the North Western Railway in 1915 by mistake. How this happened is unknown, but it is believed he was sent to Sodor in a wartime mix-up. His driver and fireman got along well with the local people and married Sudrian women. By 1920, neither one wanted to leave the Island or their beloved engine.
Through an inquiry, Sir Topham Hatt I found out that the LB&SCR had written off Thomas as being "lost on war service". Rather than face complications resulting from a change in their books, the LB&SCR quietly sold Thomas to the North Western Railway for a "nominal sum".
Thomas formerly worked as the station pilot at Vicarstown, shunting trains for the bigger engines on the Main Line to take out. He enjoyed teasing the other engines, especially Gordon, who he would quietly sneak up on and whistle loudly while Gordon dozed in a siding. Eventually, Gordon managed to get back at Thomas by pulling out of the station before he could be uncoupled from his coaches, dragging him down the line at a tremendous speed. Thomas vowed to never tease Gordon again. Perhaps as a result of his brief excursion beyond his boundaries, Thomas longed to see more of the world and become a part of it and became jealous of the bigger engines for having the chance to pull trains.
On an occasion when Henry fell ill, Thomas took his morning passenger train since there were no other engines available, much to his delight. However, for unknown reasons, Thomas left the station before he could be coupled to his train, leaving behind the coaches, the passengers and their luggage. Thomas was not aware of his mistake until he was stopped by a signalman who asked where his train was. Ashamed and confused, Thomas returned to the station and collected his coaches. Subsequently, the incident made him a laughing stock among the other engines.
Thomas continued to grumble to the other engines, though they took no notice of him. However, Edward felt sorry for him and allowed him to take his goods train to Wellsworth while he handled his shunting duties in the yard. Although Edward the Blue Engine warned him to be careful around the trucks, Thomas took no notice and bumped the trucks as he started. When they reached Gordon's Hill, the trucks pushed him down the line, causing him to lose control. He only just managed to stop the train before hitting a set of buffers in Wellsworth Yard, where he was confronted by the Fat Controller. So that Thomas could learn about trucks almost as much as Edward, the Fat Controller kept Thomas there, continuing the swap with Edward, and could easily keep an eye on things, as he lives at Wellsworth.
While Thomas worked there, he saw the Breakdown Train. Shortly after he learned what its purpose was, James ran right past him, out of control thanks to his trucks, and derailed in a field west of the station. Thomas fetched the Breakdown Train and rushed to James' aid, helped to clean up the broken trucks and bring James back to the shed when he was re-railed. As a reward for his actions, Thomas was given two new coaches (called Annie and Clarabel) and the responsibility of running the Ffarquhar Branch Line, much to his delight.[1]
Thomas loved his branch line dearly and had many adventures during his first days on the line. He once left his guard behind by accident and on another occasion he accidentally swallowed a fish in his tank when he took on water from the lake, causing him tremendous pain. During the autumn season, Thomas met Terence and teased him for his caterpillar tracks, though he soon came to regret this after he became stuck in the snow and had to be pulled out by him. Thomas later met Bertie and was challenged to a race to Ffarquhar. Although he was behind for most of the race, Thomas managed to overtake Bertie and won.[2]
In 1960, Thomas crashed into the Ffarquhar stationmaster's house after a careless cleaner had meddled with his controls. Being unable to stop on his own, this incident taught Thomas that he still needed his driver to control him, as opposed to when an earlier compliment by his driver had gone to his smokebox. Thomas was sent to Crovan's Gate Works to be mended and received some changes to his design, including a new footplate that was now level from smokebox to bunker. When Thomas returned to the branch line, he began looking after the passenger trains with Daisy.[3]
In 1990, Thomas was invited by the National Railway Museum to represent the North Western Railway in the Great Railway Show, an event showcasing many famous engines across the UK. Thomas was excited, but the journey to York was shaky; he damaged his front buffer beam when he hit a crossing gate and the lorry he was travelling on was booked for parking illegally. Thomas was repaired when he arrived at the Museum and befriended Green Arrow while he was being mended, though he continued to have bad luck when he ran into a bag thrown onto the line and frightened a small child. Fortunately, Thomas managed to make up for his bad luck when, as he was double-heading a railtour with Green Arrow, he noticed the line up ahead was damaged and stopped the train. As a reward for his actions, Thomas was made an honorary member of the National Railway Museum and received a commemorative plaque.[4] Afterwards, Thomas left York and returned to Sodor.[5]
In 1995, during the Golden Jubilee of the Railway Series, Thomas derailed on his branch line after rabbits had been undermining the track. He was rescued and managed to attend the Jubilee at Tidmouth albeit after being delayed at Knapford Junction after a set of points and a signal failed.
In 2007, during which Toby was having to handle the overflow of quarry workers, Thomas discovered an old carriage named Victoria, who he asked to be restored and help Toby. He brought her up from the Junction to Ffarquhar to meet Toby, after having to bypass Terence's toppled cart that had nearly blocked the line.
In 2011, Thomas had been crossing the river bridge near Elsbridge, when he was forced to stop due to an injured swan laying on the rails. He escorted it to Ffarquhar where it was taken to a vet and after recovery, Thomas brought it back to Elsbridge where the swan was freed. Later, he attended the Thin Clergyman's centenary.
Thomas & Friends[]
Thomas started his life on the Island of Sodor as a cheeky little engine who shunted coaches for the Main Line engines, such as Henry and Gordon. He liked to play tricks on them (including Gordon, "the biggest and proudest engine of all"). He was taught a lesson when Gordon tricked him into being coupled to him during his express run. Tired out, he vowed never to tease Gordon again, realising he did not have to be important. Soon he desired to pull his own passenger train too, much to the bemusement of the other engines. He got his chance when Henry became ill, and no one could pull the passenger train. However, Thomas was so excited that he accidentally left his train and his passengers behind, believing he was pulling it easily. He soon realised his mistake and returned to pull the train. The engines laughed at him (though) and soon Thomas wanted to get out of the shunting yards and see the world. Edward offered him a chance to pull trucks, and Thomas excitedly took the job, not realising how troublesome trucks could be. The trucks pushed him down Gordon's Hill into a siding, where the Fat Controller told him to practice so that one day he would become as good as Edward. Later, Edward offered Thomas again to take Aurora, Ariel and Anna to Wellsworth while he needed some rest, and Thomas excitedly took the coaches there. Crovan, Alfred and Raven teased nastily at Thomas, Thomas felt upset. He felt worried that Eagle would be scrapped when he returned to the Mainland. One day, after Alfred was sent packing along with Crovan and Raven after his parts were mended when they were worn out. Edward and Thomas took over his job and hauled them to Wellsworth where Henry was waiting to take them to Maron. Thomas soon proved himself when he rescued James after his accident with the trucks, using Judy and Jerome. As a reward for his quick and heroic action, the Fat Controller promised him his own branch line.
Thrilled, Thomas soon began running his branch line with his two new coaches (Annie and Clarabel), who he grew to love very much. He soon considered his branch line to be the most important part of the entire railway, a fact he would constantly remind the other engines of. However, he continued to make mistakes and dream big, and sometimes this got him into trouble, such as when he was so impatient that he left his guard behind at Elsbridge or when he wanted to fish, not realising the implications of a fish being in his boiler. His greatest mistake was when he got his snowplough broken in the winter and ended up stuck in a snow drift, having to be rescued by Terence, whom he had insulted earlier for not having "real" wheels. He soon proved himself again (though) when he beat Bertie the bus in a great race. He quickly became friends with both Terence and Bertie, despite their differences.
Although Thomas' branch line was indeed the pride of the line, on the main line, things were not going well for the Fat Controller, who was having to deal with Gordon, Henry, and James' sulking, refusing to do Thomas' former work of shunting themselves. After they went on strike, Thomas was brought back to help alongside Edward and their new friend, Percy, who quickly became Thomas' closest friend. Thomas also became friends with Toby after he was asked by the Fat Controller to help their railway avoid a lawsuit from a rude policeman. But Thomas still had some cheekiness in him, returning to teasing Gordon after Gordon slid into a ditch. He soon needed Gordon's help after he blatantly went past a danger sign and fell down a mine. They soon became friends after that and promised never to tease each other again. Thomas and Toby later helped Mrs. Kyndley at her cottage after she was snowed in and helped her celebrate Christmas with a very special Christmas party.
The following year, Thomas shared a shed on his branch line with Percy and Toby. However, he became conceited about his brilliant blue paint and soon paid the price when Percy accidentally caused a coal hopper to pour coal all over him. Thomas was angry at Percy, but the two friends soon made up after Percy had an accident with some coal trucks. Thomas soon met Trevor, a friend of Edward's, who proved his usefulness when he helped Thomas at the newly constructed harbor. Unfortunately, Thomas became ill a few months later and had to be sent to the Works, while Duck looked after his branch line. When Thomas came back, his brakes were stiff, and made it seem as if they were hard on. As a result, one day, when his fireman was ill, a substitute accidentally caused Thomas to run away, and Harold had to help stop him. Later, when the Viaduct needed to be repaired, the main line engines became late to drop off Thomas' passengers and (as a result) made him late for Bertie. Thomas continued to be of great service to Sir Topham Hatt's railway, although he still remained a cheeky little engine.
Thomas later became conceited again when he took his driver's compliment to heart and believed he no longer needed him to work his branch line. This was untrue, but Thomas was too puffed up with himself to not believe it and (one morning) found himself rolling along the line, when a cleaner had accidentally started him up. He soon broke into a stationmaster's house and ruined the family's breakfast. He had to be rescued by Donald and Douglas. As a result, the Fat Controller angrily sent him to the works again. He arrived back a few weeks later just in time to take over for a battered Percy, who just had a predicament with some trucks. The following Christmas, Thomas was eager to sing carols with the other engines, but had to pick up a Christmas tree for the Fat Controller. Unfortunately, on his way back, he was caught in a snow drift and was lost. Donald and Douglas soon rescued him in time to sing carols with all his friends.
Dexter's Laboratory[]
SpongeBob SquarePants[]
Dexter’s Laboratory: Ego Trip[]
Thomas and the Magic Railroad[]
While Sir Topham Hatt was on holiday, Thomas was asked to pick up Mr. Conductor, who would be acting as controller until his return. After hearing that Diesel 10 was planning to destroy the lost engine and the buffers that lead to her, Thomas set out on a quest to find and help her.
With help from Percy, he was able to locate the Magic Buffers and went through with Lily. While on the Magic Railroad, he picked up a truck of Sodor coal that he had previously accidentally sent through the buffers. At the end of the line, he was sent to Muffle Mountain, where P.T. Boomer exploded at the bottom, which made Thomas fell off the mountainside and rolled through another portal. He later reconvened with Lily (along with Patch, Burnett Stone and Lady) back on the Magic Railroad.
After returning to Sodor, Thomas was chased along with Lady by Diesel 10. During the chase, Thomas only just managed to cross The Big Dipper before it collapsed, leaving Diesel 10 to fall off the bridge and into a barge. Afterwards, he returned to the Sodor Wishing Well with Lady.
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed[]
The Adventure Begins[]
Thomas arrived on Sodor sometime after James and was bought to shunt coaches for the Main Line engines. Initially, he was painted teal and numbered 70, later being repainted blue at the Sodor Steamworks. The first engine Thomas befriended was Edward. He liked to play tricks on Gordon, the biggest and proudest engine on the railway, but was taught a lesson when Gordon tricked him into being coupled to him during his express run. Tired out, he vowed never to tease Gordon again, realising he did not have to do so to be important.
Soon, he desired to pull his own passenger train too, much to the bemusement of the other engines. He got his chance when Henry became ill, and no one could pull the passenger train. When he mistook Edward's guard's whistle for his own, Thomas was so excited that he accidentally left his train and his passengers behind, believing he was pulling it easily. He soon realised his mistake and returned to pull the train.
Soon, Thomas wanted to get out of the shunting yards and see the world, however Gordon, Eagle and James merely laughed at him because of his incident with the coaches. Edward offered him a chance to pull trucks and Thomas excitedly took the job, not realising how troublesome trucks could be. The trucks pushed him down Gordon's Hill into a siding at Maron, where the Fat Controller told him to practice so that one day he would become as good as Edward.
Thomas soon proved himself to the other engines when he saved James from a crash. James was pulling a train of trucks who were pushing him too fast, and when he tried to stop his brake blocks caught fire. Thomas chased after him and tried to couple to the back of the train to slow James down, but he failed and James and his trucks derailed. After fetching Judy and Jerome, who lifted him back onto the tracks, he was given James' coaches, Annie and Clarabel, and his own branch line, which had previously been run by Glynn the "coffee pot" engine.[6]
Personality[]
Thomas is described as being a cheeky engine. He often gets into scrapes, usually by being overeager to do things best left to bigger and more sensible engines. But clouds never last long in Thomas' life and he is soon bustling about again, playing his part in the yard and on his very own branch line, of which he is extremely proud.
He loves teasing the others, especially the bigger engines, such as Gordon and on occasion brags about his superiority, but is always brought down to earth in due course by anyone willing to correct him, especially the Fat Controller and his two coaches, Annie and Clarabel. If Thomas has one major character flaw, it is that he is forgetful and rather impatient. However, he is also cheerful, optimistic, idealistic, altruistic, kind hearted, supportive and helpful.
A friend to all engines and a popular member of the Fat Controller’s railway, Thomas is No.1 and does his best every day to live up to that through helping his friends and those that he cares about. He lives to be a Really Useful Engine and encourages everyone else to do the same. He likes to be better than James and Bertie in races. He feels so romantic with Lady.
Thomas is infamous to the other engines for his dislike of wearing a snowplough, often claiming his to be heavy and uncomfortable. On numerous occasions, he has shown he has no problems with doing anything to avoid wearing one, from banging it around and leaving it to be buried by snow. He does always get his comeuppance for these deeds, however, and knows that having a snowplough is important in bad snowy weather. He tolerates wearing a plough much better in the present day, but Thomas will still groan about it if given the chance.
While most of the other engines and especially Annie and Clarabel tolerate his slight ego to a bare minimum, Thomas has often found himself going too far, driving away even close friends such as Percy, Toby, and even Edward. When these occasions happen, Thomas is very good at luring back friends when motivated, often pulling through his personal distastes to help others out and rekindle friendships.
Despite all this, he does have his pride and will sometimes take wrong advice at the wrong time - such as from Sailor John or Ace, as well as refusing help even when he needs it. Thomas also highly despises the smell of fish, and as such, when he once had the job of delivering fish, he wanted to finish quickly to avoid the smell, and ignored instructions, causing confusion and delay doing so. His dislike of fish is most prominent in the HIT Entertainment era, and less prominent in the classic series and CGI series.
In other cases, Thomas can be highly curious and positive, with slight hints of skepticism, stubbornness, and forgetfulness, including tendencies to daydream. He is also however depicted with a subtle tone of wisdom, helping engines like Rajiv be really useful, despite their difficulties or insecurities in the past. Thomas also has a high perspective on odd objects or people, quickly growing suspicious upon seeing the tiger hunters' hidden cage, Diesel 10's plans to take over the railway of steam engines with his fellow diesels. Backing up his perception is a very high sense of creativity, allowing him to quickly adapt to a tricky situation.
Technical Details[]
Basis[]
Thomas is based on a London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) Class E2 0-6-0T, particularly the second batch of locomotives built with extended side-tanks. These engines were built by Brighton Works between 1913-1916 to replace the ageing Stroudley LB&SCR E1 class and were primarily used for heavy shunting and short-distance goods trains in the London area and on the south coast. During their final working years, the E2 class worked as shunting engines at Southampton Docks alongside the USATC S100 Tank Engines (Rosie's basis), until they were replaced by the BR Class 07 diesel shunters (Salty's basis). All of the E2s were scrapped, with none surviving into preservation (except for Thomas).
Thomas has several major differences from the original E2 class. He is much shorter in length than his original basis (making his water tanks shorter as well), he has two extra windows on the sides of his cab, he does not have the ladders near his front buffer beam, his bunker is notably longer and he has wheel splashers, something the original E2 class lacked. In the early volumes of the Railway Series and the television series, Thomas' footplate is dipped at the front, but oddly enough is not dipped at the back. In Branch Line Engines, his footplate was levelled out from smokebox to bunker. Reginald Payne also illustrated Thomas without the additional cab side window and also gave him a southern railway-style smokebox saddle and lowered his front bufferbeam. These features were removed when C. Reginald Dalby re-illustrated the book.
Timothy, Leo, Jazz, Janny, Tommy and the grey tank engine are also based on an LB&SCR Class E2 and has the same modifications as Thomas.
Livery[]
In The Railway Series, Thomas is shown to be a dark blue color with a number 1 in damp yellow on his side tanks. He has red lining along his tanks and wheel covers. In the earlier stories, he is illustrated to be a bright blue, reminiscent of the TV show.
In the television series, Thomas is painted in NWR bright blue with red and yellow lining. His number 1 is painted on the sides of his tanks in yellow with red lining and the lining around his cab windows is yellow.
In The Adventure Begins, Thomas was formerly painted teal green with white lining. His company's initials, LBSC were painted on the sides of his tank and his number 70 was painted on the sides of his cab, both in yellow with red lining. His wheel rims were painted white. In real life, the E2s were painted in either LB&SCR Goods Black, with at least 3 members of the class confirmed to have been painted in the LB&SCR Umber Livery at some point in their career, Southern Railway Maunsell Green, Southern Railway Black, or BR Goods Black with its British Railways number painted on either the coal bunker or the side tanks.
In the first three series of the television series, Thomas had red lining on the back of his coal bunker, but during the production of the third series episode, All at Sea, the lining was removed. This also happened in The Railway Series once Clive Spong took over as illustrator. The lining was reapplied in The Adventure Begins.
Appearances[]
The Railway Series
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Magazine Stories
Thomas also appeared in the magazine stories, A Colourful Christmas, A Good Hiding Place, A Hole in One, A Job for James, A Long Way Up!, A Puzzle for Percy, A Rocket for Thomas, A Special Story about Guards and Porters, A Special Story about Steam, A Strange Squeak, An Old Friend, Animal Antics!, Back-to-Front, Behind Schedule, Bill and BoCo, Bulgy's Dream, Bulstrode the Engine, Catch!, Christmas Puddings, Clean Getaway!, Clever Carriages, Clever Climbers!, Clowning Around, Danger Signs!, Deep Dive, Diesel Causes Delay, Double Attraction, Dressing Up, Engine Plates, Fair Scare!, Fast Food!, Feeding Time, Fish and Chips, Fish and Fog!, Fishy Diesel!, Flag Day, Fun and Games!, Funnels and Tunnels, Gordon the Town Engine, Guard Duty!, Harold and the Broken Tree, Harvest Time, Henry's Soaking!, Holiday Havoc!, I Spy with my Little Eye, In the Bag, Jack Frost, Just Right, Keeping Dry Lazy Wheels, Letting off Steam!, Lights On, Looking Splendid, Misbehaving, Monster Surprise, Platform Picture, Parking? No Problem!, Party Time!, Percy's House, Percy and the Trucks, Picnic Surprise, Picture Posters, Pigeon Passengers!, Pink Cows, Pirate Passengers, Pot Luck!, Proud Percy!, Railway Open Day, Really Important Luggage, Really Useful Edward, Really Useful Rosie, Reindeer Cheer!, Rhyming Engines, Road Train, Road and Rails, Santa Special, Scaredy Puffer!, Seeing Steam, Slick Trick!, Snap Happy, Sodor's Strong Man, Sodor's Strongest Engine, Sodor Goes Pop!, Sodor Rock, Special Bus Service, Special Passengers, Special Places, Special Treats, Spooky Station, Station Mystery, Steaming Along!, Stormy Weather, Summer, Sunny Smile, Taking Toby, The Balloon Race, The Best Band, The Best Bridge, The Best Engine, The Big Ship, The Christmas Sacks, The Craft Show!, The Flying Broomstick, The Great Statue Robbery, The Hallowe'en Special, The Huge Horses!, The Mystery Tour, The Open Top Bus, The Poorly Engine!, The Round-up, The Runaway Percy, The Smugglers, The Strongest, The UFO, There and Back and Think Pink. |
Annual Stories
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Books
Audio Stories
Video Games
Thomas also appeared in the video game, Magical Adventure. |
Songs[]
- I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside (performed)
- Mine, Mine, Mine (performed)
- Never Overlook a Little Engine (performed)
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas (performed)
- Streamlining (performed)
- You Can Only Be You (performed)
- Be Who You Are, and Go Far (performed)
- Who's Thomas? (performed)
- The Hottest Place in Town (performed)
- I Want To Go Home (performed solo)
- The Most Important Thing is Being Friends (performed)
Trivia[]
- Thomas was the first character in the Railway Series to have a number. According to Brian Sibley in Thomas the Tank Engine Man, Awdry used the number one because it was the easiest to draw.
- Thomas was the first character to be introduced in the television series.
- From the first to twelfth series during the model series era, Thomas had three different facial expressions (frustrated, livid and jovial) that were not used onscreen. His unused second series jovial face (however) was designed in The Great Festival Adventure game, where Thomas teased Gordon on the turntable.
- Christopher Awdry lost the original Thomas toy when he was in the United States. However, a replica was made for a 70th-anniversary sizzle reel. The second version of the original toy was made as a "thank you" gift by Michael White.
- In the American and Finnish cast, Thomas is the only character voiced by Joseph May and Juha Varis in the series.
- Thomas' LBSC number (70) was actually carried by a real LB&SCR locomotive, an A1 named "Poplar" currently preserved by the Kent & East Sussex Railway. The number also represents the top speed of his basis and the 70th anniversary of the Railway Series. All the actual E2s, however, were only numbered from 100 to 109.
- Thomas and James are the only engines to have two different colours in The Adventure Begins, along with Percy in The Adventure Continues.
- Thomas is one of three characters to have a speaking role in every series and special, the other two being Henry and James.
- A Wooden Railway toy of Thomas (along with one of Stepney's) appeared in the second series of The Big Bang Theory in an episode called "The Friendship Algorithm".
- An Ertl toy of Thomas along with one of James' also appeared in the sixth series of the American sitcom TV series, Full House, in one of its episodes called "Be True to Your Preschool".
- Following Mr. Conductor in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Thomas became the second character to narrate in first-person.
- In Calling All Engines!, Thomas sleep-whistles. This is apparently the steam engine version of snoring, instead of typical snoring sounds, Thomas makes warbling whistles after pausing before the next toot. This was only mentioned in Calling All Engines as it might be because his crew never shut off his steam properly.
- As Thomas is shorter than an actual E2, this means his tanks are smaller as well. His coal bunker is also notably bigger.
- A Bachmann G scale model of Thomas (wearing the face from the HO scale model) was featured in the Marvel film Ant-Man.
- Thomas has the most nicknames of any character, with nineteen in total.
- Thomas is the first Sudrian engine with a separate driver in international locations.
- Thomas is the first character in the show to have lost his voice onscreen with the spinoff series of Thomas & Friends third series episode, Too Loud, Thomas!. With this, he is the third character on the show with a speech impediment (albeit temporarily) after Fergus and Theo.
- Thomas has sometimes been seen going well over his top speed of seventy miles per hour.
- Despite having lining present on his bunker, only a select few merchandise items have had it during their course. They were subsequently removed in renovations and to date, items of Thomas with the bunker lining are rare to find.
- Thomas is the only original member of the current Steam Team not to have handrails across his boiler or side tanks.
- Thomas' whistle from Thomas, You're the Leader was previously heard in most parts of the official website from 2005.
- As the titled protagonist, Thomas has had the most appearances in the Sprite Series.
- Didi Conn has said that Thomas was her favourite engine.
- To celebrate Easter in 2017, a giant 140 kg chocolate sculpture of Thomas was displayed at Kings Cross Station. Made out of real Belgian chocolate, the display piece was sculpted in 250 hours by three master chocolatiers and was surrounded by TrackMaster engines running around. An actor dressed as Sir Topham Hatt was on hand to hand out Easter eggs.
- In episode 5 of Season 3 of Gavin and Stacey a ride of Thomas can be seen in the background of one of the scenes.
- One of Thomas' television series brass models is currently on display at the Explore the Rails exhibit and is wearing one of his happy face masks.
- The other brass model from Thomas and the Magic Railroad is currently on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum in Japan and is wearing one of his happy face masks (Previously on display at Nitrogen Studios in Canada)
- One of the tenth series brass model is currently on display at Drayton Manor and is wearing one of his alternate happy face masks. One of his alternate happy face masks was on his television series model when he first arrived in 2009 and was put on display at the Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition, but it was replaced with a replica face. One of his alternate happy face masks was put back on his restored television series model in early 2020.
- Four of Thomas' face masks are now owned by Twitter user ThomasTankMerch.
- A TrackMaster Thomas appeared in the 1st Series finale of the DC streaming service exclusive show, Titans.
- Thomas was the very first character onscreen to have a permanent lamp, though despite it being a key part of his design, some merchandise lines (the non-talking wooden and diecast ranges, early Hornby models, late 2011-early 2012 TrackMaster and numerous smaller toylines) omit the lamp completely.
- In the original television series, Thomas has the distinction of having the first speaking role in the series premiere and last line of the series finale. However, he does not have the last line in the produced series finale.
Quotes[]
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References[]
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North Western Railway | Locomotives | Alain | Alfred | Belle | Crovan | Den | Edward | Fergus | Flint | Frieda | Gordon | Hank | Hugo | Kaleb | Maxwell | Myles | Pip and Emma | Sidney | Sora | Thomas | Timothy | Tucker |
---|---|---|
Rolling Stock | Bradley and Beverly | Dexter | James' Trucks | Rickety | Victoria and Helena | |
Non-Rail Characters | Algy | Brenda | Butch | Captain Kelly | Private Jones | |
Skarloey Railway | Locomotives | Mighty Mac | Sir Handel |
Rolling Stock | Ada, Jane and Mabel | Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice | Cora | Gertrude and Millicent | |
Culdee Fell Railway | Locomotives | Ernest | Shane Dooiney |
Arlesdale Railway | Locomotives | Bert | Sigrid of Arlesdale |
The Mainland | Locomotives | D5701 | Logan | Frankie | Lexi | Mallard | Octavia | Thomas | Wilbert |
Rolling Stock | Beverly and Jennifer | |
Non Rail Characters | Beresford | |
United States | Locomotives | Vinnie |
France | Locomotives | Étienne |
Brazil | Locomotives | Gustavo |
China | Locomotives | Hong-Mei |
India | Locomotives | Rajiv |
Italy | Locomotives | Lorenzo |
Russia | Locomotives | Ivan |
Austrailia | Non-Rail Vehicles | Gary |
North Western Railway | Currently | 'Arry and Bert | Billy | Charlie | Chuffa | Dennis | Diesel | Donald and Douglas | Duck | Flora | Jinty | Julie | Kairi | Mary | Mikey | Neville | Norman | Paxton | Porter | Puffa | Rosie | Samantha | Sheffield | Sidney | Sonny | Splatter and Dodge | Stanley | Stepney | Ted | Thomas | Toby |
---|---|---|
Mid Sodor Railway Railway | Currently | Jim | Tim |
Formerly | Gerry | |
The Mainland | Currently | Bluebell and Primrose | Cromford | The Grey Tank Engine | Frankie | Janny | Jerry | Jimmy and Marcus | The Mainland Diesels | Thomas* | Tommy | Ulli | Wilbert |
United States | Currently | Dockyard Engines | Natalie | Penny |
Brazil | Currently | Fernando | Gabriela |