Rolling stock (Thomas and Friends)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
This article lists the rolling stock that has featured in the Thomas and Friends children's television series.
A large number of different railway trucks and coaches have appeared over the years. This article concentrates on the items of rolling stock that have appeared in, and contributed to the plot line of, several episodes of the TV series.
[edit] Introduction
No railway would be complete without coaches and trucks, and those appearing in the children's television series Thomas and Friends are no exception. Coaches carry passengers, and trucks carry freight. In many episodes, coaches and/or trucks are key to the episode's plot line.
The engines prefer coaches, which are smooth-running and well-behaved. The trucks, on the other hand, are nothing but trouble. In the words of Rev. W. Awdry:
| “ | ...trucks are silly and noisy. They talk a lot and don't attend to what they are doing... ...And, I'm sorry to say, they play tricks on an engine who is not used to them. | ” |
- – from the story Thomas and the Trucks (The Railway Series, book 2: Thomas the Tank Engine).
[edit] Coaches
Coaches are the rolling stock which are pulled by engines, to transport people/passengers from one station to another. These are in two colour schemes, Red (initially representing "James'") and Green ( initially representing "Gordon's & Henry's"). These coaches are the most common used, and rarely is an episode seen without one (except for those on the Narrow Gauge or Thomas' Branchline)
These coaches are based on the Southern Railway Maunsell Restriction 1 coaches, but the TTTE coaches feature less underframe gear, such as battery boxes.
[edit] Annie & Clarabel
Annie and Clarabel are two coaches who work with Thomas the Tank Engine on his branch line. Although they are old-fashioned, Thomas loves them very much ever since Season 1 and the three of them are quite inseparable. The coaches often offer advice to Thomas, and are more experienced than he is. Although the coaches are usually pulled by Thomas, other characters have been seen pulling them including Percy, Toby, Duck (who covered Thomas while he went to the works), Neville and Emily. Usually this upsets Thomas as he becomes very worried for the coaches' safety. They were originally painted light orange, then orange and later maroon with a yellow stripe.
[edit] Henrietta
- See also: Henrietta (Railway Series character)
Henrietta is Toby's faithful coach. She worked with Toby the Tram Engine on their old railway, and when that line closed Toby could not bear to leave her behind. The stationmaster had wanted to turn her into a henhouse, but The Fat Controller agreed that "that would never do." The two are absolutely inseparable, and whenever they are apart they worry about each other. She carries passengers and is used to bring quarrymen to and from work. She has even been used as Sir Topham Hatt's private coach. Henrietta is the only named character not to have a face, until Season 11. In this season, Henrietta is depicted with a small rectangular face where a window on the end doors would be. It is gray unlike the other coaches.
Henrietta is based on a Wisbech and Upwell Tramway four-wheeled coach.
[edit] Old Slowcoach
Old Slowcoach is an elderly express coach who has seen better days. She was found in a scrapyard by Thomas and Percy, and was later refurbished from her black livery to be used as a workman's hut. She wears the "chocolate and cream" paintwork of the Great Western Railway, upon which she was based before coming to Sodor.
She was also a part of a special train for Mrs Kyndley's daughter's wedding, as the "Something Old" of "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue".
She appears to be based on the Great Western Railway's clerestory coach stock.
Season 5 is the only season (to date) to feature Old Slowcoach.
[edit] Other coaches
The coaches on the Island of Sodor have many different designs throughout the series. Within the episodes themselves, coaches are rarely referred to specifically (unless specifying the engine who is pulling them, eg. "Emily's coaches").
The other commonly used coaches include the coaches from the mail train (though technically these are vans, but passenger rated), and the Special Coaches, a dull crimson finish with red lining.
The only other coaches are Gordon's special coaches, presented to him in Series 10.
[edit] Trucks
Trucks (Usually referred to in American releases as Freight Cars) transport goods. There are various designs of trucks, which of course serve various purposes. Open-topped trucks carry most goods, however liquids are carried in tankers, and anything else which needs protection from the elements can be carried in trucks which have a roof.
[edit] Troublesome Trucks
The trucks in the TV Series are often referred to as the Troublesome Trucks (Foolish Freight Cars In American Releases ) . This is because (as the name suggests) they can be quite troublesome, and love to play tricks on the engines who pull or push them. Not many engines like them, and they have been the cause of many accidents on the railway. Their behaviour could perhaps be best described in the following statement:
- "Every wise engine knows that you cannot trust Trucks."/"Every wise engine knows that you cannot trust Freight Cars"
There have, however, been some cases where the trucks and engines are on the same side, like in the episodes Special Attraction and World's Strongest Engine.
Incidents involving the Troublesome Trucks include:
- Stopping Gordon on a hill (Edward & Gordon/Edward Helps Out)
- Making Thomas go too fast and almost made him crash (Thomas and the Trucks/Trouble for Thomas)
- Making James crash into a field (Thomas and the Breakdown Train/Thomas Saves the Day (Season 1))
- Breaking away from James's train and rolling down Gordon's hill (Troublesome Trucks/Foolish Freight Cars)
- Pushing James into two tar tankers (Dirty Objects/James In A Mess)
- Pushing Percy into the quay (Percy Takes the Plunge)
- Teasing Diesel by singing a song at him, after refusing to move (Pop Goes the Diesel and Dirty Work (Season 2)/Diesel's Devious Deed)
- Breaking away from Edward and making Duck run into a Barber Shop (A Close Shave/A Close Shave For Duck)
- Pushing Percy through the Brake Van and on to another truck (Percy's Predicament)
- Pushed into the quay by Diesel (Diesel Does It Again)
- Pushing Toby onto a collapsed bridge (Toby's Tightrope)
- Pushing Oliver into a turntable well (Oliver Owns Up)
- Teasing Oliver by singing a song at him after he was pushed down the turntable well. (Toad Stands By)
- Burst through some buffers which made Percy push them past some buffers and tumble onto Bulstrode ("Special Attraction")
- Pushing Thomas into a pond after being unable to get their own back on James ("Trust Thomas")
- Making Percy crash into a siding, causing him to get covered in fruit(Percy, James and the Fruitful Day)
- Broke away from the winch, rolled down the hill, and crashed into Peter Sam (Trucks/Rusty Helps Peter Sam)
- Breaking away from the winch again and made an avalanche tumble onto Skarloey (Snow)
- Being pushed by Percy into a mine, causing an avalanche (Put Upon Percy)
- Pushing Toad out of control and into a pond (Busy Going Backwards)
- Pulling Henry too fast and falling into a ravine (Haunted Henry)
- Caused Henry to become derailed and held Diesel back while their brakes were turned on, which caused the coupling to snap and make Diesel fall onto a barge (The World's Strongest Engine)
- Caused Percy and themselves to become derailed and block the road at Bulgy's Bridge (Harvey to the Rescue)
- Caused Arthur to crash into Duck's goods train, causing both engines to get covered in fruit (The Spotless Record)
- Pushed into a duck pond by Emily (Thomas the Tank Engine) ("Emily's New Route")
- Pulled Thomas too fast down Gordon's Hill and crashed into Salty ("Fish" (Season 8))
- Broke away from an engine and rolled down a steep hill ("Thomas Saves The Day" (Season 8))
- Made Percy crash into Mavis (Emily Knows Best)
- Pulled Thomas under a coal hopper and caused him to get covered in coal and stopped James From Going anywhere After Teasing about Thomas's dirty trucks and Cranky drops a melon crate on james(Thomas's New Trucks)
- Broke away from Peter Sam and fell off the old iron bridge and into the swampy ravine ("Duncan gets spooked")
- Broke away from Percy and started a chase around the island ("a big surprise for Percy")
[edit] S.C.Ruffey
S.C.Ruffey (pronounced ‘Scruffy’) is a Private-Owner ballast truck based at Tidmouth, and is regarded as one of the leaders of the Troublesome Trucks. After Oliver had been pushed down a turntable well, S.C.Ruffey led the trucks in singing rude songs about the accident. However, Oliver was able to pull S.C.Ruffey apart, effectively quelling his bad behaviour. S.C.Ruffey was rebuilt with a new body in the TV Series, but scrapped as a pile of broken pieces in the Railway Series his construction being rotten from the start.
S.C.Ruffey is grey and rusty and has "S.C.RUFFEY & Co. Ballast Contractors Tidmouth Sodor" on both sides.
S.C.Ruffey appeared in one episode in Season 4, 'Toad Stands By'. S.C.Ruffey's face has also been seen on other troublesome trucks, namely in 'Put Upon Percy' and briefly in 'Double Teething Troubles'.
The unusual spelling of his name is unique to the television series and related merchandise - in the original story in which he appears, his name is spelt as pronounced.
Trucks/ Cars with his face were also seen in Put Upon Percy (from Season 5), Fish (from Season 8), and The Green Controller (from Season 10).
[edit] Tankers
These trucks transport large amounts of liquids. Tankers have been seen in the series designated to carry milk (Season 1), tar (Season 1), fuel (Season 3) and oil (Season 6), as well as cream (Season 8), raspberry syrup (Season 8), jam (Season 9), toffee (Season 10). The trucks are usually faceless but have been seen with faces in Season 4. On the narrow gauge railway their tankers are used to carry Gunpowder (Season 4).
The most notable incident involving tankers was in the Season 1 episode Dirty Objects, in which James crashed into four tar tankers. Another incident involving tankers was the Season 9 episode "Respect for Gordon" in which Gordon crashes into seven jam tankers destroying four of them.
These trucks are thought to be the least troublesome, probably to do with their carefullness of carrying their respective loads.
[edit] The Flying Kipper
This is an early morning fish train, usually pulled by Henry. It is a fast train made up of various different vans. It has been at the center of a number of events, the most famous of which is the occasion in which Henry crashed while pulling it in the first season, and had to be rebuilt. The Flying Kipper has featured a number of times since.
[edit] Hector
Hector is a black hopper car with HECTOR written on it in white. He roars "KEEP AWAY!" at Thomas and Rosie, the two tank engines at the coal yards, scaring off Rosie then gets biffed by Thomas. Because he's a new truck and he's afraid to be loaded with coal and after Thomas shows him that it's not scary, Hector lets him load him and arrange him into trains for James and Edward. His first appearance is in Hector the Horrid in season 11. He is the 3rd rolling stock character to have moving eyes (the first Old Slow Coach the 2nd Rocky.) He is also the Second truck to be named in the T.V. Series (The First Truck Was S.C.Ruffey.)
[edit] Brake Vans
The brake van is an important part of a goods train. It carries the guard and is equipped with a strong brake to assist with slowing and stopping the train. From here, the guard can keep an eye on the train in case of problems.
[edit] Spiteful Break van
The Spiteful Breakvan is a brake van and was a former leader of the Troublesome Trucks. He appeared in Season 2's "Breakvan". He had taken a dislike to Douglas and delayed his trains until Donald told him off. Later, he held James's train back and Douglas had to help the train up Gordon's hill. However, Douglas unintentionally destroyed the break van, who was trapped in between Douglas and the heavy trucks. He was scrapped and not rebuilt. The Spiteful Breakvan is the only Character to be Scrapped.
The Spiteful Brakevan is based on a standard BR 20 ton brake van, and has been released in ERTL model. In the Railway Series he has a different guise (grey paint and 'NW' painted on his sides), and this guise was released in LC Wooden Toy.
[edit] Toad
Toad is Oliver's brake van, who was saved from scrap along with Oliver. He comes from the Great Western Railway, and has the greatest respect for engines (especially Oliver.. he calls him Mr. Oliver in some episodes). He is also one of the few well-behaved trucks on the railway. His last appearance was in Season 7 (to date) but was seen being pulled along with a long circus train by Thomas in a Season 8 episode, "Thomas & the Circus." However, his front cannot be seen, so only his back side is seen.
Toad is based on a standard GW 20 ton brake van. He is painted black-grey and has 'GW' painted on his sides, the number 5863 and 'TOAD' on the side of his rear.
In the Railway Series, he was presented to Douglas by Oliver for saving him from scrap.
Hornby have modelled him in "OO", and a model was made in the ERTL range.
[edit] Other rolling stock
[edit] Rocky
Rocky is the island's fifth named crane (after Cranky, Harvey, Butch, and Kelly from The Pack). He is painted burgundy with yellow hazard stripes, and is used as a rescue and maintenance unit. Although useful in any situation, Rocky can only move when there is an engine available to pull him, as observed by Gordon and Edward. Edward initially shunned Rocky for this reason - branding him 'newfangled nonsense' - but following his help in the aftermath of an accident, Rocky has become a valued addition to the railway. He is usually the first choice when the lifting is too heavy for Harvey to handle. He is officially introduced in the Season 10 episode Edward Strikes Out, but had a cameo appearance in the earlier episode Big Strong Henry. Rocky also appears in Season 11. He also made a cameo in the new engine Roll call alongside Edward.
[edit] The Breakdown Train
The Breakdown Train consists of flatbeds, rail-mounted cranes and a special coach (which is sometimes seen on its own (as in Busy Going Backwards), or with Harvey, or with Boco in Double Teething Trouble).
It is used for rescue and clear-up operations after accidents (e.g. clearing up the broken trees in Henry's Forest), but is also kept busy on maintenance, construction, repair and demolition jobs around the railway. The train is painted olive green, and the coach features the words "Works Unit" on the sides.
It first appeared in the Season 1 episode Thomas and the Breakdown Train, and was used by Thomas to rescue James after an accident. Its importance in recent seasons has diminished, as Harvey can tackle the smaller jobs and Rocky can tackle larger ones.
[edit] The Jet Engine
In the Season 6 episode "Thomas and the Jet Engine", this piece of machinery was supposed to be delivered to the airfield. But Cranky the Crane carelessly knocked the "ON" lever with his hook, causing the jet to fire up and Thomas to be shot down the track at high speed. It is mounted on a large white flat truck, which also consisted of a red fuel tank and two large crates covered with tarpaulins.
One point to note is the model has a larger central box while "enganged" (this can be seen as the box is wider than the truck itself). This is probably to house the large motor which powered the model.
[edit] The Chinese Dragon
A dragon who appeared in the season 3 episode Thomas, Percy and the Dragon. Thomas picked up this dragon at the harbor and scared Percy.
The Chinese Dragon has to date appeared three times within the TV Series - once in Season 3, once in Season 10 and it made a cameo in Season 11. It has also appeared in an Interactive Learning Segment in Season 10.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
