Thomas the Tank Engine

> *This article is about the character. For the TV show this character appears in, see Thomas & Friends. For the original 1946 book by Wilbert Awdry, see Thomas the Tank Engine (Railway Series book).*
> *For other uses, see Thomas and Thomas the Tank Engine (disambiguation).*
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## Appearances

### First appearance

"Thomas the Tank Engine" (*The Railway Series*)
"Thomas and Gordon" (*Thomas & Friends*)

### Last appearance

"Thomas and his Friends" (*The Railway Series*)

### Television shows

*Thomas & Friends* (1984-2021)
*Shining Time Station* (1989-1995)
*Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales* (1996)
*Jack & the Sodor Construction Company* (2006)
*Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go!* (2021)

### Films

*Thomas and the Magic Railroad* (2000)
*Calling All Engines!* (2005)
*The Great Discovery* (2008)
*Hero of the Rails* (2009)
*Misty Island Rescue* (2010)
*Day of the Diesels* (2011)
*Blue Mountain Mistery* (2012)
*King of the Railway* (2013)
*Tale of the Brave* (2014)
*The Adventure Begins* (2015)
*Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure* (2015)
*The Great Race* (2016)
*Journey Beyond Sodor* (2017)
*Big World! Big Adventures!* (2018)

### Books

*The Railway Series* (1945-2011)
My Thomas Story Library (2003-2011)

## In-universe information

### Likes

Being a Really Useful Engine, being the Fat Controller’s No. 1 engine, being nice to his friends, Annie and Clarabel, his friends, Ashima, people and engines who are friendly to him, Rosie, working on his branch line, racing, playing tricks on the other engines, blaming engines and people (sometimes), shunting trucks, Spencer being nice to him and his friends, saying that it's not his fault (always), being happy, being angry (sometimes), being rude to engines and people (sometimes)

### Dislikes

Causing confusion and delay, being late, Diesel 10, people and engines who are mean to him, Devious Diesel, his snowplough (sometimes), danger, not working on his branch line, being banished from his branch line, Rosie annoying him, Billy calling him a bossy engine, other engines pulling Annie and Clarabel (sometimes), Sailor John, Vinnie, anyone furious at him, Cranky being cranky, Spencer being rude to him and his friends

## Look

### Eye color

Black (until 2021)
Blue (since 2021)

## Voice actors

### US voice actors

Martin Sherman (*Hero of the Rails*-series 18)
Joseph May (*The Adventure Begins - present)
Robin Smith (*Railway Adventures*)
David Menkin (declined)*

### UK voice actors

Ben Small (*Hero of the Rails*-series 18)
John Hashler (*The Adventure Begins - present)
Michael Angelis (*Railway Adventures*)
Kerry Shale (*Hero of the Rails*, original workprints)*

### US and UK voice actors

Eddie Glen (*Thomas and the Magic Railroad*)
John Bellis (*Thomas and the Magic Railroad*, original workprints)
Ringo Starr (Children in Need charity single)

### Other voice actors

Juha Varis (Finland)
**Mexico and Latin America:**
Javier Olguín (*HotR* - S19E20; TGR*)
Héctor Ireta de Alba (S19E21; S20E01 - [[[Ace's Brave Jump|S24E10]])*

**Thomas the Tank Engine**, or simply **Thomas**, is a fictional anthrophomorphised steam locomotive in *The Railway Series* books by Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher, published from 1945. He became the most popular and famous character in the series, and is the titular protagonist in the accompanying television adaptation series *Thomas & Friends*.

## Biography

### *The Railway Series*

Details of Thomas' arrival on the North Western Railway in 1915 by mistake. No one knows how it happened, but some says that it was happened because of a confusion. However, is that 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.

During an inquiry, Sir Topham Hatt 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 and he 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, whom he calls Annie and Clarabel, and the responsibility of running the Ffarquhar Branch Line, much to his delight.

 File:ThomasandtheGuardRS1.PNG   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 later 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.

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.

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. Afterwards, Thomas left York and returned to Sodor.

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*

 File:TheAdventureBegins82.png   Before coming to Sodor, Thomas lived at Brighton, where he worked alongside several other engines. He was brought to the North Western Railway when the Fat Controller was in need of a new tank engine to shunt trains at Knapford and was formerly painted teal-green before receiving his blue livery.

Thomas was cheeky at first and enjoyed teasing Gordon by waking him up while he was resting at Knapford. Gordon managed to get back at Thomas by leaving the station too quickly before he could be uncoupled and though Thomas learned his lesson about teasing Gordon, he wanted to see more of the world and go beyond the yard at Knapford station. He was given the chance to pull his first passenger train when Henry became ill but left the station too early when he mistook the guard's whistle for Edward's train for his own, leaving behind his coaches and passengers. Thomas was stopped by a signalman and he went back to the station to fetch his train.

Thomas was teased relentlessly about this mistake by Gordon and James, though Edward felt sorry for him and offered to let Thomas take his goods train while he took care of his shunting duties in the yard. Thomas could hardly contain his excitement and was too excited to listen to Edward's warning about the trucks, believing that he could handle them easily. However, as he reached the top of Gordon's Hill, the trucks began pushing Thomas down the line, causing him to run out of control and nearly crashed until he stopped in a siding.

 File:TheAdventureBegins613.png
Upon noticing that Henry had not come out of the sheds to pull his train during a rainy day, Thomas raced back to Tidmouth Sheds and managed to convince a paranoid Henry that the rain would not hurt him, finally helping him get over his fear of the rain. Thomas continued to work in the yard and over time, he became more skilled at shunting. While taking a break in the yard one day, Thomas saw James being pushed by his trucks unable to stop due to his burning brake blocks. Thomas bravely chased after James abandoning his punishment and tried to stop him, but unfortunately, James derailed and landed in a field. Thomas rushed back to Knapford and retrieved Judy and Jerome, who helped him, re-rail James. As a reward for his heroic actions, Thomas was rewarded with his own branch line and two coaches of his own, Annie and Clarabel. From that point on, Thomas began proudly and happily working on his very own branch line.

#### *Thomas and the Magic Railroad*

Thomas was pulling his coaches to Killaban, but he was late due to repairs on the Main Line Loop. When he arrived to connect his passengers with Gordon's train, the latter scolded him for being late and tells him that engines are really reliable and right on time. After talking about Mr. Conductor coming to be in charge of Sodor while Sir Topham Hatt is on a holiday, Diesel 10 rushed by, spreading dust all over the two engines. Thomas reminds Gordon about Diesel 10, who has used to be on Sodor.

Later at Tidmouth Sheds, Thomas accidentally bumps into some buffers; James warns him about it and Thomas reminds him that buffers are for stopping engines from crashing and getting into accidents. After Diesel 10 arrives and announces his plan to destroy a lost engine and replace Sodor's steam engines with new diesels taking over, Thomas is confident that diesel engines won't take over as long as Mr. Conductor is around and heads off to find him, leaving James confused.

On his branch line, Thomas met Mr. Conductor, who is concerned about his journey from Shining Time keeps getting bumpy. Thomas comforts him and tells him all about Diesel 10's arrival. After arriving at Knapford, Thomas shunted some Troublesome Trucks at Tidmouth Sheds, talking to James and Gordon, who boast that Thomas is too small to collect Mr. Conductor. After hearing the other engines conversation about Lady, Thomas is confident that little engines like him, can find her. Harold accidentally spreads Sneezing Powder all over Thomas, Splatter and Dodge, dumped by Diesel 10. Thomas is sure that Diesel 10 is still causing trouble.

At the sheds, Thomas and the other engines are soon asleep with Mr. Conductor, until Diesel 10 attacks the sheds and demands the lost engine's whereabouts. Mr. Conductor threatens Diesel 10 with a bag of sugar, seizing him up if pouring it in his fuel tanks.

Meanwhile, after Thomas was with the other engines gather for the meeting about their individual concerns about Diesel 10 destroying Lady and he set off to find Mr. Conductor, then Bertie offers a race with him, but Thomas apologises to him when he is unable to accept Bertie's offer for a race and decides to help Mr. Conductor solve some mysteries.

That night as Percy arrived at Knapford with the Mail Train, Thomas and Percy talk about how Mr. Conductor travels to Sodor on a magic railroad by a set of magic buffers as Diesel 10 overhears them. Then, Toby told them to carry on taking the Mail Train while Toby followed him to the Smelter's Yard and distracted Diesel 10, Splatter and Dodge.

Throughout the film, Thomas spends all his time, making sure he is really useful. Thomas works very hard, taking passengers on his branch line and the Main Line Loop, as well as trying to find and help Mr. Conductor find the source of his gold dust, in order to keep the two worlds together.

After a coal truck for Henry disappears through The Magic Buffers, Bertie calls out to Thomas about his missing coal truck, leading Thomas and Percy to realise that the buffers lead to the Magic Railroad and the lost engine. Thomas suggests they should protect the buffers from Diesel 10. Later, Thomas meets Lily and Junior and Thomas told Annie and Clarabel that Percy will pick them up, leaving Annie and Clarabel behind and takes them to the windmill, where Mr. Conductor is looking for the clue. After Junior is flung away with Diesel 10, Mr. Conductor, Lily and Thomas discuss the Lady and Burnett Stone and wonder if he could help them too. After Percy alerts Thomas about Splatter and Dodge finding the magic buffers before Diesel 10 destroys the Magic Railroad, Mr. Conductor advises Thomas to take Lily to her grandfather, through the buffers, because he is really useful and will find a way.

Thomas was reluctant but bravely agrees. The two guided by The Tumbleweed, go through the magic buffers and explore the Magic Railroad. Thomas finds the coal truck and couples up to it as a clue. When the two arrive at Muffle Mountain, Lily runs off to find her grandfather. However, a wind blew very high, knocking Thomas loose, into another portal of The Magic Railroad.

When Lady and the Magic Railroad were restored, Thomas met up with Lady and steamed through the Magic Buffers, meeting Mr. Conductor and Junior at the Sodor Wishing Well, until the two engines are found by Diesel 10, Splatter and Dodge. Thomas and Burnett bravely decide to help Lady. Thomas, Burnett and Lady are chased by Diesel 10, throughout the Kirk Ronan line. Thomas reminds Lady that little engines can do big things before they reach the viaduct. Lady and Thomas bravely make it across, whistling cheerfully as Diesel 10 falls off the viaduct and lands into a barge full of sludge. Thomas and Lady arrive back safely and help out with more of the clues. After the gold dust is restored, Thomas and Lady thank each other and learn the valuable lesson of magic. Thomas happily puffs back home to Tidmouth Sheds to tell Sir Topham Hatt and the other engines all about his magical adventure.

 File:ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad15.png
## Personality

Thomas is described as being a cheeky engine. He often gets into scrapes, usually by being over-eager 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 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 can, however, also get annoyed about being useful such as the time when Rosie followed him around because she idolised and loved him so much.

While he might drive others away, Thomas is very good at luring back friends should the situation demand it.

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.

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 Sonny and 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 and Baz and Bernie's whispering.

## Technical details

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 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). Despite this, there are plans to build the lone surviving member of the E2 class, #110, with a larger bunker and blue livery not unlike Thomas's own.

Thomas has several major differences from the original E2 class. He is much shorter in length than his original basis, he has two extra windows on the sides of his cab 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. The leveled out footplate is also seen in the promotional picture for the 2D-animated series. It is also worth noting that his siderods have been changed in the new 2D format.

The grey tank engine is also based on an LB&SCR Class E2 and has the same modifications as Thomas.

Thomas'prototype.pngThomas' basis
### Livery

Thomas is painted in NWR bright future blue with red 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 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 LBSCR Brown, Southern Railway malachite green, or BR Goods Black with its British Railways number painted on the coal bunker.

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*.

BeingRepainted2.PNGThomas' red undercoat in a learning segmentBeingRepainted1.PNGThomas' cream undercoat in a learning segmentMainThomasCGI1.pngThomas' original livery in *The Adventure Begins*TheAdventureBegins215.pngThomas' pink undercoatThomas'LBSCliverybasis.jpegThe basis of Thomas' original livery
## Audio files

**Themes**

**Whistles**

In some scenes of the fourth and fifth series, the game that's only available in Japan Thomas the Tank Engine (Kids Station Game), Thomas Land Japan and the eighteenth series episode Old Reliable Edward, Thomas is incorrectly portrayed with Edward's whistle.

In some episodes of the fourth series and Thomas and the Sounds of Sodor, Thomas is incorrectly portrayed with James' whistle.

In Thomas Tries His Best, Thomas is incorrectly portrayed with Percy's whistle.

In the books Thomas and the Dinosaur and Thomas and the Tiger, Thomas is incorrectly portrayed with Spencer's whistle.

In the 2008 advert for Drayton Manor Theme Park, Thomas is incorrectly portrayed with Rosie's whistle.

In The Whistle Song, Thomas is incorrectly portrayed with Emily's original whistle. Whilst in the updated version, Thomas had Oliver's whistle sound.

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## Names in other languages

 Czech
 Estonian
 Finnish
 Icelandic
 Japanese
 Polish
 Russian
 Slovene
 Welsh