Thomas & Friends Trackmaster Adventures

Thomas & Friends Trackmaster Adventures

 Series Overview

Director(s)
Tyler Scott

Producer(s)
Tyler Scott (*Tyler The Jessicake Lover 2019 Productions*)Ian McCue (*Mattel Television*)

Composer(s)
Nate Kreiswirth

Narrator(s)
Tyler Scott (*UK/US*)

Release Details

No. of episodes
260 + 10 feature-length specials

Released
March 11, 2016 - present

***Thomas & Friends Trackmaster Adventures*** is an online TrackMaster series produced by Tyler Scott. Development for the series began in 2012 (with shorts and music videos premiering in 2013/2014), while the series proper was first launched in 2016 with the release of The Trouble With Trucks.

History
Producing a crossover series combining the likes of TrackMaster toys and merchandise had been a long-withstanding dream of creator Tyler Scott. An earlier concept (developed when Tyler was roughly 10-11, and pitched to be filmed on a homemade backyard theme park/railway) entitled "TylerTown Railroad Adventures" established many concepts that would later come to fruition in TrackMaster; characters like Ashima and Salty working together, characters joining forces to work on a railway separate from their homes, and many other ideas. Of course, being a concept that was only slightly realized by Tyler through ramshackle tracks and structures made of scrap wood, it never came to fruition.
Following the lack of success with earlier attempts at YouTube reviewing series years later, Tyler found himself going into his freshman year of high school with little to nothing to show for YouTube. However, he took up interest in a program called MikuMikuDance, and decided to test around with a concept for a new series. After contacting an early inspiration for his childhood crossover ideas, ThomasWoodenRailway, and getting a suggestion for a name from his younger sister Sydney, Tyler developed the *Thomas & Friends Trackmaster Adventures* project.
The very first "proper" video that was released from TrackMaster was an almost last-minute decision by Tyler. During his freshman year talent show, a concept for a live "review" session was shot down during auditions. However, upon showing the judges some early test footage, they agreed to permit the production of a three-minute music video. The final result, an earlier cut of "Roll Along", was met with surprising praise from the audience. The following two years saw additional videos screened: "A Brief Tour Along the TrackMaster Railways" for 2015, and Stepney's Heavy Haul for 2016.
By late 2015, the series was just about ready to finally enter production. The script for the pilot episode of the series, *The Trouble With Trucks*, began being penned in July 2015, during a Croatian holiday with family; it was finished and sent off for recording in September of that year. With potential being seen in raising the channel further, and inspired by producers who were associated with the following, Tyler signed an agreement with the Channel Frederator Network in September 2015. To get content going while the series went into production, the first story short was produced and released for Thanksgiving: the very first Meet the Engines episode, Thomas (VS. Bertie).
While the episode took considerably longer than expected, the shorts proved a great success as the channel began to grow rapidly and more viewers came in to explore the channel. The crew saw continual growth as the episode's production increased and more interest for the series came in. The third Meet the Engines short, Henry's Trick, was the highest viewed debut on the channel at the time, with 1,931 viewers tuning in on its premiere date.
2016 was when things truly began to pick up for the channel. With the episode finally entering production, Tyler made an agreement with Super Bowl Lanes to provide sponsorship for the series; the money earned from the sponsorship was a huge help in not only improving marketing and assets for the series, but also securing the series' first official guest star: ThomasWoodenRailway. With interest in the series growing considerably, a larger-scale marketing campaign for the Trouble With Trucks episode was launched; the channel took on its first ever live events, beginning with Comic Book Syndicon, where the series (and the episode) was heavily promoted, and details on future episodes were revealed to attendees. The keystone of the series' launch was a massive live marathon entitled The "Trouble With Trucks" Feast of Fun on August 19th, 2016 (delayed by one day due to technical difficulties). Despite using a workprint due to technical troubles, the stream proved a MASSIVE success; 852 views came in from the stream, with a peak of 105 concurrent viewers. The final cut of the episode premiered August 21st with a roaring success, with a record 4,012 views during its first day, and 32,536 views for its first week!
Episodes were intended to continue to follow in November, but due to a conflicting and rough college schedule, the second episode (Stepney's Problem) wasn't completed until December of that year. To make up for it, the episode premiered in another live marathon entitled TylerScott The Halls, aired on December 22nd, 2017. The stream earned similar results to *Feast of Fun*, with a peak concurrent viewership of 114, but 684 viewers total.
February 2018 saw the release of the series' first direct-to-video compilation entitled Adventures on the Rail-Road; the one-day exclusive included *Stepney's Problem*, along with two premiere episodes of a new sub-series entitled Railside Tales. Including a Friday sale and purchases with the Road Trip Bundle, the exclusive DVD sold 22 copies.
March 2018 saw a mini-event join the channel entitled TrackMaster's Railside Weekend, featuring the three direct-to-video premieres on Adventures on the Rail-Road, and one new TrackMaster Shoots short to conclude the weekend event.

Refresh
TBA

Seasons* Season 1 (*June-Early July 2016*)
* Season 2 (*July 2016*)
* Season 3 (*August-November 2016*)
* Season 4 (*October-November 2016*)
* Season 5 (*Thanksgiving Day-Christmas 2016*)
* Season 6 (*January-June 2017*)
* Season 7 (*December 2017*)
* Season 8 (*January-September 2018*)
* Season 9 (*September 2019-August 2020*)
* Season 10 (*October 2020-February 2021*)
* ​Season 11 (*September 2021-March 2023*)
* Season 12 (*June 2023-February 2024*)
* Season 13 (*July-Christmas 2024*)
* Season 14 (*April-October 2025*)
* ​Season 15 (*August 2026-July 2027*)
* Season 16 (*July-October 2028*)
* Season 17 (*June-October 2029*)
* Season 18 (*January 2030-present*)

Specials* Thomas and the Storm (*2016*)
* Lady the Lost Engine (*2016*)
* The Strange Case of Splatter and Dodge (*2016*)
* The Battle of the Branchlines (*2016*)
* The Legend of Diesel 10 (*2017*)
* Sodor's Last Stand (*2017*)
* Hiro's Origins (*2018*)
* Claw of the Law (*2020*)
* Oliver's Eleven (*2021*)
* Saving Pirate Ryan (*2022*)

Trivia* From 2008-2018, the show was filmed at West London's Shepperton Studios. The layouts were expansive and fitted in a hangar-sized room. The trains were at the scale of Gauge 1 and filmed using a 35 mm camera, in order to get quality shots from such small objects. More information can be found at Sodor Island Fansite's Behind the Scenes page.
* Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell composed the show's original main title theme, songs and incidental music from 2008 to 2013. In 2014 Robert Hartshorne took their place as composer, while Ed Welch wrote the new theme tune and the songs.
* Every UK narrator of the series, excluding Tyler Scott, has narrated at least a few episodes for the US.
* Four real engines have been featured in the show - Stepney has made a number of appearances and City of Truro and Flying Scotsman (tenders only) played minor roles in two third season episodes. The latter is also featured in the 2016 special Oliver's Eleven. City of Truro also briefly cameoed in one sixteenth season episode. Also, Stephen, more famously known as The Rocket, belongs to Sir Robert Norramby in the television series universe and is subsequently a regular character in the series.
* When the first two seasons came out, the font that was used was Bevin. From seasons 3-7, the show's font was Rockwell, from seasons 8-18, the show used Flange BQ (Bold).
* Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby, Annie, Clarabel, and Sir Topham Hatt are the only characters who have appeared in every season of the series, all of whom except Annie and Clarabel also had a speaking role in each season. Out of all of them, Thomas, Henry, Gordon, and James are the only characters who have appeared in every special. In addition, Thomas, Henry, and James are the only characters to have at least one line of dialogue in every special.
* There are no characters that have appeared in every episode of the series, not even Thomas himself. However, the narrator seems to have lines in every single episode, despite not technically being a character.
* Thomas appears and speaks in every episode of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth seasons. He also appears in every episode of the ninth and sixteenth seasons, despite not speaking in all of them. However, starting from Big World! Big Adventures! and the twenty second season onwards, Thomas himself takes over the role of narration, telling it from his point of view.
* Tidmouth Sheds is the only location to appear in every season of the franchise.
* The engines and rolling stock seen from the first season were made out of modified Märklin gauge 1 models.
* The rolling stock seen from season 1 to season 5 were made out of modified Tenmille gauge 1 kits. Tenmille still make some of these wagons today. From season 6 onwards, they were all scratch built.
* There are over 200 episodes of Thomas & Friends Trackmaster Adventures, with the 100th being Not So Fearless Freddie, with Freddie at the Ready being the 200th episode.
* In 2015, the series ranked 26th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Kids' TV Shows vote. In 2023, the series ranked 34th in Channel 5's 50 Greatest Kids TV Shows vote.
* 2027 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Trackmaster Adventures television series, while 2035 will mark the 80th anniversary of the whole franchise itself.
* Several models from the series have been on display at the Discover TrackMaster exhibition at Drayton Manor Theme Park in the UK, Explore the Rails in the US, Nitrogen Studios in Canada, and the Thomas Town and Hara Model Railway Museum in Japan. Some models have also been sold to various buyers worldwide including Top Props, ThomasMerchandise, SmurfyDan and TomJedski.