Ben

This article is about **Ben**. You may be looking for **Bill and Ben** or **Bill**.

## Ben

* 2016
* 2015
* 2004
* 1991

## Details:

### Active:

1991-2006, 2015-2016 (UK)
1991-2001, 2015-2016 (US)
1991-2002, 2015-2016 (AUS)

### Ranges:

ERTL 1:64 Scale Range
The ERTL Collection
Take Along
Take-n-Play
Collectible Railway

### Portrait Number:

16 (1993)
14 (STS)
24 (2002)

### Item Number:

1741 (ERTL)
LC76031 (TA)
BCW95 (TNP)
BHR64 (CR)

### Asst. Number:

1074 (ERTL)
R8846 (TNP)

**Ben** is a small yellowish tank engine and is twins with Bill.

## Product Description

### **1991 ERTL collector card**

*Bill and Ben are twins: identical in every respect and it is fair to say probably the most teasing and mischievous of the whole railway family. They wear big identical grins and work mostly between the clay pits of the Sodor China Clay Company and the harbour which is just as well, since too long in their company drives the senior engines to distraction.*

### **Historical Note**

*Ben and Bill are two identical low-slung 0-4-0 Saddle-tank engines.*

### **Shining Time Station collector card**

*Frequently getting into mischief with his identical twin Ben, Bill can sometimes frustrate the more serious engines.*

### **2002 ERTL collector card**

*Bill and Ben are twins: identical in every respect and it is fair to say probably the most teasing and mischievous of the whole railway family. They wear big identical grins.*

### **2005 UK Take Along collector card**

*Bill and Ben are twins in every way and enjoy teasing and playing tricks on any engine that comes to the clay pits of the Sodor China Clay Company.*

## Timeline

* 1991 (pin-hook couplings, metal funnel, black wheels, yellow sandbox and valve gear, Britt Allcroft licensing, made in China)
* 2001 (Gullane licensing)
* 2003 (U-hook rear coupling; only available in the UK)
* 2004 (two-way magnets, lowered buffer beams, side rods removed, name embossed on chassis; only available in two pack with Ben until 2005)
* 2006 (name printed on chassis)
* 2015 (CG style face, cheaper metal, plastic funnel, higher buffer beams, red wheels, sandbox and valve gear, unpainted buffers, one-way magnets, shorter cab, hollowed out wheel pins, made in Thailand)
* 2016 (clip connectors; only available in select countries)

### Components

* 2010 (updated face and details, plastic funnel, higher buffer beams)

## Variants

* Gold Rail Ben
* Bill and Ben
* Wind-up Ben
* Miniature Ben
* Keyring Ben
* Cement-Covered Ben from Ben's Cement Mix-Up

## Availability

* Bill and Ben Assortment
* Thomas' New Trucks
* Favorite Friends 3 Pack with Bill and Diesel

## Trivia

* Ben's ERTL promo art depicts him without a front coupling. This was also the case with Bill.
* Ben's Take Along model always had a metal funnel, even when most characters had their smokeboxes changed to plastic.
* The 2015 prototype Take-n-Play Ben depicts him with black wheels, as he did in the model series. His final model gained his red wheels, as seen on his CGI model. This was also the case with Bill.
* Strangely, Ben was never released in Adventures, even though Bill was.
* Ben along with Bill were some of the few engines not to receive painted whistles.