Thomas/RWS Article

## Thomas the Tank Engine

* Post-Rebuild
* Pre-Rebuild

**Thomas** is a cheeky blue tank engine who works on the North Western Railway. He originally worked as the station pilot at Vicarstown, but now routinely pulls his coaches Annie and Clarabel on the Ffarquhar Branch Line.

## **Biography**

Thomas was part of the second batch of E2 tank engines, now fitted with extended side-tanks, which were delivered to the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway starting in June of 1915. That same year, Thomas seemed to have mysteriously appeared on Sodor, but no one is sure of the circumstances that led to his arrival. By 1920, his crew were unwilling to leave Sodor or their engine behind; they had settled into the island life quite well and ended up marrying local girls.

Upon contacting the LB&SCR, Topham Hatt was told that, due to his disappearance, they had assumed Thomas had met his fate in The Great War and had written him off in their books as "lost on war service". The LB&SCR decided to secretly sell Thomas to the NWR for a "nominal sum" rather than change their books and deal with the myriad of issues that would arise.

Thomas, at first, was station pilot at Vicarstown. Then he came to Wellsworth for a period, where, in his rescue of James, he proved himself to be a Really Useful Engine. His reward was to be put in charge of the Ffarquhar branch, which runs to that village from a junction at Knapford.

## **Personality**

Thomas is a cheerful engine, always ready to work hard and be really useful.  He found life as station pilot boring and wanted to "see the world", and although he's since moved onto bigger things he can still be fussy and impatient, and considers his branch line the most important part of the Railway. He enjoys a good joke but will be there for his friends when it matters most.

## **Technical Details**

### **Basis**

Thomas is based on the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway Billinton E2 0-6-0T. He was based on the second series, more specifically, which were fitted with an extension at the front end of the side-tanks for increased water capacity. Ten of these locomotives were built between June 1913 and October 1916, the latter five of which featured extended side-tanks. The E2 class locomotives were mainly used for the heavier shunting and short distance freight duties in the London area and on the south coast, as their small coal bunkers made them unsuitable for long trips.

LB&SCR Billinton E2 second series
Thomas has a few differences from his basis, some of which are due to the interpretations of illustrators. He has two splashers, an extra window on either side of his cab, and he lacks the back dip in his running-plate which was present on the E2 class locomotives. His running-plate was straightened out in *Branch Line Engines.*

### **Livery**

Thomas is painted North Western Railway blue with red lining, with additional features such as safety valve, whistle and window frames regularly depicted as brass. His number is written on either side in yellow with red lining, though this is described on one occasion  as being gold.

In his first appearance, prior to C. Reginald Dalby's reworked illustrations, Thomas' side window frames were red, though this was not consistent throughout the book.

## **References**

1. ↑ RWS Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Annual (1985) pg. 14
2. ↑ Thomas the Tank Engine Annual (1979)
3. ↑ RWS Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends Annual (1980) pg. 14