Thomas

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> Thomas is a tank engine who lives at the big station on the Island of Sodor. He's a cheeky little engine with six small wheels, a short, stumpy funnel, a short, stumpy boiler, and a short stumpy dome.
> - The Narrator Introducing Thomas
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**Thomas** is a blue tank engine who works on the North Western Railway. Thomas has risked his life to help his friends over the years. When he first came to the Island of Sodor, Thomas worked as the station pilot at the big station. After helping to rescue James after a nasty accident, he was rewarded with two new coaches, Annie and Clarabel, and was tasked with running the Ffarquhar Branch Line. Aside from branch line work, Thomas performs several jobs on the railway, namely pulling passenger and goods trains. He also occasionally works as a shunter, performs odd jobs and pulls the post train with his best friend Percy.

## History

### The Railway Series

Details of Thomas' arrival on the North Western Railway in 1915 show he arrived by mistake. How this happened is unknown, but it is believed 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.

Through 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 felt 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, 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 - called Annie and Clarabel - and the responsibility of running the Ffarquhar Branch Line, much to his delight.

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 soon 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 rail tour 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 1995, during the Golden Jubilee of the Railway Series, Thomas derailed on his branch line after rabbits had been undermining the track. He was rescued and managed to attend the Jubilee at Tidmouth albeit after being delayed at Knapford Junction after a set of points and a signal failed.

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

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.

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.

## 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, supportive 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 Jamesand Bertie in races. He can, however, also get annoyed about being useful such as the time when Rosie followed him around because she idolized and loved him so much.

Because of his popularity amongst his fellow engines and the people of the railway, Thomas often likes to view himself as a leader to the other engines. He is quick to take action when necessary and - despite the dangers or fears he might experience - has a strong sense of bravery and will never leave any of his friends behind, even despite any previous conflicts. Because of this, the other engines often follow in his tracks. However, he can feel jealous or threatened if he feels a newer tank engine is trying to replace him, as shown with Stanley and Ryan. But in the end, Thomas is always willing to make amends with those whom he previously distrusted, proving his leadership.

Thomas is infamous to the other engines for his dislike of wearing a snowplough, often claiming his to be heavy and uncomfortable. On numerous occasions, he has shown he has no problems with doing anything to avoid wearing one, from banging it around to leaving it in disrepair and leaving it to be buried by snow. He does always get his comeuppance for these deeds, however, and knows that having a snowplough is important in bad snowy weather. He tolerates wearing a plough much better in the present day, but Thomas will still groan about it if given the chance, particularly when other engines make fun of him for this.

While most of the other engines and especially Annie and Clarabel tolerate his slight ego to a bare minimum, Thomas has often found himself going too far, driving away even close friends such as Percy, Toby, and even Edward. When these occasions happen, Thomas is very good at luring back friends when motivated, often pulling through his personal distastes to help others out and rekindle friendships.

In Lukeillie's Series, Thomas cares a lot about being the railway's number one engine and always talks about it which makes everyone, even his friends, annoyed. He does care about his friends and tries to help them in any way. He even helps his enemies when they are in danger like when Diesel was going to be scrapped by 'Arry and Bert's Triplet. He does not like to be reminded of his past mistakes and embarrassing moments from episodes like *Wonky Whistle*.

## Livery

In The Railway Series, Thomas is shown to be a dark blue colour with a number 1 in deep yellow on his side tanks. He has red lining along his tanks, a small headlamp, and wheel covers. In the earlier stories, he is illustrated to be a bright blue, reminiscent of the television series. When he arrived in 1915 he would of been in the LBSCR's linned black livery.

In the television series, Thomas is painted in NWR cerulean with red and yellow 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 green 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 LB&SCR Goods Black, with at least three members of the class confirmed to have been painted in the LB&SCR Umber Livery at some point in their career, Southern Railway Maunsell Green, Southern Railway Black, or BR Goods Black with its British Railways number painted on either the coal bunker or the side tanks.

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*.

## Appearances

* Season 1 - Ask Cranky Day, Hector Takes Charge, Bad Luck Emily, Percy's Mail Problems, and A Present for Millie
* Season 2 - New Year, New Millie, Double Crane Trouble, Luke's Trip to Misty Island (*mentioned*), A New Diesel, Diesel of Change, Famous Little Engine, Philip Gets Lost, and Red for Rosie
* Season 3 - Diesel 10 is Back! and Emily's Misadventure (*does not speak*)
* Specials - Attack of the Philips

## Trivia

* Thomas was the first character to be introduced in the television series.
* Thomas' LBSC number, 70, was actually carried by a real LB&SCR locomotive, an A1 named "Poplar" currently preserved by the Kent & East Sussex Railway. The number also represents the top speed of his basis and the 70th anniversary of the *Railway Series*. All the actual E2s, however, were only numbered from 100 to 109.
* Thomas and James are the only engines to have two different colours in The Adventure Begins.
* According to Sir Topham Hatt on the 2001 version of the official website, Thomas was given his name by the engine workshop which built him.
* A Bachmann G scale model of Thomas, wearing the face from the HO scale model, was featured in the Marvel film *Ant-Man*.
* Thomas has the most nicknames of any character, with nineteen in total.
* As the titled protagonist, Thomas has had the most appearances in the television series.
* In the original television series, Thomas has the distinction of having the first speaking role in the series premiere and last line of the series finale. However, he does not have the last line in the produced series finale.

## Quotes

> Cinders and ashes! - Thomas' catchphrase
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> Little engines can do big things! - Thomas in *Thomas and the Magic Railroad*
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