Thomas (T&F)

## Thomas the Tank Engine

* IV
* III
* II
* I

> 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, Thomas and Gordon

**Thomas** is a blue tank engine who works on the North Western Railway and is the railway's number 1 engine.

When he first came to the Island of Sodor, he was painted green and Thomas worked as the station pilot at Knapford. He now runs the Ffarquhar Branch Line with his two faithful coaches, Annie and Clarabel and has his own train along The Main Line called "The Local". He is the main character of the television series.

## Biography

Thomas was first seen working at Knapford Station. His job was to shunt coaches for the bigger engines, and then take them away again. Thomas thought he worked the hardest and was very cheeky to the big engines, like Gordon. One day, Gordon had finished pulling the Express and was having a rest. Thomas whistled and woke up Gordon up, telling him he needs to work harder “like me”. Gordon was bothered by this and promised to pay Thomas out. The next morning, Thomas was unable to start, his fire having no steam. Finally, after being steamed, Thomas fetched Gordon his coaches. Gordon, annoyed, pulled out of the station too fast. Thomas usually helped push the trains out of the station, but was always uncoupled. But not this time. Thomas was still coupled up, and so Gordon raced off with the express, speeding through the countryside, with Thomas helplessly being dragged behind. At Wellsworth, Gordon finally stopped, and Thomas was uncoupled. Thomas had a long drink, and promised himself never to be cheeky to Gordon again.

While working in Knapford yards, Thomas had several more adventures. He tried to get Henry out of his tunnel, but to no avail. Later, Thomas told the other engines he desired to leave the yard and pull passenger trains like the other engines. He finally got his opportunity after Henry became ill, but unfortunate, he left his coaches behind. The other engines made fun of Thomas after this, but Thomas desire to leave the yard and see the world was unwavering. Edward and his crew allowed Thomas to take his train of Troublesome Trucks. Thomas, however did not listen well and the troublesome trucks ended up pushing him down Gordon’s Hill. The Fat Controller, witnessing this, sent Thomas to work in the yard pulling trucks. One day, while in the yard at Tidmouth Sheds, Thomas saw James race through. He was being pushed by trucks, and soon derailed in a cow field. Using the Breakdown Train, Thomas cleared up the accident. As a reward, the Fat Controller gave Thomas the Ffarquhar Branch Line and Annie and Clarabel.

While working on the branch, Thomas had multiple incidents. Thomas left the station early, without his guard and was delayed. He also got fish in his boiler after the water tower at Elsbridge was out of order. When winter came, Thomas tried not to wear his snowplow. He was also rude to a tractor named Terence. Both of these things came back to bite him, when Thomas didn’t wear his snow plow after a heavy snow. He became stuck in the snow, and had to be rescued by Terence. The following summer, Bertie, the bus who had rescued Thomas’ passengers when he was stuck in the snow, challenged Thomas to a race. Both encountered obstacles along the way, but eventually Thomas won. The two became good friends after this.

Thomas used to transport trucks to the Ffarquhar Quarry behind his coaches,  it this stopped after a new policeman pulled him over. He told Thomas’ driver about the fact that Thomas was required to have cowcatchers online the quarry line. The Fat Controller, however, had a solution and bought Toby and Henrietta to run the line. One Christmas, Thomas was rescued by Mrs. Kyndley after an avalanche happened by a tunnel. The following Christmas, Thomas wanted to pay Kyndley back by holding a Christmas party for her, and convinced all the engines to help. Though they ran into some obstacles along the way, including a snow drift, Mr. Kyndley was delived safely and all the engines had a very happy party.

Soon, Thomas began sharing a shed with Percy and Toby at Tidmouth. The three got into conflict when Thomas teased them, claiming blue was the only proper color for an engine. After Percy accidentally caused Thomas to be covered in coal, they had falling out. After Percy suffered a similar incident, the two engines made up, agreeing both colors were really useful. When Thomas became ill, Edward covered for his passengers. Thomas later stood up for Edward after James was rude to him. After this, Thomas met Trevor the Traction Engine, was sent on a runaway, and was late, but fortunately also rescue Bertie after he broke down.

After his driver jokingly told Thomas he didn’t him anymore, Thomas became conceited. After a cleaner meddled with his controls, Thomas got sent careening through the yard. He crashed into the stationmaster’s house while he and his family were eating breakfast. With broken buffers and bush crushed into him, Thomas was severely reprimanded by the Fat Controller. While Thomas was at the ‘Works, Daisy the diesel railcar ran his branch line. Thomas teased Percy about his ghost story, but later got quite the spook from him! Percy got his comeuppance when he got hay stuck to him, though. That Christmas, Thomas was sent to fetch a Christmas tree, but was buried in the snow. Donald and Douglas rescued him, and all the engines had a lovely party.

Thomas had many incidents along his branch line. He got bumped along some buckled tracks, spooked Percy with a Chinese Dragon, helped deliver trees to Henry’s Forest, got tricked by James, and helped Percy with the post train. Bertie became frustrated with rails after his roads after his roads were wrecked and a tar tanker was not delivered. James, who was faking being ill, tricked Thomas into taking his Troublesome Trucks and he got into an accident. Thomas was brought to the station and managed to get the tar tanker to Bertie, renewing their friendship.

Thomas and Percy rescued the villagers of Ulfstead just in time for Christmas, and later Thomas told the story of Duke to the engines at Tidmouth Sheds. He got into a conflict with Stepney after he was delayed, but the two later became friends. After a letter from a child on the mainland arrived inviting Thomas and many of his friends, Oliver and others were brought to run the line while they were away. Thomas, however, was boasting about his race with Bertie, and ending up busting through some buffers and rolling down a hill. Luckily, he was repaired just in time to go to the mainland station.

After Gordon had been put into disgrace after falling in a ditch, Thomas teased him and called him smelly. Later that day, he was sent to the Lead Mines. Thomas was always trying to get past the warning board, and today he finally managed it. Thomas fell through the ground, falling into a mineshaft. Thomas’ branch was taken away and he was reprimanded by the Fat Controller. Gordon came to rescue him, and on their way home the two forged an alliance. After they reached the sheds, they found it being painted. The Fat Controller announced that the Queen of England would be coming. Henry, the engine intended to pull the Queen’s train, could not. So, Thomas attempted to get Gordon to pull the train, at the same time Gordon was trying to get Thomas’ branch line back. The Fat Controller agreed, and the Queen thanked both engines.

From the eighth series onwards, Thomas was given more duties on the Main Line.

#### *Thomas and the Magic Railroad*

 File:ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad15.png  While Sir Topham Hatt was on holiday, Thomas was asked to pick up Mr. Conductor, who would be acting as controller until his return. After hearing that Diesel 10 was planning to destroy the lost engine and the buffers that lead to her, Thomas set out on a quest to find and help her.

With help from Percy, he was able to locate the Magic Buffers and went through them with Lily. While on the Magic Railroad, he picked up a truck of Sodor coal that he had previously accidentally sent through the buffers. At the end of the line, he was sent to Muffle Mountain, where he fell off the mountainside and rolled through another portal. He later reconvened with Lily - along with Patch, Burnett Stone and Lady - back on the Magic Railroad.

After returning to Sodor, Thomas was chased along with Lady by Diesel 10. During the chase, Thomas only just managed to cross The Big Dipper before it collapsed, leaving Diesel 10 to fall off the bridge and into a barge. Afterwards, he returned to the Sodor Wishing Well with Lady.

### *The Adventure Begins*

Thomas originally worked at Brighton on the Mainland, before arriving on Sodor. He arrived on Sodor some time after James and was bought to shunt coaches for the Main Line engines. Initially, he was painted teal and numbered 70, later being repainted blue at the Sodor Steamworks. The first engine Thomas befriended was Edward. He liked to play tricks on Gordon, the biggest and proudest engine on the railway, but was taught a lesson when Gordon tricked him into being coupled to him during his express run. Tired out, he vowed never to tease Gordon again, realising he did not have to do so to be important.

Soon, he desired to pull his own passenger train too, much to the bemusement of the other engines. He got his chance when Henry became ill, and no one could pull the passenger train. When he mistook Edward's guard's whistle for his own, Thomas was so excited that he accidentally left his train and his passengers behind, believing he was pulling it easily. He soon became aware of his mistake and returned to pull the train.

Soon, Thomas wanted to get out of the shunting yards and see the world, however Gordon and James merely laughed at him because of his incident with the coaches. Edward offered him a chance to pull trucks and Thomas excitedly took the job, not realising how troublesome trucks could be. The trucks pushed him down Gordon's Hill into a siding at Maron, where the Fat Controller told him to practice so that one day he would become as good as Edward.

Thomas soon proved himself to the other engines when he saved James from a crash. James was pulling a train of trucks who were pushing him too fast, and when he tried to stop his brake blocks caught fire. Thomas chased after him and tried to couple to the back of the train to slow James down, but he failed to do so and James and his trucks derailed. After fetching Judy and Jerome, who lifted him back onto the tracks, he was given James' coaches, Annie and Clarabel, and his own branch line, which had previously been run by Glynn the "coffee pot" engine.Template:Ref

## 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 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 used to idolise 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 was infamously known 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 on a siding by claiming it did not fit properly. 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.

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. Thomas also highly despises the smell of fish, and as such, when he once had the job of delivering fish, he wanted to finish quickly to avoid the smell, and ignored instructions, causing confusion and delay doing so. His dislike of fish is most prominent in the model series made by HiT Entertainment, and less prominent in the model series made by Gullane Entertainment and the CGI series.

In other cases, Thomas can be highly curious and positive, with slight hints of scepticism, 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. Backing up his perception is a very high sense of creativity, allowing him to quickly adapt to a tricky situation.

Thomas during series 12-16 seems to make more mistakes than usual, and sometimes he never pays attention to what others say. From series 17 onwards, he seems to have reverted to his normal personality.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Like in *The Railway Series*, Thomas is based on a London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) Class E2 0-6-0T. Thomas is one of the second batch of E2s, built with extended side-tanks.

These engines were built by Brighton Works between 1913-1916 to replace the aging Stroudley LB&SCR 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). In real life, all of the E2s were scrapped, with none surviving into preservation.

Thomas' appearance differs heavily from his basis. His proportions are heavily modified and he is missing a lot of extra details present on the real engines, such as safety valves and front stepladders. Additionally, Thomas has an extra window on his cab sides, two whistles instead of the usual single whistle and added wheel splashers, something the original E2 class lacked.

His running board shape is also changed, with it only dipping at the front end. Unlike in *The Railway Series*, this is never fixed.

Thomas'prototype.pngThomas' basis
### Livery

Thomas is painted in NWR cerulean with red lining on his tanks and boiler and yellow lining around his windows. His number (1) is painted on his side tanks in yellow with a red outline. He has a white running board with red bufferbeams and valences.

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. The lining was reapplied in *The Adventure Begins*.

When he first arrives to the North Western Railway in *The Adventure Begins*, Thomas is painted teal green with white lining. His railway's initials LBSC were painted on the sides of his tank and the number 70 was painted on the sides of his bunker, both in yellow with red lining. His wheel rims were painted white.

In *The Adventure Begins*, Thomas is also shown to have a pink undercoat, similar to the one worn by James in the thirteenth series episode Tickled Pink. Learning Segments have also temporarily shown him with a cream undercoat and painted red.

TheAdventureBegins82.pngThomas' original teal green livery in *The Adventure Begins*TheAdventureBegins215.pngThomas' pink undercoatBeingRepainted1.PNGThomas' cream undercoat in a learning segment, along with James and HenryBeingRepainted2.PNGThomas painted red in a learning segment
## Appearances

* Television Series
* Magazines
* Annuals
* Other Media
* Thomas Creator Collective

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## Official Description

* 1993-2009
* 2010-2021

**From Official Website:**[1]

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**From Official Website:**[2]

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## Songs

* I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside (*performed*)
* Never Overlook a Little Engine (*performed*)
* We Wish You a Merry Christmas (*performed*)
* Streamlining (*performed*)
* You Can Only Be You (*performed*)
* Be Who You Are, and Go Far (*performed*)
* Who's Thomas? (*performed*)
* The Hottest Place in Town (*performed*)
* I Want To Go Home (*performed solo*)
* The Most Important Thing is Being Friends (*performed*)
* Where in the World is Thomas? (*performed*)
* Wake Up (*performed*)
* We're Friends (*performed*)
* Sometimes You Make a Friend (*performed solo*)
* Don't Stop (*performed*)

## Audio Files

### Whistles

In the fifteenth series episode Wonky Whistle, Thomas has a distorted whistle sound due to his whistle being wonky.

In *Calling All Engines!*, Thomas is shown to sleep-whistle.

In one scene of Thomas and the Birthday Picnic, Thomas has Douglas' fourth series whistle at two steps higher pitch when he gives a sad low toot on his whistle.

In the Learning Segment Which Whistle Suits Thomas?, Thomas has a different broken whistle sound.

In 10 Stories from Thomas & Friends, Thomas is portrayed with a completely different whistle sound.

In the Whistle and Peep game, Thomas is given Timothy's whistle but at a full octave lower in pitch.

In Thomas, You're the Leader, Thomas has a different whistle again, which is a lower-pitched version of Edward's whistle from the Leapfrog books.

In The Journey Never Ends, another new whistle sound is used for Thomas.

In the mobile app, Read and Play!, Thomas has a sad whistle.

In the Thomas and the Magic Railroad teaser trailer, Thomas and the Sounds of Sodor, Standard Gauge and Narrow Gauge, one episode of Learning with Thomas, and Three Steam Engines Gruff, Thomas' whistle sound is pitched down.

In one episode of Thomas' Magical Birthday Wishes, Thomas has his whistle four steps higher pitch.

In the Help Thomas up Muffle Mountain game on the original website, Thomas has a higher-pitched version of Stephen's whistle.

## Trivia

* Thomas was the first character to be introduced in *Thomas & Friends*.
* In the American and Finnish casts, Thomas is the only character voiced by Joseph May and Juha Varis, respectively, in the 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 70th anniversary of *The Railway Series*. All of the real E2s, however, were only numbered from 100 to 109.
* 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.
* Thomas is one of three characters to have a speaking role in every series and special, the other two being Henry and James.
* On early Spanish translations of the Random House books, Thomas was known as *Tomás*.
* Following Mr. Conductor in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Thomas became the second character to narrate in first-person.
* In Calling All Engines!, Thomas sleep-whistles. This is apparently the steam engine version of snoring; instead of typical snoring sounds, Thomas makes warbling whistles after pausing before the next toot.
* Thomas is the only vehicle character with headwear (a nightcap in the ninth to twelfth series closing segments, a party hat in the ninth series episode Thomas' Milkshake Muddle, an aviator pilot hat in the tenth series episode Sticky Toffee Thomas and a top hat in the same episode and the eleventh series episode Smoke and Mirrors (if one were to also count The Fat Controller's top hat in Topped Off Thomas), not counting Whiff's glasses or Darcy's visor (or the Santa caps on all the vehicles in the early Christmas episodes).
* Thomas is the first character in the show to have lost his voice onscreen with the twenty-third series episode, Too Loud, Thomas!. With this, he is the third character on the show with a speech impediment (albeit temporarily) after Fergus and Theo.
* Despite having lining present on his bunker, only a select few merchandise items have had it during their course. They were subsequently removed in renovations and items of Thomas with the bunker lining are currently rare to find.
* Thomas' whistle from *Thomas, You're the Leader* was previously heard in most parts of the official website from 2005.
* As the titled protagonist, Thomas has had the most appearances in *Thomas & Friends*.
* Between the eighth and twelfth series, Thomas was written to be roughly six years old, being written younger than Gordon (who is roughly six and a half years old), roughly written the same age as Emily (but feels slightly older than Thomas), and written older than Percy.
* Didi Conn has said that Thomas was her favourite engine.
* To celebrate Easter in 2017, a giant 140 kg chocolate sculpture of Thomas was displayed at Kings Cross Station. Made out of real Belgian chocolate, the display piece was sculpted in two-hundred-fifty hours by three master chocolatiers and was surrounded by TrackMaster engines running around. An actor dressed as Sir Topham Hatt was on hand to hand out Easter eggs.
* Thomas was the very first character on-screen to have a permanent lamp, though despite it being a key part of his design, some merchandise lines (the non-talking wooden and diecast ranges, early Hornby models, late 2011-early 2012 TrackMaster and numerous smaller toylines) omit the lamp completely.
* 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.
* Thomas is the only character to appear and speak in every season.
* Thomas is one of the three engines who were able to saved an engine from scrap (Hiro). The others include Douglas and Rusty.
* Various pieces of merchandise of Thomas have appeared in the background of other series; these include:
	+ A Wooden Railway toy of Thomas, along with one of Stepney's, appeared in the second series of *The Big Bang Theory* in an episode called "The Friendship Algorithm".
	+ An ERTL toy of Thomas along with one of James' appeared in the sixth series of the American sitcom TV series, Full House, in one of its episodes called "Be True to Your Preschool".
	+ A Bachmann G scale model of Thomas, wearing the face from the HO scale model, was featured in the Marvel film *Ant-Man*.
	+ In episode 5 of Season 3 of *Gavin & Stacey,* a ride of Thomas can be seen in the background of one of the scenes.
	+ A TrackMaster Thomas appeared in the first series finale of the streaming service exclusive show, *Titans*.
* According to Sir Topham Hatt's "Frequently Asked Questions" on the 1997-1999 Official Website page, Thomas was given his name by the Engine Workshop which built him. The remainder of his name (The Tank Engine) is considered his family name, as he belongs to the family of Tank Engines in the same sense Sir Topham Hatt belongs to the family of Hatts[3].
* Despite the fact that Thomas' LBSC livery from The Adventure Begins is fictional, it could have been inspired by the Southern Railway's green livery, as it looks similar to his coat, especially considering that several E2's worked there, although they were painted in the railway's unlined black livery.
* Following his twenty-third series update, Thomas is the only original Steam Team member not to have hand-railing across his boiler.

## Video

Thomas of Sodor - UK DubUK NarrationThomas of Sodor - US DubUS Narration
## See also

* Thomas in *The Railway Series*
* Thomas in *All Engines Go*

## References

Template:Scroll box Template:North Western Railway (T&F) Template:Ffarquhar Branch Line (T&F) Template:Steam Team bg:Tomas cy:Tomos de:Thomas es:Thomas fi:Tuomas fr:Thomas he:תומס hu:Thomas is:Tommi it:Thomas ja:トーマス ko:토마스 nl:Thomas pl:Tomek (TiP) pt-br:Thomas ru:Томас zh:托马斯

1. ↑ https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1RqjJqIwZs\_cA0XKtquZpAkV66Sxb5ciI/