Thomas

**Thomas** is a tank engine, he lives on a big station on the Island of Sodor. He's a cheeky little engine, he has 6 small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy dome and a short stumpy boiler.

## Biography

### *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.

#### *Thomas and the Magic Railroad*

Thomas was pulling his coaches to Killaban, but he was late due to repairs on the Main Line Loop. When he arrived to connect his passengers with Gordon's train, the latter scolded him for being late and told him that engines are really reliable and right on time. After talking about Mr. Conductor coming to be in charge of Sodor while Sir Topham Hatt is on a holiday, Diesel 10 rushed by, spreading dust all over the two engines. Thomas reminded Gordon about Diesel 10, who used to be on Sodor.

Later at Tidmouth Sheds, Thomas accidentally bumps into some buffers; James warned him about it and Thomas reminded him that buffers are for stopping engines from crashing and getting into accidents. After Diesel 10 arrived and announced his plan to destroy a lost engine and replace Sodor's steam engines with new diesels taking over, Thomas was confident that diesel engines would not take over as long as Mr. Conductor was around and headed off to find him, leaving James confused.

On his branch line, Thomas met Mr. Conductor, who was concerned about his journey from Shining Time keeps getting bumpy. Thomas comforted him and told him all about Diesel 10's arrival. After arriving at Knapford, Thomas shunted some Troublesome Trucks at Tidmouth Sheds, talking to James and Gordon, who boasted that Thomas is too small to collect Mr. Conductor. After hearing the other engines conversation about Lady, Thomas was confident that little engines like him, could find her. Harold accidentally spread Sneezing Powder all over Thomas, Splatter and Dodge, dumped by Diesel 10. Thomas was sure that Diesel 10 was still causing trouble.

At the sheds, Thomas and the other engines were soon asleep with Mr. Conductor, until Diesel 10 attacked the sheds and demanded the lost engine's whereabouts. Mr. Conductor, however, threatened Diesel 10 with a bag of sugar, seizing him up if pouring it in his fuel tanks.

Meanwhile, Thomas was with the other engines for the meeting about their individual concerns about Diesel 10 destroying Lady when he set off to find Mr. Conductor. Then Bertie offered a race with him, but Thomas apologised to him when he was unable to accept Bertie's offer for a race and decided to help Mr. Conductor solve some mysteries.

That night as Percy arrived at Knapford with the Mail Train, Thomas and Percy talked about how Mr. Conductor travelled to Sodor on a magic railroad by a set of magic buffers as Diesel 10 overheard them. Then, Toby told them to carry on taking the Mail Train while Toby followed him to the Smelter's Yard and distracted Diesel 10, Splatter and Dodge.

Throughout the film, Thomas spent all his time, making sure he is really useful. Thomas worked very hard, taking passengers on his branch line and the Main Line Loop, as well as trying to find and help Mr. Conductor find the source of his gold dust, in order to keep the two worlds together.

After a coal truck for Henry disappeared through The Magic Buffers, Bertie called out to Thomas about. This led to Thomas and Percy realise that the buffers lead to the Magic Railroad and the lost engine. Thomas suggested they protect the buffers from Diesel 10. Later, Thomas met Lily and Junior and Thomas told Annie and Clarabel that Percy would pick them up, leaving Annie and Clarabel behind and took them to the windmill, where Mr. Conductor was looking for the clue. After Junior was flung away with Diesel 10, Mr. Conductor, Lily and Thomas discussed Lady and Burnett Stone and wondered if he could help them too. After Percy alerted Thomas about Splatter and Dodge finding the magic buffers before Diesel 10 destroyed the Magic Railroad, Mr. Conductor advised Thomas to take Lily to her grandfather, through the buffers, because he is really useful and would find a way.

Thomas was reluctant but bravely agreed. The two, guided by The Tumbleweed, went through the magic buffers and explored the Magic Railroad. Thomas found the coal truck and coupled up to it as a clue. When the two arrived at Muffle Mountain, Lily ran off to find her grandfather. However, a wind blew very high, knocking Thomas loose, into another portal of The Magic Railroad.

When Lady and the Magic Railroad were restored, Thomas met up with Lady and steamed through the Magic Buffers, meeting Mr. Conductor and Junior at the Sodor Wishing Well, until the two engines were found by Diesel 10, Splatter and Dodge. Thomas and Burnett bravely decided to help Lady. Thomas, Burnett and Lady were chased by Diesel 10, throughout the Kirk Ronan line. Thomas reminded Lady that little engines can do big things before they reach the viaduct. Lady and Thomas bravely made it across, whistling cheerfully as Diesel 10 fell off the viaduct and landed into a barge full of sludge. Thomas and Lady arrived back safely and helped out with more of the clues. After the gold dust was restored, Thomas and Lady thanked each other and learnt the valuable lesson of magic. Thomas happily puffed back home to Tidmouth Sheds to tell Sir Topham Hatt and the other engines all about his magical adventure.

### *Detusche Eisenbahnmärchen*

In Deutsche Eisenbahnmärchen's season 2 episode Potty the Coffee Pot, Thomas pulled up at the sheds in Germany, he thought it was Tidmouth Sheds on the Island of Sodor, he said "Bust my buffers! Wrong universe." and then he chuffed away, back to Sodor.

## Basis

He is based on a London, Brighton and South Coast Railway class E2.

## Livery

He is painted blue with red bufferbeans, blue boiler, tanks, cab and wheels, black funnel and cab roof and yellow number with red linings.

## Appearances

### Season 1

1. Locos United (Photo cameo)
2. Scrap Kills (Mentioned)
3. The Big Freeze (Deleted Scene cameo)