Thomas

Thomas The Tank Engine is a protagonist and a member of The New Action Squad.

## **BIOGRAPHY**

Details of Thomas' arrival on the North Western Railway in 1915 are mostly undocumented and it is unknown exactly how he turned up on Sodor. The most popular theory put forward, however, is that 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.

During an inquiry, 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 originally worked as the station pilot at Vicarstown, shunting trains for the bigger engines on the mainline to take out. He enjoyed teasing the other engines, especially Gordon, who he would quietly sneak up on and whistle loudly while Gordon on 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.

Outside of Sodor, he is also a member of The New Action Squad.

## **APPEARANCE**

homas is based on an LB&SCR Class E2 0-6-0T, particularly the second batch of locomotives built with extended side-tanks. These engines were built by Brighton Works between 1913-1916 to replace the ageing Stroudley 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). All of the E2s were scrapped, with none surviving into preservation.

Thomas has several major differences from the original E2 class. He is much shorter in length than his original basis, he has two extra windows on the sides of his cab and he has wheel splashers, something the original E2 class lacked. In the early volumes of *The Railway Series* and the television series, Thomas' footplate is dipped at the front, but oddly enough is not dipped at the back. In *Branch Line Engines*, his footplate was levelled out from smokebox to bunker.

Thomas is painted in NWR bright blue with red lining. The number 1 is painted on both sides of his tanks in yellow with red lining and the lining around his cab windows is yellow.

In *The Adventure Begins*, Thomas was originally painted teal-green with white lining. He had the initials "LBSC" and the number 70 painted on both sides of his tanks and cab respectively in yellow with red lining and his wheel rims were painted white.

In the first three series of the television series, Thomas had the 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*.

## **PERSONALITY**

Thomas is described as being a cheeky and fussy 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 optimistic, idealistic and altruistic with a heart of gold.

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 idolised and loved him so much.

## **TRIVIA**

* Thomas was the first character in the *Railway Series* to have a number. According to Brian Sibley in Thomas The Tank Engine Man, Awdry used the number one because it was the easiest to draw.
* Thomas was the first character introduced in the television series.
* From the first to twelfth series during the model era, Thomas had three different facial expressions: furious, frustrated and jovial; that were not used on-screen. His unused second series jovial face mask, however, was designed in The Great Festival Adventure game, where Thomas teased Gordon on the turntable.
	+ Also in the tenth series episode, Topped Off Thomas, his unused third series enraged face was used where Thomas was arguing with Spencer about going or not going faster than the wind and later challenging him to a race to Kellsthorpe Road.
	+ Sometime before or during the production of the fourth series, Thomas had an elderly face mask, created by model maker Jeremy King, which was originally made as a joke to David Mitton during the filming of Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
* Christopher Awdry lost the original Thomas toy when he was in the United States. However, a replica was made for a 70th-anniversary sizzle reel. The second version of the original toy was made as a "thank you" gift by Michael White.
* In the American and Finnish cast, Thomas is the only character voiced by Joseph May and Juha Varis 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 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.