Thomas The Tank Engine

Thomas the Tank Engine (May 16th 1913 - November 9th 2016) is a fictional anthropomorphic tank locomotive created by the Rev W. Awdry in his Railway Series books, made into the British children's television series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and its American spin-off Shining Time Station. He is the main protagonist in the series and the first five movies but the deuteragonist in DOTD

In his first appearance in the television series he was described as follows:


 * "Thomas is a tank engine who lives at a big station on the Island of Sodor. He's a cheeky little engine with 6 small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler and a short stumpy dome" -narrator Ringo Starr from the episode "Thomas & Gordon" (aka "Thomas Gets Tricked", as it was titled for the US release). He has also been described as "a little engine with a long tongue".

Thomas the Tank Engine first appeared in 1946, when stories about him were published in The Railway Series by the Reverend W.V. Awdry.

When he first appeared, in the book Thomas the Tank Engine, he was a station pilot, whose job was to shunt coaches and trucks for the bigger engines. He longed for more important jobs such as pulling the express train like Gordon, but his inexperience prevented this. Eventually he was responsible for rescuing James after an accident, and the Fat Controller (who was then known as the Fat Director) decided that he was a Really Useful Engine, and ready for his own branch line. He has remained in charge of this line ever since.

His closest friends are Annie and Clarabel, his coaches. However, he is also very good friends with Percy, (despite a lot of arguments), Toby, his old friend and mentor Edward,and his possible girlfriend/love interest Emily.

Thomas is based on the E2 Class 0-6-0T locomotives built for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway between 1913 and 1916.

Origin
Thomas was built in 1913. He is one of 11 E2 Tank Engines (including himself) to be built, but must be one of the last 6 since he has extended tanks. He was acquired by the North Western Railway in 1915 to help construction of the North Western Railway along with Edward. Modifications to thomas were made at the Skarloey Railway's Terminus, Crovan's Gate. His dip at the back of the footplate was removed but the front dip remained. He also gained a Splasher at the front of his tank, and was also given a wider cab. After he built the north western railway, he became the Station pilot for Tidmouth. However, when he had failed to pull a passenger train, and Nearly had an accident at Maron, He was transferred to Vicarstown to Shunt trucks and learn about them. However, When James Had an accident, and Thomas brought the breakdown train and the workmen to where James had crashed. After that, The Fat Controller Rewarded him with A branchline, which was formerly the Knapford To Elsbridge light Railway, and was run by various locomotives. The line, Once run By Thomas, was extended to Ffarquhar and a tramway was laid to get to the Anopha quarry. In 1951, Thomas was forbidden to take the route to the Anopha quarry and Only Toby and Mavis can run the tramway to the Anopha Quarry. In 1961 Thomas had a collision with a stationmaster's house, and A railcar called Daisy was purchased to run the passenger service. When Thomas returned He had a Flat footplate like James and Edward. In 1990, Thomas was taken to the National Railway Museum for a While before coming back. When he returned, in Branchline was in a bit of a state, and he found this out when he derailed on some bent track that had been expanded by the sun. Soon, however, the line was in Working order again. His Branch was, by this Time, home to three Steam Engines and one Diesel engine. However, With the closure of the branchlines in 2002, the three steam Engines had to run mainline duties. Nobody quite knows what had happened to the one diesel, Daisy.

Thomas in The Railway Series
In the Railway Series he has generally been depicted with a cheeky and even self-important personality. He believes that he should be more respected by the others, and he gets annoyed when he does not receive this respect. Luckily, Percy and Toby are more than capable of standing up to him, and Annie and Clarabel often rebuke him.

He is aware of his fame in the real world, and following a visit to the National Railway Museum at York he became an honorary member of the National Collection, joining such legendary locomotives as Mallard, City of Truro and Rocket.

The Thomas of the early stories looks a little different from the one shown in later ones. Following the events of the story Thomas Comes to Breakfast, in which Thomas crashed into the Stationmaster's house and tore up his front buffer beam, it was rebuilt without the "dip" it had previously had. The Rev. Awdry had noticed that the dip had put Thomas' front buffers out of line with his back ones, hence the story. He has kept this ever since.

Thomas has been the source of some friction between Christopher Awdry and his publishers, who repeatedly asked for more books centred around the character. Although Thomas was the most popular character in the books, both Wilbert and Christopher Awdry had always treated the characters in the books as an ensemble, and so before the television series was released there had only been two books named after Thomas (Thomas the Tank Engine and Tank Engine Thomas Again). After the debut of the television series, there were five more (More About Thomas the Tank Engine, Thomas and the Twins, Thomas and the Great Railway Show, Thomas Comes Home, Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines). Some of these are rather tenuous in their links with the character: Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines (the 50th anniversary volume, originally to be called The Fat Controller's Engines) features only one story out of the four centered on Thomas; while in Thomas Comes Home, Thomas appears only on the last page, the rest of the book dealing with the other engines on his branch line while he was away at York. Norman the Police Car]

Thomas on television
In the early series of Thomas the Tank Engine, Thomas's personality was similar to that used in the books. From Season six onwards, however, his character was modified. He became less cheeky. He is now kind to other engines, and always ready to stand up for a friend in need. He is always eager to prove himself, and has had many exciting adventures as a result. He wasn't cheeky again until Calling All Engines.

He no longer appeared to be limited to his branch line and now seemed to work all over Sodor. This change in his personality and duties is a result of his "star" status. He is the most popular character in the series, and therefore he has the largest number of appearances.

In the Japanese version he was played by Keiko Toda.

Voice Actors


 * Eddie Glenn (Thomas and the Magic Railroad)


 * Hero Of The Rails - Ben Small (UK)


 * Hero Of The Rails - Martin Sherman (US)

Thomas on stage
It is reported that the original intent of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe's Starlight Express was to bring the Rev. W. Awdry story to stage. However, Lloyd Webber and Stilgoe wanted to take more liberties than Awdry tolerated, and the plan was scrapped. However, aspects of the Thomas characters are still very visible in all parts of Starlight Express.

Thomas on film
Thomas's on screen appearances have all been produced by The Britt Allcroft Company, now Gullane Entertainment, and distributed in more than 120 countries to date. The TV series, first broadcast in 1984, was narrated by former Beatles member Ringo Starr, followed by Michael Angelis in later editions. (In the U.S. video releases Starr was followed by comedian George Carlin, and then actor Alec Baldwin.)

In 2000 Thomas starred in a feature film, 'Thomas and the Magic Railroad'. He was voiced by Edward Glen.

Trivia

Thomas in toyboxes

 * Main:Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends merchandise

With the popularity of the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends TV series among children, 'Thomas'-based merchandise has proven very lucrative. At least five different categories of trains and tracks exist: "Take Along Thomas" with grey tracks; Tomy battery-operated engines with blue tracks; Brio-type wooden engines with wooden rails and roads (by ELC and others); electric model railway (produced in O gauge by Lionel, HO/OO gauge by Hornby and Bachmann and N gauge by Tomix); and Lego engines and tracks; along with complementary videos, DVDs, books, games, puzzles, stationery, clothing and household items.

Thomas on real railways
Hit Entertainment licences several "Day Out With Thomas" events all over the world, in which visitors to heritage railways can meet and ride on a replica "Thomas".

An international tour featuring Thomas and his driver was completed in 2005 in honour of the 60th anniversary of the original stories. In America, Thomas the Tank Engine is thought to be an excellent rôle model for children. The former President George H.W. Bush dedicated the Presidential Train during a ceremony in 2005.

A "real" Thomas was used in a special play staged to celebrate the 80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, starring well-loved characters from children's literature. In the play, Thomas was used to convey Sophie Dahl to centre stage.

Counterparts

 * Ten Cents (TUGS/Salty's Lighthousel)
 * RS Mr. Conductor (Shining Time Stations)
 * Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog)
 * Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
 * Rayman (Rayman)
 * Pikachu (Pokemon)
 * Kirby (Kirby)
 * Barney (Barney and Friends)
 * SpongeBob Squarepants (SpongeBob Squarepants)
 * Arthur Read (Arthur)
 * Jerry Moues (Tom and Jerry)
 * Orson Pig (Garfield and Friends)
 * Woody (Toy Story)
 * Pinocchio (Pinocchio)
 * Lightning McQueen (Cars 1 and 2)
 * Mr Happy (Mr Men Show)
 * Pinocchio (Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night)
 * Harry Potter (Harry Potter)
 * Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones)
 * Frog (Frog and Toad)
 * Ron Stoppable (Kim Possible)
 * Timmy Turner or Cosmo (The Fairly OddParents)
 * Jimmy Neutron (Jimmy Neutron)
 * Doctor Whooves or Spike (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
 * Tommy Pickles (Rugrats)
 * Phineas Flynn (Phineas and Ferb)
 * Bob the Tomato (Veggie Tales)
 * Sooty (The Sooty Show)
 * Buster Bunny or Bugs Bunny (Tiny Toon Adventures/Looney Tunes)
 * Stan Marsh (South Park)
 * Fanboy (Fanboy and Chum Chum)
 * Numbuh 1 (Codename: Kids Next Door)
 * Homer or Bart Simpson (The Simpsons)
 * Noddy (Noddy's Toyland Adventures)
 * Peter Griffin (Family Guy)
 * Spyro the Dragon (Spyro the Dragon/Skylanders)
 * Crash Bandicoot (Crash Bandicoot)
 * Wilson (Chuggington)
 * Scooby Doo or Shaggy Stoners (Scooby Doo)
 * Zachary Swain (Zachary Swain)
 * Yogi Bear (Yogi Bear)
 * The Cat in the Hat (Dr. Seuss/The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss)
 * Bam Bam Rubble or Fred Flintstone (The Flintstones)
 * Max or Morris (Max & Ruby)
 * Chicken Little (Chicken Little)