Toad The Brake Van

Toad is a Great Western brake van who escaped from scrap with Oliver and Isabel.

The Railway Series
Toad worked with Oliver on the Great Western Railway before being threatened with the prospect of scrapping. Oliver, Toad and an autocoach named Isabel ran away for the greener pastures of the North Western Railway, but Oliver ran out of coal en route. Luckily, they were rescued by Douglas and brought back to Sodor. Afterwards, Toad asked to be Douglas' brake van as a show of thanks.

When S.C. Ruffey began to start a trend of disrespecting the engines, Toad had the idea for Oliver to show him and his lieutenants the error of their ways. This turned out better than expected, for Oliver pulled S.C. Ruffey apart and won back the respect of the trucks.

Thomas & Friends
Toad was tired of always going backwards and wanted to be a leader for a change. The trucks decided to teach Toad to be careful what he wishes for by breaking away from Oliver on Gordon's Hill and as a result, he crashed into some level crossing gates, narrowly avoided Gordon and James and stopped by taking a plunge into a muddy pond. Afterwards, Toad decided that always going backwards was not so bad after all.

While Gator was on Sodor, he once took some of Oliver's trucks with Toad, who kept insisting that Gator should stop and relight his lamp. After being briefly taken off the train after forcing them to stop with his brakes, Toad had the "bright" idea of giving Gator one of his lamps to replace his broken one. This idea worked, and Gator thanked Toad once they had finished their journey.

By Toad's Adventure, Toad had become bored of repeatedly hearing the story of Oliver's escape, and longed for an adventure story of his own to tell. His wish was granted when he went to work with James, who ran much too fast and hit a fallen branch on Gordon's Hill, uncoupling his trucks. Toad managed to stop the trucks, and prevented a crash with Thomas and Percy. When he returned to the Yard, he told a disbelieving Oliver all about it.

Toad eventually began to sing during his journeys with Oliver, which the Western engine liked at first, but quickly got fed up of listening. Later, as they were passing Bluff's Cove, Toad spotted a whale stranded on the beach and tried to tell Oliver, but Oliver thought Toad was joking. But later that day when the two passed the same area again, Oliver saw the whale and apologised to Toad. They informed the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre, but after a few attempts at moving the whale proved unsuccessful, Toad had the idea of using a flatbed to transport the whale to Brendam, where Cranky gently placed the whale back into the water. Now whenever Toad passes through Bluffs Cove, he remembers his friend, and sings about him.

In Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure he, along with Oliver, helped to build the new Harwick Branch Line and attended the line's opening.

Personality
Toad is a polite, gentlemanly, and optimistic brake van. He is also somewhat imaginative and a bit of an optimist. Toad minds his manners well and always quick to refer to the engines as "Mr.", "Miss", or "Sir". He escaped from scrap with Oliver, with some help from Douglas. Toad is very loyal, keeps Oliver's trucks in order, and has his best interests at heart. He has a cunning streak within him should the trucks cause any particular bother and does like fun when it comes his way, but he is typically calm, obedient, and content in his work.

Basis
Toad is based on a Great Western Railway 16-ton brake van. Early vans were just 10 or 16 tons weight, but this gradually increased to 20 and 25 tons. A brake van on the Mid Hants Railway (No. 35907) is permanently dressed up as Toad. A number of these brake vans survive in preservation.

Livery
Toad is painted grey with "GW 56831" written on his side in white. Before being repaired in Enterprising Engines, and in an illustration portraying him before Escape from the subsequent book, Toad was painted brown. In the Railway Series, his face is the same colour as his bodywork, but in the television series he has a light grey face.

Appearances
Railway Series=

The Railway Series

 * Enterprising Engines - Escape (does not speak) and Little Western (does not speak)
 * Oliver the Western Engine - Resource and Sagacity (does not speak) and Toad Stands By

Companion volumes
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 * 1976 - Famous Engines
 * 1987 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (mentioned)
 * 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection
 * 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines (mentioned)
 * -|Television Series=

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
He was to appear in the sixth season with Oliver, but was cut out for unknown reasons.
 * Season 3 - Escape (does not speak) and Oliver Owns Up (cameo)
 * Season 4 - Toad Stands By and Mind that Bike (cameo)
 * Season 5 - Gordon and the Gremlin (cameo), Oliver's Find and Busy Going Backwards
 * Season 6 - James and the Red Balloon (deleted scene; faceless cameo)
 * Season 7 - Emily's New Coaches (cameo), James and the Queen of Sodor (stock footage cameo) and Snow Engine
 * Season 8 - Thomas and the Circus (faceless cameo)
 * Season 12 - Gordon Takes a Shortcut
 * Season 18 - Signals Crossed (cameo), Toad's Adventure, Duck in the Water (cameo), Spencer's VIP (cameo) and Toad's Bright Idea
 * Season 19 - Toad and the Whale and The Little Engine Who Raced Ahead (cameo)
 * Season 20 - Blown Away, The Way She Does It (cameo) and Skiff and the Mermaid

Specials

 * 1992 - Thomas and the U.K. Trip (cameo)
 * 2005 - Calling All Engines! (faceless; music video cameo)
 * 2015 - Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure
 * 2016 - The Great Race (cameo)
 * 2017 - Journey Beyond Sodor (cameo)
 * 2018 - Big World! Big Adventures! (cameo)

Music Videos
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 * Season 4 - Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover and The Island Song
 * Season 5 - Accidents Will Happen and Come for the Ride
 * Season 6 - Little Engines, Down by the Docks and Boo! Boo! Choo-Choo
 * Season 7 - Troublesome Trucks and The Whistle Song
 * Season 8 - Emily, Surprises
 * Calling All Engines! - Busy (faceless)
 * Season 9 - Party Time (faceless)
 * Tale of the Brave - Let's Be Brave
 * Thomas' YouTube World Tour - Down by the Docks, It's Great to be an Engine, The Island Song and Rules and Regulations
 * Season 19 - Engine Roll Call
 * Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure - We Make a Team Together
 * Season 20 - James the Really Splendid Engine and Accidents Will Happen
 * The Great Race - Will You Won't You (cameo) and Be Who You Are, and Go Far (cameo)
 * Journey Beyond Sodor - I Want to Go Home (cameo)
 * Season 21 - Set Friendship in Motion, Doing it Right and Little Engines
 * -|Other Media=

Books

 * 1996 - Annual
 * 2001 - A Better View for Gordon and other Thomas the Tank Engine Stories
 * 2004 - Oliver (does not speak)
 * 2006 - Thomas, James and the Red Balloon (faceless cameo)
 * 2008 - Thomas' Sticker Express
 * 2009 - Thomas and the Circus (faceless cameo)
 * 2010 - Movie Theater
 * 2011 - The Big Book of Engines (mentioned)
 * 2015 - Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure: Sticker Activity Book and Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure: The Movie Storybook (cameo)

Magazine Stories
Toad also appeared in the magazine stories, A Long Way Up!, The Great Race, The Snow Engine!, and Toad Returns.
 * 2004 - Snow Engine

Annual Stories

 * 1993 - Oliver Gets the Bird (does not speak)
 * 1995 - Oliver's Sparkler (cameo)
 * 1996 - All Pull Together (does not speak)

Video Games
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 * 1998 - Magical Adventure
 * 2000 - Thomas the Tank Engine
 * 2007 - DVD Bingo
 * 2008 - Begins Educational Learning

Voice Actors

 * Joe Mills (UK/US; eighteenth season onwards)
 * Yūsuke Numata (Japan; fourth-seventh seasons)
 * Kunihiro Kawamoto (Japan; eighteenth season onwards)
 * Paweł Ciołkosz (Poland; eighteenth season onwards)
 * Achim Schülke (Germany)
 * Nir Ron (Israel; Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure)
 * Fabrice Trojani (France and French speaking Canada; eighteenth season onwards)
 * Bardo Miranda (Latin America; eighteenth season onwards)
 * Reinder van der Naalt (The Netherlands)
 * Armando Bungău (Romania)
 * Denis Bespalyy (Russia; eighteenth season onwards, excluding Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure)

Trivia

 * One of Toad's models is on display at Drayton Manor.
 * Toad's ERTL toy incorrectly states that his number is "5683".
 * Toad's name originates from a nickname ("toad") given to brake vans on the Great Western Railway. It can also be considered a subtle pun: a brake van is 'towed' everywhere it goes.
 * When Toad returned in the eighteenth season, he had some modifications. These include:
 * Grey buffers.
 * Grey handrails as opposed to his original white handrails.
 * His glass windows were removed, replaced with open windows.
 * Only one side has the Great Western insignia, number, and tonnage.
 * He is slightly longer than his model form.
 * He is a lighter shade of grey.
 * He is slightly taller than his model counterpart.
 * Both Toad's physical and CGI models deviate a bit from their real-life counterpart: in real-life, Toad's basis has sandboxes near the handbrake, and also has a white interior with a desk, seat, etc. Toad lacks these features, both in model and in CGI forms.
 * Toad was called Crapaud in the French dub from Seasons 3 to 7.
 * In Latin America, Toad gains an Argentine accent in Toad's Bright Idea.
 * In the Days Out with Thomas events, his face was worn by Class 40.

Merchandise

 * ERTL (discontinued)
 * Wooden Railway (re-introduced in 2006; discontinued)
 * Take Along (discontinued)
 * Take-n-Play
 * Thomas Engine Collection Series (discontinued)
 * Mini Die Cast Collection (discontinued)
 * Motor Road and Rail (discontinued outside Asia)
 * TrackMaster (discontinued)
 * My First Thomas (discontinued)
 * Trading Cards (discontinued)
 * Hornby (discontinued)
 * Bachmann
 * Nakayoshi (discontinued)
 * Capsule Plarail (normal and clear)
 * Brio (discontinued)