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This page is for the minor locomotive characters who have appeared in Thomas & Friends.

Earnest

This article is about the tender engine. You may be looking for the mountain engine.

Earnest was an old Victorian tender engine who appeared in a portrait in Topham Hall and the Tidmouth Stationmaster's House.

Technical Details

Basis

Earnest appears to be a Jenny Lind type 2-2-2 locomotive, designed by David Joy. 'Jenny Lind' was the first of the class, built for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway by E.B. Wilson and Company in 1847 and named after a famous opera singer from the era.

The design was so successful that it would later go on to be mass-produced as one of Wilson and Company's standard designs and adopted by a number of other railways in Britain and Portugal, including the Midland Railway. Other manufacturers also copied and improved upon the design, variations being produced as late as the 1860s. None of these locomotives have been preserved.

One notable feature on E.B. Wilson and Company products were the fluted safety valve and dome covers, which are both visible on Earnest.

Livery

Earnest is painted light green with red frames and gold fittings.

Appearances

Trivia

  • According to a SiF interview, the portrait of Earnest was illustrated by Robert Gauld-Galliers and was described as a "made-up character" in the Victorian era to match the various other human portraits featured throughout the series. The portrait was roughly 80 x 60 mm.
    • In 2017, Robert Gauld-Galliers confirmed that at the time of production Earnest was not named and suggested he would be named Earnest.
  • Earnest is the first engine in the television series to have a moustache.

Percy's Ghost Engine

"And every year on the date of the accident, it runs again as a warning to others. Plunging into the gap, shrieking like a lost soul!"
― Percy[src]

Percy's Ghost Engine was mentioned in a ghost story Percy told to Thomas and Toby.

Biography

According to Percy's story (which his driver told him the night prior), the engine fell to its doom, and its ghost continues to run every year on the anniversary of the accident as a warning to others. Thomas refused to believe the story and Percy's driver later confirmed the ghost's story to be a fictional one he saw on television.

Technical Details

Basis

The Ghost Engine is based on Percy's design as it reuses his model covered in white streamers.

Appearances

Audio Files

Theme

Only used Composers Theme
Ghost Train Mike O'Donnell
Junior Campbell

Whistle

Only used Sound Effect
Ghost Train

Trivia

  • The Ghost Engine reuses Edward's whistle.
  • In the UK narration of the episode, Percy's driver says the ghost was a pretend one on television. However, in both US narrations, he simply states that it was only a "pretend ghost story".

Old Smoky

For other uses, see Old Smoky (disambiguation).

"Old Smoky, you stay right here until I get back."
― Mr. Conductor[src]

Old Smoky is the locomotive painted next to Mr. Conductor's signal and switch house station deep on the mural at Shining Time. Mr. Conductor occasionally has one-sided conversations with him.

Technical Details

Basis

Old Smoky is based on a Union Pacific FEF series. The original Rainbow Sun featured in Shining Time Station shares the same basis.

Livery

Old Smoky is painted black and grey.

Appearances


The American Engine

An unnamed American tender engine appeared on a Shining Time Station activity booklet based on the first series episode, Agree to Disagree.

Technical Details

Basis

The American Engine's basis is based on the american locomotive class 4-4-0, operated in Union Pacific for some time in the 1800's.

Livery

The American Engine's livery is currently unknown.

Appearances

Trivia

Edward's Ghost Engine

"They say that on Halloween, the ghost engine returns to the smelters, looking for his lost… whoo, whoo …whistle!"
― Edward[src]

Edward's Ghost Engine was mentioned in a story Edward told the other engines one Halloween. According to the story, the engine returns every Halloween to haunt the scrapyards, trying to look for his lost whistle.

Technical Details

Basis

The Ghost Engine is based on a Caledonian Railway (CR) McIntosh 812 Class 0-6-0 goods engine. Donald and Douglas are other members of this class.

Appearances

Audio Files

Whistle

Only used Sound Effect
Scaredy Engines

Trivia

  • The Ghost Engine reuses the same model from either Donald or Douglas without the tender and nameplates. It also wears their surprised face.

The Halloween Engine

"The engines love seeing the children in their Halloween costumes and the engines love to hear tales of ghostly engines and scary steam trains."
― The Narrator[src]

The Halloween Engine is a ghostly tender engine.

Technical Details

Basis

The Halloween Engine is an amalgamation of various parts. Its boiler and cab come off of an LNER A1/A3 Pacific, while its cylinders, wheels and frames are from a BR Standard Class 9F. Its tender is an LNER 4200 gallon "Group Standard" tender.

Livery

As the engine uses one of the Old Tenders, it is at least partially painted LNER wartime black, albeit heavily weathered.

Appearances

Thomas & Friends

Books

Magazine Stories

Trivia

  • The Halloween Engine was made using a scrap engine (a mould of Gordon's model) with Murdoch's chassis and one of the old tenders with an added tail-lamp.
  • Due to using a scrap engine model, the Halloween Engine undoubtedly lacks a face, much like City of Truro.

Hiro's Friends

Hiro's Friends are engines who live and work on a Japanese railway owned by Sir Takaboushi Hideki on Hiro's homeland. They referred to Hiro as "Master of the Railway". Hiro first mentioned them as his "best friends at home" when he first met Percy during his restoration.

Appearances

Trivia

The Mainland Engines

"The engines on the Mainland say you're even more fun than me!"
― Charlie to Thomas[src]

The Mainland Engines are friends of Charlie, who told him how much fun Thomas is.

Appearances

The Log Engine

"We know a guy who was built to run on logs!"
― Lexi[src]

According to Lexi, she and Theo once knew of a locomotive that was built with logs for wheels.

Technical Details

Basis

The engine is a freelance design.

Appearances

Thomas & Friends

Specials

Music Videos

Trivia

  • It is quite possible this engine's appearance was misinterpreted as it literally running on logs as its wheels, and it may have originally been intended to be one of two things:
    • A locomotive built to run on a pole road, a type of track laid with logs instead of steel rails, on which specialised locomotives ran.
    • A locomotive which burns logs as fuel, similar to Bash, Dash and Ferdinand.

Dockyard Engines

There are two dockyard engines who work by the harbour in New York City.

Biography

When Vinnie arrived back to America after the Great Railway Show, the dockyard engines shunted some trucks for him to pull to the Big City. However, Vinnie started bragging that he could pull more. Because of this, they then added on more trucks to the point that Vinnie could not pull the train.

Technical Details

Basis

The dockyard engines are based on the H.K. Porter 0-6-0ST, built in Butler, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. These mainly worked in the dockyards on the east coast of the United States. The Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal Railroad, which served the dockyards in Brooklyn, New York, owned several examples of the dockyard engines' design, all of which were retired after the railroad started using diesel locomotives in 1963. One of these, Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal 15, was rebuilt into an operating replica of Thomas by the Strasburg Railroad in 1998 for use during Day Out with Thomas events throughout the USA. Another engine, 14, is preserved at the Ulster & Delaware Railroad Historical Society in Arkville, New York.

Porter is also based on this type of locomotive.

Livery

The dockyard engines' livery is viridian with yellow stripes, lining and brass fittings. They have a gold star on each side of their lamp and red window frames. Although these tank engines are of American design, all American locomotives have cowcatchers instead of buffers.

Appearances

The London Engines

The London Engines are engines from the Mainland who were seen at London during Etienne's visit.

Technical Details

Basis

The electric multiple unit appears to be based off of trains used on the London Underground. The basis for the two tender engines - assuming they have any - is currently unknown, but the Red One is similar to BR Standards.

Liveries

The electric multiple unit is painted red with a grey roof. The first tender engine is burgundy with yellow lining and brown wheels, while the second is blue.

Appearances

The Swiss Tank Engines

The Swiss Tank Engines are two tank engines who Yong Bao met while in Switzerland.

Biography

The Swiss Tank Engines were afraid to go into a tunnel because they believed a monster was inside and they also heard strange noises coming from the tunnel. Yong Bao journeyed into the tunnel to reveal that it was only a goat.

Technical Details

Basis

The Swiss Tank Engines are based upon the Polish PKP 0-8-0T TKp No. 5485, but with minor modifications. This locomotive was built in 1959 and was used at a coal mine railway in Bytlom, Poland until the mine was shut down in 1995. It was sold to the Nene Valley Railway in Peterborough where it has operated in excursion service, undergoing an overhaul at the Flour Millworks in Gloucestershire between 2012 and 2019.

Livery

The Swiss Tank Engines are painted dark green with red running boards and buffer beams and black wheels.

Appearances

The Russian Engines

The Russian Engines are two steam engines that Ivan met while travelling home to Russia.

Biography

Ivan found the tank engine stuck on the line while returning home from the Great Railway Show. The tank engine revealed that the coal delivery had been late, so he had run out of coal. Ivan, fortunately, had a full tank of diesel fuel and offered to pull him to the next station. On the way to the station, Ivan came across the tender engine, who had also run out of fuel, with a train full of freezing passengers. By now, Ivan's tank was half full, but he offered to push the tender engine and his train. Despite the tender engine's reservations, with great effort, Ivan was able to take the engines to the station.

Upon reaching the station, Ivan left the engines at the platform and went to the nearby depot to fetch some coal for them. The engines were very thankful. However, when Ivan tried to move he found out he had used up all his fuel. The tank engine then offered to take Ivan to the nearest diesel depot to refuel. There, Ivan said that steam and diesel engines could always help each other.

Technical Details

Basis

The tender engine is based on the C Series 2-6-2, while the tank engine is based on the 9P Series 0-6-0T. A single C Series, C68, is preserved by the Russian Railway Museum in Saint Petersburg, while numerous 9Ps are preserved across the former Soviet Union.

Livery

The tank engine is painted black with red wheels and lining. The tender engine is painted green with gold lining, red wheels and white rims.

Appearances

The Indian Diesel

The Indian Diesel is a mixed-traffic diesel engine who works on the Indian Railway.

When Rajiv returned to India after competing in The Great Railway Show, this diesel attended his celebration party at City Centre Station.

Technical Details

Basis

The diesel is based on an Indian Railways WDG-3A diesel locomotive.

Livery

The diesel is painted in dawn with a lavender stripe.

Appearances

The Patentee-Class Replica

The Patentee-Class Replica is an old-fashioned looking steam locomotive. Percy first encountered this engine while passing by an abandoned quarry, and later found out it was a replica which had been secretly tested there when he saw it at a steam show.

Technical Details

Basis

The engine is based on the Patentee class locomotives introduced by Robert Stephenson and Company in 1833, as an enlarged version of their earlier Planet class locomotives.

The engine in the magazine stories appears to be specifically modelled after the German locomotive Adler (German for "Eagle"), as noted by the twin lamps either side of the smokebox. Adler was built in 1835, and is widely considered to be the first commercially-used passenger and goods engine in Germany. The original locomotive was scrapped in 1855 after briefly being used as a stationary boiler, though a working replica of it was later constructed in 1935 to celebrate the centenary of Germany's railways.

Livery

The engine is painted grey and red with a brown wooden boiler. It has a brass chimney and dome, as well as brass lamps, fittings, boiler bands, works plates and nameplates, though no name is visible on these within the illustrations.

Appearances

Publicity Engines

The Publicity Engines are unnamed blue tender engines that appeared in two separate magazine stories. The first one appeared on a poster advertising rail travel, whereas the second appeared on a poster promoting summer excursions on Sodor.

Technical Details

Basis

The second engine is based on the LNER A1/A3 Pacific, with an added top feed and fowler tender. Gordon, Flying Scotsman and Flying Thistle are other members of this class.

Livery

Both engines are painted blue with red and black lining and bear crests on their respective tenders.

Appearances

Magazine Stories

Silver

Silver is an engine BoCo once mentioned in a story he told Skarloey.

Biography

According to BoCo's story, Silver was elegant and was once the fastest engine in the land, with silver paint to suit his name, and was always boasting to the other engines. At last, a wizard, who appeared to be a tramp, put a curse on him after Silver refused to take him. He turned Silver into a rusty slow engine. He became the laughing stock of the other engines and was nicknamed Tramp.

Personality

Silver was a boastful engine who held himself in high esteem, refusing to take on passengers who were dirty. He did not stop boasting until he was changed into a rusty old engine.

Appearances

The Red Tank Engines

Two Red Tank Engines appeared in a magazine story. They were never named and their origins are unknown.

Technical Details

Basis

These engines do not appear to be based on any specific design.

Livery

These engines are painted red with yellow lining and black wheels.

Appearances

Magazine Stories

  • These engines appear in a "Counting Time" activity from the 1998-1999 Fun to Learn magazine.

Trivia

  • They appear to be an illustration error of James portrayed as two different engines.

The Blue Tender Engine

An unnamed blue tender engine once appeared in the magazines. It annoyed Daisy after some coal dust got blown into her face from its tender.

Technical Details

Basis

The engine's basis is unknown.

Livery

The engine is painted blue with red lining. Its handrails are painted grey.

Appearances

Trivia

  • It is possible that this engine is Edward, but illustrated incorrectly.

Emily's Ghost Engine

Emily's Ghost Engine is an engine that once appeared in Emily's dream. It only appeared in the magazine story Peep and Sleep, in which Emily was having trouble sleeping, due to Duck blowing his whistle too loudly. One night Emily had a dream, in which the ghost engine made her fall asleep for 100 years. Following this, Emily decided she wouldn't sleep the next night, until the other engines arrive at the sheds first.

Technical Details

Basis

The engine appears to be a freelance design.

Livery

The engine appears as a ghostly apparition, resembling a cloud.

Appearances

The Red Tender Engine

A red tender engine appeared on a photograph in Sir Topham Hatt's Office.

Technical Details

Basis

This engine has no precise basis, however it appears to be either a 2-6-0 or 0-6-0 with no dome. The engine also has a Fowler tender.

Livery

This engine is painted red, with black lining and a black smokebox.

Appearances

Books

The Abandoned Engine

The Abandoned Engine appeared in an old works storage shed nearby a station. He has a cobweb around his funnel.

Technical Details

Basis

The basis of this engine is unknown.

Livery

The livery of this engine is unknown.

Appearances

Trivia

The Green Engine

This green engine appeared in a poster for the "Railway Me!" magazine.

Technical Details

Basis

The basis of this engine is unknown.

Livery

The engine is painted green with a brass dome and white buffers.

Appearances

Books

The Czechoslovakia Diesel

"Phew!"
― The Czechoslovakia Diesel[src]

The Czechoslovakia Diesel is a large diesel engine which once assisted in 1975 relocation of a Gothic church in Most, Czechoslovakia. This event was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the heaviest building ever moved on wheels.[5]

Technical Details

Basis

This engine is based on a diesel–electric with a Bo-Bo wheel configuration originating from the Czechoslovak State Railways. The specific basis, however, is currently unknown.

Livery

The engine is painted green-white with a dark red lining and dark blue chassis.

Appearances

Trivia

  • Strangely, the diesel was illustrated with eyes on its windshield as opposed to the standard grey faces traditionally used for Thomas & Friends characters.

See Also

The Lost Tank Engine

An unnamed blue tank engine made an appearance in the book, The Monster Under the Shed.

Biography

This engine was mentioned in a story told by James, and was said to always be ready to help. One night, a stationmaster asked him to get a coach that was left behind. The engine went to get it, but when the weather turned bad, he had to sleep in an old shed. Later, he woke up to a noise and when he opened his eyes, he saw fingers reaching for him from under the shed. He was chased out of the shed by a monster and never seen again, supposedly being eaten by the monster.

Personality

James emphasised that he was a brave blue engine who was eager to help.

Technical Details

Basis

The Lost Tank Engine loosely resembles an LSWR 0298 class Beattie well tank locomotive.

Livery

The Lost Tank Engine is painted blue with red lining.

Appearances

BR Class 170

The BR Class 170 is a diesel multiple unit that Thomas encountered during a trip to the Mainland.

Technical Details

Basis

This engine is based on the BR Class 170 "Turbostar" diesel mutliple unit (DMU).

Livery

The BR Class 170 is painted indigo with yellow panels on the front. Its passenger doors and roof are painted white.

Appearances

The Little Blue Engine

The Little Blue Engine is an unnamed blue engine who made an appearance in Mr. Perkins' Sleepover. He is the main protagonist of a story Mr. Perkins reads titled "The Little Engine's Big Day". He is similar to Thomas.

Biography

The Little Blue Engine loved nothing more than puffing along the track pulling important loads. One day at a junction, he met a Big Silver Engine, who called him a "slow coach". The Little Blue Engine felt insulted and went as fast as he could to prove the Big Silver Engine wrong. However, he came off the tracks from going too fast. Once he was back on the tracks, he continued his journey carefully to the Docks, this time ignoring the Big Silver Engine's teasing. He was praised by the Dock Manager for being really useful and he tooted happily with pride.

Personality

The Little Blue Engine loved puffing along the track pulling important loads. He did not like being teased and was determined to prove others wrong, but strove to be really useful.

Technical Details

Basis

The Little Blue Engine is a well tank engine that looks similar to Bash and Dash.

Livery

The Little Blue Engine is painted blue.

Appearances

The Big Silver Engine

The Big Silver Engine is an unnamed silver engine who was mentioned in Mr. Perkins' Sleepover. He appears in a story Mr. Perkins reads titled "The Little Engine's Big Day". He is similar to Spencer.

Biography

The Big Silver Engine met the Little Engine at a junction one day, and he teased him, calling him a "slow coach."

Personality

The Big Silver Engine enjoyed teasing smaller engines and can be rather impatient.

Technical Details

Livery

The Big Silver Engine is painted silver.

Appearances

The Crowd Engines

The Crowd Engines are a pair of engines which feature in the background when Diesel is imagining a statue of himself as a super hero being unveiled.

Technical Details

Basis

As the duo are recolours of Ryan and Paxton, they are based on a Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class N2 and a British Rail (BR) Class 08 diesel-electric shunter respectively. Due to the video they feature in being stylised with graphics based on the Minis range of merchandise, both have significantly squashed proportions and run on four-wheeled chassis.

Liveries

The tank engine is painted brown, while the diesel shunter is painted blue.

Appearances

The Red Tank Engine

The Red Tank Engine makes a cameo appearance in Adventures on Sodor. It is seen travelling over a bridge near Dryaw station.

Technical Details

Basis

The Red Tank Engine is based on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway 0-6-0 E2 class with extended side tanks. Thomas shares the same basis and modifications.

Livery

The Red Tank Engine is painted red with black lining, cab door, running board and wheels.

Appearances

Trivia

  • The Red Tank Engine is a retextured of Thomas and reuses James' whistle sound.

Audio Files

Whistle

Only used Sound Effect
Adventures on Sodor

West Somerset Railway Engines

The West Somerset Railway Engines are the engines working on the West Somerset Railway. One of these engines mistakenly shunted Annie and Clarabel onto a siding at Minehead railway station thinking that they were just "ordinary coaches".

Technical Details

Basis

The engines from the West Somerset Railway Engines that appeared in Train Sim World 5 are based on the BR Class 09 (D4107), BR Class 33s (D6566 and D6575 "Seagull"), Class 47 (D1661 "North Star") and Class 52 (D1010 "Western Campaigner").

Appearances

Emily's Sisters

"My sisters and I used to haul express trains all the time on our old railway. I did love thundering along the line, taking passengers where they needed to be and feeling rather splendid. One of my sisters even managed to reach 82 miles per hour once!"
― Emily[src]

Emily's Sisters were Stirling Single tender engines who worked for the Great Northern Railway on the Mainland.[6]

Technical Details

Basis

These engines were based on the Great Northern Railway (GNR) 1003 Series Stirling Single 4-2-2.

Designed by Patrick Stirling in 1870 with 8ft 1in driving wheels and outside cylinders, these engines were specifically built for high-speed expresses between London and York. A total of fifty-three engines were built at Doncaster between 1870 and 1895, unofficially divided into three series based on their dimensions: the twenty-seven No. 1 Series engines between 4/1870 and 4/1880, the twenty 662 Series engines between 2/1881 and 12/1893 and the six 1003 Series engines between 11/1894 and 4/1895. George Frederick Bird labelled these series G, G2 and G3 respectively in his book The Locomotives of the Great Northern Railway, 1847-1910 (albeit with some inconsistencies). Under Henry Ivatt's classification scheme in 1900, the 1003 Series were classified A1, the 662 Series and No. 1 Series (which by now had all been rebuilt to the 662 Series' dimensions) were classified A2 and the eight engines rebuilt with a domed boiler were classified A3.

The only surviving member of all classes, the pioneer No. 1, is on display at the National Railway Museum. The engine in preservation carried a small capacity Stirling tender, which was given in its first restoration in 1909. A derelict original Stirling Single tender used as a water and sludge carrier was later found in Peterborough and, after restoration, was paired with the engine in 2014.

Appearances

Books

Video Games

Trivia

  • In unused dialogue from Wonders of Sodor, Emily mentions that one of her sisters once reached 82 miles per hour. This is likely a slightly erroneously-worded reference to No. 775, which is recorded as having once completed the 82 mile run from Grantham to York in 1 hour and 16 minutes.

See Also

References

International Characters
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