Correct Thomas & Friends train formations.

[new lad on block]

Hi All, This one is aimed at the more knowledgable Thomas fans.

I am displaying my Thomas collection for the young ones this Christmas, can anyone tell me which locomotives pull which rolling stock?

As it may be a long detailed reply, perhaps it may be better to reply in batches of 4 or 5 locos.

I think I am right in saying Thomas pulls Annie & Clarabel. Annie behind Thomas then Clarabel.

Annie's face facing Thomas's tender, Clarabel's face looking back down the track.

Thankyou in advance for any replies.

 

[walkingthedog]

All the books I used to read to the kids had Thomas and the other engines pulling all manner of wagons and coaches except perhaps for Gordon. 

[96RAF]

Without meaning any disrespect to the OP I never thought I would see ‘rivet counting’ applied to TTTF, but the maxim ‘if you are going to do it then do it right’ is as applicable here as anywhere in the hobby, especially as the younger the user audience the more chance they will spot an error. Little ones can be very knowledgable and critical about their TV/book favourites.

[walkingthedog]

That is true  Rob, they have an eye for these things. Surely with the coaches it would depend on which way they were travelling. 

[new lad on block]

Hi RAF, I  intend to upload pictures,  of part of my Thomas collection, and I was thinking if the rolling stock was in the wrong place then I would get remarks from 'die hard' Thomas fans.

Also  most of my photos seem to be uploaded on the the wider internet, several can be seen re Thomas items.

The pictures normally have the 'Hornby.com' tag, hence I thought if these pictures were uploaded, then they need to be an accurate representation of the Thomas characters.

[96RAF]

Hi RAF, I  intend to upload pictures,  of part of my Thomas collection, and I was thinking if the rolling stock was in the wrong place then I would get remarks from 'die hard' Thomas fans.

Also  most of my photos seem to be uploaded on the the wider internet, several can be seen re Thomas items.

The pictures normally have the 'Hornby.com' tag, hence I thought if these pictures were uploaded, then they need to be an accurate representation of the Thomas characters.

 

Very wise of you methinks.

[walkingthedog]

Look forward to seeing the pictures. I'm sure the other couple of fans won't object to any errors, they just like seeing pictures, as we all do.  😆

[NWR-Gordon-4]

That's a nice idea. new lad on block. Please get images of the display, if you can. Thank you. 😀

 

Thomas; Pulling Annie and Clarabel. Annie's face facing the rear of Thomas and Clarabel being the brake coach of the two, facing the rear of the train.

 

Edward; Looks good pulling cattle wagons. I add cattle wagons to Edward often and don't forget to add a brake van to the rear of the train!

 

Henry; Pulls every morning The Flying Kipper, an early morning express train of fish. For this, decent legth train of salt wagons, ventilated vans and utility wagons build this up. Hornby never released salt wagons in the Thomas & Freidns range, but I think a good substute for these are the lime wagons.

 

Gordon; The Express Train, so his composite and brake coaches will come in handy. Brake compartment of the brake coach facing the rear of the train. A decent amount of coaches for Gordon is 4 or more coaches.

 

James; His coaches, so his composite and brake coaches will come in handy. Brake compartment of the brake coach facing the rear of the train. Decent amount of coaches for James, is 2 to 3 coaches.

 

Percy; Sodor Mail Wagons, with a brake van at the rear of the train.

 

Toby; Bachmann Henrietta if you have her, if not then then some Series 1 Troublesome Trucks will be decent and brake van. Only a few trucks though, not massive rake of them. Toby is only a tram.

 

Duck; Some wagons. No wagons in particular really, just any.

 

Oliver; Some wagons. No wagons in particular really, just any. Perhaps Oliver should also pull S.C.Ruffey, has Oliver played a major part in the story with S.C.Rruffey in. Don't forget to add Toad, the Ex-GWR Brake Van facing to rear of the train.

 

Stepney; Some sort of freight train, but not too many for him. A brake van at the rear of the train, as well.

 

Bill and Ben; Troublesome Trucks, working together on the same train or on their own. You decide!

 

Emily; I assume you do not own the Bachmann Emily's Coaches, do you? This is not correct, but I think a good substute instead is Old Slow Coach, with his face facing the rear of the train.

 

Spencer; His Special Coaches. Brake coach at the rear. Spencer usually only has two coaches, one composite and one brake.

 

Murdoch; A long freight train will suit Murdoch best. Tankers, open wagons, ventilated vans, anything. If not, another option for Murdoch is the Large Breakdown Crane. He looks good with that also and he capable of pulling that, as he is a Class 9F.

 

Flying Scotsman; None of the Hornby Thomas & Friends rolling really suits Flying Scotsman very well, so I bought the Hornby RailRoad LNER Teak Express Coaches for him a number of years ago. This will be alright if you wnat to do this, as I do that myself!  😆

 

Devious Diesel; A train of the Tar Tankers, Sodor Fuel Tankers Oil Tankers and / or the Troublesome Trucks will go geat with him, that's if he will behave proerly whilst on display!  😆

 

'Arry and Bert; Pulling / pushing the Sodor Scrap Co. Wagons.

 

Dart; Is a funny one really. He does not pull much really, mainly being at the Vicarstown Dieselworks for most of thr time. Perhaps nothing or the odd Sodor Fuel Tanker, as if has bringing some diesel to a fellow diesel locomotve, who has run out.

 

Diesel D261; A mixed heavy freight train. No wagons in particular.

 

Diesel D7101 Hymek 'Bear'; A mixed heavy freight train. No wagons in particular.

 

If you have anymore questions, please ask. I don't think the Cicus Wagons suit any locomotve in particular, just one that's good at pulling heavy trains. The Ice Cream Van is also a specail wagon too, so could also be added to the Circus train, or behind a locomotive on it's own.

 

GNR-Gordon-4 (HF)

 

[LCDR]

Faces on trains!

 

It has got me wondering? With a steam locomotive the logical end of the locomotive for a face is the front (smokebox), and so a tender or a bunker doesn't have a face, no problem. With a main line diesel and with carriages and wagons however we do have a problem in that one end will have a face, but what then goes on the other end? And at the end of a journey where the train reverses although we can put a locomotive on a turn table we don't do that with diesels, carriages and wagons so in human terms they end up going feet first! Does this make the vehicles concered feel queasy going backwards fast for a long distance?

 

Or does the face magically change ends to face the way that they are going? In the books and in the TV programmes you never see a vehicle with a face at the back, so this may indeed what occurs. Dead easy with road vehicles because they alway face forward, and only go backwards for a very short way. 

 

By the same token of course if the locomotive is working the train tender or bunker first should the face now appear on the tender or bunker facing the way it is going, and the smokebox revert to simply a door? 

 

These are important questions as the balance of the universe will be thrown into chaos until it is resolved.

[new lad on block]

Hi LC&DR, An interesting observation, I can only imagine that on the Island of Sodor 'the rule of the road' is that the engines can only travel face forwards.Much like in the UK the rule is we normally should drive on the left.

Clarabel and maybe Toad should travel backwards.

Perhaps if the Troublesome Trucks are being rather too naughty they may be positioned so they travel backwards.

Gordon may be able to enlighten us.

Also Gordon thankyou very much for the information, re train formations.

[96RAF]

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[LCDR]

I still think a little bit of magic must be involved.

[NWR-Gordon-4]

@LC&DR

 

The majority of that has gone over my head, even though I have read your comment twice!  😆

 

The locomotives or engines as they are called in the books and in the TV series, do not control themselves. They have driver and fireman in the cabs for the steamies and a driver in the cab for the diesels.

 

A few of them have gone off themselves without a driver, but they don't have much control. It's supposed to be humans running them and each locomotive has a face and are alive. I don't belive any magic is involved, at all.

 

The Island of Sodor is a made up island and on are the two railways; North Western Railway (Standard gauge) and the Skarloey Railway (Narrow gauge).

 

@New lad on block

 

You are very welcome.  😀

 

GNR-Gordon-4 (HF)

[NWR-Gordon-4]

The Island of Sodor is a made up island and on are the two railways; North Western Railway (Standard gauge) and the Skarloey Railway (Narrow gauge).

 

 

I meaned to say that the North Western Railway and Skaroey Railway are the two main railways, the most known about.

 

GNR-Gordon-4 (HF)

 

[LCDR]

It is nothing whatsoever to do with who is driving.

 

In the book and on TV every engine has a face, which on every picture page in the books and in every scene the face is on the front (smokebox of steam engines) . Now that is OK for steam engines but coaches and trucks also have faces, so my question is "Does that face appear on the front in direction of travel and therefore swaps ends when the vehicle concerned reverses, or does it remain on one end only and the vehicle goes with the face facing backwards?".  All the pictures normally show the face so I suspect that the face transfers from one end to the other. 

 

This then begs the question about whether the face transfers to the tender when the engine is going backwards?

 

What is complicated about that?

[NWR-Gordon-4]

Sorry LC&DR. I got confused. I know what you mean now.

 

No, the face stays one end of the locomotive all of the time. When the locomotive reverses, the face stays where it is, on the front of the locomotive.

 

GNR-Gordon-4 (HF)

[96RAF]

So who is watching the track when the face is looking aft.

 

And yes there are many railways on Sodor, not just the well known two - fully documented by WiKi which we all know is gospel.

 

Question - why can’t you see Sodor when going from England to the Isle of Mann on the ferry  - its not on Google Earth either - more of LC’s magic no doubt.

 

I think TTTF, etc is all fake and just a marketing ploy to get folk to buy fictitious goods that may or not exist in real life.

[NWR-Gordon-4]

Driver and / or fireman would be watching the track, whilst the locomotive is reversing, if there's no shunter or workman about at the time.

 

The reason you can't see the Island of Sodor on Google Earth is because it does not exist. All of the characters, the towns and do not exist in real life. It's all fiction.

 

I don't think it's a marketing poly at all. Thomas & Friends 'based on The Railway Series by Rev W Awdry', as stated in the intro to the TV series.

 

GNR-Gordon-4 (HF)

[LCDR]

Ah but what about diesels, carriages and wagons, and so if the face is on one end, what is at the other (do they have a tail for example) !?

 

And when I have sailed to the Isle of Man from Liverpool as suggested I can confirm there is no sign of land except England as we leave and Man as we arrive, so it MUST be magic! Quod Erat Demonstrandum.  😆

[new lad on block]

Hi, I wonder if Sodor is like the Scottish village that can only be  seen every 100 years.

That one is not on the map, or Google Earth.

Brigadoon.

 

 

[LCDR]

Brigadoon eh! Yes, that seems a reasonable explanation. Probably why it escaped the Beeching cuts

[walkingthedog]

If as Jacob said Thomas etc. is made up, how come I have seen Thomas at heritage railways? 

 

LC that is a very interesting point you make about the faces on wagons and coaches. Must be some kind of magic.

[NWR-Gordon-4]

@LC&DR

 

Faces on steam locomotives, diesel locomotives, coaches and wagons stay where they are. They move to the other end when they reverse.

 

None of them have tails!  😆

 

@New lad on block

 

No, the Island of Sodor cannot be seen everyone 100 years or ever, simply becasue it does not exist. I am sure I have said that already!  😆

 

@walkingthedog

 

The Thomas you see at heritage railways, during the 'Day Out with Thomas' events, is a real life privately owned locomotive, modified at great cost to look like Thomas.

 

No magic is involved.

 

GNR-Gordon-4 (HF)

[walkingthedog]

Thanks Jacob, what would we do without  you. 

[NWR-Gordon-4]

You are welcome.  😀

 

I suppose the only thing you do, is asking other members, or even ask Google!  😆 😉 😀

 

GNR-Gordon-4 (HF)