Correct Thomas & Friends train formations.

[GWR LNER fan 4472]

Some good winding up in here...

 

Back to the original post, may I add that in the books Duck and Oliver pull two GWR auto-coaches in GWR chocolate and cream each (Duck: Alice and Mirabel, Oliver: Isabel and Dulcie), however in the TV series, these are absent and instead they pull the normal red 'branchline coaches'.

 

As previously posted, every engine has pulled all sorts of trains, so really it doesn't matter, but the list GNR-Gordon-4 posted is pretty accurate.

 

Donald and Douglas in particular are known as odd-job engines, suited for pretty much any task on the Railway. Douglas shares Toad with Oliver, so it would be alright to have Douglas pulling ballast trucks (the prime freight traffic on Duck's branchline) with Toad as his brakevan.

 

Stepney would look good with 4 or 5 empty trucks like in the story 'Train Stops Play', where a cricketer bats a ball into one of the trucks. Alternatively, later in the same story, Stepney pulls a flatbed with Caroline the car on it followed by a brakevan.

 

D7101/Bear pulls 'the Limited' in his main story, so this would be a rake of bogie coaches. In addition, D199 pulls oil tankers in this same story.

 

Bill and Ben work at the china clay works, so china clay wagons would be an appropriate train for them.

[NWR-Gordon-4]

@GWR & LNER fan 4472

 

Yes, I do believe a few members have been winding me up, but I shall not name names!  😆

 

I didn't mention about the GWR Autocoaches, as Hornby or Bachmann Trains, never released these characters.

 

I didn't add Donald and Douglas, as Hornby has never released those two twins before. Bachmann Trains did in their Thomas & Friends HO/OO range, but I don't think new lad on block owns any of these models.

 

When I was typing about Stepney, I was thinking about the story / episode, 'Train Stops Play', as well!  😆

 

In reagards to Bear pulling some caoches, he goes nicely with BR blue Mk2 Coaches, but these also are not part of the Hornby Thomas & Friends range. I didn't want to add to much to my list, from the main ranges.

 

The China Clay Wagons are also not part of the Hornby Thomas & Friends range, so that will involve new lad on block finding some from a standard range. The 77036 6 Ton Wagon from Bachmann Trains, isn't a bad model to be used as China Clay Wagons, but I doubt new lad on block owns these. I own two of them.

 

GNR-Gordon-4 (HF)

[GWR LNER fan 4472]

That's alright, I was just mentioning it generally. Even though Hornby may not have produced all the trucks, coaches etc listed in their Thomas & Friends range, it wouldn't take much imagination to use things from the normal Hornby range or indeed any other manufacturer.

[NWR-Gordon-4]

No, it wouldn't take much imagination to take some rolling stock from a standard model railway range and them to Thomas themed layout. The reason I only tried to mention the Thomas rolling stock though, was because by the sound of new lad on blcok's original was question for help, he wanted to use Thomas models only. I do not know if that is true, but that's I what I understood from his original post, but I am probably wrong by that.

 

GNR-Gordon-4 (HF)

[new lad on block]

Hi, Gordon, Yes,  I was originally going to use items from the Hornby Thomas range.

If I use the blue spot fish vans for the 'flying kipper' will they be in the corrrect dateline.

Infact is there a particular datline for the Thomas stories? Harold looks like he is quite  modern helicopter.

[walkingthedog]

Harold is based on a Westland Whirlwind produced 1953-1966. A very early helicopter.

[GWR LNER fan 4472]

The Railway Series has been worked into a timeline, which makes sense, except it does crush a few childhood perseptions. The TV series on the other hand is seemingly trapped in a time bubble - key indicatiors of quite when it's supposed to take place is in series 3, Oliver's story of excaping 'the Other Railway' is played out and Diesel tells Gordon that the diesels are taking over. However since then, there have been numerous steam engines that work on the Other Railway, such as Connor, Caitlyn, Samson etc. It is unclear if these locos work as preserved engines or genuine day-to-day trains. In 'Thomas and the Great Race' and 'Journey Beyond Sodor', there are many 08 diesel shunters around in a livery very much like that of EWS, albeit without the lettering.

 

For a while, I assumed that the newer TV series took place in the 'present', as in when each series was first released. This falls down somewhat because of the era-ambiguous dress codes and lack of mobile telephones, or indeed anything other than the two-piece vintage stuff (help me out on the exact name, if there is one?)

 

Anyway, here's a list of key events in Sodor's history. It appears the events of The Three Railway Engines (the first book) take place in 1922.

https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline

[NWR-Gordon-4]

@New lad on block

 

Yes, those fish vans would be arlight as part of The Flying Kipper, but Ventilated Vans and Utility Vans are also used in a jumbled up train, so I don't fish vans and no other rolling stock (Excluding the brake van).

 

GNR-Gordon-4 (HF)