Non-rail vehicles (Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends)
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The television series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends is well known for its anthropomorphic railway engines. However, there have also been many characters over the years who are not rail-based. These are often rivals to the engines, but several become friends to the railway.
Non-Rail Characters
Bertie the Bus
Main article: Bertie the Bus
An excitable bus who loves nothing more than a chance to show his speed on the roads of Sodor. He famously raced Thomas and, though he lost, the two have been firm friends ever since. He often helps the engines, and sometimes they can even help him.
Terence the Tractor
Main article: Terence the TractorAn orange tractor fitted with caterpillar tracks. These allow him to go anywhere, and make him very useful when it comes to pulling other vehicles out of a jam. When Thomas first encountered Terence, he insulted Terence’s caterpillars, but later discovered their usefulness when Terence pulled him out of a snowdrift.
Terence is a friendly sort of tractor, and when he is not needed for rescues, he works on a farm by Thomas’ branch line. Terence made his first appearance on television in 1984, he made cameos in the 6th and 7th seasons between 2002 and 2003. He had not been featured in the 8th nor 9th seasons between 2004 and 2005 , how ever terrence will soon be able to return in the tenth series in 2006
Harold the Helicopter
Main article: Harold the HelicopterHarold is a helicopter who patrols the skies of Sodor. Nicknamed “whirlybird” by the engines, he enjoys a good-natured rivalry with them.
Trevor the Traction Engine
Main Article: Trevor the Traction EngineDiscovered by Edward in a scrapyard, Trevor the Traction engine was due to be broken up before he was saved by the Vicar of Wellsworth. He now lives in the Vicarage Orchard.
Although he is old fashioned and slow, he has lots of uses from sawing logs to helping with construction work. His favorite activity of all is giving rides to children.
George the Steamroller
George is a grumpy old steamroller who hates engines. He can often be heard chanting, “Railways are no good! Pull ‘em up! Turn ’em into roads!” However, he rarely comes out on top, as his enthusiasm for beating the railways can make him careless.Caroline
An elderly car who does not like high speeds, because they wear her out and cause her to break down. She also did not like trains, but when Stepney was able to help her out she was forced to admit that they have their uses. Caroline has not been speaking since season 5.Cranky the Crane
Cranky, as his name suggests, is always cranky. He is a tower crane who works at the harbour loading and unloading ships. He finds the engines tiresome, particularly the smaller ones, and enjoys teasing them. However, the engines usually find ways of getting back at him if he goes too far.Cranky cannot move on his own, but he can be dismantled and rebuilt in other locations if necessary.
Tiger Moth
A biplane who enjoys daring stunts in the skies over Sodor. Sometimes these stunts verge on the dangerous, and Tiger Moth was once grounded for this.Unusually, although he has a name and a personality, he does not speak or have a face. However, an early magazine appearance did depict him with a face.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth is a vintage Sentinel steam lorry. She does not like laziness or rudeness, and will respond to both in the strongest terms. Although she believes roads are superior to rails, she often helps the engines out.She was also the only person able to insult the Fat Controller without getting into trouble, as she was the first lorry he ever drove.
The Pack
In Season 6, a new set of characters was introduced called ‘The Pack’. This was a gang of construction machines owned by Miss Jenny. The characters were devised by then-producer Phil Fehrle with the intention of being turned into a spin-off series, possibly as a rival to Bob the Builder. This series never materialised, and the Pack only ever appeared in the episodes ‘Jack Jumps In’ and ‘A Friend In Need’. Since then, although some of them have been used in merchandise, they have never reappeared in the series.One reason for this is that the models used were larger and more detailed than the usual character models. This would not have been a problem in a spin-off series, as presumably they would not have had to interact with any other characters from the original series. However, this made them unsuitable for “extra” and cameo roles in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends thereafter, unlike other character models.
The Pack consisted of:
Jack
A friendly and enthusiastic front loader. He was first seen in the episode ‘Jack Jumps In’ when he joined the Pack. Despite a couple of accidents, he was able to prove himself when he saved Thomas from disaster, and is now part of the team. Jack has the number 11 painted on him.Alfie
An excavator and a fast worker whose motto is, “More dirt means more fun!” He loves working hard, and handles even the toughest of jobs with ease.Max
A dump truck who likes causing trouble. Although he is a hard worker, he sometimes has to be put in his place when he misbehaves.Ned
An old steam shovel. He means well, but he can sometimes be clumsy. Indeed, he once nearly caused a terrible accident by knocking out the keystone of a railway bridge when Thomas was due to cross with a goods train.Oliver
A wise old excavator, larger than Alfie, who keeps an eye on the other members of the Pack. He should not be confused with the steam engine Oliver.Isabella
A vintage lorry who looks almost identical to Elizabeth, apart from her bright yellow paintwork. She is a hard worker, but does not like getting dirty.Other Vehicles
There are several vehicles that appear in various episodes as props. They do not have faces and do not speak. However, some fans class them as characters nonetheless. The Ertl range of die cast models featured a number of them, partly to ensure that they could keep up the numbers of new “characters” released in the years between seasons. For a time, the official Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends website included some of these vehicles in their character section, but they have since been deleted. The Ertl range named a number of these “characters” for ease of identification (such as the Dyson Low Loader and the Sodor Soft-Side Truck), and these names are still used by fans.From Season 3 onwards, a number of the background vehicles were used from the defunct television series TUGS. These mainly consisted of boats, but a number of cars, lorries and cranes from that source also made their way into the series.
Other characters from the TV Series
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