#ttte hatt children

[pistonsandgearsinc]

Traintober Special: Discovery and Collection

"Toby's Discovery"

[Late 20th Century Sodor, Tidmouth Hault, West Sodor.]

"Come along Toby, we're going exploring." Toby had found himself taking The Fat Controller and his family to a small station on Duck's Branch line, what had initially been a small outing to the seaside and soon turned into an adventure. An expedition as Sir Robert would call it, Toby had idly wondered if perhaps Sir Topham spent a bit too much time around The Earl. . .

"If you don't mind my asking sir, where will be going?", The Fat Controller dopily turned around, a childlike glint in his eye.

Toby hadn't quite gotten a straight answer, it seemed Sir Topham had wanted it to be a surprise. In truth this wasn't such a bad thing, but Toby wasn't quite sure he liked where they were going, they were now entering the wildest part of Sodor. At least, wild to an engine who didn't leave the ffarquhar branch often.

He had been shaken from his thoughts by the realization he had arrived at a lonely signal box along the branch line.

As the driver and firemen disembarked, a sleepy signalman clambered down from his box. He looked as if he hadn't slept properly in sometime, and was quite jittery too.

Whilst Topham and his crew spoke with the signalman, Toby looked around at the barren countryside.

"Toby is everything alright?" Henrietta asked. Toby hadn't realized it, but he'd been staring off into space for a while now. "I'm quite alright Henrietta, no need to worry about me." he said as casually as he could. He wasn't sure but he was sure he saw something behind the bushes and trees in the distance.

The adventure was soon underway once more as they travelled down the abandoned branch, enduring many brambles and bushes before arriving at another little junction.

They were faced with the choice of the castle, and the mine. Naturally the children wished to see the castle, and Topham had agreed.

-

"There's the castle!" cried Richard from inside Henrietta. All eyes affixed to the giant structure not far away from an old water tower.

The castle was as to be expected slowly crumbling away but stood tall and mighty, it gave Toby a sense of foreboding, but perhaps it was just the dilapidated nature of the structure.

"Yesss. .and now we shall visit the mine." The Fat Controller said to himself thoughtfully.

Toby didn't know why, wouldn't know for a while even, but his heart sank at that.

-

PrincessMuffins, CJ The Creator, Carsfan16, StarSearch etc. [I have only reskinned some stuff].

I'm gonna level with everyone. I haven't been consistent with my postings for traintober, because of not being inspired in some cases, and suffering burn out in others.

I was gonna do more for the last day to make up for it, but I got sick mere days before.

I'll be posting the prompts I didn't get to though, and stuff inspired by them.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2023.

PS. If you have any question about my AU don't be afraid to ask!

[ladychandraofthemoone]

That one Twitter Meme from Mhyuo but with Stankyle/OrangeChai: What do you meant this isn’t what happened? Kyle was totally Stanley’s very first crush & bi awakening even though he was unaware but he shook enough to drop his cigarette Kyle’s driver gave him-btw.

Flagless/Non Blurry Ver & Longer Explanation Below:

Wdym that you were only a year old after gaining your first crush after being immediately sent overseas and staying in the workshops in Europe for a month and then you met this cool engine while working on the front who’s a couple of months older than you yet already had crow’s feet’s and eyebags but the biggest smile and he had more experience who then takes you underneath his wing and taught you everything he knew and he didn’t get mad at you even you made mistakes that you couldn’t help yourself that you end up being labeled as a jinx and derailed every single day unlike the others including him who was considered to be “lucky” but he gives you advice, defends you and keeps you company and you didn’t even know what exactly love is until it was explained to you but you still had a vague perception on it until you come to this realization when you constantly think of him and his smile and his attempts to cheer you up and makes you laugh you love hearing him laugh and just around him ..

Yeah that couldn’t be me.

[theredengineapologist]

I'mma just leave this here

Ironic statement.

[esperfruit]

More short TTTE Human AU refs

Victor de Cèspedes

Age: 42

Height: 183 cm

Victor is a mechanic and engineer from Cuba. He came to Sodor after he was recruited by Sir Topham Hatt, who heard about his famous skills after the company Victor worked for went bankrupt. He had a lot of trouble shortly after his arrival because he couldn't speak English at first. The first English word he learned was "red" when he chose his new uniform. His primary job is the repairs of machines, there is almost nothing he can't fix.

Despite being busy and strict, he has a charming and accomodating personality and wants to create a good work atmosphere for everyone. He earned many sympathy points with people after he told off Spencer and embarassed him. In an accident, he feel down a cliff but miraculously survived. After he went missing for a while, he cleared up the misunderstanding that Luke might have killed him. Victor has a clumsy assistant named Kevin, who tests his patience on a daily basis but Victor knows he's a good guy.

Charlie Wardle

Age: 20

Height: 177 cm

A young man from the city, who just entered the work life. Before that, Charlie was partying all the time and was very popular. He has an easy-going and fun-loving personality and loves making others laugh. Unfortunately he has the bad habits of being careless, easily distracted and often doesn't treat things serious enough. The younger ones like Thomas, Percy, Rebecca and Paxton see in him a good friend and fun to hang out with while on the other hand most older adults like Gordon, Henry and Cranky find him, annoying, unfunny and view him as a general nuiscence.

After Charlie got into a lot of trouble due to his carelessness, Edward took him in as his apprentice because he saw how Charlie felt genuine regret for what he did. Charlie feels a lot of gratitude towards him and started endearlingly calling him "Eddie".

Trevor Foster

Age: 63

Height: 171 cm

The principal of the school Thomas, Percy, Rosie and Philip attend. He his very good-hearted and likes children, he wants nothing but the best for them. Trevor is usually polite and peaceful but he will take any measures to make sure everyone, who hurts a child will be punished.

Outside of school, he helps out at the local church by taking care of its orchard. He owns a steam tractor in which he often gives rides with. Trevor is also good friends with Terence and Bertie. The three organized a big party once to earn enough money so children could go to the beach during summer vacation. He also became a close friend of Edward after the latter brought him to the hospital when he collaped once. Even since then Trevor looks after Thomas in school for Edward.

Terence Crawler

Age: 33

Height: 190 cm

A local farmer, who owns a caterpiller tractor. He usually uses it for ploughing but on request he can fulfill other jobs. Similar to Bertie with his bus, Terence has a strong atattchment to his tractor as he was willing to do anything to save it from falling into a lake when ice under it cracked. He is assertive, helpful and always eager to do a job. He has the saying: "You have to be sensible if you want to stay safe." and he easily forgives other for getting cheeky with him. Despite being very friendly and good-natured, a few people such as James find him quite unsetteling because he always has"that smile"...

Kenji Shima

Age: 17

Height: 169 cm

A high school student from Japan, who took in an internship with an inventor during summer vacation. He accompanied his superior to a science fair on Sodor and was helping out with presentations. When members of a smuggling ring failed to steal secret and valuable blueprints, they held Kenji hostage to get away but he was saved by Sonny, who betrayed the ring.

Kenji is from a family of scientists and his parents have high expectations for him to become their sucessor but there is one severe problem: Kenji struggles with technology. Regardless, he studies hard to learn and adapt skills and knowledge. Kenji is determined, organized and clever but also a bit anxious as he hates being alone and he fears dissapointing his family if he doesn't become scenentist like them.

[biggsodorcitystories]

any tugs and ttte headcanon you have and their angst

That's a very BROAD ask. I'm not 100% certain if the following is exactly the answer you want. I'll be honest, I think it would be too much if I gave you every headcanon I have, so I'll just pick a few angsty ones that I haven't really shared. If you want any specific character headcanons, it might be easier to ask for then outright - I would be happy to share!

TTTE:

Flying Scotsman, for all his bluster, has a lot of unresolved trauma from his time hiding in America and from the loss of his siblings. When he returned home, he became convinced that Mallard wanted to take his position as public head of the Gresley family (officially, this is actually Gordon), and the two are no longer speaking. He also has an irrational jealousy towards Henry, not only for 'stealing' his position of Gordon's brother, but is also convinced that Henry is trying to take control of the family. Without the support system of friends and family, Scotsman has no way of handling these issues until he is forced to after a mental breakdown.

Spencer's position as a private engine has made him a figure of scorn outside of Sodor. Private engines, though benefitting from the security of their status, are looked down upon by engines on the mainland due to their limited workloads and better variety of routes. Years of being shunned and told he is a 'toy' or 'pet' engine, who has no understanding of hard work, has made Spencer's early life a very lonely one, and he struggled to form many relationships as he had no idea how to behave until he was able to spend more time on Sodor.

Though he would never admit it, Diesel is terrified of being sent away from Sodor. During recent visits, he has discovered that most of his friends have been scrapped, and he knows another failure will result in his own last trip to the scrapyard.

Thomas has developed an attachment to Edward, whom he had been assigned to by Sir Topham Hatt I, which was a common practice for broody engines and orphan engines. Unfortunately, he left them together for too long, resulting in Thomas imprinting on Edward. Though he is much improved, Thomas wants nothing more than than to become Edward's son for real, which is why he tried dating Lady.

Big Mickey is the son of Big Mickey from TUGs, but became nonverbal after the death of his father, and was unable to speak until he had been on Sodor for many years. He has a very rational phobia of military vessels and vehicles, which render him immobile.

TUGS:

Hercules, though he has become an expert in masking them, has very serious attachment issues. In particular, he is overly attached to his grandfather, Captain Starr, to the extent that he gets jealous when one of his siblings seems to be getting more attention than he is. This is due to the emotional neglect administered by his father.

Zorran took great pride in his status as a family man, working hard to provide his wife and five children with a better life. However, he learned that his wife had been cheating on him with multiple partners when she left him for one of them. In an attempt to save face, she tried to spread rumours that Zorran was an abusive husband and father due to being in an inappropriate relationship with his sister, Ziva. Although none of this was true, and was quickly proven to be lies, the betrayal hit Zorran hard, causing him to lash out at his fleet, in particular his nephew Zip. He is slowly trying to put his life back together, and currently has full custody of his eldest son, Zane.

Zebedee is dealing with the agony of being forcibly separated from his wife, children, and family after almost killing his ex brother-in-law. His two youngest sons are almost strangers to him, and missing the milestones of their (and their siblings) childhood years is especially hard for him. He is currently conflicted about his position within the Zero fleet, for fear that his sentence may be extended due to the fleets legally questionable connections.

Zug is extremely lonely, and it is largely his own actions that have caused it. Due to his habit of snitching to Zorran about their actions, Zebedee is very cautious and short with him and Zak has actually made serious physical threats if he sees Zug hanging around them. Though Zorran has made use of Zug's snitching, he still has no time for the Estonian switcher, and Captain Zero is no better. Zip is the only one who is kind to him, but Zug has noticed that the others are much nicer to Zip, so how long will that last?

Grampus has developed agoraphobia after an incident in the Great War (WWI). He is alright in familiar environments, such as around the port, but is prone to panic attacks if he goes much further than Dem Der Rocks unless he has a specific task to complete.

Sunshine, like his twin sister, was the victim of maternal neglect due to their mother's mental health and bullying due to their lack of a father. However, Sunshine suffered additional abuse from bullies while protecting his sister. This has begun to take its toll, and now they have a family and the security they never had, the cracks are beginning to show...

I hope this is in line with what you wanted. If you want any individual character headcanons, please ask again!

[bolters-and-rivets]

OK, so, something I've been doing recently is working out what legal charges the antagonists of TTTE would face if we suspend our disbelief and imagine locomotives having to stand trial in a court of law.

Diesel (various episodes and specials throughout the show's run)

3 counts of destruction of property: damaging disused trucks. Pushing trucks into the harbour resulting in the loss of a consignment of china clay. Wasting an entire flat truck’s worth of paint.

3 counts of defamation: Spreading negative rumours about Gordon, James, and Henry.

1 count of frameup: Pinning the blame of the rumours on Duck.

1 count of attempted murder: Trying to get Fergus scrapped.

3 counts of assault: Bumping Thomas under a stone hopper. Bumping paint cans onto Thomas. Bumping Toby into a coal hopper.

Sailor John (Legend of the Lost Treasure)

4 counts of assault: stamping his foot on Skiff, elbowing Skiff to silence him, stamping on skiff AGAIN, battering thomas with an oar

4 counts of trespassing: riding Skiff on the construction site of the new branchline (3 counts). Entering the station out of regular hours

1 count of coercion: manipulating Thomas into his scheme to steal the treasure.

4 counts of theft: stealing the map, the stealing the treasure, stealing explosives, stealing a warship.

2 counts of intimidation: accusing thomas of taking the treasure for himself, threatening skiff with physical harm for “mutiny”.

1 count of unlawful possession of explosives.

1 count of breaking & entering: breaking into Sir Topham Hatt’s office.

1 count of destruction of property: using DYNAMITE to break into Sir Topham Hat’s safe.

1 count of vehicle hijacking: running amok with the ship on a flat wagon (lets ignore the physical improbability of this for the moment).

1 count of public endangerment: same reason as vehicle hijacking.

2 counts of attempted murder: trying to dynamite Thomas, leaving Thomas to drown.

And possibly also 1 count of prison break: he's seen in a later special (Big World: Big Adventures) in a cafe in brazil. Assuming this isn't just the studio reusing him as an asset as a background character this implies he escaped from prison and fled to brazil.

Diesel Ten (Thomas And The Magic Railroad & Day Of The Diesels)

7 counts of attempted murder: Lady twice, James, Junior, Mr Conductor, and Thomas (TATMR), Thomas (DOTD).

3 counts of property damage: Carving his likeness on the rock which would be the property of the landowner, tearing down the scaffolding of the sheds, bringing down the diesel shelter (TATMR). 

3 counts of Intimidation: The sheds, Mr Conductor on the Viaduct, and carrying Junior on his roof (TATMR).

1 count of conspiracy to commit genocide (wanting ALL steam locomotives scrapped): "I'm going to destroy her and dominate you, then you'll be nothing but hunks of useless scrap" (TATMR).

1 count of reckless driving: driving at excessive speed with Junior on his roof (TATMR).

1 count of unlawful imprisonment: Trapping Thomas in the shed (DOTD).

1 count of arson: setting fire to the shed (DOTD).

1 count of coercion: manipulating Percy into unwillingly assisting him in goals (DOTD).

1 count of trespassing: entering the dieselworks without the knowledge or permission of Victor (DOTD).

1 count of conspiracy to commit grand larceny: attempting to take control of the dieselworks (DOTD).

1 count of theft: stealing a christmas tree.

Verdict: Diesel is toxic, Sailor John is a pirate, and Diesel Ten is standing trial in the Hague for crimes against trainkind and small children

[transfem-edward]

ANSWERING UNANSWERABLE THOMAS QUESTIONS[or most of them]

hc, going off logic, joke answer cuz idk, canon

Are thomas and tugs set in the same universe: since big Mickey exists in cgi, yes

Why do the drivers wear suits: I wish I knew cuz those can't be comfortable

Can the engines sleep while in operation: probably but it wouldn't be safe

How does etiene have a mustache: cuz he's french

Is gators real name is Gerald, why does his nameplate say gator: like duck, he probably just preferred gator

Can the engines breathe underwater: considering rustys ghost engine died after falling into the swamp, I highly doubt it

Do the engines breathe at all: yes

How old is lady hatt: probably in her 70s

How old is dowager hatt: probably in her 90s

Why do some rolling stock have faces: cuz the show is inconsistent

How does Jeremy's pilot see: through his eyes

Who installed pinchy onto d10: whoever built him, he was prolly built to work in a scrapyard

Do the pack/marion have drivers:probably

Do the engines get flies on their faces: yes

Can engines have feelings for eachother: yep, the show decided it was necessary

[Tugs questions time yall]

Why do some Tugs have doors to their head: no clue

How do they attach themself: they shoot the ropes like spiderman

How did sea rogue lose an eye: I like to think smtn hit his eye once and it got damaged

Why do the tugs have lifeboats: cuz why wouldn't they

How does izzy pay for the towing: his driver pays

Where's lord stinkers mouth: the haul is

How do they have hair: how do they have eyebrows? They just do

[Back to ttte]

How much of an engine has to be removed before its considered dead: I think its only truly dead once the face is destroyed

If the face is removed is the engine still operable: yes

Where does Stepney work: wherever he wants to

Can engines get black eyes or nosebleeds: if they can get bloodshot eyes/can blush, they can get injured too

Who applies daisy's makeup: it's painted on like the rest of her paint is

Who made whiffs glasses: whoever fucked up badly enough to make an engine need glasses

Would ice have helped james' beesting: yes

Do engines NEED to breathe: I'd assume so

How did the coaches speak before having faces: telepathy

Why doesn't city of Truro have a face: I mean...did she in the books?

Does daisy feel the passengers when they're inside of her: yes

Does not having paint = naked: what

Does the fire go out = being tired: from what we've seen, yes

How do the engines feel pain: because they're alive

Why do Mr Percivals kids look nothing like him: one of those kids had black hair so smtn tells me genetics are just fucked on sodor

Are the culdee fell engines constantly looking 2 directions: yea probably

Why does Trevor like children so much: because kids are seen as happy and cheerful, Trevor likes seeing people happy

[little-red-toyota]

Fireman thoughts...

As a fireman onboard a steam engine, I've been thinking a lot about TTTE's steam engine firemen and drivers... Why are they wearing SUITS... and how the fuck do they stay so clean inside the cab of a working steam locomotive???? When I am done for the day after 8+ hours onboard the locomotive... I do NOT look clean, I can assure you. At least not onboard a coal fired engine!

And the diesel drivers... why to they wear boiler suits? And how the heck do they manage to get that dirty?? The only days I come back from work clean is when I have been driving a diesel locomotive...

I've also been wondering... what exactly IS Sir Topham Hatt's role on the railway?? Is he the owner? Is he the traffic manager? Is he the yard/rail master? The maintenance manager? Is he the general manager? Or is he all of them... if so... how is he able to manage all those roles alone? He just doesn't make sense...

And what are those men following him everywhere? Body guards? Apprentices? Servants?

The more I work on the railway, the more I see how much realism TTTE actually lacks... Sure they get a few things right, but wow there is a lot of nonsense in there.

I get that it is a children's show, but a lot of those growing up with it seems to religiously think it has a lot of railway realism in it. I have been told by certain of those fans that I know nothing about steam locomotives because -insert random "fact" here-, despite literally working with them and being able to prove those "facts" wrong.

Anyway... If anyone knows how the crew onboard the steam engines in that show manage to stay that clean, please tell me. I would love to know that trick!

[sussux-zel]

Thomas the Tank Engine - Alignment charts, draw your squad and memes.

Because I don't have self-control.

I remember watching TTTE when I was like... Idk, four years old. Almost two decades later and I decided to watch it again. CGI Series, 2D Series (not that bad. The desings are kind of cute, but not my cup of tea), and a whole fandom on Tumblr... Man, did I miss that much?

So anyway, I made these things for fun. Sorry if anything is not entirely accurate. Most of them have the main eight I grew up with (Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby and Emily), but I also included a little of Sir Topham Hatt, Hiro (my beloved) and Spencer.

Edward being a dad is wholesome.

Thomas and Percy are the children of the team. End of story.

James and Thomas are menaces to society, and I absolutely love that.

Yea. I love this Engineverse AU! Bruce Wayne so much.

And now, the same meme used twice, based on "Hero of the Rails":

1. Remember that scene when Spencer teased Thomas and Edward, James, Gordon and Percy defended him? Well, this was the first thing I thought after watching it:

Edward gives some "Don't talk to me or my adopted son ever again" vibes.

2. General feeling about the movie:

That's all, folks.

[wysteriaisapenguin]

TTTE AUs Overview

I thought about two possible AUs where I could apply my TTTE humanizations. One is a regular human AU and the other’s a magical shapeshifter AU. So here’s an overview on both! 

Roundabout Railroad – Regular Human AU, Realistic

Everyone is a train driver, each with their own respective engine.

Pretty self-explanatory tbh.

Lady isn’t real in this AU. She is just a fictional engine whose story is told to young children.

This AU focuses on Thomas’s growth to fulfill his dream of becoming a well-respected driver. After many ups and downs, he learns how to not only be good at his job, but also form strong bonds with his coworkers.

Off the Rails – Human Shapeshifter AU, Magical

The engines have the ability to shapeshift into humans while leaving behind a faceless engine body. They need special permission from the actual humans controlling them. (Ex. Sir Topham Hatt, drivers, firemen, etc.) This is to prevent suspicion from civilians who are unaware about this phenomenon.

During work, they need to be in engine form. So they are only allowed to be in human form during free time.

Although the engines can shapeshift whenever they want, they require gold dust in order to maintain their forms. A finite supply is provided by the conductors, who maintain business at stations. They are pretty secretive to where this gold dust even comes from, so the rest of the railway workers decide not to question them, not even Sir Topham Hatt. But as long as the engines stay on their best behavior, things should be fine.

Lady is real in this AU, for she is the deity responsible for making the engines sentient and giving them the ability to change their form. However, exposure to these powers has caused her to hide from humans who wish to use it for themselves and view engines as “shapeshifting monsters”. Occasionally, she will appear on Sodor in a human disguise and only the conductors recognize her. Oddly enough, the other engines do not know who she is. (That is until a certain Diesel engine goes searching for her while a tank engine is determined to stop him.)

This AU has Thomas questioning his identity. He’s perfectly fine with being a tank engine, but occasionally living as a human had him wondering. What is it like to be completely human? Would he prefer to be one or just stick to being a useful engine? Even if he built strong bonds with the other engines, could he do the same for the humans who care about him? He isn’t sure at first, but despite the many forms he takes, he knows that he’s still Thomas and nothing could ever change that. (He still goes through the same growth he does in the “Roundabout Railroad” AU)

[fabianvalencia561]

Proteus: *Sigh* Fine.. here they are..

Ben and Bill: (Run to Alfred and Timothy)

Bill: DON'T LET HIM EAT US!!

Alfred: Don't worry you two.. I won't let him..

Proteus: (Growls) ... Come on!

The gang look at Proteus and feel uneasy

(Proteus look down at them with a upset look)

Timothy: (lies) N-no!

Proteus: Timothy don't lie.. I know that one of them died in Weirdcore World.. (Looks at Toby) and it's you isn't it?

[percy-supremacy]

Random headcanons from my ttte humanized/conductor au :>

Species

They’re not really human, more like humanoids that are ✨magically✨ connected to their designated locomotive. Hence their unnatural skin tones (different shades of gray).

The state of the train affects the state of the person, and vice versa.

Sexual dimorphism resembles humans, though they do not sexually reproduce.

When a train (or other machine) is built, a “conductor” appears with it and is raised like a human child until they are old enough to control their train on their own.

They could be immortal is their engine is taken care of forever, but eventually most do get replaced with better models and disappear along with their train.

Similar to the show, trains that are made by the same designer are related in whatever way they choose to be. Because they do not make their own children and essentially adopt ones they raise, they usually end up choosing their family.

Legal marriage isn’t really a thing since they’re not humans, but some engines do choose to date or find a permanent partner.

Etc

When Thomas and Percy were first made and brought to the island of Sodor, Sir Topham Hatt chose Henry and Gordon to train (haha) them when the time came, but they got attached and ended up raising them as siblings. This was mostly Henry’s idea.

Thomas and Gordon have fun poking at each other, while Henry and Percy are a bit more laid back.

James was also trained by Henry and Gordon, though he was much older than Thomas and Percy and doesn’t see them as parental figures.

Percy has made a friendship bracelet for every other engine on Sodor. Thomas, Emily, and Gator are the only ones who wear them. Henry occasionally does too, and Gordon always keeps his in his pocket.

James and Emily are bffs, true mlm/wlw solidarity.

Lady is sort of a deity among engines, though no one really knows much about her.

I know Magic Railroad probably isn’t canon, but I love it and this is my au so I can do what I want.

James is like a big brother to Thomas and Percy, and thought he’d never admit it, he cares a lot about them. (“No one picks on _ but me” kinda deal)

More to come <3

[songbirdsengines]

Thomas In Name Only

Okay, you know how I posted a thing yesterday talking about “Season 25″ of TTTE?

It got worse.

I have the Sodor Island Fansite article here. Please read through it as many times as you need for comprehension and take a short break to keep from destroying your electronic device before returning to this rant.

https://thesifblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/thomas-2021-what-to-expect.html

Is everyone cool now? Good. Let’s talk about this. Even if you don’t want to read the rant under the handy “Keep Reading,” please reblog this post and share this article with every fan of the show you are in contact with. With what was revealed, it is almost guaranteed that Thomas will not see 100 if something doesn’t change for the better and soon.

Apologies for the length of the following rant, but I think this all needs to be addressed. If you make it through, I encourage you to reblog and add anything I missed. From what I’ve seen, the man who spoke doesn’t know anything about Thomas or what makes it tick.

To set the stage, this was a conference call arranged to talk about the new series. This was in the form of an interview with a Mr. Campbell Bryer, who will be one of the show’s directors on Nelvana’s side. While we did not get any new visuals, we got a mountain of information. And, once I read through it, I was glad we didn’t get any visuals.

First off, let’s make the tone of the show clear. This is a reboot, plain and simple. The stories will be more about the engines playing than doing their jobs. There will be little to no railway realism whatsoever, even less than the recent seasons have been showing. From what I am understanding, the engines will have little to no responsibilities and will be free to do whatever they choose.

I also want to mention how much of the heritage they are intentionally stripping away. As we all know, Sodor is located off the coast of England, Barrow-in-Furness specifically. However, in this new iteration of the show, Sodor’s location will not be mentioned, and characters who speak will likely not have an English accent. This is a grave insult to the history of this series, which started in England. EVERYTHING about Sodor and its history has been incorporated into British history. Even the name “Sodor” comes from a British bishop!

Not only does this remove the history, but it also cuts off an essential aspect of the engines themselves. A lot of the original and most popular engines are BRITISH locomotives. As an example, Gordon is an A0, the prototype to the A 1/3. His only surviving sibling, Flying Scotsman, was the first engine recorded at 100 mph. To strip the island’s location is to deny the heritage of the characters we know and love.

While we’re on the subject of characters, the line up of characters is looking likely to change. The article mentions that we are likely to see more focus on the childlike characters, like Thomas and Percy, and even less focus than currently on older, more mature engines. Who does this rule out? I can think of three engines on the standard gauge lines right now.

Edward - Edward is the classic example of the mentor character. In most of the stories and episodes he is featured in, he approaches things with a level head and a fair bit of logic. He will likely completely disappear.

Duck - Duck typically thinks things through logically, like Edward, though he gets into more scrapes than the blue tender engine. It’s safe to say that Duck will be relegated to cameo appearances if he doesn’t disappear altogether.

Henry - Henry’s been on thin ice for a while now. While he’s not typically portrayed as wise, he could be considered the more level headed of the Tender Trio of Henry, Gordon, and James. With this, Henry has a real chance of never being seen again.

With this revelation, I have to wonder about the Skarloey Railway’s fate, where many of the engines are more on the mature side. I have a feeling that any railway that is not standard gauge will also disappear.

This brings us to another aspect of Sundrian life. What about the humans? The short answer is that they will become nonexistent. To start, the engines will be moving without any assistance of crews. This completely removes an aspect that has been seen throughout the show’s run, even if the existence of an engine’s crew was downplayed in certain eras. In general, humans will not have a forward role, meaning we also lose out on essential functions such as stationmaster, guard, and signalman.

The only exception is, of course, Sir Topham Hatt. As we currently know him, he is the leader of the railway and a father figure to the engines on Sodor, doling out praise and punishment as needed. However, in this new series, Sir Topham Hatt is relegated to the role of a joke, despite supposedly still being in charge. The article describes him as “really flustered and all over the place,” nothing like what we would expect.

With the mature engines leaving and Sir Topham Hatt reduced to an idiot, who will take charge of the engines and fill in a father figure’s role? Well, that would fall to Gordon, of course!

No, I’m serious. Stop laughing.

Gordon will be the father figure the other engines look up to. Gordon, the bully. Gordon, the snob. Gordon, the engine with one of the shortest fuses. Gordon, the engine that refuses to do work outside of what he prefers. Gordon, the engine who is known to harass engines (namely Henry) who are having problems. Gordon, an engine who is not known for being a role model, will be the father figure in this reboot.

One of the most significant causes of controversy in the latest few seasons of the show was the engines’ movement. While this was disorienting, the article promises that it will look tame compared to the reboot. We have been promised that not only will the engines twist and move similar to how they currently do, but those movements will be even more exaggerated than before. The engines will also be able to jump. Yes, you heard that right. Ant this is not described as small hops, no. The article mentions explicitly the engines turning while jumping. The only minuscule relief is the promise that the engines will not “use [their] wheels as hands.”

While those are the primary concerns, there’s more stake here. To start, this reboot will not have a narrator. Thomas’s stories began as bedtime stories to children and have had a storyteller in some shape or form throughout the show’s run. The series will also lean heavily on action and fun to convey stories, instead of the more action-and-consequence type of storytelling we see in the Railway Series and early seasons.

Probably the thing that is the most unforgivable to me is that they think this monstrosity will appeal to a “broader audience.” They say this as if older fans of the show haven’t been telling them for years what has or hasn’t been working well. We have posted and shared our concerns and they have either tossed them aside or did not take them into serious consideration. This is the worst I have ever seen Thomas, and this is saying something, considering the engines bouncing in the last couple of seasons made me feel PHYSICALLY ILL.

We can’t let this continue. If you have any method of contacting Mattel, utilize it. If you know someone who works at Mattel or Nelvana who might have any say in this, talk to them. Don’t directly attack, but bring up your concerns in a calm, rational manner and be willing to listen. If this new format does make it to air, don’t watch it, don’t buy any merchandise, and don’t go to Day Out With Thomas so Mattel can see just how much we are displeased with them. If this is the end for Thomas and the North Western Railway, we can at least say that we did just about everything we could.

And not only are we losing a beloved franchise, but we may also lose rail travel as we know it. I can’t speak for everyone, but I can easily look back and say that Thomas was my gateway into a lifelong love of rail transportation, especially steam engines. A lot of heritage railways rely on the Day Out With Thomas events to bring in visitors. If this franchise fails, they will eventually lose out on a significant amount of revenue. This will likely significantly hurt them and, while railways like Strasburg in Pennsylvania might be able to handle it, others may be forced to close down.

All I can say now is that it saddens me to see what has happened to the show that started a lifelong love of rail travel. I have to wonder what the Awdrys and Britt Alcroft have to say about this...