History Trivia / ThomasTheTankEngine

* BannedInChina: "Henry Spots Trouble", a Season 19 episode revolving around Henry having a fear of chickenpox, was pulled from reruns in Australia due to parents complaining to the [[Creator/TheABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] (the show's primary broadcaster in Australia since Season 1) that the episode was promoting an anti-vaccination message (refusing to get vaccinated is often considered a taboo subject in Australia), due to The Fat Controller's line near the end of the episode where he tells Henry that chickenpox is "nothing to be afraid of". Despite the episode never being rerun on ABC Kids since the incident, it has still been released on DVD.
* {{Blooper}}:
** In the small arc about Donald and Douglas, their names were painted on them at the end because of confusion...however they seemed to film some scenes out of order, or flubbed the models used because you can spot them with their name tags on.
** See SpecialEffectFailure for a specific example.
** Someone with a keen enough eye will notice switchboxes or props in the scene. Oops.
** Sometimes engine's faces will placed improperly or have the wrong facial expression (in "Thomas and Trevor" for example, Thomas' facial expression is one same happy face model throughout the entire episode, no matter what emotion the narration claims he expresses).
** Similarly, take a look at the moment in "Coal" where the Fat Controller says he will have to replace Henry if his troubles continue. He looks happy about it!
** Despite most of the fandom praising its animation quality, Arc Productions made many silly errors in their first few works: points being set the wrong way, Oliver and Duck being out of proportion with their surroundings (and in one instance, Duck towered over Oliver when they're roughly the same size), brake vans changing on a whim, James pulling narrow gauge coaches, and so on and so forth.
* CelebrityVoiceActor: The franchise has been doing this since the very beginning.
** The very first narrator for the series was Music/RingoStarr.
** Creator/GeorgeCarlin narrated seasons 3 and 4 in the US, and also redubbed the previous two seasons.
** Creator/AlecBaldwin narrated season 5 and 6 in the US, and even played Mr. Conductor in ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad'' as a nod to the character's portrayal in Series/ShiningTimeStation.
** Creator/PierceBrosnan guest-narrated ''The Great Discovery''
** Creator/OliviaColman voices Marion.
** Creator/JohnHurt played Sailor John in ''Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasue'', [[spoiler: and in keeping with [[ChronicallyKilledActor his trend]], the character is given a DisneyDeath by the end of the film]]. The same special also featured Creator/EddieRedmayne as Ryan and Creator/JamieCampbellBower as Skiff, the latter of whom reprised the role in the series itself.
** Tina Desai voiced Ashima in ''The Great Race''. Reprises the role once again in Season 22.
** Hugh Bonneville voices Merlin in ''WesternAnimation/JourneyBeyondSodor''. He also reprises the role in Season 22.
** Peter André voices Ace in ''WesternAnimation/BigWorldBigAdventures''.
** Shane Jacobson voices Shane in Season 22.
** Creator/RosamundPike voices Duchess in Season 24.
* ChannelHop: In the US, the show moved from Creator/PBSKids to Creator/NickJr at the very start of 2018, which is justified since Mattel apparently wants to take the franchise in a new direction. After the show left Nick Jr. at the very end of 2019, it eventually moved to Creator/{{Netflix}} in 2020.
** It was previous aired on [[Creator/UniversalKids PBS Kids Sprout]] until 2015 when [=NBCUniversal=] took over the ownership and became Sprout.
* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: The description for the Engine Roll Call music video on [[http://www.nickjr.com/thomas-and-friends/videos/thomas-and-friends-theme-song/ Nick Jr's website]] implies that all the engines on the show are tank engines. That's not true. For example, Emily, Gordon, James, Henry, Edward and Rebecca are tender engines, and Toby is a tram engine.
* CreatorBacklash[=/=]CreativeDifferences:
** On the backlash side, while the Awdrys often cooperated with the show on early seasons, and even wrote some new novels for extra material, Rev Awdry was rather critical of its first attempts at original stories due to their lack of realism towards railways, most infamously "Henry's Forest", as well as "crane shunting" Thomas into unlikely stories to keep him the main character. Christopher Awdry also disliked some of his newer stories to contribute to the show, as well as being forced to make more Thomas-centric stories to tie in on its main character. Allegedly the Awdrys' ties with the show were more or less severed after the reverend wrote angry letters to Mitton and Allcroft about the state of the third and fourth seasons, considering them to be acting "pompous" with his work.
*** To a lesser extent original director David Mitton, who was cynical about the CGI transition, but otherwise had faith in the series going on after his departure.
*** [=HiT=] story executive Sam Barlow admitted that the constant rhyming theme of the early CGI seasons (especially Season 15) probably wasn't a great idea.
** On the matter of differences, Wilbert and Christopher wrote Sodor as idealistic, but also grounded in reality, with many stories taking influence from real-life (many of the incidents in the books were inspired by real events that were thoroughly researched), and Sodor itself developing and growing as an actual rail network throughout the publication history of the stories, having strong roots in the real-life heritage and preservation movements. Britt Allcroft however, saw Sodor as a timeless place that rested within a child's imagination, essentially an idealized, fantastic locale, a vision best seen in ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'', which depicted Sodor exactly as that through the character of Mr. Conductor, and overall showed rail travel in a sort-of dream-like state. One of the reasons ''Henry's Forest'' was so reviled by Wilbert, besides the above realism break mentioned above, was due to Henry showing interest in trees, something that Awdry found ridiculous for a steam locomotive, while Britt was all for Henry showing a softer side, and didn't see any problem in the engines showing more human traits.
** Martin Sherman came to regret asking David Menkin not to succeed him as the voice of Thomas in the US once he left the voice cast, apologizing a few years later and admitting he would've done a great job.
* CreatorCameo:
** Post-Season 17 series producer Ian [=McCue=] has voiced several minor characters since Season 19, including a monster, a poacher and a thief.
** Voice director and former head writer for the series Sharon Miller voiced the Queen in "Thomas and the Royal Engine".
* CreatorsPest:
** Daisy was like this to the staff members who operated the models, as she was troublesome to work with, hence why she didn't appear that much during the model era.
** Henry is also notably hard to handle from the writing team’s point of view, due to his huge shift in personality after Season 8. In Season 22, he is DemotedToExtra and replaced in the main cast by Rebecca. Henry’s appearances since his departure have also mostly been limited only to brief cameos, suggesting the problems regarding writing him continue to plague the writers.
*** Henry’s status as a Creator’s Pest even extended to the Railway Series, being Rev. W. Awdry’s least favourite character. He considered writing Henry out due to issues with the illustrator C. Reginald Dalby drawing him inconsistently. Awdry did plan to have Henry be scrapped after his accident in “The Flying Kipper”, but ultimately rewrote it to have Henry undergo a redesign instead.
*** [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Christopher Awdry however, who emphasized Henry's GrumpyOldMan traits and generally kept him in more consistent supporting roles, along with a new DayInTheLimelight book in the form of ''Henry and the Express''.
*** As a result of the show's popularity, the Awdrys were also pressured to write more Thomas-centric stories, especially in earlier points where the show was mandated to adapt stories from the novels only. Christopher Awdry mentioned being unsatisfied with several of the stories he made under this agreement.
* TheDanza:
** Timothy is voiced by Tim Whitnall.
** Sailor John is voiced by Creator/JohnHurt.
** Shane is voiced by Shane Jacobson (as of Season 22).
* {{Defictionalization}}: Numerous railways hold licensed events known as "A Day Out with Thomas" that feature full-sized and fully-functional replicas of Thomas himself. Other replicas include James and Toby.
* DevelopmentHell: A DarkerAndEdgier CGI movie, to be directed by [[WesternAnimation/{{Nine}} Shane Acker]] and be set during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, was announced in the early 2010s, but nothing came of it.
* DuelingDubs: There is much debate between whether the US or UK dubs are better.
* EarlyBirdRelease: Most (but not all) episodes of Series 3 were issued on VHS in the UK before broadcast, using (supposedly) early versions with different narration and music.
* EditedForSyndication:
** Some scenes from later specials were cut out of the PBS Kids broadcasts, to allow for the "one hour with commercials" airtime.
** Likewise, The earlier episodes of show itself were edited in the US so they could be aired as part of ''Series/ShiningTimeStation''. One of the most notable is "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS2E3BertiesChase Bertie's Chase]]", which had its opening scene cut out when it aired on "Washout".[[note]]This version of the episode was also novelized in the "James in a Mess and Other Thomas the Tank Engine Stories" book. Fortunately, the full version of the episode was released commercially on the "James Goes Buzz Buzz" VHS and DVD, and aired on the ''Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales'' episode, "Splish, Splash, Splosh".[[/note]]
** Broadcasts of Season 7 in the US had their music replaced with themes from Seasons 8-12.
** When ''The Adventure Begins'', ''Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure'', ''The Great Race'' and ''Journey Beyond Sodor'' aired on Nick Jr. in the US, the opening and ending were replaced with the theme and credits from seasons 19-21, and some parts were cut out to make room for commercial time. The latter three were also split into three half hour blocks.
* ExecutiveMeddling: ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' got butchered thanks to Sony Pictures executives being ignorami.
** Specifically, the film was not received well by test-screen audiences, stating that the plot and main villain were too dark, despite the film being complete at that point. The end result was a mess riddled with plot holes that resulted in HIT Entertainment taking control when the film failed. Later, when HIT was planning on bringing Thomas back to the television screens in America, they chose PBS, whose educational stance forced the show to be retooled extensively from a show that could be enjoyed by both kids and adults alike with a subtle moral, to a show aimed at preschoolers with a blatant Aesop and writing that [[Main/ViewersAreMorons treats the audience like they're idiots]].
** For the first two seasons, it was mandated that all episodes had to be adapted from story material from ''The Railway Series''. To get around this, the Awdrys were asked to write more volumes and standalone stories to be published specifically so the TV show could utilize them. This caused pressure for them however, as the TV series' popularity pushed them to write more stories based on the title character.
** WordOfGod states ''Day of the Diesels'' was also edited from a DarkerAndEdgier script.
** The Shake Shake Bridge from ''Misty Island Rescue'' was originally supposed to be a girder bridge, which would sway when a character crossed it but was otherwise durable and safe. The animation team, however, were instructed to animate a wobbly old bridge that was falling to bits for the sake of merchandising, [[BrokenAesop which resulted in the intended moral being butchered in the name of money]].
** According to a comment made by the episode's writer, Neil Ben, the aired version of "Wonky Whistle" differed substantially from the script he wrote for it.
** According to Ryan Hagan, Season 17 was going to be only 20 episodes, with Season 18 having both "Spills and Thrills", and 19 having both "Dinosaurs and Discoveries" and "Start Your Engines". This was changed thanks to Japan, though this was not that bad.
** Season 21 was originally supposed to be 26 episodes, but 8 episodes were cut from the season in order to increase the funding for ''Big World! Big Adventures!''. Two of the axed episodes included ADayInTheLimelight for Bulgy (hence his reintroduction in "Unscheduled Stops") and an episode for explaining Rosie being repainted red. Another likely axed episode would have involved Henry leaving the main cast in a more serious manner, since he left the group in a very rushed manner in "Forever and Ever" without any explanation or a proper farewell, likely done so that they could debut his replacement, Rebecca, in the following episode.
** Mattel came very close to canceling the series outright after Season 20, and while more seasons were negotiated for, it ultimately required the transition to ''Big World, Big Adventures'' for it to even happen in the first place.
** Part of the Nickelodeon contract meant that they would have exclusive rights to the content they would air and distribute for a period, resulting in ''WesternAnimation/BigWorldBigAdventures'' being released to DVD '''one year after it's premiere.''' They also requested half-hour specials rather than hour-long movies as annual tentpoles, likely due to their difficulty to air on the morning Nick Jr. block and split up into standalone episodes (as their ratings from ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' inadvertently proved). The latter was justified though, as the series had been producing features for a full decade when ''BWBA'' premiered, and sales for the movies had been gradually waning.
* FakeAmerican: British voice actors Rob Rackstraw and Teresa Gallagher had to fake American accents for James and Belle respectively in the US. Likewise, British voice actor Ben Small voiced the Troublesome Trucks in both English speaking dubs with American accents.
* FakeBrit: Canadian voice actor Kerry Shale voices Diesel with a British accent in both dubs.
* FanCommunityNickname: There have been multiple attempts to coin a nickname for the fandom. One was "tankies", but that word is also associated with communists who are Soviet Union apologists. Another was "brocomotives", but that term is rarely used unironically these days, and has connotations to incels.
* FanNickname:
** It isn't uncommon to hear fans who've watched Series/ShiningTimeStation call the narrator "Mr. Conductor".
** Fans like to divide the series into "eras", with a name for each one.
*** Seasons 1 through 7 are called "The Classic Series", with two "sub-eras". 1 through 4 are the "Golden Age", 5 is "The Action Era", and 6 through 7 are the "Experimental Era".
*** Seasons 8 through 11 are known as either "The [=HiT=] Era" or "The New Series". Due to Season 12 not being fully CGI, it is sometimes treated as part of it.
*** Seasons 12 to Season 21 are known as "The CGI Era", with two "sub-eras". 12 through 16 are "The Sharon Miller Era" while Season 17 to Season 21 is "The Brenner Era", named after the head writers during those seasons. Seasons 8 through 16, as a whole, tend to be referred to as "The Dark Age" as a whole.
*** Season 22 onwards is dubbed the "Mattel Creations Era" due to [=HiT=] Entertainment being folded into Mattel Creations in 2017, or the "Big World! Big Adventures! Era" due to it being added to the show's title. Many fans also refer to it as "The Second Dark Age".
** The Thomas Wooden Railway is often called the "Thomas Plastic Railway" by collectors, due to the abundant use of plastic in modern sets as opposed to the namesake material (though there ''are'' sets that are made solely out of wood for those who can afford them. Wood's more expensive than you think it is.).
* FanWorkBan: As of July 2021, Mattel has been cracking down on VideoGame/{{Roblox}} fangames based on the show.
* FollowTheLeader: This show has fallen into both sides of this trope:
** The success of the series lead to the creation of other children's shows about sentient vehicles. These include ''WesternAnimation/{{Chuggington}}'', ''WesternAnimation/RoaryTheRacingCar'', ''WesternAnimation/JayJayTheJetPlane'', ''WesternAnimation/JungleJunction'', and ''WesternAnimation/TheodoreTugboat'', the last of which had the same producer.
** Season 22 saw the franchise being retooled as ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'' The series was created as an attempt to respond to falling merchandise sales, and the show constantly losing in the ratings to Nickelodeon’s massive preschool hit series ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'' which has even managed to successfully dethrone ''Thomas'' as the most popular brand among the 2-5 age group. The attempts to cash off of ''PAW Patrol''’s success include a shorter episode length, faster-paced stories, gimmicky fantasy sequences, episodes taking place in other countries, wild animals becoming more of a focus, and a simpler writing style (though still better quality than Seasons 9-16). Due to heavy demand from feminist groups, Edward and Henry also got written out of the main cast and replaced by series newcomers Nia and Rebecca, in an attempt to appeal to female audiences and minority groups. The series also moved to Nick Jr. in the US (after nearly 30 years on PBS, counting ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'''s run on the network), making it now air on the same channel as ''PAW Patrol'' itself. Needless to say, the response from older fans has been sharply divided, and many feared a second DorkAge has unfolded (albeit not as bad as the first one due to the writing team remaining the same, though with the increased ExecutiveMeddling, this could still be a moot point).
* GodNeverSaidThat: One major rumor surrounding P.T. Boomer before his full role was discovered was that he was planning on destroying Shining Time Station and replace it with a highway. An interview with Doug Lennox, the actor who played Boomer, said that though such a plan sounded quite villainous, was never in any version of the script to begin with.
* IKnewIt:
** When the ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' series was announced, along with Nia and Rebecca taking Edward and Henry’s places respectively in the main cast, fans quickly speculated that Henry would be transferred from Tidmouth Sheds to Vicarstown. With the early Italian airing of “Confusion Without Delay” (Rebecca’s debut), this was confirmed via a brief shot of Henry and Rosie together. Unfortunately, there was no proper InUniverse explanation as to why Henry left, though fans have speculated that it may be due to Henry’s supposed new job of taking Mainland trains more frequently, if the opening scene of ''WesternAnimation/JourneyBeyondSodor'' is any indication.
** Cinderthomtrooper, a staff member of the Thomas & Friends Wikia, speculated that Rachael Louise Miller would be the voice actress for new Steam Team member Rebecca. Come the release of a Behind the Scenes trailer for S22 on September 2nd 2018, and Miller was indeed revealed as Rebecca’s voice.
** Another voice actor example. Following the early Italian airing of "School of Duck", and a leaked English voice cast listing for the episode, fans guessed Dexter the mobile classroom coach would be voiced by Mark Moraghan (former Seasons 17-21 narrator). They were indeed right.
* InvisibleAdvertising: Despite a huge promotional push for the series initially, Nickelodeon pushed Thomas off the main channel in later 2018 and moved it over to the Nick Jr. channel with little-to-no advertising for new episodes.
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The 1999 Fox Family series ''Storytime With Thomas''. It would feature two episodes from series 1-5, sandwiched with an episode of Britt Allcroft's other show ''WesternAnimation/MagicAdventuresOfMumfie'' in between. No VHS or [=DVDs=] were ever released of the show, and it was never sold to other networks.
* LostEpisode:
** Though "The Missing Coach" was never finished, the production team took a few still shots corresponding to this story. When these got out on the Internet, for a while some people did think the entire thing had been filmed.
** "Gordon Goes Foreign" was also going to be adapted, but was scrapped due to budget cuts. There was some concept ideas by one of the art directors, where they would reuse Henry's model.
** There's an adaptation of "The Sad Story of Henry" that aired on Creator/TheBBC in 1953. This adaptation used Hornby models to represent the engines (and, in fact, Hornby still continues to make licensed Thomas models to this day). It was infamous for having a mishap where Henry's model came off the tracks, so a stagehand had to put it back on. The live broadcast only aired once and was very likely not preserved; a second episode never saw the light of day because Awdry was embarrassed by the unprofessional result and he and his publishers declined an offer for more creative control.
** The next BBC adaptation of the ''Railway Series'' was a week of ''Series/{{Jackanory}}'' episodes in 1970 where Ted Ray read the stories aloud, presumably accompanied by illustrations from the books. The survival status of these, considering the BBC's preservation practices of the day, is uncertain.
* MethodActing: George Carlin, who was used to performing before an audience, found it difficult recording his dialogue in an isolated booth, so Britt Allcroft put a teddy bear on the script stand for Carlin to "read to."
* MilestoneCelebration
** ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' celebrates the 55th anniversary of the original books.
** ''Calling All Engines!'' celebrates the 60th anniversary of the original books.
** ''Hero of the Rails'' celebrates the 25th anniversary of the television series, as well as the 20th for the US.
** ''Misty Island Rescue'' celebrates the 65th anniversary of the original books.
** Both ''The Adventure Begins'' and ''Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure'' celebrate the 70th anniversary of the original books. The former is an OriginsEpisode, while in the latter, during the song "[[DisneyAcidSequence Never Overlook a Little Engine]]," Rex, Bert and Mike are riding on a giant birthday cake with "70th" on it.
** ''Thomas and the Royal Engine'' celebrates the 75th anniversary of the original books.
* MissingEpisode/ NoExportForYou:
** The original pilot episode (an early version of "Down the Mine") has been lost to history. Some footage from the pilot was reused in the final version, featuring a simpler model for Thomas, but the pilot itself has yet to surface.
** Season 12 hasn't been dubbed completely yet in Japan. However, they dubbed some episodes and released them as exclusives for Thomas Land.
** Season 10 was left unaired on ABC TV in Australia, but was still released on DVD.
** Allegedly Season 12 was narrated by Pierce Brosnan (who narrated ''The Great Discovery'') and was intended to replace Michael Angelis. Following unexplained circumstances, Angelis returned to renarrate the season, and only a small clip of Brosnan's work on Season 12 was ever shown.
* NamesTheSame: In the UK, Season 2 and Season 11 both had unrelated episodes titled "Dirty Work," but in the US, the former, taken from the Railway Series' ''Duck and The Diesel Engine'', was re-titled "Diesel's Devious Deed." The US is not immune to this, however, as it had a Season 1 episode called "Thomas Saves the Day" (its British title was "Thomas and the Breakdown Train") and a Season 8 episode also called "Thomas Saves the Day."
** The UK did this again with season 1 and season 11 where both episodes "Thomas in Trouble" (the US version of said season 1 episode is re-titled "Thomas Breaks the Rules"). Also the season 4 and season 8 episodes name is entitled "Fish", which the name stays the same in all UK and US versions.
*** One episode of Season 22, "Thomas and the Dragon" came very close to this, due to the title being similar to Season 3's episode "Thomas, Percy and the Dragon".
* NetworkToTheRescue: In the US, Creator/{{Netflix}} picked up the series when Nickelodeon dropped it.
* NonSingingVoice:
** In the UK dub of ''The Great Race'', Percy and Emily have their US voices when singing.
** Nia, who is voiced by Yvonne Grundy, has her singing done by Patricia Kihoro in ''Big World! Big Adventures!''.
* TheOtherDarrin:
** Rupert Degas, who originally voiced Bertie, Butch, Dart and Flynn, departed following the production of Series 16 to focus on ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball''. His roles were given to Creator/KeithWickham, Matt Wilkinson, Steven Kynman and Ben Small respectively, who replicated the characters' original voices.
** Ben Small, who originally voiced Thomas, Toby, Ferdinand for the UK dub, Stanley & Charlie[[note]]starting in Series 16[[/note]] for the US dub, and Rheneas, Owen, Flynn[[note]]Series 17 only[[/note]], and the Troublesome trucks for both dubs, left after Series 18 when [=HiT=] Entertainment wanted a fresh voice for Thomas and decided not to renew his contract. Following his departure, Thomas and Toby's UK voices are now provided by John Hasler and Rob Rackstraw respectively with the former also voicing Rheneas in both dubs, and the latter also providing Stanley's current US voice[[note]]barring a one time instance where he was voiced by John Schwab for "Pouty James"[[/note]] in addition to voicing Owen and Flynn for both dubs. Steve Kynman provides Charlie's US voice, and for both dubs the Troublesome Trucks are voiced by Christopher Ragland. It's unknown who will take over the voice for Ferdinand as he hasn't had any speaking parts since Ben's departure.
** From ''Hero of the Rails'' through the eighteenth season, Sir Topham Hatt's US voice was provided by Kerry Shale. Starting with ''The Adventure Begins'', he's now voiced by Keith Wickham who was already doing his UK voice.
** From ''Hero of the Rails'' through the eighteenth season, James' US voice was provided by Kerry Shale. Starting with ''The Adventure Begins'', he's now voiced by Rob Rackstraw. In the UK, Keith Wickham voiced him from ''Hero of the Rails'' through the majority of the twentieth season (Rob provides his voice in "Tit for Tat" for both dubs). Starting in ''Journey Beyond Sodor'', he's now voiced by Rob full-time for this dub who gives him a more British accent as apposed to American accent he gives him in the US dub.
** From ''Hero of the Rails'' through the sixteenth season, Mavis' US voice was done by Jules de Jongh. Starting with the seventeenth season, she's now voiced by Teresa Gallagher who was already doing her voice for the UK version.
** ''Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure'' had several voice castings that changed when the characters later reappeared in the twentieth season:
*** Joe Mills voiced both Donald & Douglas. Now, Donald is voiced by Rob Rackstraw.
*** Daisy was voiced by Teresa Gallagher. She's now voiced by Tracy-Ann Oberman.
*** Newcomer Ryan was voiced Eddie Redmayne. Due to confirmation that Redmayne was only intended to be a guest star in the special, since the twentieth season he's been voiced by series regular Steve Kynman.
*** This special was the last time Keith Wickham voiced Percy in the UK as Nigel Pilkington replaced him for Season 19.
** From ''Hero of the Rails'' through the eighteenth season, Thomas and Percy's US voices were provided by Creator/MartinSherman. After Michael Brandon's departure, Martin also took over the role of Diesel in the same dub. Following Martin's departure from the series in 2014, Thomas and Percy's US voices are now respectively provided by Joseph May and Christopher Ragland, while Diesel's US voice is now provided by Kerry Shale who was already doing his UK voice.
** For the thirteenth through sixteenth seasons, Rosie was voiced by Teresa Gallagher in the UK dub while Jules de Jongh voiced her for the US dub. Starting in ''Journey Beyond Sodor'', she's now voiced by Nicola Stapleton for both dubs.
** In Japan, the entire show was recast after the eighth season when the show [[ChannelHop switched stations]].
** In ''The Great Race'', Carlos was voiced by David Bedella. Replaced by Gabriel Porras in ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' onwards [[PlaysGreatEthnics due to Mattel casting all the international characters with people from their respective country]].
** Shane the Australian Engine was voiced by Jonathan Forbes and Matthew Richardson in the Website/YouTube shorts such as ''Great Race Friends Near And Far'', as well as the shorts for the AFL. In Season 22, he is recast with CelebrityVoiceActor Shane Jacobson, in order to fit the aforementioned PlaysGreatEthnics example.
** Gina and Raul were voiced by Teresa Gallagher and Rob Rackstraw respectively in ''The Great Race''. As of Season 23, they are now voiced by Anna Francolini and Federico Trujillo respectively, again as part of the PlaysGreatEthnics example.
** Bill and Ben were voiced by Jonathan Broadbent from Seasons 17 to 19. As of ''Big World! Big Adventures!'', they are now voiced by Rasmus Hardiker and Matt Wilkinson respectively.
* TheOtherMarty: Various voice actors in ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' were replaced during the post-production overhaul:
** Thomas was initially voiced by John Bellis, a cab driver the crew met while shooting on the Isle of Man. He can be heard in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlGUiJLPfIA one of the teasers]].
** The series' concurrent UK narrator, Michael Angelis, was the voice of Percy and James. Test audiences thought the characters sounded too old, and in the final version they're both CrossDressingVoices.
** A few of the trailers feature Diesel 10's original voice actor, Keith Scott.
** Rupert Degas was supposed to voice Diesel 10 in ''Misty Island Rescue'', but he was replaced with Matt Wilkinson after his lines had been recorded.
** Pierce Brosnan, who narrated ''The Great Disovery'', was originally going to replace Micheal Angelis and Micheal Brandon full time in both English dubs. Discovered footage reveals Brosnan got as far as recording some episodes of Season 12, though for unknown reasons, both Angelis and Brandon continued their roles after the film with the whole of Season 12 redubbed.
* OutOfHolidayEpisode:
** "Hunt The Truck", a Christmas episode, aired in the UK in May 2019. Contrast with the episode's US airing, where it aired in December 2018.
** The aptly titled "Halloween" aired in the US on ''November 20, 2004'', when the holiday had long come and gone.
* OvertookTheManga: The well of ''Railway Series'' stories dried up (save for a few difficult-to-adapt ones), so material Season 5 onwards is largely original to the show.
* ThePeteBest: George Carlin joked about this after he replaced Ringo Starr.
* PlayingAgainstType: George Carlin, the legendary comedian famous for his profane material played Mr. Conductor in the US version. Carlin stated in an interview he had taken the role with the direct intent of doing this and showing a different side to him.
** He later claimed to have formed a close friendship with Britt Allcroft, both of whom found working in children's programming helpful for dealing with their own difficult childhoods.
* PlaysGreatEthnics: From ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' onwards, the international engines all have voice actors with a relation to their specific country.
** New main cast member Nia is from Kenya. Her voice actress Yvonne Grundy is a black-skinned British actress who was born in Kenya.
** Kwaku is voiced by another African-raced actor, Abubakar Salim.
** Yong Bao finally gains a voice in the special, voiced by Asian-British actor Dan Li.
** Ace the daredevil racing car is from Australia, and is voiced by Australian singer Peter Andre.
** Shane, another returning international, is now voiced by Australian actor and presenter Shane Jacobson.
** Carlos’ voice is recast with a culturally appropriate voice, Mexican-born actor Gabriel Porras.
** An unnamed Chinese Diesel is voiced by Su-Lin Looi, another Asian-Brit actor.
** Hong-Mei, a blue Chinese tank engine is voiced by Chipo Chung, an actress from the African country of Zimbabwe, but is part-Chinese and can do a Chinese accent, making her fit in this.
** Hong-Mei's twin coaches, An An and Yin-Long are voiced by Siu-See Hung and Windson Liong, who are also British actors who are both part-Chinese.
** Shane's coaches Aubrey and Aiden also have voice actors with Australian ties. Aubrey is voiced by Australian actress Genevieve [=McCarthy=] and Aiden is voiced by writer Tim Bain, who was born in Australia. Tamika the Australian railmotor engine is also voiced by another Australian actress, Rose Robinson.
** Rajiv, Noor Jehan, Charubala and Shankar's respective voices (Nikhil Parmar, Sheena Bhattessa, Sanjeev Bhaskar) all have Indian background.
* PromotedFanboy: Michael White, also known as [=WhitehouseFilms=], is a fan of the show who knew Andrew Brenner personally. Andrew Brenner invited him to work on the series, and White ended up writing the season 22 episodes "An Engine of Many Colours" and "Hunt the Truck", and the season 23 episodes "Free the Roads", "Heart of Gold", "Out of Site" and "Deep Trouble".
* PropRecycling: After ''WesternAnimation/{{TUGS}}'' was canceled, a majority of the models were used in Thomas up until the CGI switch.
* RealitySubtext: Diesel's basis, the Class 08, was a diesel responsible for displacing countless steam engines, especially tank engines. Further emphasizing this is just how many Class 08s Sodor currently has.
** The "Naughty" freight cars always causing havoc are based on the British practice through the 1970's of not fitting certain freight stock with automatic braking systems. These "unfitted" trains were only controlled by the braking force of the engine and the "brake van" on the rear. As was seen on the show it was quite tricky to keep these trains (or even just lose cars) under control. This can also be considered a case of TechnologyMarchesOn.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The original narrow gauge models were a challenge to work with - they couldn't produce their own smoke[[note]]any smoke seen on screen came from below the set and was channeled through the hollow body[[/note]], they required an external battery[[note]]hence why they were often seen pulling a single coach or truck[[/note]], and in general were hindered by their size. This led to the larger-scale models being developed for Series 5. As time went on and the larger models became used exclusively, the narrow gauge characters effectively became isolated from the rest of the cast because of the scale difference (until Season 9, when large models of Thomas and James were built).
* RecursiveAdaptation: The show garnered it's own magazine series, with some of it's original stories actually adapted into episodes of the show itself in Seasons 3 and 5. Incidentally the magazine's writer at the time eventually ended up lead writer for the show come Season 17.
* RecycledScript / StrictlyFormula: Seasons thirteen through sixteen all followed an identical pattern: an engine is given an important job to do, but something else (usually an idea how else to do it, or simply not wanting to) keeps them from doing it. After making the same mistake [[RuleOfThree three times]], [[GoneHorriblyWrong everything goes wrong]], the engine learns the error of their ways and fixes everything JustInTime, says the moral of the story, followed by a EverybodyLaughsEnding.
** Ironically, this was also one of the reasons the original team stopped adapting stories from ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'', feeling they had already adapted most of the unique stories their budget could handle.
** The plot of Season 17's "No Snow for Thomas" is remarkably similar to Season 8's "Thomas, Emily and the Snowplough". Arguably a case of Administrivia/TropesAreTools, since reviewers who noted the similarities also commented that the former episode's plot is basically the latter's, but better.
** Similarly "Duck In The Water" uses a lot of similar cues as "James To The Rescue", but is considered one of the best episodes of the CGI era.
** Season 21's "P.A. Problems" is similar to the ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' episode "Sunday Drive". Both episodes involve the characters installing a new system (a public address system and a new dashboard software, respectively), but things go horribly wrong. In the end, the characters switch back to their old systems.
** Season 22’s episode “The Water Wheel” is basically “Steady Eddie”, but set in China and with Thomas in the lead role instead of Edward.
* SameLanguageDub: The US version of the series is renarrated by American actors outside of Ringo Starr and Mark Moraghan's tenures (and even they had to rerecord many of their lines for the US version to use American terms and slang). The CGI series plays with this, while they have a voice cast for both regions, some characters use the same actors and so share recordings between both dubs.
* ScheduleSlip: This occurred to the show many times before (prior to [=HiT=]'s takeover), but it took this trope happened many times right after the series switched to CGI.
** It first happened in the UK when they aired Season 12, and some viewers are left confused about certain characters and locations (eg. Stanley and Great Waterton) that were already established that viewers didn't know before. This is because ''The Great Discovery'' hadn't been released yet, in which that's where the established characters and locations were properly introduced.
** 2010 was the only year that show played two seasons, as production was still going after the series switched to full CGI.
** Season 15 and 16 actually aired months before the specials that were meant to air in between, respectively. Like before, viewers would get confused on the new characters and locations that were actually supposed to be properly introduced.
** Season 17 repeated the same thing, though it was much worse (despite the stories being better). The UK only aired the first ten episodes during June, then they stopped airing them until sometime before the release of ''King of the Railway'', which they only aired five more episodes until around Christmas, then again during Summer-Fall 2014, which by that point Season 18 was already starting to air. Australia and Japan already aired all the episodes (including the episodes from the Spring releases) by that point.
** Season 18 was a bit more forgiving as yes, while they somewhat repeated what Season 12 did before, they at least manged to air them close towards the release of ''Tale of the Brave''.
** Since Brenner's takeover, America has the Walmart exclusive [=DVDs=] where they included some never before seen episodes of the yet-to-be aired season. This can leave some fans having to wait longer than usual thanks to that.
** Japan zigzagged this trope various times. While they already dubbed the current episodes in Brenner's run, they still haven't dubbed the other episodes made between S13-16 (Then again, this was because of the tsunami from 2011 that delayed it).
** Even before the CGI switch, Japan was a bit late on dubbing. Best example was when they did season 8 in 2006, even though it was already finished in both the UK and US by that point, and they were already in Season 10.
** Season 4 was released on VHS in the UK over a year before it was broadcast on TV. Cartoon Network would be the first to show it (and Season 5) in the country rather than ITV, who took the show back for Season 6.
** "Thomas in the Wild" was supposed to air in the US, paired with "Number One Engine", but the former ended up being replaced by "What Rebecca Does" at the last minute. Despite this, the AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle segment from "Thomas in the Wild" ended up airing.
* RelationshipVoiceActor: Amusingly ''both'' of Thomas and James' voice actors in the UK dub. Ben Small and Keith Wickham had previously voice the main characters in ''WesternAnimation/WatchMyChops'', while their replacements John Hasler and Rob Rackstraw voiced the main hero and villain in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendsOfTreasureIsland''.
* ScrewedByTheLawyers:
** A truly bizarre case. As we know, the Reverend would often base his characters on their real-life counterparts. Peter Sam is based on the locomotive "Edward Thomas" which works at the Talyllyn Railway in Gwynedd, Wales. In the Railway Series books, Peter Sam visited the Talyllyn Railway. This was in commemoration of the fact that the Talyllyn Railway repainted "Edward Thomas" to represent Peter Sam. Egmont, the publishers of the Railway Series books, caused a lot of controversy and backlash, [[RealityIsUnrealistic when they complained that the real locomotive... is a violation of copyright]]. Apparently, they thought, the engine was infringing upon... yes you read right, [[Main/InsaneTrollLogic itself]]. Needless to say, a compromise was eventually reached.
** In the spring of 2021, Mattel began taking down and/or blocking various Thomas-related videos on [=YouTube=]. This treatment even extended to uploads of foreign dubs of the series. This is mainly for the classic series (the first seven seasons).
* ScrewedByTheNetwork:
** The reason Seasons 8 through 16 took on a more educational, bland revamp was due to [[http://www.sodor-island.net/sambarlow.html HiT wanting to secure a slot on PBS Kids, and overhauling it to meet their guidelines.]]
** On that note, PBS sadly screwed over the show in its final years. Despite getting a national spot following the Mattel buyout in 2013, premieres were mostly inconsistent and only done in "event" weeks (usually spearheaded by the movie specials). On top of that, episodes mainly from the "Nitrogen" era (Seasons 13-16 in particular) were shown more often, compared to the newer episodes following the new slot. Because of this (and realizing a new and more consistent home was needed for the ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' season and movie), only 6 episodes from Season 20 were ultimately licensed for the US due to PBS' focus on newer programming, and Mattel chose to cut ties with PBS in December 2017, with the premiere of ''Journey Beyond Sodor'' (which was accompanied by one last episode to fill up the timeslot, "Mucking About"). The series moved to Creator/NickJr in 2018...
** Which ironically also managed to screw over the show. While they aired ''WesternAnimation/JourneyBeyondSodor'', ''WesternAnimation/SodorsLegendOfTheLostTreasure'', and ''[[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriendsTheGreatRace The Great Race]]'' as three-part specials rather than as complete ones (to make them easier to air and run as week-long events) to promote the following, ''WesternAnimation/BigWorldBigAdventures'' was promoted as "the premiere of the All-New Thomas & Friends", making no note of the movie being '''two hours long'''. The result was a series low in ratings (527,000 total). ''SLOTLT'', "A Most Singular Engine", "Philip's Number", "Very Important Sheep", and "Mucking About", were going to air on the main Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} channel on July 23-27, 2018, but they all ended up getting shunted (no pun intended) to the Nick Jr. sub-network. Following the glitched-up premiere of "Number One Engine" and "Thomas in the Wild" (the latter of which was mixed up with "What Rebecca Does", which had a very glitched audio track), the show's premieres moved over to the Nick Jr. channel and the heavy-duty promotion the series initially had was gradually phased out. At the very least, despite the series having little to no promotion and late night reruns, Season 23 premiered on a regular basis; a new episode having aired every two weeks from May 2019 onwards. In December of 2019/January of 2020, the ''Thomas'' social media revealed that their contract with Nickelodeon had ended. All traces of it were removed from the Nick Jr. website, and the show was later sold to Creator/{{Netflix}}.
** Even Creator/{{Mattel}} has screwed over the show for US audiences. They have not released all season 21 episodes on DVD or on digital services[[note]]The only season 21 episodes available on DVD in the US are "Terence Breaks the Ice", "Daisy's Perfect Christmas", "Confused Coaches", "Emily in the Middle", and "The Big Freeze"[[/note]], and instead chose for them to only be on the Nick Jr channel. Then, they outright ''refused'' to release ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' on DVD or digital in the US, only having it be on, you guessed it, the Nick Jr. channel. A lot of parents, children, and even the PeripheryDemographic are understandably upset by this, especially since some people don't have Nick Jr. at their houses. Eventually it turned out this was a side effect of the Nickelodeon contract (as they placed an embargo for the content they have the contract for), resulting in ''BWBA'' finally making it to DVD in September 2019.
* TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment: The ''[[SpinOff Jack and the Sodor Construction Company]]'' episodes were released DirectToVideo between Series 10 and 11, but were shot alongside Series 7. They were apparently held back due to the buyout by HIT Entertainment (the owners of ''WesternAnimation/BobTheBuilder''). It's noticeable because they're shot on 35mm film (as the series had been during the David Mitton era) rather than digital video, the episodes are four-and-a-half minutes long instead of seven, and Tidmouth Sheds is seen in its pre-''Calling All Engines'' build.
* ShortRunInPeru:
** Season 22 first aired in Italy in August of 2018, a month before the UK and US airdates.
** Several episodes of Season 22 also aired in Australia before they did in the UK, despite the season being released around the same time (early September) in both countries. This is due to ABC Kids in Australia airing their block 7 days a week, while the Milkshake! block on Channel 5 only airs 5 days a week, on top of ABC Kids airing most episodes in a different order to the UK, meaning Australia will likely have aired every episode before the month is over. This meant that Australia completed the run of season 22 way before the UK and US, creating massive spoilers for the episodes (unless they, of course, watched the episodes on [=YouTube=]). The UK showed season 22 in week-long bombs for the first 3 weeks of September, but then went on hiatus until November 2018, when they aired "Samson and the Fireworks" for Bonfire Night. They then set premieres to Mondays throughout December, and randomly dumped episodes throughout February of 2019 before finally finishing the season in May 2019.
** Season 23 aired in Mexico and the US as early as May 2019 before premiering in the UK in September. In addition, ''Digs & Discoveries'' aired in Canada and the US before airing in the UK.
* SoMyKidsCanWatch: Possibly explains Creator/RosamundPike's involvement in the show, as she had a then 5-year-old son.
* SpoiledByTheMerchandise: A frequent issue with the feature-length specials is that the toy previews typically give away many of the movie's twists and cast of characters.
** For ''Blue Mountain Mystery'', the merch spoiled that [[spoiler:Victor was the yellow engine that fell into the sea]].
** For ''King of the Railway'', the merch spoiled that [[spoiler:the lost crown is hidden in the mine, and Stephen finds it]].
** For ''Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure'', the merch spoiled that [[spoiler:Skiff makes a HeelFaceTurn and joins Sodor, while Sailor John gets the treasure but loses it in the sea]].
** Merchandise spoiled that in series 21, [[spoiler:Rosie would take on a new job and livery]].
* StarDerailingRole: ''Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' and ''Film/ASimpleWish'' were arguably this for poor Creator/MaraWilson. ''Magic Railroad'' ended up being her final movie before she decided to drop her film career in favor of her education.
* TalkingToHimself: Naturally the case for the pre-CGI era where all characters were voiced by the narrator. In a more conventional example, Keith Wickham voices several major characters in the CGI era, even more-so if looking at the UK dub specifically where he once voiced five of the eight characters in the Steam Team (Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy) as well as The Fat Controller. As the series went on however, Wickham's voice presence in the main cast diminished, due to James and Percy [[TheOtherDarrin getting recast]], while Edward and Henry [[PutOnABus left the group]] and [[DemotedToExtra got demoted to the background]]. As of the ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' series, Gordon is now the only member who Wickham still voices.
** However, this is completely averted with the Skarloey Railway, as only Sir Handel and Skarloey share a voice actor, the aforementioned Keith Wickham.
** Both Olivers' current Japanese voices are done by Yuta Odagaki. This actually comes into play with Marion for "SLOTLT".
* TechnologyMarchesOn: In "Special Funnel", it's stated that the new funnel Peter Sam receives drastically improved his performance. His real life basis, Edward Thomas, was fitted with a Giesl ejector for a few years, but with inconclusive results - it was eventually removed in 1969.
* ThrowItIn: Much of Neil Crone and Kevin Frank's voiceover work in ''Magic Railroad'' - particularly the banter between Splatter and Dodge. They were originally hired to improvise material for the trucks.
* UnfinishedEpisode: Several other adaptations of ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' stories were planned during the early seasons:
** The second season was supposed to feature an adaptation of "The Missing Coach". Half the episode's footage was filmed, however mid way through production the story was considered too complicated for young audiences so canned (leaving missing plot points in Donald and Douglas' introductory story as a result).
** An adaptation of "Gordon Goes Foreign" was planned during Season 2, though low budgets prevented them being able to produce the story's original scenery and characters.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/AndrewLloydWebber was interested in adapting the Thomas the Tank Engine stories into a musical for children, but then couldn't get the rights. He took the songs he'd written about trains and made ''Theatre/StarlightExpress''.
** A few discarded stories from ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' were planned for adaptation early on, but were canned due to time and budget constraints, or being considered too complex for children's stories (eg. "The Missing Coach" and "Gordon Goes Foreign"). A few other stories that were more loosely adapted are also the result of this (e.g. "Tender Engines", which was originally planned to be closer to the novel's "Tenders For Henry" until budget prevented them from making a full model for the Flying Scotsman; one rumor says the model was complete, but was dropped accidentally and badly damaged, and with time and budget ruling out any repairs, the damaged model was attached to the completed tenders and the episode hastily rewritten).
*** "The Missing Coach" is notable in that it was actually filmed, but ultimately canned because Britt Allcroft thought that kids would find the plot of Donald and Douglas switching tenders too complex; it was to be the second season premiere, and was replaced by "Thomas, Percy, and the Coal". Multiple screenshots of the unaired episode still exist, and many Website/YouTube users have made their own reconstructions of what the episode may have looked like using Trainz Simulator or the existing screenshots.
*** For "Gordon Goes Foreign", the Foreign Engine was to have been Henry with a different face, paint scheme, and added smoke deflectors. London would have been represented by a redressed version of the Tidmouth set. The story did, however, make its way to the official [=YouTube=] channel as part of the Mr. Perkins Story Time series.
** A feature length special was planned that would have involved The Fat Controller loaning the railway to the king of Sodor. For whatever reason, this special was scrapped and ''Blue Mountain Mystery'' took its place. It's unknown if any elements of the scrapped special ended up being reused in any of the later specials.
** The show was originally planned as a BBC kids show, but after only one episode ("Thomas and Gordon", obviously), the show moved to Creator/{{ITV}} instead.
** Several classic characters were originally planned to be part of the core Steam Team for the show's 2004 revamp, but a need for a prominent female character in the main cast, coupled with problems on some of the models, resulted in the current cast of main characters.
*** Duck was one of the biggest considerations, and was actually going to be part of the Steam Team, but the need for a female character to appease [[MoralGuardians parents who had accused the show of sexism]] overruled this. This led to much criticism for Emily, with many accusing her of replacing Duck. Andrew Brenner even included a nod to this in the Season 18 episode "Duck and the Slip Coaches", with mixed results.
** A few characters have had alternate names in pre-production:
*** Derek from "Double Teething Troubles" was originally named "Paxman" after the brand of diesel engines utilized in the Class 17 design.
*** Some tie-ins give Porter the alternate name "Baldwin", possibly after Baldwin Locomotive Works (his basis in the final version was an engine by H.K. Porter, hence the name). It may also be a reference to Alec Baldwin.
** The first draft of the Season 13 episode "Splish Splash Splosh" was written with Billy in the role that ultimately went to Charlie (the two are basically interchangeable due to sharing the exact same basis), presumably to sell merchandise of yet another engine.
** The Season 15 episode "Kevin the Steamie" was originally to include appearances by Sir Handel, Peter Sam and Duke. But said appearances never materialized past the storyboard stage, and the narrow-gauge engines did not make their CGI debut until Season 16 (with Duke still being MIA).
** Music/JohnLennon was [[https://twitter.com/media_integer/status/1363354624099557379?s=21 tapped]] to narrate the series at one point, but he told the producers to "fuck off".
** Season 12:
*** During pre-production, an idea was proposed to give Annie & Clarabel CGI faces but have them be grey like most of the other characters. Ultimately, they kept their normal faces for that season as well as when the show transitioned into full CGI the following season.
*** There were considerations to keep the show in its "transitional" form from this season (ie. still using the models, but using super imposed CGI animation for expressions and human characters). However, since the models became an increasing issue to maintain budget-wise,[[labelnote:*]]Not just for running costs but also for repairs; the many crashes that occur in the episodes take a heavy toll on the aging models, many of which were the original models made during season one by kitbashing Marklin kits.[[/labelnote]] the show ultimately transitioned to full CGI.
** There was going to be a SpinOff series titled ''Jack and the Sodor Construction Company''. As the name implies, it was going to star The Pack, putting little emphasis on the railway, though Thomas, Percy, and The Fat Controller were still prominent (Thomas and Percy even had larger-scale models built just to interact with The Pack). This idea was scrapped during the time [=HiT=] Entertainment bought the rights to the franchise, saying that it would've conflicted with [[WesternAnimation/BobTheBuilder a certain other construction-themed show that just so happens to also be owned by HiT]]. Episodes that were filmed were put exclusively on the [=DVDs=] "On Site with Thomas & Other Adventures" and "Thomas' Trusty Friends", with the first two episodes being aired as part of Season 6.
** Pierce Brosnan was originally going to take over for both Micheal Angelis and Micheal Brandon as the series' narrator after ''The Great Disovery'', though he turned the offer down for unknown reasons, likely because of Brosnan being too busy or demanding too much money. Instead, Angelis and Brandon continued with their roles, and Brosnan was just billed as a GuestStar for ''The Great Discovery''.
** During the early development stages of ''Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure'', an idea was considered to have Donald & Douglas return as they still do in the actual film, but with new blue liveries similar to the ones they sported in the Railway Series. However, this was rejected in favor of them keeping their original black liveries as how most remembered them.
** Before ''Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure'' was put into production, a different special was proposed for the 70th anniversary year in 2015. This special would have seen the introduction of Vicarstown station brought forward by a year and would have also utilised the tramway featured in the set with three new tram characters being introduced. This special was not greenlit by Mattel, so it was ultimately scrapped.
** Splatter and Dodge were originally to return in ''Day of the Diesels'', but were replaced with Sidney and Paxton, both Class 08 shunters like them. This happened ''again'' when they were going to finally return in ''The Great Race'' but were replaced with the Mainland Diesels.
** Season 20 was meant to be the last season of the show, but Brenner and Ian were able to negotiate for more seasons...albeit this came with the caveat of the eventual transition to ''Big World, Big Adventures''.
** Season 21 was originally going to be 26 episodes, but the delayed productions of the 19th and 20th seasons due to the fast-tracking of ''The Adventure Begins'' into Arc Productions' schedule as well as the announcement of ''Big World, Big Adventures'' and the funds required to produce it meant that 8 episodes had to be cut from the season. Also half the US dubs of Season 21 have yet to air/be available online. While it is unknown how these episodes would've played out, it is known that Rosie, who was meant to become more of an AscendedExtra, had her role severely downgraded and Bulgy lost out on having [[ADayInTheLimelight an episode focused on him]]. However, it can be assumed that some of the episodes have since seen the light of day across the 22nd and 23rd seasons
** A variant of the [[https://www.nabitablet.com/nabi-se Nabi SE]] themed after the series was to be released by Mattel, in similar vein to the [[Literature/AmericanGirlsCollection American Girl]], Franchise/{{Barbie}} and Hot Wheels editions, as evidenced by this [[https://fccid.io/PJONBTY07SMKG/External-Photos/External-Photos-3086543 FCC approval page]] and [[https://tcrf.net/Nabi_SE unused assets]] hidden within the Nabi Mode launcher. For whatever reason this appears to have been shelved, as no further mention of it was made on either the Thomas and Friends or Nabi websites. It is likely that the scheduled release may have been marred by licensing issues, but this isn't confirmed. It is however possible to somewhat reactivate the Thomas and Friends theme by editing relevant values in build.prop, though some elements such as shortcuts to videos and other Thomas-related media are missing.
** New Steam Team member Rebecca was originally going to be named Miranda, as revealed by artwork of her prototype liveries.
** An early synopsis refers to Isla as Ruby. It's probably for the best that they renamed her, if only to spare the fandom from the inevitable ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' jokes.
** The fantasy sequence in "Hunt the Truck" had to be changed for the final episode as the original was considered "too depressing".
** George was originally to appear in the episode "Free the Roads". However, the final episode has Max & Monty in his place as the episode's writer Michael White thought they were good choices for causing Bulgy to lose control.
** The episodes "Percy's Promise" and "Time for Trouble" (originally Double Header from the Railway Series) were originally planned to be a part of Season 2, but was pushed to Season 3.
** According to Andrew Brenner, he had wanted [=BoCo=] and Hank to return in Season 22, but Mattel wanted more female characters, so they were rejected.
** When the show came to the US, Edward was going to be a girl named Alice there. However, he stayed male when the show officially debuted in America.
** David Menkin (the voice of Jack and Porter in the US dub) was offered the chance to voice Thomas in said dub following Martin Sherman's departure from the cast; however, he declined in order to support Sherman's decision.
** The show's ContinuityReboot was going to be the 25th series before it was confirmed to be another show in January 2021, due to the failure of the ''Big World! Big Adventures!'' seasons.
* TheWikiRule: A [[http://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_the_Tank_Engine_Wiki Thomas & Friends Wiki]], another [[http://thomasandfriends.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_and_Friends_Wiki Thomas and Friends Wiki]], another [[http://ttteandf.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_%26_Friends Thomas & Friends Wiki]], and another [[http://thomasthetankengineertl.wikia.com/wiki/Thomas_The_Tank_Engine_%26_Friends_ERTL_Wiki Thomas & Friends Wiki]].