WMG / Thomas & Friends

The Fat Controller set up the Flying Kipper disaster.

• But unlike his Shed 17, he did it because he felt that the Welsh Coal wasn't enough for Henry and that Henry needed to be rebuilt.
  • I'm certain that the coal was a short-term issue. TFC likely thought about sending Henry to Crewe before the accident happened. It was said that TFC was friends with William Stanier, who was the designer of Henry's rebuilt basis, the LMS Class 5MT "Black Five", which may explain why Henry's rebuild happened sooner than it was supposed to.
  • No railway controller would risk property damage and the lives of his employees by deliberately causing a crash. Imagine if the other train's crew didn't leave the break van before Henry slammed into it, and even if no person was hurt there would have been a lot of money worth of damaged rolling stock and cargo that the railway and/or insurance brokers would have to cover. There also isn't a requirement for an engine to be wrecked in order to receive repair service so there would be no reason for TFC to deliberately wreck Henry so he can be rebuilt. As the Troper above stated, TFC probably planned to send Henry to Crewe in the near future and the Flying Kipper wreck just made it happen sooner than later.

The Island of Sodor is on a Trade Embargo

The Railway Series Books "Thomas and Victoria" and "Thomas and his Friends" take place in 2008 and 2011 respectively, yet rotary phones, vintage cars, antique prams, and mid-century fashion are all still in wide use on the Island. The Fat Controller promised never to dieselize the NWR in "Enterprising Engines", which explains the use of steam locomotives, but the only reason the rest of the Island could be stuck in the 1950s is due to a trade embargo between Sodor and the rest of the developed world for some reason, similar to that of Cuba.

• That would also explain why the Fat Controller imported Victor to work at the Steamworks.

The Skarloey Slate Quarry is now owned by the Ministry Of Defense

This is why the Blue Mountain Quarry was seen in its place afterwards. Just like in the Railway Series, all of the slate had to be removed. This happened during Season 4 all the way prior to Season 16. Once all of the slate was gone the Ministry Of Defense took over the area and used it as an ammunition dump. Because of this the area is now fenced off and is restricted. The only engine allowed in the area is the engine owned by the Ministry Of Defense. Because of the secret nature of the job, none of the Skarloey Railway engines have seen this engine.

• I thought that was cannon (To the railway series anyway, to the TV show I dunno) also the source I got it from said the engine was beetle-shaped, kinda sounds like the plot to blue mountain mystery a little, with an engine that nobody's seen.

Season 17 will be the last season narrated by Michael Angelis

• Jossed. Season 17 was/is the first season to be narrated by Mark Moraghan, and the first season not to be narrated by Angelis since Series 3 in 1991.

The Fat Controller's railway is in deep financial trouble.

This is why characters like Boco have disappeared-unable to keep afloat, Hatt has been selling some of the more expensive engines off to other railways. This is also why certain new characters "arrive on the island" or are "on trial" but are never seen or heard from again- they were on loan to the Sodor railway and their own managers take them back after a few weeks. The Fat Controller can only afford to buy and keep extremely outdated models, such as Emily. The Fat Controller hasn't told the engines yet as he wishes to keep their morale up and have them working at peak efficiency.

• This could explain why he's rarely in a good mood.
• The whole thing about new engines being on trial is sort of Truth in Television. When manufacturers release a new model of a locomotive, railways will sometimes lease demonstrator units to see if they like them and want to order more. Leasing equipment is also common when railways temporarily need new equipment. (This knowledge comes from modern American railroads so this may or may not also apply to British railways of the 40s-60s).
• Not very surprising. Considering how many crashes happen, he should probably be thankful he's not waist deep in debt.

Rosie is a serial killer

Rosie, introduced in season 10 is a Southern Railways USA Class which was used in the Southhampton docks. Thomas is an E2 Class tank engine Thomas's brothers and sisters would've been replaced with Rosie's family.The story goes like this... In 1947 when the USA class was introduced the inexperienced engine took the spot in the shed that formerly belonged to a popular E2 engine that had been lost in a bombing raid. The other engines saw it as an insult and vowed revenge. At first, it was just harmless fun until the crews became involved and people got sacked. With the introduction of more of these new foreign engines nerves became raised and quiet sabotage went on. The most common form of sabotage was the E2's would have their coal stolen from their bunkers making them seem inefficient (they were scrapped mostly because their coal bunkers were too small to make them able to travel any distance. This grudge grew worse until the E2's were all scrapped.Then one day a USA class heard there was still an E2 left. This engine had been sold in 1915 to the newly formed North Western Railway and had escaped the USA's genocide. One engine was selected to go and finish the job... Rosie. Rosie however has a stalker-like crush on Thomas, her hate turning into a kind of lust over her victim.

The series is a fantasy of The Fat Controller, who is locked in a mental asylum and is imagining the adventures all in his head.

An installment of Cyanide and Happiness begins with the Fat Controller talking to Thomas and Percy, where the last panel shows him in a straitjacket with two men looking at him in concern. This suggests that the events of the show are in fact just a fantasy of a mental patient.

The Fat Controller is a Highlander Immortal.

He was a director of the railway when it was nationalized in 1948. He's still around, not a day older, sixty years later. The Other Wiki says the office of Fat Controller is hereditary and the present one is the original's grandson, but that's just a cover story.

The Fat Controller is a wizard.

This is why (in earlier seasons) he's able to seemingly appear everywhere; he apparates.

The Fat Controller is a robot.

This would also explain why he's been around for a long time. Someone installed a robotic version of him so he could keep the railway going after his death.

• This is also why he can have talks with the trains.

Thomas is a lost vehicle of James Bond.

This explains how he's able to fly over the canyon without trouble and how he crashes through stuff but avoids getting scratched. Thomas was meant for the secret service, but he got loaned out by The Fat Controller's railway (it was meant to be a loan). The railway ended up "losing" him. (Thomas's crew just settled down, and he ended up being written off as "lost".)

• Considering that Pierce Brosnan was the narrator of The Great Discovery (where Thomas flew across the canyon), this doesn't seem that far fetched...

The engines are all Transformers in Mode Lock

Probably old ones, hence the outdated designs.

• You mean this?

Sir Topham Hatt is Mavarah

To bring the mode-locked Trans Formers theory and the spheres magna= cyber to theory at BIONICLE full circle, maybe Sir Topham Hatt is a fully organic Mavarah.

The Island of Sodor keeps steam trains around as tourist attractions.

The Island seems to be too small for such a varied train network to be very useful, and there's no reason to keep them around when diesel and electric engines are available. Clearly, the old-school trains are a big tourist draw. The engines themselves are either in denial or don't like to bring it up, and it would explain why diesel engines look down on them.

• The network isn't that expansive, at least not in the Railway Series - the standard gauge lines only cover about half the island (if the populated one), and consists of a single mainline with half a dozen branches - but still enough to keep at least 80 locomotives in work, according to background material. Diesel are used, and one of the branches was electrified from the start, but alongside steam instead of replacing it. The engines are still doing real work, but tourism probably does matter though - the books exist in the Railway Series universe, and made the engines famous long before they were ever at risk. The Narrow Gauge lines are tourist attractions (being based on real ones), although two of them do transport goods, and were built for that purpose.
• But then why would they run regular services? Also, the first book was published in 1945, only nine years before the 1954 Modernization Plan of British Railways. Not exactly too long between them.
• The Railway network on Sodor follows a similar modus operandi to the Isle of Man. A bit of Fridge Brilliance here since the Island of Sodor was originally conceived by Rev. Awdry as an answer to the Diocese of Sodor and Man, which in reality just consists of the Isle of Man and the Hebrides.
• Another analogue could be to the narrow gauge Harz Mountain Railway in Germany or Wolsztyn steam operations in Poland, in that the steam railway is equal parts tourist attraction/museum and everyday transportation system (there seem to be no major motorways on the Isle of Sodor, so presumably car ownership and road transport have a lower modal share here than they do on mainland Britain).

The TV series of course pays no attention to real railways anymore.

Thomas takes place in the same universe as Questionable Content.

The trains run off standard AnthroPC AI, which is prone to all kinds of personality quirks and conflicts; the continued presence of steam power is because locomotives evolved differently in this verse than ours. Sentient steam locomotives don't show up in QC, either because passenger trains are even less a part of the transportation system in the US than they are in Real Life, or because Sodor is an experimental testbed for them.

• Or both.

The Fat Controller is Oskar Schindler for sentient steam trains.

Zealous plans to modernise the rail network involved scrapping all the steam engines, and the Fat Controller bought as many as he could to save them. Dr. Beeching's Final Solution?

• Well, yeah. '54 came around, The Fat Controller needed some engines, so he bought some.

How engines get their faces.

When each engine is built. Or at least have their boiler completed. The workmen bring in a strange, magical mask. Put them on the engine, then viola!

In robot mode, Thomas has a Kanohi Olimak and a shield with 50 Rhotuka Spinners

See Sir Topham Hatt is Mavarah and The engines are transformers.

Donald and Douglas also have Beast forms downloaded from The Bahrag

Just for fun. Both of them are Twins.

The trains are all suicidal.

Having almost no control over their own lives, they are trying to end it all. Why else would they get in all those crashes? They're trying to make it look like an accident because they don't want to traumatize any kids who might be watching. The Troublesome Trucks don't even hide the fact that they want to die. In fact, they have managed to smash themselves to bits. The steam engines are still trying.

The Great Time War has messed with the history of Sodor.

This is why, in "Hero Of The Rails," Hiro, a Japanese engine of a class built from 1936, was the first engine on Sodor, a British island, which has had a railway network since the 1850s (according to Hit Entertainment's website). Reality is nowhere close either – the first Japanese railway line appeared in 1872. This also explains why Negative Continuity starts to come into play from season 6 on and why characters such as Elizabeth The Vintage Lorry and Fearless Freddie exist without any regard for Railway Series continuity. The Great Time War blew out whatever connections the television series reality had with its source material and altered the history of Sodor.

• Alternatively, The fifth Blackadder's trip through time messed with the history of Sodor.
• Or maybe being isolated for so long got to him, and his memory worsened over time and made him claim that.

"The Magic Railroad" as seen in the movie is not the only Magic Railroad.

Rather, it has numerous branch lines that connect to other worlds, and these also have engines that travel back and forth on them.

The Island of Sodor is in the same reality as Stephen King's "Trucks".

The trains eventually took over, forcing the humans to build tracks everywhere, which is why they're able to go pretty much anywhere they please. The "conductors" are merely humans who sit in their control boxes, pulling levers that do nothing like the trains guide themselves to make the humans think they're in control somehow. Sir Topham Hatt is just a puppet who kissed up to his locomotive overlords, and thus they make him perform acts that suggest he is in charge when really the trains themselves are. That's why trains that are "sent packing" come back so soon- he has no real authority in Sodor. As for non-trains, such as George the Steamroller, Terrence the Tractor, and Bulgy the Bus: they're plotting to take over Sodor and rule over the humans, as evidenced by their hostility towards the trains (Bulgy's anti-rail league sticker should be enough proof).

Sir Topham Hatt is jinxed.

Every bad that that happened in Sir Topham Hatt's presence is a direct result of him simply having been nearby. This is because he is haunted by the spirits of the Coffee Pots, four engines Word of God states were built by Hatt as a young engineer which were later scrapped.

Sodor Island has been hit by mass retardation.

The train drivers and engineers of Sodor are constantly getting into accidents that could have been easily prevented. Broken rails, roads, bridges, and tunnels are almost never repaired. Several signal stations and unsafe areas (like the quarry with the huge boulder that almost destroyed six engines) are left unattended or plain ignored. The sentient trains suffer under the control of their well-intentioned but unskilled drivers.

Sir Topham Hatt is the only level-headed man around; unfortunately, he is Surrounded by Idiots. He blames the mistakes on the engines so the people don't have to come to terms with their own incompetence.

• Why not just fire their drivers? I'm sure you can import at least a couple of drivers from the Mainland and be done with it. Railways are businesses, you know.

The Sodor Island Railway was the inspiration for the EVA Project.

Yes, another one of those!After his beloved railway buff son was hit and killed by one of his trains, The Fat Controller (a lifelong spiritualist) wondered if his soul may have clung to the blue tank engine that killed him. British Railways wondered if sentient locomotives, able to actually hear orders for themselves, might make train service more efficient. With assistance from Creator/Aleister Crowley and biomechanics developed in undisclosed experiments by distinguished Ger-umm...French scientists, the "Living Train" was a success. However, due to the psychological trauma of engineers melding their souls with the locomotives (as well as the locomotives' occasional unwillingness to blindly follow 'all' orders), and a number of mysterious deaths of railway personnel, the British government immediately ended the experiment and ordered the engines scrapped.

About half a century later, Japanese robotics professor Gendo Ikari chanced upon a story of the "Sodor experiment" in a journal...

• So... Choo what thou wilt?

• Did the creators of Shed 17 happen to see this one?

Thomas' character arc is a Deconstruction > Reconstruction of I Just Want to Be Special.

Thomas the Tank Engine is one of the most well thought out and complex protagonists in a children's series.Starting off as a meek, excitable, and childish engine, he loved playing jokes on the engines, but he wasn't particularly well-liked by them, except Edward, who could be said to be a big brother figure to him. It became obvious that his constant jokes were cries for attention, as he was tired of shunting in the yard and wanted to explore the world. He wasn't happy with the mundane, he wanted to be special. However, the first few tastes he had of the "real world" were not pleasant (tricked into running with Gordon's train, forgetting his coaches, being pushed by freight cars). Despite this, he was determined as ever to go out on his own. Recognizing this, he was given his own branch line as a reward for saving James.

However, he clearly overestimated himself. He'd leave his conductor behind, beat up his snowplow because it was uncomfortable, and in general was a kid being given a big shiny toy. Despite this, he was convinced he was the most important part of the railway. He eventually meets Percy, who takes his old job as the shunter in the yard. The two become fast friends and Thomas acts as a mentor to him as well, however questionable of an influence he may be. Even though he was running a branch line, he was still irresponsible and goofy, teasing Gordon about falling into a ditch until he ran into a mine. Despite this, he would still tease Percy, fancying himself to be above him. The two bickered a lot, from coal to ghosts to wooly bears, possibly stunting Thomas' growth. For most of the second season, Thomas is out of focus, though what we do see of him he seems rather arrogant until he has his accident with the stationmaster's house.

It's obvious to tell from here that he has what could be considered a heroic BSOD. He isn't the invincible engine he cracked himself up to be, and to add insult to injury, he's temporarily replaced with diesel. The idea of the steam engines being replaced hangs over them for much of the series, and even temporarily, it took a toll on Thomas's psyche. He comes back a wiser, smarter engine, and after one more childish quarrel between him and Percy, he matures into a role model to the little green engine.

By season 3 he takes an extremely different tone. While he does make occasional quips, he mentors Percy much like Edward did the same to him and almost always works with a smile on his face. We see his anxiousness of being replaced again reappear in Thomas Gets Bumped, where he puts his job on the line to get some children home. However, the Fat Controller recognizes his big heart and lets him off for it. Similarly, whereas he used to think of himself as the best, he clearly takes offense when James insists the same and says "we're all useful, the Fat Controller says so, and he's the head of the whole railway." None of this is any more prominent than Trust Thomas, where he works his hardest to make all of his friends happy, and even when he gets hurt, he still wears a big smile on his face. His replacement complex is evident in Thomas And Stepney, where Thomas is jealous of the attention Stepney gets, along with the fact that he was shunted to let him pass. Despite this, Thomas is a sympathetic individual and the two become good friends.

Thomas begins the series with most everybody looking down on him, and through steam, coal, and tears, becomes one of the most respectable and admirable characters on the whole railway, who pours his heart and soul to make sure he does a good job and everyone is happy. While the series deconstructs the troubles that come along with wanting to be "special" it also shows that it is also possible to overcome these troubles.

tl;dr: Thomas starts off a brat, wants to be special, realizes being special is hard, and grows up.

...and let's forget anything after season 5 happened.

Whiff is an Almighty Janitor

Whiff originally pulled the Mechanical Engineer's saloon coach on the mainland, which was a high profile job. After an accident that damaged and blinded Whiff greatly, a replacement was built, which meant the damaged Whiff was to be scrapped. Unknown to everyone, Sir Topham Hatt sent a team of workers to steal the damaged Whiff before he was to be cut up (ala Oliver) and sent him to the Steamworks. Everyone on the mainland now thought that the new Aerolite was the only one of its kind with the original destroyed.Sir Topham Hatt spent much time mending him, and eventually put him back in service. Whiff had forgotten about his previous life due to the amount of repairing they did. Not wanting to attract too much attention because he was the original and also to avoid being arrested for stealing the engine, Sir Topham assigned him to work in the waste disposal yard and gave him glasses to help his sight. However, sub-consciously, Whiff carries greater skills other than shunting. Also explains why he knows a lot about of Sodor's history, having spent his time at the Works hearing the tales of the railway.

'Thomas and His Friends' will be the last book in the Railway Series, and will answer all unanswered questions.

Why? Quite simple. It is book number 42. The answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe and Everything.

• Partially confirmed. It is indeed the last book of the series, but it didn't really answer any questions.

Some of the original episodes will eventually be adapted into The Railway Series by Christopher Awdry.

Some episodes, for example, sound like something from Christopher's books but are not in them.

• Well, all of the episodes before Series 2 or 3 were Rev. Awdry's.

The TV Series, at least at present, is actually about a boy's train set

That's why there's no regard for real railway operations - the kid doesn't know any better, and just does what looks cool. The engines being alive, and all human characters, are his imagination. The Steamworks is his dad's workbench, where all the damaged models are repaired (Victor and Kevin representing father and son). Thomas has such a heavy focus because it's the boy's favourite, so he uses it and features it in his stories more than any of the others.

The opening for the sixth series was intended for Series 3.

If you've watched the opening to Thomas & Friends' sixth series, you'll notice that it contains footage from the Series 3 episodes "Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure" and "Thomas Gets Bumped". Considering Series 6 introduced a new look to the models and sets, it seems odd that they'd replace the existing intro footage with that from a season that was about ten years old at the time. That is unless the intro was a scrapped idea from the third series that was never broadcast. Both Series 3 and Series 6 brought big changes to the show, but it can be assumed that the producers didn't want to replace the iconic opening sequence as early on as Series 3.

All the railways on Sodor merged at one point to become Sodor Railways.

In a promotional cassette tape given away to members of the Thomas the Tank Engine club in the late 1990s, The Fat Controller mentions that he was originally the controller of the North Western Railway before it merged with all the other railways on the Island. This would explain several inconsistencies regarding the TV show:

- Bill and Ben being privately owned by the Sodor China Clay Works early on in the series, but implied to be owned by the Fat Controller by the fifth series.

- Mavis being owned by the Ffarquhar Quarry company in Series 3, but working alongside Bill and Ben at the Centre Island Quarry in the sixth series.

- Some locations on Toby's old line from "Toby and the Stout Gentleman" appearing in later seasons as part of the Fat Controller's railway, most notably Arlesdale End. Presumably, Toby's old line in the TV Series was initially part of the "Sodor Tramways" that was referenced in the twelfth series.

- Sets from Duke's Old line (Also known as the Mid Sodor Railway) appearing as parts of the Skarloey Railway in later episodes. The coaches of the two railways also appear to be of the same type and livery. The closure of Duke's line may have been something to do with the merger. (As the Arlesdale Railway in the Railway Series books is supposed to be laid upon the trackbed of Duke's old line, this would make a good story as to why the Arlesdale Railway isn't mentioned or seen in the TV show)

- Several towns having more than one station. For example, Tidmouth has Tidmouth Station, Lower Tidmouth, and Tidmouth Halt. these stations most likely belonged to different railways prior to the merger.

Gordon, James, and Henry wanted to send Duck away.

It's obvious that in their first meeting with the Great Western engine in "Duck Takes Charge", they bullied him around, but he soon stood up to them and were severely called out by The Fat Controller. When they first met Diesel, they actually liked him better than Duck who kept endlessly bragging about his Great Western heritage. And because they got tired of Duck, they would find any excuse to send him away as well as getting back at him for the previous incident in the aforementioned episode. When Diesel blames Duck for making the troublesome trucks laugh at him, the engines claim that he would never do that, but deep down, they sympathized with Diesel and believed that Duck may have made a fool out of him just as he did to them. When the big engines heard about the trucks calling them names they claim that Duck made about them, although it was really Diesel who told them that, they willfully believed in this and decided to use this opportunity to get back at Duck. That was until they saw how Duck was saddened on being sent to Edward's station for the crimes he didn't do, the big engines had an epiphany and decided to take back on what they have done. What better way to do it than to side against Diesel for making those names about them? After The Fat Controller sent Diesel away in disgrace, the big engines patched things up with Duck and became good friends with him.

Scrapped engines are reincarnated when their steel is reused

• It must suck being a spoon.
• Based on this, Lord Harry/Patrick could be a reincarnation of Godred.

Tale of the Brave will introduce the Culdee Fell engines into the TV series universe

• There have been a few hints about the CFR in some of the recent movies and other material. The Blue Mountain Mystery mini-site mentions the Culdee Fell railway as a narrow-gauge line under the control of Mr. Percival. Additionally, the description of the movie mentions an engine with a sloping boiler, which is a trait of all the mountain engines.
  • Jossed, promotional material has depicted that the new characters are a strange Colombian design, a Bell Locomotive named Timothy, and a crane that looks a lot like Ned.

Emily and Duck secretly have a disagreement.

The engines' free will is restricted by their very nature.

• Although they are sentient, the engines are still machines that are built, operated, and broken down by humans. While they may moan, complain, and occasionally even disobey the humans, they will never rise up and rebel or question their overall life because they literally can't conceive of doing that. Parameters were built into them that would ensure that they would never be able to form a rebellion.

Engines can move by themselves, but it takes considerable effort.

• Related to the WMG above, engines can move about on their own unless it contradicts the crew's controls. For example, when Percy runs backwards to avoid Gordon without thinking, despite having no crew inside him (apparently, making yourself stop is harder than moving).
  • The way I see it, I picture engines as being like draft horses; they go where the driver tells them to but can move of their own volition if they're really angry or panicking.

"The Smelly Kipper" chronologically happens before "The Phantom Express".

In "The Phantom Express", James tells a ghost story, which scares Percy and Stephan. It is later revealed that the story was made up and James was pulling a trick on them, most likely diminishing the effect of James' future tales to Percy. In another episode, "The Smelly Kipper", James once again tells a scary story to the other engines. Percy is shown to be terrified of the story. Although the former episode airs before the latter, Percy's different attitude suggests that chronologically it should be the other way around.

Donald, Douglas, BoCo, and other characters will return in Season 18.

• Jossed.

Neville is a diesel spy sent from British Railways to gather info on Sodor.

As the railways on the island are not a part of British Railways, they disguised one of their diesel to recon the area in the hopes of having the island absorbed into BR territory and having all the steam engines replaced with diesel. They chose a Southern Railway Q1 as the disguise because it looks most convincing. In reality, Neville is an English Electric GT3 with the front bogie removed. This also explains why he hasn't been seen since Season 12.

Sir Handel (and by proxy Peter Sam) met Fearless Freddie at the Aluminum Works.

A fact that wasn't in the TV Series but was in the Railway Series, was that Falcon and Stuart were not directly sold to the Skarloey Railway following the closure of the Mid-Sodor. Instead, they were sold to the Aluminum Works up at Peel Godred, where they worked for a few years before then being purchased by the Skarloey Railway. I propose that the Aluminum Works already had another engine...Freddie. Falcon and Stuart befriended him and worked alongside him as they completed the project, and Falcon and Stuart were sold away when the project was completed. Who knows what happened? Freddie was kept on the run the Aluminum Works? He was bought by the Skarloey Railway with Falcon and Stuart and simply waited on the side for repairs? Anyway, that's why Sir Handel knows Freddie and Skarloey and Rheneas don't.

The dream sequences in Calling All Engines! aren't dreams; they're visions into the future.

Ruling out Edward's dream, why would Gordon, James, and Percy be used as a playground, a carnival game, and a rollercoaster, respectively? Because their brightly coloured paint would make them appeal to children. The engines are going to be put out of use eventually, and seeing as they are alive, why scrap them?

The Adventure Begins is going to be the start of a Continuity Reboot, which will be truer to The Railway Series.

• Jossed.

The North Western Railway is actually a functioning, well-oiled railway; they just play up in front of the cameras.

In the Thomas universe, the Reverend Awdry (as "evidenced" in the forewords of the books), Britt Alcroft, David Mitton, and others exist alongside the engines. The railway is closed for about a month each year so that each season can be filmed, and recently, even longer thanks to the movies, and the Fat Controller gets paid in return. The crashes are made with non-sentient mock-ups of the "actors", and the engines who feature in each episode all given a debriefing before filming. It takes roughly a day to film each episode.

• Maybe the stories are all staged for the camera but are based on actual events on the railway? This would explain why each "year" on Thomas & Friends only comprises of only 26 stories. All the other days on Sodor in the past year were just ordinary days where nothing interesting happened.

Ryan was going to help Sailor John in the original draft of Lost Treasure.

In the original draft of Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, Ryan was going to have a much more different personality. He was going to be arrogant and cocky as opposed to the nice engine we saw in the film. Another question we have about the film is "how does Sailor John get the pirate ship atop the hill?" The answer is this; Ryan pulled it there, at least in the script's original draft. Presumably, the scenes of Ryan inviting Thomas into the shed were not in the original script. I'm assuming we would have seen Ryan buggering up on the branch line, causing Daisy to want to tear her bonnet out at him, giving her more of a role. Ryan would have messed up passenger service, resulting in him being sent to run on the Arlesburgh-Harwick project, with Percy taking his work. Ryan would have been eager to prove himself, and as a result, takes on some bad coal after volunteering to take dynamite. Thomas saves the day and gets all the glory for it despite not doing so from the Fat Controller. However, as opposed to being thankful, the more antagonistic Ryan is jealous of Thomas. After the treasure is recovered by Marion, Ryan is sidelined yet again, and he begins to hate Thomas. After seeing that Thomas will not help him get his treasure back, Sailor John approaches Ryan with a job, which he is happy to accept if it will get Thomas in trouble. In the dark of night, Ryan steals the pirate ship and pulls it to the top of Gordon's Hill. However, he begins to feel guilty when he sees that John plans to harm anyone in his way. This results in the scene with him feeling guilty at Arlesburgh Junction; he's not heading to check on Thomas, he's returning home from helping John steal the ship. When Ryan sees the ship sailing down the line, in a panic he reverses. Ryan realizes what he did was wrong, and rushes into action, taking the rope and tipping over the ship. This is what causes Ryan to be rewarded the Arlesburgh-Harwick Branch Line, while Daisy manages the passengers to keep an eye on him. Ryan and Thomas now become friends, and Ryan is no longer as spiteful and jealous as he was before, although still a little cocky. This would have made for a much more complex Ryan, but I understand why they changed it.

The Fat Controller lied when he said his doctor had forbidden him to push or pull.

He said that because he's lazy, and didn't want to take part in manual labor.

• I think that would be the word of god, It's not even a theory because it's so obvious.

The engines' AI and their drivers are becoming more 'in-sync' as they go.

The drivers have slowly lost their agency and now only exist as part of a hive mind with their engine.This is shown in 'The Lion of Sodor' where they fail to inform Thomas at all and go through with every misinformed idea of taking care of the fictional lion.

• Then in the Big World Big Adventures movie where they not only allow, but straight up enable Thomas to abandon his duties on Sodor to go traveling around the world.

Henry was never actually afraid of the rain ruining his paint.

He was actually having mechanical issues, and stopped in the tunnel, covering up his ailment by acting snobbish. Being shut up in it was part of his plan to preserve himself.

• Does this count as Jossed if it's in hindsight? "Edward, Gordon, and Henry" has Henry explicitly express regret about getting himself shut up in the tunnel, albeit the story was conceptualized after "The Sad Story of Henry" was already written. And that's without getting into how "The Adventure Begins" retconned it into an outright fear of the actual rain.

None of the trains talk.

Sir Topham Hatt is actually a crazy person who believes the trains are alive and have faces.

Charlie and Billy are the same engines.

Bily was on loan during the events of Season 11 and then sent back afterwards. During Season 12 he was transformed into Charlie (hence why he wasn't seen that season). Also, he had a bad accident that caused him identity amnesia which is why he doesn't remember his previous time on Sodor. The Fat Controller doesn't know this either.

Here are the facts:

Billy and Charlie are based on the same prototype

Billy only appeared in Season 11 and Charlie appeared from Season 13 onwards

Neither appeared in Season 12

Neither was confirmed to be brothers

Neither was seen at the same time

Originally Billy was supposed to be in Season 13, but his scripts were rewritten for Charlie

• This could also apply for Dennis and Norman, since Dennis's last appearance was before Norman's introduction, and only one of their bases existed in real life.

Duck and Diesel choose to leave each other alone

So far, we have not seen Duck and Diesel interacting with one another (though, Duck has returned to CGI since S17). In Diesel's Ghostly Christmas, Salty references the events of Diesel Does It Again as being a past mistake on Diesel's part. But, we can all agree that framing someone is worse than dropping a stack of crates by accident (or in this case, shunting some trucks into the ocean).

Diesel knows that he has hurt Duck really bad with those lies, and it may trigger some really scarring flashbacks if he saw him again. Duck knows that jumping the gun about Diesel replacing him, also hurt him badly, same rules apply. The others that were on Sodor at the time know it and choose not to bring it up to either of them. Maybe one day, Duck and Diesel will talk it out, but now is just not the time. The newbies that came after the whole Duck VS Diesel debacle have no idea of Diesel's misdeeds back when (hence why Emily thought Diesel was never sent away, to begin with in Blue Mountain Mystery, and why Salty doesn't bring it up in Diesel's Ghostly Christmas).

The Grumpy Passenger is the CGI adaptation of Jeremiah Jobley

Duke and BoCo will show up in one of the countries Thomas visits in Season 22

• I'm pretty certain this will be Jossed because it looks like the only countries Thomas is visiting are China, India, and Australia. Besides, Mattel probably doesn't care about two characters who haven't shown up in like, 20 years.
  • While the first point is good, you can't apply the second one to other characters who have returned after lengthy absences.

Mr. Arkwright and Mr. Perkins are blood-related to the Conductor family.

Season 1 is the canon version of its events in the show, and The Adventure Begins is an in-universe production filmed by the NWR

They took some Artistic License from what really happened, such as the chase scene with Thomas and James. They were able to repaint Thomas and James, but "un-rebuilding" Henry (and rebuilding him back again after production wrapped up) simply wasn't viable, so they used him in his current shape rather than finding another engine to play him. They also missed an error in post-production where Salty appears.

• To add to that theory, Shed 17 is also an in-universe production filmed by the NWR to promote tourism. Scenes like the one where Mavis explodes were done with mockups made out of wood.

BoCo is transgender, and is now Daisy.

There are a lot of points to this: Daisy has a very similar body type to BoCo, her facemasks are BoCo's with makeup, and she and BoCo were never seen together, among others.

• So wouldn't that have to mean all the episodes to feature BoCo take place before all the episodes to feature Daisy?
• Alternatively, BoCo is a closeted cross-dresser, and "Daisy" is an alter ego he takes on every now and again, a la Peacock.

George hasn't appeared in CGI because he was scrapped and melted down to make rails

• Dude...that's the perfect Karmic Death.

Duck, Donald, Douglas, and Oliver vanished from the show because...

Douglas and Oliver had to go to court for destroying the Spiteful Brakevan and S.C. Ruffey respectively, and Duck and Donald were there as witnesses to give testimonies.

The Spiteful Brake Van is not simply a dickhead; he is a monster. And Douglas destroying him was not an accident, but rather an act of revenge and necessary self-defense.

Though we do not see all that much of him, the Spiteful Brake Van makes clear that he is far more cunning and malicious compared to the Troublesome Trucks in general. Whereas they simply want to have fun by creating chaos, he genuinely hates the engines and wants to make their lives as miserable as possible. He especially hates Douglas... and what better way to deal with an engine he really hates permanently?

Get the engine sent to the scrapyard.

Gossip spreads quickly on the Island of Sodor, and it was not exactly a secret that Sir Topham Hatt only wanted one of the Scottish twins and was planning to send the other one back to their original railway... and everyone with a basic grasp of logic knows that would mean that engine would be scrapped. The Spiteful Brake Van was aware of this fact, and thus did everything he could to make Douglas look so bad that Sir Topham Hatt would send him away. Since nobody would ever believe a brake van was the cause of all Douglas's delays, it was the perfect plot.

Thankfully, Donald quickly caught on to his plans and basically threatened to murder the Spiteful Brake Van if he didn't stop trying to get Douglas scrapped. The Brake Van was so scared shitless that he quickly improved his behavior. Unfortunately, Douglas was still not looking so great as far as Sir Topham Hatt was concerned, so Donald was forced to have an "accident" in order to ensure both he and his brother remained on the Island of Sodor as long as possible. With him away for repairs, the Brake Van reverted back to his dastardly plans.

Douglas soon realized what Donald had done and why, but for a while all he could do was simply work as best he could under the circumstances. A short time later, however, James asked for Douglas's help in getting a whole bunch of freight cars up Gordon's Hill. Douglas, being the good-natured and hard-working engine he is, of course agreed. As he got to the back of James's cars, though, Douglas immediately recognized the Spiteful Brake Van and realized that he was the ultimate cause of James's woes.

At this point, Douglas had put everything together. Not only was the Spiteful Brake Van trying to get him scrapped, but he also would likely try to do the same to other engines he really despised in the future if he succeeded with Douglas. Now Douglas knew he would have to deal with the Spiteful Brake Van once and for all. When James became too exhausted to continue up the hill, Douglas completely snapped. He furiously pushed the train as hard as he could, totally ignoring the Spiteful Brake Van's screams and the conductor yelling that the van was getting crushed. He did not slow down at all until the van was in pieces.

In the end, Douglas saved himself and likely future engines from the Spiteful Brake Van's murderous tricks. The other engines are very aware, which is a huge part of the reason why they beg Sir Topham Hatt to keep both twins and eventually succeed in persuading him to do so.

The part in the Season 5 Sir Topham Hatt song where Thomas crashes into his house isn't an error

It happened again on a completely different occasion, and the whole thing was planned by the two of them so the Fat Controller could claim insurance.

Derek hasn't appeared in CGI because Mavis murdered him for stealing her theme

Why certain characters from Seasons 6-12 haven't appeared in the CGI era.

• Arthur: He went back to the heritage railway he was originally bought from because an engine working there had been sent for an overhaul.
  • Alternatively, he's still on Sodor and doing the actual, boring work that keeps the railway in business after all the chaos in recent years.
• Elizabeth: She was put into a road museum.
  • Alternatively, she's being used by the staff at the Blue Mountain Quarry as a work truck for jobs we don't see.
• Fergus: Is working at a cement factory somewhere on the mainland.
  • Alternatively, he's now a static display at a museum.
  • Alternatively (again), he's still on Sodor, doing switching jobs for a factory that we don't see.
• Murdoch: Much like Arthur, he went back to his heritage railway due to an engine being sent for an overhaul.
  • Alternatively, he, too, is still on Sodor, doing all the boring work while the better-known engines wreak havoc with their sudden decrease in intelligence caused by some unknown chemical in the water supply.
• Molly: Now does charter trains.
  • Alternatively, she too is doing the work we don't see.
• Billy: Was bought by a goods company.
  • Alternatively, he was sent away for being such a stubborn jerk.
  • Alternatively (again), he is still on the Island doing odd jobs we don't see.
• Freddie: Is now a static display at a museum.
  • Alternatively, he's still on the Skarloey Railway doing all the odd jobs we don't see.
• Dennis: Now runs a goods service between the mainland and Sodor.
  • Alternatively, he was rebuilt into Norman.
• Hank: Is now the private engine for a politician.
  • Alternatively, he was sent back to America for violating the British loading gauge.
  • Alternatively (again), he's still on Sodor doing odd jobs that we don't see.
• Flora: Now works at a tram Museum somewhere in England.
  • Alternatively, she's still on Sodor, but only comes out on special occasions because Toby and Mavis are more than enough to work the Anopha Tramway, making her redundant.
• Madge: Is in the same road museum as Elizabeth.
  • Alternatively, she's being used for odd jobs we don't see.
• Hector: Is now owned by a coal mining company somewhere in England.
  • Alternatively, he's still on Sodor and, just like Arthur and Murdoch, being used for all the Boring Yet Practical work that we don't see.
• Neville: Much like Arthur and Murdoch, he went back to his heritage railway.
  • Alternatively, he's still on Sodor doing odd jobs all over the island.
• Mighty Mac: Was sent for an overhaul.
  • Alternatively, they're still on the Skarloey Railway doing all the odd jobs we don't see.
• Jeremy: Got into an accident that irreparably damaged him and was retired from service.
  • Alternatively, he's still in service, but we don't see him because neither Nitrogen, Arc, nor Jam Filled has bothered making a Sodor Airport set to date.

The Star Tugs will appear during the American episodes of Season 23.

• With Big Mickey's appearance in Season 21, the Star Tugs' appearances are now within the realm of possibility. They would be perfect for the American episodes, as TUGS takes place in the United States of America.

There will be an American episode focused on the differences between British and American railway/railroad terminologies in Season 23.

If Molly ever returns, there will be an episode lampeshading the similarities between her and Rebecca.

Diesel's theme song reflects his fuel source

• Diesel's theme song, unlike the other engines' theme songs, has a vaguely Middle Eastern sound. This is because unlike the steam engines, which use British coal for fuel, Diesel uses oil imported from the Middle East (the show seems to take place in the 1950s/early 60s before North Sea oil was discovered).

Thomas and the Magic Railroad was All Just a Dream that Thomas had

Everything about that movie is just so weird and out of place in the Thomas universe. From the live-action humans to the inclusion of magic, to a talking tumbleweed, to Edward suddenly being deleted from existence, and possibly more. Why is the movie like this? Simple, because it was Thomas' dream. We all know the number 1 tank engine has a bit of a wild imagination if his imagine spots in Season 22 are any indication. It's why the movie has so many typical characters - a hammy, ruthless villain, his goofy sidekicks, and a bland damsel in distress - because Thomas is so familiar with these character archetypes. It's why the movie is pretty much non-canon and never referenced again. It's also why he specifically gets to be the hero.

Other evidence to support this is in Calling All Engines. In that movie, Thomas has a dream where he sees Lady and she gives advice to him. This further proves my point that Lady isn't a real character and was a character that Thomas dreamed up. Thomas' dream also doesn't make much sense either. Why is Lady working in the mountains and not on the Magic Railroad? And why is Rusty working in the mountains and not on the Skarloey Railway? It's a dream. Dreams aren't supposed to make sense.

In TATMR, Diesel 10 was incredibly villainous, but also somewhat one-dimensional. In CAE, though, Diesel 10 is nicer and a bit of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold this time around. This characterization also carries over to the CGI era; granted, he is a bit more villainous there, but still has a soft side. Jerk with a Heart of Gold Diesel 10 is D10's canon persona, and his TATMR persona was completely made up by Thomas. It's why Thomas was initially afraid of him in CAE. His cronies, Splatter and Dodge, are also completely made up since they have never appeared in an episode or special following TATMR.

The entire series is Ringo Starr playing at his train set at one of The Beatles' houses, while stoned

The WMG could really just stop there. But, out of all The Beatles, if one of them would do this while high, it's Ringo. Ringo narrated the adventures of Thomas to whichever other Beatles were stoned enough to be interested, or too stoned to get off the sofa and escape being his captive audience. When the story began to feel repetitive, John and George decided to give Ringo some new inspiration and fed him some mushroom pizza. The very next adventure was Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

To add to the ""Where Are They Now?" Epilogue for the Seasons 6-12 characters" theory, here are the current whereabouts for other characters we don't see nowadays or haven't seen in a while, and for the Railway Series-only characters that never showed up in the TV series:

• BoCo: He's still on Sodor, doing odd jobs that we don't see.
• Wilbert: Also still on Sodor, doing odd jobs that we don't see.
• Derek: Retired after his engine went beyond overheating and exploded. He's currently at the Dieselworks, being used for spare parts (though he's still alive).
• Smudger: He was sold to Japan, restored to working order, and currently works under a different name (this theory is based on a fanfic this troper once read).
  • Alternatively, Smudger was found and rebuilt to Bertram (which is why they have the same face). He was rebuilt to Duke's class in honor of him. He now works on the Skarloey Railway, doing odd jobs that we don't get to see on screen. Nobody on the Skarloey Railway knows that Bertram used to be Smudger, not even Peter Sam and Sir Handel.
• Diesel 10: He's doing odd jobs we don't see.
• Lady: She's the private engine for a millionaire living on the island.
• Pip & Emma: They do all the odd jobs we don't see.
• Splatter and Dodge: They're now owned by a industrial firm somewhere in England.

The Island of Sodor is a dictatorship, controlled entirely by Sodor Railways.

There's no sign of any government aside from the mayor and the railway seems to be in charge of a lot of things. Plus, the island's law enforcement, at least in the model seasons, appears to be comprised of only one police officer. Clearly, at some point, the railway, led by Sir Topham Hatt, seized control of the island and everybody who disagreed with their rule... disappeared (Jeremiah Jobling from "James and the Coaches" was the first to go, however when Old Bailey from "Haunted Henry" turned against Topham, he was simply reassigned to the Blue Mountain Quarry, which would explain the man working at the quarry who looks like him, and Mrs. Kyndley and her husband were simply exiled to the mainland when they turned against Topham which would explain why Kindley was mentioned in "The Great Race"). The Mayor of Sodor is in fact a puppet installed by Topham, and he makes him do acts that suggest he is in charge while in reality, it's the railway that runs the island.

The reason why Emily became bossy and haughty in Seasons 8-16 may have been due to Acquired Situational Narcissism.

When Emily first came to Sodor, she started off as nice and mature, but when season 8 began, she became rude, bossy, and haughty. The reason for this gradual change of character, which occurred somewhere between season 7 and season 8, is the case of Acquired Situational Narcissism. It has been very common for some engines to become conceited after being given important jobs or letting the praises for their accomplishments get into their smokeboxes, and somewhere between those seasons, Emily had fallen victim to this. Also, Emily's attitude maybe because of the influence of the boastful engines like Gordon and James (which may explain why she was with them teasing Thomas and Percy in the episode "Spic and Span"). She went back to her original persona at the start of Season 17, but she still has her flaws.

• In addition, Henry socialised less with Gordon and James as the series went on, explaining why his personality mellowed out around the same time. Indeed a large number of times Emily or Henry go back to being arrogant is when they're around the other tender engines again.

The brake van Percy crashed into in "Percy's Predicament" was the Spiteful Brake Van.

The reason the brake van in that episode blew up easily as Percy crashed into it was that the Spiteful Brake Van was rebuilt after Douglas accidentally smashed it. After Percy's accident, the Spiteful Brake Van was beyond repair and was scrapped entirely.

The reason for Gordon's constant laughter in "Gordon Gets The Giggles" is because of the coal in his funnel.

At the start of the episode, Gordon went under the coal hopper and a little flick of coal flew into his funnel. The coal inside his funnel made him feel ticklish and it's why he had a hard time controlling his laughter throughout the episode. After the ending, the workmen solved the issue and Gordon is back to normal.

Trains (and all other vehicles) are a species of techno-organic beings who were created in ancient times by technologically advanced humans

They have Human faces, personalities, are sentient, and could theoretically rise up, but are completely subservient to Humans.

The Isle of Sodor is part of Lilliput

This is why Mr. Conductor is so small when he's in "our" world; he's normal-sized whenever he returns to Sodor.

Thomas and Friends is in a time loop.

It explains all the inconsistencies in the timeline like different characters appearing in episodes before they're introduced like James. It also explains how Rebecca can appear in the Royal Engine even though it would mean that she would have come to Sodor before Donald and Douglas since Prince Charles is only about 10 years old. Also how else can Kenji in Marvelous Machinery exist when his basis was built between 1964 and 1986 when the show supposedly takes place during the late 40s early 50s?

Standard gauge track is more widely used on the national rail networks in the world of Thomas than in reality

This is why you can have characters visit Sodor from countries like Japan (whose conventional trains use Cape-Gauge track), or broad-gauge countries (like Brazil, Russia, and India), and why Thomas can visit places like Kenya (which uses Meter Gauge on its older lines) without there being any compatibility issues or need to re-gauge. Narrow gauge still exists but is found on only a few isolated lines like the one Duncan, Peter Sam, and Sir Handel work on and not on any large-scale national rail networks.

The Fat Controller kept steam on the Isle of Sodor for practical as well as sentimental reasons

The Fat Controller saw how flawed the 1955 Modernisation Plan was (among other things, it had called for the replacement of steam engines by diesel on a one-to-one basis, resulting in a number of underpowered and often unreliable designs; furthermore, they were purchased from a number of different manufacturers with a variety of different designs, so training staff to drive and maintain so many different designs and having to keep spare parts for them was a logistical nightmare). In addition, steam trains can be powered with locally-mined coal, not imported oil. For these reasons, the Fat Controller decided to keep using steam on the Isle of Sodor; later, when steam ended elsewhere, he kept using steam because of the extra tourist revenue steam drew in.

The series finale will be a special adapted from "Centenary" from the final Railway Series book ''Thomas and His Friends".

Just as The Railway Series ended in that story, the television series may as well end in this manner, too. If this is the case, then here are some things that could happen:

• The plot is just like the original except it will be an Adaptation Expansion.
• It will include every single character that ever appeared throughout the series (though not all of them such as the international engines). Returning characters like BoCo, Murdoch, Stepney, and Arthur will be seen in CGI for the first time. Pip and Emma will make their debut appearance.
• The Thin Clergyman doesn't make an appearance since he has long since passed away as he did in real life.
• Like many specials since The Great Race, it will be yet another Musical Episode.
• There's going to be a huge Continuity Porn where engines will bring up past incidents and events that occurred throughout the series.
• Diesel will Take a Level in Kindness.
• The special will end with Thomas and his friends talking about what the future holds for them.
• The special ends with The End like in the book.
  • Jossed.

Diesel's (relatively) nicer more desperate attitude in the HIT seasons is due to diesel engines also falling to Technology Marches On.

In earlier seasons Diesel deemed steam engines as redundant to "revolutionary" diesel and constantly gloated their fate in the scrapyard. However, in spite of the show's static timeline compared to the books, diesel have no doubt shown fallibility, there have multiple cases of them breaking down or suffering design defects, many of the early models that replaced steam were in fact being retired by the time BoCo arrived even, and several other hot topic locomotives have appeared. Diesel can be outclassed and scrapped as well. Hence Diesel himself taking on a more desperate personality that wants approval, with the threat of mortality making him far less complacent. Of course, due to their history, bad blood still exists between steam and diesel. Both want desperately to dissuade the Fat Controller from thinking they're old news after all.

• Ironically, the class 08/09 (Diesel's basis) was one of the most successful first-generation diesel designs, with several examples still in service even today, while the Class 28 (BoCo's basis) lasted barely a decade in service even after being returned to the manufacturer to be modified following "teething troubles" such as the cab windows falling out.

Brenda is trans.

Byron left the show after the episode "Mud Glorious Mud", did some soul-searching, and later came out as a transgender woman named Brenda. Brenda is a bulldozer just like Byron, and she's "new" to Sodor because no one knows her or that she was assigned male at build. Brenda worries that the other Pack members, especially Max and Monty, will find out she's trans and will bully her about it. In reality, Sodor is very LGBT friendly (at least in my headcanon). Rusty is non-binary, Lexi is genderfluid, Daisy is a trans woman, Belle is a trans woman, Edward is a trans man, James is gay, Thomas is bi, Caitlin is lesbian, Rebecca is pan, etc. Even the diesels are pro-LGBT.

• Do you have any evidence to back up any of the claims other than the one regarding Byron/Brenda?
  • Original poster here: these are just little headcanons I have, and most of them only have a very tangential basis in the show. For example, Britt Allcroft sought to make Rusty gender-neutral when he debuted on the show; some news articles said that Lexi was genderfluid (can't find them now); Daisy looks very similar to Boco, and they were never seen together, so Boco might have transitioned to Daisy; Similarly, some parts of the fandom believe that Arthur transitioned to Belle; I think Edward is a trans man because when the show came to the US, he was originally going to be called a girl named Alice, but then stayed the same gender; James shows several Camp Gay mannerisms; Thomas is bi is just a little headcanon because I'm bi myself; Caitlin had some Les Yay with Emily in "Best Engine Ever"; and I can see Rebecca being pansexual. I don't think Sodor is a homophobic Island at all, even the diesels have standards.
    • The Boco/Daisy thing I can buy (I can see Daisy's behavior, such as refusing to haul a single wagon, as a form of a trans woman's "overcompensating" and acting overly feminine), Edward seems like more of a case of She's a Man in Japan, James makes sense, and I haven't seen the episodes with Belle, Caitlin, Rebecca, or Lexi so I can't really comment on them.

The Logging Locos went insane after being banished to Misty Island

Bash, Dash, and Ferdinand used to work on the Mainland, but were banished to Misty Island for misbehaving, as we learn in Misty Island Rescue. However, I bet that while they liked to merely goof off on the Mainland, them getting banished to Misty Island is when they went truly nuts.

Think about it; they're the only ones who live on Misty Island, and there are no established rules, meaning they can do whatever they please. So by the time Thomas came there, they have well become Ax-Crazy anarchists.

Locomotives with facial hair have it specified for them at the factory, and it stays the same length throughout their lives

• Facial hair specified changes with the prevailing fashions of the period and country; this is why the Beau, the American old west locomotive, has a bushy mustache, and Lorenzo and Etienne (Italian and French mid-20th-century designs) have shorter "pencil" mustaches. Most of the other locomotives have a clean-shaven appearance because that was the prevailing style for much of the early to mid 20th century.

Paxton and Norman were putting up a Jerkass Façade in their earliest appearances

• When they first appeared, they and other diesels were more antagonistic towards the steam engines. It makes sense that a mix of the Dieselworks' early setbacks, Sidney not getting mended for ages, Diesel and Diesel 10's influence, and the steamies' occasionally standoffish attitude towards diesels led them to put on a defensive mean facade, as well as let their more aggressive Diesel brethren do most of the talking. By Season 17, things have started to improve and Paxton has became more comfortable showing his true colours, though it takes Sidney being fixed to win Norman over (he is already nicer to Thomas by the very next episode).

Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree was originally intended to be a longer adaptation of the book.

The Ladybird book that was released a year after the episode premiered is notable for being more or less an entirely faithful retelling of the original story Christopher Awdry was commissioned to write. The examples include:

• Gordon and Henry complaining about Thomas being selected to take the Christmas tree and discussing what might have happened to him with Donald and Douglas when he doesn't return.
• Donald and Douglas meeting up with Percy, Toby and Duck after setting off to look for Thomas.
• James wheeshing out of turn.

There's a possible Orphaned Reference in the actual episode, when the Fat Controller congratulates the Twins and tells them to join the Carol Party. Edward and James are present in that scene, and helped Thomas back to the station after he is dug out in the source material. They didn’t contribute to the rescue in the TV adaptation.

Thomas' boiler exploded in the first episode and the 24+ seasons that followed are his Dying Dream.

• Being pulled along by Gordon's express in "Thomas and Gordon" caused substantial strain on his inner workings and boiler, causing his boiler to violently explode. The rest of the series are his Adventures In Coma Land as he slowly fades away from life (hence all the Merchandise-Driven aspects becoming more apparent in later seasons). The magic railroad is Heaven, and Lady is God.
  • That's not how boilers work; being pulled by Gordon may have caused the bearings in his wheels to wear out and similar effects, but it wouldn't have made his boiler overheat, let alone explode (unless it actually ran out of water).
    • He actually did run out of water. Thomas did go for "a long drink" in the actual episode after the incident (but in this WMG, he didn't make it, and him having a long drink was all in his head).

The North Western Railway is independent from the Big Four Railways (and later British Railways), but maintains a good working relation with all of them.

• This is why the Fat Controller can use equipment from all of the Big Four, such as taking on Duck from the Great Western and Gordon from the LNER, and at the same time sending Henry to Crewe (an LMS facility) for a rebuild, without any apparent difficulty caused from favoring one company over another.

Duck's Barber shop 'accident' was all puppeteered by the unhinged Diesel.

Diesel wanted Duck gone forever, so he manipulated the trucks into sending him flying into Crosby. Diesel's original goal was for him to hit James' train, but instead Duck was switched into the yard. Diesel thought that a collision and, a death, would surely get Duck sent away. You may be thinking Diesel wouldn't go that far, but remember how he literally plotted to get Fergus smelted down in Season 7.

The nameboard intermissions take place after the series, with the engines retired and preserved for crowds to visit.

Miss Jenny sold Patrick off after the events of "On Site with Thomas"

Either because she couldn't afford to repair him, or she was just sick and tired of him bragging about concrete. If nothing else, it would explain why he never appeared in any other Pack episodes.

Salty and Victor are the same engine

Think about it!

1. They have the same colour scheme.
2. Have you ever seen them on-screen at the same time?
3. The conflict of "Salty All at Sea" is that Salty is afraid of going on a ship. Perhaps he had a traumatic experience the last time?

It's genius! There is absolutely no evidence against this that anyone with a functioning pair of eyes could notice!

Bradford being Samson's brake van was The Fat Controller's decision.

Samson is an engine from the Other Railway who occasionally visits Sodor to help the Fat Controller's engines with the extra work. However, Samson is infamous for making mistakes whenever he visits, whether it be taking Gordon's express coaches to the Blue Mountain Quarry instead of empty trucks, mistaking things that are still useful for scrap, or taking more stone trucks than he can handle in a misguided attempt to save time. Each of these mistakes has gotten him in trouble with the Fat Controller, who reported him to the Other Railway. However, as the Fat Controller preferred steam engines to diesels, he decided against asking for help from a diesel from the Other Railway, particularly after D261's incident. He then figured that what Samson needed to steer him in the right direction was a brake van who knows and follows all the rules, having gotten the idea from Toad, Oliver's brake van who helps him brake and keeps the Troublesome Trucks in order when they go down hills. The Other Railway liked this idea, and as it turned out, they had a brake van that was a stickler for the rules, in the form of Bradford. From then on, it was decided that Bradford would be working with Samson to help keep the latter in order.

The Great Discovery, Legend Of The Lost Treasure, The Great Race and Journey Beyond Sodor are all a look into Thomas' fears and insecurities

.

Let us first examine The Great Discovery and Legend Of The Lost Treasure. In both of these specials, Thomas fears being seen as a failure and being replaced by the new engines brought in by Sir Topham Hatt. This fear stems from Thomas' desire to be the best and to please his beloved controller. Despite the fact that Sir Topham Hatt has repeatedly expressed his love and appreciation for Thomas, the little blue engine is still plagued by self-doubt and fears of not meeting expectations. This is a common theme among many children and their relationships with authority figures, and Thomas serves as a relatable character for young viewers who may also struggle with similar worries.

Moving on to The Great Race, we see Thomas' fear of change and not being accepted for who he is. Throughout the special, Thomas is envious of the newer, sleeker engines and wishes to be like them. However, as the story unfolds, he learns to embrace his own unique qualities and realizes that being true to himself is more important than trying to be someone he's not. This is a valuable lesson for young viewers who may struggle with comparison and the pressure to conform to societal expectations.

Lastly, Journey Beyond Sodor highlights Thomas' fear of not being the best and being overlooked in favor of others, However, as the story unfolds, Thomas learns that true friendship and teamwork are more important than being the favorite. This theme is a crucial message for young viewers, as it teaches them the value of true friendship and the importance of supporting others, rather than striving to be the best.

Through these four specials, we see a progression in Thomas' character development as he overcomes his fears and insecurities. In The Great Discovery and Legend Of The Lost Treasure, he learns not to be jealous and to trust in the love and support of Sir Topham Hatt. The Great Race teaches him the importance of being himself, and Journey Beyond Sodor emphasizes the importance of friendship and teamwork.

In conclusion, my theory asserts that the Thomas and Friends specials are not just entertaining adventures, but also valuable lessons for young viewers. They offer a unique insight into Thomas' psyche and explore his fears and insecurities in relatable ways.

Vehicles' maturity is based on their milage

This originated as a Cars theory.

According to The Island of Sodor: Its People, History, and Railways, Thomas is seven years older than Gordon, so why does Gordon act older? Because Gordon travels dozens of miles along the main line every day, while Thomas was stuck in the yard for a long time.

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