Model Trains: Thomas And Friends

The first episode of Thomas and Friends first aired in 1984 on British TV.  Shepperton Studios was responsible for its production and the early title of the show “Thomas and Friends” was later changed to “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends” in 2003. 

Based on the book The Railway Series by W.V. Awdry, the show chronicles stories of steam engine trains that have a life of their own and can even interact with people.  For more than 20 years, the show has featured notable famous narrators from the UK and the US namely Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Pierce Brosnan, and Alec Baldwin.

From books to TV series, Thomas and Friends has become a worldwide franchise by way of merchandising and distribution.  A few of Thomas and Friends-inspired merchandise comes in the form of shirts, mugs, blankets, bed sheets, and of course, model trains.

Life-size steam engines were even made after Thomas and Friends for special events by Heritage Railways.  ”Day out with Thomas” is the name given for these occasions and these were made to draw visitors and tourists.  The added revenues Heritage railways obtain and passengers and their kids riding on their favorite characters gives everyone delight.  Model trains are made after real trains, but because of Thomas and Friends, that norm has been turned around and actual trains were made after model trains.

Throughout the early years of the show, each episode was shot in a studio using live animation using model trains.  Animation at that time involving real objects typically incorporate stop motion animation, Thomas and Friends used stationary characters and the style of animation given to these characters is by changing their facial expressions with interchangeable faces and the movement of the model trains themselves.  Voices and dialogues of every character always differ seeing as guest storytellers are the one providing them. 

By the time HIT Entertainment got holdof show rights to Thomas and Friends, they settled on to transform the way animation is made for it.  The application of model trains is still an essential part of the show but CGI techniques made body and lip movements and facial expressions more efficient. 

Even with this kind of upgrading the show has received, there are lots of people, particularly those who grew-up watching it, are reminiscing to watch the show’s past episodes of the 80’s due to its distinctive and plain way of animation.

One of the reasons that allow Thomas and Friends to have enjoyable stories and excellent scenery is through its wide-ranging model railway layout.  The German toy company, Marklin, is the one responsible for creating and supplying the studio with the train characters and the locomotives’ scale size is at 1:32 or Gauge 1 the gauge of the tracks used measure 44.45mm.  The model locomotives were also specially made with movable eyes and smoke generators.

Thomas and Friends is definitely a worldwide hit for kids and has stayed strong for more than 20 years.  Kids of the 80s have watched the show when it was originally broadcast in 1984 and it still lives-on today being followed by today’s generation of kids. 

Model trains afficionados and kids alike will like Thomas and his friends as gifts or as part of their collection and Hornby is able to offer this satisfaction with its Hornby R9071 Thomas the Tank Engine Train Set.