EVERY Thomas Characters' REAL LIFE Basis Explained

[@setheatontheautobot4586]

I find it kinda funny that Sodor is kind of a dumping ground for unwanted engines.

[@WatchVidsMakeLists]

The Fat Controller is basically a pet hoarder who can't help but adopt every stray he finds

[@NitroIndigo]

The Island of Misfit Engines.

[@kevin-2.1]

@@NitroIndigo😂😂 what?

[@JAdg75oo00]

​@@WatchVidsMakeLists I do feel like you would have gotten a lot of crap for doing that by other railroads. I'm just glad he ignored them all along with his kids and pushed on through 🙂🚂

[@mysterygamermgclues8864]

​@@kevin-2.1i think it's a reference to the island of misfit toys from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

[@ryhi5]

34:20 This is why Sir Handel is a prime example of Awdry’s creativity. He took the all the operational problems Sir Hadyn had in real life and used them as inspiration for Sir Handel’s attitude problems! Genius Writing!

[@parkerwilliams7821]

He had an innate attention to detail, which added both humor and personality to his characters, as well as some subconscious satisfaction for children and, particularly, their parents. The stories weren’t some mindless garbage thought up in five minutes meant to briefly entertain and sell tons for profit. Passion and heart brought these characters to life and keep them alive even now

[@PilloTheStar]

I believe that's called "personification." I.E. seeing human traits in an inanimate object.

[@racheljackson4428]

Amazing!

[@brind4001]

Sir Haydn being updated with parts from other Falcons might also explain why Sir Handel is threatened with being taken apart in Little Old Twins 🤔

[@NitroIndigo]

@@brind4001 I remember being shocked when I first read a plot summary of Little Old Twins. Sir Handel: I don't wanna be on television! Thin Controller: THEN PERISH.

[@MiguelTheMan]

2 hours of engine lore? Hell yes, the Unlucky Tug cooked once again.

[@PCMan8922]

2:00:00

[@SamaritanPrime]

The Tug cooks, and we dine finely.

[@Oldmanhenderson12]

I gotta say, between the sodor lore book, and all of these inspirations, he had one hell of an imagination. He literally created the history of the island, that didn’t even need to happen.

[@Hamal69]

He is often compared to Tolkien because of all the history that both authors made

[@WatchVidsMakeLists]

42:07 You're telling me we could've had a preserved Toby but some bloke cut him up by mistake? That genuinely made my heart sink. Good thing the locomotives in our universe aren't sentient...

[@Revolver-Ocelot]

They've always been sentient to me!

[@IS-2_1944]

Well, they might be sentient but we aren't able to hear them speak, but they can speak to each other and hear us... I think I'm off my meds again

[@danthebluetank6636]

If engines in our universe were sentient…That means they were literally dismembered alive…Which is something horrifying to think about

[@IS-2_1944]

@@danthebluetank6636 and nobody heard them scream...

[@tjmfarming9584]

you'd be surprised... With the amount of character some locomotives and even tractors, cars and trucks on the roads have... I wouldn't be surprised if some of them are sentient. It just takes a certain amount of imagination, and time working on, in and around these machines to understand them

[@webadoinc.7112]

It’s funny how when Tug says “We’re starting to get into slightly more modern engines” we’re still almost exactly 90 years ago.

[@florjanbrudar692]

1934 was 90 years ago.

[@webadoinc.7112]

@@florjanbrudar692 Oh, yeah. We’re still exactly 90 years ago

[@SparklingJam]

Ah yes I remember 1934 like it was yesterday my grandfather wasn’t even born yey

[@JZJ7777]

I think we’d be hard-pressed to find many engines that would be considered modern by our standards in the show.

[@EggGuy461]

Modern by Sodor standards. After all, we didn't see any 21st century engines.

[@RileySmith-lv1zw]

the fact percy could potentially be older than city of turo is wild

[@christianjacinto7042]

The fact he is most likely older than Toby of all characters is wild!

[@DillianTrainzStudios]

This is why Wilbert Awdry was an absolute chad when it came to developing characters into the TTTE universe. He literally took some facts of the characters' real-life counterparts and incorporated them into their fictional counterparts. That just shows you how much of a brilliant writer he was.

[@TheBandit025Nova]

He’s more an Toto than an Chad Toto bless the rains while chads don’t

[@racheljackson4428]

J.K Rowling too. when it comes to Harry Potter, Worldbuilding is a understatement to how to write a complexing interesting story about the boy who lived.

[@Rainok]

> American engine > British Author who said Americans would vulgerize his work > Author makes it so the engine is turned into a pump engine

[@joshuaW5621]

This has to be a coincidence.

[@bobsemple07]

Based

[@Johnthecardboardsmileyface]

​@@bobsemple07fr

[@derekp2674]

If Awdry based those stories on the trials and tribulations of getting his 009 model to run decently, then I think that just reflects the problems with that model and not anti anti-American bias. From the video, the model looks like the Festiniog Railway's whitemetal kit - if so, mine never ran great either and was soon robbed for spare parts, i.e. its Minitrix T3 chassis.

[@Rainok]

@@derekp2674 i know, I was just being funny

[@dadocta5168]

I envy Tug how he can put out expansive videos like this every 2 - 3 weeks.

[@SamsPlaytroughs]

26:02 Thank you so much for finally mentioning the Superheated K2s! I'm shocked that such a lookalike for Edward from his exact class has been ignored by the fandom at large for so long. To me, Edward is one of these two engines.

[@primrosevale1995]

I'd personally say he's no. 34.

[@greenturtlgaming2554]

I personally believe he’s a fictional add-on who was built at Sharp Stewart’s original works in Manchester, explaining his English accent. However, I don’t believe Emily has a Scottish accent.

[@thetheatreorgan168]

No wonder he looked weirdly T9-like Those modified K2s look so similar

[@fanofeverything30465]

​@greenturtlgaming2554She does

[@plushfrog3604]

31:50 You see, the issue isn’t that no one has asked yet, tons of enthusiasts have! It’s just that Percy is a goblin who loves to cause trouble and keeps giving out wrong information. Every few months a railfan forum descends into chaos because someone asked Percy where he REALLY is from and he said something random like Baldwin or Doncaster.

[@sglenny001]

I'm saying Rotherham based on his attitude

[@QJ89]

I can absolutely see Percy as an unreliable narrator on where he came from. To paraphrase the Joker, he likes it to be multiple choice.

[@Dat-Mudkip]

I love the idea of Percy just causing havoc with people trying to figure out his origin. "I'm Doncaster!" "Isn't it obvious? I'm from York!" "Have you never seen an Avonside engine before!?" "I wasn't built! I'm just an illusion!! Oooooooo~!" "NBL, riveted and raised!" "I'm a one-off by Armstrong Whitworth." "Baldwin! I'm actually American!" "Keep this quiet, but I am actually a cleverly disguised Rover..." "Weren't we _all_ created by God?"

[@AlessiaIsLostInSpace]

​@@Dat-Mudkip Love that. Percy causing havoc for fun is amazing

[@fanofeverything30465]

Very in character for Percy

[@Dudus366]

For normal people, the characters's desings aren't that much of a deal. They think that they look as they weren't real. But if you look closer, you see that it wasn't all made up.

[@harrisonofcolorado8886]

There's this one guy who constantly calls Thomas a "little blue embarrassment" just because a lot of people see trains, and think of Thomas, but the Rev W. Awdry was a rail enthusiast just like a lot of us, and without Thomas, not as many people would be into trains, and supportive of trains and preservation of rail as they are today. Edit: Okay, I misunderstood about what he meant by that, Chris actually dislikes the bad side of the Thomas fandom, not Thomas itself. I didn't mean to do a full on attack on Chris since he's actually a pretty good guy.

[@levidarling5107]

I agree.

[@TheGs4_4449]

That’s a great perspective, bro!

[@Nic_2751]

That’s rather silly as trains aren’t exclusively the only vehicles to be popularly anthropomorphized, literally every vehicle has some big franchise attached to what they are that kids and fans can project interest from.

[@NitroIndigo]

People will be snobs about anything.

[@metronorthfoamer4085]

While I can see that to a certain extent (the absolute dumpster fire the fandom can be at times). It’s impossible to downplay the good that came out of the books and show, in my case I would have been exclusively interested in urban transportation (subways) but Thomas gave me an appreciation for mainline railways that I still hold today. Thomas is a perfect gateway drug to the wonderful world of trains.

[@randomstufliker2]

My personal theory about Henry "not quite being a Black 5" is that he was rebuilt as close as you could get to a Black 5 fitting into his original frames As for the case of faces and streamlined casing, it depends on how the engines are drawn and built. If and an engine was designed and built to have streamlined casing from the get-go, the face appears on the the casing. If the engine was streamlined after-the-fact, the face is covered. It's the same reason why Toby's face appears on his wooden casing as opposed to his smokebox

[@primrosevale1995]

My headcanon for Henry is that he was built on the MR by an unknown engineer with a grudge against Gresley using stolen plans for the GNR A1 that, unbeknownst to them, had been drawn by Gresley as reference for his friend Henry Greenly to make as a 15in locomotive based on how the design would be better suited for an engine that size. Due to the MR’s small engine policy he was built by a smaller independent workshop near the network, and thus had a number of problems: his firebox lacked the combustion chamber of the A1 with his rear set of driving wheels and wheel arches limiting its size, he had four cylinders {which made him underpowered}, a used marine boiler was used instead of a new locomotive boiler, and the boiler plates were loose upon arrival due to rushed production. While he's officially listed as a Black Five, Henry is technically a hybrid of the Black Fives and the at the time recently built Jubilees, with elements of each. These include the larger drivers and third cylinder of the Jubilee, and a high footplate and funnel of the Black Five, designed to give the best performance for mixed traffic, as the Black Fives were primarily freight engines. Furthermore, noting the incorrect boiler proportions of the Jubilees and the recent tests of the Type 2 boiler with British Legion, Stanier had Henry fitted with the first ever 2A boiler (which wasn’t as tapered as the Black 5 boiler), which had only recently been designed, with a larger smokebox to not only fit the new boiler but also fit Henry’s old smokebox door. Along with some other modifications like modified blast pipes, and following positive feedback of the boiler from STH, the same boiler would tried later on the Rebuilt Jubilees. He still has a few pieces from his original build, including his old whistle.

[@TheLazyFusspot_3428]

My theory is that the whistle, frames up to the trailing point and cab controls were the only available parts from the original Henry that was implemented onto the newly improved Henry.

[@davidty2006]

Probably used the stanier boiler and cab controls at minimum.

[@ThingInTheHall]

Maybe they add a piece of strong glass or plastic so they can actually see

[@fanofeverything30465]

Love it

[@kingdyste5289]

Clearly now we need a Sodor's Finest on the greatest character in the series, The Works Diesel.

[@racheljackson4428]

Seriously dude?

[@QJ89]

That's why the Extended Railway Series exists. Sodor Fan Fiction may get a bad rep, but Wendell (as Works Diesel is called there) is one of the better examples.

[@plaidzebra5526]

Unlucky Tug is only one guy, yet he made over a 2 hour video on The Railway Series. Passion and love there 💗💗💗💗💗

[@IsleofPigsStudios]

This is definitely the biggest video yet. Tug's first video that runs for over 2 hours. 2 hours worth of interesting engine design lore. And I’m all here for it.

[@TheLittleWesternDuo]

32:03 I think it would be pretty funny if Percy just decided to never tell anyone out of sheer cheekiness, or just came up with a different story each time someone asked! So no one truly knows, making him truly an “engine of obscure antecedents.” “Percy, where and when were you built?” “Avonside, 1902, Sir.” Later… “Percy, do you mind telling me where you were built?” “I was built by Hunslet, Edward! Everyone knows that!”

[@NitroIndigo]

I like to imagine that Percy has no idea where he came from.

[@primrosevale1995]

My personal theory is that he was an experimental design, being a mix of the features of the GWR 1361 class and Harry Politt’s GCR Class 5 {as well as the CR 294 class to a smaller extent} and given four wheels to navigate corners better, being originally built for dock work.

[@parkerwilliams7821]

Further, it could be that he was built and/or rebuilt into a conglomerate of a few engines and that’s why he doesn’t remember. Too much going on which brought trauma, or something. Memory wipe after that cursed (yet iconic and functional) combination… who knows!

[@jmredguppy2799]

He’s like the freaking what’s his face from Ratatouille, the worker that liked kept changing his background info.

[@dylanlyles9453]

I consider Percy to be built in 1925, just to make him younger than Gordon because Percy being older than Thomas and Toby seems wrong to me

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

I do hope the TV characters are covered one day. Hank's basis in particular is my locomotive of all time (The PRR K4, which the LNER A1 Pacific's boiler design is based upon) and his stereotypical "western" accent actually fits the pennsyltucky folk you find in Western PA where Hank was built (Altoona) "As much as I would love to tell you that Mike was also made out of Mike's old butt" LOL

[@muhammadhanifsatria5175]

Fancy seeing you here. I love you channel and disaster videos. Reminds me of the old "Seconds from Disaster" documentary aired on National Geographic

[@Blanksta-rd1ht]

Yeah I love your videos too

[@LD1-38]

There are a few fascinating cases where an American-operated character's class is tied strongly to something else in TTTE, even the Railway Series. - The Boiler of the K4s (Hank) inspired the boiler of the A1 (Gordon). - B&O P-7a #5304 (Caitlin) met Duchess of Hamilton while she was disguised as Coronation in the US. - An 18-24-C-S-I (Porter) was rebuilt into a replica of Thomas. - The Virginian AG "Blue Ridge" (Sam) was built in 1945, the same year that _The Three Railway Engines_ was published.

[@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren]

@LD1-38 indeed. I especially knew the K4 boiler fact. Gresley was a friend of those on the standard railroad of the world. The only major difference is the firebox as gresley preferred round tops over more expensive belphaires. Still the latter was quite popular in the UK as some characters like James share that firebox design

[@jezdrawz1227]

Friendly reminder that the Jinty had less fuel capacity than the E2 and yet they were more successful than the E2 and could travel a fair distance. That means the E2's fuel problem is most likely an exaggeration on a more overlooked problem that we might never know.

[@davidty2006]

Sounds like fuel consumption. For some railways like the north eastern that wasn't an issue though i don't know many collieries down south so LBSC probably didn't have the infrastructure for moving coal like the NER did.

[@firstnamlastnam2141]

They reused a boiler from a design that also had issues, so that could be part of the problem.

[@GumRobber]

Thanks for putting this out on my 24th birthday! And great video this was I definitely learned something from this.

[@joshuaW5621]

As somebody who has been studying the illustrations lately for details, I can confirm that Henry has plenty of differences from the other Black 5s. The differences is that the firebox is a foot shorter in length and flatter on the top with the second boiler band being on the other end rather than the middle. The round dome is also two feet forward, the rod on his footplate extends as far as the end of his front driving wheels, the black boxes (possibly sandboxes) and one of the pipes running near them are absent. Whether or not this makes Henry too different to qualify as a Black 5 is up to you, but the way I see it, he’s a unique sub-class.

[@QJ89]

There's also the fact that he got a differently-shaped 6-wheeled tender in later years and - oh yeah - he's a Green Five.

[@russellgxy2905]

So even as a rebuild his firebox is still undersized, that’s crazy. The flatter top to the Belpaire might make up for that in terms of heating surface

[@bladeobrian2144]

Two things, 1. My head canon is that Stephen is a replica who thinks he’s the real deal, a la Buzz Lightyear. The real Rocket exists in the show’s world in a museum somewhere. 2. Very specific observation, but when I hear the name “Bloomer” I just think about “bloomers” as in 19th century undergarments, which I actually wear under my longer skirts in real life.

[@thomtub8096]

I thought you were a dude because I have smooth Brain so I was like: This guy is the zestiest man alive! Or a woman.

[@Stepneybluebell55]

And Edward is a T1

[@Keaness]

That’s why they were called bloomers (the engines)

[@bladeobrian2144]

@@Keaness the engines were named after the clothes?

[@TheLazyFusspot_3428]

And that the frames, whistle and cab controls were the only parts from Henry 1 implemented onto Henry 2.

[@cadaenporter2467]

Rex's basis being given a tender with cylinders and value gear was also implemented in the United States on the Southern Railway. A couple of 2-8-0 Consolidations, a 2-8-2 Mikado, and a 4-8-2 Mountain were given similar tenders like River Esk. The tenders of the Southern Railway engines were later replaced with conventional ones after they proved unsuccessful.

[@cadaenporter2467]

For a more detailed explanation on the Southern Railway’s “Tender Tractors”, I would recommend KZbinr, Cowl Unit Productions’ video on the topic.

[@bkam9794]

I honestly feel bad for Stanley, kinda makes me wish that he could've gotten a story where he was rescued or something similar. And given your mentions of "quirks" with Duchess and Fred, it makes me hope to someday see a continuation of the _Unanswerable Thomas/Tugs Questions_ series.

[@fanofeverything30465]

Sadly Awdry put his xenophobia first

[@Idnamhar_aytes_liamsi]

Maybe you can try watch "stanley and the magic mirror". It's contain some supranatural elements but hey at least stanley is saved.

[@SideScrollStudios13]

Wow I don’t know if anyone else has been slumped over on the sofa waiting for this to drop. Edit: Loved this video especially the part about Wilbert and the dean forest railway as I’m from the town of Lydney which is in the forest and I have seen the real Wilbert. Amazing job on this one tug!!

[@sonickreekgamer7625]

Guy fr I was waiting so long and the video ended up so good

[@Tobytramproductions]

Fr

[@shekmarcus3797]

Not the sofa but in bed

[@MisterDanielTofu]

It's surreal to think Ivo Hugh is the baby of all engines in the Railway Series with provided names and origins, and that Mike is the youngest of the original three Arlesdale engines. Thanks for the history lesson, Tug.

[@joshuanishanthchristian5217]

A fun fact about the HSTs: As they're being retired across the UK, some HSTs are being exported! Both Nigeria and Mexico are trying to rebuild their long derelict railway networks, and both have purchased used HSTs for the job. Nigeria plans to use them initially as a weird sort of high-speed metro train (and they've somewhat infamously refurbished their interiors to match), while Mexico wants to use them as long distance expresses on their new Interoceanic Corridor Railway.

[@koolmckool7039]

Man, wish the U.S. would get one. There's a railway that connects two major cities where I live, and there's a third one further south. It takes a while to get down there by road, and if we could get a high speed rail line down there, that'd be swell.

[@enisra_bowman]

@@koolmckool7039 to be fair, the us railways have the money to electrify, but you running it into the Ground makes more money

[@davidty2006]

one of the mexican ones was repainted into BR blue funnily enough. Though it hit a car on a grade crossing whilst on a run...

[@joshuanishanthchristian5217]

@@davidty2006 I saw that! Love that they retained a heritage livery 😁

[@funnyhappystudios]

It’s sad about the passenger who died during the Snowdon L.A.D.A.S incident. If they had just remained calm like everyone else and didn’t jump out, they would’ve survived

[@NewController01]

Also worth mentioning, the original Rocket, before being moved to Shildon, spent quite a number of years at the London Science Museum, since 1862 to be exact

[@davidty2006]

Ontop of being on display in york. Which is currently undergoing renovations and has only made shildon the biggest collection of rolling stock under cover.

[@TheNumbersGuy-bm6bt]

I like how you stuck true to the railway series and pronounced Rheneas as REN-E-US instead of REN-A-US

[@sebforce1165]

I like to think that if Diesel _is_ 13236, by the time he's met Stepeny, he's mellowed out and doesn't mind the Steam-ies, moving past his distaste to respect and contempt.

[@QJ89]

Please don't call them that. Its an idiotic, juvenile term. I know they're kids books but they were Never condescending.

[@jackswan3420]

​@@QJ89 What?

[@QJ89]

@@jackswan3420 "Steamies" is a term that always rubbed me the wrong way, because it was introduced at a time when the show's writing HiT the lowest common denominator - the polar opposite of the Railway Series. I Never liked the HiT era because it used such simplistic and cringe-worthy words like "Steamie," on top of being ever so boring.

[@isaacdevries4330]

Oh heck yeah, Tug Time

[@tencents6]

To answer Tug's question about Hamilton, my headcannon is that the streamlined casing has a see through "nose." So when Hamilton wears it, it acts as a kind of magnifying glass and makes her face look like it's where the nose would be, even though it's not.

[@JackRyCork1]

Fun Fact about the J70’s: their wooden bodies were actually used as bodies for brake vans after they were scrapped. So for all we know, the real Toby could’ve become a brake van.

[@CheifDG]

So you’re saying that Toad could be made out of Toby’s scrapped brothers?

[@JackRyCork1]

@@CheifDG maybe

[@robrice7246]

That's what Nathan did in "Toby the Brake Van".

[@Idnamhar_aytes_liamsi]

​@@robrice7246toby the brake van*

[@PennsyPappas]

I always thought it was interesting that the way Awdry explained his early locomotives after the whole Henry fiasco was that they were all essentially Prototypes of various success and less than ideal steam engines on other railways. Of course after that they all have their basis in actual locomotives but those first 6 have a very fascinating story. I took learned so much more today especially on the more obscure characters that often get overlooked. A wonderful video that any enthusiast would love to watch.

[@cz.gazz.]

What a great video. I’ve just come back from a holiday to the UK where I got to “meet” some of these real engines for the first time (Dolgoch, Moel Siabod, City of Truro, Scotsman, etc), and I continue to be inspired by your content. Your videos do such a fantastic job of connecting fans to the lore and making Sodor feel like a real place with a tangible history. Love it

[@joshuaW5621]

I’m going to Glasgow on Monday.

[@OmegaInfinityAlpha]

I like the idea that Spencer is the original Silver Link, the first-ever A4. It adds an extra wrinkle to him and Gordon's rivalry, the first A4 versus the prototype A0.

[@primrosevale1995]

Personally I like to think he was no. 2512 Silver Fox, and was given his current name in honor of Bert Spencer after being purchased by the Duke and Duchess of Boxford.

[@russellgxy2905]

@@primrosevale1995 Silver Fox does hold a speed record for an in-service train. Mallard’s run, as well as Silver Link’s and Coronation’s, and even Milwaukee Road 2’s records were all made as special test-runs, not regular trains!

[@Steamenginesunited3456]

Always loved how the real life events from the engines were incorporated into their characters

[@vinceargado9892]

A two hour long video talking about trains? SIGN ME UP! *I LOVE TRAINS!*

[@DoncasterResonance]

A correction about the A1s and A3s, The only way you could tell between the two was the coverplates on the smokebox to hide the superheaters of the A3s. The A3s well for some also had the round dome rather than the banjo ones. For Scotsman, you forgot that Tony Marchington (I believe that was his name) bought Scotsman after William and he was the owner before the NRM bought him since it made his owner bankrupt. You also forgot about Gordon’s rebuild in 1939, his running plate would be raised to fit the Stanier Cylinder and just for the A1 fans like me, the GNR batch A1 1470 to 1471 had the high 13ft 4in chimney, dome, safety valve , and cab and even a round cabroof while the later LNER batch of A1s had the low height of 13ft 1in (or 13ft only) with the same mentioned fittings being lowered and a more flattened/flatter cabroof.

[@SodorTrain1225]

Great video! This must've taken ages to edit! I wanted to give a little fact about Toby. In a model railway magazine focusing on the Ffarquhar layout, Wilbert mentioned that Toby was a Y6, to explain why his model was a smaller 0-4-0, instead of the 0-6-0 we know him as. Edit: I had no idea the Furness J1s were tender engines at one point. Albert once being tender engine is very interesting!

[@greenturtlgaming2554]

My personal belief on Iron Duke’s case is that if an original engine is scrapped and a replica is later built, the soul and memories of the original are transferred onto the replica (e.g. 119 and Jupiter).

[@stationmasterkuma]

So in the Thomas universe, if your theory is true, thqt means a rebuild is a form of resurrection?

[@BrentSudric]

But what if the original and replica coexist?

[@Nic_2751]

@@BrentSudricthen it simply doesn’t do that and I guess just remains an existing original creation and being

[@NitroIndigo]

@@stationmasterkuma Sounds like something that would happen in Stories of Sodor.

[@greenturtlgaming2554]

@@BrentSudricThen the replica contains part of the original’s soul, kind of like a Horcrux in the Wizarding World. Take the replica John Bull, for instance.

[@DSK_Terrence_Official]

PLEASE MAKE PART 2, I LOVED THIS. and the Sodor Railway Repair's based on the Knox Kershaw Ballast Spreader 2:40. And theyre 78 A3's around now

[@PitofTrogness]

56:26 the reason why GN wasn't rebuilt was because the locomotive was very worn down, as it was the oldest pacific in service so when Edward Thompson requested one of the A1s for rebuilding, he was given GN as it was the first one at hand and it was due for a rebuild anyways

[@joshuaW5621]

Too bad people have interpreted this as Thompson choosing Great Northern as evidence that he hated Gresley over the years.

[@cz.gazz.]

It’s interesting how although not every Railway Series character made it into the books or TV series, several do have analogues - particularly in series 7. A snooty A4 in Spencer, a 2MT joining the railway around the time the preservation era was underway, a 19th century Single who is seen pulling her special coaches on the Ffarquhar branch, etc. I doubt this was intentional, but it makes for interesting timeline-parallels

[@comicfan1324]

43:29 Glad to see someone putting some respect on the E2s name.

[@lt.bagelbites6969]

“oh boy I hope he covers the Sodor Ballast laying machine” 2:38

[@Error_Detected404]

I got back into Thomas recently, and your videos going over your models inspire me to make my own customs. It's nice having my favorite franchise as a kid still be with me in a new form. One day I'll make a custom Arthur or Emily for HO or OO scale, just to satisfy that child side within, because all the characters having a real world basis is so cool

[@DaGrounderZone]

I have a theory that Duck's previous number was probably 5717 5717 was allocated to Old Oak Common a few times and since it was 6 miles from Paddington, he could've likely worked there for a couple of years before Charles purchased him in '55 and before his arrival to Sodor, he could've encountered 5741 at a railway workshop at some point and from there, they would've swapped numberplates

[@LimpBizkitMix]

I played the Terrier chuffing sfx for my dog and he perked up lmao

[@toby.fan9198]

31:57 maybe they have, but Percy just doesn’t like to talk about it

[@metalkidleo]

That could actually be a good AU idea

[@sebforce1165]

Or they thought it rude to ask and didn't want to make him feel out of place? I don't think Percy's one to mind though, and it just never came up in conversation.

[@ReviCat]

43:57 note the USA S100 class (Rosie's class) were to replace the E2s when they all got scrapped during the second World war

[@GeorgeTankerYT]

This was a very fun, interesting, and entertaining video! I can't imagine how much it took you to search everything. And wow, your editing in here was quite good! Not to mention that you exceeded at your voice. It never became monotone, nor boring. I honestly didn't feel like 2 ours have passed until you said it. Very good job!

[@jvgreendarmok]

Has nobody else noticed the irony of a *forest* engine being named after Awdry, given his famous objections to the "Henry's Forest" story?

[@NitroIndigo]

Now I'm imagining a fanvid where Wilbert the Forest Engine doesn't get why Henry likes trees.

[@joshuaW5621]

How funny if you to mention that.

[@HarrytheEngine]

I can’t wait to see Sir Hayden and Sir Handel meet for the first time tomorrow.

[@derekp2674]

I hope you enjoyed that. Yesterday, Sir Handel left Wharf, to start its road trip back home.

[@Revolver-Ocelot]

Noticed that this was getting teased for days and I'm not disappointed. I know what I'm going to be doing with my evening!

[@gothnerd887]

My family and I recently went on holiday to the North of England and I went to a heritage railway for the first time. It was a diesel day so we rode a diesel train with Metro painted on it's side, nothing much happened on the ride so I imagined the train was under attack from disassembly drones (the lore of Murder Drones says they feed on oil and diesel is an oil). After that we went to the shed where I finally saw how big steam engines are. I pointed out the difference between a side tank and a saddle tank to my brother while he put his drink from the cafe on the footplate of another saddle tank and I told him that if it was alive it would say "I AM NOT A DRINK HOLDER!" to which he jokingly responded "Shut up, yes you are".

[@Daniel_Huffman]

My personal favorite rationalization for Bert's seemingly inconsistent age comes from a commenter on SamTheTrainFan's Arlesdale Railway history video, who speculated that Bert's rebuild led to the three engines jokingly saying that Bert was a younger engine. Given that characters have been described as "feeling like a new engine" after receiving upgrades or rebuilds, this theory does have precedence.

[@seangannon1919]

1:08:54 Actually, I do know the name for Big City Engine. Thanks to Victor Tanzing's excellent name research, he was able to conclude that the Big City Engine's name was "Reginald".

[@Warpatriotofficial]

Are you sure I thought big city engines name was one of reginalds brothers

[@Warpatriotofficial]

1:11:02 isn’t the pug named collen Or does the rules of victors universe don’t apply here

[@astronomical_numbers]

i like how the chaps at crovan gate's could fix issues rampant in a lot of locomotives

[@toby.fan9198]

25:49 I think he was saying that in quotation marks, as earlier in the story, Rex and Mike were teasing Bert and saying young-ins these days. When Bert knows that he’s older then them, I hope you get my meaning

[@ABellEngine]

2 hours of talking train lore? Gotta add this to my "Thomas lore" playlist.

[@ScottMalkinsonisW]

The realism of the basis is one of the many reasons this franchise is so beautiful.

[@StillAlexander]

Hot damn 10:23 shot me into the past. So I grew up in Milton Keynes (Tug missed the N in Keynes but that's okay) and I *loved* this museum. It's got such an eclectic mix of stuff, like one room dedicated to the history of the telephone, one building entirely dedicated to transport (probably why they have a train on display) and one for lawnmowers. Hell, I even volunteered there for a while I loved the place so much. I don't live there any more but if anyone who reads this is ever bored and in the area, give them a visit from me. Thanks for those memories back, Tug.

[@sglenny001]

Similar to the Lincoln museum then but somehow Milton Keynes gets the better stuff

[@robertb7918]

Regarding the class 40 diesel's number, 4711 (four - seven - eleven) is the brand name of Echt Kolnich Wasser (yes I know I should put dots over the o), the German version of Eu de Cologne. Probably irrelevant... unless it implied that he smelt nice.

[@enisra_bowman]

uhm, do you realize that eu de Cologne is the french Translation of "Kölnisch Wasser" and everybody else copied it?

[@robertb7918]

@@enisra_bowman No I didn't realise that the German version was the original. My German mother found adverts for 4711 quite funny because by the 70s Germans were used to the French version as standard.

[@ThomasLover-fr8nh]

Wilbert's basis also appeared in the 1968 MGM movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", when Chitty drives alongside the train. The driver waves to Caractacus Potts, his children, and Truly Scrumptious, who wave back to him.

[@Pyrotrainthing]

46:46 If you think about it it actually mirrors a lot of the treatment veterans of World War 1 got, notably in Britain. Stanley wasn't regauged right, and he couldn't help his faults becuase of that, but instead of caring about their engine and fixing the problem the Mid Sodor decided to turn him into a pumping engine, he may have had bad manners but their maintenance department was also bad for not noticing the problem.

[@joshuariddensdale2126]

It always puzzles me that, in the books, Sir Handel and Peter Sam were repainted red, but in the TV show, they remained in their original blue and green, respectively. Similarly, Donald and Douglas were repainted blue in the books, but remained in their black livery in the show.

[@RicardoGaming09]

Because britt and david wanted the Skarloey engines to stand out and i don't known about the scottish twins, maybe Because there no black painted engines in the series at the time, Diesel was the first but not owned by sir topham hatt

[@Traincraft_Fan]

47:17 There is actually a very interesting detail in Reginald Paynes illustrations that a lot of people have not discovered, in some illustrations where Henry has the brass chimney, resembles the GWRs Great Bear, a flawed pacific that did not work well, even the boiler shape is very very similar. My theory/headcanon is that gresley has a spare drawing of the Great Bear that he used as a reference for "what not to make", and the theif accidently stole that drawing, which is why nobody cared it was stolen, because it was worthless (unless you are an 00 gauge modeler), making Henry the second GWR pacific (kind of), and William Stanier had worked on the GWR during the time the Great Bear was built, which is why henry was sent to him, because he would have had great knowledge on how to fix Henry. Some of the later illustrations are a bit inaccurate to Paynes drawings, however the photos of henry in the shed when he was sick, still in blue, specifically shows him having a design like the Great Bear

[@_GuestFive]

Yeah we absolutely need a follow up video with the inspirations for Flora, Hiro, Molly, Murdoch, Ryan etc… Honestly the Character/Map/Lore stuff are my favourite videos you do Tugs.

[@HammieBone]

So much lore behind a model Train “Kids” shows

[@robertstreet3047]

You may know this, but there is a FanFiction author who is currently working on a TTTE + Carrie 2013 crossover. The author takes a lot of time to carefully research real-life trains and even makes these notes in their chapters that inform the reader of the entire history of a particular engine or vehicle when they get introduced. The story is called 'Starting Over Again'.

[@TheTrainMaster15]

During Gordon’s segment you say that the most obvious difference between the A1s and A3s is the banjo dome. This is not entirely accurate. Many A3s went a long time without a banjo dome, Ladas being one of them. The best way to tell them apart is by seeing if the smokebox has the new covers for the larger superheater header, installed only on the A3s

[@barnykirashi]

I like Neville lore the most. Some Austrian dude was not accepted into art school, got angry, apparently got the juice, and then suddenly.......Neville happened.

[@TobyOliverHenryFan]

5:14 That explains its modern day appearance! I always wonder why the real engine looks different from every depiction of it. Minus Stephen that is. It would have been funny if in King Of The Railway, Thomas mentioned how he had seen Stephen before but he had no face or smokebox. Stephen would probably explain to him that that was a replica of him that Thomas had seen. But alas.

[@Thatonestrangefella]

If you think I’m going to spend my Sunday afternoon watching a 2 hour movie on a silly blue train then youre absolutely correct

[@williamclark4816]

The video I've always wanted has FINALLY ARRIVED! THANK YOU TUG!!

[@KraylebStudios]

I like the idea that the Island of Sodor is some kind of safe haven for train designs especially when they become outdated

[@snowyfolfskyroo2739]

1:44:24 finally glad to see some The Works Diesel representation. We need more people talking about The Works Diesel. The Works Diesel gang rise up

[@mr99gto]

Fantastic video as usual mate. On the note of old stuck up, I wanted to share this fun fact, that the incident with old stuck up, that was based around a real incident which involved preserved Gresley A4, Sir Nigel Gresley, where it knocked a hole in the wall of the shed it was moving into.

[@nwsimon]

it always strikes me as odd that the Works Diesel - a loco that runs short journeys from a works in a small island - is of a class that was running long distance express trains until the 2000s

[@davidty2006]

and heavy freight...

[@jimmythemineengine3585]

Additionally, the LMS numbers assigned to Donald and Douglas were previously worn by two CR Class 30 engines, which were themselves superheated versions of the 652s

[@emersoninfinitystone5785]

1:19:04 It's actually worth pointing out that, yes, while Mallard holds the undisputed title as the world's fastest steam engine, Duchess Of Hamilton is still today wildly known as her greatest rival, and officially acknowledged to have been more than capable of eclipsing her record of 126mph, given the same track and conditions.

[@mackpines]

This was amazing. I'm a huge history buff; especially when it comes to anything railroad or train related. This was better than some documentaries. Fantastic video!

[@engineerskalinera]

I like to think Iron Duke's mustache is real, because he's actually old - he IS a rebuilt Austerity, if you think about it.

[@MattiusHawkEye]

Blimey, a Smudger clip *without the laughter sound playing? Miracles do happen

[@e-meme-io7047]

PLEASE do a part two!! Love yah Unlucky Tug!!

[@superpaytonmars8852]

30:21 Gee thanks, you made me think of Percy being voiced by Willem Dafoe. Topham: I think I'll have Percy pull Annie and Clarabel while Thomas is gone. Percy: Misery, misery, misery, that's what you've chosen.

[@NightRunnerAlec]

1:46:23 omg that's my video I feel so honoured!!! 😁😁😁

[@andydoms2001]

The realistic nature of the show with basing every engine off real engines is such a crucial part of the franchise’s appeal and I can’t believe no one at Mattel either gets that or cares!!!

[@maxruggiero4338]

Yes please do a part 2! I love the story of the Sterling Singles like Emily and I grew up on it HIT era don’t judge me😂

[@DragonStar524]

I kind of wished that each of these classes could've been preserved. They are magnificent pieces of machinery.

[@RowanMackenzie]

Holy shit the effort it must have taken to do all those timestamps haha

[@pizzaplanettruck9761]

According to a lecture, Frank originally was going to be based on Perkins' steam outline form with a green livery. Funnily enough, this means that he actually DID know about Perkins (then known as the Passenger Tractor), and left him out of the book on purpose. This comes from CrovanWorks on Deviantart, where he suggested that Awdry, being a steam enthusiast, took offence to a diesel pretending to be a steam engine.

[@spencers5898]

Never ask Toby what he was doing in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914.

[@jumpjet115]

1:04:46 I had the pleasure of seeing Douglas at the Severn Valley Railway earlier this month, he’s an impressive looking little train

[@jamesthomas5109]

11:20 hopefully we can learn more about these other boxcab engines, aside from Neil and the other Sodor and Mainland railway engines. 🛤

[@NewController01]

1:21:05 to mention this real quick as a matter of fact, the LMS DID actually build their own corridor tender, I think this was what they were going for when designing Duchess's character