Byron/Behind the Scenes

Television Series
Byron is a fictional bulldozer created by Phil Fehrle.

In 2002, Byron made his debut in the sixth series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends in the episode, Jack Jumps In. He later appeared in the the spin-off series, Jack and the Sodor Construction Company.

Byron has not appeared in the television series since 2006.

Live-action model
Byron's model was custom built by model maker, Chris Lloyd. The model's chassis was built out of brass and the top was built out of plastic to keep the weight down. A small flat fan was built underneath the chassis to cause the dirt to be kicked up. The model was painted in a matte finish and the numbers were custom stickers.

There were three remotes built to control Byron, one was used to control his movement, one was used to operated his blade, and one was used to move his eyes.

The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired.

Seven faces were sculpted for Byron. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould.

Voice Actors

 * Ryōichi Tanaka