Arthur/Behind the Scenes

Arthur is a fictional traction engine created by Paul Larson and Robert Gauld-Galliers.

In 2003, Arthur made his debut in the seventh series of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends in the episode, The Spotless Record.

Arthur has not appeared in the television series since 2008.

According to an early leak on the names of the seventh series characters, which has not been found yet, Arthur was originally going to be called Clarence. It was then changed to Arthur, when a TV magazine ran a competition to give him an official name, and that was the one chosen. Arthur was named after the late grandfather of competition winner Luke Sharp.

Arthur is based on an LMS Ivatt Class 2MT tank engine developed for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (hence the initials on his tanks). Unlike his basis, Arthur lacks a sand dome.

According to Robert Gauld-Galliers' original artwork, he was originally going to have the number "41241" painted in yellow on his coal bunker and a top feed like his original basis. The number 41241 comes from a preserved 2MT on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, and at one point, 41241 was painted in a maroon livery like Arthur. Three others are also preserved.

Regular Model
Arthur’s model was scratch-built to run on gauge 1 track. The model was built from brass. It was painted in a matte finish.

Arthur had a total of eleven face masks in the television series, with only eight used. However, if the Tales from the Tracks DVD feature Arthur's Tricky Travels counted, then a total of nine out of the eleven face masks were used on-screen.

During the Twelfth series, Arthur was the only engine to not have a cgi face.

Close-Up Model
Several close-up shots of Arthur's cab was required for scenes in the seventh series, where he had to interact with close-up scale figures. The model was not complete and only the cab was built.