Tidmouth Sheds

Tidmouth Sheds are the main engine sheds on the North Western Railway. In the Railway Series, it is shown as a shed with three or four rails leading in (the illustrations were inconsistent), but in later books it was depicted as a shed enclosing ten berths around a turntable. Many events have taken place at the sheds, such as the strike of the big engines and the confrontation between Duck, Diesel and the big engines.

In the television series, the sheds were replaced by a roundhouse with six berths and a turntable outside at the front. Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy and Emily generally sleep here, although other engines occasionally spend the night here. Duck formerly slept here. The sheds have appeared in every season and special of Thomas and Friends.

During the events of Thomas and the Magic Railroad, the left side of the sheds was being repaired due to upgrades to the railway. The sheds were later demolished and rebuilt in Calling All Engines! with a new architectural style and an extra berth for Emily. Diesel, 'Arry and Bert were put in charge of building them, but Thomas, believing they were destroying it, sabotaged the three, causing the engines to sleep elsewhere until it was repaired.

The turntable had frozen one time due to the icy weather and Gordon got trapped in the sheds until it was fixed. Later on, all of the steam team went on strike by refusing to leave the sheds until the Fat Controller was allowed to stay on Sodor, however it was just misunderstanding as Sir Topham was never leaving.

Trivia

 * The new sheds from the later books were actually present since 1953, as in Thomas' Christmas Party it mentions "the new engine shed" and according to the Reverend W. Awdry they were the most accurate in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways, indicating the old shed up until James and the Diesel Engines was inconsistent.
 * In the Railway Series, the turntable was located inside the shed and ash pits were underneath each berth.
 * The shed's television sets and CGI render have had numerous modifications throughout the years:
 * Between the first season and the twelfth season, the track layout and yards around the shed constantly changed until the CGI changeover.
 * From the second season onwards, a (dairy) halt disappeared.
 * In the third season only, the interior of the shed had than nine berths while the outside had six.
 * In Thomas and the Magic Railroad, the sheds appeared in a new taller architectural design.
 * In Calling All Engines!:
 * The sheds were demolished and rebuilt with an extra berth, totalling seven.
 * The buffers in each berth disappeared.
 * The exterior lost its weathering.
 * From Hero of the Rails onwards:
 * There appears to be a town located behind the sheds.
 * In promotional images only, the buffers are present in the berths.
 * In the seventeenth season, the town behind the sheds appear to shrink.
 * Part way through the nineteenth season, the buffers actually returned to each berth.

Merchandise

 * ERTL (discontinued)
 * Wooden Railway (regular and deluxe)
 * Take Along (two versions, both discontinued)
 * TrackMaster
 * Bachmann (shed add-on also available)
 * Take-n-Play (two versions)
 * Thomas Engine Collection Series (discontinued)
 * Departing Now (discontinued)
 * Thomas Town (discontinued)
 * Mega Bloks (three versions)
 * Nakayoshi
 * Pocket Fantasy (discontinued)
 * Discover Junction
 * Trading Cards
 * Tomica
 * MV Sports (with Edward; discontinued)
 * Motorized Railway
 * Collectible Railway