The Windmills

There are four known windmills on Sodor: one on Thomas' Branch Line, one on the main line, one near Killaban, and Toby's Windmill on Toby's Branch Line.

Classic Series Windmill
This windmill is located on Thomas' Branch Line, located between Crowe's Farm Crossing and Dryaw station. A railway line runs past this windmill, and beside the windmill is a lake. Thomas has primarily been seen passing by this windmill with Annie and Clarabel, and Toby has also been seen passing by this windmill. This windmill appeared frequently thorought the first to seventh seasons and was seen in the opening credits, but was replaced in the eighth season with a different windmill. A similar windmill has been seen on the main line in the third season. In early drafts of Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, Thomas was meant to pass the Windmill, but this was changed to the Season 5 Windmill for unknown reasons.

Season 5 Windmill
This windmill is located on the main line, and has been seen since the fifth season. From the fifth to sixth season, a bridge spanned over the railway line behind the Windmill but in the seventh season the bridge was moved to the front of the Windmill. In the eighth season, the bridge was removed. This windmill has been frequently seen since its introduction, and footage of Thomas passing by the windmill with Annie and Clarabel is used for the intro of the New Series.

Sodor Grain Windmill
This windmill is located between Killaban and Cabalnoo, and is used for grain. Mr. Conductor landed on some sacks lying near the windmill after an encounter with Diesel 10, and it was here that he found a subliminal message about Lady and met up with Junior and Lily. Junior, seeing the windmill as a joyride, decided to ride on the sails on the windmill, but unfortunately this resulted in him being flung up several feet in the air when the wind got too strong and ended up being thrown onto Diesel 10's roof. This windmill only appeared in Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

Toby's Windmill
This windmill is located near the junction for Tidmouth Bay and the Old Mine on Toby's Branch Line, and has only been seen in the seventh season episode of the same name. The windmill was once struck by lightning during a fierce storm and was in jeopardy of closing down. After Toby found an old tree that had collapsed during a storm, the wood from the tree was used to rebuild the windmill, and it has been in business ever since.

Trivia

 * Footage of the windmill from Thomas and Bertie was used to make the opening from the first - fifth and seventh seasons.
 * Percy once took the oil painter to the windmill in the ninth season while looking for the Spirit of Sodor, but the painter complained that it was too round.
 * A slightly different model of the first windmill was used in Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
 * The third windmill's model is currently on display at Drayton Manor.
 * The windmill was originally going to appear in the aftermath of the storm in Calling All Engines! but this was changed to the suspension bridge.
 * The Windmill is one of the scenic buildings not used in the Railway Series.

Merchandise

 * ERTL (discontinued)
 * Wind-up
 * Thomas Town (discontinued)
 * Wooden Railway
 * Tomix
 * Motor Road and Rail (discontinued)
 * TrackMaster (discontinued)
 * Brio (discontinued)
 * Hornby (retired)
 * Bachmann
 * Lionel Trains