Annie and Clarabel

"Those are my coaches. Give them back!"

- Thomas, Emily's New Coaches, seventh season

    Annie and Clarabel   Annie and Clarabel are Thomas' two coaches, whom he loves very much.
 * Class: LBSCR coaches No. 100
 * Configuration: 4 (TV series); 8 (Railway Series)

Bio
The details of Annie and Clarabel's lives up to 1946 are murky. In 1946, they were given to Thomas when he started working his branch line. They have had several adventures, such as losing their guard and becoming runaways.

Persona
Annie and Clarabel are respectful of all the engines, most of all Gordon and Thomas. They are Thomas' best friends, and are quick to rebuke him when he gets troublesome.

Basis
A coach that was to be the basis for Annie was first built by a teenage Reverend W. Awdry as part of a model railway layout. Many years later, after a long hiatus from modelling, a brake coach was built to match so that the Reverend's Thomas model would have a complete train.

In the Railway Series, they are a pair of bogie coaches (ie each coach is supported on a pair of four-wheeled bogies or "trucks"). As currently illustrated, they appear similar to non-corridor suburban coaches operated by the LMS.

In the television series, they are a pair of four-wheeled coaches; they are rebuilt on a rigid chassis, with fixed axles, told apart by the fact that their names are painted on their sides.

Livery
Annie and Clarabel were originally painted orange; they are now painted maroon with a yellow stripe like the rest of the NWR coaches.

In the television series, they are painted in a plain orange-brown livery with their names written in white on their sides. They were refurbished in the fifth season.

Appearances
Although they first appeared in Thomas the Tank Engine, Annie and Clarabel were not named until Tank Engine Thomas Again. They have since become recurring characters in the Railway Series.

In the television series, Annie and Clarabel have appeared in:
 * Season 1 - Thomas and Gordon (Clarabel only; cameo), Thomas and the Breakdown Train (do not speak), James and the Coaches (Annie only; cameo), Thomas and the Guard, Thomas goes Fishing (do not speak), Thomas, Terence and the Snow, Thomas and Bertie, Tenders and Turntables (do not speak), Trouble in the Shed (do not speak), Percy Runs Away (do not speak), Coal (do not speak), Thomas in Trouble (cameo), Down the Mine, and Thomas' Christmas Party

Specials:
 * Thomas and the Magic Railroad
 * Calling All Engines (do not speak)
 * The Great Discovery (do not speak)
 * Hero of the Rails (cameo)

Trivia

 * Annie and Clarabel's models are currently on display in Canada at Nitrogen Studios.
 * In the Railway Series, Annie and Clarabel are the same type of coach as the express coaches, and have bogie wheels (eight wheels). In the television series, they only have four wheels.
 * Annie is the older of the two.
 * The Hero of the Rails intro shows Annie and Clarabel with bogie wheels.
 * For some reason every merchandise line gives Annie her shocked face.
 * A real TV version of Clarabel (a former LNER "Sunshine" coach) has recently been put into service at the Llangollen Railway in North Wales.

Voice Actors

 * Shelley-Elizabeth Skinner - Annie and Clarabel (Thomas and the Magic Railroad)
 * Japan:
 * Tomoko Naka - Annie
 * Chisato Nakajima - Clarabel

Merchandising

 * ERTL (normal and Gold Rail) (both discontinued)
 * Learning Curve Wooden (two versions)
 * Take-Along (seperately or together)
 * Take-n-Play (two pack)
 * TOMY/TrackMaster (two versions)
 * My First Thomas
 * Bachmann
 * Hornby
 * My Thomas Story Library
 * Bandai Tecs
 * Tomix Trains
 * Di Agostini
 * Wind-up Trains
 * Brio (discontinued)