Annie and Clarabel

    Annie and Clarabel

Annie and Clarabel are coaches pulled by Thomas on his branch line, although Percy, Toby, Duck, Emily, Neville, James, Salty, and Stanley have pulled them on occasion. They were built in 1927 as a pair of bogie coaches, and later rebuilt in 1984 as a pair of four-wheeled coaches.

Biography
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.

Personalities
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. For some reason in the Television series, Annie is almost always depicted with a surprised face, and Clarabel a calm one. This has been carried out onto all merchandise of them.

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.

In the television series, they are a pair of four-wheeled coaches, easily told apart by the fact that their names are painted on their sides. In The Railway Series, they are a pair of bogie coaches (i.e. each one is supported on a pair of four-wheeled "trucks").

They are currently a pair of four-wheeled coaches based on 19th century coaches such as No 100, with origins on London's Metropolitan Railway in 1868. They were originally a pair of bogie coaches based on LMS suburbans Edward Exley coaches.

Livery
Annie and Clarabel were originally painted light orange. They became orange, but later became maroon with a yellow stripe. In the television series, they were refurbished in the fifth season and their names are painted on their sides in white.

Annie and Clarabel are currently painted maroon with a yellow stripe, like the rest of the standard gauge coaches depicted by Clive Spong, and their names painted on their sides in white.

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 minor recurring characters in the Railway Series.

In the television series, Annie and Clarabel were both introduced in the first season. They have made constant appearances in every following season.

Trivia

 * As evidenced above, Annie is the older of the two.
 * Annie and Clarabel's paintwork vary between illustrators. In C. Reginald Dalby's time, they were a light orange. They became orange while John T. Kenney was illustrating, but later became maroon with a yellow stripe after Clive Spong started illustrating, like the rest of the standard gauge coaches.
 * Annie and Clarabel are currently television series-style coaches with their Railway Series-style livery. Before 1984, they were originally a pair of bogie coaches, and later rebuilt as a pair of four-wheeled coaches, easily told apart by the fact that their names are painted on their sides.

Merchandising

 * ERTL model (discontinued)
 * TOMY/Trackmaster model
 * Bandie Tecs model
 * LC Wooden
 * Bachmann model
 * Hornby model
 * Tomix model
 * ERTL Gold Rail model
 * ERTL Miniatures
 * Take Along model