Edward/Behind the Scenes

Inspiration
The inspiration for Edward himself came from the Rev W. Awdry watching trains on the Great Western Railway as a child. He said in an interview with Brian Sibley for The Thomas the Tank Engine Man that, to him, the noise of the locomotives' exhaust almost sounded like dialogue - for example, the larger engine having trouble climbing the hills would appear to be saying, "I can't do it, I can't do it" and the smaller engine helping them would sound like it was saying, "I will do it! I will do it! I will do it!" Later, the Reverend Awdry told his son a bedtime story about an engine who was sad because he was never taken out of the shed for being old. Upon being asked what the engine's name was by his son, the Reverend Awdry picked the name "Edward" out of thin air.

Television Series
Edward first appeared in the first series episode Edward and Gordon and has remained one of the main characters of the series since.

Gauge 1 model
Edward’s original model was custom built with a perspex body shell and used a Märklin locomotive as a donor for the chassis and various parts. It was painted using automotive paint and lined with red automotive pinstripe tape with the numbers being custom cut vinyl stickers.

Edward’s drive wheels and tender wheels was sourced from a gauge 1 locomotive made by Märklin, the BR 55, and the bogie wheels were from a bogie of the BR 78. The front bufferbeam came from the BR 78 and the rear bufferbeam came from the BR 55. The handrails were also sourced from Märklin locomotives.

Edward’s perspex model was originally AC powered as this is how the Märklin locomotives were powered. During a refurbishment his AC motor was replaced by a DC motor to allow for easier running and maintenance.

CGI model
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Edward was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios. His model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

Photographs of Edward's Gauge 1 model were used for referencing. According to Greg Tiernan, every detail of the original television series models for each character is carefully reproduced in the CGI model. The models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval.

Edward's CGI model was mostly identical to his Gauge 1 model but has had modifications these include:
 * Hero of the Rails:
 * He slightly decreased in height.
 * His buffers became bigger and moved towards the centre of his bufferbeam.
 * His pupils returned to their larger size.
 * His roof is slightly more curved than it was in the model series.
 * Series 17:
 * He gained a lamp and tail lamp.
 * Series 18:
 * His handrails were painted black.
 * The Adventure Begins:
 * His handrails were painted silver again.
 * The inside of his tender became blue.
 * His side rods become silver.
 * He gains brake shoes behind his second driving wheels.

Thomas & the Magic Railroad
Edward was not in any known draft of Thomas and the Magic Railroad. According to Phil Fehrle, there was not enough screen time and opportunity to utilise him in a way that added any real value to the film. He was the only engine of the original seven created by Awdry not to appear.

Voice Actors

 * Keith Wickham (UK; Hero of the Rails onwards)
 * William Hope (US; Hero of the Rails onwards)
 * Mark Moraghan (A Friendly Farewell)
 * Yasuhiro Takato (Japan; first - eighth series)
 * Nozomu Sasaki (Japan; Calling All Engines! onwards, excluding An Engine of Many Colours)
 * Kan Tanaka (Japan; An Engine of Many Colours only)
 * Øyvind Borgemoen Lyse (Norway; Hero of the Rails - Tale of the Brave)
 * Herman López (Latin America; Hero of the Rails - Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure; excluding Tale of the Brave)
 * Javier Olguín (Latin America; Victor Says Yes and The Missing Christmas Decorations; one phrase as an error)
 * Gustavo Melgarejo (Latin America; twentieth series onwards)
 * Christos Topulos (Germany)
 * Henry König (Germany; Audio Books only)
 * Wojciech Chorąży (Poland; Hero of the Rails onwards)
 * Fabrice Trojani (France and French speaking Canada)
 * Petteri Hynönen (Finland; Hero of the Rails - Tale of the Brave, excluding the sixteenth series - twenty-first series)
 * Petrus Kähkönen (Finland; Big World! Big Adventures! onwards)
 * Reinder van der Naalt (The Netherlands)
 * Dan Schatzberg (Israel)
 * Celso Alves (Brazil; Hero of the Rails onwards)
 * Jordi Estupiña (Spain)
 * Anh Tuấn (Vietnam)
 * Galbenisz Tomasz (Hungary)
 * Alexander Kotov (Russia; thirteenth - sixteenth series)
 * Denis Bespalyy (Russia; King of the Railway - eighteenth series)
 * Anton Savenkov (Russia; nineteenth series onwards)
 * Um Sang-hyun (South Korea)
 * Loukas Frangoulis (Greece)