In The Railway Series, several diesel engines from British Railways have made appearances.
Diesel 5501
D5501 was a diesel engine who worked on British Railways.
Biography
D5501 was built by Brush Traction in 1957. He worked on British Railways along with several other diesel engines. On his was to the Island of Sodor, Stepney passed D5501, along with a Class 52 and D282, at Brighton station. [1]
Technical Details
Basis
D5501 was a British Rail (BR) Class 31 Co-Co diesel-electric engine. Two-hundred and sixty-three members of this class were built from 1957 to 1962, with thirty-six of these engines currently preserved by museums, such as the National Railway Museum, as well as heritage railways, such as the Dean Forest Railway. Eleven more of these engines were once in preservation, but were later scrapped due to either accidents or in order to provide spare parts for other engines. These engines were given two nicknames, the first being "Toffee Apples" because of the shape of their control lever, and the second being "Skinheads" because the first few engines did not have the codebox on the front of the roof.
D5501 was a real BR Class 31, being built in 1957, withdrawn in 1976, and scrapped the following year.
31120 is another real member of this class.
Livery
D5501 was painted in the BR Deep Bronze green livery. He had yellow warning panels on his front and back ends. His rooftop and stripes were painted white. "D5501" was painted on the sides of his cab in white. His buffer beams were painted red with silver buffers.
Appearances
The Railway Series
- Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine - Bluebells of England (does not speak)
Companion volumes
- 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection (does not speak)
Books
- 2005 - Thomas the Tank Engine Encyclopedia (cameo)
Video Releases
- 1995 - The Thomas the Tank Engine Man (cameo)
Trivia
- D5500 (31018) was used to portray this diesel at Days Out with Thomas events at the National Railway Museum.
Class 52
The Class 52 was a diesel engine who worked on British Railways.
Biography
The Class 52 was built in either 1961 or 1962. On his was to the Island of Sodor, Stepney passed him, along with a D5501 and D282, at Brighton station. [1]
Technical Details
Basis
This engine is a British Rail (BR) Class 52 "Western". All engines of this class were given two-word names, with the first word being "Western" and thus the class became known as Westerns. Seventy-four of these engines were built between 1961 and 1964. Seven of these engines have been preserved by heritage groups, such as The Diesel and Electric Preservation Group. [2] He very strongly resembles D1001 Western Pathfinder, making it very likely that he is that engine.
Livery
The Class 52 was painted in the BR maroon livery. His buffer beams were painted red with black buffers.
Appearances
The Railway Series
- Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine - Bluebells of England (does not speak)
Companion volumes
- 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection (does not speak)
Books
- 2005 - Thomas the Tank Engine Encyclopedia (cameo)
Video Releases
- 1995 - The Thomas the Tank Engine Man (cameo)
Trivia
- D1015 "Western Champion" was used to portray this diesel at Days Out with Thomas events at the National Railway Museum.
Diesel 282
D282 was a diesel engine who worked on British Railways.
Biography
D282 was built by Vulcan Foundry in 1962. He worked on British Railways along with several other diesel engines. On his was to the Island of Sodor, Stepney passed him, along with a D5501 and the Class 52, at Brighton station. [1]
Technical Details
Basis
D282 was a British Rail (BR) Class 40 1Co-Co1 diesel-electric engine. Two-hundred members of this class were built from 1958 to 1962, and the last was withdrawn in 1985. They were given the nickname "Whistlers" because of the strange whistling noise their engines would make. Seven BR Class 40s are preserved, including D200 at the National Railway Museum, the first BR Class 40 ever built.
D4711 and 40125 are also members of this class.
Livery
D282 was painted in the BR Deep Bronze green livery with full green front panel. His rooftop was painted white. "D282" was painted on the sides of his cab in white. His buffer beams were painted red with black buffers.
Appearances
The Railway Series
- Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine - Bluebells of England (does not speak)
Companion volumes
- 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection (does not speak)
Books
- 2005 - Thomas the Tank Engine Encyclopedia (cameo) and Thomas Goods Encyclopedia
Video Releases
- 1995 - The Thomas the Tank Engine Man (cameo)
Trivia
- He was also the first Class 40 to appear in the Railway Series book, Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine, before Class 40.
- Like Old Stuck-Up, D282 was a real locomotive, built in 1960, withdrawn in 1984, and scrapped two years later at Crewe.
- Though no photographic evidence is known to exist, D200 would have likely portrayed D282 at Days Out with Thomas events at the National Railway Museum much like his above compatriots.
Diesel 5701
D5701 was a blue mixed-traffic diesel engine who worked on British Railways.
Biography
D5701 was built for British Railways in 1958, and along with the rest of his class, worked in the Barrow-in-Furness area from 1962. He and some other diesel engines were alongside a signal box near an old quarry branch where Oliver, Isabel and Toad briefly hid to escape scrap. Oliver described the diesels as "baying and growling like hounds outside", and he felt very frightened.[3]
D5701 was later retired from service in September 1968, and scrapped by the end of 1969.
Technical Details
Basis
D5701 is based on the real British Rail (BR) Class 28 Co-Bo diesel-electric engine of the same number. The BR Class 28s were initially used on the "Condor" express freight services, but the class' Crossley engines quickly proved problematic. They suffered frequent failures, and in 1961 the entire class was handed back to the manufacturer for remedial work on the engines, and to cure problems with cab windows falling out while running. Upon return to service in 1962, all members of the class were allocated to Barrow-in-Furness. The BR Class 28s were withdrawn and scrapped by the end of 1969 with only one engine, D5705, surviving in preservation.
BoCo is also a member of this class.
Livery
D5701 was painted in the BR Rail Blue livery. He had yellow warning panels on his front and back ends. His rooftop was painted light grey. He was the only Class 28 to be painted in Rail Blue.
The real D5701 was painted in the same livery, however, "D5701" was painted on its sides in white, doubled, and the British Rail Double Arrow crest was painted on its sides, also in white.
Appearances
The Railway Series
- Enterprising Engines - Escape (cameo)
Companion volumes
- 1987 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (indirectly mentioned)
- 1999 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection (cameo)
- 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines (indirectly mentioned)
Class 08
This Class 08 is a diesel shunter who worked on British Railways.
Biography
The Class 08 and some other diesel engines were seen alongside a signal box near an old quarry branch where Oliver, Isabel and Toad briefly hid to escape scrap. Oliver described the diesels as "baying and growling like hounds outside", and he felt very frightened.[3]
Technical Details
Basis
The Class 08 is based on British Rail (BR) Class 08 diesel-electric shunters. In the real world, BR Class 08s were in fact the most successful shunting engines in the world with 996 of them built. Over seventy of them are preserved by heritage railways, such as the Dean Forest Railway and museums, such as the National Railway Museum. Around one-hundred BR Class 08s also remain in service on the national rail network. 08850, a BR Class 08 preserved by the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, appears in a Mr. Perkins' Railway segment. "Devious" Diesel is another member of this class.
The Thomas & Friends characters 'Arry, Bert, Splatter, Dodge, Paxton, Sidney, Ulli, the Mainland Diesels and Fernando are also based on BR Class 08s along with the international Brazilian, Indian and Chinese diesels.
Livery
The Class 08 appears to be painted in BR Deep Bronze green livery with hazard stripes.
Appearances
The Railway Series
- Enterprising Engines - Escape (cameo)
Companion volumes
- 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection (cameo)
Other Diesels
- “Yoohoo! Yoohoo! A steamer's escaping! Yoohoo!”
- ― The First "Passing" Diesel
These diesel engines worked on British Railways. The first diesel engine, also known as The Passing Diesel, was from Barrow-in-Furness. They shouted a warning that Oliver was escaping. When Douglas was helping Oliver, Isabel and Toad escape from scrap, they witnessed the event. Douglas told the stowaways to take no notice of the diesel. This diesel was not seen in any illustrations, making it unknown what their basis was. [3]
In a flashback scene, upon closer inspection of the main line going away from the signal box, a diesel engine can be seen in the background. Their class is unknown. [3]
Appearances
The Railway Series
- Enterprising Engines - Escape (first not seen; second does not speak)
Companion volumes
- 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection (first not seen; second does not speak)
Books
- 2004 - Oliver (cameo)
- 2011 - Oliver the Great Western Engine (cameo)
- 2016 - The Engine Shed Story Collection (cameo)
- 2017 - Oliver (cameo)
Trivia
- In Thomas & Friends, the models of Diesel, BoCo, and Mavis were used to represent the diesels.
- In the My Thomas Story Library book Oliver, the first diesel's role is filled by Class 40.
Visiting Diesels
Old Stuck-Up, a visiting diesel
Several diesels from British Railways have visited the Island of Sodor on several different occasions. Visiting diesels are known to be particularly haughty, as they feel superior to steam engines and often put the steam engines down. Known visiting diesels include Diesel, Class 40, D199 and Old Stuck-Up. BoCo, Bear, Pip and Emma originally visited the Island of Sodor on loan, but ended up staying.
Appearances
The Railway Series
- James and the Diesel Engines - Old Stuck-Up (mentioned)
Companion volumes
- 2007 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection (mentioned)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 RWS #18: Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine - "Bluebells of England"
- ↑ Class 52 D1010 "Western Campaigner"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 RWS #23: Enterprising Engines - "Escape"