Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal #15 is an American saddle tank engine which was converted into a replica of Thomas for Day Out with Thomas events. It is often referred to as Strasburg Thomas.
Technical Details
Real-Life History
B.E.D.T. #15 was built to run on the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal, a rail-marine terminal in Brooklyn, New York. After the railway was modernized with diesel locomotives, it was moved to the Southern Appalachian Railway in 1965. The Southern Appalachian Railway ran from Burnsville, North Carolina to Erwin, Tennessee. It worked there until 1975, when it was moved to the Toledo, Lake Erie and Western Railway in Grand Rapids, Ohio, were it was placed on static display for the next twenty-three years.
It was later purchased by the Strasburg Rail Road and arrived there on May 9, 1998. When Britt Allcroft asked permission from Strasburg to film on their railroad for Thomas and the Magic Railroad, they presented the idea of converting the engine into a full-size replica operating unit of Thomas the Tank Engine. Following her approval, the process was enacted within two and a half years, with the engine converting the engine to burn coal instead of oil. Strasburg made a test fire-up on April 14, 1999, and Thomas would make its first official run on April 29, 1999 for the first Day Out with Thomas event
In the initial conversion, only Thomas' eyes were capable of moving. In 2014, he was modified to include a CGI-style animatronic face and sound system, with a mouth synchronised with pre-recorded lines provided by Thomas' former American voice actor Martin Sherman. In 2022, Thomas' voice was changed to Meesha Contreras' Thomas voice from Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go voice actor to suit the rebranding of the Day out with Thomas event. The engine is still currently in service and only runs at Day Out with Thomas events.
Livery
B.E.D.T. #15 is painted in North Western Railway blue with red and yellow lining and the number 1 painted on its side tanks in yellow with a red border. Prior to the modifications, it was painted black with gold lining and with red window frames.
Appearances
Miscellaneous
Trivia
- This engine is the only surviving Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal tank engine still in steam.
- Unlike the original Thomas, B.E.D.T. #15 has visible cylinders and a cowcatcher. It has a dummy coupling hook in the front, which can be replaced with a knuckle coupling when nessecary.
- This locomotive is the only steam replica of Thomas in the United States; all other replicas are "dummies" and require a real locomotive at the other end for power. The dummies are equipped with working air brakes, a smoke generator, an air whistle, and the animatronic voice and sound system.
- Only one whistle on this engine actually operates, while the other is decorative.
- When this engine was first being overhauled to look like Thomas, the full restoration had not been completed. As such, when "Thomas" first ran in 1998, he did not run under his own power, had no coupling rods going into the cylinders and had a much thicker face. Thomas was pushed and pulled by Strasburg's GE 44-ton diesel switcher locomotive that year. By 1999, Thomas became fully functional.
- Besides operating for Day Out with Thomas events, it can also be found doing test runs or switching (shunting) when performing them.
- Porter and the Dockyard Engines are both based on this locomotive pre-conversion into Thomas.
Video
