Elizabeth

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For other uses, see Elizabeth (disambiguation).

Elizabeth the Vintage Lorry
Background Information
First appearance	Elizabeth the Vintage Lorry (T&F)
Last appearance	The Great Discovery (T&F)
Creator(s)	Paul Larson Robert Gauld-Galliers
Character Overview
Name	Elizabeth
Title	Elizabeth the Vintage Lorry
Nicknames	Elizabeth the Vintage Quarry Truck Elizabeth the Quarry Lorry Elizabeth the Grand Old Lorry
Gender	Female
Country	Island of Sodor England (built)
Relative(s)	Isobella
Affiliation	North Western Railway Skarloey Railway
Technical Details
Basis	Sentinel DG4 steam lorry
Power type	Steam
Vehicle	Road vehicle
Type	Lorry
Fuel type	Coal
Drivetrain	4x2
Wheels	4
Top speed	45 mph
Builder(s)	Sentinel Waggon Works
Year built	1926
Owner(s)	Sir Topham Hatt

Elizabeth is a vintage Sentinel steam lorry, originally owned by Sir Topham Hatt. She often works alongside the Skarloey Railway.

Biography

Thomas & Friends

Prior to becoming Controller of the North Western Railway, Sir Topham Hatt owned Elizabeth - she notes that he was not the best driver. For unknown reasons, Elizabeth was shut up in a shed and remained there until Thomas' crew found her several years later when they needed urgent transportation to the Works for new side-rods. Jem Cole restored Elizabeth and she is to this day in perfect working order.

When the Skarloey Railway was facing hardships, Elizabeth agreed to help the narrow gauge engines clear the line of fallen branches and restore the line, which they succeeded at.

One winter, when Thomas refused to wear his snowplough, Elizabeth scolded him, stating that he could not be reliable without it. She was given the task of taking puddings to Brendam Docks for delivery to the Mainland, but during the trip, she slid on the icy roads and got herself stuck in a snowdrift. Thomas and Terence rescued her and they managed to deliver the puddings in time before the ship left.

Personality

Elizabeth does not like laziness, carelessness or rudeness and will respond to these characteristics in the strongest terms. Because of this, she can often come off as harsh and severe.

Although she believes roads are superior to rails, she often helps the engines out. She is very sensitive about how others refer to her by her age.

She has a special fondness for her original owner Sir Topham Hatt and it seems that even he never seems to take offence or get angered by her strong statements when she criticised the way he drives.

Technical Details

Basis

Elizabeth is based on a Sentinel DG4 steam lorry with a three-way tipper behind her cab. She shares the same basis as Isobella.

Elizabeth's basis

Livery

Elizabeth is painted maroon with gold and black lining and a brown tipper.

Appearances

• Television Series
• Other Media

Thomas & Friends Series 6 - Elizabeth the Vintage Lorry, Jack Frost, Rusty Saves the Day and Faulty Whistles Series 7 - Not So Hasty Puddings Series 8 - Thomas and the Tuba and Emily's Adventure Series 11 - Emily's Rubbish, Smoke and Mirrors, Thomas Sets Sail, Toby's Triumph and Wash Behind Your Buffers (cameo) Specials 2008 - The Great Discovery (cameo) Music Videos Series 7 - The Whistle Song Series 8 - Surprises and Determination Series 9 - Buffer Up and Share Jack and the Sodor Construction Company - The Work Song and One Friendly Family Series 10 - H is for Harold and Navigation Series 11 - The Narrow Gauge Engines The Great Discovery - Where, oh Where is Thomas? and Thomas, You're the Leader

Magazine Stories 2003 - Queen of the Road!, Story Time!, Really Fast Food! and Where's Wag? (does not speak) 2005 - Warm Work, Trying Time (does not speak) and Naughty or Nice? (does not speak) and Emily's Adventure 2006 - No Trouble for Toby and Steamed Up 2007 - Works Outing and Helpful Harvey (does not speak) 2008 - Warm Work (does not speak) 2010 - Launching Lizzie and Ready, Steady, Go! 2011 - A Sticky Situation, Off Colour, Fuss and Fumes (mentioned) and The New Works (does not speak) 2012 - Fish and Ships Elizabeth also appeared in the magazine stories, A Colourful Christmas, Christmas Puddings, Diesel Display, Fun With Friends, Musical Duncan, Rusty's Plan and Slow Tow.

Audio Files

Horn

First used	Last used	Sound Effect
Series 6	Series 11	File:Elizabeth's Horn.ogg

First used	Last used	Sound Effect
Series 11	Series 11

Trivia

• Elizabeth is the only character able to insult Sir Topham Hatt without getting into trouble, as she was the first lorry he ever drove.
• Elizabeth has gone through several aesthetic changes in the television series:
  • Series 7:
    • The eyelashes painted on her cross face mask disappeared.
  • Series 8:
    • For unknown reasons, her undercarriage gained rust - additionally, her headlights were extended forward.
    • The air vents on her front windows were repainted gold.
  • Series 11:
    • Her horn sound changed to Bertie's from Series 4-7.
• Elizabeth is presumably named after Queen Elizabeth II, the current Queen of the United Kingdom. She was also built in 1926, the same year as the Queen was born.
• Elizabeth is the first character created by Paul Larson.
• In the original concept art done by Robert Gauld-Galliers, she was named "Grumpy".
• Elizabeth's model is now on display at Drayton Manor.
• Elizabeth is often misspelled as "Elisabeth", particularly in merchandise and in the subtitles of DVDs. The Official Website also spelled her name this way before the site was revamped. Elisabeth is the spelling used in the Welsh dub of the show.
• A large scale model of Elizabeth was made to interact with the Narrow Gauge engines, as used in Rusty Saves the Day and Faulty Whistles. The large scale model was built by Chris Lloyd as revealed in an interview with Sodor Island Fansite.
• A Sentinel steam bus (originally a lorry) that gives tour rides around Weston-super-Mare (formerly around Whitby) is named after Elizabeth.
• In concept art, Elizabeth was depicted with a tipper, despite this not being shown in the series. This has been carried on to her ERTL, Wooden Railway, Take Along and Take-n-Play toys.
• In the magazines, Lizzie a sailing boat is named after Elizabeth by some children.

Merchandise

• ERTL (discontinued)
• Wooden Railway (discontinued)
• Motor Road and Rail (discontinued)
• TrackMaster (discontinued)
• Take Along (discontinued)
• Take-n-Play (discontinued)
• Capsule Plarail
• Pocket Fantasy (normal and Christmas; discontinued)
• Mini Die Cast Collection (discontinued)
• Thomas Town (discontinued)
• Nakayoshi (discontinued)

References

Non-rail vehicles

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* RWS only | ** T&F only | *** Other Media only