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Background Information
In 1995, the slate trucks were introduced in the fourth series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. They fit into the category of Troublesome Trucks. Their size is also significantly larger than their basis and Railway Series counterparts.
Following the show's transition to CGI, these trucks were reintroduced in 2011 along with four new designs of slate trucks. The original design of slate trucks were reintroduced with faces in 2017; however, they were scaled to standard gauge.
The trucks are based on various wagons used on different narrow gauge railways in Great Britain.
Behind the Scenes
O gauge models (Small scale)
The slate truck models were scratch-built to run on O gauge gauge track to the Gauge 1 Scale Standard during production of the fourth series.
The wheels of the slate trucks were sourced from Hudson "Skip" 4 hole disc wagon wheels made by Slater's Plastikard. The coupling hooks and chains also came from the Slater's Plastikard, although these hooks were cast in resin and used as well. The insides of the trucks are flat which suggests to have been a 1-part mould. The two ends and the two sides are identical. The resin coupling hooks proved to be fragile and broke easily. The chassis for the slate trucks were made from Cooper Craft O gauge "GWR Match Truck" (3016) and were given modifications,[1] with a portion of the middle cut out to shorten the length and a piece of styrene attached for stability.
A total of thirty different facial expressions were made for the Slate Trucks, although about twenty-one were shown on-screen.[2] The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made of a silicone mould.[3] The Slate Trucks' faces would later be reused for the Tankers in the fourth series episode, Toad Stands By.
There were also trucks given a lowered buffer beam. Almost all the rolling stock's buffers/couplings sat much higher then the engines. The theory was that the piece of rolling stock with the lowered buffer beam would end up being placed behind the engine as to have the buffers match as well as ease coupling tension.
As the engines did not have enough space, the receiver and batteries for the engine's eye mechanisms were disguised as a slate load. This sits significantly higher then the regular slate loads.
A bunch of broken trucks were also made for the fourth series episode, Trucks. These were essentially made from the same moulds, but designed to break apart easily. Some debris was also made from the same moulds.
The small scale models were predominantly used in the fourth series. They were also used in the fifth series for in between shots where they would interact with the gauge 1 scaled characters and sets. The trucks have also appeared via stock-footage in the seventh series. They last appeared in the 2005 special, Calling All Engines!
One of the slate trucks was sold at Vectis with Peter Sam's fourth series small scale model.[4] Four small scale trucks with their faces are in possession of Twitter user ThomasTankMerch.
O gauge models (Large scale)
For ease of filming and reliability, the fifth series introduced larger-scale versions of the narrow gauge engines and rolling stock. From the sixth-twelfth series, these larger models were used almost exclusively. The Slate Trucks in particular were upscaled in production of the fifth series to be compatible with the large scale narrow gauge models. These models were built to a larger scale than the gauge 1 engines and rolling stock and ran on O gauge track. A further batch was made for the sixth series. They were close to 16mm scale, but slightly larger.[5]
As their previous counterparts, they were made from resin, right down to the axleboxes. The coupling hooks and wheels were sourced from standard gauge Tenmille ones.
Trucks produced in the fifth series can be distinguished by their black buffer beams, whereas the sixth series trucks have light grey ones. Both these variants have appeared throughout later series.
The face-masks were reused from the gauge 1 scale Troublesome Trucks. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made of a silicone mould. They were no longer depicted with faces following the sixth series.[3]
A set of broken trucks were in the fifth and sixth series. These were essentially made from the same moulds, but designed to break apart easily. The broken slate trucks were also occasionally seen scattered around as set dressing.
In the fifth series episode, Make Someone Happy, one of the large scale bodies was used as a shipping crate for the carousel horses that Percy and Oliver were collecting from Cranky.
A "lowered buffer beam" variant slate truck was also made. It appears to be a fifth series truck, but this conversion did not occur until the sixth series. Two large scale trucks with their faces are in possession of Twitter user ThomasTankMerch. They own a fifth series truck with a lowered buffer beam and a standard slate truck from the sixth series. In 2023, three other large scale trucks would be displayed at the Awdry Extravaganza 3 in 2023, two standard trucks and one with a lowered buffer beam.
Close-up models
A larger scale model of the slate trucks was built for production of the fourth series. This was required for scenes where the trucks had to interact with the close-up scale figures. It appeared in the episode Trucks and a deleted scene for the fifth series episode, Duncan Gets Spooked.
A new close-up model was constructed in the sixth series. This model had some minor differences to is fourth series predecessor. It had a different number of rivets on the metal edges, floorboard detail, was a much lighter colour and had perfectly square buffers rather than bevelled-edged buffers.
CGI models
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. The narrow gauge slate trucks were created from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios in 2011 for production of Blue Mountain Mystery and the sixteenth series. The models were "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.[6]
The pre-existing designs from the Model-era were used as referencing. These were also recoloured in dark brown, cream and varying shades of grey liveries.
Four new variations of slate trucks were also introduced. These wagons are based on ones used on the Talyllyn, Corris, the Welshpool and Llanfair and the Vale of Rheidol Railways. The Slate wagons are based on a metal bodied wagon featured at the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum. None of these trucks are depicted with faces. Recolours of these wagons have also been seen.
One of these slate trucks closely resembles a more accurate representation of the basis of the previous existing slate trucks. These have been featured in The Railway Series.
In 2017, Jam Filled Toronto re-introduced slate trucks with faces for production of Journey Beyond Sodor. They were based on the previous large scale O gauge models and shared the faces with the tankers once more and two extra planks were added at one end to accommodate the face. However, these trucks were scaled and depicted as standard gauge rather than narrow gauge.
Voice Actors
- Lucy Montgomery (UK/US; Journey Beyond Sodor)
- Chisato Nakajima (Japan; Trucks)
- Yasuhiro Takato (Japan; Trucks)
- Tomohisa Asō (Japan; Duncan Gets Spooked)
- Hisao Egawa (Japan; Snow)
- Ryōichi Tanaka (Japan; Snow)
References
- ↑ Season 4 narrow gauge explained on ThomasTankMerch's blogspot
- ↑ SeansModels on Twitter
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 A Guide to the Faces on ThomasTankMerch's blogspot
- ↑ Kerr Stuart O Gauge Film Prop Tank Locomotive 0-4-2ST Peter Sam on Vectis
- ↑ Robert Gauld-Galliers' interview with Sodor Island Fansite
- ↑ Greg Tiernan's interview with Sodor Island Fansite