The Breakdown Train is composed of two cranes, flatbeds, vans, and a coach for the workmen. It is stored in Wellsworth Yards, in a dedicated siding next to the engine shed.
Breakdown Cranes[]
The Breakdown Cranes are manned by workmen and deployed at accident scenes to lift engines, coaches and trucks back onto the rails. They are also used for maintenance work across the railway.
Biography[]
When James had a crash in a cow field on his first day in 1925, Thomas brought the cranes to rescue him.
When Henry and the Flying Kipper had a head-on collision with a goods train near Killdane in the winter of 1935, the Breakdown Train was deployed to clear up the accident. The Breakdown Train was also used to clear up an accident when James crashed into a train of tar tankers in 1951.
When Culdee returned to Sodor after his 1962 overhaul, he was unloaded by crane at Kirk Machan. After Duke was rediscovered, a crane transferred him from a low-loader lorry to a flatbed at Arlesburgh West. Duck later brought the Breakdown Crane and Sir Topham Hatt when James and some well wagons demolished a set of signals.
Technical Details[]
Basis[]
In illustrations by Reginald Payne, C. Reginald Dalby and Clive Spong the cranes appear to be of freelance designs with no particular real-life basis.
In the Gunvor and Peter Edwards' illustrations, the cranes are based on a Cowans Sheldon 45-ton breakdown crane.
Livery[]
In illustrations by Reginald Payne and C. Reginald Dalby, the cranes were painted dark green. In Gunvor and Peter Edwards' illustrations, the cranes were painted red with a cream tip on the arm.
Clive Spong's illustrations of the cranes vary in colour. In Crossed Lines, one of the cranes is shown to be painted brown. In the pop-up book James the Red Engine and the Signal, the same crane is seen painted maroon with yellow and black hazard stripes on its bufferbeams. In another pop-up book, The Flying Kipper and Henry the Green Engine, one crane is brown while the other is red.
Appearances[]
Flatbeds[]
The flatbeds are often part of the Breakdown Train. They are used for transporting various loads; such as engines, coaches, trucks and other heavy machinery.
Appearances[]
The Railway Series[]
- Thomas the Tank Engine - Thomas and the Breakdown Train (mentioned)
Companion Volumes[]
- 2005 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (indirectly mentioned)
Trivia[]
- Despite the flatbeds being mentioned in the text for Thomas and the Breakdown Train, they are not shown in illustrations.
- Additionally, while the breakdown train appears alongside other flatbeds and well wagons in later books, the dedicated flatbeds for the breakdown train are never shown.
Works Unit Coach[]
The Works Unit Coach is a special coach which is part of the Breakdown Train. It is used to transport workmen to the scene of an accident.
Technical Details[]
Livery[]
The Works Unit Coach is painted orange-brown with a grey rooftop.
Appearances[]
The Railway Series
Companion Volumes
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Vans[]
The Breakdown Train is sometimes seen with two vans, which carry railway equipment in an emergency.
Technical Details[]
Livery[]
These vans are painted in a cream-colour with grey rooftops.
Appearances[]
The Railway Series[]
Companion Volumes[]
- 2005 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (indirectly mentioned)
Gallery[]
The Railway Series[]
Main Series[]
Companion Volumes[]
Miscellaneous[]
See also[]
References[]