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Hornby is a British model railway company, which produced a Thomas & Friends range between 1985 and 2018.

History

Hornby launched its official Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends range in March 1985, shortly after the debut of the television series, consisting of a series of OO gauge model railway engines, track, accessories and box sets based on the series. The track and couplers were Hornby's standard; therefore, the range was compatible with other Hornby products. It primarily utilised modified versions of existing Hornby engines and rolling stock to produce replicas of Thomas characters.

In 2014, the range was discontinued, with Hornby releasing a statement saying that it was "under review". In 2015, Hornby reintroduced the Thomas line with selected models, rolling stock and sets released in December 2015 and into 2016. The reintroduced models retained their original faces; Edward, Gordon and James received improved tender driven motors and Henry was upgraded with a loco driven chassis, which allowed for his model to be equipped with Digital Command Control (DCC) via a standard 8-pin socket.

The Thomas & Friends range was retired at the end of 2018. The company said it was due to "changing trends and toy safety age restrictions". As of 2019, Bachmann secured the rights to distribute their HO/OO scale products in the UK and Ireland with further availability expanding in 2020.

Locomotives

Image: Model: Released: Discontinued: Item Number: Notes
Hornby2018Thomas
Thomas 1985 2018 R351
R9287
R9685 (2011 British Stamp Collection release)
Made using modified LB&SCR E2 tooling; reissued in 2014 and 2018
HornbyPercy2015
Percy 1985 2018 R350
R9288
R9686 (2011 British Stamp Collection release)
Made from a brand new tooling utilising the standard Hornby 0-4-0 chassis; reissued in 2015.
Hornby2016Gordon
Gordon 1986 2018 R383
R9291
Made using the Tri-ang LNER A1 class tooling with a modified cab and six-wheeled tender; reissued in 1995 and 2016.
HornbyDuck
Duck 1986 R382 Made using the old Tri-ang GWR 57xx class tooling with a modified cab; reissued in 1995.
HornbyDiesel
Diesel 1987 R317
R9050
Made using the Tri-ang 0-6-0 class 08 diesel shunter tooling; reissued in 2002.
Hornby2016James
James 1988 2018 R852
R9290
R9687 (2011 British Stamp Collection release)
Made using a Tri-ang LMS 3F class tooling with altered moulding around the smokebox and extended frames and an added pony truck; reissued in 2016.
HornbyToby
Toby 2001 R9046 Made from a brand new tooling utilising a unique 0-6-0 chassis that has an 0-4-0 variant shared with Bill and Ben.
HornbyBill
Bill 2001 R9047 Made from a brand new tooling utilising a unique 0-4-0 chassis that has an 0-6-0 variant shared with Toby.
HornbyBen
Ben 2001 R9048 Made from a brand new tooling utilising a unique 0-4-0 chassis that has an 0-6-0 variant shared with Toby.
Hornby2016Henry
Henry 2002 2018 R9049
R9292
Made using Hornby's old LMS Stanier 5MT tooling; reissued in 2016.
HornbyBert
Bert 2003 R9066 Made using the Tri-ang 0-6-0 class 08 diesel shunter tooling; face based on Splatter and Dodge.
HornbyArry
'Arry 2003 R9067 Made using the Tri-ang 0-6-0 class 08 diesel shunter tooling; face based on Splatter and Dodge.
HornbyClass40
Class 40 2003 R9064 Made with Hornby's BR Class 37 tooling.
HornbyOliver
Oliver 2005 R9070 Made using the ex-Airfix GWR 14xx class tooling, with a modified chassis under Dapol's ownership.
HornbyStepney
Stepney 2005 R9069 Made using the ex-Dapol London, Brighton and South Coast Railway A1X class tooling; reissued in 2012 for a limited time.
HornbyBear
D7101 2005 R9097 Made using a BR class 35 tooling.
HornbyFlyingScotsman
Flying Scotsman 2005 R9098 Made using an LNER A1/A3 class tooling.
Hornby2016Edward
Edward 2006 2018 R9232
R9289
Made using a LNER D49 class tooling with a taller funnel and without the external cylinders and valve gear; reissued in 2016.
HornbyEmily
Emily 2007 R9231 Made using a GWR Dean Achilles class tooling; planned to be released in 2006, but delayed until 2007.
HornbySpencer
Spencer 2008 R9749 Made using a LNER A4 class tooling; reissued in 2012 for limited production.
HornbyDart
Dart 2011 R9683 Made from a brand new tooling utilising the standard Hornby 0-4-0 chassis.
HornbyMurdoch
Murdoch 2011 R9684 Made using a BR 9F class tooling.
Hornby70CelebrationThomas
70th Anniversary Thomas 2015 R9303 Limited edition quantity of 1,000.

Rolling Stock

Image: Model: Released: Discontinued: Item Number: Notes
Hornby2015AnnieandClarabel
Annie and Clarabel 1985 2018 R110/R112
R9293
Produced using Hornby's standard four-wheeled coaches; reissued in 2015.
HornbyCattleTruck
Cattle Wagon 1985 R104
R9203
Made using the Tri-ang moulding; only available in the Percy Set until 1986; reissued in 2005.
HornbyMilkTanker
Milk Tanker 1985 R105 Made using a standard four-wheeled tanker.
HornbyGreyTroublesomeTruck
Open Wagon 1985 R107
HornbyClosedVanTroublesomeTruck
Closed Van 1985 R108
HornbyGreyBrakeVan
Brake Van 1985 R109
R9202
Made using a BR standard brake van.
HornbyGordon'scompositecoach
Gordon's Composite Coach 1986 R120
R9297
Made using a GWR Composite Coach tooling.
HornbyGordon'sbrakecoach
Gordon's Brake Coach 1986 R121
R9298
Made using a GWR Brake Coach tooling.
HornbyJames'compositecoach
James' Composite Coach 1988 R9051
R9295
Made using a GWR Composite Coach tooling; reissued in 2001 and 2015.
HornbyJames'brakecoach
James' Brake Coach 1988 R9052
R9296
Made using a GWR Brake Coach tooling; reissued in 2001 and 2015.
HornbyTarTanker
Tar Tanker 1989 R305
R9006
Made using a standard four-wheeled tanker; reissued in 1998.
HornbyBreakdownCrane
Breakdown Crane 1989 R306
R9216
R9691
Reissued in 2005 and 2011.
HornbySodorFuelTanker
Sodor Fuel Tanker 2002 R9055 Made using a standard four-wheeled tanker.
HornbyTroublesomeTruckPack
Troublesome Trucks 2002 2018 R9053/R9054
R9294
HornbyThomasSodorScrapCo.Truck
Sodor Scrap Co. Wagon 2002 R9056
HornbyS.C.Ruffey
S.C. Ruffey 2003 R9068
HornbyToad
Toad 2005 R9200
HornbyOldSlowCoach
Old Slow Coach 2005 R9201
R9302
HornbyRaspberrySyrupTanker
Raspberry Syrup Tanker 2005 R9204 Made using a standard four-wheeled tanker.
ThomasHornbyIceCreamVan
Ice Cream Wagon 2005 R9205
HornbyCreamTanker
Cream Tanker 2005 R9206 Made using a standard four-wheeled tanker.
HornbyThomasCircusVan3
Circus Van No. 4 2005 R9207
HornbyThomasCircusVan2
Circus Van No. 6 2005 R9208
HornbyCircusVan
Circus Van No. 12 2005 R9209
Hornby Circus Van
Circus Cattle Wagon 2005 R9213
HornbyCircusFlatbed2
Circus Flatbed No. 1 2005 R9214
HornbyCircusFlatbed
Circus Flatbed No. 2 2005 R9215
HornbyOilTanker
Oil Tanker 2006 R9233 Made using a standard four-wheeled tanker.
ThomasHornbyRedOpenWagon
Red Open Wagon 2006 R9234
HornbyLightblueopenwagon
Light Blue Open Wagon 2006 R9235
HornbyMailCoach
Sodor Mail Coach 2006 R9236 Made using an ex-Lima CCT van tooling.
Hornbycreamutilityvan
Cream Utility Wagon 2006 R9237 Made using an ex-Lima CCT van tooling.
ThomasHornbyLightGreyVentVan
Light Grey Vent Van 2006 R9238
HornbyThomasRedOxideVentVan
Red Oxide Vent Van 2006 R9239
HornbyWhiteSaltVan
White Lime Wagon 2011 R9688
HornbyBrownSaltVan
Brown Lime Wagon 2011 R9689
HornbyThomasWorksUnitCoach
Works Unit Van 2011 R9690 Made using an ex-Lima CCT van tooling.
HornbySpencer'sCompositeCoach
Spencer's Composite Coach 2012 R9702 Made using a GWR Composite Coach tooling.
HornbySpencer'sBrakeCoach
Spencer's Brake Coach 2012 R9703 Made using a GWR Brake Coach tooling.
2011HornbyMailCoach
Sodor Mail Operating Coach 2011 Only available in the Percy and the Mail Train set.
HornbyThomasClosedVan
Brown Vent Van 2011 Only available in the Percy and the Mail Train set.

Accessories

Image: Model: Released: Discontinued: Item Number: Notes
R9692Hornby
Station and Platform 1985 R224
R9692
Intended to be reissued in 2011, but cancelled before release.
HornbyReintroducedWaterTower
Water Tower and Crane 1985 R226
R9694
Intended to be reissued in 2011, but cancelled before release.
HornbySignalBox
Signal Box 1985 R227
R9693
Reissued in 2005 and 2006; intended to be reissued in 2011, but cancelled before release.
R228SignalsHomeandJunction
Signals 1985 R228
HornbyBlueFootbridge
Footbridge 1985 R232
R9697
Intended to be reissued in 2011, but cancelled before release.
HornbyTunnel
Single Track Tunnel 1985 R220
R9224
Reissued in 2005.
HornbyEngineShedRe-release
Engine Shed 1985 R229
R9695
Intended to be reissued in 2011, but cancelled before release.
HornbyGoodsShed
Goods Shed 1985 R230
R9696
Intended to be reissued in 2011, but cancelled before release.
NoImagePlaceholder
The Fat Controller, Driver and Fireman 1986 Cancelled before release.
HornbyThomasRadioControl&SoundSystem
Radio-Controlled Sound System 2002 R9060
HornbySignalBoxandWaterTower
Signal Box and Water Tower 2002 R9036
HornbyCountryStation
Country Station 2002 R9037
HornbyBertie
Bertie the Bus 2005 R9096 Reintroduced from clockwork Thomas and Bertie set.
MaithwaiteR9217Hornby
Maithwaite Station Booking Hall 2005 R9217 Combines with R9218 and R9219 to make Maithwaite station.
MaithwaiteR9218Hornby
Maithwaite Station House 2005 R9218 Combines with R9217 and R9219 to make Maithwaite station.
MaithwaiteR9219Hornby
Maithwaite Station Platform 2005 R9219 Combines with R9217 and R9218 to make Maithwaite station.
HornbyWaterTower
Water Tower 2005 R9221
HornbyDoubleEngineShed
Double Engine Shed 2005 R9222
ThomasHornbyGoodsYardCrane
Goods Yard Crane 2005 R9223
HornbyCircusTents
Circus Tents 2006 R9241/R2942/R2943 Sold separately.
HornbyCircusStalls
Circus Stalls 2006 R9244
HornbyWindmill
Windmill 2006 R9245
HornbyDryaw
Dryaw Station Building 2006 R9246 Combines with R9249, R9250, R9251 and R9252 to make Dryaw station.
R9249HornbyDryaw
Dryaw Footbridge 2006 R9249 Combines with R9246, R9250, R9251 and R9252 to make Dryaw station.
R9250HornbyDryaw
Dryaw Platform Sections 2006 R9250 Combines with R9246, R9249, R9251 and R9252 to make Dryaw station.
R9251HornbyDryaw
Dryaw Platform Rear with Steps 2006 R9251 Combines with R9246, R9249, R9250 and R9252 to make Dryaw station.
R9252HornbyDryaw
Dryaw Platform Ramps 2006 R9252 Combines with R9246, R9249, R9250 and R9251 to make Dryaw station.
HornbyGreatWatertonStation
Great Waterton Station 2008 R9262
HornbyGreatWatertonFootbridge
Great Waterton Station Footbridge 2008 R9263
GreatWatertonR9264Hornby
Great Waterton Station Platform Pack 2008 R9264
HornbyStanley'sShed
Stanley's Shed 2008 R9265
HornbyGreatWatertonBlacksmiths
Waterton Blacksmiths 2008 R9266
ThomasHornbyEd'sGarage
Ed's Garage 2008 R9267
HornbyWatertonButchers
Waterton Butchers 2008 R9268
HornbyGreatWatertonBen'sBooks
Ben's Books 2008 R9269
HornbyGreatWatertonPostOffice
Post Office 2008 R9270
HornbyStationPlatformwithCanopy
Platform with Canopy 2011 R9698 Cancelled before release.

Train Sets

The newer sets were supplied with a "Mini-Mat" with printed scenery and track layout, enough track to create a basic oval, one or two engines and rolling stock, a transformer, controller, and a power clip. Customers were encouraged to purchase further Thomas-branded "track packs", "building packs" and other models to complete the layout printed on the mat. The older sets had cut out figures (such as the Fat Controller) and tunnel and the sets also advertised the buildings and accessories within the range.

Image: Model: Released: Discontinued: Item Number: Notes
Hornby thomas set 1984
Thomas Set 1985 Includes Thomas, Annie, Clarabel, an open wagon, a closed van, a brake van and an oval of track with siding.
Hornby Percy Set
Percy Set 1985 Includes Percy, an open wagon, a closed van, a cattle wagon and a circle of track.
HornbyGordonPassengerElectricTrainSet
Gordon Passenger Set 1987 R137 Includes Gordon, two composite coaches, a brake coach and an oval of track.
HornbyDuckTrainSet
Duck Set 1987 R849 Includes Duck, an open wagon, a closed van, a cattle wagon, a milk tanker, a brake van and an oval of track with siding.
HornbyDeviousDieselTrainSet
Devious Diesel Set 1987 R135 Includes Diesel, an open wagon, a closed van, a cattle wagon, a milk tanker, a brake van and an oval of track with siding.
HornbyJamesSet2005
James Passenger Set 1988 R094
R9073
Includes James, a composite coach, a brake coach and an oval of track; reissued in 2005.
HornbyThomasandPercyset2009
Thomas and Percy Electric Train Set 1997 R9000 Includes Thomas, Percy, Annie, Clarabel, two open wagons, a milk tanker and an oval of track with siding; originally issued with the 0-4-0 Thomas, but by 1999 was using the standard 0-6-0 version. Intended to be reissued in 2009 with Percy's wagons replaced by a Sodor Fuel tanker, a Sodor Scrap Co. wagon and a brake van, but cancelled before release.
HornbyTobySet
Radio-Controlled Toby Set 2002 R9044 Includes Toby, an open wagon, a tar tanker, a milk tanker, a brake van, a radio controller and an oval of track with siding.
HornbyThomasandPercySet2003
Radio-Controlled Thomas and Percy Set 2002 R9045 Includes Thomas, Percy, Annie, Clarabel, two open wagons, a milk tanker, a radio controller and an oval of track with siding.
PercyCircusElectricTrainSet
Percy Circus Set 2005 R9072 Includes Percy, four circus vans and an oval of track with siding.
HornbyThomasandBillSet
Thomas and Bill Set 2005 R9074 Includes Thomas, Bill, Annie, Clarabel, a Sodor Fuel tanker, a Sodor Scrap Co. wagon, a brake van and an oval of track with two sidings.
HornbyThomasandtheGreatDiscoveryset
Thomas and the Great Discovery Set 2008 R9260 Based on The Great Discovery; includes exclusive tired and weathered Thomas, weathered Annie, weathered Clarabel, weathered red open wagon with brick load, weathered light blue open wagon with plank load and an oval of track with siding.
HornbyThomasPassengerSet
Thomas Passenger Set 2009 R9020
R9283
Includes Thomas, Annie, Clarabel and an oval of track.
HornbyThomasPassengerandGoodsTrainSet2015
Thomas Passenger and Goods Set 2009 R9271
R9285
Includes Thomas, Annie, Clarabel, an open wagon, a cattle wagon, a milk tanker and an oval of track with siding; reissued in 2015 with Troublesome Trucks in place of previous goods rolling stock.
HornbyPercyandtheMailTrain2015
Percy and the Mail Train Set 2011 R9284 Includes Percy, Sodor Mail Operating Coach, a brown vent van and an oval of track with siding; reissued in 2015.
HornbyThomasandtheBreakdownTrainset
Thomas and the Breakdown Train Set 2012 R9699 Includes Thomas, the Breakdown Crane, a light blue open wagon and an oval of track with siding.

Battery-Powered Sets

In addition to the regular electric train sets, a small range of battery-powered sets were produced between the late 1980s and 1990s. These were later discontinued in favour of purely electric train sets.

Model Original Release Year Item Number Notes
Thomas and Bertie Battery Powered Set 1988 A battery-powered set including an unpowered Thomas, a motorised Annie, Clarabel, Bertie, and a copy of Thomas and Bertie and Thomas Down the Mine, which allowed children to recreate the story of Thomas and Bertie (the book was omitted from 1995 onwards, however). The track for this set was double sided; one side for Thomas and one side for Bertie.
Thomas 'Musical Ride' Battery Powered Set 1995 A musical set with an 0-4-0 Thomas, Annie, Clarabel and a battery powered station. Whilst Thomas moved around the track, the original theme music would play.
Thomas and Station Battery Powered Set 1997

Clockwork Range

Hornby also produced Thomas and some of his friends in clockwork form. The sets were available as 'Playtrains' (plastic track) or as standard Hornby track. The playtrain coaches and wagons had simple up and down couplings and plastic playtrain wheels which meant that they were not compatible with standard Hornby track. The rolling stock on the normal Hornby 00 gauge track clockwork sets was exactly the same as the electric versions.

1985

  • Thomas Passenger Set - plastic track
  • Thomas Passenger Set - metal track
  • Thomas Goods Set - plastic track
  • Thomas Goods Set - metal track
  • Percy Goods Set - plastic track
  • Percy Goods Set - metal track

Additional sections of playtrain track including points and buffers were available.

1995

The clockwork playtrain sets now had the normal Hornby logo rather than the Playtrains logo.

1997

  • Bertie
  • Annie and Clarabel were available separately

1998

This year saw a revamp in the clockwork Thomas system. The system was now only available as clockwork 'Playtrains'. Thomas' chassis was remodelled to an 0-6-0 chassis rather than the inaccurate 0-4-0 previously carried. Also, the plastic track had a totally new design. The models, accessories, and sets were as follows:

  • Toby
  • Bill
  • Ben
  • Troublesome Truck 1
  • Troublesome Truck 2
  • Thomas No.1 Set
  • Thomas and Ben Wind-up Train Set
  • Signal Box/Water Tower pack
  • Thomas Station
  • Turntable pack

In 2003, the entire clockwork system was retired from the Thomas line.

Trivia

  • Locomotives from the original Hornby Dublo Range (Prior to Tri-ang buying Hornby outright) were used to make the engines and rolling stock for the 1953 television adaptation of The Sad Story of Henry.
  • In the early 1980s, Hornby reused an existing tooling of a generic 0-4-0 steam locomotive to produce several push-along locomotives under the "Playtrains" brand. These included blue locomotives named "Thomas" and "Gordon", a green locomotive named "Percy", and a red locomotive named "James". These did not have faces and were probably not officially licensed. More info can be found on Dave Angell's website.
  • The Hornby range is the longest-running brand of merchandise in the history of Thomas & Friends to date, spanning 33 years from the early days of the television series in 1985 to 2018.
  • The 1997, 1998 and 1999 Hornby catalogues are the only catalogues that did not illustrate the Thomas & Friends range since its debut in 1985. Instead, the range was listed in the price lists and published its own catalogues.
  • Thomas (clockwork and 0-4-0 shell only), Percy, Toby, Bill and Ben are the only engines to have their tooling created from scratch. As a result, these are the most accurate television series looking characters to date, with Thomas (clockwork/free-rolling) and Percy being the closest to their first series models (although Percy is eight millimetres too long and Thomas' smokebox is too long).
  • Bertie is the only non-rail Thomas character to have been released.
  • Flying Scotsman, Bear, Spencer and Murdoch have sprung buffers, whilst Spencer and Murdoch have detailed handrails and loco drive motors. This is likely due to them being made using newer toolings than some of the locomotives made before them.
  • The Thomas and Bertie Battery Powered set has a twin Fireman Sam set with different figures, vehicles and scenery. The level crossing is also different being two road connections rather than having a rail and road crossing.
  • The close-up pictures on the prototype box cover of the musical Thomas set showed pictures from Hornby's station master train set, as they used the same tooling. The same set was later used as the 'My first Hornby' set.
  • Hornby also made toys for one of The Britt Allcroft Company's other major productions, The Magic Adventures of Mumfie.
  • There have been several instances where the Hornby Thomas range has been featured in pop-culture:
    • In 2014, when artist Jenny Bell decided to paint a mural of the nativity at Nottingham railway station for Christmas, she added a golden model of Thomas into the picture, using the wind-up model of him as a guide, akin to how the Reverend W. Awdry's models were used for the book illustrations.
    • The blue open wagon featured in "Mr. Perkins' Railway".
    • A model of Percy along with the Troublesome Trucks made a cameo at the Choo Choo Barn in "The Exciting Miniature World of The Choo Choo Barn", "All About Fast Trains", and "A Wonderful American Journey with Thomas and Connie".
    • A model of GWR No. 101 which was made by Hornby was seen in the episode "Mr. Perkins' Railway Lesson" as part of the Engine Driver Segments.
  • Thomas' model originally came fitted with traction tyres on the centre wheels which helped give the model grip on the rails. However, these were omitted from Hornby's standard 0-6-0 chassis produced in later years, likely to improve its running performance.
  • Thomas' 1985 model had a face that resembled his appearance in The Railway Series, but was changed the same year to match his appearance in the television series. Earlier models of Thomas also featured the red lining on his back.
  • Thomas and Percy's models originally had a blue and green running board respectively, but since their 2015 re-releases, they both gained a splash of white, Thomas on his front valance and Percy up to the front of his cab (which ironically on later re-releases of the toolings had the full area painted and not just half of it).
  • In 2016, Thomas gained a lamp on the front of his running board.
  • Henry was the last model to be produced with bright plating on his wheel tyres, connecting rods and valve gear along with having bare metal handrails. His initial release also marked the last production run of the whole range with these same features before the change to darker plating and black painted handrails began in 2003. Some of the first models produced with this darker plating have their production dates on the leaflet inside the models box as 2003 but have 2004 printed on the underside of their chassis.
  • Henry's body came from a revised tooling Hornby made for their Black 5 model in the early 1990s. This was different from the previous version of their Black 5 with the new one having slightly more detail, as well as two rectangular holes in both sides of the boiler saddle. These holes now made the boiler look to have a sudden cut off so a separate piece was made to go inside the body to complete the roundness of the boiler. This body type was only seen with the previously mentioned first production run of Henry that had bright plating and bare metal handrails as later releases of Henry had the rectangular holes filled in. This was most likely done as the separate piece was not moulded in the same green as his body but was instead moulded in black, making the intended effect difficult to see and it would have been more labour intensive to paint each piece to match the body. Altering the tooling to have the holes filled in and removing the need for the separate piece entirely made the most sense.
  • Henry's 2016 re-release was the only tender engine in the revised Hornby Thomas range to be given a loco driven chassis, while the 2016 Edward, Gordon and James models had improved tender drive motor mechanisms.
  • Gordon's prototype model had a different face when he was featured in the 1986 catalogue. Duck and Diesel's prototype models also share this distinction in the 1987 catalogue.
  • The original Gordon models (1986-2013) had oval buffers, whereas the 2016-2017 models have round buffers.
  • Percy's prototype model was originally a modified Caledonian Pug, but it was decided to use a new-build tooling, likely to make it look closer to his appearance in the television series.
  • Toby's model was oversized and was too tall to fit under most shed doors and tunnels; this was likely due to being designed as a big grabbable clockwork toy first and model second.
  • Bill and Ben's models were oversized (see the above point about toby) and their prototype models had yellow wheels instead of black wheels.
  • On Duck's model:
    • His handrails are painted gold, similar to his earlier appearances in the second series.
    • His wheel arches are green, when they should be painted black.
  • Oliver and Stepney's models state 2004 underneath them, despite not being released until 2005. It is likely that they were meant for release in 2004, but were delayed to the following year.
  • Stepney and Class 40's buffers are black instead of silver.
  • Flying Scotsman appears in the Railway Series and television series with two tenders, but the Hornby model only has one. The lining on his tender is incorrectly shaped as if it was for a southern tender; the only plausible explanation being that they used Gordon's paint application template for the lining but changed the 4 to an LNER.
  • Emily's coal load is removable.
  • Murdoch's name is written in black on his nameplates instead of gold/yellow.
  • On Spencer's model:
    • The wheels and tender corridor are black.
    • He has a Kylchap double-chimney (much like the one seen in his concept art) as opposed to a single one.
    • His tender buffer-beam is red.
    • The 2008 model had silver handrails, while the 2012 version had black handrails.
  • 'Arry and Bert's faces look like Splatter and Dodge's; this is likely due to the latter twins' sixth series face reference sheet being mistakenly labelled as for the former twins, or it is likely that Hornby planned to make them due to the release of Thomas and the Magic Railroad. Interestingly, however, their prototype faces resemble that of their Ertl faces. Their prototype models also had red buffer-beams.
  • Dart is the only CGI-era character to be introduced into Hornby's range.
  • Dart's model has side rods, due to using an inaccurate tooling.
    • In addition to that, Dart is also far taller than he is depicted in the show.
  • The brown first series style Troublesome Truck originally used a 5 plank wagon tooling.
  • Although the milk tanker usually carried blue lettering, several earlier models were done with red lettering; these are extremely rare and are likely to be factory errors.
  • Oddly, earlier releases of the cattle wagon carried the words "TO BE RETURNED TO LEWES" on it; this was removed on the 2005 re-release.
  • The mail coach originally had four wheels due to being tooled from a CCT van, though not of southern origin as the show ones were; however the mail coaches were later given eight wheels after being reintroduced in the Percy and the Mail Train Set using the toolings of the existing Royal Mail Operating Coach.
  • Toad is painted brown instead of grey.
  • The prototype models of Spencer's coaches were LNER Gresley coaches painted red.
  • The stickers on Bertie's 2005 model are different from those on his 1988 model.
  • Toby, Bill and Ben all share a chassis designed specifically for them which can be in either 0-6-0 or 0-4-0 configurations respectively.
  • D7101 (Bear) is the only character exclusively from the Railway Series to be released by Hornby.
  • Although Hornby had sold OO gauge models of Oliver, Hornby also sold an OO gauge model outside the Thomas & Friends range of a 14xx (Oliver's basis) in BR green with the number 1436, Oliver's number from the Railway Series.
  • The Prototype images of "The Great Discovery Collector Buildings" series were Behind the Scenes pictures.
  • Stanley's Shed is depicted with one less window on each side.
  • The Thomas model made for the Thomas and Bertie set had a variation with flanged wheels, similar to the 0-4-0 clockwork engine. However, they likely got quickly replaced; it may have been a first production run or simply just an error. In any case they are very rare and hard to come by and only YouTube user flyingtardis is known to own one of these. However, another was sited by YouTube user Blue Tank Engine Pictures a while ago.
  • Thomas' 0-4-0 model was reintroduced as a generic 0-4-0T without a face in 2009 for Hornby's Railroad range, now produced in a variety of liveries; these include:
    • "Billy" in red with yellow lining
    • No. 629 in LBSCR umber
    • "Mosley Tarmacadam" in lined black
    • No. 43209 in BR lined black
    • Transatlantic Industries No. 585 in green with yellow lining
    • Queen Elizabeth II No. 60 in brown with white lining
    • No. 42021 in BR lined black
    • No. 32651 in BR lined black
    • No. 1981 in Trotter's Independent Traders Yellow
    • No. 22 in Hornby 70th Anniversary Red
    • No. 2112 in S. Wilson Papermills Green
    • Coca-Cola Livery
    • The Beatles Livery
    • No. 5 in Lifeson Coal Board Red
  • Hornby's James model was a tooling modified in a similar fashion to the Reverend W. Awdry's model by re-using a Tri-ang 3F with an extended running board and pony wheel fitted to the front.
  • Emily, although based on a GNR Stirling Single, was inaccurately made from a GWR Dean Single. This is due to Hornby not producing a Stirling Single at the time, even though many other versions of "Singles" do exist.
  • D261 (A.K.A. The Diesel) is inaccurately depicted as a BR Class 37 rather than a BR Class 40. The year after D261's Hornby model was produced Hornby would acquire Lima, who made a Class 40 model with the number D261 in the years prior.
  • Edward, Gordon and James all have Southern tenders fitted rather than LMS Fowler tenders, which is strange due to the aforementioned Tri-ang 3F (as well as Hornby's own Midland Railway compound) having a Fowler tender.
  • The Märklin HO scale Thomas series was the Hornby models with additional pickup shoes. Therefore, they were only available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
  • In the Hornby "The Collector" Magazine (Issue 128 - Summer 2021), Hornby released an article about tooling recycling of various models in the Thomas Range, including a rare glimpse of a Prototype 0-4-0 Electric Thomas made out of Plastikard.
    • Some of the information in this Hornby article is inaccurate, as it incorrectly mentions that said prototype and the clockwork bodies were one and the same.
  • Despite Mavis appearing on artwork of the packaging, she was never made by Hornby.
  • In a 2013 interview with Simon Kohler (Marketing Manager of Hornby), Neville was mentioned as a possible character in the range.[1]

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External links

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For more information, check out the Hornby Wiki.

See also

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