Inspectors are people who carry out inspections to ensure that operations are running properly and efficiently. They also approve new railways and engines for operation.
Engine Inspectors
Engine inspectors help out when engines experience problems.
Biography
When Thomas started experiencing boiler pain, Sir Topham Hatt arrived with an engine inspector to find out the problem. Thomas' driver explained the situation and the inspector determined that the feed pipe was blocked. After noticing fish in Thomas' tank, the inspector asked Sir Topham Hatt to also look in the tank which he did and also saw the fish. The inspector, along with Thomas' driver and fireman, then took turns fishing in Thomas' tank with instructions from Sir Topham Hatt. After they had caught all the fish, they had a meal of fish and chips.
Engine inspectors have also assisted with stopping runaway engines. When James was a runaway, Edward caught up with an inspector, who stood on Edward's front with a rope attached to a shunter's pole. After several tries, the inspector managed to slip the rope over James' buffer, which allowed Edward to slow James down. When Thomas was a runaway and was approaching Upper Brendam, an inspector arrived at the station in Harold. As Thomas approached the station, the inspector scrambled into Thomas' cab and screwed his brakes hard-on. After Thomas stopped, he agreed with the inspector who told him that they must never let it happen again.
Uniform
An engine inspector's uniform consists of blue trousers, a black tie and a white shirt with a blue jacket over it. They wear blue peaked caps with black brims.
Appearances
Thomas & Friends
- Series 1 - Thomas Goes Fishing
- Series 2 - Old Iron, Percy and the Signal, The Runaway, Gordon Goes Foreign (episode cancelled) and The Missing Coach (episode cancelled)
Magazine Stories
- 1988 - Thomas Goes Fishing, Old Iron, Percy and the Signal and The Runaway
Books
- 2004 - Percy and Edward
- 2006 - Annie and Clarabel
- 2016 - Thomas and Percy
Voice Actors
- Kōzō Shioya (Japan; Thomas Goes Fishing)
- Toshio Kobayashi (Japan; Old Iron and Percy and the Signal)
- Takeshi Endo (Japan; The Runaway)
The Bowler Hat Inspector
- “My hat! You've sucked it through your air intake!”
- ― The Inspector
The bowler hat inspector once examined the North Western Railway.
Biography
When a cricket ball landed in one of Stepney's trucks, the inspector was among the cricketers who shouted at Stepney to stop. However, Stepney did not hear them and continued on.
When Class 40 visited the North Western Railway, a fitter made adjustments to him while the inspector looked on. The strong winds blew the inspector's hat away and while he was looking for it, Class 40 suddenly broke down just as he was about to pull the Express. After Class 40 was shunted into the shed, the inspector noticed the hat and exclaimed that it was sucked through the air intake. However, Sir Topham Hatt was more concerned about the Express being late.
The inspector was also one of the guests who attended Lady Hatt's birthday party.
Uniform
The inspector's uniform consists of brown trousers, a black tie and a white shirt with a grey overcoat over it. He wears a black bowler hat. In the fifth series, he wears a brown jacker instead.
Appearances
Thomas & Friends
- Series 4 - Granpuff (cameo), Rock 'n' Roll (cameo), Train Stops Play (cameo) and Bowled Out
- Series 5 - Lady Hatt's Birthday Party (cameo)
- Series 7 - Emily's New Coaches (cameo)
Voice Actors
- Yasuhiko Kawazu (Japan)
Trivia
- The inspector's large body is reused from Jeremiah Jobling's from No Joke for James, while his small scale body is Jobling's from A Scarf for Percy.
- The inspector's hatless head was reused from Farmer Trotter and in turn was used for the Barber in Bertie's Chase.
- The inspector's bowler hat head was later used for Farmer Collett.
The Black-suited Railway Inspector
The Black-suited Railway Inspector once examined the North Western Railway for its efficiency and cleanliness, especially the engines. He also awarded engines that looked their best.
Biography
When it was announced that the railway inspector was arriving to inspect the North Western Railway, the railway staff made sure that the railway looked its best by checking signals and cleaning station platforms.
On the day of the inspection, Sir Topham Hatt informed the engines about the inspector's arrival and a prize that would be given to the best turned out engine. While waiting for the inspector at the Coaling Plant, James accidentally reversed into a conflat, which rolled into a lever and caused coal to be poured out from the hatch, spreading coal dust all over James, Emily and Gordon. When Sir Topham Hatt and the inspector arrived, the latter saw how filthy the engines were. Gordon tried to clean out the coal dust from his funnel, only to ended up covering Sir Topham Hatt and the inspector with coal dust. Just then Thomas and Percy arrived after getting a washdown. The inspector was impressed by them and awarded them both with first place rosettes.
Uniform
The railway inspector's uniform consists of black trousers, a black tie and a white shirt with a black jacket over it. He wears a black bowler hat.
Appearances
Voice Actors
- Yasuhiko Kawazu (Japan)
Trivia
- The railway inspector's model was also used for a member of the Railway Board.
The Three Railway Inspectors
- “I wasn't sure, but now I know the Fat Controller's Railway is the best!”
- ― The Railway Inspector, Thomas in Charge, fourteenth series
The railway inspectors, known as the railroad inspectors in the US, are three inspectors who commonly examine the North Western Railway.
Biography
Thomas tried to impress one of the railway inspectors, but only succeeded in causing havoc; covering both the inspector and the Fat Controller in coal dust. Thomas was given a chance to put everything right and the inspector was very impressed with his Railway. He was one of the very important visitors that attended Dowager Hatt's tour of Sodor and after party.
He returned to inspect the island once again, but with two other inspectors that look like him. When they went to inspect the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre, he and the other inspectors were not sure if having both Belle and Flynn is really necessary. However, the Fat Controller persuaded them that it's much safer with two.
Two of the railway inspectors came to inspect the North Western Railway, but proved to be grumpy and hard to impress. They eventually showed a change of heart to the railway after Thomas returned a lost watch to one of the inspectors, which was given to the man for working for the railway company for twenty years.
All three railway inspectors later returned to the Island again to observe Hugo. They expressed concern about Hugo's propeller.
Uniform
The uniform worn by the three railway inspectors consists of blue trousers, a black tie and a white shirt with a blue jacket over it. They wear black bowler hats.
Appearances
Thomas & Friends
Specials
|
Magazine Stories
|
Voice Actors
Railway Inspector #1:
Railway Inspector #2:
Railway Inspector #3:
|
The Island Inspector
- “Very good work, Gordon. Very good work, indeed!”
- ― The Island Inspector, O the Indignity, fourteenth series
The island inspector once examined the Island of Sodor, to make sure that it was running and looking well. Before his visit, Sir Topham Hatt insisted that everything should be cleaned on a day that he called "Clean Sodor Day".
Uniform
The island inspector's uniform consists of black trousers, a black tie and a white shirt with a black jacket over it. He wears a black top hat.
Appearances
Thomas & Friends
- Series 14 - O the Indignity
- Series 15 - Wonky Whistle (cameo)
- Series 16 - Muddy Matters (cameo)
Magazine Stories
- 2011 - Thomas in Charge (one only; does not speak)
- 2012 - Wonky Whistle (one only; cameo) and Thomas and the Sound of Sodor (one only; cameo)
- 2013 - Too Many Fire Engines! (cameos)
Voice Actors
- Matt Wilkinson (UK; fourteenth series)
- Glenn Wrage (US; fourteenth series)
- Shigenori Sōya (Japan; fourteenth series onwards)
- Jarosław Boberek (Poland; fourteenth series onwards)
- Jukka Voutilainen (Finland; fourteenth series)
The Railway Coal Inspector
- “Hooray for Henry!”
- ― The Railway Coal Inspector, Henry's Happy Coal, fifteenth series
The Very Important Visitor (known as the railroad coal inspector in the US) examines coal on the railways.
Biography
The railway coal inspector once visited Sodor to study Henry's special coal, but Henry was unaware that he was a coal inspector and wanted to impress him, so he took on normal coal. The coal inspector later told Henry that he should be very proud of his special coal. He was also one of the very important visitors that attended Dowager Hatt's tour of the island and party.
Uniform
The railway coal inspector inspector's uniform consists of brown trousers, a black tie and a white shirt with a brown jacket over it.
Appearances
Thomas & Friends
- Series 15 - Henry's Happy Coal and Wonky Whistle (cameo)
- Series 16 - Express Coming Through (cameo) and Muddy Matters (cameo)
Music Videos
- Series 15 - Hear the Engines Coming
Voice Actors
- Keith Wickham (UK)
- Kerry Shale (US)
- Christian Greger Strøm (Norway; fifteenth series onwards)
- Jukka Voutilainen (Finland; fifteenth series onwards)
- Nobuaki Kanemitsu (Japan; fifteenth series onwards)
The Chinese Railway Inspector
The Chinese Railway Inspector is a railway inspector who works for the Chinese Railway.
Biography
After Yong Bao rescued an engine from falling off of a mountain, the inspector congratulated Yong Bao and rewarded him with a new coat of paint as well as an emblem on his tender.
Uniform
The Chinese Railway inspector's uniform consists of black trousers, a red tie and a white shirt with a black jacket with grey accents over it. He wears a black peaked cap with a red and yellow striped band around it.
Appearances
Voice Actors
- Dan Li (UK/US)
- Daiki Nakamura (Japan)
- Eduardo Ménez (Latin America)
- Rodrigo Horta (Brazil)
Worksite Inspectors
Worksite Inspectors examine worksites, such as scrapyards and mines.
Biography
When a load from Rosie's train fell onto Gordon's line, a scrapyard inspector quickly used the magnet from his crane to remove the load just before Gordon arrived.[1]
While Peter Sam was resting near a closed mine, he heard the sounds of whistling and footsteps coming from inside the mine, to which he thought was a ghost. The sounds turned out to be a mine inspector who was inside the mine.[2]
Appearances
Other Inspectors
Several other inspectors have appeared or have been mentioned.
Biography
Some railway inspectors once visited the Island of Sodor and Sir Topham Hatt wanted everything to look nice for the event. When Thomas arrived at the station behind Gordon, a car arrived and four railway inspectors got out. Thomas was excited that he let out a big puff of steam, which covered Gordon and the station in soot. Thomas' driver then went to a water tower and sprayed water across the station using a hose. This cleared the soot and when the railway inspectors arrived, they complimented on how clean the station was.[3]
Appearances
Magazine Stories
- 1988 - Railway Inspectors
- 1990 - A Passenger for James
- 1991 - No Rails for Thomas
- 2001 - The Flyover! and Thomas Chimes In
- 2006 - Caroline's Cruise (mentioned)
- 2008 - Ticket Trouble