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Lady/Behind the Scenes

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This is a behind the scenes subpage for Lady.
 This subpage contains all behind the scenes material relating to said article.

Background Information

Lady was introduced in the 2000 film Thomas and the Magic Railroad as a major character, but made no appearances afterwards due to the film's low performance. She would make a reappearance in the 2005 special Calling All Engines! in a dream sequence. According to model maker Chris Lloyd, the reason why Lady was only featured in a dream sequence in Calling All Engines! and was not meant to be seen again in the series was because in the show's continuity, Lady is not real,[1] which would imply that Thomas and the Magic Railroad is not canon to the Thomas & Friends television series, but this is debatable as Sam Wilkinson's 2014 map of Sodor features places that only appeared in the film, and Britt Allcroft considers the film canon according to the official An Unlikely Fandom Twitter account.[2]

Since Calling All Engines!, Lady has not made any appearances in the Thomas & Friends television series. It has been speculated that her removal from the series was due to Mattel's desire to distance the brand from Thomas and the Magic Railroad, which prevented her from having a major role beyond a brief cameo in the Thomas Creator Collective.[3]

Voice

The character was voiced by Britt Allcroft, the creator of the series herself. Allcroft gave Lady an English accent, much like most of the steam engine characters in the film.

Originally, Lady was not going to have a speaking role in Thomas and the Magic Railroad; her only way of communicating was telepathically with Thomas when he was on Muffle Mountain and her whistle. In the original script, as Thomas can understand Lady telepathically, he can also understand her pain and sadness. Thomas talks to her, but gets no verbal response from her. She was later given lines to help smooth over cuts made to the film.

Behind the Scenes

Concept art

Gauge 1 model

Lady's model was custom built to run on gauge 1 track. The model was built from brass and painted in a matte finish. It was built to a 1:32 scale.[4]

The chassis was constructed from scratch (CNC). It had two motors, both powered by electricity from the track via the pickups on the metal wheels. The main motor powered the wheels, while the second motor (located at the back) powered an inside piston for the smoke mechanism.

The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired.

Originally, Lady's model under construction had a small smokebox and parts that were longer than the screen model on the running board, wheelbase, buffers and funnel. These were changed at some point during production, but her original design can be seen on the blueprint that appeared in the film.

Pantone Colours [5]

The following pantone colours were used on Lady's model:

  • ■ PMS 690 (red violet)
  • ■ PMS Black 5 (dark purple)
  • ■ PMS 871 (gold)

The following pantone colours were used on Lady's "flat colour art":

  • ■ PMS 683 (red violet)
  • ■ PMS 262 (dark purple)
  • ■ PMS 444 (silver)
  • ■ PMS 117 (gold)
  • ■ PMS Black (black)

Reference Sheets

Thomas and the Magic Railroad
Calling All Engines!

Fonts

The following fonts were used on Lady's Gauge 1 model:

  • CommercialScript BT Bold (lettering)

Faces

Seven different facial expressions were sculpted for Lady, although only three were used on-screen, one of which, a second smiling face was used in her promotional image from Calling All Engines!, while a duplicate shocked face and two concerned faces were left unused. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould. A smokebox door was also sculpted for the model, which can be seen in a few behind the scenes pictures of shooting for Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

In addition to her final faces, it is known that Lady had at least three prototype faces sculpted, with two being painted.

Reference Sheets
Usage and Evolution
Present Day

Lady's second smiling face would be put on display at the 'History of Thomas & Friends' exhibition at the Midland Railway Centre in May 2019.

In 2025, as part of Propstore's Thomas & Friends Online Charity Auction 2025, some of Lady's duplicate faces would be put up for auction.

Most of Lady's original faces are currently on display at Drayton Manor Theme Park.

Present Day

After production of the model series wrapped in 2008, most of the models and sets would be put into storage, with some being put on display at Drayton Manor Theme Park. All other models would be logged and referenced from 2010 until early 2011 by HiT Entertainment. From this, HiT would decide on which models were to enter storage once again, which would be given to crew members and which would be disposed off. Due to only having one model made in gauge 1 scale, Lady's model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership Lady's model would be listed under "TF00046" and had sustained some damage to the back of her which would be fixed prior to being displayed in 2021.

In August 2021, Lady's model was taken to the 'Clearwater Weekend' event at the Midland Railway Centre but only present in the "V.I.P" area along with BoCo, Caroline, Duck, City of Truro, one of the Old Tenders, Toad's scrap model, Diesel 10, the plastic model of Henry and Gordon, Annie and Clarabel's Gauge 3 models, the Sodor Suspension Bridge, the Lighthouse and the Warehouse.

As of 2025, the model has been put on display with most of her faces at the Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition at Drayton Manor Theme Park.

A few spare unused decal sheets made for Lady are currently owned by Twitter user TomsProps. Two of her nameplates from the nameplate sheet owned by Tom are currently in possession of ThomasTankMerch on Twitter.[8]


At some point following Thomas and the Magic Railroad, replica models of Lady and Thomas' Gauge 1 models were created and sent to Japan. Her replica model was previously on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum, although in 2023 it appeared to be in storage. In 2024 her replica model along with Thomas' were on display at the Hobby Center Kato in Tokyo. Later in 2025, they were moved to the Kyoto Railway Museum for The World of Thomas the Tank Engine Exhibition.


Another replica of Lady would stay in Britt Allcroft's personal collection until 13th August 2025, where it was put up for auction.[9] [10]

Life-sized model

A life-sized model of Lady was built for scenes where she would have to interact with the human actors. The model is sixteen feet long, six feet wide and ten feet tall, and was constructed primarily out of wood. It also had a face and a smokebox door.

During the launch of Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Lady's model was transported from New York to Los Angeles for the film premiere in Downtown. Once the premiere ended, many of the model's "Thomas-like" features were repossessed by the rights holders, such as the face, buffers, coal bunker, dome, whistle, lamps and the original smokebox door. It is unknown what became of those parts after they were removed.

Lady's model was stored in a warehouse following the premiere, until it had to be removed due to management at work. The man who had transported the model from New York to Los Angeles kept the model in his backyard and had it repainted should legal issues arise, painting the model in Christmas colours of red and green, shortening the funnel, removing the buffers, whistle, dome, and the coal bunker. A new smokebox door was created as well. A thin strip of tape was also placed along the lower right corner of her right tank in order to preserve her original colours.

On 24 November 2017, the life-sized prop was listed for sale on LetGo.[11] The model was soon removed from LetGo, when a fundraiser ($2000 USD) was started to purchase the model.[12] The fundraiser was successful, and Lady was soon transported to a storage facility, awaiting restoration. Her new owners go under the name "Restore the Magic", a non-profit organisation who have campaigned to try and release the director's cut to Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

In 2019, the prop was taken out of storage and transferred to Florida, United States, ready for its restoration. During the process of transportation, several parts had to be removed for safety reasons. In 2020, the undercarriage wheels were replaced due to the original pair of wheels wearing out over the years. Along with this, the prop would be dismantled in order for the owners to figure out how to fix certain sections of the prop. As of 2025, no new information or photos of the restoration process have been shared.

CGI model

Lady's model was used in a green screen during filming of the Magic Railroad, while CGI was used most notably to animate her face when being restored and whilst in the background.

Firebox

The firebox scene with Lady was filmed during the winter of 1999 in the alleyway of GVFX's Toronto office.[13][14]

Burnett's Treasures

Items related to Lady are placed in Burnett Stone's Workshop.

Thomas Land (Japan)

The “Fun Ride” model used at Thomas Land (Japan) from May 2001 to May 2010 was made at Hayauchi MFG Co. Ltd.[15]

Voice Actors

References

  1. ↑ Chris Lloyd | Sodor Island Fansite
  2. ↑ [1]
  3. ↑ Day of the Diesels RANT! | Grease and Oil - Episode 33 (16:26) - YouTube
  4. ↑ Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (Series 2 -12) on Pinewood Studios
  5. ↑ Pantone colours
  6. ↑ Discussion of the green thing under Lady's chassis
  7. ↑ Lady face reference sheet
  8. ↑ Twitter post by ThomasTankMerch
  9. ↑ Twitter post by Juliens Auctions
  10. ↑ Lady prop lisiting
  11. ↑ Red and green train in Los Angeles
  12. ↑ Restore the Magic: Large Lady Prop!
  13. ↑ "Other Fun Magic Railroad Facts with Sodor Island Fansite"
  14. ↑ "Phil Fehrle's interview with Sodor Island Fansite about Thomas and the Magic Railroad"
  15. ↑ Production list of Hayauchi MFG Co. Ltd.
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