Ned/Behind the Scenes

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Behind the Scenes

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

Background Information

Television Series

Ned is a fictional steam shovel created by Phil Fehrle, Jonathan Trueman and Abi Grant.

In 2002, Ned made his debut as a cameo in the sixth series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends in the episode, Jack Jumps In and spoke in A Friend in Need. He later appeared in the spin-off series, Jack and the Sodor Construction Company.

Ned last appeared in The Great Discovery and he has not appeared in the television series since 2008. However, he was indirectly mentioned in the 2014 movie, Tale of the Brave.

Live-action model

Ned's funnel and chassis were built out of brass and the main body was built out of plastic to keep the weight down. The model was also painted in a matte finish.

There were three remotes built to control Ned, one was used to control his movement, one was used to operate his steam shovel and one was used to move his eyes. During production of Jack and the Sodor Construction Company Ned's remotes would be replaced by newer JR Propo ones, one of these remotes were sourced from JR Propo's XP642 remote controller. The steam shovel controller also doubled as a smoke and boom controller.

Concept art

Ned without a face

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.

Twelve different facial expressions were sculpted for Ned, although only eight were used on-screen and four of which angry, sleeping, dozing and confused were left unused. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould.

Ned's drowsy face that only appeared in the sixth series (2002)

Ned's happy face that appeared in the sixth series, Jack and the Sodor Construction Company and The Great Discovery (2002-2003/2006, 2008)

Ned’s sad face that appeared in both Jack and the Sodor Construction Company and The Great Discovery (2003/2006, 2008)

Ned’s worried face that only appeared in both the Jack and the Sodor Construction Company episodes, Jack Owns Up... (2003/2006)

...and Thomas' Trusty Friends (2003/2006)

Ned's suspicious face that only appeared in the Jack and the Sodor Construction Company episode, A Visit from Thomas (2003/2006)

Ned's smiling face that appeared in both Jack and the Sodor Construction Company and The Great Discovery (2003/2006, 2008)

Ned's wincing face that only appeared in the Jack and the Sodor Construction Company episode, Thomas' Trusty Friends (2003/2006)

Ned's shocked face that only appeared in the Jack and the Sodor Construction Company episode, Thomas' Trusty Friends (2003/2006)

Ned has had two modifications throughout the television series. This includes:

• Jack and the Sodor Construction Company:
  • The logo on both of his sides changed from "Packard & Co." to "Sodor Construction Company".
• The Great Discovery:
  • His pupils became bigger.

Reference Sheets

Jack and the Sodor Construction Company ruler reference of Ned

Page one of Ned's face reference sheet from Series 12 (2008) (Note: His unused angry and sleeping faces are next to his wincing face on the top left and his unused dozing face is between his happy and worried/anxious faces)

Page two of Ned's face reference sheet from Series 12 (2008) (Note: His unused confused face on the bottom left)

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 till 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 to be disposed off. Due to only having one model made to this scale, Ned's model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

Ned's model is currently in Mattel's storage unit in Southampton England, on the 29th of November 2022, Ned's bucket controller would be listed for sale on The Prop Gallery. It was formerly owned by Twitter user Hectorfan2008, until it would be returned to The Prop Gallery and resold in 2024.

Ned's bucket remote control as formerly up for sale on The Prop Gallery

The controller as formerly owned by Twitter user Hectorfan2008

Close-up model

A larger scale model of Ned was built in the spin-off series. It was required for scenes where he had to interact with the close-up scale figures. Ned's Close-up model was not complete. only his wheels and chassis were built.

Voice Actors

• Yasuhiro Takato (Japan)