- "You're lazy and slack! You're lazy and slack!"
- ― Orange Coaches
Orange Stroudley Coaches are used on local passenger trains. Annie and Clarabel are two of these coaches.
Biography
The orange coaches are usually found at Knapford.
After rescuing James, Thomas was given two orange coaches named Annie and Clarabel, who he would pull for the majority of the series. In The Adventure Begins, they were shown to be originally James' coaches.
James was once pulling a train of orange coaches, however, he was in a bad mood and he bumped the coaches pretty hard. While he was pulling the train, a brake pipe in one of the coaches started to leak, which caused both James and his train to halt. A newspaper and a passenger's bootlace was used to mend the hole in the brake pipe.[1]
Edward was once pulling a train of orange coaches that were transporting visitors of the island. However, while he was pulling the train, one of his side rods broke, causing both Edward and his train to halt. Edward's side rods were taken off and the the couplings of the coaches were loosened, so Edward could pull the train.[2]
As of Series 3 onwards, Annie and Clarabel appear to be the only orange coaches seen. Although, standard orange coaches would appear in the learning segments, Pulling Coaches and Who's Going Where?.
Personalities
Like many coaches on Sodor, they do not appreciate being bumped by an engine, and if they are not handled properly, especially if their brake-pipe is damaged from rough treatment, they will refuse to go further, as shown when James damaged a brake-pipe by bumping his coaches and speeding.
Despite the majority of these coaches not having faces, they were sentient in the first and second series. Two coaches with faces appear in the first series, similar to Annie and Clarabel but without nameplates.
Coaches with faces have also appear in several books, annuals and magazines. Two coaches with faces have also made an appearance in the animated learning segments, however these are unique, as they have two faces on both ends.[3]
Notable Coaches
List of named sentient coaches:
Thomas & Friends
Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go
List of unnamed sentient coaches:
Thomas & Friends
Technical Details
Basis
The orange coaches are based on LB&SCR 4-wheeled coaches built to a design by Stroudley between 1872 and 1892. Several coaches of this type are preserved on the Bluebell Railway and the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.
The red coaches share the same basis, however they have different rooftop designs and styled-brake coaches.
In Thomas & Friends, the orange brake coach's guard compartments did not have the duckets that feature on the red or LB&SCR examples, instead having a piece of card or plastic over this area. They also had different styled rooftops to the ones seen on the L&SCR.
Types of classes in the Model Series:
A variety of different types of classes have appeared in Thomas & Friends. Each of these can be identified by the amount of windows, guard's compartment and lowered bufferbeam.
Types of designs in Other Media:
.png "OrangeCoaches(Corridor).png (2.14 MB)")
.png "MailCoaches(Stroudley).png (1.79 MB)")
Livery
The coaches are painted dull orange with white rooftops. Coaches with faces have embedded faces that match their livery.
In the original magazine stories and various books, the Green Express Coaches and Red Express Coaches were inaccurately illustrated as LBSC Stroudley Coaches. In the magazine story, Rain or Shine, two yellow coaches with grey rooftops and red lining were pulled by Thomas and Percy. In the magazine story, Strange Sounds, a coach based on the Great Western Railway's chocolate and cream coach livery was pulled by Percy. In the annual story, Pantomime Pranks, green coaches with white rooftops are pulled by James.
.png "GreenExpressCoaches(Stroudley).png (1.93 MB)")
.png "RedExpressCoaches(Stroudley).png (1.63 MB)")
Appearances
Trivia
- The models of the coaches were made using Tenmille Gauge 1 LB&SCR Stroudley coach kits.
- In the first and second series, the coaches had the ability to talk, despite not having visible faces. However, in the first series, the coaches who did have faces were actually just Annie and Clarabel's models without painted on names. They were often used to represent the orange coaches during speaking roles.
- Thomas' Special Coach was going to reuse a model of one of these coaches, but as its episode was cancelled, Thomas' Special Coach was never featured in the television series. However, it still made brief appearances in Percy and the Signal and Duck Takes Charge.
- In Lift, Load and Haul on the Official Website, a repainted red coach's CGI model has appeared as an orange coach, which is also the only appearance in CGI canonically.
- In the magazines, some of these coaches have been inaccurately illustrated with corridors.
- In the magazines and annuals, the Skarloey and Culdee Fell Railway were inaccurately illustrated with orange Stroudley coaches scaled down to narrow gauge accordingly.
Merchandise
- Wooden Railway (Day Out with Thomas Exclusive 2016)
- Maruka (discontinued)
- Waku Waku (discontinued)
- Bandai (Day Out with Thomas)
- Hobidas (Day Out with Thomas)
- Adventures (discontinued)
- Kabaya (discontinued)
See Also
References
- ↑ T&F S1 #8: "James and the Coaches"
- ↑ T&F S2 #23: "Edward's Exploit"
- ↑ Twitter post by TheIronEngine
| Locomotives | Steam | Thomas | Henry | Gordon | James | Donald and Douglas | Emily | Murdoch | Molly | Nia | Rebecca |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | BoCo | |
| Former | Edward | |
| Rolling Stock | Passenger | Annie and Clarabel | Emily's Coaches | Green Express Coaches | Red Express Coaches |
| Former | The Spiteful Brake Van | Slip Coaches | |
| Trains | Passenger | The Express | The Local | The Great Waterton Special |
| Goods | The Flying Kipper | The Midnight Goods | |
| Infrastructure | Stations | Tidmouth | Lower Tidmouth** | Knapford | Crosby | Wellsworth | Maron | Cronk** | Killdane** | Balladrine** | Kellaby** | Whispering Woods Halt** | Kellsthorpe Road** | Crovan's Gate | Great Waterton** | Vicarstown | Barrow-in-Furness** |
| Sheds | Tidmouth Sheds | Tidmouth Yard Sheds | Knapford Sheds | Crovan's Gate Sheds* | Vicarstown Sheds | |
| Tunnels and Bridges | Tidmouth Tunnel (South) | Henry's Tunnel | Crosby Tunnel** | Crosby Bridge* | The Viaduct | Sodor Suspension Bridge** | Maron Bridge* | Standard Gauge and Narrow Gauge Viaduct | Vicarstown Bridge** |
| Locomotives | Steam | Edward | Porter | Nia |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | BoCo | Derek | Salty | Philip | |
| Non-Rail Vehicles | Trevor | Cranky | Reg | Big Mickey | Carly | |
| People | The Vicar of Wellsworth | The Mayor of Sodor | The Dock Managers | |
| Affiliates | Sodor China Clay Company (Bill and Ben, Timothy, Marion) | Sodor Shipping Company | Sodor Search and Rescue Centre (Belle, Flynn, Rocky, Harold, Butch, Captain) | |
| Stations | Wellsworth | Suddery | Lower Suddery | Sodor Animal Park** | Upper Brendam | Brendam | |