Other Narrow Gauge Rolling Stock

Many different types of rolling stock have been used on the Skarloey and the Mid Sodor Railways.

Trucks

Trucks (called cars in the US narrations), are also commonly referred to as Troublesome Trucks because some of them can be quite troublesome to the narrow gauge engines. They resemble the coal trucks used by the North Western Railway. They are used for carrying coal, stone, flour, tools and other materials. They take a disliking towards Sir Handel, like the slate trucks and love to play tricks on an engine.

Livery

The trucks were brown and grey in the fourth and fifth series, black from the sixth to twelfth series and appear in grey, red and green from the sixteenth series onwards.

Basis

The trucks are based on several different narrow gauge trucks on the Talyllyn Railway. The Bachmann narrow gauge trucks were based on the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway's 4-wheel goods wagons. In the magazines, the trucks are often incorrectly depicted as Standard gauge trucks.

Voice Actors

• Nobuaki Kanemitsu (Japan)

Trivia

• Three large scale trucks (One type 3, one type 2 and one type 1) are currently on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum. Four small scale type 2 trucks and two small scale type 1 trucks with their faces are currently owned by Twitter user ThomasTankMerch.

Merchandise

• Wooden Railway (Tan, black, orange, red and blue variants)
• Bachmann
• Take Along (discontinued)
• Take-n-Play (discontinued)
• Departing Now (discontinued)

The "Weedkiller"

The "Weedkiller" is a special maintenance train pulled by either Rusty or Fred that is only used once a year. It consists of a flat truck with a large yellow tanker attached on it and a pipe hangs across the line behind the trucks' buffers. The pipes are designed so that weedkilling liquid is sprayed across the track.

It only appears in the Railway Series book, New Little Engine. However, tankers resembling the "Weedkiller" appear in the books, Risky Rails! and Blue Mountain Mystery.

Basis

The "Weedkiller" is likely based on the Talyllyn Railway's No. 19 wagon, which for a time was fitted with a 120 gallon weedkiller tank. The wagon was built in 1952 as a locomotive by David Curwen.

Quarry Trucks

Quarry Trucks (called Quarry Cars in the US narrations) resemble tall, wooden coal trucks and are used exclusively at the Blue Mountain Quarry for transporting stone. They were first introduced in the special, Blue Mountain Mystery and have appeared from the sixteenth series onwards.

Basis

The Blue Mountain Quarry trucks are based on narrow gauge coal wagons. Some of these wagons have been used on the Ffestiniog Railway.

Livery

The quarry trucks come in two shades of red and green and have the Blue Mountain Quarry logo on both sides. In the TrackMaster range, they are painted blue with the Blue Mountain Quarry logo.

Merchandise

• TrackMaster (discontinued)
• Wooden Railway (normal and Day Out with Thomas 2012 Exclusive)

Flatbeds

Flatbeds are used several times on the narrow gauge railway to carry and transport vehicles, engines and various objects.

In the ninth series, Rheneas had to deliver a dinosaur skeleton on a flatbed.

Basis

The flatbed is based on the Talyllyn Railway 37.

Merchandise

• Capsule Plarail (discontinued)
• TrackMaster (discontinued)
• Motor Road and Rail (discontinued)
• Take Along (discontinued)

Conflats

Conflats are used several times on the narrow gauge railway to carry and transport vehicles, engines and various objects. There have been two types of these so far.

In the Railway Series, the weedkiller train consists of a large tanker attached to a conflat. In the fourth series, Duke was transported to the Skarloey Railway via a conflat equipped with narrow gauge rails; the same type of conflat was later used for Skarloey. In the eleventh series, Rheneas accidentally bumped his conflats loaded with pipes when Thomas blew his whistle and surprised him. Rusty accidentally demolished a flat truck loaded with bricks when Thomas was playing a trick on him. In the twelfth series, Duncan delivered the Hot Air Balloon via a conflat.

Merchandise

• TrackMaster (discontinued)
• Plarail (discontinued)

Well Wagons

Well wagons are used to carry tall loads like statues, to make them more stable or lower by placing the load in a dipped space between the bogies.

In the seventh series, Duncan transported an elephant statue on a well wagon to Elephant Park. In the twelfth series, Peter Sam found a statue of Proteus on a well wagon.

Basis

The well wagons are based on GWR 'Crocodile G' 35-ton bogie well wagons, scaled down accordingly.

Merchandise

• TrackMaster (discontinued)
• Wooden Railway (discontinued)

Slab Wagons

Slab Wagons are commonly used on the Skarloey Railway, especially at the Blue Mountain Quarry. They are used to transport slabs of slate and are painted various colours. They have been seen since the sixteenth series.

Basis

The Slab wagons are based on the slate slab carrying wagons of the Maenofferen Quarry.

V Tipper Trucks

V Tipper Trucks (called V Tipper Cars in the US narrations) are probably the most used piece of rolling stock at the Blue Mountain Quarry. They are filled with slate, which is then either tipped into a mill or transferred to standard gauge trucks after being transported on the incline.

Basis

The V Tipper trucks are based on the narrow gauge V Tipper trucks on the Talyllyn Railway.

Merchandise

• Wooden Railway (discontinued)
• Take-n-Play (discontinued)

The Sleigh Wagon

The Sleigh Wagon was made by workmen out of an old truck for the Fat Controller, dressed as Santa, to be pulled in around the Skarloey Railway. It was featured only in the 2011 magazine story, Reindeer Rescue.