Several other real diesel standard gauge locomotives have appeared in Thomas & Friends media.
BR No. 11001
11001 was a prototype diesel locomotive built by British Railways.
It is the real-life counterpart of Dennis. Additionally, Norman and the Custom Diesel share the same basis.
Appearances
Miscellaneous
BR 11001 was mentioned on Dennis and Norman's Engine Depot pages on The Official Website[1][2].
BR Class 04 No. D2203
Appears in Thomas Goods Encyclopedia, The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (mentioned; not named) and Sodor: Reading Between the Lines (mentioned; not named)
Trivia
- Mavis is another member of this class.
- D2203 is the only surviving locomotive from the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway.
Gallery
BR Class 04 No. D2298
Appears in Character Encyclopedia, The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (mentioned; not named) and Sodor: Reading Between the Lines (mentioned; not named)
Trivia
- Mavis is another member of this class.
- D2298 has been used to portray Mavis on Days Out with Thomas events at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.
BR Class 07 No. 07007
07007 is a diesel shunter which appears in Thomas Goods Encyclopedia and Character Encyclopedia. This specific engine is the real-life counterpart of Salty.
BR Class 08 No. 08288
Appears in Hello Thomas and James and Thomas Goods Encyclopedia
Trivia
- Diesel, 'Arry, Bert, Splatter, Dodge, Paxton, Sidney, Fernando and the Mainland Diesels are other members of this class.
- 08288 has been used to portray Diesel at Days Out with Thomas events on the Mid Hants Railway.
BR Class 08 No. 08377
Appears in Original 70th Anniversary History Time Travel
Trivia
- Diesel, 'Arry, Bert, Splatter, Dodge, Paxton, Sidney, Fernando and the Mainland Diesels are other members of this class.
- 08377 has been used to portray Diesel at Days Out with Thomas events on the Mid Hants Railway.
BR Class 08 No. 08604 Phantom
Appears in Character Encyclopedia
Trivia
- Diesel, 'Arry, Bert, Splatter, Dodge, Paxton, Sidney, Fernando and the Mainland Diesels are other members of this class.
BR Class 08 No. 08850
08850 is a diesel shunter. It is seen shunting a milk tanker in the Mr. Perkins' Railway segments. This engine (based in service mainly on the Western Region) was numbered D4018 until the early 1970's, when it was re-numbered 08 850. In preservation it was based on the West Somerset Railway, but has moved to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway where it can still be seen today.
Technical Details
Livery
The Class 08 diesel is painted in the British Railways' "Rail Blue" livery with yellow warning panels.
Trivia
- Diesel, 'Arry, Bert, Splatter, Dodge, Paxton, Sidney, Fernando and the Mainland Diesels are other members of this class.
BR Class 08 No. D3007
Appears in Thomas Goods Encyclopedia
Trivia
- Diesel, 'Arry, Bert, Splatter, Dodge, Paxton, Sidney, Fernando and the Mainland Diesels are other members of this class.
- In Thomas Goods Encyclopedia, D3007 is incorrectly illustrated as a BR Class 11. Whereas the real D3007 is a BR Class 08.
Gallery
BR Class 08 No. D3369
Appearances
Trivia
- Diesel, 'Arry, Bert, Splatter, Dodge, Paxton, Sidney, Fernando and the Mainland Diesels are other members of this class.
BR Class 08 No. D3937 Gladys
Appears in Secret Journey of Thomas the Tank Engine
Trivia
- Diesel, 'Arry, Bert, Splatter, Dodge, Paxton, Sidney, Fernando and the Mainland Diesels are other members of this class.
- Gladys has been used to portray Diesel at Days Out with Thomas events on the Dean Forest Railway.
BR Class 11 No. AD601
AD601 is a diesel shunter which appeared in the Down at the Station segments.
Technical Details
Real-life History
Built by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSR), locomotive number 7120 was one of a batch of 30 locomotives constructed at their Derby works between 1945 and 1948.
Powered by a 350hp English Electric 6KT 4-stroke diesel engine with 6 cylinders of 10″ (254mm) bore by 12″ (305mm) stroke, this design of locomotive is actually a diesel-electric, as the wheels are connected by two axle-hung, nose-suspended, 430V traction motors driven from a generator connected to the engine.
Livery
AD601 is painted in the British Railways black livery.
Gallery
BR Class 17 No. D8500

Appearances
Miscellaneous
BR D8500 was mentioned on Derek's Engine Depot pages on The Official Website and ERTL character card description[3].BR Class 24 No. D5032 Helen Turner
Appearances
BR Class 24 No. D5061
D5061 is a diesel engine. It is seen pulling passengers. It appeared in the Mr. Perkins' Railway segments.
After 2014, D5061 was withdrawn from service in need of an overhaul.
Technical Details
Livery
D5061 is painted British Railways Deep Bronze green with red buffer beams.
Gallery
BR Class 25 No. D7628 Sybilla
Sybilla is a diesel engine. It was in the works waiting for new wheels. It appeared in the Mr. Perkins' Railway segments.
Technical Details
Livery
Sybilla is painted in British Railways' two tone green livery with yellow warning panels.
BR Class 27 No. 27024
27024 is a diesel locomotive which appeared in the Down at the Station segments.
Technical Details
Livery
27024 is painted in British Railways "Rail Blue" livery with yellow warning panels.
BR Class 28 No. D5710
Appears in Thomas Goods Encyclopedia, The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (mentioned; not named) and Sodor: Reading Between the Lines (mentioned; not named)
Trivia
BR Class 35 No. D7063

Appears in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (mentioned; not named) and Sodor: Reading Between the Lines (mentioned; not named)
Trivia
- Bear is another member of this class.
BR Class 37 No. 37264
37264 is a diesel locomotive. It appeared in the Mr. Perkins' Railway segments.
Technical Details
Livery
37264 is painted in British Railways' "Rail Blue" livery with large logo and yellow warning panels.
BR Class 37 No. D6836
Appears in Original 70th Anniversary History Time Travel
BR Class 40 No. 40195
Appearances
Trivia
- The Diesel, Old Stuck-Up and D782 are other members of this class.
BR Class 43 (HST)
A Class 43 in Great Western Railway livery appears in Original 70th Anniversary History Time Travel
Trivia
- Pip and Emma and the High-Speed Post Train are members of this class.
BR Class 101 No. 101680
101680 is a BR class 101 diesel multiple-unit (DMU) train. They appeared in the Mr. Perkins' Railway segments. The train is made of two DMUs 50204 built in 1957 and 51511 built in 1959.
Technical Details
Livery
The Diesel Railcar is painted BR green with small yellow warning panels.
Trivia
- Daisy is a member of its class, with the difference being that Daisy is a single railcar, whereas the real units could have configurations of 2-4 cars per set.
BR Class 109 Nos. 50416 and 56171
50416 and 56171 are a 2-car diesel multiple unit. They appeared in the Down at the Station segments.
Technical Details
Real-life History
This two-car class 109 diesel multiple unit (DMU) was part of an original fleet of 5 units built for British Railways (BR) in 1957 by D Wickham and Co. – the same builders as the track inspection trolleys that inspired the character Winston.
The class was a unique design, inspired from the lightweight diesel railcars used in South America. They were fitted with two 150 horsepower BUT Leyland 6-cylinder engines. The unique nature of the design resulted in them being withdrawn in 1971. One set was exported to Trinidad and Tobago, one went to departmental service, two were scrapped; but the other was not. That set was overhauled in 1967 at Doncaster Works and used on the General Manager's special train until retirement in 1971.
Today they are based at the Llangollen Railway, where they are in working order. This set was restored using lottery money.
Livery
50416 and 56171 are painted dark green with cream lining.
Trivia
- Five sets were built between 1957 and 1958; 50416 and 56171, the second set built, is the only surviving set.
BR Class 122 No. W55003
Appears in Thomas Goods Encyclopedia
Trivia
- W55003 has been used to portray Daisy at Days Out with Thomas events on the Mid Hants Railway.
BR Class 122 No. W55005
Appears in Character Encyclopedia
Canadian National SW1200 Class No. 7309
Appears in The Thomas the Tank Engine Man (documentary)
Fowler 0-4-0 Diesel Mechanical
Appears in Flash Bang Wallop! in Great Railways book
Trivia
- Thumper's front-end is based on this type of diesel.
FS Class ALn 772

Appears in The Thomas the Tank Engine Man
Jones Shunting Crane No. 10071
10071 is a diesel-powered shunting crane, used to lift heavy objects.
Technical Details
Real-life History
This crane was built for the Ministry of Supply and numbered 10071 where it proved its military usefulness. Soon, 10071 was sold to the Weldit Engineering Company in the Barrow-in-Furness dockyards and by 1980 it was retired. Later the same year it was bought and preserved by the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway for use on maintenance trains. As of now it is awaiting an overhaul. It appeared on the Down at the Station segments.
Livery
The diesel crane is painted dark green.
Lancaster, Oxford & Southern Railcar No. 10
Lancaster, Oxford and Southern Railway doodlebug car is a doodlebug car that was seen at the Strasburg Rail Road hauling passengers in 10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and sitting in the yard in A Wonderful American Journey with Thomas and Connie.
Technical Details
Real-life History
Built in 1915 by the Oxford shops from the Lancaster, Oxford and Southern Railway, it was later purchased from Grasse River RR in 1962. It was sold to the Strasburg Railroad, where it works today operating in passenger service, and as a substitute for any of the steam engines, in case one or all of them were out of service.
Gallery
PRR E7A No. 5901
Pennsylvania Railroad No. 5901 is an EMD E7a diesel that appears in A Wonderful American Journey with Thomas and Connie.
Technical Details
Real-life History
Built in September of 1945 it was used for the South Wind, a joint PRR/L&N/ACL Chicago-Miami service. It was also given random interim assignments on passenger runs between Harrisburg and Altoona, PA.
It was one of the first passenger diesels on the Pennsylvania Railroad, under whose diesel classification scheme it was designated an EP20 (Electro-Motive, Passenger, 2000 horsepower).
Today, it is on static display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. This locomotive has been cosmetically restored, and is on indoor display. It is also the sole surviving E7.
Livery
The locomotive is painted in it's Pennsylvania Railroad Tuscan Red with Gold Pinstripes, and the Pennsylvania Railroad's keystone is Red.
PRR GP9 No. 7006
Pennsylvania Railroad No. 7006 is an EMD GP9 that appears in A Wonderful American Journey with Thomas and Connie.
Technical Details
Real-life History
Built in 1955 it was part of an order of three hundred and ten GP9s that spelled the end of steam on the railroad: within two years, the last steam locomotive ceased operation.
It was gifted to the museum in 1985 and was repainted in its original PRR livery at Altoona in 2002.
Rolls Royce Sentinel No. 10283 Progress
Appears in Character Encyclopedia
Trivia
- Den is another member of this class, albeit the diesel-hydraulic version.
Strasburg Railroad No. 21
Strasburg Railroad No. 21 is a Railbus that sits in storage while it appears in 10 Years of Thomas
Technical Details
Real-life History
Built in 1921 this rare surviving railroad bus was built by Brill Motorcar Company and was powered by a gasoline engine built by Mack Brothers, later Mack Trucks. for the Lewisburg, Milton & Watsontown shortline in Pennsylvania.
It was built for the Lewisburg, Milton & Watsontown shortline in Pennsylvania, the bus carried local passengers for several railroads until it came to the Strasburg Rail Road in 1969. It ran infrequently there in the 1970s, and was donated to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 2001 where it today sits on public display.
Strasburg Railroad No. 33
Strasburg Railroad No. 33 is a diesel locomotive that was seen shunting the Strasburg Railroad's replica of Thomas out of the shed during Connie's visit to the railroad in A Wonderful American Journey with Thomas and Connie.
Technical Details
Real-life History
Built by General Electric of Schenectady, New York in 1948, it was used by the Pennsylvania Railroad as a shop switcher at the railroad's East Altoona shops until 1961, when the Pennsylvania Railroad leased it to the Strasburg Railroad before it was purchased in 1966. Between 1971 and 2006, the locomotive was painted in a red colour scheme and renumbered 33. In 2006, it was repainted in its Pennsylvania Railroad livery and given its original number, 9331. In 2013, the Strasburg sold it to the Walkersville Southern Railroad in Maryland, where it now operates.
Trivia
- It made a cameo in 10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends during the Day Out with Thomas event.
- In 1998, it was seen as Thomas' helper for the pushed and pulled operation for his first run.
Amtrak No. 111
Amtrak No. 111 is a diesel locomotive that was seen in Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
Technical Details
Real-life History
Built by General Electric in the Summer of 1997 and was delivered in Phase IV Northeast Corridor paint scheme it was originally allocated for maintenance in Wilmington, Delaware and was part of the Northeast Corridor Keystone Pool, usually operating on Amtrak Keystone services from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It also substituted on Northeast Corridor Virginia Pool trains from time to time, such as the Twilight Shoreliner.
In September 2020, 111 has seen frequent service on the Lake Shore Limited, as the need for an engine change at New Haven and Albany has been suspended on three truncated routes due to the coronavirus pandemic, which reduces travel demand and non-essential cross border travel. In mid-December 2020, it was seen straying away from its captive area on the Capitol Limited from Chicago to Washington, D.C.
Livery
When it was featured in Thomas and the Magic Railroad it wore an Amtrak Phase IV Northeast Corridor paint scheme which was a striking departure from the traditional red, white, and blue style.
Appearances
Trivia
- In "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" it idled at the Amtrak Station in Harrisburg, PA known as the "Harrisburg Transportation Center", while the departure of the Rainbow Sun, and on the reflection of the coaches.
- In 2003, 111's maintenance allocation was changed to Albany-Rensselaer, New York and its pool was changed to the Northeast Corridor North Pool.
- In 2004, 111 was repainted into the Phase Vb paint scheme.
- The Amtrak Phase IV Northeast Corridor paint scheme also matches the same colors as the passenger cars that the Amtrak locomotives pull today.
- In 2017, 111 along with 822 lead the "Green Mountain Flyer" an international day train that runs between Montreal, Quebec, Canada and New York City, United States.
Gallery
Strasburg Railroad No. 1
Strasburg Railroad No. 1 is a diesel that sits in storage at the Strasburg Rail Road while appears in A Wonderful American Journey with Thomas and Connie.
Technical Details
Real-life History
Originally built in 1926, this 18 tonner locomotive features a gasoline engine built by Climax.
It was sold to the Strasburg railroad that same year in 1926 where it still runs today.
Appearances
Trivia
- This was the Strasburg Railroad's first ever internal combustion engine.
- Model HL type 3 gas powered 20 ton.
- The engine is notable for being used to reconstruct the track and rails for the railroad between 1958 and 1959, after the railroad was purchased to become a tourist line.
Western Yeoman II
Western Yeoman II is an exported American diesel which works at Merehead Quarry in the United Kingdom.
Gallery
Tame
Tame was a little green diesel engine that worked at Barrow-in-Furness.
Technical Details
Real-life History
Frank Hibberd standard gauge four-wheel diesel-mechanical (W/No. 3685 of 1954), which previously worked at David Caird's Barrow-in-Furness foundry along with two Ruston & Hornsby diesels, was temporarily placed in a children's play area adjoining a caravan park on the exposed Walney Island (Sodor) upon closure of the foundry. With Piel Island and castle visible behind to the right and photographed on 21 April 1992, the Planet loco was eventually disposed of for scrap. David Caird founded the Furness Foundry and Engineering Works in Barrow in 1884 and made high quality haematite castings for marine and general engineering use. Competition from larger steel plants saw the end of production in December 1987. [4]
Trivia
- Tame to an extent counts a Sodor engine considering it was put on display at a caravan park on the Isle of Walney which was "replaced" on the maps by the Island of Sodor Despite not having been acknowledged in any official media relating to The Railway Series or Thomas & Friends.
See also
- D5701 - a BR Class 28.
- D5702 - a BR Class 28.
- D5705 - a BR Class 28.
- D31120 - a BR Class 31.
- D40125 - a BR Class 40.
- D261 - a BR Class 40.
- 43047 - a BR Class 43.
- Arundel Castle - a Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0 diesel shunter which worked at the Manchester Ship Canal.
- Leys - an 0-4-0 diesel-hydraulic shunter built by W. G. Bagnall.
References
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20210509164348/https://play.mattel.com/thomas-and-friends/en-us/engines/dennis Dennis' Engine Depot page on The Official Website
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20210509165244/https://play.mattel.com/thomas-and-friends/en-us/engines/norman Norman's Engine Depot page on The Official Website
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/19980629025632/http://www.thomasthetankengine.com/engine/paxman.htm Derek's page on The Official Website
- ↑ https://x.com/askhamhall1772/status/1736105126891319613