Thomas the Tank Engine Wiki
Thomas the Tank Engine Wiki
Advertisement

Several other electric locomotives have appeared in Thomas & Friends media.

Amtrak No. 610

Amtrak No. 610 was an American GE E60 diesel locomotive which once operated the passenger service, Amtrak.

In A Wonderful American Journey with Thomas and Connie, Connie rides on a train behind Amtrak No. 610 on her way to a Days Out with Thomas event.

Technical Details

Real-life History

Amtrak No. 610 was built in November 1975 and was originally numbered 955. It was one of the eleven GE E60's rebuilt with head-end power (HEP). It was scrapped in 2004, as one of the last of the class in Amtrak service. Amtrak 603 and NJT 958 now survive in preservation with 603 at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and 958 at the United Railroad Historical Society in Boonton, New Jersey, United States.

Livery

Amtrak No. 610 wore the Amtrak Phase III livery of silver, red, white, and blue colours.

Appearances

Gallery

BR Class 91 No. 91024 Reverend W. Awdry

This locomotive was named after the creator of The Railway Series, the Rev. W. Awdry. It appears in the book, The Thomas the Tank Engine Man.

BR Class 390

A BR Class 390 is a Virgin Trains electric multiple unit (EMU) locomotive.

One of these appeared in the Mr. Perkins' Railway segments.

Technical Details

Real-life History

The British Rail Class 390 Pendolino is a type of electric high-speed passenger train operated by Avanti West Coast in the United Kingdom, leased from Angel Trains. They are electric multiple units using Fiat Ferroviaria's tilting train Pendolino technology and built by Alstom. Fifty-six units were built for operation between 2001 and 2004, replacing the older class 86, class 87, and class 90 locomotives.

The Class 390 Pendolino is one of the fastest domestic electric multiple units operating in Great Britain, with a design speed of 140 mph (225 km/h); however, limitations to track signalling systems restrict the trains to a maximum speed of 125 mph (200 km/h) in service.

Livery

The Class 390 was painted in the corporate livery of Virgin Trains West Coast, which consisted of grey with white and red stripes with yellow on its front. In 2020, some of these trains were painted with the yellow front and plain white, while others were painted in the corporate livery of Avanti West Coast which consists of dark blue, grey, white and some orange. As of 2022, all surviving class 390's are painted in the latter livery, and have had an interior refurbishment.

Appearances

BR Class 483 No. 483006

483006 is a two-car electric multiple unit from the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, which formerly worked on the London Underground.

Gallery

Eurostar

Eurostar is a famous international high-speed express train, connecting England of the United Kingdom with FranceBelgium and the Netherlands.

Thomas and Annie once met one of these high-speed trains when they were on their way to the Queen's birthday celebrations in London. [1]

Technical Details

Real-life History

Eurostar is based on a British Rail (BR) Class 373 high-speed train. These engines were designed and built in France and are also known as a TransManche Super Train (TMST).

Livery

Eurostar is painted light and dark grey with gold lining. His rooftop is painted purple with red lining. His name (Eurostar) is also painted on his sides in gold.

Appearances

Trivia

  • Despite being an electric engine, in the books A Visit to London for Thomas the Tank Engine and Thomas Goes on Holiday, Eurostar lacks a pantograph and no overhead wires are visible to power the train.
  • A power car numbered 373308 (3308) is on display at the National Railway Museum.
  • A replica of Eurostar is also on display at the National Railway Museum.
  • Eurostar, along with Kenji, the Japanese Engines, Settebello and Pip and Emma, are the only high speed trains to appear in the Thomas & Friends franchise.

Gallery

JB BDhe 2/4

BWBASwedenConceptArt

This locomotive from the Jungfrau Railway in Switzerland appears in concept art for Big World! Big Adventures!

Keihan Electric Railway locomotives

These locomotives come from the Keihan Electric Railway in Japan. Some of them have appeared with branding for the Thomas & Friends franchise, with several lines of merchandise having made models of these locomotives with branding on.

London Underground

MainlandEnginge1

A train that operates on the London Underground appears in Great Race Friends Near and Far: Etienne Visits London.

PRR GG1 No. 4935

Pennsylvania Railroad No. 4935 is a GG1 electric locomotive that appears in A Wonderful American Journey with Thomas and Connie.

Technical Details

Real-life History

Built by Juniata Locomotive Shop for the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1943, it was dedicated at a ceremony at the Union Station in Washington, DC, United States in 1977.

It made its last revenue run on 10 December 1980, hauling the Silver Meteor service south out of New York. Soon afterwards it was donated to the Railroad museum of Pennsylvania by Russell Wilcox in 1983 where it is on static display.

Livery

No. 4935 is painted in Brunswick Green & Gold Pinstripes. The number board, and the Pennsylvania Railroad's keystone is Red.

Trivia

  • No. 4935 was one of the last GG1s built by PRR in 1943. They were introduced as part of Pennsy's massive 1930s electrification project, aimed at moving more trains with greater consists and faster acceleration than steam locomotives.
  • As the GG1 was designed to haul passenger trains, it also has a boiler that burned oil to produce steam to heat the passenger cars.
  • The GG1s were very good at hauling heavy loads, largely because of a strong steel frame with added weight from concrete to facilitate traction.
  • As part of the streamlining, the bell is hidden underneath the streamlined cowling.
  • Most of the GG1s were scrapped, but there are 16 of them placed in museums.
  • No. 4859 is another member of this class on display in the train shed at the Amtrak Harrisburg Station where Thomas and the Magic Railroad was filmed. Also No. 4800, nicknamed "Old Rivets" due to its riveted body, is on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania along with No. 4935 near the Strasburg Rail Road.

SNCF TGV Sud-Est

One of these locomotives appears in the 1998 annual.

Technical Details

Real-life History

Livery

Appearances

Books

SNCF BB 9004

SNCF BB 9004 is a French direct-current electric engine.

Etienne is based on this engine.

Appearances

SNCF 2D2 9100

This locomotive appears in The Making of The Great Race.

Trivia

  • During The Making of The Great Race, 9100 was seen as a proposed basis for Etienne. He would later be based on 9004 in the final film.

Amtrak Acela Express

Amtrak Acela Express is a famous high-speed express train, along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in the Northeastern United States. It appears on the promotion film for the PBS Kids Funding Credits.

Technical Details

Real-life History

They were built between 1998 and 2001 by a consortium of Alstom and Bombardier, where a total of 20 sets were built. Each set has two power cars derived from units that Alstom built for the TGV, and six passenger cars derived from the LRC that Bombardier built for Via Rail.

When they debuted in 2000, the sets were the fastest in the Americas; reaching 150 mph (240 km/h) on 33.9 mi (54.6 km) of the route.

By 2004, Amtrak had settled contract disputes with the consortium, paying a total of $1.2 billion for the 20 sets, plus 15 extra electric locomotives, and the construction of maintenance facilities in Boston, New York, and Washington.

The present Acela Express equipment will be replaced by new Avelia Liberty sets, beginning in Autumn 2023. The new trains will have greater passenger capacity and an enhanced active tilt system that will allow faster speed on the many curved sections of the route. Whether the Acela Express name will be retained or not is unknown, though renderings of the new trainsets suggest that they will keep the name.

Trivia

  • This was the only high-speed express train not only in the United States but in the whole of North America.
  • While the Acela sets were based on TGV equipment, the power cars and passenger cars are much heavier in order to meet the Federal Railroad Administration's crash standards.
  • Bombardier later used the Acela carriage design and a diesel/gas turbine variant of the power car for its experimental JetTrain.
  • Normally on the Northeast Corridor, there are no grade crossings as they are all prohibited, while grade crossings between New York City and Washington D.C. were eliminated in the late 1980s. However eleven still remain, where all of them are in Connecticut.

See also

References

Advertisement