Salty (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

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This is a behind the scenes subpage for Salty (T&F). This subpage contains all behind the scenes material relating to said article.

Background Information

Salty is a fictional standard gauge diesel locomotive created by writer Robin Kingsland, artist Robert Gauld-Galliers and producer Phil Fehrle.

Salty made his debut in the sixth series episode Salty's Secret, which first aired in 2002. His last appearance was in the twenty-fourth series episode Thomas' Animal Friends, which aired in 2021.

Voice

Since his return in 2010, Salty has been voiced by Keith Wickham in both the British English and American English dubs of the series.

Behind the Scenes

Gauge 1 model

Salty's model is designed after the British Railways Class 07. It was built to approximately 1/32 scale and designed to run on gauge 1 track. The model was made out of perspex and styrene, and the roof was made of brass.

Concept Art

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.

In the episodes, Salty's Secret, Gordon Takes a Tumble and Salty's Stormy Tale, Salty was seen with a lamp. This was powered by a hidden battery pack.

Reference Sheets

Series 8

Calling All Engines!

Faces

Twelve different facial expressions were sculpted for Salty, although only ten were used on-screen and two of which angry and sleeping were left unused. The faces were first sculpted in clay, and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould. Two of Salty's faces were duplicated in case the crew needed a face to look dirty and clean on the same day of shooting.

Reference Sheets

Series 6 - 2001/2002 (Note: His unused sleeping face on the top left and his angry face between his laughing and content faces)

Series 12 - 2008 (Page one)

Series 12 - 2008 (Page two)

Usage and Evolution

Salty's smiling face that appeared between the sixth series and The Great Discovery, excluding Jack and the Sodor Construction Company and Calling All Engines! (2002-2008)

Salty's laughing face that appeared between the sixth series and The Great Discovery, excluding the eighth, ninth and tenth series, Jack and the Sodor Construction Company and Calling All Engines!... (2002-2003, 2007-2008)

...but did appear in the song, Trying from Calling All Engines! (2005)

Salty's content face that appeared between the sixth and tenth series, excluding the ninth series, Jack and the Sodor Construction Company and Calling All Engines! (2002-2004, 2006)

Salty's worried/tired face that only appeared in the sixth series episode, Salty's Secret... (2002)

...and the seventh series episode, Salty's Stormy Tale (2003)

Salty's sad face that appeared between the sixth and ninth series, excluding the eighth series, Jack and the Sodor Construction Company and Calling All Engines!... (2002-2003, 2005)

...before it last appeared in the song, Where, oh Where is Thomas? from The Great Discovery (2008)

Salty's happy face that only appeared in the Gullane Entertainment era... (2002-2003)

...before it last appeared in a deleted scene from the eighth series episode, Emily's New Route (2004)

Salty's surprised face that first appeared in the sixth series episode, No Sleep for Cranky... (2002)

...along with the eighth series episode, Squeak, Rattle and Roll... (2004)

...before it last appeared in The Great Discovery (2008)

Salty's clenched face that only appeared in the sixth series episode, No Sleep for Cranky (2002)

Salty's unused sixth series annoyed face that first appeared in an extended scene from the seventh series episode, What's the Matter with Henry?... (2003)

...along with the episode, Salty's Stormy Tale... (2003)

...before it last appeared in the eighth series episode, James Goes Too Far (2004)

Salty's second sad face that only appeared in the eighth series episode, Thomas to the Rescue (2004)

Present Day

Salty's smiling face is now owned by Twitter user ThomasTankMerch. Salty's content, surprised and unused angry faces were also previously owned by a private collector. One production-made mould of Salty's happy face was sold by The Prop Gallery, another is owned by the Top Props preservation group.

Salty's content, surprised and unused angry faces in storage bags previously owned by a private collector

Salty's smiling face as owned by Twitter and Instagram user ThomasTankMerch

A production-made cast of Salty's happy face before it was sold on The Prop Gallery

One of Salty's semi-complete faces as owned by the Top Props preservation group

The face alongside several other semi-complete faces on display

CGI Face

The twelfth series marked the beginning of the show's transition into Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) and the characters' faces were animated through CGI with the aid of motion-capture animation. The physical models' moulded faces were replaced by white targets with triangles to fix a computer-animated face in post-production.

Model Changes

Salty has had modifications throughout the model era. These include:

• Series 7:
  • His horn sound changed.
• Series 8:
  • His horn sound changed again to Derek's, but at two steps higher-pitched.
• Series 9:
  • His horn sound changed back to how it sounded in the seventh series.
• Series 10:
  • In Toby's Afternoon Off, his horn sound changed again, this time to the same horn sound Bert used in Percy's New Whistle, (excluding Thomas and the Treasure and the Learning Segments, Which Job Makes Salty Happiest? and Old Route, New Route, where he regained his eighth series horn sound).
• Series 11:
  • His horn sound changed back to how it sounded in Toby's Afternoon Off.

Fonts

The following fonts are used on Salty's Gauge 1 model:

• Helvetica Bold (name and number)

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 until 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 in gauge 1 scale, Salty's model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

Salty's model used to be on display in Canada at Nitrogen Studios and wore a duplicate cast of his smiling face. The model was then returned to storage after Nitrogen left the series.

As of late 2023, Salty's model is currently on display on the new layout at the Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition at Drayton Manor Theme Park with the same smiling face worn at Nitrogen Studios. In 2024, Salty's nameboard from the song Five New Engines in the Shed was added to go alongside him.

Salty's model during construction of the exhibit (Note: it is in the bottom right of this image)

Salty's model on display at Drayton Manor in 2023

Salty's wheels

Salty with his nameboard

[1]Close-up model

A close-up model of Salty was built in the eighth series by model maker, Chris Lloyd for scenes where Salty had to interact with the close-up scale figures. The model was not complete, and only the top half of Salty was built.

Working wheels and coupling rods were later added in the ninth series. However, it lacked a front bufferbeam, and the front of the chassis was painted yellow to resemble a bufferbeam.

The wheels

Reference Sheets

Eighth series ruler reference of Salty's close-up model

CGI model

In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Salty was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios in 2009 for production of the 2010 special, Misty Island Rescue. His model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

Photographs of Salty's Gauge 1 model were used for referencing. According to Greg Tiernan, every detail of the original television series models for each character is carefully reproduced in the CGI model. The models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval.

Salty has had modifications throughout the CGI series. These include:

• Misty Island Rescue:
  • His cap brim became shorter.
  • He gained a permanent tail-lamp.
  • His buffers became less rusty and weathered.
  • His face became larger.
• Day of the Diesels:
  • His horn sound changed again and now reuses Derek's horn sound, but at regular pitch.
• Tale of the Brave:
  • He gained a permanent lamp.
• Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure:
  • His cap brim became longer again.

Salty's CGI model from his CGI orthographics sheet

Top ortho

Front

Back

Overhead

Final render

Tail-lamp

Wheels

Back coupling

Longer brim

Interior of engine

Front bufferbeam

Horn

Roof

Headlamp

Texture variants

In addition to his standard livery, several other texture variants exist of Salty's CGI model. These texture variants include:

Green Salty (Salty's Surprise)

Salty with oil splatters (Away From the Sea)

Salty with oil splatters and confetti (Away From the Sea)

Fonts

The following fonts are used on Salty's CGI model:

• Arial Bold (name and number)

Voice Actors

• Keith Wickham (UK/US; Misty Island Rescue - twenty-fourth series)
• Rob Rackstraw (Nursery Rhymes)
• Walter Wigand (Germany)
• Erik Schäffler (Germany; Audiobooks only, excluding Thomas and the Circus)
• Carlos Goldberg (Germany; Audiobooks, Thomas and the Circus only)
• Christian Greger Strøm (Norway; Misty Island Rescue - seventeenth series, excluding Day of the Diesels)
• Simen Sand (Norway; Day of the Diesels and Tale of the Brave)
• Michel Lasorne (France and French speaking Canada; eighth - twelfth series)
• Bernard Demory (France and French speaking Canada; Misty Island Rescue onwards)
• Naoki Tatsuta (Japan; sixth - eighth series)
• Ryuzou Ishino (Japan; ninth - twenty-fourth series)
• Jarosław Domin (Poland; Misty Island Rescue only)
• Zbigniew Konopka (Poland; fourteenth series onwards)
• Jorge Santos (Latin America; Misty Island Rescue onwards)
• Danny Houtkooper (The Netherlands; Misty Island Rescue only)
• Paul Disbergen (The Netherlands; fourteenth series onwards)
• Gadi Levy (Israel, fifteenth series onwards, excluding Tale of the Brave and Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure)
• Dor Srugo (Israel; Tale of the Brave and Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure)
• Francisco Bretas (Brazil)
• Jorge Teixeira (Spain; Misty Island Rescue - seventeenth series)
• Rafael de la Rica (Spain; Tale of the Brave - twenty-third series)
• Gaetano Lizzio (Italy)
• Ole Møller (Denmark)
• Denis Bespaliy (Russia; seventeenth series onwards)
• Pasi Ruohonen (Finland; Misty Island Rescue onwards)