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Thomas & Friends

Behind the Scenes

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

Background Information

In 1995, Stepney was introduced for the fourth series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. Stepney's introduction in the television series greatly contrasts his introduction in the Railway Series and the history of the real Stepney. Instead of Bluebell Representatives saving him, it was Rusty who rescued him from scrap with the intention of getting him restored to run the Bluebell Branch Line. This branch line, although based in concept on the Bluebell Railway in West Sussex in England, is located on the Island of Sodor - most likely due to Britt Allcroft's desires not to reference real locations in the show. Nonetheless, Stepney still reprised his roles from the final three stories from his introductory book Stepney the Bluebell Engine and has been recognised as a major character in the Thomas franchise.

Stepney's home was still referred to as the Bluebell Railway regardless of the inaccuracy from what happened in real life. His last official speaking role in the television series to date was in the fifth series episode, Stepney Gets Lost. In the sixth series, he appeared primarily as a non-speaking character and his appearances in the seventh series were primarily stock-footage cameos.

Between the eighth and the eleventh series, Stepney was absent along with many other characters as the stories were more primarily focused on the Steam Team and a more constrained selection of secondary characters. Stepney did however have a minor role in the twelfth series episode, Rosie's Funfair Special, in which he was hit by a runaway truck of sugar that broke away from Rosie's train.

Stepney has not appeared in the television series since 2008 and did not make the switch to full CGI.

Behind the Scenes

Gauge 1 model

MainStepneyModel
StepneyModelRear

Stepney's model was custom built to run on gauge 1 track for the fourth series. The model was built from brass. It was painted using glossy car body paint and lined with red and gold automotive pinstripe tape.

The chassis was constructed from scratch (CNC). It had a motor powered by electricity from the track via the pickups on the metal wheels.

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, Rusty to the Rescue, Thomas and Stepney and Stepney Gets Lost, Stepney was seen with one or two lamps. These were powered by a hidden battery pack.

Reference Sheets

Series 4
Series 8

Faces

Ten different facial expressions were sculpted for Stepney and used on-screen.[1] The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould. Two sets of the faces would be made for Stepney by the later seasons, in case a face needed to be dirty or clean on the same day of shooting, although these duplicates never ended up being used on screen.

Reference Sheets
Usage and Evolution
Present Day

After production of the model series ended in 2008, two sets of Stepney's faces were put into storage, with them being listed as "TF00192" and "TF072210_041" respectively

The duplicate set of Stepney's faces are currently owned by Twitter user TomsProps while the original set is still in storage (although some of the originals were present in the duplicate set and duplicates in the original set).

CGI Faces

The twelfth series marked the beginning of the show's transition into CGI and the characters' faces were animated through CGI with the aid of motion-capture animation. The physical models' molded faces were replaced by white targets with triangles to fix a computer-animated face in post-production. Stepney's resin faces were only used in background shots.

Modifications

Stepney has had modifications throughout the television series. These include:

  • Series 4:
    • In most of the US version of Thomas and Stepney, his whistle sound changed to Smudger's. Although his usual one that he shared with Rheneas is heard once.
  • Series 5:
    • His whistle sound changed again and reused Skarloey's whistle sound.
  • Series 6:
    • His paint was given a matte finish.
    • His smokebox saddle was painted yellow.
  • Series 12:
    • His paint or livery became a bit shinier.
    • His whistle sound changed again to Thomas', but at one step higher-pitched. It's also Bill's, but twelve steps lower-pitched.

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 till 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, Stepney's model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

Stepney's model used to be on display at the Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition at Drayton Manor and wore a duplicate laughing face made during the HIT era but was removed from the layout in December 2018. Despite this, several of his wheels remain on the layout (and two were on a flatcar in the current layout), although these are spares and not the originals. Sam Wilkinson indirectly confirmed the full model along with the duplicate laughing face was sent back to Mattel's storage unit in Southampton, England, where it currently resides today during various fan events.

A set of spare unused number and nameplate decals for Stepney's model, as well as several lining sheets for his cab, side tanks and wheel arches, from the production of Series 9, are also currently owned by Twitter user TomsProps.

Close-up model

Close-up shots of Stepney's cab was required for scenes in where he had to interact with close-up scale figures. It was also used for close-up whistle shots; smoke would emit from the whistle when required. The model was not complete and only the back half of Stepney was built.

It appeared in the fourth, fifth and twelfth series.

Reference Sheets

Fonts

• Clarendon Medium (number)

Voice Actors

References

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