Terence

Terence is an orange crawler tractor who works near Thomas' Branch Line. He is owned by Farmer Finney.

Biography

The Railway Series

Thomas insulted Terence for having caterpillar tracks, but regretted it after Terence pulled him out of a snowdrift.

Terence befriended Duck while Thomas was at the Works.

Terence did Percy's shunting work at Ffarquhar while Percy was at Knapford Harbour.

Terence helped to build a barn the day Victoria was sent back to Thomas' Branch Line. After swerving for a boulder by the Hackenbeck tunnel, Terence's trailer fell down the cutting and balanced dangerously on a bush.

Thomas & Friends

As in the Railway Series, Terence rescued Thomas when he got stuck in the snow. He later helped Mrs. Kyndley when her house was snowed up and looked after it when she went with the engines to a Christmas Party. In the second series, Terence befriended Duck while Thomas was at the works and attended the Christmas Party at Tidmouth.

When a storm destroyed much of the forest, Terence helped with the planting of new trees and assured Henry that the forest would look better than ever before. Later, when Bertie got stuck in the mud at the Vicar of Wellsworth's party, Terence used strong ropes to pull him out. During the winter, when villagers were stranded by snow, Terence helped them by ploughing the snow away.

In the fifth series, he warned James about the damage that trees can do and reminded Percy that Mrs. Kyndley's daughter was to get married. He was also seen working at Boulder Quarry.

In the sixth series, he helped clear away fallen rock on the line which had derailed Thomas and almost Toby. He was later seen ploughing in a field, when Duncan lost his whistle trying to surprise him.

In the seventh series, he helped clear away a tree that had fallen on the line and pulled Elizabeth out of the snow.

In The Great Discovery, when Thomas went missing, Terence helped with the search for him and once Thomas was found, Terence along with Trevor informed Harvey of the news.

Once, when Terence was collecting Christmas trees for the holiday market, Thomas had requested a large tree for the party at Ulfstead Castle. Terence took a shortcut across a frozen lake to get to the tree, but on the way back, the ice began to break. Thomas managed to pull Terence free from the water, but the tree was lost. 

Some time later at McColl Farm, he stared confused at some diesel parts that Rebecca had dropped out there, and took the fruit and vegetables train that Paxton was supposed to collect, unaware that this is part of Diesel´s trick.

Personality

Terence is an assertive, orange tractor with caterpillar tracks. The engines find these very unusual, but Terence is very capable of proving that he does not need rails and that his tracks allow him to go practically anywhere. He takes any teasing in the name of fun and is happy to get on with his job, usually partaking in agricultural work. Terence never hesitates to assist in emergencies or sticky situations, road or rail, due to his helpful, forgiving nature. His tracks are particularly invaluable in harsh winter conditions when snow can affect transport across the Island. He may be slow, but he is versatile, adaptable and helpful. He can usually be found transporting agricultural produce or cheerily ploughing fields beside Thomas' branch line. Sometimes, though, he can get a little overconfident and forget to listen to his own advice: "You have to be sensible if you want to stay safe!"

Technical Details

Basis

Terence is based on a Caterpillar Model 70; the largest and last design of petrol-powered tractors in the Caterpillar Tractor Company's range. The Caterpillar Tractors share the same basis.

Terence's basis

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Livery

Terence is painted orange with grey caterpillar tracks and a black engine and exhaust pipe.

Appearances

Trivia

• Terence is the first non-rail character introduced in the entire series.
• Terence is drawn with a cab, but without his widow's peak in Thomas's Christmas Party.
• Terence's television model is currently on display at Drayton Manor. His detachable plough, however, has been broken since the display opened.
• Terence is a bit longer than his basis.
• According to The Thomas the Tank Engine Man, Terence was originally going to be called "Terry", but was later changed to the current and more formal version of the name. However, his original name is seen on the 1971 Railway Map of the Island of Sodor.
• According to a magazine article, he sometimes works on Farmer Trotter's Pig Farm.
• In some merchandising and books, Terence's name is sometimes misspelt as "Terrence".
• In the 1995 annual story, James Gets Cracking, Terence's driver was revealed to be named Farmer Finney. However, he has been driven by Jem Cole, Farmer McColl and Farmer Collett once before. In a deleted scene of Ghost Train, Terence was driven by Sam the Farmer.
• In the French dub of the first seven series, Terence' name is Thierry.
• Terence had some modifications in the twenty-first series, including:
  • Losing his widow's peak.
  • Gaining eyebrows.
  • His face also became more elongated, covering his entire front and lost the small indents it originally had.
  • Gained rivets around his front.
  • His front fender disappeared.
  • His rear drawbar changed in style and he also gained a coupling loop on his front.
• Up until the twenty-first series, Terence never had any eyebrows in the television series, although he has eyebrows in some illustrations and merchandise.
• In some scenes, Terence's plough is shown lifted above the ground via small hydraulics yet the company that made his basis designed a set of beams, an A-frame and a winch to lift and lower the plough.
• The Polish Story Library book Terence is named Teodor, although his name in the Polish dub is Tymcio.
• Terence and Gustavo are the only characters to use a snowplough outside of winter.
• Terence's model had a total of four face masks, one of which was never used on-screen.

Merchandise

• ERTL (discontinued)
• Wooden Railway (black wheels, orange wheels, tractor wheels, all discontinued)
• Take Along (discontinued)
• Motor Road and Rail (discontinued)
• TrackMaster (discontinued)
• Thomas Engine Collection Series (discontinued)
• Mini Die Cast Collection (discontinued)
• Thomas Town (discontinued)
• Trading Cards (discontinued)
• My First Thomas (discontinued)
• My Thomas Story Library (discontinued)
• Bachmann
• De Agostini (discontinued)
• Brio (discontinued)
• Nakayoshi (discontinued)
• Capsule Plarail
• Pocket Fantasy (discontinued)
• Departing Now (discontinued)

References