Terence

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This article is about the tractor. You may be looking for the US title for the episode or the Story Library book.

Terence the Tractor
Background Information
First appearance	Tank Engine Thomas Again (RWS) Thomas, Terence and the Snow (T&F)
Last appearance	Thomas and Victoria (RWS) Diesel Do Right (T&F)
Creator(s)	Rev. W. Awdry
Voice Actors
UK/US voice actor	Tom Stourton
Character Overview
Name	Terence
Title	Terence the Tractor
Nicknames	Terry
Gender	Male
Country	Island of Sodor United States (built)
Affiliation	North Western Railway Paxton Ffarquhar Branch Line Thomas Percy Toby
Technical Details
Basis	Caterpillar Model 70
Vehicle	Tractor
Type	Caterpillar tractor
Fuel type	Petrol
Top speed	20 mph (32 kph)
Designer(s)	Caterpillar Inc.
Builder(s)	Caterpillar Inc.
Year built	1934
Arrived on Sodor	1947
Owner(s)	Farmer Finney

“What ugly wheels you've got."
"They're not ugly, they're caterpillars. I can go anywhere; I don't need rails.”

―Thomas and Terence meet for the first time

Terence is an orange caterpillar tractor who usually works near Thomas' Branch Line. He is owned and driven by Farmer Finney.

Biography

The Railway Series

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

Terence befriended Duck while Thomas was at Crovan's Gate 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.

Sometime later at McColl Farm, he stared confused at some diesel parts that Rebecca had dropped off there and took the produce train that Paxton was supposed to collect, unaware that this was part of Diesel´s trick until Rebecca told Sir Topham Hatt about what Diesel did.

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. Compared to the real vehicle, Terence's design was given notable modifications; he is longer in length, his mudguards go all the way across the top of his tracks, and his engine is concealed to a greater extent. The construction tractors are also based on this tractor.

Terence's basis

Livery

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

Appearances

• Railway Series
• Television Series
• Other Media

The Railway Series Tank Engine Thomas Again - Thomas, Terence and the Snow and Thomas and Bertie (mentioned) More About Thomas the Tank Engine - The Runaway (mentioned) Toby, Trucks and Trouble - Toby Takes the Road Thomas and Victoria - Toby's Vintage Train Companion Volumes 1976 - Famous Engines 1984 - Thomas the Tank Engine and the Tractor and Thomas's Christmas Party 1987 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (mentioned) 1992 - Thomas and the Hurricane 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection and Annual 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines (mentioned) 2007 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection

Thomas & Friends Series 1 - Thomas, Terence and the Snow, Thomas and Bertie (mentioned) and Thomas' Christmas Party (does not speak) Series 2 - Thomas and Trevor (mentioned in Swedish dub), The Runaway, Ghost Train (deleted scene) and Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree (cameo) Series 3 - Henry's Forest, Mavis (cameo), Edward, Trevor and the Really Useful Party and Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure Series 4 - Four Little Engines (cameo) Series 5 - James and the Trouble with Trees, Happy Ever After and Rusty and the Boulder (cameo) Series 6 - The Fogman (cameo) and Faulty Whistles (does not speak) Series 7 - Toby's Windmill (does not speak) and Not So Hasty Puddings (does not speak) Series 21 - Terence Breaks the Ice Series 22 - School of Duck (Caterpillar treads only; fantasy) Series 23 - Diesel Do Right Specials 2008 - The Great Discovery (speaks only in Polish dub) Music Videos Series 3 - Thomas' Anthem Series 4 - Thomas' Anthem Grand Finale, Don't Judge a Book By its Cover and Thomas' Christmas Song Series 5 - The Snow Song and Harold the Helicopter Series 6 - Winter Wonderland Series 7 - The Whistle Song Series 10 - H is for Harold, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Jingle Bells The Great Discovery - Where, oh Where is Thomas? and Thomas, You're the Leader Thomas' YouTube World Tour - Thomas' Anthem (mentioned)

Magazine Stories 1987 - Thomas' Christmas Party and Thomas, Terence and the Snow 1988 - Thomas and Bertie (mentioned) and The Runaway 1989 - Clearing Up (does not speak) 1990 - Trouble in the Tunnel and Henry's Forest (does not speak) 1991 - Percy and Terence 1992 - Going Slowly! 1993 - Trevor to the Rescue! 1994 - The Hot Soup Special!, The Nature Bus! (does not speak), Thomas Keeps a Secret! and Treasure Hunting Tractor! 1995 - Night Lights 1996 - The Hay Engine! and Pulling and Ploughing! 1997 - Size Wise (does not speak) 2000 - Terence and Trevor!, A Special Story About Terence and Painting the Shed (mentioned) 2001 - Mister Mighty!, Midnight Mavis (does not speak), A Special Story About Stepney and Pulling the Post 2002 - The Winning Shot (does not speak) 2003 - Slip and Grip!, A Foggy Friend (cameo) and Really Fast Food! 2004 - Terence's Little Lamb, Henry's Forest, Proud and Loud (cameo) and Frying Tonight (does not speak) 2005 - Sweet Scent (cameo), Tunnel Trouble (cameo), Tractor Engine and Naughty or Nice? 2007 - Blown About!, The Lost Spring, Wheely Useful and Wet Wait 2008 - Funny Faces! (does not speak) 2010 - Farm Fun! (does not speak) and Pulling the Post 2011 - Terence and Trevor!, Wet Wait, Market Day (does not speak), Really Red (does not speak), Snow Play, Party Time and Perfect Plough 2012 - Sand Express (does not speak) and Messy Monster! (does not speak) 2013 - A Friend in Need, Bulgy's Back, Seeing Red! (does not speak) and The Seaside Special (does not speak) 2014 - Prickly Pig! and Fever! (mentioned) Terence also appeared in the magazine stories, Christmas Puddings, Diesel Display, Good Games, Bad Sport!, Holiday Havoc!, Rude James, Take Off with Terence and The Huge Horses!. Annual Stories 1985 - Thomas and the Important Visitor (does not speak) and Unhappy Landing (mentioned) 1986 - Terence Takes a Bath 1987 - Lost in the Snow (mentioned) 1988 - Thomas and Trevor (mentioned) and Terence Turns Pot Hunter 1990 - Hosepipes and Shunters 1993 - Thomas and the Snow Block (does not speak) 1994 - Bertie the Snow Bus 1996 - James Gets Cracking (does not speak) 1999 - Leaves on the Line (does not speak) 2001 - Donald and Douglas (does not speak) Books 1993 - Learn with Thomas 2003 - Terence 2010 - Easter in Harwick, The Big Fix-It Day and The Snowy Surprise 2012 - Sound Storybook Treasury 2017 - The Snowy Surprise 2021 - Thomas Saves Christmas (cameo) Audio Stories 2021 - Terence Breaks the Ice

Trivia

• 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.
• Terence is the first non-rail character introduced in the entire series, discounting Sir Topham Hatt or any other Human Characters.
• Terence is the first non-rail character to have an American basis used for a character design, albeit he doesn't speak English with an American accent except in the US dub of the first five series, at least with George Carlin and Alec Baldwin narrating those series. Unlike Trevor where he consistently has a Southern accent in the US dub of the CGI era, Terence has a West Country British accent in both English dubs.
• Terence is drawn with a cab, but without his widow's peak in the book, Thomas's Christmas Party.
• In some merchandising and books, Terence's name is sometimes misspelt as "Terrence".
• On early Spanish translations of the Random House books, Terence was known as Terencio.
• During the production of the first series, Terence was nicknamed "Drac the Trac" by the production crew.
• In the French dub of the first seven series, Terence's name is Thierry.
• The Polish Story Library book Terence is named Teodor, though his name in the Polish dub is Tymcio.
• Up until the twenty-second series, in which Bertie was absent, Terence was the only character introduced in the first series to be absent from any series afterwards.
• The shape of his face seems to have changed over time.
• Terence is a bit longer than his basis.
• Up until the twenty-first series, Terence never had any eyebrows in the television series, although he has eyebrows in some illustrations and merchandise.
  • Additionally, his model version's treads are made of parts from a model of the German WWII Tiger I tank. The most notable is the caterpillars.
• 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.
  • One part on Terence's plough was made using a LEGO element.
• Terence's television series model is currently on display at Drayton Manor. His detachable plough, however, has been broken since the display opened.
• 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.
• According to a magazine article, Terence sometimes works on Farmer Trotter's Pig Farm.
• Terence had a total of four facial expressions, one of which a concerned face was never shown 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)
• Motorized
• 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

Ffarquhar Branch Line

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* RWS only | ** T&F only

Locomotives	Steam	Thomas | Percy | Toby | Bloomer*
	Diesel	Daisy* | Mavis
	Former	Coffee Pots | Glynn**
Rolling Stock	Coaches	Annie and Clarabel | Henrietta | Victoria* | Thomas' Special Coach* | The Quarryman's Coach* | Observation Saloon Coaches*
	Trucks	Quarry Trucks | Elsie* | Old-King Coal* | Suncole*
Non-Rail Vehicles		Terence | Bertie | Caroline | The Orange Caterpillar Crane* | Cleo** | Harold | Tiger Moth** | Bulstrode
People		Mrs. Kyndley | Farmer Finney | Kevin Volley* | Farmer McColl** | Farmer Trotter** | Ruth**
Affiliates		Toby's Branch Line**
Locations		Knapford (Harbour, Airfield) | Dryaw (Goods Station, Airfield, Goods Yard**, Football Club**) | Toryreck (Lead Mines, Engine Shed**) | Crowe's Farm | Elsbridge (Dairy, Viaduct, Cricket Field, Trek and Leisure) | Hackenbeck (Bridge, Tunnel, Cottage) | Finney's Farm | Ffarquhar (Engine Sheds, Mountain**, Loop**) | Ffarquhar River Bridge | The Quarry Tramroad | Anopha Quarry | The Windmill** | McColl Farm** | Sports Field Halt** | The Watermill** | Farmer Trotter's Pig Farm** | Maithwaite** (Quarry Mine, Forest, Showground) | The Narrow Gorge** | Arlesdale End** (Engine Sheds)

Non-rail vehicles

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* RWS only | ** T&F only | *** Other Media only