| For other uses, see Terence. |
- “What ugly wheels you've got."
"They're not ugly, they're caterpillars. I can go anywhere; I don't need rails."
"I don't want to go anywhere! I like my rails, thank you!” - ― Thomas and Terence meet for the first time
Terence is an orange caterpillar tractor who usually works near Thomas' Branch Line.
Biography[]
As in The Railway Series, Terence rescued Thomas when he got stuck in the snowdrift. 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. 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[]
Although Terence has no definitive known basis, his design is typical of crawler tractors produced between the 1920s and 1940s by companies such as John Fowler & Co., Caterpillar Inc., Allis-Chalmers, and International Harvester.
The 2013 Writer's Bible states that Terence is based on a 1934 vintage Caterpillar Model Seventy. However, it is likely that they sourced their information from fan sites.[1][2]
Livery[]
Terence is painted orange with a black engine and exhaust pipe. He also has two black bands near the front and back of his bonnet. Between the second series and The Great Discovery, he had an additional stripe along the top of each side, which was removed when he returned in CGI.
Appearances[]
Official Description[]
From Official Website:[1]
| “ | Terence the Tractor: Good old honest Terence. The subject of endless teasing from the younger engines on the subject of his tracks, he takes it all in good part and gets quietly on with the job, never hesitating to help out when an emergency pull is called for. Slow and steady and always with a smile - that's Terence.
|
” |
| “ | Terence the Tractor: Terence is an honest and hardworking tractor, who has often been the subject of teasing from the younger engines because of his caterpillar treads. He takes it all in good fun, though, and always gets the job done.
|
” |
From Official Website:[4]
| “ | Terence the Tractor: Terence the tractor gets teased endlessly by the engines about his tracks. He takes it all in good fun and gets on with the job, never hesitating to help out when an emergency pull is called for - especially in the snow where his tracks work better than any engine's.
|
” |
Audio Files[]
Theme[]
| Only used | Composers | Theme Song | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | Mike O'Donnell Junior Campbell |
||
Trivia[]
- In some international dubs, Terence's name was changed:
- In early Spanish translations of the Random House books, Terence was known as Terencio.
- In the French dub of the first seven series, Terence's name was Thierry.
- In the Polish Story Library book, Terence is named Teodor, though his name in the Polish dub is Tymcio (except for the first series episode Thomas, Terence and the Snow, where Terence's name was Tobiasz)
- In some merchandising and books, Terence's name is sometimes misspelt as "Terrence". Other people misspell Terence as Terance or Terrance making the orange tractor one of the most misspelled characters in the franchise.
- During the production of the first series, Terence was nicknamed "Drac the Trac" by the production crew[3], presumably due to the similarity between his widow's peak and that of Dracula in the 1931 film.
- Up until the twenty-second series, where Bertie was absent, Terence was the only character introduced in the first series to be absent from any series afterwards.
- Up until the twenty-first series, Terence never had any eyebrows in the television series, although he has eyebrows in some illustrations and merchandise. Only a black widows peak was present above his eyes in the franchise and in some of his merchandise.
- 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 the second series episode Ghost Train, Terence was driven by Sam. Farmers on the Skarloey Railway have also been seen using Terence for ploughing fields.
- According to Lee Pressman in an interview, the writers were keen to bring back Terence in the twenty-first series. There were also earlier plans to bring Terence back in the seventeenth series,[1] though these plans did not occur until four series later.
- Before his return in the twenty-first series, Terence had previously been referenced in CGI-related media.
- Terence makes an illustrated appearance in the 2012 book Sound Storybook Treasury, where he is in the Steamworks alongside Victor and Kevin.
- According to a magazine article, Terence sometimes works on Farmer Trotter's Pig Farm.
- Terence appears in the 2013 Writer's Bible, due to him being planned to return in the seventeenth series.[1]
- Terence's model was on display at Drayton Manor, but was removed in July 2022. However, it was then returned in early 2023 during construction of the new prop exhibition and then placed on the layout in late 2023.
References[]
| Locomotives | Steam | Thomas | Percy | Toby |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | Mavis | |
| Former | Glynn | Coffee Pots | Daisy | |
| Rolling Stock | Passenger | Annie and Clarabel | Henrietta | Hannah |
| Non-Rail Vehicles | Terence | Bertie | Harold | Bulgy | Caroline | Bulstrode | Tiger Moth | Elizabeth | The Hot Air Balloon | Cleo | |
| People | Mrs. Kyndley | Farmer Finney | Farmer McColl | Farmer Trotter | Ruth | |
| Affiliates | Toby's Branch Line | Ffarquhar Quarry Company | |
| Infrastructure | Stations | Knapford | Dryaw | Toryreck** | Sports Field Halt** | Elsbridge | Maithwaite** | Hackenbeck | Ffarquhar | New Harbour* |
| Sheds | Elsbridge Engine Sheds (Carriage Shed) | Hackenbeck Shed | |
| Tunnels and Bridges | The Valley Bridge* | Elsbridge Viaduct | Bulgy's Bridge* | The Watermill | Hackenbeck Tunnel | |