Background Information
Molly is a fictional standard gauge tender locomotive created by Paul Larson.
Molly first appeared in the ninth series episode Molly's Special Special, which first aired in 2005. Her last appearance was in the special The Great Discovery, which was released in 2008.
Molly is based on a Great Eastern Railway D56.
Behind the Scenes
Gauge 1 model
Production orthographics were drawn up for Molly's gauge 1 model on 7th February 2004. Molly's model was scratch built from brass to run on gauge 1 track, whilst her wheels and chassis were constructed using CNC. The eye mechanism had two servos one for up and down movement, The other for left and right movement. A second model was planned to be built, however it was left incomplete and never used on screen.
Like other tender engines, Molly had wires between her cab and her tender. This was also seen in side view promotional art drawn based on production measurement reference photographs.[1]
In the episode Molly's Special Special and the music video Favourite Place, Molly is seen with a lamp. This was powered by a hidden battery pack.
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 between 2010 and 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 of.
During this time, Molly's second unfinished model would be placed in a lot with a few other unfinished models listed as "TF00643". Due to only having one full gauge 1 scale model made, Molly's model alongside her unfinished second model, would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.
Molly's main model used to be on display in Canada at Nitrogen Studios with her happy face. In 2020, it was put on display at the Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition at Drayton Manor Theme Park with her content face. In July 2022, Molly took Daisy's place on the layout after the latter was returned to storage. In late 2022, when the exhibition closed and a new layout was constructed elsewhere in the park, Molly was removed from the display and returned to storage.
Since being moved to the Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition, Molly's model has sustained some damage. This includes smudges and chips on her paintwork, as well as two of her lamp irons being removed to be used for Thomas.
Faces
A total of four different facial expressions were sculpted for Molly, all used on-screen. The faces were first sculpted in clay by Sean Hedges-Quinn, from which resin casts were made using a silicone mould. Following this, a few faces would be test painted and using those as examples, the final on-screen variants would be produced. Molly's content face was duplicated in case the crew needed the face to look dirty and clean on the same day of shooting. The earliest finished versions of Molly's happy and worried faces are currently owned by Sean Hedges-Quinn, as well as a prototype version of her worried face.
Originally, Molly had a much larger face, assumed to be a prototype as it never made its way into the television series. Almost all of her merchandise depicts her with her prototype face, including on packaging art. Three of Molly's prototype faces are now owned by Twitter user ThomasTankMerch.[2] A production cast of one of her prototype faces is also currently owned by Twitter User SkarloeyRailwayAdventure.
Reference Sheets
The Snow Engine
An unused snow engine prop based on the GER Class D56 - Molly's basis - appears in ruler reference photographs taken during production of the eighth series.
Voice Actors
- Keiko Nemoto (Japan)
- Blanche Ravalec (France and French-speaking Canada)
- Celine Fontanges (Germany; Audio Books only)
References
- ↑ Twitter post by TheIronEngine
- ↑ "A Guide to the Faces" on ThomasTankMerch's blogspot