Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia
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The Big Book of Engines is a book filled with information about the characters on Sodor. The ninety-six pages feature most of the characters featured in the television series, but takes trivia from the Railway Series. It was released in the UK in April 2011 and released in the US in January 2014. A second, 75th Anniversary edition was released in 2020.

Characters

Original edition

(* absent from US release)

75th Anniversary edition

  • Thomas
  • Edward
  • Henry
  • Gordon
  • James
  • Percy
  • Toby
  • Duck *
  • Donald and Douglas *
  • Oliver *
  • Emily
  • Nia
  • Rebecca
  • Bill and Ben *
  • Harvey *
  • Fergus *
  • Arthur *
  • Spencer
  • Neville *
  • Rosie
  • Whiff *
  • Billy *
  • Flora *
  • Hiro
  • Charlie *
  • Bash and Dash
  • Ferdinand
  • Belle *
  • Ashima *
  • Shane *
  • Gina *
  • Raul *
  • Rajiv *
  • Yong Bao
  • Merlin *
  • Hurricane *
  • Hong-Mei *
  • Lorenzo *
  • Gabriela *
  • Duchess *
  • Sonny *
  • Diesel
  • Daisy *
  • Mavis
  • 'Arry and Bert *
  • Diesel 10
  • Salty
  • Dennis *
  • Frankie *
  • Noor Jehan *
  • Gustavo *
  • Flynn *
  • Etienne *
  • Kenji *
  • Duncan *
  • Freddie *
  • Victor
  • Annie and Clarabel
  • Troublesome Trucks
  • Rocky **
  • Hector *
  • Beppe *
  • Terence *
  • Bertie
  • Bulgy *
  • Elizabeth *
  • Madge *
  • Kevin *
  • Jack *
  • Alfie *
  • Darcy *
  • Harold
  • Captain *
  • Stefano *
  • Cranky
  • Sir Topham Hatt *
  • Lady (mentioned) *
  • Murdoch (mentioned) *
  • Stanley (mentioned) *
  • Scruff (mentioned) *
  • BoCo (mentioned) *
  • Henrietta (mentioned) *
  • Toad (mentioned) *
  • Isabel and Dulcie (mentioned) *
  • An An and Yin-Long (mentioned) *
  • Lei (mentioned) *
  • Aubrey and Aiden (mentioned) *
  • Max and Monty (mentioned) *
  • Kelly (mentioned) *
  • Isla (mentioned) *
  • Cassia (mentioned) *
  • Lady Hatt (mentioned) *
  • Stephen Hatt (mentioned)*
  • Bridget Hatt (mentioned) *
  • Mrs. Kyndley (mentioned) *
  • Jenny Packard (mentioned) *
  • The Duke and Duchess of Boxford (mentioned)
  • Mr. Percival (mentioned) *
  • Baz and Bernie (not named, mentioned) *

(* absent from US release) (** absent from UK release)

Trivia

  • The original release date for the book was 7 March 2011, but it was pushed back until 4 April for unknown reasons.
  • The US publication of the book is shorter and features less than half of the characters than the UK version.
  • The promo for Thomas is a Coatimundi Studios Thomas with a CGI face.
  • Despite not being in the book, several characters are mentioned, such as:
    • BoCo is mentioned on Edward, Bill and Ben, and Donald and Douglas' pages.
    • Scruff is mentioned on Whiff's page.
    • Henrietta is mentioned on Toby's page.
    • Max and Monty are mentioned on Jack's page.
    • Isobella is mentioned on Kelly's page.
    • Toad, Isabel and Dulcie are mentioned on Oliver's page.

Goofs

  • Bill and Ben's page states that their letters SCC stand for Sodor Construction Company, while they actually stand for Sodor China Clay. This was later corrected.
  • Bertie is missing his radiator.
  • Hank and Edward are incorrectly referred to as tank engines. This was later corrected.
  • In the nineteenth illustration, part of Emily's running board is red instead of brown.
  • Bulstrode's cab is white and he has Percy's face.
  • On Diesel 10's page, it says that he chased Thomas and Percy onto the viaduct when it was actually Thomas and Lady. In the US publication, this has been corrected. The UK publication would later correct this mistake.
  • Diesel has white wheels instead of black. He would also have it in the 2010 annual.
  • On Harold's page, it says that the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre was built on Misty Island.
  • Rocky is missing his wheels on his page; this is due to the fact he is drawn after one of his tenth series reference photos, which did not show his wheels in the picture. This was later fixed with a CGI promo.
  • Jack's page incorrectly states that he has a bucket at both the front and back, similar to his sixth series concept art.
  • Colin is incorrectly labelled as a diesel crane instead of a steam crane.
  • Elizabeth is incorrectly labelled as a petrol lorry instead of a steam lorry, regardless of the fact it says she is a steam lorry in the first sentence.
  • Daisy is incorrectly illustrated as a Co-Bo, having ten wheels instead of eight. Her description also states that she has ten wheels.
  • James has grey wheels instead of black.
  • Ashima is described as having a tender.
  • Sir Handel and Oliver are described as having four wheels instead of six.
  • Hank's smoke box is black instead of grey.
  • Peter Sam is illustrated with his old funnel.
  • Freddie is described as having eight wheels instead of ten.
  • Arthur's page states that he is the biggest tank engine. However, Belle is actually the biggest.
  • Skarloey's page states that he was being mended for a long time while Rheneas ran the railway by himself when it was actually the other way round.
  • James is missing his coupling rods.
  • Rosie has purple freckles and her make-up is missing.
  • Hurricane is said to be both a diesel engine and a tender engine, when he is neither. Ironically, his real-life basis was rebuilt into a tender engine.
  • Molly is shown to have lipstick.
  • Baz and Bernie are referred to as "rogue engines" in Sonny's description.
  • In the fifth illustration, the top view of Thomas has five boiler bands, while the side view has his wheels out of place.
  • In the ninth illustration, part of Henry's smoke box is green and his funnel is tall.
    • Gordon also carries the same funnel goof in the eleventh illustration.
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