Happy 400th STEAM RAILWAY!!!!!!!!!!

400 issues on, and it's still giving us all the latest news from the world of British preserved steam. I got my copy of the 400th issue in the post, 2 days ago, and it's true that we need new blood for our railways to survive, because those who can remember steam, can't be around forever, and not everyone of my age shares my passion, but I'm sure there are many more like me out there, and we will take over from the old chaps. Thank you STEAM RAILWAY for the past 33 years, for thanks to your campaigning, we have given Dolgoch (Rheneas' twin) a new boiler, and restored Oliver Cromwell, and let's hope they make it to their 800th.

Jacob

It's time for story time with Thomas

Yes, I have of these, and I must admit they are nice for small children to have, but within being stories of the CGI series with stills and rare pics from the episodes they are based on, I don't think they're as good as the Thomas Story Library ones, for they were a mix of Railway Series and TV stories, but they are still nice to have, being the huge collector I am. Here are some pics I found inside them.

Not the first time this has happened.

Flynn: Did they really have to keep that line in.

Now, here's some Thomas pics I've made with paint.

I've acturlly put Sharon Miller's face on Sarah Palin, two people that aren't gifted with words and we really, really hate.

Thank you for reading,

Jacob

RIP Alan Pegler 1920 - 2012

To the man who saved the Flying Scotsman and the Ffestiniog,

he will always be remembered for what he did for railway presavation in it's early days.

15 years since the day we lost the man who gave us Thomas

To The Rev. W. Awdry

(15th June 1911 to 21st March 1997)

Without whom none of Thomas' adventures would have been told.

Series 16, Episode 19 Review: Happy Birthday Sir!

Well, we’ve finally reached it, Happy Birthday Sir! THE LAST EVER EPISODE TO BE WRITTEN BY SHARON MILLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  But the last ever to be animated by Nitrogen :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(.

 I must admit that secretly, I thought that this episode might be of better standard, so Sharon could prove that she could have written a half decent script for the show in all these years, and to give a good swansong to Tiernan and team, and any fan who read the info given beforehand about the episode, had their fingers crossed that it would be Thomas and Victoria, tweaked for the CGI series, giving Nitrogen what they always in a script that was a Railway Series love letter, but not surprisingly, it was totally far from it. Sharon Miller ends her reign of terror on Thomas with an average episode of hers, with an engine (or a track inspection vehicle in this case) caring far more about something else instead of his job, three strikes, an incident with the catchphrase, ‘luckily, no one was hurt,’ being said, despite the fact Winston would have got dented in real life by Thomas bumping into him, with his driver probably getting whiplash, and everything being alright in the end. Yes, after 7 years of working on Thomas, we still get nothing but the same old story.

This is the first time we’ve seen Winston, (except if you’ve seen the preview of him in Blue Mountain Mystery) and it was not a good episode to show him in, if we were going to have the series that takes place after the annual special shown before hand, and by the way, it’s the last episode of series 16, and you’ve just had Winston put into an episode  now, he could have been in earlier, because of the fact that any episode could go to any character, and to think, Thomas was actually concentrating on his work in this episode!!!!!!!?????? FINULLY!!!!!!!! We had to wait for Sharon Miller’s finial ever episode to see our number one engine doing what and acting more like how he should.

But as said, Sharon Miller has had her name cursed by Thomas fans for 7 years, she knows we all secretly wish her good riddance, but Nitrogen can’t be told enough how sorry we are to see them leave the show, and a huge THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for all you have done for Thomas, they have done their very best for him in the last 4 years, and we can’t say how much we appreciate it.

But despite their departure, there is going to be brilliant change for next year, one of them being that the new script writer for Thomas is none other than Andrew Brenner!!!!!!!!!!!! The very man who wrote the original version of HENRY’S FOREST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and several other episodes inserted deeply into us who were children of the true Thomas TV series, and there is a rumor going around that producer, Ian McCue is trying to make a version of the Thomas series, true to the show’s origins, of which, if true, I’m very, very excited about.

I’m sure Arc Productions will be a dedicated team behind Thomas, and the standard for the CGI will be at the same great level as Nitrogen’s, it shouldn’t surprise us if another animation company is just as dedicated towards making Thomas the Tank Engine, within him being the most beloved children’s character of all time.

We all deeply believe the series as a whole, will be much better with the changes next year, but we can all do our part in making the series better We should still write to HiT, saying what we would like put back into the series, or what direction we would like to see the show take, and maybe fan mail will now be taken more seriously. Continue writing essays, blogs (like mine), and videos of your thoughts on the recent Thomas series. If you got another of the same railway book for Christmas, or copies of photographs you took when last visiting one of the many steam railways in the UK, send them in to Arc Productions, so they can use to build their own research library. Do whatever you can to help make what we can all proudly call the modern day version of our favourite show.

Thanks for reading throwout my reviews of series 16, and I hope you will continue reading my blog,

Jacob

Series 16, Episode 18 Review: Don't Bother Victor!

I’m sure I wasn’t the only fan to be thrilled to see an episode about the Skarloey engines once again, but not surprising for all of us; it was an episode that could have gone to the standard gauge engines, for it felt like The Green Controller, rewritten with the Narrow Gauge engines, of which they already did that with Sir Handel in Charge, showing how much they  repeat the same plot. It was, as normal, a badly written episode that we have already seen before, many times.

You can’t believe that the voice acting for Thomas is also in the management of Sharon Miller, for it is of a far greater standard than the script writing. I thought I should finally give my opinions on the voices for the Skarloey engines, and like all fans, I am soooooooo happy to hear them with Welsh accents, for we were hoping they would have, but I was expecting Skarloey and Rheneas’s voices to be a bit  more high-pitched, and Sir Handel and Peter Sam’s to be lower, but that’s just me, the voice actors have done their best, and it wouldn’t surprise me that within their respect for Thomas, they have done their own research before voicing the characters, and Ben Small was of course a Railway Series fan in his youth, not knowing he would one day be the actual voice of Thomas the Tank Engine.

The CGI in the episode was, as you expect me to say, brilliant. I’m sure Greg Tiernan is in heaven when making an episode focused on the Skarloey Railway, and I’m sure Blue Mountain Mystery will be a lot of fun for him too. When watching what has been reviled of it so far, you can see just how much the standard of the CGI has greatened during the last 3 years, and looks like something any old Thomas fan will enjoy watching, and the story sounds better than usual, but we will have to wait and see.

Tomorrow sees the last episode of Series 16, losing Nitrogen’s animation from the series will never be anything as sad as when we lost the models, but they have given such great dedication towards Thomas, in one of the bleakest periods of the show’s history. The CGI series could have been something far more than it was, it could have been a fresh start for Thomas after series 8 to 12, but HiT didn’t care, it was just seen as a way of helping the writers succeed in writing new material from the bottom of the barrel of lazy story ideas, and to make their version of the show look fresh in giving it a modern image, and it seems to be what’s happening again now with the changing of the animation studio, but we are all very glad of the changes next year, and we still have more to come from Nitrogen with Blue Mountain Mystery and The Christmas Express, so let’s give them the best farewell we can in the rest of the year.

Thanks for reading,

Jacob

Series 16, Episode 17 Review: Welcome Stafford

It wouldn’t be a new series of Thomas, without HiT introducing another a one time character, of which will soon be turned into a Wooden Railway model, a Take Along/Take ‘N’ Play model, and  a Trackmaster train, so us fans can add him/her to our huge Thomas collections, and I’m the first to admit to it. Today, we met for the first (and probably last) time, Stafford, all fans were made the more excited when it turned out he was the first electric engine to ever appear in the Thomas TV series. But the script for today’s episode was still as terrible as usual.

Today’s story was so like many others written before, and has the name Sharon Miller all over it. At least, within Stafford being an electric engine, she was more aware of the terminology used for the episode, with Victor even correcting Spencer when saying Stafford could puff. Even though the show is now mostly aimed at the American market, it still surprises me that we heard Spencer say: “battery, smattery!” and call Thomas a little fellow, we the audience of the country Thomas was created by,  feel all the more angry at the Americanising of Awdry’s once very British creation, when hearing this being said by one of the only engines to be introduced since series 6 that has felt like an all-British engine, saying such type of lingo, and let me guess, it will be said in the American version as; “little fella,” (No offence to  Glenn Wrage, who of course, voices Spencer across the pond.)

Sharon Miller has actually received minor praise by fans for finally doing some research, but in my opinion, she probably did nothing, zero, nought. She probably named him Stafford, for probably one of the only things she knows about Thomas the Tank Engine, is  that the UK Thomas Land is in Staffordshire, and Greg Tiernan, used his knowledge of British railway history, in picking the North Staffordshire Railway battery-electric No. 1, as Stafford’s prototype.

As normal, Nitrogen are trying their hardest to put a pretty face on the terrible writing, we all know that, but we should be more grateful towards them, for they are indeed, doing their best, and it’s so wonderful seeing the animation company behind the show to have such passion towards Thomas, along with the show’s roots, and it’s modern image, we sometimes give them criticism that sounds the same as if it is being given to the writing team, for we should realises that, within the fact they do their very best with Thomas, and  we could have had worst, we shouldn’t take them for granted, for we don’t know who we are getting next as the people who are in charge of how our number one engine looks. They do realises what they might not have gotten right, and improve on it in the next series, the fact that break vans should be on every train is one of them, and we’ve seen all the more of the greatness in fixing their errors.

Over all, today’s episode was bad, so it was average, but I too, must say, WELCOME STAFFORD!

Thanks for reading,

Jacob

Series 16, Episode 16 Review: Whiff's Wish

Ever Since I read about this episode, I knew it was going to be very poor. I myself, don’t have anything against Whiff, especially since he’s been given a lot more attention than most of HiT’s characters, but this story was just had him as Engine X, in a scrip that was sooooooooooooo copy and paste, for you could make out all the pieces that had been taken out of previous episodes, Engine X wants to be like Engine Y, Engine X thinks other engines’ loads are more grand/special special/whatever, so takes charge of three other trains, realises his folly, takes all the trains to where they need to go, and the episode ends with Engine X thinking better of himself, and not caring what Engine Y says about him.  The only highlight in the writing of today’s episode was for the first time since Series 5, we heard the words ‘Flying Kipper’ being said, I’m sure all fans were thrilled to hear the name of Sodor’s flagship fish train after all these years since the show’s heyday, but when hearing it being said, it just makes you realise how much the Thomas series has drifted away from its roots.

But the CGI was, yes, you guessed it, to its normal brilliant standard, and so was the voice acting, in fact, are we seeing another side of Spencer in Matt Wilkinson’s performance? Spencer sounded quite laid back in today’s episode and it adds to his character. I think all the voice actors are giving it their best, and I hope nothing happens to them in all the big chances next year.

And so, that’s the end of my review of Whiff’s Wish, it wasn’t the worst ever, but still very, very bad. It was nice Whiff got an episode to himself, I don’t know whether or not he’s acting out of character, for  I always thought he loved being the rubbish engine more than anything else,  but it shouldn’t be surprising that HiT can’t ever keep up the continuity of their own characters.

Thanks for reading,

Jacob

Series 16, Episode 15 Review: Muddy Matters

Ok, not the best episode ever, but far better than usual. It’s great to see, despite what’s happened to all the other characters during HiT’s ownership of Thomas, James still cares after all these years, about his splendid red paint more than anything else, and he was also trying to keep his promise to Farmer McColl. Yes, this episode had a lot of the usual faults, but it’s a great breath of fresh air after this last week of episodes, but one thing I thought to myself this morning, when watching it, was why are there so many old, bumpy tracks now on Sodor? The Fat Controller’s probably had to get in a load of cowboy workers within the credit crunch and all.

Highlights on the CGI: We actually see Belle pulling a train! and I thought the end with James’s picture being taken by the photographer’s old camera, and then seeing it on the issue of the Sodor Gazette, being read by one of the engine drivers, was a very different and very interesting ending in my opinion. I was trying to make the date out on it, it looked like 1968, and thought it would be, within the fact that’s when steam ended on BR, for The Fat Controller’s calendar said it was 1960, in Misty Island Rescue, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was called The Sodor Gazette, to sound like The Railway Gazette, known for being a favourite of Awdry himself.

This episode certainly wasn’t the worst they’ve ever written, but it could have been better, but I suppose that’s asking too much.

Thank you for reading, have a nice weekend!

Jacob

Series 16, Episode 14 Review: Emily's Winter Party Special

ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WINTER HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why is it still being said, after what all the PC groups, and the Awdry family themselves said last year?, you were able to change it for Salty’s Surprise, and we’re getting The Christmas Express at the appropriate time, so why was Christmas still airbrushed out of today’s episode?

The episode was just Topped Off Thomas and Keeping Up with James put together with Emily as engine X, the fact that she doesn’t find The Fat Controller’s hat, yet thinks because she’s tried to find it, while the other engines have been working, she can pull the present train, and for all Thomas and Emily knew, that top hat on the snowman could have been just a hat that looks like The Fat Controller’s, I mean they must sell them somewhere, and after how many he went throw in the classic series, he must have more than one. Over all, this episode was once again, bad enough to be one from Series 15, and it just reminds me why we’re all glad that Sharon Miller’s reign of terror is nearly over.

Believe it or not, yes, the CGI was excellent, and was I the only one who thought the light from Emily’s fairy lights, made her face look a little bit more like her model one? I think it’s a real shame that after how bad Series 15 was, many fans haven’t been following Series 16, for it is Nitrogen’s last series, and we all respect them for  their dedication towards our number one engine, and bringing him into the brave new world of CGI animation, I know probably all of us will see Blue Mountain Mystery when it comes out, but please, to show your thanks to Nitrogen for what they’ve done for Thomas, please watch the last week of Series 16 if you can, thank you!

Have a nice night!

Jacob

Links

Emily's Winter Party Special on TTTE Wikia

Roll Along Thomas' Review

Series 16, Episode 13 Review: Sodor Surprise Day

Today’s episode, in my opinion, was one of the worst in Thomas history. it was actually bad enough to be of series 15. First of all, Sodor Surprise Day, what?! How many special days do they have on the Island of Sodor? But I suppose, everyday’s a special day on Sodor, but why couldn’t it have been April fool’s Day, or is that not PC? Once again, it’s just Thomas, concentrating on something ridicules, instead of his work. Gordon would have probably seen Thomas all them times he was hiding, for as said before, we’ve seen this many times in previous episodes, but for some reason, Sharon Miller’s team thinks the children of today are stupid enough to believe what they are writing for them.

Of course, many were saying last year that the CGI series is sending quite the opposite of good lesions to children,  that they were sending such messages as: you should give into peer-pressure, playing  around in dangerous places is ok, and there’s nothing wrong in generalising a group of people. But despite these criticisms, with many thinking it was the reason why Sharon Miller “had stepped down,” we saw no change in today’s episode, because Thomas’s inappropriate whistling at the docks, caused Cranky to drop the crate of fireworks, making them go off, we all know how dangerous the situation was, and all The Fat Controller said was that Thomas had caused confusion and delay, and that there wouldn’t be any entertainment for the party, if this had ever happened in the classic Thomas (of which it wouldn’t have), engine X would have known the seriousness of what he had made happen.

Despite how much I’m against this whole culture of making sure everything  your children watch is good for them, and every little bit of everything on Cbeebies or the Channel 5 Milkshake hour has to be PC,  the telly can’t always be considered a good babysitter, and I’m sorry to say it’s not safe letting them watch the current version of my number 1 engine,  we should all point the finger at HiT, if this Guy Fawkes Day, you hear of children mucking about with fireworks, for it could happen because they saw this episode of Thomas & Friends, for I remember when Peppa Pig was forced to wear a seat belt after children refused to after Peppa didn’t, she of course, got over it, and I’m glad she did so, for my little cousin’s sake, but it proves that children think what they see their friends do on TV is ok,  hence why many believe we should make what HiT are doing (or have done) with Thomas, all the more known.

The CGI was, yes, brilliant as normal, and once again, and certainly does put the script writing to shame, but not even Nitrogen can get the writing team out of this one, and I advise all who read my blog to do what I told you to do, in my Ho Ho Snowman review, for Thomas doesn’t deserve the treatment he has gotten, and the children of today deserve more.

Thank you for reading as normal, if you don’t, I hate you! (Just kidding.)

Jacob

Links

 

Sodor Surprise Day on TTTE Wikia

 

Roll Along Thomas' Review

Series 16, Episode 12 Review: Salty's Surprise

Finally, after what happened last year, it was CHRISTMAS on the Island of Sodor, and the first time it had officially been since 1991, (as we all know back in Thomas and Percy’s Christmas Adventure) but the writers were a little reluctant in saying so, for it was the Christmas holiday session, but it’s better to many than hearing the words ‘winter holidays.’

But despite this, it was Sharon Miller’s usual, sleazily, sugar-coated, but not as politically correct as normal, writing. For it revolved around something we fans have been complaining about for a whole decade now, I’m talking about Edward’s persona, everyone knows Edward is meant to the wise old engine we knew from the books and the version of the show from our childhood, yet today, he left his work to find presents for Salty, and brings back things that we all know Salty won’t want, as someone has already said, Edward decides to give Salty, Thomas’s funnel from Slippy Sodor, just because Kevin says it’s fancy, oh, forget the fact that Salty is a diesel engine, the funnel is fancy, yes, that makes all the difference. Salty’s stories themselves weren’t very much about the sea, and any fan could go into great detail on how bad the first story was, for one, as everyone knows, many of the Thomas characters are painted green, or is it their terrible excuse for Duck, Oliver and Boco not being in the series? Two, if this did happen when Salty was on Sodor, Edward must have known about it, and three, if all the red paint had ran out, we would have still seen Salty’s buffers, and his yellow and black front and behind, but of course, Nitrogen have to support the rubbish that they have to work with.

I know I start almost every 2^nd paragraph of my reviews by saying the CGI was to its normal brilliant standard, but it’s true. I thought the bit when seeing the Christmas tree rotting away, was very well done. As said before, despite loving the Thomas models to bits, and not wanting to change anything about the classics,  it’s great seeing the benefits of CGI in the new Thomas series,  and when used, are seen to be far more creative than the writing.

Anyway, thank you for reading, and good night!

Jacob

Links

Salty's Surprise on TTTE Wikia

Roll Along Thomas' Review

Series 16, Episode 11 Review: Thomas and the Sounds of Sodor

Like every fan, I can go into every detail that was wrong with this episode, but like usual, I’ll just keep this review as short as possible. This episode was basically Percy and the Oil Painting, rewritten for the CGI series, meaning they’ve made it all the more awful. Thomas, once again, was only doing what he thought was right, he never asked the composer what he wanted to hear or where he wanted to go, and Thomas seems to think he’s above the other engines, for  no one else was allowed in the quarry, but he was. Today, in the famous composer, saw the first ever Russian character on the Island of Sodor, being ironic it should happen a day after the Russian presidential elections, and by the way, if you are reading, congratulations on your landslide victory, comrad Putin! But anyway, back onto today’s episode, for if I was a communist dictator, and willing someday I will be, I would make everyone watch nothing but series 1 to 5 of Thomas the Tank Engine, and anyone who was ever on the writing team for HiT’s version of the show would be silenced.

The CGI was it it’s normal excellence, and I have already seen the next few episodes of the series, and I feel we are going to see some of Nitrogen’s best work in their final episodes, and it’s really going to put the writing for them to shame.

So basically, today’s episode was avavidge, meaning  it was bad, but not the worst we’ve ever seen, I would rather watch this than Ol' Wheezy Wobbles, but it was still pretty bad.

But anyway, enjoy your evening,

Jacob

Series 16, Episode 10 Review: Percy and the Calliope

To think, not only have we seen Thomas being written as all the more stupid, the same has happened to Percy. Chasing animals in the woods, hoping they would play with him is one thing, but today’s episode was another level, Percy thought he could make the calliope work by putting water and coal down it’s pipes, and running with it down the line, if the writers haven’t made Percy hit a new low in this episode, I don’t know what would.

The CGI was as brilliant as ever, and Robert Hartshorne’s music was to the good standard it normally is, and the theme being played while Percy and Diesel were going alone sounded very different, it sort of sounded like the music played to a steam train in a 1950s Pathe newsreel, but what we were all very, very trilled about in today’s episode, was that the very tune the calliope played was the classic Thomas theme song!!!!!!!! I was so, so glad to hear it again in the series, after all these years, and Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell were actually credited, even though, we all definitely know who they are.

So all in all, a lot of absolute brilliance in this episode, but the script writing was the total opposite.  Please HiT, it’s not just Thomas, we beg of you to make all the engines smart again, please! Hopefully, they will be under the new writting standard.

Thanks for reading as usual,

Jacob

2 new Take 'N' Play engines to add to the huge collection

Ahoy mateys! it's Salty, the pride of the seven seas, along with Percy, at the Dieselworks!

"I'm a very special visitor at the Dieselworks!"

Yes, I was allowed to get them, for Joseph went over the top on what he got for his birthday, a special special thank you to Mum for ordering them, they're great!

Despite being the first of the Thomas characters introduced since Series 6, fans of all ages have a special place in their hearts for Salty, and I've now got another Take Alone/Take 'N' Play Salty to add to my collection, for like many of the charecters, he has been put with many different playsets, but here he is, with his Catch of the Day train.

The box says it is "inspired by Salty's adventures," but they haven't yet had an episode about Salty and a lobster, or one of him delivering fish for market, but surpose it could have loosely been inspired by the series 8 episode, Fish, and the yellow boat could based on Henry and the Flagpole.

But anyway, he 3 trucks look great, and so of course, does Salty, another great thing about is that the boat rocks when the train is moving. Over all, it's really great to have in my huge collection.

And I also got, all the way, from the bad old USA, Talking Percy at the Dieselworks, and here he is at the Dieselworks.

As you can hear, he has his American voice, provided by Martin T Sherman. I've got the Take Along Lights and Sounds Percy and the Take 'N' Play Talking Percy with Keith Wickham's UK voice for Percy, but it's great having this one aswell, they also have done a Talking Flynn for Day of the Diesels, of which I'll get some day, but I usual just save up my money until I think I should buy a few Thomas trains with it, I'm sure by the Summer, we'll have Luke and Winston in the shops, and I'll certainly get them when they come out.

Thanks for reading,

Jacob 

Season 16, Episode 9 Review: Bust My Buffers

I really don’t know my feelings on this episode. It started better than usual, for Gordon was acting more like his old self, when he was saying that being painted yellow and stripy wasn’t grand, it reminded me a little bit of Fire-Engine, though I also thought what 16 and Victor would think of what Gordon said? The way Gordon literally bust his buffers was as unrealistic as usual, and why were they referring to his front set of buffers as a buffer, THEY'RE BUFFERS!!!!!!! None of the writing team ever bothers to look up the proper railway terminology, to think I learn most of mine from reading and watching the original Thomas stories, I also saw this error in the preview of the new Blue Mountain Mystery book yesterday, and to think this will probably be given out to kids visiting Thomas on a preserved railway , like the Ultimate Diesel Guide was last year.

And us fans are always talking about the continuity in the series, and it was just a few episodes ago in Ol’ Wheezy Wobbles,   that Den said that he and Dart don’t fix steam engines, yet they didn’t mind fixing Gordon. I’m sure Gordon with his diesel buffers will soon come out as a Take ‘n’ Play engine, (of which I can’t wait for) and it’s not the stupidest thing the writing team have ever put on an engine. It was the worst ever Thomas episode, but I feel that you should speak train if you are on the writing team for Thomas the Tank Engine.

The CGI was to the normal standard, and it’s great to see they haven’t forgotten about Paxton and Norman, for they had a cameo together when Gordon was coming into the Dieselworks, and it’s now turned out that Paxton’s playing a big role in BMM, so I guess he will be more than just a marketing tool.

Thanks for reading!

Jacob