Orange Branchline Coaches

Orange Branchline Coaches are used on local passenger trains. Annie and Clarabel are two of these coaches.

Thomas & Friends
The orange branchline coaches are usually found at Knapford.

After rescuing James, Thomas was given two orange coaches named Annie and Clarabel, who he would pull for the majority of the series. In The Adventure Begins, they were shown to be originally James' coaches

James was once pulling a train of orange coaches, however, he was in a bad mood and he bumped the coaches pretty hard. While he was pulling the train, a brake pipe in one of the coaches started to leak, which caused both James and his train to halt. A newspaper and a passenger's bootlace was used to mend the hole in the brake pipe.

Edward was once pulling a train of orange coaches that were transporting visitors of the island. However, while he was pulling the train, one of his side rods broke, causing both Edward and his train to halt. Edward's side rods were taken off and the the couplings of the coaches were loosened, so Edward could pull the train.

From Series 3 onwards, Annie and Clarabel appear to be the only orange coaches seen. Although, standard orange branchline coaches would appear in the learning segments, Pulling Coaches and Who's Going Where?.

Personalities
Like many coaches on Sodor, they do not appreciate being bumped by an engine, and if they are not handled properly, especially if their brake-pipe is damaged from rough treatment, they will refuse to go further, as shown when James damaged a brake-pipe by bumping his coaches and speeding.

Despite the majority of these coaches not having faces, they were sentient in the first and second series. Two coaches with faces appear in the first series, similar to Annie and Clarabel but without nameplates.

Coaches with faces have also appear in several books, annuals and magazines. Two coaches with faces have also made an appearance in the animated learning segments, however these are unique, as they have two faces on both ends.

List of named sentient coaches: Thomas & Friends

Basis
The orange coaches are based on LB&SCR 4-wheeled coaches built to a design by Stroudley between 1872 and 1892. Several coaches of this type are preserved on the Bluebell Railway and the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.

The red coaches share the same basis, however they have different rooftop designs and styled-brake coaches.

Livery
The coaches are painted dull orange with white rooftops. Coaches with faces have embedded faces that match their livery.

In the annual story, Pantomime Pranks, green coaches with white rooftops are pulled by James. In the magazine story, Rain or Shine, two yellow coaches with grey rooftops and red lining were pulled by Thomas and Percy.

Appearances
Television Series= {{Scroll box|

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 1 - Thomas and Gordon, The Sad Story of Henry, Thomas' Train, Thomas and the Trucks, James and the Coaches, James and the Express, Thomas, Terence and the Snow, Tenders and Turntables, Trouble in the Shed, Percy Runs Away, The Flying Kipper, Whistles and Sneezes and Thomas' Christmas Party
 * Series 2 - Percy and the Signal, Duck takes Charge, The Missing Coach, Wrong Road and Edward's Exploit

Music Videos

 * Series 5 - Night Train, Sir Topham Hatt and Come for the Ride
 * Series 6 - James the Really Splendid Engine

Learning Segments
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 * Unknown - Pulling Coaches and Who's Going Where?
 * -|Other Media=

Magazine Stories

 * 1997 - James
 * 2001 - A Special Story About BoCo
 * 2006 - Steam on Stamps and Taking Charge

Annual Stories

 * 2001 - Edward Saves the Day

Online Game

 * 2014 - Lift, Load and Haul

Voice Actors

 * Kōzō Shioya
 * Shinobu Satouchi
 * Toshio Kobayashi

Trivia

 * The models of the coaches were made using Tenmille Gauge 1 LB&SCR Stroudley coach kits.
 * In the first and second series, the coaches had the ability to talk, despite not having visible faces. However, in the first series, the coaches who did have faces were actually just Annie and Clarabel's models without painted on names. They were often used to represent the orange coaches during speaking roles.
 * Thomas' Special Coach was going to reuse a model of one of these coaches, but as its episode was cancelled, Thomas' Special Coach was never featured in the television series. However, it still made brief appearances in Percy and the Signal and Duck Takes Charge.
 * In Lift, Load and Haul on the Official Website, a repainted red coach's CGI model has appeared as an orange coach, which is also the only appearance in CGI canonically.

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway
 * Waku Waku
 * Bandai
 * Hobidas
 * Adventures