Cora/Behind the Scenes

The Railway Series
Cora is a fictional narrow gauge tool van created by the Rev. W. Awdry. She belongs to the Skarloey Railway but was originally owned by the Mid Sodor Railway.

She first appeared in The Railway Series book, The Little Old Engine, which was published in 1959. Her last appearance was in The Railway Series: Surprise Packet published in 1972.

Front of Cora:

Television Series
Cora was not introduced in Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. Her role in the television adaption of Home at Last was omitted. However, 4-wheeled narrow gauge vans and brake vans sharing the same basis their first appearance in the fourth series. These vans resemble Cora, minus her guard's compartment.

While all the narrow gauge coaches and vans in The Railway Series were female, any instance of the coaches in the television series being referred to in gender-specific pronouns was removed and omitted. This could have been a result of sexism allegations centred around the fact that the engines were almost invariably male, while the coaches were always female which surfaced in the 1980s. This could be the reason why Cora never appeared in the television series. Britt Allcroft, the producer of the television series, claimed that gender issues were irrelevant.

Awdry's model
The Reverend Wilbert Awdry had a OO9 scale model of Cora. Her model is now on display at the Narrow Gauge Museum in Tywyn, Wales located near the Talyllyn Railway along with the other Skarloey Railway engines and rolling stock.

A model of a grey van resembling Cora was featured on Awdry's Mid Sodor Railway layout. It was formerly on display at Reverend Teddy Boston's Cadeby Light Railway. It is possible this van is a representation of how Cora appeared on the Mid Sodor.

These vans are repainted from Egger-Bahn HOe goods vans.