Fergus/Behind the Scenes

Television Series
Fergus is a fictional traction engine created by Brian Trueman.

In 2003, Fergus made his debut in the seventh series of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends in the episode, Bill, Ben and Fergus. He later appeared in the episodes, Salty's Stormy Tale and Fergus Breaks the Rules. However, he has not appeared in the television series since.

In a 2015 interview with SiF, railway consultant Sam Wilkinson expressed his interest to reintroduce Fergus into the CGI Series. However, this never came to fruition.

Fergus is based on the Aveling and Porter 2-2-0WT 'TJ' class railway traction engine No. 9449 "The Blue Circle". "The Blue Circle" has been dressed up as Fergus in real life.

Gauge 1 model
Fergus' model was scratch-built to run on gauge 1 track by model maker, Chris Lloyd. The model was built from brass. It was painted in a matte finish and lined gold automotive pinstripe tape.

The model was track powered, so pick-up contacts were attached to the metal wheels, which ran into the motor to power it. The electricity ran from the track to the wheels/pick-up contacts and went into the motor to power him. The model was also fitted with a smoke unit and a working flywheel.

The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eyes were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eyes would move however the crew member desired.

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 in 2009 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 off. Due to only having one model made in gauge 1 scale, Fergus' model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

The model currently resides in Mattel's storage unit in Southampton England although it was leased for the G1MRA show in 2019.

Faces
Ten different facial expressions were sculpted for Fergus, although only seven were used on-screen and his sleeping face was used in a promotional image whilst two of which jovial and exhausted were left unused. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould.

Close-up model
Several close-up shots of Fergus’ cab was required for scenes in the seventh series episode, Fergus Breaks the Rules, where he had to interact with close-up scale figures. The model was not complete and only the back half was built. The model was also equipped with a motor to power the drive wheel and the flywheel.

Voice Actors

 * Ryōtarō Okiayu