Spencer/Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes
Spencer, named after producer Simon Spencer, was introduced as a new character in the seventh series, appearing as a background character before making his full debut by his next appearance. He was infamously snobbish, posh and rude, and highly arrogant to a point. He also appeared in the eighth, tenth and eleventh series.

After being absent during the ninth series in 2005, Spencer returned to the series in 2006, but left absent again during the twelfth series in 2008, then made the cut in the CGI transition in the 2009 special, Hero of the Rails. By then he had developed into a semi-antagonistic anti-hero. He last appeared in the twenty-second series episode, An Engine of Many Colours, being absent since 2019 and 2020.

Kerry Shale originally auditioned for Spencer in the UK dub of Hero of the Rails, but ultimately lost the role to Matt Wilkinson, while Glenn Wrage took the role of Spencer in the US dub. Wilkinson portrayed Spencer with an English accent, while Wrage's performance was clearly American.

Gauge 1 model
Spencer's model was scratch-built to run on gauge 1 track. Spencer and his tender were cast from moulds and he was one of the very few engines during this era to be made from fibreglass resin. Spencer's body ended up being widened by model-maker, Ray Lovell. His axles were to accommodate the non-scale sideways shift to cope with tight curves.

The model was track powered, so pick-up contacts were attached to the metal wheels, which ran into the motor to power it. Spencer's chassis was built by model-maker, Steve Knowles.

Unlike his basis, Spencer's smokebox had a less angular shape in order to accommodate the eye mechanism inside, although a spare prototype raw casting shows him designed as a proper A4. This trait was carried on into his CGI model during the television series' switch to computer-generated animation. Spencer could often be seen with miniature scaled figures inside his cab and these figures represented his driver and fireman. Unlike Mallard, whose face was seen in the Railway Series, Spencer's face was separate from his smokebox.

One of Spencer's prototype moulds is currently owned by Sean O'Connor, one of Mattel's personal prop preservationists.

Spencer has had modifications throughout the model era. These include:
 * In the eighth series, Spencer's bronze buffers were changed to silver ones.
 * In the tenth series, his blue-grey livery was changed to metallic silver.

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, Spencer's model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

Spencer's television series model used to be on display in Canada at Nitrogen Studios with his smug face on. After Nitrogen departed the series, the model was sent back to storage. During the construction of the new prop exhibit at Drayton Manor. Spencer's model would be briefly brought along to test if the curves on the new layout would accommodate tender engines.

Crew Gift Replica Model
A replica of Spencer was made as a gift during the end of the model series' production for Simon Spencer, this replica currently resides with Simon alongside a replica of Thomas, the Hector prop, a Sir Topham Hatt figure and the original Series 5 figure of Dowager Hatt.

Fonts
The following fonts were used on Spencer's Gauge 1 model:
 * FF DIN Bold

Close-up model
Several close-up shots of Spencer's cab was required for scenes in the eighth series episode, Edward the Great, where he had to interact with close-up scale figures. The model was not complete, and only the cab was built. The close-up model's cab controls were reused from Murdoch's for the eighth series episode, Edward the Great.

CGI model
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Spencer was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios. His model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

Photographs of Spencer's Gauge 1 model were used as reference. According to Greg Tiernan, every detail of the original television series models for each character is carefully reproduced in the CGI model. The models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval.

Spencer has had modifications throughout the CGI series. These include:
 * Hero of the Rails:
 * The top of his equalising arm assembly move forwards and backwards when only the bottom should, and his eccentric rods became thinner and the expansion links connecting them to his couplings rods became much smaller. As a result, his eccentric rods barely moved.
 * Series 19:
 * He gained two LNER headlamps and a tail lamp.
 * Series 20:
 * His livery became much more reflective.
 * The Great Race:
 * The top of his equalising arm assembly became stationary again, and his expansion links on his eccentric rods became the same as Gordon and Henry's, allowing them to move properly.
 * Series 21:
 * He has received a detachable snowplough, which was a recolor of Emily's.
 * Series 22:
 * His whistle colour changed from brass to silver.

Texture variants
In addition to his standard livery, a few other texture variants exist of Spencer's CGI model. These texture variants include:

Fonts
The following fonts were used on Spencer's CGI model:
 * Arial

Voice Actors

 * Kerry Shale
 * Matt Wilkinson
 * Glenn Wrage
 * Leonardo García
 * Ángel Amorós
 * Tony Marot
 * Danny Houtkooper
 * Reinder van der Naalt
 * Paul Disbergen
 * Till Huster
 * Oliver Rohrbeck
 * Espen Sandvik
 * Torbjørn Hummel
 * Christian Damsgaard
 * Taisto Oksanen
 * Juhani Rajalin
 * Maday Gábor
 * Rosta Sándor
 * Marek Robaczewski
 * Paweł Galia
 * Vladimir Antonik
 * Denis Bespaliy
 * Anton Savenkov
 * Gadi Levy
 * Dor Srugo
 * Yasuhiko Kawazu
 * Shigenori Sōya
 * Jeon Tae-yeol
 * Oh Byeong-jo
 * Um Sang-hyun
 * Kwon Seong-hyeok