Ada, Jane and Mabel

Ada, Jane and Mabel are three open carriages who were acquired for the Skarloey Railway while Skarloey and Rheneas were away being mended.

Biography
Ada, Jane and Mabel were acquired at some point prior to 1958 to supplement the prior carriage fleet. They were originally used for transporting quarry workers, but are now used for tourist traffic on sunny days. Peter Sam mentioned them in a conversation with Skarloey when the latter returned to service.

When some BBC television producers visited Sodor to film a documentary about the Skarloey Railway, Ada, Jane and Mabel had the honour of transporting the television equipment and cameras for them. They were later used for the same purpose when a documentary was made about Skarloey and Rheneas' hundredth birthday.

According to Sodor: Reading Between the Lines, prior to its publication in May 2005, Ada, Jane and Mabel have been converted into covered stock, much like their basises on the Talyllyn Railway.

Personality
Ada, Jane and Mabel are plain coaches without roofs. Due to their appearance, Sir Handel considers them trucks, but Peter Sam insists that they are coaches because they have seats. When Ada leads the way, these three always find fun and laughter in a day's work. The coaches are very fond of Peter Sam.

Basis
Ada, Jane and Mabel are based on the Talyllyn Railway carriages 11, 12 and 13. Carriages 11 and 12 were originally built as two of several Quarrymen's Carriages for the Penrhyn Quarry Railway in Wales, six of which were acquired by the Talyllyn Railway in 1953. Carriages "C" and "D" were originally placed together on a bogie underframe supplied by W.G. Allen Ltd. of Tipton in 1954 to become carriage No. 9. In 1955, a new body was constructed for No. 9 and Carriage "D" was given a new chassis to become No. 11. The body of carriage "C" was given a similar treatment and became No. 12 in 1956. No. 13 was built in 1957 by the Talyllyn Railway to a somewhat larger and sturdier design, which was based on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway's open carriages. In a couple years carriages 11 and 12 were rebuilt to a similar design and all three were rebuilt again with roofs in the mid-1960's.

Livery
Ada, Jane, and Mabel are painted in the Skarloey Railway light blue livery. Their Wooden Railway models depict them with their names painted on their back ends in cursive.

Appearances
Railway Series= {{Scroll box|

The Railway Series

 * The Little Old Engine - Home at Last and Little Old Twins
 * Gallant Old Engine - Steam Roller
 * Very Old Engines - Duck and Dukes

Companion volumes
}} Other Media=
 * 1972 - The Railway Series: Surprise Packet
 * 1976 - Famous Engines
 * 1987 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways
 * 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection
 * 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines

Magazine Stories

 * One of them has also appeared in a 2000 magazine.

Official Description
1997-1999= From Official Media:

Trivia

 * A fourth open carriage appears alongside Ada, Jane and Mabel in The Railway Series: Surprise Packet. It is unknown what this carriage's name is or if it even has one.
 * Ada, Jane and Mabel are the only named narrow gauge rolling stock to have merchandise.
 * Ada, Jane and Mabel's Wooden Railway toys were some of the few toys made mostly of plastic rather than wood.
 * A few open carriages strongly resembling Ada, Jane and Mabel were set to appear in the original script of the seventh series episode, Rheneas and the Roller Coaster.
 * Ada, Jane and Mabel are illustrated as covered coaches in Famous Engines.

Merchandise
Wooden Railway

Quotes
"Sir Handel says they are trucks, but they have seats!" said Peter Sam. "So I say they are coaches. What do you think Skarloey?" The old engine smiled. "If they have seats, they are coaches!" he said firmly."

- Peter Sam and Skarloey