Tidmouth (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

Background Information
Tidmouth is a fictional town on the west coast of the Island of Sodor created by the Rev. W. Awdry.

The station first appeared in the second series episode Thomas, Percy and the Coal, which first aired in 1986. Its last appearance was in the third series episode Bulgy, which was released in 1992.

Gauge 1 set
Originally, Tidmouth station had been intended to appear in the first series of the television series, however was later dropped, likely due to budgetary constraints. The station's model was to use the fifth illustration from James and the Express for colour reference, while the first illustration from Coal was used as reference for the design of the footbridge.

The proposed layout of Tidmouth at this time differed heavily from the final version seen in the second series, including:
 * The track layout is completely different.
 * The roof is one overall glass canopy, rather than two.
 * There is an extra track and platform on the west side of the station.
 * The tracks inside the station ended at terminal roads, as they did in The Railway Series.
 * The station had a footbridge.
 * Carriage sidings were situated directly behind the station.
 * A smaller three-berth roundhouse was situated in a small yard in front of the station.

Close-up set
For the third series, close-up model of a small portion of Tidmouth station was built to be used for scenes involving the close-up scale figures.