Knapford (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

Background Information
Knapford is a fictional town on the west coast of the Island of Sodor created by the Rev. W. Awdry. It serves as the junction between the Ffarquhar Branch Line and The Main Line.

The town's name was derived from the parish of Knapwell, where Awdry worked as a vicar between 1946 and 1953.

The station first appeared in the first series episode Thomas and Gordon, which first aired in 1984. Its last appearance was in the twenty-fourth series episode Cleo the Road Engine, which was released in 2021.

In the television series, Knapford takes the place of Tidmouth as "the Big Station".

Shops inside Knapford
In Knapford station, the platforms 1 and 2/3 are connected by an underground passage, and there is the bookstall on the terminal tracks of tracks 3 and 4. At one point, the bookstall was temporarily replaced by the toy shop.

Gauge 1 model
"I disliked re-assembling Knapford Station time and time again, it was a pain with all the tacks, platforms and periscope lens access lift-off roofs. I had to design the structure so that every roof panel and outer structure could be removed independently to allow the periscope lens to lower in and manoeuvre."

- Robert Gauld-Galliers

Knapford was originally built for the Unaired Pilot and later officially debuted in the first series. Its appearance was modelled after Vicarstown as it appears between the years 1915 and 1925 in the Railway Series.

Close-up model
A close-up model of a small portion of Knapford station was built to be used for scenes involving the close-up scale figures.

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

According to Greg Tiernan, the CGI models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval.

Knapford has had modifications throughout the CGI era. These include:
 * Series 17:
 * A duplicate of the bookstall seen behind tracks 3 and 4 has been placed in the car park, making it impossible for a normal-sized car to enter one of the parking spaces.
 * The luggage weight also overlaps part of the car park lines.
 * Series 18:
 * The tracks into Knapford station gain crossovers and gantries similar to those seen in the first four series were added.
 * These redesigns were aided in part by SiF users Simon Martin and Sean O'Connor.
 * The tracks leading out from Platforms 3 and 4 also end at sets of buffers.
 * The Adventure Begins:
 * A shunting yard was added near the station, complete with a coal hopper, several sheds and sidings. Signal gantries were also added at the front and back of the station.
 * The station was redesigned with new brickwork.