Slip Coaches/Behind the Scenes

Television Series
The slip coaches are fictional standard gauge coaches created by Ian McCue, Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler.

In 2014, the slip coaches made their debut in the eighteenth series of Thomas & Friends in the episode, Duck and the Slip Coaches.

In the CGI version of the series on both sides of the Atlantic, respectively, the first slip coach was voiced by Jonathan Broadbent, the second slip coach was voiced by Rebecca O'Mara and the third slip coach was voiced by Steven Kynman.

The Slip Coaches are based on the Great Western Railway's Slip Coaches. These coaches had the unique ability in which they could be uncoupled at stations without stopping. The uncoupled coaches are stopped when the guard sets a handbrake. In an era when the railway companies were highly competitive, they strove to keep journey times as short as possible, avoiding intermediate stops wherever possible.

Sadly, none of these coaches have survived to preservation. The last service took place in 1960 and was hauled by GWR Castle Class No. 5023 Brechin Castle on the London to Wolverhampton express.

CGI Model
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. In 2014, the slip coaches were created from scratch in CGI by Arc Productions for the eighteenth series. The models were "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

Voice Actors
First Coach:
 * Jonathan Broadbent
 * Yuta Odagaki
 * Irwin Daayán
 * Denis Bespaliy
 * Fernando Castro

Second Coach:
 * Rebecca O'Mara
 * Erina Yamazaki
 * Susana Moreno
 * Blanche Ravalec
 * Olga Kuznetsova
 * Carmen Gambín

Third Coach:
 * Steven Kynman
 * Kunihiro Kawamoto
 * Ricardo Bautista
 * Denis Bespaliy
 * Miguel Ángel Poison