Smudger/Behind the Scenes

The Railway Series
Smudger is the first character in the television series to not originally come from the Railway Series. However, his role replaces that of Stanley (No. 2), a red American 4-6-0 narrow gauge pannier tank engine from Duke the Lost Engine. Unlike Smudger, Stanley was converted into a pumping engine, not a generator. Both Stanley and Smudger share the same number.

In the illustration of Stanley as a pumping engine, he is incorrectly portrayed as a saddle tank engine. The same error was made in the magazine story, Duncan Has a Spill.

Television Series
Smudger is a fictional 0-4-0 narrow gauge well-tank locomotive created by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton. Smudger is depicted as a reckless and rough engine, who was later converted into a generator.

Smudger was introduced in the fourth season of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. He only appeared in the episode, Granpuff.

Like Rheneas, he is based off the Talyllyn Railway's No.2 Dolgoch. Dolgoch has appeared in The Railway Series and is mentioned as being Rheneas' twin. Smudger's happy face was based on one worn by Triumph, a locomotive on the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway.

O gauge model (Small scale)
Smudger was recycled from Rheneas' model, which was custom built to run on O gauge track to the Gauge 1 Scale Standard. It was painted using glossy car body paint and lined with gold and black Letraline pin-striping tape. The number and nameplates were custom printed foil stickers. The livery was made using green adhesive plastic sheets, rather than repainting Rheneas' model completely.

Smudger's wheels were sourced from 10 spoke Wantage Tramway wheels made by Slater's Plastikard. These wheels were used on an O gauge locomotive chassis. All the narrow gauge steam engine side rods were sourced from old OO scale Triang models and modified slightly to fit. These rods did not fit well at all and the engines ran notoriously bad behind the scenes.

Four different facial expressions were sculpted for Smudger and used on-screen. The faces were first sculpted in clay, after which resin casts were made using a silicone mould.

The model had a motor to power it mounted inside the chassis as well as an eye mechanism. The eye mechanism used servos which were mounted in the cab - the servos were hidden by blacking out the cab and windows. Metal rods went all the way from the servos in the cab to a bracket in the smoke box behind the faceplate, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. This limited the range of movement of the eyes as well as being cumbersome and jamming often. Although the model did not produce smoke, smoke was released from the set under them. That the smoke tended to drift out the funnel to create the illusion as if they do for a brief moment.

As he shared the same model as Rheneas, the inside of his cab and the front and back of his cylinders were red. In a promotional image of Smudger as a generator, the red from Rheneas' coal bunker and wheel arches can be seen.

Voice Actors

 * Nobuhiko Kazama