Minor Vehicle Characters (T&F)

This page is for minor vehicle characters who have appeared in Thomas & Friends, the annual stories and the magazine stories. These characters were either unseen and only mentioned, or simply appeared as background characters without any speaking roles and were nameless.

Bulgy's Friend
Bulgy's Friend is a red double-decker bus that is one of Bulgy's closest friends. Although he was never seen in the television series, he did appear in the My Thomas Story Library story, Bulgy.

Personality
Bulgy's Friend was mentioned by Oliver as being rude, just like Bulgy, as he was trying to take Bulgy's passengers home so that Bulgy can steal Duck and Oliver's passengers.

Basis
Bulgy's Friend is based on an AEC Regent V bus, like Bulgy. The Special Bus Service and the Australian Buses also share this design.

Livery
Bulgy's Friend is painted similar to Bulgy, red and cream, though he has a light grey middle section.

Appearances
Television Series=

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 3 - Bulgy
 * -|Other Media=

Books

 * 2003 - Bulgy

The One-eyed Truck
The One-eyed Truck is a ghost Kelly told a scary story about.

Biography
According to the tale, it was an old steam lorry who had one of his headlamps stolen by a loader. The loader managed to get away, but, according to legend, the one-eyed truck still haunts Maithwaite Forest looking for a new headlamp.

After teasing Alfie and Percy about the story, Max and Monty were sent to dump some dirt at Maithwaite Forest. They heard a shrill whistle and saw a single headlamp, becoming convinced that it was the one-eyed truck. They ran away in fright, but soon they felt silly when they realized it was Thomas.

Appearances
Television Series=

Thomas & Friends

 * Jack and the Sodor Construction Company - Percy's Scary Tale

Trivia

 * The one-eyed truck is based on the fable tale about "the One-eyed Jack".

The Loader
The Loader is a construction vehicle Kelly mentioned in the story about the one-eyed truck he told Percy and the Pack.

Biography
According to the tale, the loader had stolen a headlamp from the one-eyed truck. The one-eyed truck chased the loader into the deepest and darkest part of Maithwaite Forest. The loader managed to get away, but, according to legend, the one-eyed truck still haunts the forest looking for a new headlamp.

Appearances
Television Series=

Thomas & Friends

 * Jack and the Sodor Construction Company - Percy's Scary Tale

The Italian Construction Vehicles
The Italian Construction Vehicles are friends of Ester, who she mentioned whilst talking with Thomas.

Biography
The Italian Construction Vehicles were intended to work at the Italian Construction Site alongside Ester, however with their work delayed they later became busy with their own jobs, leaving Ester to prepare the site on her own. Eventually, Thomas' talk about the Sodor Construction Company leads to Ester having the idea of having them arrive to help, though she pinned the credit on Thomas, who didn't directly state or think of the idea.

Appearances
Television Series=

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 23 - Mines of Mystery

The Road Finisher
"I am the Roadinator. Come with me if you want to pave."

- The Road Finisher introducing himself The Road Finisher, nicknamed "The Roadinator", is a crawler road paving machine who appears in a fantasy sequence.

Biography
When the Sodor Construction Company were busy working on a new road, Miss Jenny announced the arrival of a new machine. Jack, Alfie, Oliver and Brenda began speculating what type of machine it would be, and the four envisioned "the Road Finisher". He introduces himself as "the ultimate roadinator". The four are amazed by his capabilities and follow him as he begins paving a road. However, the new machine is actually later revealed to be a tunnel boring machine named Darcy.

In the Japanese version, Roadinator is regarded as his real name.

Personality
The Road Finisher is a parody of the Terminator from the Terminator franchise, as portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. All of his dialogue is lifted from the Terminator films as well; his line “Come with me if you want to pave” is a reference to the line “Come with me if you want to live”, and he also quotes the famous line “I’ll be back”.

Basis
The Road Finisher has no specific basis and is a freelance design.

Livery
The Road Finisher is painted blue and grey with yellow arms and wheels. His lower half is painted green at the rear and his arms each have a green ring around them.

Appearances
Television Series=

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 23 - First Day on Sodor!

Voice Actors

 * Rob Rackstraw
 * Hiroo Sasaki
 * Ismael Verástegui
 * Ángel Amorós

Trivia

 * The Road Finisher's caterpillar treads are a modified version of Brenda's.

Quotes
"I'll be back..."

- The Road Finisher

The Australian Buses
There are twenty-five double-decker buses from Australia which Ace planned to jump over.

Biography
Ace was going to jump over twenty-five double-decker buses in the Outback for a super show. Two of these buses saw Ace rehearsing and were worried when after Ace had an accident. The buses did not arrive for the show, so Thomas, Shane, Tamika, Aubrey and Aiden took their places instead. Two of the buses arrived after Ace's jump and applauded him.

Basis
These buses are based on the AEC Regent V double-decker bus. Bulgy, Bulgy's Friend and the Special Bus Service are also members of this class. In real life the AEC Regents were used in Australia and their liveries are similar to the ones used in Australia.

Livery
These buses are painted dark green and yellow akin to Bulgy when he was a vegetable bus. Unlike Bulgy, their roofs are light grey.

Appearances
Television Series=

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 24 - Ace's Brave Jump

Videos

 * 2020 - Top 5 Jumps

Voice Actors

 * Tim Bain
 * Tōru Akiyoshi
 * Eduardo Martínez
 * Paulo Porto

Trivia

 * Twenty-five double-decker buses appear in Thomas' fantasy sequence, however only two appear in the Outback.
 * The bus which speaks is credited as simply "Bus" in the end credits.

The Chinese Cargo Ship
The Chinese Cargo Ship is a cargo ship that Thomas once met on his visit to China. He and Yong Bao raced the ship down the Chang Jiang River.

Livery
The cargo ship has a red hull with a black stripe at the top, a white cabin area and a red funnel with a black stripe around the top similar to the hull.

The Chinese Caterpillar Crane
The Chinese Caterpillar Crane works alongside a railway in China. He was once taken by Yong Bao to lift Da Li back onto the rails.

Basis
The Crane is based on a Ruston-Bucyrus RB 17/19 Crawler Crane.

Livery
The crane is painted yellow with a black roof.

The Chinese Helicopter
The Chinese Helicopter is a rescue helicopter that works in China.

Livery
The helicopter is painted red and white.

Trivia

 * The helicopter has a near-identical face to Yong Bao.

Gary's Friends
Three red and blue utes (or pick-up truck) appear in Thomas' Aussie Football Adventure, during Thomas's visit during his visit to Australia. They accompany Gary during the AFL Premiership Cup.

Technical Details
Just like Gary, the utes are based on the Ford Ranger (T6).

Livery
The utes are painted blue and red with white lining and silver fittings.

Appearances
Promotional Videos=

Thomas' Aussie Football Adventure

 * Series 2 - The AFL Premiership Cup

The Special Bus Service
While the majority of the railway was closed down for repairs, buses were called upon to look after the passengers. One was a red double-decker bus called the "Special Bus Service". He teased Bertie for being small until they had a race, which Bertie won because he was able to go under a low railway bridge. By the end of his visit, the Special Bus Service had learned that Bertie was useful despite his size.

Personality
The bus seemed to be boastful and arrogant as he teased Bertie for his small size until he was taught that Bertie's size does not define how useful he is.

Basis
The Special Bus Service is an AEC Regent V double-decker bus.

Livery
The Special Bus Service is painted red, and has a sign on his side reading "Special Service". He also has a sign on his front reading "VIP".

Appearance
Other Media=

Magazine Stories
The Special Bus Service only appeared in the magazine story Special Bus Service.

The Open Top Double-Decker Bus
The Open Top Double-Decker Bus was a bus that was once taking most of Bertie's passengers, much to the concern of Thomas, however, when the heavy rain came, the passengers decided to have a nice dry ride aboard Bertie.

Basis
The bus is based on a AEC Regent V double-decker bus with an open top.

Livery
The Open Top Double-Decker Bus is painted yellow with maroon destination boards.

Appearances
Other Media=

Magazine Stories
The Open Top Double-Decker Bus also appeared in the magazine story The Open Top Bus.
 * 1998 - The Best Bus

The White Van
The White Van came to Sodor to deliver items that the engines could not, but only caused trouble when he and his driver made fun of the engines.

The White Van ended up being clamped and taken off the road after parking in the Fat Controller's parking space. It is driven by the White Van Man.

Basis
The white van is based on a Ford Transit, the type of van most commonly associated with the term "white van man".

Appearances
Other Media=

Magazine Stories
The White Van only appeared in the magazine story White Van Man.

The Dodgems
The Dodgems are a group of bumper cars that only appeared in the magazine stories. There are six of them.

Biography
Percy once had the job of delivering the Dodgems to the fairgrounds. They were rather troublesome, territorial, and single-minded. They only enjoyed the fun of the fair, believing it to be the only place to have fun. However, when one of the dodgems plunged into the sea by mistake, he enjoyed it and the rest of the Dodgems learned that there can actually be fun outside of the fair.

Appearances
Other Media=

Magazine Stories
The Dodgems appeared in the magazine story The Dodgems.

Trivia

 * Their faces resemble those of Troublesome Trucks.

The Float Lorry
The float lorry is a red lorry who only appeared in the magazines.

Biography
Stephen and Briget Hatt made a float for a carnival on Thomas' Branch Line. The Float Lorry was then chosen to carry the float with a replica of Thomas, which Stephen and Bridget built themselves. On the day of the carnival, as Thomas passed the procession, he spied the float that looked just like him.

Appearances
Other Media=

Magazine Stories

 * 1998 - The Carnival!

Trivia

 * The float lorry looks similar to the Horrid Lorries. However, the float Lorry was introduced four months before the fifth series episode, Horrid Lorry, in which the Horrid Lorries made their debut appearances. However the episode would have been filmed long before it aired, allowing for the magazine artist to use the Horrid Lorry design as a basis.
 * The float lorry is drawn with Bertie's face.

Dan
Dan the Front Loader is a blue farm tractor who appeared in the Egmont board books.

Basis
Dan is based on the Ford 5000 model with an added front arm with hay spears.

Livery
Dan is painted dark blue. He has a black face and headlamp eyes, reminiscent to the sentient tractors seen in The Railway Series.

Appearances
Other Media=

Books

 * 2014 - The Busy Engines
 * 2019 - Ten Little Engines
 * 2021 - Giant Play Book

Trivia

 * Dan is named after illustrator Dan Crisp.
 * The tractor did not originally have a name, but was later christened 'Dan' by the illustrator in an email correspondence with 01Salty in 2017.

マイナーな自動車のキャラクター