Elizabeth/Behind the Scenes

Television Series
Elizabeth is a fictional steam lorry created by Paul Larson.

In 2002, Elizabeth made her debut in the sixth series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends in the episode, Elizabeth the Vintage Lorry. She was absent for two years. She later appeared in the seventh, eighth and eleventh series and also in the special, The Great Discovery.

Elizabeth has not appeared in the television series since 2008.

In the original concept art done by Robert Gauld-Galliers, Elizabeth was named "Grumpy". According to Abi Grant, the name Elizabeth was chosen due to the 1998 film, Elizabeth, coming out after the concept art had been completed.

Elizabeth is based on a Sentinel DG4 steam lorry.

Gauge 1 model
Elizabeth's model was built by model maker, Chris Lloyd. It was built to run on Styrofoam road and was painted in glossy car body paint. The body was made out of plastic and the chassis was made out of brass.

Eleven different facial expressions were sculpted for Elizabeth, although only eight were used on-screen and three of which clenched, angry and sleeping were left unused. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould.

The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired.

Elizabeth has gone through several aesthetic changes in the television series. These include:


 * Series 8:
 * Her undercarriage gained rust.
 * Her headlights are positioned further forward.
 * The eyelashes on her grumpy/cross face disappeared.
 * The air vents on her front windows were repainted gold.
 * Series 11:
 * Her horn sound changed to Bertie's from Series 4 to Series 7.

Present Day
After production of the model series wrapped in 2008, most of the models and sets would be put into storage, with some being put on display at Drayton Manor Theme Park. All other models would be logged and referenced in 2009 by HiT Entertainment, from this HiT would decide on which models were to enter storage once again, which would be given to crew members and which to be disposed off. Due to only having one model made in gauge 1 scale, Elizabeth’s model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

Elizabeth's model used to be on display at Drayton Manor. When the exhibit closed and a new layout was constructed elsewhere, the model was returned to storage.

O gauge model (Large scale)
A large scale model of Elizabeth was made to interact with the engines on the Skarloey Railway. It was built by model maker, Chris Lloyd. The body was made out of plastic and the chassis was made out of brass.

Two facial expressions were made for Elizabeth's large scale model. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould.

The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired.

It was used in the sixth and eleventh series.

Close-up model
A close-up model of Elizabeth was required for scenes where she had to interact with close-up scale figures. It was also used for interior shots.

It was used in the sixth, seventh and eighth series.

Voice Actors

 * Fu Suzuki
 * Keiko Nemoto
 * Blanche Ravalec
 * Charlotte Hedwig