Crovan's Gate (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

Background Information
Crovan's Gate is a fictional town on the west coast of the Island of Sodor created by the Rev. W. Awdry. The town's station is the terminus of the Skarloey Railway and the location of the Works, where the engines go to be repaired.

The station first appeared in the fourth series episode Four Little Engines, which first aired in 1995. Its last appearance was in the twenty-fourth series episode Thomas' Animal Friends, which was released in 2021.

Gauge 1 model
Crovan's Gate was originally built for the fourth series.

Close-up model
A close-up model of a small portion of Crovan's Gate 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. Crovan's Gate was recreated from scratch in CGI by Jam Filled Toronto. The model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

When the station returned in CGI in the eighteenth series, twenty years after the model version in the fourth series, there were several additions and modifications:
 * The overhead canopy of the main standard gauge station was removed and the outer part of the station building completely disappeared. The middle station footbridge was redesigned similar to the canopy's design and was longer.
 * There is no longer a road connected to the standard gauge station.
 * Some sheds, similar to the Skarloey Railway engine sheds, appeared right behind the station.
 * All the platforms were noticeably longer.
 * The narrow gauge platforms were raised up considerably.
 * The platforms between the standard gauge tracks became conjoined.
 * A footbridge spanning the narrow gauge tracks and a third standard gauge track in the middle station were added. There also appears to be a large warehouse added nearby.
 * The lamp posts, benches and the white wooden shelter all changed design.
 * The water tower for the narrow gauge engines, some signal boxes and gantries, the coaling areas, some walls and some workmen's sheds disappeared.
 * The road bridge that only crossed the three main lines now goes across the 6 standard gauge lines and the three narrow gauge lines.
 * All the standard gauge tracks and the narrow gauge lines (road bridge side only), were straight instead of curving.
 * The tracks for the main standard gauge station now end in buffers.