Rheneas (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

Television Series
In 1995, Rheneas was introduced in the fourth series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. The series placed a great focus on him and the other Narrow Gauge characters, with a number of stories from the original books televised. All the Skarloey Railway steam engines were painted red with blue lining in the Railway Series (bar Duke). However, in order to make it easier for the viewer to identify each engine from one another, Rheneas was painted vermilion with black lining.

In the classic era of Thomas & Friends, Rheneas is portrayed as an old and wise engine, excluding the seventh series. However, when Rheneas returned to the series in 2005 after an absence in the eighth series, he was depicted with a more childlike attitude like in the seventh series under the influence of HiT Entertainment. It should also be noted that Skarloey and Rheneas have never been referred to as brothers in the television series adaptation, but instead, they are called "friends" in more episodes.

When the show transitioned into full CGI in 2009, the narrow gauge engines were absent for three years. Rheneas later returned in the 2012 special, Blue Mountain Mystery, along with Skarloey, Sir Handel, Peter Sam and Rusty. In the CGI series, his classic personality returned and he is seen frequently working at the Blue Mountain Quarry. He last appeared in the twenty-first series episode Runaway Engine, in 2017 to date.

From his return in 2012 until 2014, Rheneas was voiced by Ben Small in both the British English and American English dubs of the series. Since 2016, Rheneas has been voiced by John Hasler, also in both English dubs. Ben Small and John Hasler both gave Rheneas a Welsh accent, reflecting his basis' origins.

O gauge model (Small scale)
Rheneas' small model was custom built from brass by the model maker, Peter Eves to run on O gauge track to the Gauge 1 Scale Standard during the production of the fourth series. 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.

Rheneas' 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.

Ten different facial expressions were sculpted for Rheneas, although only eight were used on-screen whilst two of which his laughing and shocked faces were left unused. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made of a silicone mould. Rheneas' unused laughing face was acquired by Twitter user ThomasTankMerch, who later supplied it to Twitter user TomsProps after he acquired the small scale Rheneas model (which before the face was supplied was faceless).

During the production of the sixth series, Rheneas' model was refurbished. As the small scale models of the narrow gauge engines were eventually superseded by the large scale models, Rheneas' repaint went unfinished, and the weathering and matte varnish were not applied.

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 the larger models being more frequently used at the time, Rheneas' small scale model would be disposed off by the company in favor of the large scale model, which would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership alongside his clean shell.

As of May 2021, Rheneas' small scale model, along with his nameboard is now owned and preserved by Twitter user, TomsProps, it alongside Duncan's small scale model and various other props from the TV series were originally owned by a private collector sometime after the model series ended before Tom would purchase Rheneas, Duncan and a Banksmen close up figure in 2018. His laughing face and coal load were supplied by ThomasTankMerch. In March of 2022, the model was put on display at the Basingstoke Model Railway Show alongside Duncan's small scale model, the models would also be displayed again on the 24 and 25th of September at the Spa Valley Railway Model Railway Weekend Event and at the G1MRA 75th Anniversary show on the 1st and 2nd of October and finally at The Midlands Art Centre Thomas Event on the 12th of November. Rheneas' prototype face would also be exhibited at the History of Thomas Event, some of his screen used faces would also be exhibited at the Awdry Extravaganza in 2021 alongside his prototype faces. A failed production made face cast would be put up for sale on Prop Gallery on the 6th September 2022 and a prototype face on November 10th 2022. The latter has "SK" written on the back, which could mean that the face was originally meant for Skarloey. Another prototype face was previously owned by Jonathan Saville.

O gauge model (Large scale)
For ease of filming and reliability, the fifth series introduced larger-scale versions of the narrow gauge engines and from the to twelfth series, Rheneas' large model was used exclusively. The larger-scale models were built to a larger scale than the gauge 1 engines and ran on O gauge track. They were close to 16mm scale but slightly larger.

Thirteen different facial expressions were sculpted for Rheneas, although only twelve were used on-screen and one of which a tired face was left unused. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made of a silicone mould.

Present Day
Rheneas' large scale model is now currently on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum in Japan. It had previously been on display at Nitrogen Studios. One of Rheneas' nameplates is now owned by Twitter user IssacM6991. Additionally his chuckling and neutral faces would be exhibited at the Awdry Extravaganza in 2021. The clean model is currently in Mattel's storage unit in Southampton England, Sam Wilkinson has expressed interest in exhibiting the model at a future Awdry Extravaganza Event fitting the model with a new chassis since the one the model used in Wash Behind Your Buffers was reused from the original model and fitted back onto said model after filming.

Close-up model
Close-up models were required for scenes where engines had to interact with the close-up scale human figures. However, Rheneas was the only narrow gauge engine from the original seven to not have his own close-up model.

In the fifth series episode, Rusty and the Boulder, a close-up shot of Rheneas' driver was required. As a close-up model for Rheneas did not exist, Rusty's close-up model was used briefly instead. This was achieved by a close-up shot of Rusty's circular cab porthole, which resembles one of Rheneas'.

CGI model
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Rheneas was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios in 2010 for production of the 2012 special Blue Mountain Mystery. His model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

Photographs of Rheneas' large scale model were used for reference. According to Greg Tiernan, every detail of the original television series models for each character is carefully reproduced in the CGI model. The models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval.

In addition, Nitrogen Studios went to the Talyllyn Railway and took measurements of Rheneas' basis, Dolgoch, so that his CGI model would resemble Dolgoch as closely as possible.

Rheneas has had modifications throughout the CGI era. These include:


 * Blue Mountain Mystery:
 * His buffer beam became accurate to his basis.
 * Lining was added to his splashers.
 * his eyes decreased in size.
 * A whistle was added to his dome.
 * His windows got glass and brass frames.
 * He got a Talyllyn Railway styled tail lamp.
 * A handrail was added to his boiler.
 * Rivets were added in numerous places.
 * He gained a new whistle sound.
 * Series 17:
 * He got a permanent headlamp and lamp irons.

The following pantone colours are used on Rheneas' CGI model:

Texture variants
In addition to his standard livery, two other texture variants exist of Rheneas' main CGI model. These however only appear once in Blue Mountain Mystery. These texture variants include:

Voice Actors

 * Ben Small
 * John Hasler
 * Ryōtarō Okiayu
 * Daiki Nakamura
 * Kunihiro Kawamoto
 * Jesse Grimm
 * Gadi Levy
 * Zvika Fohrman
 * Stan Limburg
 * Paul Disbergen
 * Stig Krogstad
 * Anders Sundstedt
 * Sigbjørn Solheim
 * Sergio Morel
 * Bartosz Martyna
 * Artur Pontek
 * Józef Pawłowski
 * Juan Navarro Torelló
 * Prokhor Chekhovskoy
 * Alexander Kotov
 * Anton Savenkov
 * Petteri Hynönen
 * Loukas Frangoulis
 * Renan Gonçalves
 * Christian Damsgaard
 * Shin Song-i
 * Um Sang-hyun
 * Baek Kyung-hoon
 * Kim Hye-seong