BoCo (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

Background information
BoCo is a fictional standard gauge diesel created by the Rev. W. Awdry. BoCo lives and works on the North Western Railway.

BoCo first appeared in the second series episode The Diseasel, which first aired in 1986. His last appearance was in the fifth series episode Stepney Gets Lost, which was released in 1998.

BoCo is a Metropolitan-Vickers Type 2 Class 28 diesel-electric locomotive, named after its wheel arrangement, which is known as "Co-Bo". Originally, BoCo carried the number D5702, which belonged to a real BR Class 28. The real D5702 was built in 29 September, 1958, and was withdrawn on 7th September, 1968, before being scrapped at J. Cashmore Scrapyards the following year.

In a 2015 interview with Sodor Island Fansite (SiF), railway consultant Sam Wilkinson expressed his interest to reintroduce BoCo into the CGI Series, however this never came to fruition.

Gauge 1 model
BoCo’s model was custom built with a plastic body shell. It was painted using glossy car body paint and the numbers were custom cut vinyl stickers. BoCo’s buffer housings were sourced from a gauge 1 locomotive made by Märklin, the BR 80. The original buffers were replaced with custom oval buffers. The coupling frame and brake pipes were sourced from Tenmille.

Faces
Seven different facial expressions were sculpted for BoCo, although only five were used on-screen and two, a sleeping and laughing face respectively, were used in some promotional images. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould. Some of BoCo's faces have shared the same sculpt appearance as Daisy's but with added make-up on.

Fonts
The following fonts were used on BoCo's Gauge 1 model:
 * Univers Condensed

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, BoCo's model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

In August 2021, BoCo's model was displayed at the 'Clearwater Weekend' event at the Midland Railway Centre. However, the body rested in an express coach bogie, as BoCo's original Märklin "25" Diesel Shunter bogie was being used for Daisy in Drayton Manor at the time. BoCo would be displayed again in August 2022, this time featuring his original chassis which was removed from Drayton Manor for the event.

August 2022 Clearwater Weekend
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BoCo has had some modifications throughout the television series. These include:


 * Series 3:
 * His horn sound changed completely to a two-toned horn that he used which is Mavis', but some steps lower-pitched.
 * Series 4:
 * His horn sound changed back to its original sound and shared the same with Daisy.

Voice Actors

 * Shinobu Satouchi
 * Naoki Kinoshita