Attractive large scale ANNIE coach to complement your "Thomas the Tank
Engine" inventory. Hook and loop style couplers.
Not only do ANNIE and CLARABEL carry passengers for Thomas, but they also act
as advisors and confidantes. On several occasions they have warned him about
potential hazards, and Thomas invariably runs into trouble when he ignores their
warnings. Annie and Clarabel are occasionally pulled by other engines when
Thomas is busy, but Thomas always worries for their safety.
The coaches first appeared in the 1946 book Thomas
the Tank Engine, in which they were awarded to Thomas along with his branch
line. In this first, brief appearance, they were not named. In Tank
Engine Thomas Again (1949), they were given names and their characters
were greatly expanded upon. They appeared in the first season of the television
programme Thomas
the Tank Engine and Friends and have been in every season since, although
they have not had a speaking role since Season 9.
In The Railway Series, they are depicted as bogie coaches (ie each coach is
supported on a pair of four-wheeled bogies or "trucks"). In the television
series they are depicted as four-wheeled coaches – they are built on a rigid
chassis, with fixed axles. Annie is generally depicted as having a slightly
shocked expression, while Clarabel usually appears smiling. In both series they
appear in a plain orangey-brown colour, and in the television series they
additionally have their names painted on their bodysides. The colour scheme is
based on that of the former British LNER railway, which formed the basis for a
number of Awdry's early characters, whose carriages were not painted in the
normal manner of other railways, but had a teak-wood finish on the outside,
which was plain varnished over, the resulting livery being known as "varnished
teak". When steel carriages were introduced later a paint scheme was devised by
the LNER which closely resembled this colour scheme.
