In the early 1980s before The Railway Series books by Rev W. Awdry of Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends were receiving the greenlight to be adapted into a television series, a low-budget pilot episode was made and was pitched to several networks in April 3, 1983. The pilot was based off the story called Down The Mine from the eighth book from The Railway Series, Gordon the Big Engine. Visually the pilot is largely consistent with the final series, using similar camera angles and featuring the same locations as the final episode.
The pilot was used strictly for screening purposes, however, a shot from the twenty fifth episode of the first season, Down The Mine (which is also the name of the pilot), was re-used from the pilot episode. Thomas sits on a hand built plastic chassis, with plunger pickups providing power to his motor and smoke unit. Minor details such as lining and lamp irons are missing. This chassis caused much trouble during shooting, and so the decision was made to use modified off-the-shelf Marklin chassis for the final series.
Photos of Gordon's pilot model, by engine builders Martin Gill and David Payne can be found in an interview with Christopher Noulton by Sodor Island Fansite.
Release[]
On 8 May 2025, it was announced the pilot will be released on 9 May on the Official YouTube Channel, just ahead of the the 80th anniversary of the franchise.
SewerReviewer's video on the subject.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0QDKzaEMYY
Scribbles to Screen's video mentioning the "Down the Mine" pilot. (5:41-9:00): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foPFm5OrS7I
SewerReviewer's video on the still image.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExdwX8_o9AA
SewerReviewer's follow-up video on the subject.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEzGC8ZV1gM