An e-mail from Britt Alcroft R.I.P.

 

 

Only a couple of days into 2025 we all woke up to the sad news of Britt Alcroft, creator of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends and The Magic Adventures of Mumfie passing away. A lady whose vision created so many happy childhoods around the world, and heavily influenced my interest in Model Railways.

I would like to take the opportunity to share a e-mail I recieved from Britt when I was 13 years old in remembrance of her. 

Nearly 20 years ago (Ouch) before I joined any of the Thomas fandom, I used to browse all the Thomas related websites, including Britt Alcroft's professional site, apart from one or two pages talking about both Thomas and Mumfie, there was not an awful lot to look at but I would often check back to see if anything new had been added, and one day I realised there was an e-mail address.

So I decided to type an e-mail to that address despite not knowing whether it would go directly to Britt Alcroft herself, or if I would even get a reply. I wrote to say how much I loved Thomas, and that my dream was to meet her one day and go and visit the film studio where the series was made. (Bear in mind I had no idea that Britt was no longer working on Thomas at that point in time)

Time passed, I didn't hear anything,

and then one day,

there it was in my Inbox.

 

Dear Thomas,

Thank you very much for taking the trouble to contact me at our website.

Thank you, too, for all the nice things you have said in this e-mail.

I certainly won’t laugh at the news of you being 13 years old. I always am pleased that Thomas (the blue one!) has so many fans of all ages.

I do like steam trains and can even remember riding in one with my mum to London from my home seaside town when I was a little girl.

If ever I have another opportunity to invite guests to a location where Thomas’ adventures are filmed, I’ll remember your dream.

No- I wasn’t the creator of tugs but I am the creator of Britt Allcroft’s Magic Adventures of Mumfie, Shining Time Station and our new TV series for kids called Scoobs.

Watch out for more information on this on our website.



Have great times!



All the Best,

Britt Allcroft

 

Looking back, its hard to put into words how I truly felt, but...Oh My God...It was really Britt Alcroft! 

The most wonderful thing that could have happened had happened, the lady who heavily influenced my childhood actually took the time to read my e-mail and write one back, with no personal assistant writing on her behalf. 

I was so excited! 

So excited that I sent her a follow up e-mail proposing a new engine to put in the series (As if she hadn't had thousands of those sent to her already) I can't remember what I named my engine, but rather naively I assumed she would consider making him.

Sadly, I never got to visit the model sets or meet Britt, but knowing how deeply she cared about her fans and that she kept every drawing and every letter that she recieved, it made me truly appreciate just how special she was.

Before this, I hadn't joined the forums or had any other friends who loved Thomas as much as I did, so to have had this e-mail when I felt the most alone with my interest truly meant the world!

Thank you for everything Britt, R.I.P.

Resources

Image (c) https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/

Turning Suburbun Coaches back to Paddy Trains.

Hi there,

Remember these two?

These are my Annie and Clarabel Mrk I's. I finished them in 2019, and they are about to have their wheels repositioned!

Annie made from the Connoisseur Models N.E.R Four Wheeled, Five Compartment, All Third Coach kit.

Clarabel made from the Connoisseur Models N.E.R Four Wheeled Brake Third Coach With Birdcage Guards Lookout kit. (The lookout point was removed and the roof piece joined together)

These oddball coaches were adapted to make a TVS style Annie and Clarabel, the TV coaches were made from the Tenmile Stroudley Firsts kits. Roxey Mouldings produce the Stroudley coach kits for O gauge but they were more expensive then the Connoisseur ones. As the N.E.R carriages were sent to collieries and light railways this allowed for them to be painted in some rather unsual liveries so I didn't feel silly about painting the kits in Railway Series/Thomas colours.

For the underframes I stupidly attempted to replicate what I thought I saw on the TVS models, rather than follow the coach drawings. As I was attempting to copy screen shots from the show less of the N.E.R kits pieces got used e.g Axle Guards, Brakes, Lamp Hole Covers. The door hingers weren't used because this was my first time kit building a coach and for some reason I didn't think to put them in. 

 

Another thing I forgot to do when I was building Clarabel (As she was the first coach to be built) was to cut out her front windows, so the entire kit was assembled without and it meant I couldn't give Annie her windows either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instead of the appropoiate axle guards I opted for seperate brass W Irons, with Slaters wagon axle boxes and springs. The reason for using these axle springs was because I thought the ones on the TVS models were alot smaller compared with what came with the kit. I have also stuck the wheels too close to each other, this again was me looking at the TVS models rather than following the proper diagram.

Rest assured I will never do it this way again.

I decided I couldn't live with them looking like this anymore, so in 2021 I bought the Stroudley Firsts brass kits to make Annie and Clarabel Mrk II's.

And then turn the Mrk I's back into N.E.R. coaches.

The pre-drilled holes for the hanging footboards made it easier to line up the new axle guards properly.

Hopefully you can see the difference.

The paint had to be stripped down so that I could solder the whitemetal castings to the coach base.

Annie has been double wrapped with Tamiya tape to protect her Teak coat.

Just as before the bottom is sprayed with Red Oxide for the undercoat.

Then the coach is given a spray of Matt Black, which miraculously matches the previous paint, and thankfully the paint didn't leak under the tape and onto the teak finish.

Now Connoisseur Models make their own suspension units, sprung ones to be exact. The example shown above is from Walsall Model Industries. They are not sprung but and I wanted to give them a test run. They were also cheaper.  

Once the compensation units are assembled, the ends of the axles need to be cut back and the Axle Guards then become cosmetic fittings, rather than active W Irons.

 

 

And here is the model so far, very happy now that the wheels are where they should be, I'm hoping the coach will perform a lot better too!

The original plan was to fit the two coaches with the hanging footboards and brakes, but as a lot of the detailing is missing I decided to scrap that idea and keep them the way they are. I am still debating whether to put the Lamp Hole Covers and Lamp Top Holes on the roof or not.

 

These two will now be used to make up another train and will also be used as extra coaches for my Annie and Clarabel Mrk II's.

Clarabel is next, watch this space! 

 

Image Scources 

@tomsmodellingcorner

https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_the_Tank_Engine_Wiki

https://dvlr.org.uk/