# Thomas the Tank Engine animated series question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-the-tank-engine-animated-series-question/82385>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 18, 2001, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-the-tank-engine-animated-series-question/82385 "2001-09-18T14:42:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-the-tank-engine-animated-series-question/82385/1 "2001-09-18T14:42:02Z")

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Totnak has turned 1 1/2 and right on schedule has developed a serious case of train love. This happens so regularly in my family that I swear there must be a gene for it. Anyway. We dug out his big brother’s choo-choo picture books and, of course, his Thomas the Tank Engine videos. We’re watching a lot of TtTE lately.

A question about those videos. How did the Britt Alcroft people get the engines to give off steam at just the right moment? (“Live steam” model engines like you’d buy in a model railway shop give off a steady stream of puffs.) How were the eyes moved? It seems to me these things were not accomplished by stop-motion animation, particularly the steam. Was there some sort of remote-control system, or could the commands be sent down the tracks on the sets somehow?

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**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-the-tank-engine-animated-series-question/82385/2 "2001-09-18T15:09:19Z")

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but the “Theodore Tugboat” stuff is obviously done the  
same way.

My guess, since the boats are so well controlled, is that  
they’re essentially puppets, and not remote-controlled. I  
don’t think you could RC a boat that well.

I haven’t seen a TtTE tape in a few years (my older kid is  
7, and my younger isn’t into trains), but IIRC, the steam  
didn’t look like steam, it looked like really thick vapor  
you could squeeze out of a turkey-baster like instrument.

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**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-the-tank-engine-animated-series-question/82385/3 "2001-09-18T15:28:33Z")

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Can’t answer the OP, **flodnak** , but if you visit [this site](http://www.thomasthetankengine.com/home/homepage.html) you could maybe e-mail them directly to find the answer?

Toot-toot!