Smokey

"Great fires of Sodor!"

— Smokey's Catchphrase

Smokey
Model Type: Modified Tilt Cab 80 Series, Howe Grumman, later Panther Number: E-69 Designer: Chevrolet, later Rosenbauer License Number: TJH56, later KML59 Arrived on Sodor: 1966 Occupation: Firefighter

Smokey is the main fire engine of the Sodor Fire Service.

Bio

Not much is known for Smokey's early life, he first worked at the Sodor Fire Department and was first to hear that Tidmouth Sheds was on fire, so he races off with Snorkel and Snozzle to put it out. When they're done, they'll pack up and go home for a rest after he says: "By the way sir you're somewhat very very naughty."

Persona

Smokey could always use his courage while putting out fires. He often likes to race to the rescue and there is nothing better while doing teamwork. His bravery puts in his heartful mind which makes him a proud fire engine for being brave to the core. He's always part of the Sodor Rescue Squad Team.

Basis

In The Trouble With Trains 3, Smokey was first based on an AEC Mercury fire engine while it includes the rear end of the International Tankboy.

Smokey is a hybrid design based upon a heavily modified 1966 Chevrolet Spartan Thibault Tilt Cab 80 Series Fire Engine with Rosco Mirrors Performastyle rear view mirrors, an elevating ladder control on the left side controls and a Simon-snorkel with a folding cage added in his compartment to make him an aerial rescue pump. He has no similarities to LEGO City Fire sets, however, his similar assets are taken from the 7043 LEGO World City fire boat. To fit in with the other characters on Sodor, Smokey has a steering wheel on the right hand inside his cab. His model is a standard pumper engine in Childersburg, Alabama. It should be noted that most if not all Tilt Cab 80 Series fire engines in real life do not have a Simon-snorkel as it is not necessary.

Smokey's basis

The inspiration for his two siren lights from his basis

Early Basis (the inspiration for his bumper)

The inspiration for his heavily modified roof and rear end including controls

Around his facelift in the revamped first and second series, Smokey is upgraded as another hybrid design based upon the 1987 Chevrolet Howe Grumman COE Big Block 427 prior to his cab being extended, while he keeps his similar rear view mirrors and entire rear vehicle self since the first series. In the thirteenth series, he has combined aspects of the Volvo FL6 Fire Engine or MAN Fire Engine, and a Dennis Sabre Fire Engine's front end.

Smokey's second basis.

The inspiration for his bumper.

The inspiration for his lower piece of his front end.

In the thirtieth series onwards, Smokey gained another facelift, and is based entirely on the Rosenbauer Panther 6x6 Fire Engine with a neu-hell ladder and a full caged platform to make him a turntable ladder combined rescue pump. Some of the Panther models are equipped with an extendable hose arm as high-reach extendable turrets.

Smokey's proposed third basis.

Smokey's current basis.

Livery

Smokey is painted red all over with yellow lining painted horizontally. Like other fire engines, he wears the logo "Sodor Fire" on the sides of his doors.

Since Rescue Squad on Sodor, he joins the Sodor Rescue Squad wearing the logo "Rescue Squad Smokey" which is the same badge. His number plate TJH56 refers to Tom Hanks' birthday, as of Series 9, his new one KML59 refers to Kyle MacLachlan's birthday and as of Series 29, his second new one JMH61 refers to Jim Hanks' birthday.

In the twenty-eighth series, he now has neon yellow and Earth blue stripes to match the London Fire Brigade's color striping.

Appearences

Thomas & Friends: Continued

• Series 1: Thomas Meets His New Friends

Specials

• The Trouble With Trains 3 (debut)

Voice Actors

• Tom Hanks - (Series 1 to Series 8)
• Kyle MacLachlan - (Series 9 to Series 26)
• Jim Hanks - (Series 27, onwards)

Sound Effects

Horn

First used	Last used	Sound Effect
Series 6	Series 30

Siren

First used	Last used	Sound Effect
Series 1	Series 29

Trivia

• Smokey is named after Smokey the Bear and Smokey Robinson. His catchphrase is the inspiration to the character's famous slogan, "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires".
• Smokey is the first of a few things:
  • The first road character to be made of LEGO.
  • The first British-American fire engine to be introduced in the Thomas & Friends series and the midquel series.
• Smokey is greatly the inspiration of Jupiter and Fireman Sam, both from Fireman Sam.
• Smokey has been modified for use on Sodor. In his cab, he has the steering wheel set on the right hand.
• How Smokey is piloted is a mystery, as his eyes embed the cab's transparent windscreen. Smokey did have firefighters who, much like the engines' drivers, was accepted in the script whenever possible.
• Smokey has a windscreen, and is given pupil eyes that embed on his windshield, eyebrows for his wipers and a mouth embedded on his bumper instead of a grey face. Also, his roof is modified to look like a squished firefighter's hat. This is presumably so that he can have a better view while driving.
  • As of the CGI series, his eyes are embedded on the modified rear deck of the dashboard which allows the drivers to see through when driving.
• Unlike Roy from Robocar Poli and Rojo from Dora The Explorer, Smokey's face design (eyes where his front cab window would be) is a standard on most cartoon fire trucks. He is the only fire engine and second character with this design, the first being Jeremy.
• Smokey differs from his basis in a few ways, such as:
  • He has blue strobe lights whereas his basis has red strobe lights.
  • He has a Simon-snorkel with a folding cage and levers that control it whereas his basis does not.
  • He has horns mounted on the sides of his cab roof.
  • He has modern rear-view mirrors rather than his basis having classic ones.
  • His rear deck is modified to look taller to accommodate the eyes.
  • His steering wheel is now on the right-hand side, rather than it being on the left-hand side like American trucks.
• Smokey has had a few modifications throughout the television series, these include:
  • The Trouble With Trains 3:
    • He is an aerial rescue pump.
    • He shares the same siren sounds with Jupiter from Fireman Sam.
    • His siren was a Whelen Alpha style siren, although no emergency services used this siren until the mid 90's.
    • He also had two-tone horns which were only used between The Trouble With Trains 3 and the pilot series.
    • His roof is painted in black.
    • He has a similar firefighter emblem from the 7043 LEGO World City fire boat rather than the "Sodor Fire" lettering on the sides of his cab.
      • While it is unknown the exact reason for this change, it is most likely so that the English names for the characters will not appear in other dubs.
  • Series 1 (Pilot Series and Finalized):
    • His roof is painted red.
    • His horns are yellow.
    • He gains old two-tone horns as opposed to his siren tone.
    • He gains his TJH56 number plate only on the back.
  • Post-Pilot Series:
    • He gains a white and red wasp stripe and a PN60183 number plate after the pilot series wrapped up.
  • Series 13:
    • He gained outriggers on the sides of his cab and also two more that extends the snorkel.
    • His cab had a facelift which incorporates; Volvo FL6 bumper and Dennis Sabre front-end, a yellow strip and 2 strobe lights either side of the grille.
      • However, his grille on the bumper represents his moustache.
    • He gains his KML59 number plate only on the back.
  • Series 23:
    • He gained a dark blue stripe and a large width stripe under the short width stripe.
  • Storm the Castle:
    • As Smokey 2000, He gained some of the following:
      • Six strobe lights are on his entire front.
      • Lattice frame are on his windshield (to represent shutter shades).
      • Black snowplow with yellow wasp stripes is on his front end under his bumper.
      • Jet engines are on the sides where his ladders used to be.
      • Two water cannons are mounted on his platform.
      • Mudguards are added over his wheels.
      • Flame decal is added around his front.
    • Near the end of the special, he retains his old front end from the first series, after reversing from Smokey 2000.
  • Series 28:
    • He gained a JMH61 number plate only on the back.
    • His stripe color changed to neon yellow as opposed to bright yellow.
  • Series 29:
    • He gained a seat for Gremlin to observe over the roof.
    • On the bumper of Smokey, he includes a sidling compartment where the toolbox and replacement parts are stored.
    • He gained his own trailer that can carry cargo, small rail vehicles such as Belle, Thomas, Percy, Toby, Diesel, Duck, Bill, Ben, Mavis, Timothy, Shawn, Felicia, Glynn, Billy, Charlie, Harvey, Rosie, Porter, Salty, Ryan, Sandy, Austin, Winston, Nia, Skarloey, Rheneas, Sir Handel, Peter Sam, Rusty, Duncan, Freddie, Mighty Mac, Luke, Duke, Bertram, or Proteus, road vehicles such as Terence, Bertie, Bulgy, Sally, Royce, Wilson, Caroline, or Sir Topham Hatt's Car, and water vehicles such as Captain or Rover.
  • Series 30:
    • Smokey was well past his service life, so he is upgraded into a brand-new model by Ruth but now with more features to make it a turntable ladder combined rescue pump.
    • He has two water cannons on the top of the cab.
    • He is powered by an electric motor.
    • He gained an extra wheelset, meaning he has six wheels as opposed to four wheels.
    • He retains the special booster seat for Gremlin which was installed on the previous upgrade in Series 29.
    • He lost his Chevrolet emblem and gained his Rosenbauer emblem.
    • He now has locker doors covering his water pumps as opposed to them being exposed.
    • He has a turntable ladder with a full cage and a large water monitor.
      • The Turntable Ladder is controlled by a joystick in his cab.
      • He gained a neu-hell ladder, meaning that the two ladders that he had on both sides are part of the turntable ladder and full cage.
    • He has a towing wheel lift that can tow Hoover.
    • He resembles an airport fire and rescue vehicle.
    • He has two blue foam tanks as opposed to two short extension ladders.
    • He gained a new wail and yelp siren akin to The Trouble With Trains 3, as opposed to his two-tone horns.
    • He gained an extended trailer that can also carry big engines like Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Donald, Douglas, Emily, Spencer, Murdoch, Molly, Neville, Hank, Hiro, Ferdinand, Stephen, Caitlin, and Connor.
• He is driven by Justin Furneaux along with Rafael James.
• Tom Hanks greatly uses the voice he used for voicing The Conductor from The Polar Express for him.
• Kyle MacLachlan uses the voice he used for voicing Bill Andersen from Inside Out for him.
• Smokey has many concept designs and early sketches as he was originally planned. These include:
  • He is originally going to be called "Ernie" as based upon a Dennis F8 fire engine.
  • He is originally planned to be based on a Dennis SS131 Fire Truck. The bumper is carried on to his model and the entire basis carried on to Angus.
  • In the thirteenth series, he was originally planned to be a Pierce Quantum. Pierce takes over his originally planned basis.
  • In the thirtieth series, he was originally planned to be based on a Rosenbauer Avenger and a Rosenbauer Commander.
• Smokey is parked in the third bay of the new fire station.
• Smokey's form of his CGI model are actually made from scratch as a reminiscent to the front end, elevating ladder and folding platform with water monitor from Jupiter from Fireman Sam. His hose reel is reused from Flynn's hose reel and his wheels are reused from Max and Monty's wheels.

Gallery

Concept Art

Smokey's Concept Basis

Smokey's attempt concept.

The Trouble With Trains 3

Smokey in the fire station.

Smokey's windshield.

Smokey exiting the garage.

Smokey, Snorkel, and Snozzle rushes to the rescue.

Smokey rushes to the rescue in the town limits.

Smokey's strobe lights.

Smokey, Snorkel, and Snozzle arrived at the scene.

Smokey's cab side.

Smokey's ladder control.

Smokey and one of his colleagues.

Non-rail vehicles

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* RWS only | ** T&F only | *** Other Media only | *** T&F:C only

Sodor Rescue Squad

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Sodor Fire

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