Wikipedia:WikiProject Animation/Thomas & Friends task force/FAQ

These Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) provide guidelines for editors about articles relating to The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry and Christopher Awdry, the Thomas and Friends TV series (formerly Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends), and the related movies and special releases. The questions cover editing and content issues which may be of concern to Wikipedians. The answers may not be considered as Wikipedia Policy, but they have been determined by consensus of editors maintaining the pages and are based on the official policies and guidelines.

If you cannot find an answer to your question on this page, please open a discussion on the Talk page of the article that concerns you, and someone should be along soon to try and help. If this still doesn't answer your problem, please ask your question at the talk page of Wikipedia:WikiProject Thomas, the WikiProject that looks after the 'Thomas' pages. Project members are watching this talk page and will try to answer your question promptly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why isn't there a separate page for character N?

There are a large number of characters associated with Thomas & Friends (especially) and with The Railway Series. Characters that only appear in one or two stories probably do not have enough depth to them to support a whole page to themselves, and hence their page would always be a stub.

WikiProject:Thomas was set up, in part, to reduce the number of separate articles about characters, locations, etc, and generally improve the quality of 'Thomas' articles. Project members decided that only certain characters were sufficiently notable to have their own pages, namely: Thomas, Edward, James, Gordon, Henry, Percy, Toby, and Emily (the so-called Steam Team); Donald and Douglas, Duck, Terence, Trevor, Bertie, Annie & Clarabel and the Fat Controller. All of these characters play significant roles in both the books and the TV series. (Emily is the exception here, being a late arrival to the TV series, and never appearing in the books; however, as part of the "Steam Team" she is automatically a major character.)

Other characters, including Oliver, BoCo, Daisy and Mavis (for example) are listed on 'grouped' character pages that describe the remaining major or minor characters together. Due to the unequal number of characters involved, different groupings have been used for the books and TV series.

The exceptions to the above rules – and an issue which is still to be resolved – are the 'major' characters (narrow gauge engines) from the Skarloey Railway, all of whom appear in multiple books and in multiple seasons of the TV series. These characters (Skarloey, Rheneas, Sir Handel, Peter Sam, Duncan, Rusty) seem to have escaped to their own pages at present, although this position is under ongoing review (pending possible re-merging into grouped character pages). Please do not create character pages for any of the other narrow gauge engine characters.

If you find an article about a character who is not in the 'approved' list above, please place a comment at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Thomas and one of the Project contributors will investigate and merge/redirect the article as appropriate.

I have heard about something on a forum, can I add it here?

Forums are not regarded as reliable sources for information to be included in Wikipedia articles. Therefore, anything 'discovered' on a forum will not be tolerated in Wikipedia articles, and any such information will be deleted. This particularly applies to speculation about the details of future TV Series or books, and the characters therein. Facts which can be verified by reliable sources may be added, however, even if they describe future TV seasons, as long as an appropriate reference is cited.

What about 'foreign' voice actors?

Thomas and Friends was originally written and broadcast in English. These versions used a narrator rather than a cast of actors, and the narrators are considered notable in themselves. The TV series has since been broadcast in a large number of other languages, either using single narrators or a group of voice actors. In view of the large number of languages and actors concerned, and the relatively trivial nature of the information, 'foreign voice actor' information should not be added to the 'Thomas' articles within Wikipedia. (Any such information will be removed.) Such information should be added to one of the other available Thomas-related wikis instead.

What about cameo appearances?

A cameo appearance is where a character appears in an episode of the TV series but (a) takes no part in the plot, and usually (b) has no speaking role either. There is little of interest (to the general reader) that could be written about such a cameo, except that it happened. Hence, as far as Wikipedia is concerned, such cameos are not important, and should not be mentioned in articles: information about cameo appearances will be removed.

Can I write about the next book or TV season on Wikipedia?

The simple answer is, "No, 'not yet'."

If a new season of the TV Series or a new book in the Railway Series is announced, the only information which should be added to Wikipedia is that which can be verified by reliable sources. Once the series has been broadcast, or the book has been published, it may be used as an additional source, and any new characters may be added to the appropriate articles. Anything that cannot be verified counts as 'speculation' and will be removed for being contrary to Wikipedia's principles.

Can I add a list of 'Thomas' models by Tomy/Lego/Bachmann/etc... ?

Please do not! (It will be deleted.)

Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information, which means that articles listing 'Thomas' merchandise should not be created. Quite apart from being boring to read, such lists are difficult to verify from reliable sources as either accurate or complete, and hence do not belong in an encyclopaedia.

The article Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends merchandise is intended to describe the huge variety of merchandising associated with the TV series. The intention is to cover the most widely-available (and therefore, popular) ranges and products in just enough detail to be encyclopaedic and interesting to the average reader looking for information about 'Thomas' merchandise. This means that there is no place for lists of the characters released by Tomy, Learning Curve, Hornby, Ertl, Bachmann, Lego, or the other model manufacturers.

Other wikis, such as Train Spotting World (see below) are better suited to containing this information.

Background

Until the start of 2007, Wikipedia did include individual page lists of models. These pages fell far short of the standards required by Wikipedia. In March 2007, a number of Wikipedia contributors discussed and agreed that such lists of merchandise have no place in Wikipedia, and should not be kept. (See the archived (lengthy) discussions here.) Before deletion, the list pages were copied to a companion Wiki, Train Spotting World (TSW), where the requirements for verifiability are less strict. The pages may be found in the TSW category for Thomas merchandise. When moved, in April 2007, the TSW pages were in desperate need of a knowledgeable editor who could fashion them into definitive lists. Your help will still be welcomed there.

Why was my edit removed?

The most common reason for an edit being removed by a member of WikiProject Thomas is that it was regarded as a superfluous comment. This is a comment which either adds nothing of note to the article in which it was written, or else only provides unnecessary information.

Superfluous information can also include the addition of non-notable "characters" to articles, such as describing in detail every single type of coach seen in the TV Series, where one section titled "Other coaches" would suffice.

As the WikiProject Thomas Guidelines for Contribution clearly state, "Remember that not everyone who looks at Wikipedia is a Thomas fan." This means that all the content to be contained in articles needs to be relevant, in-context, and not go off on unrelated tangents. Information which you – as a Thomas & Friends / Railway Series fan – may find intriguing, may in fact be useless to someone reading the article for the first time. Please consider these other people. If you want to collect trivial facts, then by all means start your own fan site, but keep Wikipedia encyclopedic.

Other reasons for edits being reverted include:

• unverified information (such as talk of future seasons)

• False edits, which contain information which is simply false. (Remember that members of WikiProject Thomas are very knowledgeable on the areas covered by the Project's scope.)

• "Cross-contamination" between Railway Series and TV Series aspects. (It is clearly stated in the Scope of this Project that coverage of the two series is to be kept separate.)

• Structural change that does not follow the guidelines laid down by WikiProject Thomas – for example, replacing a redirect page with character information removed from a 'grouped' page.

• Changing section titles on 'grouped' character pages – for example, replacing the heading Edward with Edward the Blue Engine. The existing titles (headings) are used for 'anchored links', sometimes from a Contents box: changing the title will break these links and prevent the Contents table from working properly. (Suggestions for changes to an existing heading title should be discussed on the article's Talk Page.)

• Other edits which are seen to be going against the aims of WikiProject Thomas – such as altering images to ones of poorer standard, "Original Research" (eg. listing your own interpretations), and edits which compromise the integrity of articles.

In any case, if your edit has been reverted, check the edit summaries for the article (by clicking history at the top of the web page), and the Talk Page for the relevant article (by clicking discussion at the top of the web page). If you still don't understand why your edit was reverted, drop a message onto the article's Talk page. Members of WikiProject Thomas are always happy to discuss reasons behind edits, and will always act in the best interests of articles within the scope of the Project.

Can I add a picture of a character?

Without exception, screenshots of characters taken from episodes of the TV Series are the copyright of the production company (and/or rights holder). Wikipedia requires all images to be freely available for re-use, including commercial re-use. Essentially, therefore, the only images which can be used within Wikipedia are those without copyright restrictions.

There is a get-out clause, however. It may be possible to include an image on a 'non-free use' basis, and this is how the existing photos have managed to remain in place. To add an image, first examine the Fair Use Rationale of an existing picture, and then consult Wikipedia:Non-free content, and only then consider actually adding the image in accordance with that article. The process is a bit of a minefield, and there are bots watching for the adding of illegal images, so don't be surprised if your image is removed again later.

Why was my new picture changed back?

Each character page only permits a single picture to depict each character. Therefore, the choice of image is incredibly important. The image should be clear (in focus) and show as much of the character as possible, for example: an engine, ideally, should have visible their face, funnel, wheels, body, and tender (if applicable).

The images already present have been carefully selected over time. Hence, it is considered harmful to change these images without discussion, or without the "new" image being obviously more appropriate or of noticeably higher quality. However, it is recognised that there is room for improvement, so new images will always be considered.

Where images are considered to be appropriate, they MUST be tagged with the appropriate usage attribution. Untagged images will be removed immediately and without question – an untagged image will be automatically deleted by the Wiki software after a week, and it is inappropriate to have a broken link in an article where a picture should be.

Pictures of characters from the Railway Series books may NOT be added to Wikipedia articles. The concept of 'fair use' permits screenshots of the TV series to be included, however, more stringent copyright laws prevent copies of book pictures from being added here. The book covers may be permitted under 'fair use' rules, however.

Can I use a Thomas Wikia page as a reference?

No. The 'Thomas and Friends' Wikia site (http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/Thomas_%26_Friends) does not count as a Reliable Source. The articles may be edited by any editor (as at Wikipedia), but may contain spurious information, although the site was originally set-up by former contributors to this WikiProject and some fact-checking is likely; however, no references for the information are provided, and sources are likely to include fansites and blogs -- which are not permitted here.

Can I use the "Real Lives of Thomas the Tank Engine" site as a reference?

Yes. The "Real Lives of Thomas the Tank Engine" site, controlled and largely written by Martin Clutterbuck, has been established for a number of years and 'real fans' of The Railway Series books (especially) have provided research and related information and checked facts from numerous available sources, including the unpublished original writings of the Rev Awdry himself. Since the site is very much peer-reviewed, and the editing contributions are tightly controlled, it does count as a Reliable Source.

Definitions

'Series' or 'Season'?

In many places (outside the articles over-seen by members of WikiProject Thomas), the terms "season" and "series" are often used interchangeably, or inconsistently. However, in line with Wikipedia:Naming conventions (television), the term 'series' should be used always. For consistency of style, the word 'series' should always be capitalised when referring to a specific series (followed by the series number), for example: "Series 8", "Series 1-4". However, when referring to the series in more general terms, the word should be all lower-case, for example: "this series", "the ninth series", "the first four series".
(This has not been applied rigidly before now, so please feel free to correct any inconsistencies you may find to comply with this policy.)

NB – until November 2010, a slightly different nomenclature was recommended by WikiProject Thomas:

• "Series" referred to the TV Series as a whole: all episodes and seasons, not any one specifically.
• "Season" referred to a set of episodes which were grouped together, and identified numerically (for example, Season 1, Season 2, etc.). While referring to this subset of episodes, the term "season" was always to be used.

An example using both terms follows:

The series used stories from The Railway Series for the first four seasons, however Season 5 consisted entirely of original stories.

'Engine', 'Locomotive' or 'Train'?

Steam locomotive and diesel locomotive characters in the Railway Series books are always referred to as 'engines', and the TV series continues this policy. Therefore, Wikipedia articles concerning the characters should always use the terms 'engine' or 'engines'. (The exception to this is where the character is first introduced, when the term 'locomotive' is appropriate to accurately define what the character is.)

The term train should NEVER be used to describe an individual character. A train comprises a locomotive and one or more trucks or coaches; a locomotive travelling by itself is called a 'light engine', not a train.

Guidelines for character descriptions

The following section was created regarding Railway engines (Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends), to outline what is expected within that specific article. The general principles apply to other WP:THOMAS articles too.

"Clearer standards for Railway Engines - TV Series"

As a part of the work done by WikiProject Thomas, some standards for character articles have been established. These are to ensure that character articles, WikiProject Thomas articles, and Wikipedia as a whole, are of high quality and maintain their integrity. The development of these standards can be viewed at WikiProject Thomas Talk.

These standards include the following:

Character inclusion/exclusion

The basis for characters being included in this article, is dependent upon the following:

• The character must be a railway engine from the TV Series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (aka Thomas and Friends). This clearly rules out any characters which have only appeared in The Railway Series or films.
• The character must be able to be considered a part of the "regular fleet" of engines in the series. If not featured in recent seasons, the character must be able to feasibly return. If the character cannot be seen as a "regular" (eg. only had one appearance), then the correct article for the character is Minor characters from Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.
• This page is to be the only reference page (from a TV Series perspective) for all engines, except the following major characters:

• Thomas
• Edward
• Henry
• Gordon
• James
• Percy
• Toby
• Duck
• Donald and Douglas
• Emily

Separate articles should not be created for any engines other than those above.

Naming conventions

Some engines have, throughout history, have had "extended names", such as "Thomas the Tank Engine". There are only eight "extended names" which are considered appropriate, based on their consistent use throughout earlier seasons of the TV Series, as well as their origins in The Railway Series books. These are:

• Thomas the Tank Engine
• Edward the Blue Engine
• Henry the Green Engine
• Gordon the Big Engine
• James the Red Engine
• Percy the Small Engine
• Toby the Tram Engine
• Duck the Great Western Engine

Any other engines being given descriptive names (eg. "Murdoch the Mighty Engine") does not have any consistent, official basis. Please consider that using an adjective to describe an engine does not therefore make it an official naming convention.

Character list

The use of the character list at the head of this article bypasses the need for a Table Of Contents, and conveniently displays information, while anchor-linking within this article to each character's section. It is listed in order of first appearance within the series, which may not necessarily be the same order as they are listed within the article proper. This is intentional, as "Engines 1-11" can be placed in numerical order in the article, though Gordon (#4) appeared in the Series before Edward or Henry (#2 & #3).

Numbers

This has been the subject of some heated discussion in the past. Despite some engines (particularly diesel engines) carrying numbers (often similar as their prototypes upon which they were based), this often has no bearing on actual running of the railways in the Series. As such, it has been declared that ONLY the following engines' numbers will be specified in the Character List:

• 1-11 Standard Gauge (Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby, Duck, Donald, Douglas, Oliver)
• 1-7 Narrow Gauge (Skarloey, Rheneas, Sir Handel, Peter Sam, Rusty, Duncan, Fearless Freddie)
• 27 (Harvey - "the number 27, including the Narrow Gauge engines and excluding Diesel, accurately reflects him being the 27th addition to the fleet of engines working on Sodor. [Quoted direct from article])

Miscellaneous

• As this TV Series is a British series, British spelling and grammar should be used, rather than American spelling or grammar.
• The section titles should not be changed, as changing them would mess with anchored links from dozens of other articles.
• As with all other articles, superfluous comments which add nothing to the article are inappropriate, and should be removed.

Please, feel free to discuss

While the above standards may seem restrictive and stifling, it has been necessary to reach a set of common standards after over a year of editing this page (to my knowledge). However, if you disagree with any of these standards, or wish to discuss them, then please feel free to do so. We always welcome valuable input from other users.

On behalf of WikiProject Thomas,

Original author:Gonzerelli 17:40, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Copied to FAQs by EdJogg 14:10, 5 February 2007 (UTC)