Seemingly developed in 2005, the Sodor Quarry Loader was released individually and in sets in 2006 and features a moving conveyer belt that lifts balls up to the top of a chute where they run down and back into the waiting tipper car.
In the United States and Canada the Sodor Quarry Loader was released in red and blue Motorized Road & Rail packaging in 2006. The individual release includes the main accessory base, the tipper car, three pieces that make up the static decorational hopper, three pieces for the conveyer belt, its support, and cover, and the chute and its two supports as well as 10 brown cargo balls.
The orange lever near the track stopper selects if an incoming train will pass straight through or stop as well as if the conveyer belt will run automatically using the train's wheels or manually using the crank. A series of levers and gearshafts inside couples the track rollers and crank into and out of the drivetrain.
Whenever a train pulling the tipper car passes, it will automatically dump out even if the train does not then stop to pick the cargo back up. This allows a player to let the train drop off balls in one lap of the layout and then pick them back up on another, or, if multiple quarries are used, multiple trains can cycle around with multiple tipper cars. The positioning of the rail stopper does mean that the tipper car needs to be the first car in line behind the power car - the C battery tender engines, Talk 'n' Action trains, and some other characters are thus incompatible as their tender or other attached car will be sitting where the cargo comes down the chute, although they can be placed into position by hand. There is even a collection trough for if balls come down the chute when there is no train in place, although usually the cargo ends up randomly on the track instead of making it all the way over to the collection area.
Also in 2006, this accessory was included in the 4877 Thomas Ultimate Set in the United States and in the 4827 Sodor Quarry Loader Set in the U.K., which was the only release of this accessory in Europe. (Note that only the single darker-colored ball is original to the Quarry Loader, with the other two being used for demonstration purposes)
Around 2010 when Tomy was exporting some Thomas-series Plarail items to other parts of Asia the quarry loader was released in light blue Asian-market Plarail packaging.
The only Japanese release of the quarry loader came in the 2006 Toys "R" Us exclusive set the Thomas Bridge and Quarry Mine Set.
This version of the loader is almost entirely identical other than the darker orange cargo from the international version being changed to a lighter tan. The hopper piece was also changed to be lighter tan - this matches the large rock built into the base of the structure and gives the cargo more contrast with the mostly orange and brown quarry loader. I prefer this version to the international release, but it is a lot less common.