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1%% Zero content examples are not allowed on the wiki. Please add context before uncommenting them.
2
3Since its inception in 1945, the Railway Series has given birth to a multitude of characters, both engine and human alike.
4
5This page will strictly stay within the continuity of the books, entirely separate from the television show which can be seen [[Characters/ThomasAndFriends here]].
6----
7[[foldercontrol]]
8
9[[folder:Engines of the North Western Railway]]
10
11The primary railway featured in the Railway Series. The NWR features a multitude of lines, run and worked by a multitude of engines.
12
13!'''Edward the Blue Engine, #2'''
14[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainedwardrws2.png]]
15(Furness Railway/Sharpe Stewart Large Seagull 4-4-0)
16
17Built: 1896
18
19Arrived on Sodor: 1915
20
21The first character introduced in the series, Edward was at first neglected and shafted for being smaller than the other engines, but eventually got his chance to run again after pity from his driver. Despite his old age and trial after trial of proving he still got it, he was recognized for being Really Useful and was repaired. Edward now spends his time at the Brendam Bay branch line, his very own.
22----
23* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Often gets mocked for being old, usually by Gordon, James, and Henry.
24* BigBrotherMentor: Often to the younger engines like Thomas and Percy.
25* CartoonCreature: Just barely [[AvertedTrope averted]]. Edward being a Large Seagull was an after-the-fact decision to pick an prototype that closely and plausibly resembled Edward as drawn by the earlier, less detail-oriented artists. Edward was one of the first engines on the NWR and highly modified over the years, explaining his unique design.
26* CharacterDevelopment: A subtle one, but Edward was initially a bit of an ExtremeDoormat and much more thin skinned about the others' teasing him in early books, outright being reduced to tears in the first story. In most later stories he has grown to shrug off the others' rudeness. He laughs off Gordon's pomposity in ''Main Line Engines'' and is later dismissive towards him and Bill and Ben's antics, even telling the big engine he had it coming.
27* CoolOldGuy: Especially in ''Old Iron'' and ''Edward's Exploit'', Edward may be old, but he's easily one of the hardest workers on the North Western Railway and his age comes with great experience.
28* {{Determinator}}: Despite being an old engine, Edward has proven how useful he can be regardless of the circumstances. This is proven in "Old Iron" and "Edward's Exploit".
29* FeelingTheirAge: In the first story of ''Edward the Blue Engine'', it is stated that because Edward is getting old, his bearings are worn, causing him to clank. Keep in mind that worn bearings can be seen as the train equivalent to [[CrackOhMyBack arthritis]].
30* FlatCharacter: Unlike most of the other highly flawed engines, there isn't much to Edward outside being a somewhat old and polite engine.
31* ItBelongsInAMuseum: In ''Edward's Exploit'', Gordon once said that Edward should be given up and preserved before it's too late, but Edward proved him wrong after bringing the passengers home despite a broken siderod.
32* TheLoad: He was often considered to be this due to being old. [[AvertedTrope Don't let this fool you though]]. Edward is one of the wisest characters and gives the engines good advice when called for. The fact that he currently has his own branch line should tell you that he's not this.
33* NiceGuy: The kindest engine on Sodor.
34* NiceMeanAndInBetween:
35** The nice with with Gordon (Mean) and Henry (In-Between) in the first book.
36** He was kind to a bricked-up Henry when he passed by, unlike Gordon who was pompous and arrogant and taunted Henry for getting bricked up in the tunnel.
37* TeamDad: To Bill and Ben. Duck states in ''Buzz, Buzz'' that Edward is the only engine who can keep them in line.
38
39!'''Gordon the Big Engine, #4'''
40[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maingordonrws2.png]]
41(LNER A0 Prototype, Rebuilt to A3 4-6-2)
42
43Built: 1922
44
45Arrived on Sodor: 1923
46
47Gordon's primary duty is pulling the Express, called the "Wild Nor'-Wester", from one end of the Railway to the other, and sometimes all the way to the Mainland and London. His importance, size and seniority over other engines has made Gordon a boastful braggart, though he has gone through lessons of humility that make him likable.
48----
49* AloofAlly: Not the kindest engine on the NWR, but is willing to help a fellow engine when the time is right.
50* BerserkButton: Please don't make Gordon pull trucks.
51* BigBrotherInstinct: In the series canon, he cares dearly for his younger brother, Flying Scotsman. He used to have ''lots'' of siblings. After he learns that most of them have been already scrapped, with the exception of the Flying Scotsman, Gordon falls into a deep depression. The Fat Controller [[PetTheDog invites his famous brother over to visit]] to cheer up Gordon. Seeing him again pulls him out of the depression.
52* TheBigGuy: Physically the biggest engine on Sodor, and technically the strongest too.
53* BreakTheHaughty: What happens in nearly every story centered on him. On the flip side, he manages to dish this to other engines as he gets back at Thomas for his teasing in "Thomas and Gordon".
54* BritishStuffiness: He's British and very snobby.
55* CatchPhrase: "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
56* CharacterDevelopment: By the time of the final book in the series, Gordon is taken off express work due to the arrival of Pip and Emma. Instead of reacting negatively, he gracefully accepts the decision due to his age catching up to him and the Intercity pair being built to do the job more productively. He's still grandiose, but he's finally learned a level of humility.
57* FatalFlaw: His pompousness gets him into trouble very often.
58* FeelingTheirAge: Particularly in ''Birdstrike'' and especially in ''High-Speed Engine'' Gordon is shown to push himself hard despite his age to attempt to prove himself against newer trains. It eventually catches up with him.
59* FireForgedFriends: He and Thomas become this in "Down The Mine".
60* FlawedPrototype: [[AllThereInTheManual In his backstory.]] He was a testbed locomotive for the A1 class sold cheap to the North Western and rebuilt into a mostly-A3 hybrid.
61* FreudianTrio: The Superego with James and Henry. Gordon is far more serious and conservative than the two.
62* GreenEyedMonster: He can be jealous of famous engines who can go faster than him (e.g., City of Truro in "Domeless Engines").
63* HeroicBystander: Gordon's final feature story in ''Gordon's Fire Service'' shows him and his crew stopping to put out a lineside fire. He is rewarded a medal afterwards for it.
64* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: As a "hush-hush" LNER experiment, he wasn't allowed out much. When the Fat Controller purchased him, Gordon always wants to prove himself, feeling his importance is threatened if any other engine rivals or surpasses him. He's visibly distraught when he bursts his safety valve in ''Edward, Gordon and Henry'' and the Fat Controller (who had been earlier singing his praises to the passengers) was now ashamed of him.
65* InsultedAwake: By Thomas and then Henry.
66* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Pompous, prideful, and looks down on the other engines, but has his moments of altruism in spite of himself.
67* KarmicTrickster: To Thomas in "Thomas & Gordon" and then to Percy in "Percy and the Signal".
68* LargeHam: He's easily the biggest and fastest out of the engines; he also brags about his importance quite a lot and his whistle is the deepest.
69* LastOfHisKind: In "Tenders for Henry" the Fat Controller verifies that he and Flying Scotsman are the last left of the great Doncaster A1/A3s. (In RealLife, they'd gain a new cousin, Tornado, modelled on a later Class A1 model in 2008, but since Christopher Awdry retired, we'll never get to see Gordon meet him.)
70* NiceMeanAndInBetween:
71** The in-between one with James and Henry, being that he can be less quick-tempered than James, but is ruder than Henry.
72** He was the mean one with Edward and Henry in the first book. He looks down on Edward and [[UngratefulBastard didn't thank him for helping him up the hill]] and was the one who taunted Henry for getting bricked up in the tunnel, telling him it served him right. Then after bursting his safety valve, he then suggests to the Fat Controller to have Henry pull the Express.
73* NotMeThisTime: In ''Gordon the High-Speed Engine'' he ends up being blamed for dumping ashes on the Fat Controller, but legitimately doesn't recall any action of the sort. As this happened when he felt stuffed with ashes, many assume it was his fault and that it was deliberate, but the end of the book reveals that it was actually due to a careless steward.
74* RetiredBadass: Sure, Gordon never stops ''running'', but he eventually is removed from the Express and begins working slower local trains which he treats as a retirement of sorts.
75* OlderAndWiser: As the series goes on, Gordon begins to fear for his status as the Express Engine, constantly pushing himself to pull his train faster to keep up with Pip and Emma. With time though, he accepts his eventual replacement, and graciously accepts his retirement.
76* OlderIsBetter: Deconstructed. In ''Gordon the High Speed Engine'', Gordon vindicates himself after the High-Speed Train, Pip and Emma's cooling system breaks down. It is made apparent this was only a circumstantial win however, and by the end of the series, they still prove consistent enough to take over Express runs, something Gordon gracefully accepts.
77* PutOnABus: Once he was complete, his brothers were then built. But being a non-standard design, both larger and slightly slower than the A1/A3 class, the LNER directors had no further plans for him, other than to endlessly tinker with him in The Works. He'd never be let out to pull trains again. Sir Nigel Gresley felt sorry for him (how could you not?), and sold him off to the Fat Controller with a discount.
78* TheRival: To Thomas at first, but after they formed an alliance with one another and Thomas moved to Ffarquhar, this position went more to Duck while he was station pilot.
79* TheSocialDarwinist: He believes that coaches are more important than trucks, despite the fact that passengers are just about as equal as goods.
80* SuperPrototype: Just like Henry, he had a rebuild at Crewe, to which his brother, Flying Scotsman, remarked he had changed a lot. Gordon admitted they didn't do "a proper Doncaster job", but was pleased his new powerful shape still got the job done.
81* ThrowTheDogABone: In the final book, Pip and Emma take over Express duties for productive improvement and Gordon is left pulling local trains. After he manages to stop a fire spreading across the grass banks however, he is awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal.
82* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Although his altruistic qualities keep him in check, there are times when he really brings misfortune on himself.
83* VitriolicBestBuds: With a number of engines, but mostly with James and Henry.
84* YoungerThanHeLooks: Though several years younger than Thomas and Percy, he acts much older.
85
86!'''Henry the Green Engine, #3'''
87[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainhenryrws4.png]]
88[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see him pre-rebuild.]][[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coalrs4_5.png]][[/labelnote]]]]
89(LMS "Black 5" 4-6-0)
90
91Built: 1919
92
93Arrived on Sodor: 1922
94
95When Henry first started out, he was nothing but trouble. First was when he got himself locked in the Ballahoo Tunnel for wanting to keep his paint clean, second was when he went on strike with the other big engines, and third was when his faultiness prompted the purchasing of special Welsh coal. His crash with the Flying Kipper gave Henry a new lease on life after he was finally rebuilt with a new shape at Crewe, and now works alongside Gordon on the Main Line, sometimes pulling the Express or hauling freight.
96----
97* AchillesInHisTent: Does this in "The Sad Story of Henry" to avoid the rain. [[DeconstructedTrope The Fat Controller decides to brick him up]] if he wants to remain this, a prospect that Henry soon regrets.
98* [[TheAllegedCar The Alleged Engine]]: A [[PlayedForDrama serious example]], given that he's [[SentientVehicle sentient]], but [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary material]] reveals that Henry was a [[ShoddyKnockoffProduct knockoff Pacific]] built by an unknown builder from stolen plans that had been previously rejected by Sir Nigel Gresley, Gordon's builder, for various reasons, chief among them being a tiny firebox that was much too small, and as a result, Henry was a [[DelicateAndSickly poor steamer and occasionally just plain too ill to work]]. Thankfully, the Fat Controller first managed to mitigate his steaming issues by [[FantasticDietRequirement giving him Welsh Coal]], and then eliminated them altogether by having him [[EmergencyTransformation rebuilt into a Black 5]].
99* BigDamnHeroes: In ''Super Rescue'', he saved the day by getting two broken-down diesels and their trains home, all while running on his reverser since he'd had a regulator failure. Even the passengers forgot to be cross and called him an "Enterprising Engine". Needless to say, he redeemed himself in the steam team's (and Flying Scotsman's) eyes after Duck fooled him over having six tenders.
100* BlessedWithSuck: His "as built" form. He's an experimental design from legendary locomotive engineer Sir. Nigel Gresley (the designer of ''Mallard'' and ''Flying Scotsman'') and the Fat Controller was able to purchase him at bargain prices during a very stressful motive power crisis to boot! Despite his incredible pedigree, it turns out Henry was built from stolen designs that Gresley hadn't fully finished and he is a poor performing locomotive until he is rebuilt.
101* BreakTheHaughty: Not to the extent of Gordon and James, but he gets met with this when being boastful.
102* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: He was originally green until he got a blue coat of paint after staying in a tunnel for awhile. The reason he got his old color back is because the Rev. Awdry was fed up with people confusing him with Gordon in the book illustrations, when he was painted blue.
103* CharacterDevelopment: He started off with a downright awful attitude to pulling trains, and even later still, was as arrogant as the other big engines. This all ended after the Flying Kipper accident, where, in addition to an EmergencyTransformation, humbled him significantly. He still complains, but he's a much better worker than before. Compare him in "The Sad Story of Henry" to "Super Rescue", and the differences are staggering.
104* DirtyCoward: Was one in "The Sad Story of Henry" where he refused to leave the tunnel because he was afraid the rain would ruin his paint and didn't care about taking the passengers to their destination.
105* DivergentCharacterEvolution: In early stories, he mostly played the role of another arrogant tender engine similar to Gordon and James. Later stories established him as occasionally more pitiful and melancholic than the other two, and ultimately more of a GrumpyOldMan.
106* DudeWheresMyRespect: He often gets frustrated when he doesn't get respect from others. "I suffer dreadfully and no one cares!"
107* [[EasilyDetachableRobotParts Easily Detachable Train Parts]]: Although this is true with all of the locomotives, Henry in particular gets the most time in the spotlight showing his mechanical nature. His rebuild at Crewe comes to mind, but his later rebuild at Crovan's Gate is even illustrated in its final stages with Henry wearing primer paint. The same book also mentions how Henry's smokebox door opens up for cleaning.
108* TheEeyore: Of the three tender engines, he tends to be the one most prone to glumness or melancholy.
109* EmergencyTransformation: His rebuild in ''The Flying Kipper'' was very much this. Beforehand, Henry was a CartoonCreature, a failed prototype built from stolen plans. This resulted in him being a poor steamer with a small firebox. Being rebuilt with Black Five specifications significantly improved his performance.
110* FantasticDietRequirement: He's sickly and constantly under-performing in his duties due to his poor design and inability to burn coal properly, until he's finally given special high-grade "Welsh coal".
111* FatalFlaw: He can be pompous and stubborn like the other tender engines.
112* FlawedPrototype: Sir Topham Hatt had originally wanted to purchase an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBR_H_class Atlantic]] from the Great Central Railway, but he was swindled and ended up with Henry -- a botched attempt by an unknown company at building their own LNER A1/A3 through plans stolen from Sir Nigel Gresley. He was so mad about it he would never even confess who had swindled him.
113* FreudianTrio: The Ego with Gordon and James.
114* GreenEyedMonster: He was jealous of the Flying Scotsman for having two tenders.
115* JadedWashout: Though ''technically'' built from a Gresley design at first, Henry was quite cynical and at the start, while he could sometimes perform as good as Gordon, he all too often fell ill too easily. Welsh Coal, and later his rebuild into a Black Five put an end to this.
116* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Out of the trio with Gordon and James, he can be nicer-natured than the two.
117* MidSeasonUpgrade: His rebuild in ''The Flying Kipper''.
118* NiceMeanAndInbetween:
119** The nice one with Gordon and James. Despite his arrogant bouts, it's not to the extent of Gordon's and he isn't hot-tempered like James.
120** He was the in-between one with Edward and Gordon in the first book. Despite his vanity and stubbornness for not wanting to leave the tunnel, he grew remorseful over his decision.
121* NoSympathy: Received this from the other engines during his illness until getting Welsh Coal. [[JustifiedTrope This was mainly due to his atrocious attitude]] that made him seem like a whiner and complainer who was [[LaserGuidedKarma getting his due]].
122* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Staying in a tunnel to avoid the rain spoiling his paint. He lampshades this in "Percy Takes the Plunge":
123-->'''Henry:''' "No one will ever let me forget the time I wouldn't come out of the tunnel in case the rain spoiled my paint."
124* OutOfFocus: After his titular book, Henry wouldn't get to lead a story again until ''Enterprising Engines''. His primary role in stories in the time between those books was to act as one of Gordon's back-ups during arguments. He fared better in Christopher's stories, however, having more supporting roles and gaining a second spotlight book. He also holds the distinction of having made the most appearances of any character, with some small appearance in almost every single book.
125* RiddleForTheAges: According to ''The Island of Sodor'', just how Sir Topham Hatt managed to send the flawed, unreliable Henry to Crewe and get him back as a top-of-the-line Black 5 is a mystery for the ages. It's suspected that William Stanier at Crewe owed him a ''big'' favour, possibly from their days together as students.
126* VitriolicBestBuds: With Gordon and James. The latter mostly in Christopher's stories.
127* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Had a phobia about water initially.
128
129!'''Thomas the Tank Engine, #1'''
130[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainthomasrws2.png]]
131(LB&SCR E2 Billington tank engine 0-6-0T)
132
133Built: 1915
134
135Arrived on Sodor: 1915
136
137Everyone's favourite Tank Engine was introduced in the second book, but was one of the first engines to work on the NWR, originally as a station pilot at Vicarstown, shunting coaches for the big engines. An incident where he almost crashed because of some troublesome trucks has allowed him to prove himself and eventually become Really Useful. Thomas now works at the Ffarquhar Branch Line, with his two coaches, Annie and Clarabel. Other incidents have caused Thomas to mellow out from his cheeky personality, though he still maintains a small hint of it.
138----
139* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: After getting his own Branch Line. He tamed a bit after a few BreakTheHaughty moments.
140* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Initially due to his cheekiness.
141* AttentionWhore: Especially early on.
142* BerserkButton: No engine likes being made late, but Thomas, who wants to please the Fat Controller, ''especially hates it'' and lectures the other engines often if they are the cause of it. Even when Henry snapped back that ''the passengers' welfare was at stake'', Thomas was still reluctant over delays.
143* BigDamnHeroes: In "Thomas and the Breakdown Train", he was sent to put James back on the rails with the aforementioned Breakdown Train.
144* BrattyHalfPint: How he started out.
145* BreakoutCharacter: He did not appear in the first book of the series, but he became this largely to tie in with [[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends the show]]. Even before then, he was notably seen as the main cover character in annuals written after the initial run of the books.
146* BreakTheHaughty: Has his fair share of these in some stories when he is being cheeky and arrogant.
147* CatchPhrase: "Cinders and ashes!"
148* TheChainOfHarm: A more petty example. Thomas is particularly antsy about other engines making him late, [[NoSympathy dismissing any excuses as just cover ups for laziness or messing with him.]] In "Better Late Than Never", it is revealed he has to bring his passengers to Bertie, who in turn teases Thomas over his lateness. Following Bertie breaking down himself and being more sympathetic, Thomas in turn accepts delays more wilfully.
149* CharacterDevelopment: Started as an [[BrattyHalfPint impudent Station Pilot]], he earned his own Branch :ine and matured but [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism became more arrogant]] to the other engines. After a particularly [[FeudEpisode spiteful bout]] with Percy however, [[JerkassRealization he was ashamed]] and became more humble and kind.
150* FatalFlaw: The books focus on his impatience and arrogance getting him into trouble.
151* {{Flanderization}}: Quite surprisingly, Wilbert Awdry downplayed Thomas considerably after his first two books, mostly limiting him to a rude, self-important peer for the other engines on his branch line; essentially a mirror of James in many stories. This was dialled back in Christopher Awdry's books due to the character's heavier focus, albeit with one early regression in ''More About Thomas the Tank Engine'' for the purpose of a "[[TookALevelInKindness taking a level in kindness]]" plot.
152* FreudianTrio: The Ego with Percy and Toby. He is more mature than Percy, but has moments of being cheeky.
153* GreeneyedMonster: He can be initially jealous of other engines (e.g., Toby in "Thomas in Trouble") but he became good friends with them.
154* TheHero: [[ZigzaggedTrope Somewhat for several reasons]]. While he is ultimately a good engine at heart, he can be a bit of an UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist who brings a great deal of misfortune on himself. He became a bit closer to this in Christopher's stories, but still deals with misfortune at times. The other factor is that in the overall MythArc of the books, especially during Wilbert's run concerning modernisation and the Mid-Sodor Railway's history, Thomas' role is fairly minimal (nonexistent even in the latter case). Again in Chris' run, he edges a bit closer to the role of the hero, as in ''Thomas and the Great Railway Show'', he is the one chosen to represent Sodor at the National Railway Museum. Still, even with increased ''appearances'' in later books, he does not truly contribute to the overall ''plots'' of several of said books, and in terms of Sodor's adapting to the modern world, his importance is no larger than it was during Wilbert's run.
155* IconicSequelCharacter: Thomas did not appear in the series til the second book. That didn't stop him from becoming the series' most iconic character, especially once [[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends the show]] made him the main protagonist.
156* IdiotHero: Occasionally. Like when he thought it was a good idea to show off to Jinty in "The Fat Controller's Engines".
157* ItBelongsInAMuseum: The big engines often comment about how old Thomas is. Henry once joked about him staying at the Great Railway Show as a museum piece.
158* JerkassRealization: In "Drip Tank", he becomes ashamed of his behavior towards Percy after an accident with his water tank and apologizes to him thus ending their quarrel.
159* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Can be cheeky, fussy, and arrogant at times, but is fiercely loyal to his friends and proves to be kind and helpful to others in need. After the events of ''More About Thomas the Tank Engine'', [[TookALevelInKindness he loses most of his "jerk" qualities]] and becomes...
160** NiceGuy: For the rest of the series after "More About Thomas The Tank Engine", he leans more towards this instead. He's much more patient and good-natured, accepts basic mistakes, and [[HumblePie loses most of the arrogance that he had previously]]. [[CharacterCheck He still has a temper and a cheeky side]], but in general, he is a MUCH more pleasant engine to be around.
161* JustAKid: Thomas often gets teased by bigger engines for his small size and big ambitions.
162* MilesGloriosus: At times.
163* NiceMeanAndInBetween: The mean one with Percy and Toby. While he and Percy are cheeky engines, Thomas has moments of being arrogant and he can be rude at times in contrast to Toby.
164* NoSympathy: He can be dismissive towards engines being late for his trains (e.g., Henry in "Thomas and the Guard").
165* OlderThanHeLooks: Thomas is often called "little" and "young". The truth of the matter, though, is that Thomas is actually older than most of the engines on the railway. Even ''[[TheBigGuy Gordon]]'', of all engines, is younger than Thomas. Of course, to a significant extent, the ages of the engines are defined by their personalities.
166* RiddleForTheAges: Nobody knows how Thomas even came to the Island! According to ''[[AllThereInTheManual The Island of Sodor]]'', he arrived in 1915, but nobody quite remembers why. His crew at the time, both bachelors, settled down and married Sodor girls. On investigation, Topham Hatt found the LB&SC had listed him as "lost on war service" and had no idea what he was doing in Cumbria either. They sold him to the NWR for a nominal sum rather than bother correcting their records and transporting him back to Sussex.
167* SeriousBusiness: He sees running his branch line as this.
168* SmallNameBigEgo: At first, but this downplayed later on.
169* TookALevelInKindness: Becomes a humbler, more good-natured engine after the events of "More About Thomas The Tank Engine".
170* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: In his earlier stories. Later stories focused more on his altruistic qualities, though he can still be arrogant every now and then.
171* VitriolicBestBuds: With Percy, Gordon, and Bertie.
172
173!'''James the Red Engine, #5'''
174[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainjamesrws2.png]]
175(Hughes' Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Class 28 2-6-0)
176
177Built: 1912/13
178
179Arrived on Sodor: 1924/25
180
181After a disastrous accident on his first day, the then-black coloured James was rescued by Thomas and was repaired to run again, with proper brake blocks and red paint. Despite his good intentions, James once again got ahead of himself and was benched in the shed until he was able to prove himself to The Fat Controller. After helping Gordon with the express, he became a good friend, though at the price of James becoming just as conceited and self-important as Gordon and Henry. Though he has learned lessons in humility, he maintains a small sense of vanity and arrogance, not the least because he's the only red engine in the NWR.
182----
183* AttentionWhore: Likes being center of attention, and doesn't take it well when the other engines pay none of it to him.
184* BerserkButton: Never, ever remind James of the time with the bootlace, or any other of his accidents. Also don't threaten to paint him blue.
185* BigotryException: Before he got over it, he had a distaste for diesels except for [=BoCo=] and Bear. Justified because the two were friendly.
186* BreakTheHaughty: Happens to him a lot every time he boasts and brags.
187* ButtMonkey: Though he brings it on himself most of the time. He's crashed into tar wagons, gotten stung by bees, and smashed well-wagons into signals, to name a few.
188* TheChewToy: Constantly gets reminded of his accidents, sometimes without others knowing.
189-->'''Douglas:''' I heard tell aboot an engine an' some tar wagons.\
190[Gordon and Henry laugh]\
191'''James:''' Shut up! It's not funny.\
192'''Douglas:''' Weel, weel, weel. Shairly Jeames, it wasna you? Ye dinna say!
193* TheDandy: He loves his red paint.
194* {{Determinator}}: In "Troublesome Trucks", he didn't let the trucks stop him from going up Gordon's Hill.
195* DivergentCharacterEvolution: With Gordon and Henry. As the series went on, James' flaws tend more towards spitefulness and temper than the other two.
196* EarlybirdCameo:
197** Makes his first appearance in "Thomas and the Breakdown Train" in Thomas's book. In the next book, he has become an NWR locomotive and received his distinctive red livery.
198** Averted in "The Sad Story of Henry", which featured a red engine trying to push henry out of the tunnel in the revised illustrations. The plan was for him to be James, before it was remembered that James had not been painted red yet; in the end Awdry just claimed it was another engine who happened to resemble James.
199* EarlyInstalmentWeirdness: James was painted black with Thomas' facial design in his first appearance. He also lacks any of the trademark narcissism that would define him in later stories.
200* FantasticRacism: Expresses his distaste for diesels in ''James and the Diesel Engines''. One of the last hold-outs in the series regarding anti-diesel FantasticRacism, this finally changed when a works diesel rescued him.
201* FatalFlaw: He's...got plenty.
202** Arrogance. James is vain through and through. While he eventually stopped harping about his paint, he still believes himself a better engine than others, which can make him a terror to work with.
203** Wrath. James has an awful temper, easily triggered by perceived insults or comebacks, which tends to blind his better judgement. He wouldn't have crashed into the tar wagons if he was focused on his train instead of figuring out a new way to insult Toby, for example.
204** Stubbornness. This became very prominent during ''James and the Diesel Engines''. Part of the reason he still distrusted diesels was due to his stubborn nature (though in his defense, some of the visiting diesels did justify this). It ultimately took interacting with the Class 28 Works Diesel to iron some of this out.
205* [[FieryRedhead Fiery Red Engine]]: A recurring element of James' stories is his short temper getting the better of him and landing him in trouble. Fittingly, he is painted red.
206* FirstDayFromHell: James is pushed down Gordon's Hill by the trucks, the friction caused by the driver's attempt to stop sets his wooden brake blocks on fire, and he ends up crashing into a pasture.
207* FreudianTrio: The Id with Gordon and Henry due to his vanity and temper.
208* GlorySeeker: Loves taking special jobs to make himself feel important.
209* HairTriggerTemper: Can get easily angered when insulted or when things don't go his way.
210* JackOfAllStats: As a mixed-traffic engine, James can pull either coaches or trucks (as much as he'd rather do the former).
211* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's a rather rude fellow even on his best days and isn't easy to get along with. But at the same time, he will feel bad when he realizes the trouble he causes and is willing to help out others.
212* MilesGloriosus: Possibly more than Thomas in this regard.
213* NiceMeanAndInBetween: The mean one with Gordon and Henry. While the three are arrogant, James has more of a temper than the two big engines.
214* OlderThanHeLooks: Is older than Thomas, Gordon, Henry and Toby.
215* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: The bootlace incident. Also the tar wagons.
216* TheRival: Had one with Gordon early on. During Chris' run, he and Henry played this to one another.
217* SuperPrototype: With less emphasis on the "super". According to the Reverend, James was an experiment by George Hughes (his real-life class designer) to balance the engine's weight better by fitting a pony truck and larger-diameter driving wheels. The improvements were negligible, leaving James unique.
218* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: But is kept in check with his good qualities.
219* VitriolicBestBuds: With almost every engine, particularly Gordon, Edward, and Toby.
220
221!'''Percy the Small Engine, #6'''
222[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainpercyrws1.png]]
223(Avonside Industrial Saddle-Tank Engine 0-4-0ST)
224
225Built: c.1900
226
227Arrived on Sodor: 1926
228
229When Gordon, Henry and James went on strike, and Edward was rushed off his feet with work and abuse from the big engines, the Fat Controller needed another engine to be station pilot at Tidmouth. His answer was in the form of Percy, a small green Saddle-Tank who quickly went to work and put the big engines in their place. His success has made him forever cheeky, naive and tricky, and made him the butt-monkey of jokes among the big engines after one of his tricks backfired. Eventually, the work became heavier on the main line and Percy couldn't cope, so the Fat Controller moved Percy to the Ffarquhar line to work alongside Thomas, primarily hauling freight. His good intentions and naiveté often get the better of him, making him extremely accident-prone, but in the end he proves himself to be Really Useful.
230----
231* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: In "Percy Takes the Plunge" when he became arrogant after helping take the passengers home during a storm in "Percy's Promise". [[BreakTheHaughty He was humbled]] after the trucks push him down into the sea.
232* ArmorPiercingQuestion: At the height of his feud with Thomas in ''More About Thomas the Tank Engine'', he asks, plainly and simply, if Thomas counts as a "drip" if his rude behavior means that Percy has no impetus to want to patch things up. [[IgnoredEpiphany Thomas blows it off at first]], but [[LaserGuidedKarma the next day suffers from a side-rod piercing his tanks]] that causes it to sink in.
233* BrattyHalfPint: Similarly to how Thomas started out (making him a ReplacementFlatCharacter to an extent.)
234* ButtMonkey: Gets into a lot of accidents throughout the series run.
235* CartoonCreature: While most other characters are based on real locomotive classes, Percy is a heavily hybridized mix of several other steam engine designs. This isn't particularly unrealistic - engines for industrial use were often unique or heavily modified. This is even the case in-universe - ''[[AllThereInTheManual The Island of Sodor]]'' notes that he was bought third-hand, so he's ''mostly'' an Avonside engine, but also features parts from Hunslet and other locomotive designers.
236* DependingOnTheArtist: Due to not being based on a specific locomotive class, and thus lacking reference materials, the different illustrators seemed to have their own ideas about what he should look like. The most notable differing feature is the shape of his saddle tanks.
237* {{Determinator}}: In ''Percy's Promise''. Despite the flood, he continued to carry the passengers home.
238* TheDitz: Can be very absentminded at times. He once thought that a bust of the Thin Clergyman meant that he was broken, not that it was simply a statue.
239* FreudianTrio: The Id with Thomas and Toby, being far cheekier than Thomas.
240* KidAppealCharacter: Generally treated as the "younger brother" figure to Thomas and Toby. (Though [[AllThereInTheManual technically]] he's physically older.)
241* TheLancer: Of Thomas' branch line.
242* NiceMeanAndInBetween: The in-between one with Thomas and Toby. He's nicer than Thomas, though he is cheeky like him, but isn't as nice as Toby.
243* NotSoSimilar: Percy and Thomas are a lot alike as mentioned above, but Percy is generally more approachable and humble than Thomas, and isn't as inclined to prove himself.
244* OlderThanHeLooks: Percy is looked down upon by many of the engines for his size. What many of them fail to realize, though, is that he's actually older than most of the engines on the railway. He's older than Thomas, Gordon, and even ''[[CoolOldGuy Toby]]''.
245* ThePrankster: He loves playing jokes on the big engines as learned in "Percy and the Signal", though he gets into trouble for this.
246* RiddleForTheAges: No one, not even the Fat Controller, knows where Percy really came from. People speculate he's an Avonside engine, but there were ''hundreds'' of examples of unique industrial engines built all over Britain.
247* SixthRanger: Figuratively due to being the sixth introduced character of the main cast (and thus the first new engine after Thomas' book), and literally due to his number.
248* VerbalTic: When speaking to the Fat Controller, he says "sir" more than once: "Yes, sir, thank you, sir."
249* VitriolicBestBuds: With Thomas. Also with Harold.
250
251!'''Toby the Tram Engine, #7'''
252[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maintobyrws3.png]]
253(Great Eastern Railway 'Wisbech & Upwell' Steam Tram J70 0-6-0T)
254
255Built: 1914
256
257Arrived on Sodor: 1951
258
259Toby started out as a tragedy of the times; though he and his coach Henrietta still could work, the majority of it was eaten up by the buses and lorries of the roads on his old railway. His new lease on life came when the Fat Controller, whom he previously encountered while on holiday, requested his presence when Thomas was in trouble with the law for running on the Ffarquhar quarry lines without cow catchers. Since then, Toby has been maintained as an invaluable member of the Ffarquhar line, with his experience and kindheartedness.
260----
261* AutobiographicalRole: Sir Topham Hatt's family visit to Toby's railway is a mirror of Rev. Awdry and Christopher's footplate ride in a real J70, speculated to have been British Railways 68221. With the insinuation Toby is intended to actually be 68221, it makes him the first real life locomotive to appear in the series; with his existence on Sodor saving him from 68221's real fate [[https://railuk.info/steam/getsteam.php?row_id=19901 which was scrap in 1951]].
262* BerserkButton: Young Bridget Hatt accidentally pressed Toby's by referring him as "electric".
263* BigBrotherMentor: To Mavis and sometimes to Percy.
264* CoolOldGuy: He's very old and also wise, kind-hearted, and hard-working.
265* DeadpanSnarker: As nice as he is, he's not without his wits.
266-->'''Toby''': James, why are you red?\
267'''James''': I'm a splendid engine. Ready for anything! You never see my paint dirty.\
268'''Toby''': Oh, so that's why you once needed bootlaces to be ''[[{{Pun}} red]]''dy, I suppose.
269* {{Foil}}: While not apparent at first, he is one for Edward. Both are old, wise engines, and generally the [[OnlySaneMan sane engines]] of the railway, but Toby has much more of a temper than Edward does, reacting very negatively to Mavis' shuffling around of his trucks, whereas Edward might not have made much of an argument. [[PassThePopcorn He also finds Thomas and Percy's arguments to be humorous]], while Edward tends to disapprove of such things. Toby is also much more willing to stand up for himself if he's insulted, while Edward is more passive in that regard.
270* FreudianTrio: With Thomas and Percy, he's the Superego, being the wisest and mature of the trio.
271* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Thomas and Percy.
272** Also with Mavis after her BreakTheHaughty experiences.
273* NiceGuy: Like Edward, he's also one of the kinder and mild-mannered engines of Sodor. Don't think this doesn't mean he's a pushover though, he has a much sharper tongue than Edward and will put his wheel down much faster.
274* NiceMeanAndInbetween: The nice one with Thomas and Percy. Being a wise and kind engine, he is more humble than Thomas and is less cheeky than Percy.
275* NotSoAboveItAll: He's usually the OnlySaneMan laughing at the younger engines' mistakes. He has sporadic moments of carelessness however.
276** He gets ''incredibly'' flustered around Mavis at first, due to her liberties handling the quarry trucks and calling him an "old fusspot". When this causes her trouble with a goods train, Toby sulks and refuses to help at first, only "thoughtfully" relenting when his driver reminds him that Mavis is getting held up by trucks ''he'' handed her out of annoyance for earlier, [[OhCrap something that would look just as bad on him if the Fat Controller found out.]]
277*** Made even funnier in the illustrations when it becomes obvious where Mavis gets stuck is within ''eye sight'' of where Toby is at. Meaning his whole reluctance to rescue Mavis is a reluctance to travel a couple yards to pick her up, and she can see him just sitting there while he is debating with his driver on ''if'' he should rescue her or not. No wonder [[{{Angrish}} she's furious beyond words]] when he finally relents.
278** In "Toby's Mega-train", he decides to pull an enormous train of slate in one turn, not anticipating he'd run out of water midway. Though he does resolve this in the end, he is ''mortified'' when his driver suggests fishing for water [[CallBack like Thomas once had]].
279* OnlySaneMan: He generally has his bell on tight, not falling into Thomas or Percy's antics and not having his head up in the clouds like Daisy or pre-CharacterDevelopment Mavis.
280* RightlySelfRighteous: Toby is often more sardonic than Edward and routinely laughs at the others' misfortunes. As authorities have pointed out however, this often stems from the engines being arrogant and looking down on Toby, who has likely forgotten more about handling a railway than they'll ever learn.
281* TheSmartGuy: Of Thomas' branch line, since he is wise.
282* StillWearingTheOldColors: Toby's later chocolate brown with blue trim on his side-plates imitates the colors the real life BR 68221 would have worn when built new as Great Eastern Railway 127. Rapido Trains has appropriately proposed an [[https://rapidotrains.co.uk/lner-j70-o-gauge/?fbclid=IwAR1EOECVXbJTwZveM3kYRwc2QRRECdzc95aBryUL3TfyHubnrfjCBPzTGpk O scale model of GER 127]] which serves as a CaptainErsatz Toby model.
283* StrongerThanYouLook: He might have low water capacity, but his class, the J70, were actually very strong engines. At least twice in his career, Toby has managed to pull ''forty-eight'' trucks that were fully loaded, the only hinderance being his small water tank when the station's pipe was out of order.
284* YoungerThanHeLooks: For all of his wisdom and accusations of age, Toby is actually only a year older than Thomas, having been built in 1914.
285
286!'''Duck the Great Western Engine, #8'''
287[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainduckrws2.png]]
288(Great Western Railway Pannier Tank 57XX Class 0-6-0PT)
289
290Built: 1929
291
292Arrived on Sodor: 1955
293
294-->''There are two ways of doing things: the Great Western way, or the wrong way.''
295
296By the mid-1950s, traffic and work on the NWR was increasing dramatically. Percy could not cope with the work at Tidmouth, so when the Fat Controller transferred him to the Ffarquhar line, another engine was brought in as station pilot; Montague, usually known as Duck, from the Great Western Railway. Despite hassling from the big engines, Duck made it clear he'd stand no shenanigans from them. Perhaps Duck's greatest trial came in the form of a visiting Diesel, who took Duck's manner the wrong way and was determined to get him sacked (perhaps even scrapped, to begin the process of Dieselization on the NWR). Diesel's plan was thwarted when the Fat Controller found it out (in fact, the Fat Controller was suspicious of Diesel from the start, and sent Duck away to give Diesel time to [[Main/HoistByHisOwnPetard plot his own downfall]]. Duck's hard work eventually had him promoted to the Arlesburgh line, his own branch. Proud of his Great Western heritage, he is a dependable, hard working engine.
297----
298* AdaptationNameChange: Is given the number 8 in the TV series but continues to wear his Great Western number 5741 in the books (he's still technically the #8 engine on the railway however).
299* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: He got this from the other engines in his first few stories, though he really brought it on himself due to two things: 1) Immediately establishing his no-nonsense personality, and 2) his constant harping on about the inherent superiority of the Great Western Railway above all others.
300* AutobiographicalRole: 5741 was a real locomotive used on the Great Western and later British Railways, which was scrapped in 1958. Like Toby, its assumed in the Railway Series universe that being brought to Sodor allowed Duck to avoid his real life fate, as shown [[https://railuk.info/gallery/getimage.php?id=2506 here]]
301* BerserkButton:
302** Comparing his MotorMouth to a quacking duck.
303** Do NOT insult or belittle the Great Western Railway. ''Just don't''. Even Gordon finds this out the hard way when arguing over what London's big station is called:
304-->'''Duck''': "Stupid yourself. London's Paddington! '''Paddington!''' Do you hear!?"\
305'''Duck''': "Tinpot indeed! Let me tell you!"
306* BigBrotherWorship[=/=]TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: Though they are not engines of the same class, he idolizes City Of Truro, a senior tender engine of the Great Western Railway.
307* BigDamnHeroes: He and his crew prevented twenty heavily-loaded breakaway trucks from causing a serious accident further down the line.
308* BreakTheHaughty: What Diesel pulls on him. It's worth noting that Duck started reining his attitude about the GWR a bit after this incident, since it likely contributed to the big engines believing that he would be arrogant enough to talk behind their backs.
309* BullyHunter: He doesn't stand for any nonsense from the bullying engines as, for example, he stood up for Percy against the trio of Gordon, James, and Henry when he first arrived on Sodor. He also doesn't stand any nonsense from the troublesome trucks.
310* BullyingTheDragon:
311** For the troublesome trucks, things won't go well for them if they play tricks on Duck.
312** Duck himself makes the mistake of doing this against Diesel, trying to pull a BreakTheHaughty prank after getting sick of his bragging and oily demeanour. Diesel turned out to have a ''far'' more vengeful and crafty streak than he bargained for however.
313* CatchPhrase: "Beg Pardon, sir..."
314* CulturalPosturing: In his debut he's fond of claiming that there are two ways of doing things, "the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Western_Railway Great Western]] way or the wrong way". Fortunately he got over it quite quickly.
315* DeadpanSnarker: He can be very witty, especially to the big engines.
316* {{Determinator}}: Duck's philosophy revolves around getting a train to its destination, even if on one cylinder. By comparison, according to him, diesels do nothing but moan for a fitter if a mechanical issue arises (though he was proved wrong in the cases of [=BoCo=], who worked through his class' inherent issues, and Bear, who kept on working with a failed ejector thanks to Henry keeping the worst of the load off, thus enabling him to move).
317* EmbarrassingNickname: Inverted. He insists on being called Duck rather than his real name, Montague.
318* ExpendableClone: This is never mentioned directly in the series, but the Panier tank 5700 series class Duck is a part of is one of the most popular steam locomotive designs in British history with ''863'' built (the second most common on the GWR alone). Not to mention there are nearly a dozen other Panier variants and subclasses the GWR used, which although distinct from the 5700 share many visual similarities. As such Duck's pride of being a GWR engine is ironic considering although he is unique on Sodor, he would be unremarkable anywhere else in the UK. Outside of trivia, this is more to highlight the subtle parallels between Duck and Diesel, whose own engine type, the Class 08, also falls into this category.
319* FantasticRacism: In "Buzz, Buzz", he disliked the presence of [=BoCo=] until he found out that he knew Edward and the two became friends. Granted, the ''last'' time Duck met a diesel...
320* FatalFlaw: Pride. Duck is ''very'' proud of his heritage and this spills into his approach to work, causing him to sometimes hold the other engines to unrealistic standards, which they obviously do not appreciate.
321* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: Has some shades of this in regards to Diesel at first. He believed that Diesel's attitude came from simple arrogance, and a quick humbling might cause him to shape up and stop bragging. He had no idea that Diesel could be such a hateful and petty engine that he would resort to methods that the other engines, [[EveryoneHasStandards even with all of their bickering and bantering, would never even dream of.]]
322* GracefulLoser: Admits that even he couldn't top Donald's sense of humor at the end of ''Donald's Duck'', laughing about the prank played in retaliation for slipping Dilly in Donald's tender (Placing a duck's nest under his bunker).
323* HumiliationConga: As if the trucks forcing him to crash into a barber shop wasn't enough, the angry owner decided to shave and lather him!
324* KarmicTrickster: Has a fondness for playing tricks on engines he finds conceited. It backfired on Diesel though, as Duck had no idea just how petty and cruel Diesel was.
325* MotorMouth: He loves talking about his Great Western heritage much to the annoyance of the other engines. The whole plotline of "Donald's Duck" kicked off after Donald told him to zip it.
326* NiceGuy: Despite his moments of boastfulness about being Great Western, he is a mild-mannered and respectable engine, and will respect other hard workers.
327* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Duck wouldn't be the last but he is the first engine on the North Western to keep his original railway company livery and number '5741'. Likely because he's proud to be Great Western, works hard, and the Fat Controller [[PetTheDog respects that]].
328* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: His given name is 'Montague,' but most call him 'Duck,' after his (supposed) tendency to waddle on the rails. Henry, Gordon, and James have quacked at him in the past.
329* ParentheticalSwearing: Shouts "Quack yourself" to Donald who compared his MotorMouth to a duck.
330* TheReliableOne: For all his bragging about being Great Western, it's noted that he makes the railway run like clockwork.
331* RightlySelfRighteous: Duck boasts about his Great Western heritage, much to the annoyance of the rude and arrogant engines like Gordon, Henry, and James. However, as Duck puts it, "The Great Western Way" implies that he's a reliable engine who works hard and gets the job done without any complaints.
332* SixthRanger: The core numbered cast of engines had been pretty well-cemented after Toby's introduction in the seventh book of ''The Railway Series'', with Duck debuting as a new engine in the eleventh when he took over as Tidmouth's station pilot. He became more of a proper supporting character after his own book and eventually got his own branch line in ''Oliver the Western Engine''.
333* SmallNameBigEgo: He is very proud of his Great Western heritage and is ''very'' vocal about it.
334-->'''Duck''': There are two ways of doing things: the Great Western way or the wrong way. I'm Great Western and--\
335'''Other Engines''': [[DeadpanSnarker Don't we know it]]!
336* StillWearingTheOldColors: He is painted in the GWR's Brunswick green livery.
337* VitriolicBestBuds: Often with the trio of Gordon, Henry, and James.
338* {{Workaholic}}. Duck makes everything go like clockwork to the point where even the passengers stop complaining, but the other engines don't like having to bustle about constantly.
339* YouShallNotPass: In "A Close Shave", he holds back twenty runaway cars from crashing into a passenger train.
340* YoungerThanHeLooks: He acts more mature than Thomas and Percy even though he's younger than them.
341
342!'''Donald and Douglas-The Caledonian Twins, #9 and #10'''
343[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_3674.png]]
344[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see them pre-repaint.]][[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/27hullotwins2127rs4.png]] [[/labelnote]]]]
345(Caledonian Railway 812/652 Class 0-6-0)
346
347Built: 1909
348
349Arrived on Sodor: 1959
350
351As work on the NWR continued to get heavier, the Fat Controller decided to order a goods engine from Scotland...only to end up having two. He set them to work anyway while deciding which one to send back, but both were determined to stay. Though both had their successes, it was marred by the worries of Douglas being sent back and scrapped which resulted him in misplacing an important coach, Donald crashing into a signal-box, and Douglas destroying a spiteful brakevan. Things finally came to a head in the winter season where the decision was made, but the committee of engines, combined with the hard work of the twins keeping the lines clear in the snow, has convinced the Fat Controller to keep both of them. From then on, repainted in NWR blue that reminds them of their Caledonian Railway heritage, the twins do a variety of work, running on both the main line and the various branch lines on the NWR.
352----
353* AdaptationDyeJob: In the books, they were painted NWR blue after arriving at Sodor, as it was closer to their original heritage (The Other Railway painted them in black goods livery). With three blue engines already, the TV producers wisely decided to keep their more distinctive black paint.
354* BerserkButton: Don't make fun of their whistles, as Gordon and Henry found out.
355-->'''Donald''': Ye wadnae be makkin' fun o' uz, wad ye noo?\
356'''Gordon''': (Nervously) Uh, no!\
357'''Henry''': (Nervously) No, no! Certainly not!\
358'''Douglas''': That's fine. Noo juist mind the baith o' ye, and keep it that wey.
359* [[BigBrotherInstinct Twin Brother Instinct]]: In addition to the BullyHunter example, dialogue implies Donald had to smuggle Douglas to Sodor just to save his life. If that's not brotherly love, what is?
360* TheBigGuy: As dedicated freight engines, they have more muscle than any other engine bar Gordon, Henry and maybe James (the real life inspiration for James the L&YR Class 28 has more strength than the Caledonian 812/652's Donald and Douglas are based on, but since James is modified heavily its likely he is less strong than his basis). Donald and Douglas are most often seen as "bankers" - an engine that assists a heavy freight train up a steep gradient by pushing from behind.
361* BullyHunter: Donald who didn't like how The Spiteful Brake Van had caused trouble with Douglas' trains. Also, the twins won't let the troublesome trucks play any tricks on them.
362* BullyingTheDragon: The trucks often get this from the twins; playing tricks on them does ''not'' end well for the trucks.
363* DeadpanSnarker: The twins have their share of wits.
364* DontSplitUsUp: Donald and Douglas really didn't want to part from each other. Justified since if one left, the other would be scrapped.
365* FamilyBusiness: Supplemental material reveals their footplate crews were related too, which is how they could arrange to take them to Sodor together.
366* FantasticRacism: In the ending of "Edward's Exploit", they initially had a dislike for diesels and were the the last engines to accept [=BoCo=].
367* HistoricalInJoke: The twins' numbers, 57646 and 57647, are the next two numbers in the real 652-Class after the last real locomotive, which was 57645.
368* IdenticalTwinIDTag: Their name plates and numbers.
369* JustTrainWrong: Shockingly for the Railway Series. The source books identify Donald and Douglas as 812-Classes, but the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ7HgvxRTJI number Awdry gives them 57646 and 57647]] belong to the ''652-Class.'' The two classes were nearly identical in real life with only some modifications between the two so the mistake is somewhat understandable; but considering how much of a [[InsufferableGenius stickler Awdry was for detail]], especially in his later characters such a mistake is a surprising thing indeed.
370* NiceGuy: Very friendly and get on with any work with no fuss.
371* NobleFugitive: In their debut story, the Fat Controller is displeased at the idea of one of them ([[spoiler:Turns out to be Douglas]]) playing truant. This is not because of wanting to shirk duties, but because their class was being withdrawn and scrapped, they had to make a break for Sodor.
372* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: They were initially biased against diesels due to seeing modernization first-hand, but they both grew out of it after meeting [[NiceGuy Boco.]]
373* OlderThanTheyLook: Only Edward and Percy are older than them yet you wouldn't think it.
374-->'''The Twins:''' (On the subject of their missing number plates) They maun hae slyly slippit aff, sir!
375* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight:
376** Donald helped smuggle Douglas across the boarders to Sodor to save his life. Later, Douglas did the same thing for Oliver, Isabel and Toad.
377** They even caused this in the other engines, who didn't know if the Fat Controller would send them away, and thus caused them to present a deputation to him. This is significant as the engines normally ''never'' try to interfere with his orders or decisions.
378* SingleMindedTwins: They have individual roles at times, but mostly retain the same personality.
379* StillWearingTheOldColors: The twins requested repainting in NWR blue rather than their BR black because it reminds them of the "Caley Blue" of their old home on the Caledonian Railway.
380* TraumaButton: Do ''not'' like to talk about scrapping, having nearly fallen victim to it back home.
381* TricksterTwins: Notice that they are the almost the only characters labeled by name ''and'' number; Hatt specifically insisted on this after one too many TwinSwitch gambits.
382* TwinSwitch: In "The Missing Coach". They swap their numbered tenders to keep the Fat Controller from finding out about Douglas accidentally misplacing Thomas' special coach. Unfortunately for them, the Fat Controller already found out about it.
383* ViolentGlaswegian: A rather kid-friendly version. While they're nice Scots, they can get temperamental when pushed.
384-->'''Donald (to the Spiteful Brake Van)''': "Spite Douggie, wad ye? Tak that!"
385* VitriolicBestBuds: Sometimes with the more arrogant engines like Gordon, Henry, and James.
386
387!'''Daisy, the Diesel Rail-Car, #D1'''
388[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/daisyrs6.png]]
389(Metro-Cammell Diesel Multiple Unit Class 101/102)
390
391Built: 1960
392
393Arrived on Sodor: 1960
394
395When Thomas suffered an accident involving a lack of a driver, a careless cleaner, a station-master's house, a garden bush, and breakfast, Daisy was brought in to handle passenger duties. Her pride in being an up-to-date diesel made her superior and arrogant, neglecting various duties that "were bad for her swerves". Further incidents involving a bull did not help her reputation, but after Percy himself got into an accident, she was determined to work hard, and thanks to Toby's good word, was kept on as a passenger train along the Ffarquhar line.
396----
397* AscendedExtra: Only appearing in two of Wilbert Awdry's books, she became ''much'' more prominent in Chrisopher's due to the heavier amount of focus on Thomas' branch line.
398* BerserkButton: Being referred to as "feeble".
399-->'''Daisy''': Feeble! Feeble! Let me...!
400* CartoonCreature: She's based on a real DMU class, but 101s normally come in 2- or 3-unit sets. Justified InUniverse, where she is said to be an experimental single-car unit tested for smaller branch lines (a prospect likely cut short by the Beeching Report).
401* CharacterDevelopment: Becomes a more reliable engine after the events of ''Branch Line Engines''. She maintains some airs and graces, but is generally less rude about it and can back her boasting with actual hard work.
402* FantasticRacism: Expresses this in "Mavis", telling the titular character that diesels are superior to steam engines. However, the narrator points out that Daisy didn't usually say those sorts of things, she was just so thrilled to have another diesel to talk to that she let that slip out.
403* TheFriendsWhoNeverHang: Despite working on his branch line, Daisy has noteworthy interactions with every engine on there ''but'' Thomas himself.
404* LazyBum: She's so lazy that she refused to pull one single milk truck. Eventually, the Fat Controller soon calls her out for this, and she eventually grows out of it.
405* MilesGloriosus: She’s confidently claimed that the likes of bulls and snow are a minor inconvenience to her. On both occurrences, she’s found out the hard way that this isn’t the case.
406* SpoiledBrat: She's vain, snobbish, and always wants to have her way. She grew out of that.
407* UnderestimatingBadassery: First to Toby in ''Bullseye'', upon which she is soon proven wrong, and then, in a lighter example, [[ItMakesSenseInContext snow.]]
408* WeaksauceWeakness: She's a very lightweight engine...which makes her perform terribly in heavy snowfall, as she does not have the weight needed to push aside snowdrifts, and the snow can clog her intakes.
409* WellExcuseMePrincess: Was very vain when she first came.
410
411!'''Bill and Ben, the Tank Engine Twins'''
412[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/whatapicture21rs2.png]]
413
414(Bagnall Saddle-Tank engines 0-4-0ST)
415
416Built: 1948
417
418Arrived on Sodor: 1948
419
420This pair of twins works primarily at the China Clay Works and Brendam Bay along the Brendam Bay Line, hauling freight for engines on the main line to take. Though hard working, they are extremely mischievous and love playing tricks on newcomers to the line, an example being Gordon when he was forced to detour onto here. Edward is one of the few that keep them line.
421----
422* {{Bratty Half Pint}}s: As [=BoCo=] puts it, they can be maddening at times.
423* BunnyEarsLawyer: They might be tricksters, but they're rather efficient at their jobs.
424* {{Foil}}: To Donald and Douglas, being more immature and cheeky, compared to how the Scottish Twins are more straightforward and no-nonsense. It's also worth pointing out that while Donald and Douglas have had individual roles in stories, Bill & Ben always appear together in the books.
425* GossipyHens: in "The Diseasel".
426* [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Jerks with a Heart of Gold]]: Despite their bratty and mischievous behavior, they can prove to be well-behaved at times.
427* OlderThanTheyLook: A minor variation. They're pretty young compared to the other steam engines, but they act so immature that even the young diesels (namely, Boco) feel the need to keep them in line.
428* PutOnABus: Their last appearance was in the book ''Thomas and the Twins''.
429* SiblingRivalry: They bicker with each other from time to time.
430* SingleMindedTwins: Both twins are equally mischievous.
431* StrongerThanYouLook: They're rather tough engines for their small size, once managing to help tow an adrift boat that nearly ran aground.
432* TwinSwitch: Not the classic switch - instead, they both pretended to be the same engine, after removing their name- and number-plates.
433
434!'''[=BoCo=] the Diesel, #D2'''
435[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainbocorws2.png]]
436(Class 28 Metro-Vick Diesel Electric Type 2 Co-Bo)
437
438Built: 1958
439
440Arrived on Sodor: 1965
441
442One day during work, Bill and Ben discovered that their trucks had been taken. An examination of a patch of oil led to the twins concluding that "a Diseasel" took them, and they went to Wellsworth to find [=BoCo=] had taken them by accident. Edward reassured [=BoCo=] that they meant no harm, and [=BoCo=] is one of the few that can keep Bill and Ben in line, like when he "threatened" to take their trucks if they continued teasing Gordon when he was forced to detour. [=BoCo=] primarily works on the Brendam Bay line alongside Edward, and sometimes helps on the main line if needed, as one of the most versatile of the Fat Controller's engines. Formerly numbered D5702, he was renumbered Sodor's D2.
443----
444* [[TheAllegedCar The Alleged Engine]]: AllThereInTheManual, but his class of engine was one of the worst performing diesels in BR's service. Similar to Henry, [=BoCo=] needed several rebuilds in order to fix this. It certainly explains why he was more humble than Diesel.
445* FantasticRacism: Bill and Ben thought he was trouble, but Edward proves otherwise. Duck likewise had a bit of this until he got to know [[=BoCo=], as did James and the Scottish Twins.
446* GentleGiant: He's a large diesel who is friendly.
447* LastOfHisKind: Like Gordon, [=BoCo=] only has one surviving relative. The Class 28s were withdrawn shortly after [=BoCo=]'s introduction for the mechanical issues mentioned previously.
448* NiceGuy: Was so friendly that he remedied the other engines' opinions on diesels.
449* TeamDad: Along with Edward, he also keeps the mischievous Bill and Ben in line.
450* YoungerThanTheyLook: Acts more mature than Bill and Ben despite being 10 years younger than them.
451
452!'''Bear the Hymek Diesel, #D3'''
453[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bearrws.png]]
454(British Rail Class 35 "Hymek" Bo-Bo)
455
456Built: 1964
457
458Arrived on Sodor: 1967
459
460D7101 came to the NWR on loan at a time when non-NWR diesels were treated with great hostility. Though 7101 maintained his manners, his companion 199 did not share his sentiments. During a trial run, both 7101 and 199 failed in pulling their trains, and had to be helped by Henry. 7101 was the only one that helped Henry and was able to strike up a conversation with him afterward, admiring him for the monumental achievement of pulling two dead diesels and both their trains while malfunctioning. His kindness paid off; 199 was sent away and 7101 stayed, now renumbered D3 and nicknamed Bear for the tendency of his engine to growl, which the diesel took in stride. Bear works on the main line, accepted as a friend by big engines, especially Henry, James and the Scottish Twins.
461----
462* AdaptedOut: Bear is absent from the TV series since his debut story, "Super Rescue", was never adapted, due to budgetary restrictions disallowing new models for him and D199, and because of the push for more episodes with Thomas.
463* DemotedToExtra: Almost immediately after his debut volume. He never had another speaking role after ''Enterprising Engines'' and only physically appeared in one more story along with a handful of mentions afterwards.
464* FantasticRacism: Averted. Unlike D199, he was nice and sensible and tried to shut him up for his remarks about the local engines. TruthInTelevision, as Bear's class used hydraulics instead of electrics, and had been declared non-standard by BR by the time he arrived on Sodor.
465* GoodCostumeSwitch: Bear was painted in the same post-1965 Rail Blue livery as D199 when the two diesels first came to Sodor. After Sir Topham Hatt buys him from BR, Bear is repainted into the Hymeks' famously elaborate green livery.
466* HistoricalInJoke: Again, the real Hymeks were only numbered up to D7100.
467* MeaningfulRename: He's been renamed to Bear due to him making growling noises.
468* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: But Bear isn't complaining, he loves having a name of any kind, as it makes him really feel like he belongs there.
469* PutOnABus: He had his last appearance in ''James and the Diesel Engines'', though he was mentioned later on in a few books. He's certainly still part of the railway, but his worklife is significantly more mundane compared to his companions, so he doesn't get as many roles.
470* StillWearingTheOldColors: The final illustration of his debut shows he was repainted to the Class 35's attractive pre-1965 colours, one of the most elaborate of any BR diesel class. Brunswick Green, with a lime green stripe on his lower body, yellow warning panels and his cab windows picked out in white.
471
472!'''Oliver the Western Engine, #11'''
473[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainoliverrws2.png]]
474(Great Western Railway 14xx Tank Engine 0-4-2T)
475
476Built: 1934
477
478Arrived on Sodor: 1967
479
480Oliver was perhaps the only engine to come to the NWR unexpectedly. At a time when steam engines were being persecuted and scrapped in favor of Diesels, Oliver was instead rescued by his driver and fireman. A chance encounter with Douglas was a turn of good fortune, since he aided in Oliver's escape. Oliver was welcomed by the Fat Controller to work on the Arlesburgh line alongside Duck and the Scottish Twins. His heroism and escape has gone to his head, and an accident with a turntable has made him more humble.
481----
482* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: In the story "Resource and Sagacity", he becomes full of himself in the smokebox after receiving high praise from Gordon, Henry and James.
483* BreakTheHaughty: He gets a little too prideful in "Resource and Sagacity", and ends up bunker-down in a turntable well.
484* DemotedToExtra: After his titular book. He had no further speaking roles in the series after this, and only a handful of cameos otherwise.
485* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: The Fat Controller asks him if he suffers this after he pulls S.C.Ruffey apart. Subverted in that the train was too heavy for Oliver to pull in the first place, the trucks were holding back, and S.C.Ruffey's wood and frame were already rotten and rusted.
486* TheDreaded: After pulling S.C.Ruffey apart, he's this to the Troublesome Trucks.
487* {{Foil}}: To Duck. Both are Great Western tank engines, but Oliver isn't vocal about his Great Western heritage like Duck is. Also, as learned in "Resource and Sagacity", Oliver can be conceited and overconfident in contrast to Duck who is more humble than him.
488* IHaveManyNames: Or ''numbers'' in this case, with 1436, 1420 and 11 all associated with Oliver.
489* MysteriousPast: It is initially implied Oliver is an AutobiographicalRole like Toby and Duck sharing a real life locomotive number, Oliver wearing the number 1436. This does seem to create a continuity issue though, as 1436 was scrapped in 1959,[[https://www.railuk.info/steam/getsteam.php?row_id=355 8 years before Oliver's rescue in the books.]] WordOfGod in the reference books suggest Oliver was not originally assigned as 1436, and perhaps took up the number after the real 1436 was scrapped. How Oliver obtained the 1436 plates, and what his ''actual'' number was on British Railways is a mystery. There is the possibility, however, that Oliver took up the 1436 plates as part of his escape from British Railways, as a way to hide as a true "ghost train" and obscure his real identity.
490** The rescanned digital illustrations show that eventually 1436 is replaced with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TtCKGKZPwo the number 1420]], suggesting Oliver is actually [[https://preservedbritishsteamlocomotives.com/1420-2/ GWR 1420]] a real life preserved engine at the South Devon Railway.
491* NobleFugitive: A refugee from the mainland escaping from scrap. In spite of being smuggled into Sodor, he proves himself as one of the family.
492* StillWearingTheOldColors: He is painted in the GWR's Brunswick green livery.
493
494!'''Mavis the Quarry Diesel'''
495[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainmavisrws.png]]
496(British Railways Class 04 Shunter 0-6-0DM)
497
498Built: 1962
499
500Arrived on Sodor: 1962
501
502Mavis is a diesel in the Ffarquhar quarry line, tasked with shunting and arranging trucks for Toby. Arguably the youngest engine in the entire NWR fleet, she often had her own ideas about doing things and applied them contrary to Toby's advice. Things came to a head when advice from a boastful Daisy led her to get stuck and disrupt traffic along the line, leading her to be rescued by Toby. When she repaid the favor later on though, she was redeemed, and was allowed to be friends with the others and venture outside the quarry.
503----
504* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: Happened to her when she took heed to Daisy's word about how diesels are better than steam engines.
505* TheBigGuy: Of Thomas' Branch Line.
506* CharacterDevelopment: Started off as completely full of herself, she became more humble after nearly causing a disastrous accident.
507* FireForgedFriends: After her CharacterDevelopment, she gets on better with Toby.
508* IJustWantToBeFree: A downplayed and more mundane example, but she can get bored cooped up in the quarry. Even after mellowing out and learning more, she's always eager for a chance to stretch her wheels.
509* LastEpisodeNewCharacter: First introduced in "Tramway Engines", the last of the original 26 books written by the Rev. W. Awdry.
510* MouthyKid: Started off arrogant and refused to follow Toby's orders. She tamed after her innovations to how things worked caused serious problems.
511* {{Tomboy}}: Hangs out a lot with Toby and Percy and has a far more headstrong personality than Daisy.
512* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: To Daisy. She primarily deals with freight work, while Daisy is a passenger engine. Mavis' FatalFlaw in the beginning was her being headstrong, while Daisy's was laziness. Mavis is painted black and is quite clearly an industrial engine while Daisy is painted green and is more graceful in appearance.
513
514!'''Pip and Emma, the High-Speed Train'''
515
516
517(BR Class 43 High Speed Train Bo-Bo)
518[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pip_7.png]]
519 [[caption-width-right:350:Pip]]
520[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/emma_3.png]]
521 [[caption-width-right:350:Emma]]
522
523Built: 1975
524
525The newest and most modern additions to the NWR, Pip and Emma are first introduced as a high-speed train that become acquaintances to Gordon when they visited from the mainland. Their ability has convinced The Fat Controller to purchase them for himself to work on the main line, and now are tasked alongside Gordon to take passengers on another express, as well as make incredibly long journeys from Sodor to London.
526----
527* AdaptedOut: Neither have ever appeared in the TV series, replaced instead by the far less realistic American streamliners Connor and Caitlin.
528* GuestStarPartyMember: The Fat Controller loaned them a couple of times before finally buying them as a permanent Express train in the last book.
529* {{Nice G|uy}}irls: They're very pleasant.
530* PunnyName: "Pip Emma" is old-fashioned English slang for PM (as in the time of day), based on the First World War-era [[MilitaryAlphabet British Army phonetic alphabet]].
531* RescueIntroduction: Pip is struggling with her cooling system when they first travel on the North Western Railway, and Emma soon fails as well. James has to rescue both of them, and afterwards Douglas tows them home.
532* StillWearingTheOldColors: Although ''Thomas and His Friends'' replaces their [=InterCity=] 125 branding with NWR lettering, Pip and Emma's trainset continue wearing the as-delivered Rail Blue scheme, long since vanished from the Other Railway thanks to privatisation (and even before it thanks to the [=InterCity=] rebranding in the 80s).
533* {{Those Two G|uys}}irls: Essentially seem to have the same personality.
534* UnknownRival: Gordon was competitive hearing of their line in action, but Pip and Emma, unlike many other diesels, had no antagonistic streak about them, and even seemed to admire Gordon in their first meeting. By the time Pip and Emma finally take over the Express, their kind streak has won Gordon over and he gracefully accepts.
535
536!'''Bloomer'''
537
538(LNWR 2-2-2 Bloomer Class)
539
540Restored: 1975
541
542Featured on Awdry's model railroads with the model preserved in the Narrow Gauge Museum in Tywyn, Wales; Bloomer is a 2-2-2 single engine from the Portpatrick and Whigtownshire Railway. Sir Topham Hatt had Bloomer restored for the 150th Anniversary celebrations of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and since then Bloomer runs occasional excursion services on Thomas's branch. Bloomer has no appearances in the books.
543----
544* {{All There in the Manual}}: With no mention in the books or even spin off material such as ''Sodor, Its People, History and Railways'' or ''Sodor, Reading Between The Lines,'' all public information on Bloomer comes from Awdry's private notes which the Talyllyn Railway has been gradually [[https://twitter.com/AwdryStudy/status/1427731197145370624 sharing online]]. Considering the timeline of Bloomer's introduction, its likely Bloomer was created after ''Tramway Engines,'' and is never mentioned in Christopher's following books.
545* AdaptedOut: Not surprising, considering Bloomer's lack of appearances in the books, that the character was not shown in the TV series or featured in any merchandise. Although the TV series' Emily, a 4-2-2, does bear some resemblance to Bloomer.
546* CoolOldGuy: Being older than even ''Edward,'' Bloomer is used specifically for enthusiast excursion work.
547* {{Expy}}: Being found in an abandoned engine shed by the Fat Controller and then restored, Bloomer bears an uncanny resemblance to Duke's story in ''Duke the Lost Engine''.
548* FlatCharacter: With no appearances in a story, Bloomer's character is a complete mystery.
549
550
551
552According to ''Sodor, Its People, History and Railways'', and ''Sodor, Reading Between The Lines'', there are about ''eighty'' undocumented engines.
553
554[[/folder]]
555
556[[folder:Engines of the Skarloey Railway]]
557
558First introduced in the 10th book "Four Little Engines", this Narrow Gauge railway operates independently from the NWR, though Main Line NWR engines have interacted with them in conversation. Each engine has a real-life counterpart on the Talyllyn Railway, with a corresponding name - ''Talyllyn'', ''Dolgoch'', ''Sir Haydn'', ''Edward Thomas'', ''Midlander'', ''Douglas'', ''Alf'', ''Tom Rolt'' and ''Toby''. Duke is based on the Ffestiniog Railway's ''Prince''.
559
560!'''Skarloey, #1'''
561(Fletcher-Jennings 1864 Class C 0-4-2ST)
562[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/skarloey.png]]
563
564
565Built: 1864
566
567Arrived on Sodor: 1865
568
569The railway's namesake was in fact one of the engines that got it started. Skarloey is introduced as an old, patient and wise engine who has seen better days after decades upon decades of service. After running a train back and forth on the line as an emergency engine, Skarloey proved he still had what it took and was repaired to run better than ever.
570----
571* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: Happened to him in his younger years when he gets another pair of wheels and a cab.
572* BewareTheNiceOnes: The coaches learned the hard way in "Old Faithful" when he severely scolded them for bumping Sir Handel off the rails. The narration describes him as such:
573-->''"Skarloey might be old, and had dirty paint, but he was certainly an engine who would stand no nonsense."''
574* BilingualBonus: Skarloey means "lake in the woods". "Skarloey" is actually said to be a scribe's error that stuck, going from "skogar loey" to "scacaloey" to "Skarloey". Interestingly, it mixes a Scandinavian element (''skogar'', "forest") with a Celtic one ([[ConLang Sudric]] ''loey'', "lake", cognate with loch/lough/lake), which is relatively rare but does happen in real life.
575* CatchPhrase: "[[WhatTheHellHero I'm ashamed of you.]]" When he says this to you, you know you've messed up.
576* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Rheneas.
577* MidSeasonUpgrade: ''The Island of Sodor'' book reveals that Skarloey quietly had a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylchap Kylchap]] exhaust injector installed sometime after his return to service in the late 1950s. Since this upgrade is inside his smokebox its never seen in the series, but it greatly improves his performance going forward.
578** Considering the real Kylchap on ''Talyllyn'' was installed in the 1960s and removed shortly afterwards, Skarloey's Kylchap is similar to Peter Sam's giesel ejector in that both were a brief experiment on the real engine that became a permanent feature on their Railway Series equivalents.
579* MiniatureSeniorCitizens: Narrow-gauge and over a century old.
580* NotSoAboveItAll: He's got a mischievous streak. He hopes he and the other engines will have fun when the boastful Sir Handel goes up against George, and he deliberately keeps quiet about the fact that Culdee made the Godred story up.
581* OlderThanTheyLook: Skarloey was built in 1864, making him over ''150 years old''. In fact he turns ''160'' this year (2024)!
582* PintSizedPowerhouse: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SF1HGJDano Narrow Gauge Rails in Sodor]] lecture revealed Skarloey was used with a transporter wagon (based on the Guinness brewery wagons in Dublin) to haul standard gauge cars for the Crovan's Gate Mining Company to port, while the Sodor & Mainland Railway was undergoing receivership. This practice ended once the Sodor & Mainland was taken over by the North Western, and Skarloey returned to his home rails. The hard strain of being used in the transporter wagon and hauling standard gauge cars explains Skarloey's worn out condition by his first appearance in the books.
583* RedOniBlueOni: In his younger years, he was the excitable Red Oni to Rheneas' sensible Blue as learned in ''Very Old Engines''.
584* SecretKeeper: Skarloey and Rheneas are the only ones who know that Culdee made up the entire story about Godred's parts being cannibalized.
585
586!'''Rheneas, #2'''
587(Fletcher-Jennings 1866 Class Bb 0-4-0WT)
588[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainrheneasrws2_2.png]]
589
590Built: 1865
591
592Arrived on Sodor: 1865
593
594During the early years of the Skarloey railway, Rheneas was the engine who was more mature and reliable, compared to the excitable, jumpy Skarloey. After a couple of escapades, the duo became firm friends who watched each other's back. Rheneas himself would not make an official appearance until the 17th Book "Gallant Old Engine", as in between the 10th and 17th books he was away for a massive repair and overhaul. He and Skarloey primarily pull passenger trains and serve as the voices of reason to educate newcomers to the Skarloey Railway.
595----
596* BilingualBonus: Rheneas means "divided waterfall". ''Eas'' is indeed "waterfall" in all three real Gaelic languages. ''Rhen-'' is a Sudric descendant from ''rann'', the common root of words meaning "divided" in the Celtic languages.
597* {{Determinator}}: In "Gallant Old Engine". Made even more impressive [[AllThereInTheManual if you've read the background material]] - Rheneas was the line's only working engine for more than a ''decade'', single-handedly keeping the line open through its lean years.
598** With almost all of the Skarloey engines being a CaptainErsatz for a counterpart on the Talyllyn Railway, it has to be noted that Dolgoch accomplished that ''in real life.'' This is credited properly in "Gallant Old Engine", as Rheneas' story has a liner note saying its an adaptation of Tom Rolt's "Railway Adventure" a book which includes the history of Dolgoch's years running the Talyllyn alone.
599* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Skarloey.
600* MiniatureSeniorCitizens: Narrow-gauge and over a century old.
601* RedOniBlueOni: In his younger years, he was the sensible Blue Oni to Skarloey's excitable Red as learned in ''Very Old Engines''.
602* RefuseToRescueTheDisliked: In the flashback episode of "Stick-in-the-Mud", Rheneas refused to rescue Skarloey from the landslide, but soon relented when he was reminded of the workmen and Skarloey's crew.
603* SatelliteCharacter: A variation in the earlier books by Wilbert Awdry. Since he was getting his overhaul for much of them, he was generally only discussed through flashbacks by Skarloey. Even in ''Very Old Engines'', after Rheneas has returned, the same format is mostly in use. It is only in the Christopher Awdry instalments and TV series where he is often working with the others in present day. This is TruthInTelevision as Rheneas's basis Dolgoch was undergoing an extensive overhaul from 1954 to 1963 as the books were being published.
604* SecretKeeper: Skarloey and Rheneas are the only ones who know that Culdee made up the entire story about Godred's parts being cannibalized.
605
606!'''Sir Handel (Formerly Falcon), #3'''
607(Hughes Falcon 0-4-2ST)
608[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture_795.PNG]]
609 [[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see him as Falcon]][[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainsirhandelrws1.png]][[/labelnote]]]]
610
611Built: 1904
612
613Arrived on Sodor: 1904
614
615When Rheneas was away to be repaired, and Skarloey was benched for emergencies only, Sir Handel was one of the engines brought in. Much like Gordon though, he prides himself for only pulling the best of the best, being disdainful to coaches that aren't "real" and loathing the thought of pulling Trucks. His behavior doesn't help when Gordon himself gives bad advice to shirk his duties. Incidents like this improved his behavior immensely and now Sir Handel is a wiser engine, though with a small sense of stubbornness.
616----
617* AdaptationDyeJob: The show had him keep his blue paint job from when he worked with Duke on the Mid Sodor Railway, while in the books he was repainted in Skarloey Railway Red.
618* AesopAmnesia: The end of "Old Faithful" says he now does his fair share of the work and earned the respect of the coaches. By his next appearance, he's trying to get out of work again by pretending to be sick, and "Mountain Engine" has him insult the coaches the same way he did in his first story.
619* BerserkButton: In much the same way as Gordon, don't make him pull trucks.
620* {{Defictionalization}}: Spent most of 1985 (during the book "Great Little Engines") on the Talyllyn railway in Tywyn, as they'd actually repainted ''Sir Haydn'' into Sir Handel for the year.
621* {{Expy}}: Essentially a narrow gauge Gordon.
622* HairTriggerTemper: He has quite a temper whenever others tease or when things don't go his way.
623* HeelFaceDoorSlam: After a bad first run that ended with him getting left in the shed for days, Sir Handel tried to behave better and was nicer to the coaches, but they didn't buy it and continued hassling him, eventually derailing him when he accidentally bumped them. When an angry Skarloey calls them out on this however, they are repentant and they and Sir Handel are said to cooperate far better....at least for a while.
624* IHaveManyNames: His name was Falcon before joining the Skarloey Railway.
625* {{Jerkass}}: At his worst. He is arrogant, bad-tempered, and self-centered. Peter Sam claims that this stems from him missing working at the Mid-Sodor Railway.
626* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Sometimes. Mostly shows his soft side to Peter Sam or Duke.
627* MidSeasonUpgrade: His "steamroller" wheels.
628** His final appearance in the books in ''New Little Engines'' shows his cab has been rebuilt and pushed back, exposing his coal bunkers (similar in apperance to Skarloey). This is a modification that was also made to his real life basis Sir Haydn.
629* TheNapoleon: A small narrow-gauge engine with a big ego and a bad temper.
630* PlayingSick: He tried doing this twice, but was soon found out by the Thin Controller. The first time is at Gordon's suggestion to get out of work, which ends with Peter Sam getting into an accident and Sir Handel having to do his work as well as his own. The second he does this to try to avoid getting recorded by the BBC, so the Thin Controller says he can stay at the shed... [[GoneHorriblyRight after being taken to pieces to show the film crew how an engine works]].
631* PunnyName: In the real world, "[[Music/GeorgeFredericHandel Sir Handel]]" [[note]]Fictionally named after the Skarloey Railway owner Sir Handel Brown[[/note]] is based on Talyllyn's [[Music/JosephHaydn Sir Haydn]][[note]] Named after Sir Haydn Jones, real-life owner of the Talyllyn railway[[/note]], keeping the classical music reference intact.
632* RedOniBlueOni: The Blue to Peter Sam's Red. Heck, he was painted blue on his old railway, but they are both red now.
633* SecretKeeper: Implied. He and Peter Sam only spoke of Duke when they were alone.
634* SelectiveMemory: Despite being older than Stanley, and on the Mid Sodor Railway before Stanley arrived; Falcon still acts shocked when Duke recounts the story of Stanley's demise. Especially strange given that one of the illustrations in "Duke the Lost Engine" even shows Stanley in the back of the engine shed alongside Falcon (although erroneously, seeing that Stanley wouldn't be built until World War One and that particular story was set in the early 1900s). Still, its heavily implied the two engines worked alongside each other and as such Stanley's transformation into a stationary boiler should not have been news to Falcon.
635* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The Manly Man to Peter Sam's Sensitive Guy.
636* SpoiledBrat: He is quite an arrogant and self-centered engine who thinks the world caters to his wants. He [[EstablishingCharacterMoment disparages the Skarloey Railway sheds]]; he [[DomesticAbuser verbally insults Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice]]; he [[EasilyImpressed tries to impress Gordon]]; is exposed to [[UpperClassTwit care more about passengers than trucks]]; and finally [[PlayingSick pretends to be sick in “Trucks!”]] to save his pathetic hide.
637* TookALevelInJerkass: He seemed a lot happier as Falcon compared to when he came to the Skarloey Railway. Peter Sam even tells Skarloey upon their arrival that Sir Handel is normally friendly but is just upset.
638* TraumaButton: Don't mention being sold to him or Peter Sam. Could also double as a BerserkButton due to him faking sick for the second time in the same book after being told that he wasn't being sold.
639* WeUsedToBeFriends: A more minor example than most cases, but look at Falcon and Stuart on the MSR and Sir Handel and Peter Sam now. They have become much less in sync than they were in the past.
640
641!'''Peter Sam (Formerly Stuart), #4'''
642(Kerr Stuart Tattoo 0-4-2ST)
643[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainpetersamrws3.png]]
644[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see him as Stuart]][[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainpetersamrws1.png]][[/labelnote]]]]
645
646Built: 1920
647
648Arrived on Sodor: 1920
649
650Though Sir Handel had a bad first day, the second engine, Peter Sam, proved to be a better behaved engine, treating the coaches more kindly and being very eager to please. As the youngest of the Thin Controller's engines, Peter Sam had an air of cockiness and naivete about him that led him to get into trouble on more than one occasion; whether it was fooling himself in front of Henry, or ending up in an accident thanks in part to Sir Handel's lies about shirking his duties. The accident however was a blessing in disguise, as his funnel was soon replaced with an entirely new one, making him one of the most powerful engines on the Skarloey Railway.
651----
652* AdaptationDyeJob: Same situation as Sir Handel, except green instead of blue.
653* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: His special funnel inspired a lot of teasing from the others. "Until they learned how useful it is!"
654* IHaveManyNames: His name was Stuart before joining the Skarloey Railway.
655* InformedDeformity: Although his Giesl is prominent in the series most fans treat it as a normal part of the character. Despite that, Rev. Awdry makes a snide comment on the funnel "not improving Peter Sam's looks" in the ''Island of Sodor'' book.
656* {{Keet}}: A rather bouncy and go-getter sort of engine.
657* MidSeasonUpgrade: His Giesl funnel. Based on his Talyllyn counterpart ''Edward Thomas'' being fitted with one in the early 60s, it makes him stronger and reduces his coal consumption. (At the Talyllyn, ''Edward Thomas'' had his Giesl removed in 1969, after finding no significant difference in coal consumption).
658* NiceGuy: Very friendly to just about everyone he meets.
659* RedOniBlueOni: The Red Oni to Sir Handel's Blue. (Though ironically, they're both Skarloey Red now.)
660* SecretKeeper: Implied. He and Sir Handel only spoke of Duke when they were alone.
661* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The Sensitive Guy to Sir Handel's Manly Man.
662* TraumaButton: Don't mention being sold to him or Sir Handel. However, unlike Sir Handel, after being told he's not being sold after all, Peter Sam reverts back to his cheery self.
663* WeUsedToBeFriends: More minor that most. See Sir Handel's entry.
664* {{Workaholic}}: At the prospect of working the line solo, Peter Sam was very excited.
665
666!'''Rusty, #5'''
667(Ruston & Hornsby Diesel 4wDM)
668[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainrustyrws.png]]
669
670
671Built: 1957
672
673Arrived on Sodor: 1957
674
675Rusty is the first Diesel on the Skarloey Railway, and one of the few (at the time he was introduced) that is genuinely nice towards steam engines. Rusty arrived while Skarloey was away being repaired and returned to find an almost completely different railway thanks to the little Diesel, instantly taking a liking to Rusty. Rusty primarily hauls freight and does repair work on the Skarloey Railway's lines.
676----
677* AdaptationDyeJob: Was painted dark grey in the books, but is orange on the show.
678* FireForgedFriends: With Duncan.
679* FlatCharacter: He is quite friendly and helpful, and one of the hardest workers on the Skarloey Railway, but he never really gets a true DayInTheLimelight or much conflict, except for his spat with Duncan.
680* HiddenDepths: A more negative example, but while he is a hard-worker, there ''is'' a job he hates: Pulling the weedkiller train due to it being one of the most tedious jobs on the railway. Having to pull it is one of the few times he'll actually grumble about his work.
681* RefuseToRescueTheDisliked: Refused to help a rude Duncan to get back on the rails, but after Skarloey calls him out on it, he decides to do it anyways.
682* [[TokenMinority Token Diesel]]: He's the only diesel on the Skarloey Railway (until Fred arrives in 1989, anyway).
683
684!'''Duncan, #6'''
685(Andrew Barclay 0-4-0WT)
686[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainduncanrws.png]]
687
688Built: 1928
689
690Arrived on Sodor: 1958
691
692After Peter Sam's accident, another engine was brought in as a spare. Duncan, while hardworking, was rude, bouncy and short-tempered. He seemed to have one accident after another because of his tendency to "rock and roll", but he saw fault in everyone but himself for all his troubles. He did not get along with Rusty in particular (especially after a boastful James gave him ideas), but an accident where he was saved by him and another incident where he gave passengers a hard time has knocked him off his high horse. Though Duncan occasionally relapses back into rudeness, he means well and works very hard.
693----
694* AdaptationDyeJob: Was painted red in the books, but became yellow in the television series.
695* AesopAmnesia: Often forgets to behave well around others.
696* BrutalHonesty: Calls himself a "plain, blunt engine" and speaks whatever is on his mind.
697* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: Being a grumpy engine, Duncan often ends up getting treated in the wrong by the engines for holding dissenting opinions.
698* DrivesLikeCrazy: One story was dedicated to Duncan's "Rock n' Roll", and ends with him derailing. This was based on his Talyllyn Railway basis, ''Douglas'' being too tall to pass under the original bridges and tunnels [[note]]The trackbed actually had to be lowered to enable clearance[[/note]] and being a rough rider due to not being built for higher speeds carrying passengers.
699* {{Expy}}: In terms of rude personality, he's the narrow-gauge version of James.
700* FantasticRacism: Blatantly bullied Rusty for being a diesel, but stopped after Rusty rescued him from a derailment.
701* FreudianExcuse: Used to work in a factory, resulting in his blunt and grumpy attitude.
702* {{Jerkass}}: At his worst. Duncan is rude, grumpy, temperamental, and cynical.
703* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: At his best. Despite his rudeness, he has a soft spot on his boiler. This is best proven in how apologetic he was towards Rusty after he rescued him and became friends with him.
704* NeverMyFault: Doesn't take responsibility for his troubles, as learned in "Home at Last".
705* NotSoSimilar: He and Sir Handel are very alike due to their grumpy attitudes and difficult behaviors, but there is a key difference between them. Unlike Sir Handel, Duncan doesn't fake illness to get out of work and does not lie; after all, he is a "plain speaking engine".
706* PetTheDog: Despite Duncan's usual crass attitude, he very eagerly goes out of his way to help a Boy Scout troop get cold soda's in "Pop-Special." It's one of the few genuine acts of kindness Duncan ever does in the series.
707* SirSwearsALot: Implied, as Peter Sam says his language is sometimes strong.
708* SpoiledBrat: Like Sir Handel, Duncan is this to some extent, but he's the worst by far and the entire length of "Passengers and Polish" presents him as a whiny and cynical engine who thinks he does not get any luxury as being polished.
709* ViolentGlaswegian: When he loses his temper.
710
711!'''Ivo Hugh, #7'''
7120-4-2T
713[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainivohughrws.png]]
714
715Built: 1996
716
717Arrived on Sodor: 1996
718
719By the mid-1990s, the Skarloey Railway's traffic and popularity was at an all time high. In response, this engine was built, and this most recent addition to the Skarloey Railway was named after the Chief Engineer of the Maintenance Crew, much to his surprise and honor. Ivo Hugh has yet to have any stories with him, for as of 2012, there haven't been any additional books on the Skarloey Railway. Given the series has ended in 2011, it's unlikely he will anytime soon.
720----
721* AdaptedOut: In the TV series, Ivo Hugh's place of SKR #7 was filled by "Fearless" Freddie.
722* FlatCharacter: Due to his debut book being the last to feature stories about the Skarloey Railway and only being present in the final story we never get to see what his true personality really is.
723* TheQuietOne: Did not say a word during what would be his only appearance.
724
725!'''Duke, #8'''
726(George England and Co. 0-4-0ST+T)
727[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maindukerws.png]]
728
729Built: 1879
730
731Arrived on Sodor: 1880
732
733Duke was once the pride of the Mid Sodor Railway, being named after the Duke of Sodor and having served on the line since its opening in 1880. Together with two newer engines, Stuart and Falcon, he served on the railway for many years, essentially raising and teaching the younger two. Sadly, when the railway was closed in 1947, Duke was the only one not bought and was left asleep in his shed for many years, until he was rediscovered in 1969. Duke was brought back to run on the Skarloey Railway, reunited with Stuart (Peter Sam) and Falcon (Sir Handel). He spent quite a long time being restored to running order, hence his number is higher than Ivo Hugh's.
734----
735* BritishStuffiness: One of Duke's catchphrases is poshly stating "this would not suit his grace!" referencing the Duke of Sodor whom he was named after. In a trans-Atlantic rivalry sense as well, Duke's recounting of Stanley's demise takes special note of the engine being built in America and his cocky {{Eagleland}} attitude and Duke's disdain of it. Ancillary material suggests Stanley's frequent derailments were due to a poor job re-gauging him to the MSR's 2'3" gauge, making Duke's opinions on the nationality of the doomed engine potentially misplaced.
736* BullyBulldog: Although a steam locomotive, the distinct saddle-tank on Duke gives him an almost bulldog like appearance; and the second story of his feature book is aptly titled ''Bulldog'' where he is compared to the animal due to his determination in saving Falcon.
737* GrumpyOldMan: ''Par excellence'', especially in comparison with Skarloey and Rheneas.
738* HomeSweetHome: How Duke views the Skarloey Railway after his rescue, even commenting on how its become a home to him when Sir Handel returns from his visit to the Talyllyn Railway.
739* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Sir Handel and Peter Sam, or Falcon and Stuart, as they were known back then.
740* MentorArchetype: To Peter Sam and Sir Handel. They even think he's "dead" by the present day.
741* IOweYouMyLife: One of Duke's few speaking lines in later books is in ''Sir Handel Comes Home'' where he instantly recognizes Sir Handel's mention of the [[AuthorAvatar Thin Clergyman]] as one of the men who saved him.
742* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: When he tells the story of No. 2.
743* PutOnABus: Similar to Bear, while Duke is still very much part of the Skarloey Railway, he notably never carries another story by himself. Unlike Bear, he at least has some speaking lines.
744* RipVanWinkle: Slept for 22 years, and his shed was properly lost till an expedition up the route of the old railway found him again.
745* ScareEmStraight: Gets Sir Handel and Peter Sam to behave by telling them the story about the engine "Number 2" being turned into a pumping engine.
746* StillWearingTheOldColors: Is the only engine on the Skarloey Railway to not be repainted in SR red, instead keeping his Mid-Sodor brown.
747* TeamDad: To Sir Handel and Peter Sam on the MSR.
748
749
750!'''Fred, #9'''
751(ex-NCB Hunslet 0-4-0DM)
752
753Arrived on Sodor: 1989
754
755Fred is the newest engine on the Skarloey railway, restored from two ex- National Coal Board Hunslet diesels. He is based on Talyllyn's ''Alf''.
756----
757* AllThereInTheManual: The fact that he's built from ex-NCB stock comes from one of the reference books.
758* TheGhost: Has never made an appearance in a story, but was talked about.
759* LazyBum: It was implied that he is so lazy that he fakes his illness to get out of work. This trait, if true, is very ironic, as his basis, ''Alf'' is the Talyllyn Railway's primary workhorse, the opposite of Fred in every way.
760* PlayingSick: It was assumed to be the case, though it's possible he legitimately does fall ill very often.
761
762!'''Mark V'''
763(Petrol-driven engineer's trolley)
764
765Built: 1953 (Mark I)
766
767Mark V is the Skarloey Railway engineer's trolley. He was hand-built by the Skarloey Chief Mechanical Engineer Mr Ivo Hugh in 1953, who used him to survey the line, and also to travel to and from work every day. For this reason, the staff have nicknamed him "Ivo's Flying Bedstead". He's based on the Talyllyn's ''Toby'', who is [[CelebrityParadox in turn named after the Railway Series' Toby]]. ''Toby'' has masqueraded as Mark V for ''Thomas'' events at Talyllyn.
768----
769* AllThereInTheManual: He has never appeared in a story, only mentioned in ''People, History and Railways''.
770* TheNthDoctor: Mark V is the fifth iteration of Mr Hugh's trolley. It's unclear whether it's the same vehicle being progressively upgraded however, or a new build each time, although it's probably the former, as with ''Toby'' at Tal-y-Llyn.
771
772
773There's also the mysterious Ministry of Defence engine, described only as "black and beetle-like" in ''Sodor, Its People, History And Railways'' and ''Reading Between The Lines''.
774
775[[/folder]]
776
777
778[[folder:Engines of the Arlesdale Railway]]
779The Arlesdale Railway is a small railway that runs from the end of the Arlesburgh line to hills and quarries which supply ballast for the NWR. Duck, Oliver, Donald and Douglas frequently interact with them. It is based largely on the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway, and its locomotives named after local rivers, ''Esk, Mite'' and ''Irt'', diesel engine ''Perkins'', and ''Northern Rock.'' There are also some engines mentioned only in ''Sodor, It's History, People and Railways'' and ''Sodor, Reading Between The Lines'' - the notoriously unreliable diesels the "Blisters" 1 & 2, based on ''Cyril'' from the R&E, and "Sigrid Of Arlesdale", based on ''Shelagh of Eskdale''.
780
781!'''Rex'''
7822-8-2
783[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture_2545.PNG]]
784
785
786Built: 1923
787
788Arrived on Sodor: 1967
789
790Rex is similar to Percy in that he's cheeky and a big know-it-all who can accomplish anything. He is the first small engine to be introduced, and the first one that Duck meets.
791----
792* BreakTheHaughty: His accident in "Useful Railway".
793* ChromaticArrangement (with Mike and Bert): Green.
794* DeadpanSnarker: Shares this role with Mike.
795* NiceMeanAndInbetween: The in-between one with Mike and Bert.
796* VitriolicBestBuds: Has this relationship with Mike and Bert, but especially Mike.
797
798!'''Mike'''
7992-8-2
800[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainmikerws.png]]
801
802Built: 1966
803
804Arrived on Sodor: 1967
805
806Mike's personality is best described as a cross between Gordon and James; he is red and is conceited and haughty, believing himself to be the most important engine in the Railway. Mike is one of the few engines to prefer hauling freight as opposed to passengers. Understandable as these Trucks, unlike those on the NWR and Skarloey Railways, are more behaved and tame.
807----
808* ChromaticArrangement (with Rex and Bert): Red.
809* DeadpanSnarker: Shares this role with Rex.
810* [[FieryRedhead Fiery Red Engine]]: Similar to James.
811* HairTriggerTemper: To match his red coat of paint.
812* JerkAss: At his worst.
813* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: At his best.
814* NiceMeanAndInbetween: The mean one with Rex and Bert. He's ruder and more hot-tempered than the two.
815%%* PerpetualFrowner
816* SmallNameBigEgo: Thinks he's the most important engine on the Small Railway.
817* VitriolicBestBuds: With Rex and Bert.
818
819!'''Bert'''
8200-8-2
821[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainbertrws.png]]
822
823Built: 1894
824
825Arrived on Sodor: 1967
826
827Bert is the oldest among the initial three small engines, and is often bossed around by Rex and Mike. Though Bert intends to be a good worker, he is temperamental if he is mistreated.
828----
829* ButtMonkey: The others make fun of him and he's taken some bad pratfalls.
830* ChromaticArrangement (with Rex and Mike): Blue.
831* LiteralMinded: He thought that the Thin and Fat Clergyman were going to turn him into a book when they were really going to just write about him.
832* NiceMeanAndInbetween: The nice one with Rex and Mike.
833* VitriolicBestBuds: With Rex and Mike.
834
835!'''Frank'''
8360-4-4
837[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainfrankrws.jpg]]
838
839Built: 1929
840
841Arrived on Sodor: 1967
842
843Frank is one of the few diesels on the Arlesdale Railway. Frank is a hard worker and values teamwork, though can get grumpy if things don't go his way.
844----
845* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite refusing to work out of frustration of not appearing in the ''Small Railway Engines'' book and hitting the back of the shed, nearly damaging it, he redeemed himself by helping Rex's train.
846* RememberTheNewGuy: His introductory story is about how he was present on the Arlesdale Railway during the events of ''Small Railway Engines'' but was never mentioned because the Thin Clergyman didn't know he was there, much to Frank's frustration.
847* [[TokenMinority Token Diesel]]: The only diesel on the Arlesdale (that we see; WordOfGod says the railway owns three other diesels named Sigrid of Arlesdale, and Blisters I and II).
848
849!'''Jock'''
8502-6-2
851[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/teamworkrs1.png]]
852
853Built: 1976
854
855Arrived on Sodor: 1976
856
857Jock is the most recent addition to the Arlesdale Railway and one of the few Yellow-colored engines in the series. The yellow is what inspired his name, as Douglas was reminded of similar engines back in Scotland. Being the most powerful Arlesdale engine, Jock thought nothing of teamwork, but quickly learned the value of it, and is eager to help when the workload of the other engines gets too stressful.
858----
859* TheAce: Jock is by far the strongest of the Small Railway engines, and people often come to the railway just to see him.
860* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: He grew cocky due to the attention from others.
861* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He was cocky, but soon softens after learning about teamwork.
862* ThePowerOfFriendship: What he learns in the end.
863* SixthRanger: He's the fourth steam engine of the Arlesdale Railway, turning the trio into a quartet.
864
865[[/folder]]
866
867[[folder:Engines of the Culdee Fell Railway]]
868
869One of the best examples of one-off characters, the Culdee Fell[[note]] A "Culdee" is an archaic Celtic word for a mountain-dwelling hermit, while a "fell" is a Norse-origin word for a desolate mountain or upland. So "the desolate mountain of the hermit", in this case Sodor's patron saint Machan.[[/note]] Railway runs from down the Skarloey Railway up to the mountains, making it a Mountain Railway. Because of its setting and stringent rules compared with the NWR, Skarloey and Arlesdale, the CFR thus far has only been featured in one book. Though at least 8 engines are said to run on the CFR, only 3 got a story in the CFR's one-off volume. As with the Skarloey and Arlesdale railways, the engines all have direct counterparts on the Snowdon - ''Ladas'' for Godred, ''Enid'' for Ernest, ''Wyddfa'' for Wilfred, ''Snowdon'' for Culdee, ''Moel Siabod'' for Shane Dooiney, ''Ralph'' and ''Eryri'' for Alaric and Eric, and ''Padarn'' (formerly ''Sir Harmood'') for Patrick (né Lord Harry)
870
871!'''Godred, #1'''
8720-4-2RT
873[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/godred.png]]
874
875Built: c.1897
876
877Arrived on Sodor: 1900
878
879Scrapped: 1900
880
881The former #1 of the Culdee Fell, he was named after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godred_Crovan a king]], which made him extremely conceited, arrogant and overestimated his abilities as a Mountain Engine. On opening day of the CFR, Godred crashed...off the mountain. Godred was completely wrecked, and as the CFR couldn't afford to repair him, he was kept in the back of the shed until all of his parts were used and he was gone...at least according to Culdee's story anyway.
882----
883* AHeadAtEachEnd: The CFR engines had an additional face on the back of their cabs.
884* AssholeVictim: He was arrogant and overconfident, to the point where the staff actually ''took him apart'' to find out what was wrong with him, and it gets him in trouble when his attitude causes him to tumble down the mountain. Culdee doesn't have much pity for him.
885* CruelAndUnusualDeath: One that came about due to restricted resources. The railway had no money to mend him, and thus he ended up being used for spare parts as a result. The concept is so ghastly, it shut up [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Sir Handel and Duncan.]]
886* KilledOffForReal: Or was he? No seriously, we have no idea, it's a ContinuitySnarl. AllThereInTheManual confirms that yes, he was, and out-of-universe, it was so that children would not have to worry about his...rather cruel demise. It's telling that in the present-day, he's nowhere to be seen on the CFR.
887* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Was named after King [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godred_Crovan Godred Crovan]], which probably contributed to his [[{{Narcissist}} arrogant personality.]]
888* ShadowArchetype: To Lord Harry/Patrick. Both of them were arrogant engines, much of it stemming from their prestigious names (A Sudrian King for Godred and the owner of the CFR for Lord Harry), and caused much trouble on the railway until their behaviors caused them to have accidents. But while Lord Harry's accident was minor and ended up being a slice of HumblePie that caused him to get his act together and earn the new name of Patrick, Godred's accident was incredibly severe and he never earned any chance of redeeming himself and was thus cannibalized for spare parts. It's even lampshaded, as No. 6 hearing of the tale legitimately worried him, despite his proclamations otherwise.
889
890!'''Culdee, #4'''
8910-4-2RT
892[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainculdeerws2.png]]
893
894Built: 1899
895
896Arrived on Sodor: 1900
897
898The first Mountain Engine to be introduced, Culdee gave exposition to the Skarloey Railway's engines about how his experiences on the CFR made him the engine he was then, which Sir Handel and Duncan quickly took to heart. Culdee shows initiative and massive promise in his work, but also knows when to take things carefully on the CFR.
899----
900* AHeadAtEachEnd: The CFR engines had an additional face on the back of their cabs.
901* BilingualBonus: A "culdee" is an archaic Celtic term meaning a mountain-dwelling hermit or anchorite.
902* DeadpanSnarker: Based on a conversation he has with Wilfred about Lord Harry while the aforementioned is derailed on the points.
903* DecoyProtagonist: You'd think that as the first introduced engine of the CFR he'd be the main protagonist or at least carry a full story by himself, but the first story, arguably the only one putting him in a major role, is shared with the Skarloey Engines and doesn't delve into any particular character arc about him, being more of a technical flashback showcasing how the Mountain Engines work. The next story focuses on Godred, and the final two are about Lord Harry/Patrick.
904* NiceGuy: Just a rather pleasant, friendly engine, who enjoys chatting to Skarloey and Rheneas during his layover at their sheds.
905* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: Similar to Duke, after scaring Duncan and Sir Handel straight with his story of Godred.
906* ScareEmStraight: The entire point of the Godred story. It scared the wheels off of Sir Handel and Duncan, and while No. 6 dismissed it at first, he did take the implications seriously.
907* UnreliableNarrator: Assuming that the part of the story about Godred's remains being used for the other Mountain Engines parts isn't true. According to the writing, Skarloey and Rheneas know that Culdee made the story up, but WordOfGod states that it was actually true.
908
909!'''Patrick (Formerly Lord Harry), #6'''
9100-4-2RT
911[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lordharry.png]]
912
913Built: 1962
914
915Arrived on Sodor: 1962
916
917One of three recent arrivals to the CFR, Lord Harry was the only one among the batch that had troubles; much like Godred, he was reckless and rough with the coaches, which led him to be severely scolded by the CFR's manager and his name taken. #6 however redeemed himself immensely after saving hikers and braving a severe storm along the mountains, leading him to be renamed Patrick, after one of the saved hikers.
918----
919* AHeadAtEachEnd: The CFR engines had an additional face on the back of their cabs.
920* {{Determinator}}: Fought his way through gale-force winds to reach the summit and rescue the stranded hikers in "Devil's Back".
921* HeelFaceTurn: Becomes a more humble engine in the ending.
922* HumblePie: Got served this when stuck on the points and was relegated to maintenance work, with his name taken away to boot. Having to deal with an ''actually'' dangerous situation likewise helped rein him in.
923* {{Jerkass}}: Like Godred, he was ill mannered and arrogant. That is until he [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold redeems himself.]]
924* LeeroyJenkins: Deconstructed. Part of his poor attitude came from recklessness and this ultimately bit him in the cab when it gets him in trouble. He also learns that this is a ''terrible'' attitude to have in legitimately serious situations in the last story of the book, and thus while he is willing to take risks by the end, he knows when they are needed, and when they are showing off otherwise.
925* MeaningfulRename: Twice. The first time, his name was taken away since associating the name of the owner of the railway with such a troublesome engine would be bad PR, not to mention a punishnment for his bad behavior. The second time, he is renamed Patrick after one of the saved hikers, as a sign that he has redeemed himself.
926* YouAreNumberSix: Literally! His name gets removed as punishment for his recklessness.
927
928Other engines mentioned are:
929* '''Ernest, #2'''
930* '''Wilfred, #3'''
931* '''Shane Dooiney, #5''' (by number only in ''Mountain Engines'' and by name in ''The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways'')
932* '''Alaric, #7'''
933* '''Eric, #8'''
934
935[[/folder]]
936
937[[folder:Miscellaneous Engines]]
938
939!98462
9404-6-0\
941[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture_8049.PNG]]
942
943A blue tender engine who visited Sodor in 1922.
944----
945* {{Jerkass}}: It was stated that he was incredibly rude and spiteful to the point where Awdry punished him by not featuring him in any stories.
946* NoNameGiven: Though following the release of the infamous Website/YouTube series ''Sodor: The Dark Times'', he is often named Alfred.
947* PutOnABusToHell: His only book appearance was ''The Three Railway Engines''. It was stated that he was sent to the Other Railway due to his terrible behavior.
948
949!87546
9504-6-0\
951[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture_9655.PNG]]
952
953Another blue tender engine who visited Sodor in 1922.
954----
955* {{Jerkass}}: Like 98462, he was terribly rude and spiteful.
956* NoNameGiven: Though following the release of the infamous Website/YouTube series ''Sodor: The Dark Times'', he is often named Cecil.
957* PutOnABusToHell: Like 98462, he was sent away to the Other Railway due to his bad behavior.
958
959!The Red Tender Engine(s)
9604-6-2 (The First Red Engine)\
961L&YR Class 28 0-6-0 (The Second Red Engine)\
962[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture_4156.PNG]]
963 [[caption-width-right:210:First Red Engine]]
964[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture_885.PNG]]
965 [[caption-width-right:210:Second Red Engine]]
966
967A unnamed red tender engine who appeared in "Edward's Day Out" and "The Sad Story of Henry".
968----
969* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: It's unknown what happened to the red engine after the events of the first book.
970* DecompositeCharacter: In William Middleton's illustrations, the first and second red engines were originally depicted as the same character in both "Edward's Day Out" and "The Sad Story of Henry", but in C. Reginald Dalby's illustrations, the second red engine is a different character because of the different shape.
971* {{Jerkass}}: The first red engine was among the other four big engines who made fun of Edward in "Edward's Day Out".
972* NoNameGiven: Though in fandoms, the second red engine is often named Winston or Eagle.
973
974!The Foreign Engine
975(LMS "Patriot" Class 4-6-0)\
976[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture_9856.PNG]]
977
978A tender engine from the London Midland and Scottish Railway. Also known as the Big City Engine.
979----
980* {{Jerkass}}: Is rather pompous and conceited.
981* KnowNothingKnowItAll: He argued all evening and morning with Gordon and Duck London's central station is called 'Euston', though all were unaware London being the capital city, has ''more than one'' big station. Pulling trains there, you'd think he'd already know that.
982* NoNameGiven: Even the Wooden Railway Line called him the "Big City Engine" rather than by a proper name.
983
984!Jinty and Pug
985(LMS 3F 0-6-0T) (Jinty), (LMS 0F Kitson 0-4-0ST) (Pug)\
986[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture_137.PNG]]
987
988Built: 1924-1931 (Jinty), 1932 (Pug)\
989
990Visited Sodor: 1956\
991
992Two ex-LMS tank engines from British Railways and are old friends of Percy.
993----
994* ADogNamedDog: Jinty and Pug are a Jinty and a Pug. They're simply named after the nickname for their classes.
995* OldFriend: They are old friends of Percy.
996* ThoseTwoGuys: Appeared together and generally don't seem that different.
997* TheVoiceless: Pug never talks. It's not very clear in his illustration if he has a face or not.
998
999!City of Truro
1000(GWR 3700 4-4-0)\
1001[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture_968.PNG]]
1002
1003Built: 1903
1004
1005Visited Sodor: 1957
1006
1007Real life history of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GWR_3700_Class_3440_City_of_Truro City of Truro]] on The Other Wiki. The locomotive is currently owned by the National Railway Museum, and is on a short term lease to the Museum of the Great Western Railway.
1008----
1009* FakeUltimateHero: Duck's claim to Gordon that City of Truro "went 100 miles an hour before you were drawn or thought of!" has been called into question in real-life railway circles, with some doubt having been expressed over the accuracy of the stopwatch timings, making Gordon's skepticism HilariousInHindsight.
1010* HumbleHero: Never boasts about his famous run in 1904, and for good reason - ''The Great Western'' prioritized on safety and didn't want to frighten their customers their trains were running at dangerous speeds. It wasn't until years later they were begrudgingly forced to admit Truro's accomplishment. They [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished didn't even want to preserve him]] in the 1930s, ''the LNER'' where Gordon and Flying Scotsman hail from wanted him.
1011* NiceGuy: Fame never went to his smokebox, he's friendly and approachable to everyone, even whistling happily at Edward who remarked he was very kind.
1012* TheParagon: To Duck, to whom he is the symbol of all things Great Western.
1013* StillWearingTheOldColors: When he visits Sodor, he's wearing his 1900s Great Western paint scheme and pre-1912 number of 3440.[[note]]City of Truro was renumbered to 3717 in 1912 and wore different paint till retirement in 1931, a guise occasionally worn in preservation.[[/note]]
1014* UnknownRival: Truro has no idea Gordon is very jealous of him, mocking him for having no dome while wanting to surpass his speed record, [[LaserGuidedKarma unaware of his loose dome]].
1015
1016!Diesel
1017[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/popgoesthedieselrs3_8.png]]
1018
1019(BR Class 08 0-6-0DM)\
1020
1021Built: 1952
1022
1023Visited Sodor: 1957
1024----
1025When Diesel came on trial to the North Western Railway, he boasted about diesel being "revolutionary". As a result, he got into an accident with some old, rusty trucks, which made the trucks sing rude songs about him. Diesel believed that Duck had made the trucks laugh at him and decided to pay him out by spreading rumors that Duck had made names for Gordon, Henry, and James, but then got too big for his buffers and told lies about Henry, possibly as part of a plot to slowly get the steam engines sent away and replaced with diesels. Diesel was found out by The Fat Controller and sent back to the Other Railway in disgrace. That is until he was brought back to help on Thomas' Branch Line while Percy was getting repairs, much to Thomas and Toby's displeasure. After destroying some trucks, Diesel was to be sent away again, but in the meantime, he came to Thomas' rescue by putting Clarabel back on the rails. Despite returning to the Other Railway, Diesel is always welcome on Sodor.
1026----
1027* ADogNamedDog: Does...does this need any explanation? He's a diesel engine named Diesel, moving on.
1028* AntiHero: He initially laughed upon hearing Thomas' predicament with Clarabel and only opted to rescue Thomas because the latter's train was blocking the line and preventing Diesel from going home, though he eventually realized that GoodFeelsGood.
1029* ArcVillain: Of ''Duck and the Diesel Engine''.
1030* BitchInSheepsClothing: Appears to be kind (or at least polite), but later shows his prejudice towards steam engines.
1031* BreakTheHaughty: Happened to him when tried to pull a line of trucks.
1032* DarkMessiah: Is painted pitch black and preaches about diesels being "revolutionary".
1033* DisproportionateRetribution: Not impressed by his oily behaviour and boasting, Duck attempted to humble Diesel by leaving him to his own devices in a yard of dilapidated trucks. However after Diesel does an exceptionally bad job of things and gets mocked by the trucks ([[EveryoneHasStandards which wasn't Duck's intent]]), he gained a vendetta against Duck for tricking him, and attempted to spread malicious lies about him in hope of getting him thrown off the main line in disgrace.
1034* EvilCounterpart: Aptly, he is one to Duck. The Class 08 was one of the most numerous diesel types in Britain just as Duck being a Great Western pannier tank was one of the most common steam types in Britain. The two pair nicely against each other for being hardly anything special in the railway world, but instead both common workhorses, yet both boast about their inherent reilability. The difference however, is that Duck can put his money where his mouth is, having a legitimately good work ethic and the ability to rise above his faults. Diesel, by contrast, has a nasty temper and spiteful nature that gets in the way of his work and buries what good exists within him.
1035* FantasticRacism: Towards the steam engines.
1036* FatalFlaw:
1037** Pride in his first appearance. Diesel hated being humbled and sought to get Duck sent away [[NeverMyFault all over his own failures]].
1038** Wrath in his second. The trucks immediately managed to get under his frames and he responded by smashing them into the buffers, which nearly got him banished from Sodor for good. Even in his debut, this could be seen with his brutal way of pulling the trucks, and his response to learning that Duck set him up was to scheme a way to get rid of him.
1039* HateSink: He's very cruel to Duck and the other steam engines and the fact he told lies about him and Henry will ''surely'' get him underneath your skin.
1040* HoistByHisOwnPetard: It turned out that The Fat Controller never believed Diesel and had sent Duck away to give Diesel enough room to cause his own downfall by spreading lies about Henry, which got him caught.
1041* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In ''Thomas and the Evil Diesel'' after rescuing Thomas.
1042* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Convinced himself he doesn't need to learn, as he already knows everything. Diesel gets his HumblePie when he tried to "revolutionize the yard" by moving trucks so old and seized-up no engine worth their wheels would ever try to move.
1043* MaliciousSlander: How he got back at Duck, but was then found out when he tried the same on Henry.
1044* OffscreenKarma: Gets sent away in "A Close Shave", but this is never shown to the reader. Not even the Annuals, which went into detail on how he got the insulting nicknames for the big engines, showed it.
1045* RageBreakingPoint: In "Thomas and the Evil Diesel", he returns to Sodor, though the other engines make clear he is under watchful eye. Meanwhile the trucks, who were the pivot for his bad blood on Sodor to begin with, waste no time tormenting and mocking Diesel. Eventually Diesel snaps and furiously shunts a line of them hard off the rails, destroying the truck in front and terrifying the others.
1046* ReformedButRejected: Despite initially trying to be good, Diesel wasn't received warmly by Thomas and Toby when he was brought back. Not even the Fat Controller was pleased, knowing full well of the mishaps Diesel caused on his first visit. When Diesel manages to pull off a genuinely good deed however, they start to accept Diesel and he is noted as being welcome to Sodor should he ever be brought back.
1047** By the time Diesel was brought back, the Class 08 was itself considered an aging (if still reliable) class; but was nowhere near cutting edge... meaning his boasts of being the upcoming tech would no longer be realistically true. It wouldn't be too long until many of the Class 08's were removed from mainline service and taken into preservation or industrial use, not unlike the steam engines they replaced.
1048* StarterVillain: In terms of the MythArc of ''The Railway Series'', Diesel can be considered this. He was the first diesel to be introduced to Sodor, and thus the first real representation of modernisation; as an oily, deceitful, harmful sort, but at the same time, is a lowly shunting engine. Later villainous diesels such as D711, Spamcan, and Old Stuck-Up share most of Diesel's arrogance and disdain for the steam engines, but are bigger mainline engines and thus pose a much greater threat to the ideals of steam traction.
1049* TheVillainSucksSong: The trucks sing "Pop Goes The Diesel" after his mishap.
1050* VisionaryVillain: Seeks to see the diesels improve the railway.
1051
1052!Stepney the Bluebell Engine, #55
1053[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bowledoutrs4.png]]
1054
1055(LB&SCR A1x 0-6-0T)\
1056
1057Built: 1875
1058
1059Visited Sodor: 1962
1060
1061One of the various real engine cameos in the series, with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LB%26SCR_A1X_class_55_Stepney real Stepney]] preserved at the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebell_Railway Bluebell Railway]].
1062----
1063* NiceGuy: He's a very courteous sort, even managing to win over Thomas (through flattery, mind you).
1064* ShoutOut: Stepney lists the names of various engines preserved on the Bluebell Railway, all real life engines that exist on the line alongside Stepney.
1065* StillWearingTheOldColors: As a preserved engine, he still wears his LB&SCR colours, Stroudley's famous "Improved Engine Green", which wasn't really green at all, but a sort of brown-ish mustard yellow.
1066
1067!D4711
1068(BR Class 40 1Co-[=Co1=])\
1069[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture_574.PNG]]
1070
1071
1072Built: 1958/1962
1073
1074Visited Sodor: 1962
1075
1076Scrapped: 1984
1077
1078During Stepney's visit, D4711 was sent to Sodor to assist the engines with goods and express work, but made snobbish insults to the other engines by saying they were out-of-date. He received his comeuppance when an inspector's bowler hat jammed in his air intake, leaving Duck and Stepney to take the Express for him.
1079----
1080* BreakTheHaughty / LaserGuidedKarma: Gets his air intake jammed by an inspector's bowler hat. Later ends up finding himself obsolete when his class, the BR Class 40, was relegated from express workings due to their lack of electric train heating and being underpowered for their weight, quickly being replaced by Class 47 and Class 55 diesels.
1081* FantasticRacism: Towards the steam engines.
1082* HateSink: He has no sort of HiddenDepths or comedic qualities and pretty much exists to be a stuck-up {{Jerkass}} for the audience to root against.
1083* {{Jerkass}}: He is very snobbish and arrogant towards the steam engines.
1084* NoNameGiven: In a similar vein to Diesel, D4711 is not given a proper name, even being referred to as Diesel as well. The books rely on his number, the Wooden Railway line calls him by his TV Series number of D262, while the TV Series itself called him 'Class 40', referencing his build. Some fans have called him "Bowler", referencing the bowler hat he sucked into his air intake.
1085* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gave one to the steam engines by calling them out of date, much to their anger.
1086* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Quietly slinks away from Sodor after his air intake is cleared up and Stepney leaves. No-one misses him or cares that he left in the first place.
1087* SmugSnake: "Not bad. At least you're all clean." That pretty much sums up his attitude right there, folks.
1088
1089!Flying Scotsman
1090[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainflyingscotsmanrws.png]]
1091
1092(LNER A3 4-6-2)\
1093
1094Built: 1923
1095
1096Visited Sodor: 1967
1097
1098The real life [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_A3_4472_Flying_Scotsman Flying Scotsman]] would have been owned by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Pegler Alan Pegler]] at the time of the locomotive's cameo in The Railway Series. The real engine currently resides at the National Railway Museum in York.
1099----
1100* HumbleHero: He may be famous, but he greatly respects Gordon and Sodor for being a proper railway.
1101* IJustWantToBeNormal: He doesn't actually like having two tenders which briefly earned him [[GreenEyedMonster Henry's jealously]], telling Gordon the mainland is a mess, as there's hardly any water towers or coal stages around anymore and he's lucky to have a controller to knows how to run a normal railway.
1102* LastOfHisKind: Like Gordon, he is also the last Class A3 locomotive after the others were scrapped.
1103
1104!D199 (Spamcan)
1105(BR Class 46 "Peak" 1Co-[=Co1=])\
1106[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture_464.PNG]]
1107
1108Built: 1963
1109
1110Visited Sodor: 1967
1111
1112A rude diesel engine from the Other Railway. He along with D7101 visited Sodor and made himself an enemy of the steam engines stating that "steam engines spoil our image", but was shut up by the engines and D7101. The next day, he failed with a train of oil tankers at a signal box, blocking a crossing, and Henry, who had a jammed regulator, had to pull D199 (now called "Spamcan" after being to as such by the signalmen), the oil tankers, D7101, and the passengers to the next station. The Fat Controller wasn't pleased with D199 and sent him away in disgrace, but D7101 (later named "Bear") stayed on Sodor.
1113----
1114* BreakTheHaughty / HumiliationConga: Perhaps in an even more insulting manner than D4711; breaking down on the mainline and proving Duck's criticisms of him correct is one thing, being rescued by a steam engine is another, but to top it off, his cherished nickname of "Old Reliable" is rebuffed thanks to the railway staff and he ends up being called "Spamcan" by even the narrator. He ends up trailing far, far behind the calvacade of himself, Henry, and D7101, is forgotten about by pretty much everyone, and is left to be pulled home in plain sight by Donald, helpless to make it on his own.
1115* FantasticRacism: Just like D4711, he is prejudiced towards steam engines.
1116* HateSink: He's pretty much a more pathetic D4711.
1117* InSeriesNickname: "Spamcan" and "Old Reliable", although the latter nickname is less deserved after breaking down. He even ends up being referred to as Spamcan in the narration after the former nickname is coined, though the Fat Controller still calls him by his number.
1118* ItsAllAboutMe: When he broke down at a level crossing, rather than trying to move his train to a siding to get out of 7101's way, all he did was demand that a fitter fix him on the spot.
1119* {{Jerkass}}: Instantly established himself by talking contemptuously of steam engines to D7101 [[ImStandingRightHere in clear hearing range of Duck and James.]]
1120* TheLoad: Despite all three engines suffering from failing systems, Henry and D7101 still tried their hardest to get all their trains through to the station. Spamcan however, just sulked.
1121* TemptingFate: He claims that nothing ever happens to diesels. The next day, he broke down at a level crossing.
1122
1123!Stanley (MSR No. #2)
1124(Baldwin class 10-12-D 4-6-0PT)\
1125[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture_5330.PNG]]
1126
1127Built: 1917
1128
1129Arrived on Sodor: After 1917
1130
1131Scrapped: 1946
1132----
1133* AdaptationNameChange: To "Smudger" in the TV series, presumably to eliminate any tasteless potty humor relating to "Number 2", along with a [[AdaptationalSpeciesChange class change]] so as to save on money by reusing Rheneas' model.
1134** FridgeBrilliance on the TV show's part... "Jennings" on Awdry's MSR model layout was a Fletcher Jennings 0-4-0T like the real life Dolgoch, and the fictional Rheneas and Smudger, so at least Smudger somewhat still resembles a Railway Series character on the MSR even if not Stanley himself.
1135* AllThereInTheManual: The Sodor history books give a longer version of his story - not least his name, Stanley, but also that he rode roughly because he was badly regauged from 1' 11 5/8" to 2' 3" when he was bought by the Mid Sodor Railway, compounded by his blasé attitude towards derailments.
1136* DrivesLikeCrazy: A rough rider due to hasty regaugeing, Stanley was prone to derailments.
1137* {{Eagleland}}: Type 2. The only locomotive of an American class on Sodor, and he's arrogant, careless [[AmericansAreCowboys and drawls]].
1138* LaserGuidedKarma: He gets converted into a pumping engine ("generator" in the TV series) and [[KilledOffForReal later got scrapped]] when the railway was closed.
1139
1140!Old Stuck-Up a.k.a. Diesel 40125
1141(BR Class 40 1Co-[=Co1=])
1142[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/oldstuckup.png]]\
1143
1144Built: 1960
1145
1146Visited Sodor: c.1980/81
1147
1148Scrapped: 1981
1149
1150Diesel 40125 was shown around the yard by [=BoCo=], but when he saw the steam engines in the shed, he refused to go further and insulted the railway for keeping them in service, which made a furious James refer him as "Old Stuck-Up". He received his comeuppance when he crashed into the back of the sheds after slipping on cleaning fluid on the rails. He was sent away after being given a stern talking to by the Fat Controller.
1151----
1152* FantasticRacism: Towards the steam engines, perhaps to cover up the fact that his class was fast being withdrawn by the time the story was set.
1153* HatedByAll: Not even [=BoCo=] was willing to put up with his snobby attitude, and the other engines celebrated his crash.
1154* HateSink: He is rude and arrogant to make James' disdain towards diesels somewhat understandable.
1155* InSeriesNickname: "Old Stuck Up", which seems to stick as a name; even the narrator calls him that.
1156* {{Jerkass}}: His rude and arrogant attitude towards the steam engines earned him the nickname "Old-Stuck Up" from James.
1157* LaserGuidedKarma: Crashing into the back of the sheds which later gets him sent away by the Fat Controller. Bonus points for it happening because of oil stains left behind by [=BoCo=] and Bear rather than anything the steam engines had to do.
1158* PostFinalBoss: Narratively speaking, he's the last holdout of the anti-steam attitudes of the modernisation period, which had already climaxed with Spamcan's humiliation and Oliver's escape in ''Enterprising Engines''. He notably only boasts on how the mainland railways require special permission for steam engines to run, instead of boasting about taking over Sodor the way Diesel and Spamcan did, and is said to only be visiting rather than being given a trial run. His main role in ''James and the Diesel Engines'' is to provide [[JerkassHasAPoint some contextual reasoning]] for James' anti-diesel attitude, and after his disgrace, there are notably no more antagonistic diesels in the books whatsoever.
1159
1160!Green Arrow
1161(LNER V2 2-6-2)\
1162
1163Built: 1936
1164
1165!Iron Duke
1166(GWR Iron Duke Class 4-2-2)
1167
1168Built: 1985
1169
1170!Mallard
1171(LNER A4 4-6-2)\
1172
1173Built: 1938
1174
1175!Wilbert the Forest Engine
1176[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainwilbertrws.png]]
1177
1178(Hunslet Austerity tank engine 0-6-0ST)\
1179
1180Built: 1953
1181
1182Visited Sodor: 1993
1183
1184The real preserved Wilbert is currently stored at the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Forest_Railway Dean Forest Railway]].
1185----
1186* AuthorAvatar: Played with, in that the real Wilbert is a [[HistoricalDomainCharacter real steam engine]] named after the Rev. Wilbert Awdry in 1987.
1187* NatureLover: He loves working at the forest.
1188* NiceGuy: He's a sensible and polite engine.
1189
1190!Sixteen
1191[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainsixteenrws.png]]
1192
1193(Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST)
1194
1195Built: 1943
1196----
1197* AllergicToRoutine: Sixteen hated running the same route through the steelworks and wanted to disobey danger notices so something interesting would happen.
1198* CompositeCharacter: Sixteen has elements of shared history with several real life Hunslet's in British preservation.
1199* EarnYourHappyEnding: Subverted in a sense, considering he got better than he deserved as outlined by Wilbert. Some preservation people bought him and he now resides in the Midlands. He was more ''lucky'' to gain a happy ending than legitimately earning it, as his original owner had no plans to mend him.
1200* {{Jerkass}}: He was a naughty, careless, arrogant and awkward engine. He hopefully grew out of this act after falling from an embankment that was deemed unsafe.
1201* KarmaHoudini: A preservation society wanted him and he now works in the Midlands. Wilbert remarked he got better than he deserved considering so many well-behaved engines were scrapped during the disastrous Modernisation Plan.
1202* LaserGuidedKarma: Tilting over the tip and lands on his side on the ground.
1203* NeverMyFault: After his driver scolded him for passing the board, Sixteen pins the blame on the trucks for pulling him past it, even though he asked them to.
1204* NoNameGiven: Just a number. In fandoms, he's commonly named [[WebAnimation/SodorTheEarlyYears Sheffield]].
1205
1206!Albert
1207(FR J1 2-4-2T)\
1208Built: 1872\
1209Rebuilt: 1891\
1210
1211!Other Mid Sodor Railway Engines
1212On the Rev.'s layout, there is a number of Mid Sodor Engines
1213* Albert, two of them ([[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to get confused with Albert of the Furness Railway]])
1214* Jim
1215* Tim
1216* Jerry
1217* Atlas, Alfred and the unnamed Mine Engine
1218* John and Jennings
1219
1220[[/folder]]
1221
1222[[folder:Rolling Stock]]
1223
1224The rolling stock consists of passenger coaches, trucks, vans, and tankers.
1225
1226!'''Annie and Clarabel'''
1227[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainannierws2.png]]
1228[[caption-width-right:350:Annie]]
1229
1230[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainclarabelrws2.png]]
1231 [[caption-width-right:350:Clarabel]]
1232
1233
1234(LB&SCR coaches No. 100)
1235
1236Built: 1896
1237
1238Arrived on Sodor: 1915
1239
1240Two of Thomas' faithful coaches which he was rewarded with after saving James from a nasty accident. They now are carried by Thomas on his branch line.
1241----
1242* SingleMindedTwins: For the large part. Interestingly most merchandise tries to remedy this by giving Annie a timid expression and Clarabel a cocky smile.
1243%%* [[ThoseTwoGuys Those Two Girls]]
1244* WomenAreWiser: Often have to keep the more rambunctious Thomas in line. They are fussy little coaches however and sometimes share his cheeky, excitable streak. He and Percy also spend a lot of time having to soothe their hurt feelings, as shown when Daisy insults them.
1245
1246
1247!'''Henrietta'''
1248(GER Wisbech & Upwell passenger coach No. 7)
1249[[quoteright:267:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainhenriettarws2_1.png]]
1250
1251Built: 1884
1252
1253Arrived on Sodor: 1951
1254
1255Toby's faithful coach who worked with him in their old railway.
1256----
1257* TheQuietOne: Has only had dialogue on ''very'' rare occasions, and wasn't depicted with a face until the forty-first book, "Thomas and Victoria".
1258
1259
1260!'''Toad The Brakevan, #53681'''
1261[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maintoadrws.png]]
1262
1263(GWR 16-ton brakevan)
1264
1265Built: 1940
1266
1267Arrived on Sodor: 1967
1268
1269Oliver's trusty brakevan who escaped scrap with him. A very gentlemanly brakevan (always referring to the engines as Mr and Miss), he keeps Oliver's trucks in order, but can sometimes have spells of over-imagination.
1270----
1271* BullyHunter: Helped Oliver put the trucks in their place after they wouldn't stop teasing him.
1272* ADogNamedDog: "Toad" was the GWR telegraphic code for his type of brake van. So he's a Toad named "Toad".
1273* NiceGuy: One of the very few trucks you could trust in a train.
1274* TokenHeroicOrc: As noted above, Toad is one of the very few trucks who doesn't try to cause accidents whenever possible. Possibly [[LampshadedTrope Lampshaded]] by whatever Douglas was about to ask about Toad when he rescued Oliver, before his driver interrupted.
1275* VerbalTic: Tends to address people with the pronoun "Mr." and "Miss".
1276
1277!'''Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice'''
1278
1279Built: 1865
1280
1281Arrived on Sodor: 1865
1282
1283The oldest coaches on the Skarloey Railway, with Beatrice being the guard's van.
1284----
1285* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: All four coaches look down on Beatrice for "smelling of fish and cheese." But as the guard's van, Skarloey always takes her along.
1286* BerserkButton: They don't like being called "cattle trucks" which Sir Handel called them.
1287* BullyingTheDragon: During his first run with them, the coaches had no qualms bumping Skarloey for handling them roughly by accident. In his later years, they cower when he rebukes them for their bad behaviour. It seems Skarloey had proved his prowess to them within that time.
1288* DisproportionateRetribution: They made it their duty to pay out Sir Handel for insulting them. Even when he tried to be nicer to them, they continued being awkward, and bumped him off the rails the moment he gave them a jolt by accident. Skarloey severely scolded them for this, leading them to have a HeelRealization.
1289* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite how rude and pushy they can be around an engine if they're rude to them first, they're can be nice if an engine treats them properly. They are also shown to be genuinely sorry if their antagonising has bad repercussions for their railway or passengers.
1290* LightIsNotGood: While not villainous per se, they are among few coaches that can be vindictive and antagonise or even cause accidents for engines they don't like, behaviour that is more commonly associated with trucks.
1291* SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat: In ''Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady'', Jemima is revealed to be deaf.
1292* TomboyishVoice: Agnes is described as deep-voiced.
1293* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: After Sir Handel accidentally jolts them to stop for a sheep on the line, the coaches, already bitter with him, bumped him hard off the rails in a rage, leaving Sir Handel damaged and nearly harming their passengers. They meekly apologise afterwards to an angry Skarloey, who is now the only active engine left to push them.
1294
1295
1296!'''Troublesome Trucks'''
1297
1298The rolling stock who always annoy and play tricks on the engines, mostly causing their accidents.
1299----
1300* AlwaysChaoticEvil: At least most of them anyways.
1301* AlwaysMale: All of the trucks are males.
1302* AssholeVictim: Trucks are very often collateral damage in mishaps or mistakes the engines make, being knocked off the rails or even broken to pieces. Given how much trouble they cause themselves, they rarely earn pity. [[LaserGuidedKarma Can also apply to the victims of their antics.]]
1303* BerserkButton: While most trucks play tricks on engines unprovoked, they don't like it when engines order them around, or being pushed.
1304* BullyHunter: While they don't care much for engines bullying ''other'' engines, they don't let engines bully them.
1305* CatchPhrase: "On! On! On!" and "Hold back! Hold back!"
1306* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: "Every wise engine knows you can't trust trucks."
1307%%* ComedicSociopathy
1308* DisproportionateRetribution: This is pretty much what the engines will face almost all the time. If they can find any reason to send one hurtling off the track, they'll certainly do it.
1309* EnemyMine: They helped Percy teach Bulstrode a lesson in "Special Attraction".
1310* EvenMooksHaveLovedOnes: God forbid if you mistreat them.
1311** They ''do not'' attempt to cause harm or serious mischief to Edward, because he treats them all with kindness and patience.
1312** This goes for Peter Sam as well to a lesser degree, as he is said to never bump cars unless they misbehave, and when some trucks confuse him for Sir Handel and want to wreck him, the other trucks, who realize their error, ''plead'' with them to stop. Unfortunately, this is not enough to prevent them from causing Peter Sam's famous quarry accident, and it is not shown how the trucks feel about getting the wrong engine.
1313** The trucks at Toby's quarry seem to have some respect for him, in "Percy's Predicament" they were annoyed to see Percy fetching them instead of Toby. They angrily protested: "This is Toby's place, Percy has no right to come in here and boss us around. Pay Percy out! Pay Percy out!"
1314* TheFreelanceShameSquad: Love laughing at the engines for having unfortunate mishaps, sometimes by [[TheHeroSucksSong singing rudely at them.]]
1315* HiveMind: All trucks in a yard or in a train will share each other's thoughts, feelings, and speech. The only exceptions are named trucks, such as S. C. Ruffey and Hector.
1316* [[ItAmusedMe It Amused Us]]: Their reason for causing mischief.
1317* {{Jerkass}}es: Trucks are never known for behaving well around the engines, especially the ballast trucks, who are said to be the worst behaved trucks on the line.
1318* {{Karma Houdini}}s: They always get away with causing the accidents and The Fat Controller will [[NeverMyFault blame the engines for them]]. Of course, it's as much "getting away with it" as [[PyrrhicVictory they smash themselves to pieces in a rail accident in the process]]. Granted, [[TooKinkyToTorture it never stops them laughing about it anyway]].
1319* KilledOffForReal: A few trucks are shown to be utterly destroyed in various episodes.
1320* LackOfEmpathy: The trucks will stop at nothing to enjoy playing around; they will show little to no concern for the well being of any character, whether engines or humans. There are notable exceptions however: some trucks confused Sir Handel with Peter Sam once, and wanted to wreck him. The other trucks who realized their error, ''pleaded'' with them to stop. Likewise, they weren't happy about losing some of their members to Bulstrode.
1321%%* {{Mooks}}
1322* RunawayTrain: They always cause this to happen. They either push an engine down a hill or break away from their coupling.
1323* TruthInTelevision: During the steam era in Britain, many goods trains were ran in a "loose unfitted" style, where the couplings were slack allowing trucks to bang against each other; and there were no automatic brakes on the train meaning all the braking had to be done via the engine brakes (and if equipped its tender brakes) and the brake van. For safety these were usually limited to slower speeds, but accidents like those in the Railway Series were not uncommon as trucks could surge and push a train forward as the slack between couplings adjusted going up and down grades. British goods trains were finally outfitted with automatic brakes on each car in a process that went on after steam was retired up into the 1980s.
1324** British Railways paint codes put unfitted trucks in a light gray paint, so their prevalence in accidents in the ''Railway Series'' highlights their lack of brakes.
1325
1326!'''The Spiteful Brakevan'''
1327(BR 20-ton brakevan)
1328[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainspitefulbrakevanrws.png]]
1329
1330Built: 1929
1331
1332Arrived on Sodor: ?
1333
1334Scrapped: 1959
1335
1336A brakevan who caused trouble with Donald and Douglas when they first arrived on The Island of Sodor. He was then broken by Douglas up on Gordon's Hill.
1337----
1338* AssholeVictim: The Fat Controller didn't care any more about him after Douglas broke him up.
1339* ChronicVillainy: He was severely taught to behave by Donald, but then returned to play tricks on James, [[KarmicDeath which didn't go well later on...]]
1340* EvilerThanThou: The troublesome trucks play their tricks because they're bored and want to have fun. The spiteful brakevan, however, is an asshole, who simply wants to spite everyone he comes into contact with. Subverted later when one of his pranks backfires onto him, the trucks are having far too much fun to listen to his pleas to stop.
1341* {{Jerkass}}: There's a reason he's called "Spiteful".
1342* KarmicDeath: He was broken by Douglas as the latter pushed his hardest up on Gordon's Hill.
1343* KilledOffForReal: He was the only character in the series to permanently die.
1344* SmugSnake: "You can't. I'm essential."
1345
1346
1347!'''Alice and Mirabel'''
1348(BR Hawksworth Autocoaches)
1349
1350Built: 1954
1351
1352Arrived on Sodor: 1967
1353
1354Two Great Western autocoaches pulled by Duck on the Little Western.
1355----
1356* AdaptedOut: They were never adapted into the TV series, and their roles were replaced by three Red Express coaches in the season 3 episode "Bulgy". In the Season 18 episode, "Duck and the Slip Coaches", the Slip Coaches have become Duck's standard coaches.
1357* PunnyName: Their names appear to be a play on "Annie and Clarabel".
1358
1359
1360!'''Isabel and Dulcie'''
1361(BR Hawksworth Autocoaches)
1362
1363Built: 1954
1364
1365Arrived on Sodor: 1967
1366
1367Two Great Western autocoaches pulled by Oliver on the Little Western. Isabel joined Oliver and Toad when they escaped from the Other Railway while Dulcie was later rescued by the Fat Controller to give to Oliver to help run the Little Western.
1368----
1369* AdaptedOut: Like Alice and Mirabel, they were never adapted in the television series and their roles as Oliver's coaches were replaced by red branch line coaches.
1370* PunnyName: Isabel's name is a pun on the fact that there "is a bell" on her.
1371
1372
1373!'''S.C. Ruffey'''
1374(7-plank mineral wagon)
1375[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mainscruffeyrws.png]]
1376
1377Scrapped: 1967
1378
1379A ballast wagon who made fun of Oliver's accident with the turntable along with the other trucks, but Oliver sought retribution later on.
1380----
1381* AssholeVictim: He broke into smithereens after Oliver pulled a train with the most troublesome trucks. No one will miss him for teasing the NWR's no. 2 Great Western engine.
1382* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He told his trucks to "pull back" so Oliver would have difficulties pulling his train... only for Oliver to pull him harder.
1383* {{Jerkass}}: He led a chorus of trucks that teased Oliver for falling in a turntable.
1384* KarmicDeath: Scruffey was pulled apart by Oliver, and when the Fat Controller revealed that it was in poor condition, he was scrapped.
1385
1386!'''Victoria'''
1387
1388Built: 1882
1389
1390A former Furness Railway coach rescued by Thomas and the Fat Controller from life as a derelict summerhouse in someone's back garden. Now coupled to Toby and Henrietta.
1391----
1392%%* [[NiceGuy Nice Girl]]
1393* OldFriend: Knew Edward when they both worked for the Furness Railway on the British mainland.
1394
1395[[/folder]]
1396
1397[[folder:Non-rail vehicles]]
1398
1399!'''Terence the Tractor'''
1400[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/terencerws1.png]]
1401
1402Built: 1934
1403----
1404* FantasticRacism:
1405** Received this from Thomas, but after rescuing him from the snow, he gained his respect.
1406** In "Toby Takes the Road", he displays a bit of this by mocking the engines about having their rails scrapped and being more like him.
1407%%* NiceGuy
1408
1409!'''Bertie the Bus'''
1410[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bertierws.png]]
1411
1412Built: 1929/1948
1413----
1414* PutOnABus: Ironically, this applies to him. After having had a starring role in the "Thomas and Bertie" story, he only makes two further appearances in the entire Railway Series.
1415* VitriolicBestBuds: With Thomas.
1416
1417!'''Trevor the Traction Engine'''
1418[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maintrevorrws2.png]]
1419
1420Built: 1927
1421----
1422* FriendToAllChildren: He is fond of children and loves giving them rides.
1423* {{Irony}}: For all the times the growth of road traffic was treated as a threat to the railway, Trevor was the first steam-powered engine to be explicitly threatened with scrapping.
1424* SleepyHead: He enjoys dozing off in the sun.
1425* TheVicar: Trevor is bought and restored by a kindly vicar (who is also a railway enthusiast)[[note]] The "real" Trevor was ''Fiery Elias'', owned by the Reverend's good friend Teddy Boston, aka the Fat Clergyman[[/note]].
1426* YoungerThanTheyLook: Trevor is usually depicted with an elderly persona, even though he is younger than engines like Gordon and Henry.
1427
1428!'''Harold the Helicopter'''
1429[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/percyandharoldrs2.png]]
1430
1431Built: 1949
1432----
1433* FantasticRacism: Thinks railways are slow and out of date.
1434* HeelFaceTurn: Was something of an antagonist in his "Percy and Harold", but would later help Percy in "Percy's Promise", and has since been portrayed in a positive light.
1435* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Even though he thinks railways are not much useful, he is still friends (or a sort) with Percy.
1436* VitriolicBestBuds: With Percy.
1437
1438!'''George the Steamroller'''
1439[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/steamrollerrs2.png]]
1440
1441Built: 1920/29
1442----
1443* TheBully: He has this attitude with the SR engines.
1444* TheBusCameBack: Made his first apperance in ''[[Recap/TheRailwaySeriesB17GallantOldEngines Gallant Old Engine]]'' in 1962, then didn't appear again for ''thirty years'', returning in ''[[Recap/TheRailwaySeriesB36ThomasComesHome Thomas Comes Home]].
1445* DrivesLikeCrazy: Sir Handel accuses him of this, though it's never made clear whether Sir Handel or George caused their infamous accident.
1446* FantasticRacism: Hates railways and prefers to have them turn into roads.
1447* ForTheEvulz: He hates railways for no good reason and he isn’t even given a FreudianExcuse.
1448* {{Jerkass}}: He mocks railways because of his own ideas and pushes Sir Handel's train off the rails while racing him.
1449* StubbornMule: Leads to an accident with the equally pigheaded Sir Handel when they refuse to let the other pass on a narrow track (naturally this only leads to them [[NeverMyFault arguing over whose fault it was]]).
1450
1451!'''Caroline'''
1452
1453
1454Built: 1926
1455----
1456* TheAllegedCar: She's pushed to the point of overheating frequently.
1457
1458!'''Bulgy'''
1459[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bulgyrs1_5.png]]
1460
1461Built: 1960/61
1462----
1463* FantasticRacism: Towards the railways. Seemingly mixed with a slightly odd strain of StrawmanPolitical - he talks about the coming of the Revolution that would free "us workers" from Railway Tyranny.
1464* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He tried to beat Duck in a race by taking a shortcut - which involved him trying to drive under a bridge. The bridge isn't high enough, and he gets stuck underneath.
1465* ManipulativeBastard: He gets a fake "Railway Bus" banner to steal Duck's passengers and doesn't accept their return tickets. His plan was to make the passengers think railway services were no good, but they quickly catch on.
1466* StealthPun: Bulgy is an AEC Bridgemaster, specifically built to be shorter than conventional double-deckers so they wouldn't get stuck under bridges. Needless to say, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard that's exactly what happens to him.]]
1467
1468[[/folder]]
1469
1470[[folder:Human characters]]
1471!'''The Fat Controller'''
1472[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/offtherailsrs5png.png]]
1473
1474[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:See Charles Topham Hatt]][[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stopthief21rs6_0.png]][[/labelnote]]]]
1475[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:See Stephen Topham Hatt]][[quoteright:292:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wired_uprs7.png]][[/labelnote]]]]
1476
1477[[AllThereInTheManual ''The Island Of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways'']] reveals that the NWR has had three different controllers from the Hatt family, the first Topham Hatt (1880-1956), Charles Topham Hatt (1914-1997) and Stephen Topham Hatt (1941-). The first was awarded a baronetcy in Sodor.
1478----
1479* ColonelBadass: Charles Topham Hatt joined the Royal Engineers DuringTheWar, served with distinction, and was a colonel by the end.
1480* EarlyBirdCameo: Stephen Topham Hatt is first seen as a child in ''Toby the Tram Engine.''
1481* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Engines and drivers usually refer to him as the Fat Controller. Justified as it is his title and by all accounts, he is their superior.
1482* FamilyBusiness: Jane Brown, the first Mrs Hatt, is the sister of Sir Handel Brown, "The Owner" of the Skarloey railway. Charles, her son and second Controller, wed Amanda Croarie, daughter of the owner of the Ffarquhar quarry company. Both Fat and Thin Controllers "went shares" to build the Arlesdale Railway, meaning almost all rail and related industries on Sodor belong to the Hatt family.
1483* IdenticalGrandson: Guess Stephen had to get overweight to fit in his grandpa's post.
1484* InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals: While they do have some slight differences in behavior (and the second and third temporarily donned a mustache at one point), all three Hatts all look exactly and act almost the same as each other and unless you're told or did the research, will likely not even realize that there were even 3 Topham Hatts in the first place. It's not surprising that the TV show just decided to simplify it to only one Fat Controller.
1485* KissingCousins: Stephen married his distant cousin Helen Margaret in 1970.
1486* LegacyCharacter: Three so far, with a fourth generation, Richard Topham Hatt, set to inherit control of the railway after his father Stephen.
1487* PetTheDog: Engines who work hard against adversity and without complaint, always make him proud, and he's always quick to tell them how proud he is of them. For instance, after Duck and his crew prevented a serious accident in 'A Close Shave', he informed the Great Western engine he would personally go and tell City of Truro all about his bravery and heroism. Duck could only blush...
1488* PunnyName: Always wears a top hat, after the custom of Edwardian railway-owning/directing gentlemen. (The first actually was an Edwardian gentleman; presumably his descendants just know good marketing when they see it.)
1489* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: While his patience can be stretched, he (often) recognizes when mishaps were beyond the engines' control, and is always willing to give them chances to prove themselves.
1490* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Was an engineer in his own right, before becoming director of the entire North Western region. He knew Sir William Stanier and Sir Nigel Gresley, both among the most famous locomotive engineers the world had ever seen. His good standing with them ensured Gordon was purchased, and Henry was rebuilt, to give the railway the powerhouses it needed.
1491* SilenceYouFool: Whenever he is tired of the engines blurbing or whistling randomly. Employed a whistle himself to silence unruly passengers at least once.
1492* SoProudOfYou: Often calls the engines very useful when they do a tremendous job.
1493* [[SternTeacher Stern Controller]]: The Fat Controller cares for all of his engines, but he is strict and will reprimand them if they get out of line or when they cause an accident.
1494* TheEngineer: the first Fat Controller was not only a buisnessman, but a skilled mechanical & civil engineer having designed the Coffee-Pot locomotives that used to run on Thomas's future branchline; and the lift bridge connecting Sodor to the mainland. His son Charles Topham Hatt later served with the Royal Engineers in World War II.
1495
1496!'''The Thin Controller'''
1497Controller of the Skarloey Railway.
1498----
1499* LegacyCharacter: Like the Fat Controller, there have been two - Mr Peter Sam and his son, Roger Sam.
1500* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Mr. Peter Sam is based on former Talyllyn Railway manager Edward Thomas. As the Talyllyn became a preserved railway, Edward stayed with the group working as the railway director to 1967, passing away a few years later.[[https://www.talyllyn.co.uk/about/history/part7/]] Edward Thomas's family home near Tywyn station would eventually be purchased by the railway and is preserved.
1501* ScareEmStraight: When Sir Handel tries to play sick again to avoid partaking in a television event, the Thin Controller jokingly threatens to take him to pieces as demonstration. This made Sir Handel think twice. Of course, Sir Handel wasn't actually taken to pieces, but was still shown off at the works, to his displeasure.
1502* [[SternTeacher Stern Controller]]: Mr. Peter Sam was very strict and reprimands his engines when they get into trouble. Mainly Sir Handel and Duncan.
1503
1504!'''The Small Controller'''
1505Real name Fergus Duncan, he runs the Arlesdale Railway.
1506----
1507* IronicNickname: Besides running the "Small" Railway, they call him the Small Controller because he's the tallest of the three.
1508
1509!'''The Two Clergymen'''
1510The Fat Clergyman and the Thin Clergyman are two railway enthusiasts who occasionally visit the Island, because [[CreatorCameo the Thin One writes children's books about the engines]].
1511----
1512* CreatorCameo: The Thin Clergyman is Rev. Awdry himself, while his friend the Fat Clergyman is the Rev. Teddy Boston.
1513* EarlyBirdCameo: While the two are first identified as the Thin and Fat Clergymen in ''Small Railway Engines'', the kindly Vicar of Wellsworth who rescues Trevor from the scrap heap in "Saved From Scrap" is also based on Teddy Boston and therefore may also be the Fat Clergyman. However, it is ambiguous enough that it may be a case of DecompositeCharacter instead.
1514%%* FatAndSkinny
1515* StumblingIntoThePlot: The Fat Clergyman is the one who finds Duke in "Sleeping Beauty" when he takes a bad step and winds up falling through the roof of Duke's shed.
1516
1517! '''Charlie Sand and Sidney Heaver'''
1518Edward's driver and fireman.
1519----
1520* AscendedExtra: Charlie and Sid are the only engine crewmembers to be given names in the series.
1521* MeaningfulName: Charlie Sand is so named because one of his duties is to sand the rails when the rails get slippery so that the engine can grip the rails while Sidney Heaver is so named because it's his job to heave coal into the firebox.
1522* StevenUlyssesPerhero: See MeaningfulName above.
1523
1524! '''Other Human Characters'''
1525[[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily British Royal Family]]
1526
1527* InvisiblePresident: The Queen's hand is illustrated opening a door, but she is not physically illustrated elsewhere in the series. Prince Charles is illustrated in full, but only in a distant crowd scene.
1528* [[TheGoodKing The Good Queen]]: Queen UsefulNotes/ElizabethII is highly complimentary of the locomotives during her visit to Sodor after her coronation in 1953. Future appearances of Prince Charles (with a brief mention of Princess Diana too) are further complimentary of them; and avoid any real life controversy or drama surrounding the royal family.
1529* TheHighQueen: Again Elizabeth II during her appearance in the series, her appearance is treated as very regal and Sir Topham Hatt bows to her as she is exiting her train.
1530----
1531Alan Pegler
1532
1533* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Only referred to as "The Owner" of Flying Scotsman, the distinctive mark's of Alan Pegler's ownership of the engine such as the double tenders and LNER green paint, make it obvious who Scotsman's owner is.
1534----
1535Stone Throwing Boys
1536
1537* AshFace: After Henry sneezes on them (and the original text uses a certain slur to describe them implying {{Blackface}}, which has been edited out of later reprints).
1538* {{Jerkass}}: Their prank of throwing stones at a passing train may seem harmless to them, but is a serious threat of injury to those onboard the train.
1539----
1540[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stanier William Stanier]]
1541
1542* AllThereInTheManual: Only mentioned in The Island of Sodor book. It is implied that Henry's successful rebuild at Crewe into something resembling a Black 5 locomotive was Stanier owing a favor to the Fat Controller.
1543* HistoricalDomainCharacter: With Stanier having passed in 1965 he was a contemporary to many of the early Railway Series books, but his first appearance in The Island of Sodor book was in 1987, 22 years after his real life death.
1544* MadDoctor: well... when it comes to locomotives at least. Stanier modified both Gordon and Henry extensively on the behalf of the North Western; somehow gutting Gordon's conjugated valve gear and replacing it with a simple two cylinder design and completely transforming Henry from his CartoonCreature form into a more standard Black 5 design. Considering the real life rivalry between Stanier and Sir. Nigel Gresley, his extensive in-universe reworking of two Gresley designed engines can be seen as a TakeThat
1545* MentorArchetype: For Charles Topham Hatt, with Stanier's friendship with his father; it was Stanier who recommended Charles for his military service during World War II. Its possible Stanier taught Charles a thing or two about steam engines as well.
1546* OldFriend: Both Sir Topham Hatt and Stanier are established to be old friends who worked in an apprenticeship together at Swindon for the Great Western Railway, in The Island of Sodor book. Stanier's later career on the LMS meant he served as chief mechanical officer for the railway which interchanged with the North Western at Barrow-In-Furness.
1547----
1548[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godred_Crovan Godred Crovan]]
1549
1550* AllThereInTheManual: The real life Godred Crovan is established as a pivotal character in Sodor history during ''The Island of Sodor'' book, with the station ''Crovan's Gate'' named after him.
1551* BadassArmy: Godred holds the future site of Crovan's Gate against the Norman invaders at a rocky pass with 300 men against 4000 attackers (the size of his army perhaps a reference to the [[UsefulNotes/GrecoPersianWars Battle of Thermopylae]].)
1552* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Like many of the characters introduced in the reference book.
1553----
1554Sigrid of Arlesdale
1555
1556* ActionGirl: Sigrid as the Jarl of the Arlesdale area lead an army against the invading Norman forces in 1094 AD.
1557* AllThereInTheManual: Yet another character who is introduced in ''The Island of Sodor.''
1558* BadassArmy: Just like King Godred before her, Jarl Sigrid lead a smaller military force against a large foreign force and outsmarted them using tactics and knowledge of the local terrain.
1559* BattleCouple: Sigrid's husband Orm joins her against the Norman forces.
1560* ChurchMilitant: Sigrid and Orm are honored after their deaths with two carved stones which are ultimately placed in a church yard, depicting their victory against the Norman army as a religious one with an effigy of the crucified Christ carved alongside Sigrid in battle armor.
1561* LegacyCharacter: Her name is later given to one of the diesel locomotives on the Arlesdale Railway.

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