List of characters in The Railway Series
(Redirected from
Percy the Small Engine
)
The Railway Series (1945-2011) is a series of British books by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry (Books 1-26) and Christopher Awdry (Books 27-42).
Unless otherwise said on this page, the technical notes come from actual notes laid out by Wilbert Awdry when he was developing the characters and setting for his stories; these notes are cited in his publication The Island of Sodor: Its People, History, and Railways.[1]
North Western Railway
The North Western Railway (NWR) is the main
British Railways
(BR). From 1925 onwards, it has been managed by three Fat Controllers.
“Please tell everyone that whatever happens elsewhere, Steam will still be at work here. We shall be glad to welcome all who want to see and travel behind, real engines.”
- ― Sir Charles Topham Hatt II/The Fat Controller, Little Western, Enterprising Engines
Steam engines
| Name | Number | Description | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas | NWR 1 | A little blue coaches , Annie and Clarabel.
|
LB&SCR E2 class |
| Edward | NWR 2 | A blue tender engine , who lives and works on the Island of Sodor on the North Western Railway. He runs his own branch line from Wellsworth to Brendam with BoCo and is one of the oldest engines on Sodor.
|
Furness Railway K2 class
|
| Henry | NWR 3 | A green 4-6-0 mixed-traffic tender engine, who lives and works on the Island of Sodor on the North Western Railway. He was originally built as a dysfunctional prototype engine and needed special Welsh coal to operate properly. Following his accident when pulling the Flying Kipper, Henry underwent an extensive rebuild, giving him a new shape and better performance. | |
| Gordon | NWR 4 | A big blue 4-6-2 tender engine, who lives and works on the Island of Sodor on the North Western Railway. He is Flying Scotsman's only surviving brother. Gordon works on the Main Line and previously pulled the Wild Nor' Wester, until he was superseded by Pip and Emma in 2011. He now pulls other fast and stopping trains. | LNER Gresley Class A1 |
| James | NWR 5 | A red 2-6-0 mixed-traffic tender engine, who lives and works on the Island of Sodor on the North Western Railway. He primarily works on the Main Line, pulling passenger and goods trains. | L&YR Class 28 |
| Percy | NWR 6 | A little green ST engine, who lives and works on the Island of Sodor on the North Western Railway.[5] He was first brought to Sodor to help run the railway while Gordon, James and Henry went on strike and later became station pilot at Tidmouth.[6] Following the Knapford Harbour Improvement Scheme in 1955, Percy was moved permanently to Thomas' Branch Line, where he now works as a goods engine. His favourite job is pulling the Mail Train and he is Thomas' best friend.
|
GWR No. 1340 Trojan |
| Toby | NWR 7/BR 68221/LNER 8221/7127 | A square luggage van named Elsie.
|
GER Class C53 |
| Duck | NWR 8/GWR/ BR 5741 | A green autocoaches , Alice and Mirabel.
|
GWR 5700 Class |
| Donald and Douglas (originally known as "57646 and 57647") | NWR 9 and 10/BR 57646 and 57647 | A pair of blue (originally BR black) 0-6-0 goods engines from Glasgow, Scotland, who live and work on the Island of Sodor on the North Western Railway. The pair also work as utility engines wherever or whenever they are needed, primarily on the Main Line, the Brendam Branch Line, and the Little Western. Douglas has his own brake van, Toad. | Caledonian Railway 812/652 Classes |
| Oliver | NWR 11/GWR/BR 1436 | A green T engine, who lives and works on the Island of Sodor on the North Western Railway. After being saved from scrap by Douglas, he runs the Little Western with Duck and his two autocoaches, Isabel and Dulcie.
|
GWR 1400 Class |
Diesel engines
| Name | Number | Description | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daisy | NWR D1 | A green Stationmaster's house .
|
British Rail Class 101 |
| BoCo | NWR D2/BR D5702 | A green mixed-traffic diesel engine who primarily works on Edward's Branch Line and occasionally on the Main Line. He, along with Edward, is a mentor to Bill and Ben.
|
British Rail Class 28 |
| Bear/(originally known as "D7101") | NWR D3/BR D7101 | A green (originally blue) mixed-traffic diesel engine who works on the Main Line. He first came to Sodor in 1967, and was accompanied by another diesel engine, D199, who talked about taking over the railway, which 7101 didn't like. After 7101 suffered from a leaked brake coat of paint . Nowadays, Bear pulls the 'Limited', the semi-fast passenger train, and the Wild Nor' Wester whenever the big engines are busy or unavailable.
|
British Rail Class 35 |
| Pip and Emma | Two 100th birthday .
|
British Rail Class 43 High Speed Train |
Rolling stock
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Annie and Clarabel | Thomas' faithful coaches who he loves dearly on his branch line. |
| Henrietta | A tram coach that travels with Toby, Elsie, Victoria and the Quarryman's Coach. |
| Isabel, Dulcie, Alice and Mirabel | Four ex-Great Western Railway autocoaches who are pulled by Oliver (Isabel and Dulcie) and Duck (Alice and Mirabel) on the Little Western. Isabel joined Oliver and Toad when they escaped from the Other Railway. Afterwards, the Fat Controller was able to rescue Dulcie, Alice and Mirabel in order to handle the passenger traffic. |
| Toad | A 20-ton Great Western brake van who lives and works on the North Western Railway. He escaped from scrap along with Oliver and Isabel, and is now Douglas' loyal brake van. |
| Troublesome Trucks | Pieces of open wagons which they carry goods and materials. They are nicknamed because they can be very troublesome and play tricks on the engines. They can be open wagons, vans, or tankers, depending on any type. |
| Victoria | A vintage four-wheeled coach originating from the Furness Railway. She was built in 1882 and worked on the Lakeside branch line with Albert and Helena. After being out of service, Victoria was moved to Sodor and was turned into a summer house in a garden close to Elsbridge. In Thomas and Victoria, after being discovered, it was a decision Victoria could be restored and used on the line to Ffarquhar Quarry to help Toby and Henrietta. |
Skarloey Railway
The Skarloey Railway (SR) is a 2'3"
chairman and is run by Mr. Roger Sam, son of the previous controller, Mr. Peter Sam. The locomotives are all based on their Talyllyn Railway
counterparts.
Steam engines
| Name | Number | Description | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skarloey | SR 1 | A red ST ) engine. He is the oldest engine on the Skarloey Railway. Talyllyn, from the Talyllyn Railway, is his twin and Rheneas is his brother.
|
Talyllyn |
| Rheneas | SR 2 | A red back tank ) engine. Rheneas has the nickname "Gallant Old Engine", after saving the railway from closure. Dolgoch, from the Talyllyn Railway is his twin, and Skarloey is his brother.
|
Dolgoch |
| Sir Handel (originally known as "Falcon") | SR/MSR 3 | A red (originally blue) ST ) engine, and is named after Sir Handel Brown, the first manager.
|
Sir Haydn |
| Peter Sam (originally known as "Stuart") | SR/MSR 4 | A red (originally green) ST engine who lives and works on the Skarloey Railway, and is named after the previous controller. Following an accident with some slate trucks in 1958, Peter Sam lost his old funnel and was fitted with a Giesl ejector in 1961.
|
Edward Thomas |
| Duncan | SR 6 | A grumpy Scottish | Douglas |
| Ivo Hugh | SR 7 | A young T engine. He is named in honor of the former Chief Mechanical Engineer , Mr. Ivo Hugh. Ivo Hugh was built in 1996 at Crovan's Gate Works by the Engineering Department in New Little Engine. Ivo Hugh is unique in the engine roster due to being a side-tank engine and he is powerful enough to handle the heaviest work.
|
Tom Rolt |
| Duke | SR 8/MSR 1 | An orange-brown 0-4-0ST+T engine, who is widely respected and considered a hero amongst all the engines. He initially worked on the Mid Sodor Railway from its opening until its closure in 1947, he was left in the abandoned sheds for the next 22 years before being found and rescued in 1969, and he was moved to the Skarloey Railway where we works today. | Prince |
Diesel engines
| Name | Number | Description | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rusty | SR 5 | A little black DM engine who carries out maintenance work and odd jobs around the Skarloey Railway.[9]
|
Midlander
|
| Fred | SR 9 | A diesel engine who works on the Skarloey Railway. He is the railway's second diesel engine. He is mentioned in New Little Engine. According to Sodor: Reading Between the Lines, Fred entered service in 1989, having been acquired from the National Coal Board (NCB). | Alf
|
Rolling stock
| Name | Number | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Agnes, Ruth, Jemina, Lucy and Beatrice | SR 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 | The oldest coaches on the Skarloey Railway, whilst Beatrice is the guard's van. On Market Days, the coaches were sometimes very full that third-class passengers were allowed to ride in Agnes, to the latter's anger. In 1952, Sir Handel made fun of the coaches by calling them " cattle trucks ", which resulted in them holding him back on the hill.
|
| Ada, Jane and Mabel | SR 6, 7, and 8 | Three open-topped carriages who were acquired at one point prior to 1958, while Skarloey and Rheneas were away being overhauled. They were originally used for transporting quarry workmen, but are later used for tourist traffic during sunny days. When some BBC television producers visited Sodor to film a documentary about the Skarloey Railway, Ada, Jane and Mabel had the honour of transporting the television equipment and cameras for them, as part of the "Television Train". |
| Cora | SR 9 | A tool van, and also occasionally a guard's van, who works on the Skarloey Railway. Cora was built by the Falcon Works for the Mid Sodor Railway, where she was a tool van, however she served as Stuart's guards van for one time. She was accepted for sale following the closure in 1947. Cora was used as a guard's van whenever Beatrice was not available, then she returned to her original use after Millicent's arrival in 1955. |
Culdee Fell Railway
The Culdee Fell Railway (CFR) is Sodor's only
RT
s.
Steam engines
| Name | Number | Description | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Godred | CFR 1 | A mounting-climbing engine who works on the Culdee Fell Railway. He was the original engine on the railway and is named after one of Sodor's historical rulers. Culdee tells a made-up story about Godred in Mountain Engines:[10] Shortly after the railway opened, he lost contact with the rack rail at a loosened rail joint and plunged sideways over a cliff. Fortunately, no one was injured. Godred, however, was so badly damaged that he was scrapped, with his parts being used to repair the other engines. This incident is based directly upon the Snowdon Mountain Railway's opening day accident when their No. 1 L.A.D.A.S suffered a similar accident. | L.A.D.A.S. |
| Culdee | CFR 4 | A mountain-climbing engine who works on the Culdee Fell Railway. He is the principal engine on the Culdee Fell Railway. When introduced in Mountain Engines, he had been overhauled in Switzerland between 1962 and 1963 and was on the last stage of his journey home. Culdee has great respect for dangers found on the line and relies on his coach, Catherine, to help him travel safety. | Snowdon |
| Lord Harry | CFR 6 | A mountain-climbing engine who works on the Culdee Fell Railway. He arrived in 1962 and was named after the manager. When he was new, Lord Harry was reckless and scared his coaches by taking risks. After he derailed and disgraced himself, Lord Harry got punished by having his name taken away. He asked for a second chance and was given a job of doing lowly shunting. But he was fittingly renamed "Patrick" in honor of the climber who risked his life to help the others. | Padarn |
Other engines
| Name | Number | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Ernest, Wilfred and Shane Dooiney | CFR 2, 3 and 5 | Arrived on Sodor with Godred and Culdee in time in March 1900. Following Godred's accident shortly after opening, the engines worked the line successfully for 60 years. They were gently maintained and sent back, in rotation, to the builders in Switzerland for overhaul. |
Rolling stock
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Catherine | A mountain coach who works with Culdee on the Culdee Fell Railway. Unlike most coaches, Catherine is actually coupled in front of Culdee and is responsible for warning him of dangers ahead on the tracks. |
Arlesdale Railway
The Arlesdale Railway is Sodor's smallest railway. It is based on the
Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway
in Cumbria. The railway is run by Fergus Duncan (The Small Controller). Five engines appear in the books. The diesel locomotives are mentioned in the companion books: Sigrid of Arlesdale, Blister I and Blister II.
Steam engines
| Name | Description | Based on |
|---|---|---|
| Mike | A small strong grumpy red 2-8-2 tender engine who prefers goods trains to passengers. He works on the Arlesdale Railway. | River Mite |
| Rex | A small green 2-8-2 tender engine who works on the Arlesdale Railway. He enjoys nothing more than teasing Mike. He is a hard worker, but sometimes has a problem with traction. | River Esk |
| Bert | A small blue 0-8-2 tender engine who is the quietest of the Arlesdale Railway engines. | River Irt |
| Jock | A yellow 2-6-2 built by the Arlesburgh Works between 1972 and 1976 to cover a shortage of power. Jock was built in the workshop at Ravenglass in 1976, then to the design of chief engineer, Ian Smith. | Northern Rock |
Diesel engine(s)
| Name | Description | Based on |
|---|---|---|
| Frank | A grumpy but kind DH who works on the Arlesdale Railway. He has a tendency to get uptight and moody which gets him into trouble by causing minor bumps and accidents. Unlike Perkins, Frank has added round buffers.
|
Perkins |
Privately owned/Other Sudrian railways
| Name | Number | Description | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neil | S&M 2 | A dark green Scottish accent, originating from the Sodor and Mainland Railway (S&M). In a flashback in Very Old Engines, he helped to transport Skarloey from Kirk Ronan Harbour to his new home at Crovan's Gate. He warned Skarloey about V-tipper wagons and they became friends. It is mentioned by Christopher Awdry in Sodor: Reading Between the Lines that Neil is still around but is unknown of his whereabouts.[8]
|
|
| Bill and Ben | SCC 1 and 2 | A pair of dark yellow china clay pits, and at Brendam Docks, where they shunt trucks .
|
Alfred and Judy |
| Mavis | FQC 1 | A privately owned DM diesel shunter who works for the Ffarquhar Quarry Co (FQC), mainly rearranging trucks in different sidings.[11][12][citation needed ]
|
British Rail Class 04 |
British Railways/Visitors
Various engines from
museums have visited the North Western Railway, both on regular trains to-and-from the Mainland
, for special events, or under a lease agreement.
The 'Other Railway' Engines
| Name | Number | Description | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| 87546 and 98462 | Two blue tender engines who once visited the North Western Railway on trial from a railway on the Mainland. They stayed at Vicarstown Sheds with the other engines, and notably made fun of Edward for being too old and weak to work. For their rude and nasty behavior, the Fat Director decided to send 87546 and 98462 away. It is unknown what happened to them since the end of steam, but it's most likely that they were scrapped. | ||
| Percy's Workshop Friends | Many unnamed engines appeared at the saddle tank engine and named him Percy. Later on, Percy mentioned to Edward, that the engines would have to wheesh loudly to make themselves heard.
|
||
| Big City Engine | An express 4-6-0 tender engine who worked for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and later British Railways. Once, he had gotten into an argument with Gordon and Duck about what was the name of the big station in London: King's Cross, Euston, Paddington, and St. Pancras. However, none of the engines realized that London had several major stations, not just one. | LMS "Patriot" Class | |
| Jinty and Pug | Two ex-LMS tank engines who once visited the North Western Railway on loan from British Railways, while the Fat Controller and his engines went to be on display in London. Both are friends of Percy. | LMS Fowler Class 3F (Jinty) LMS Kitson 0F (Pug) | |
| Diesel | A black 0-6-0 diesel engine, who originates from the Other Railway and is the first known standard gauge diesel engine to ever visit Sodor, and also, the first diesel locomotive created by the Rev. W. Awdry. | British Rail Class 08 | |
| City of Truro | GWR 3440 | A famous 4-4-0 tender engine from the Great Western Railway. He once visited Sodor in 1957 on a railtour and stayed for one night. City of Truro befriended Duck, as the two were both Great Western engines and talked all night, much to Gordon's annoyance. Gordon tried to beat City of Truro's speed record, but only to have his dome blown off on the Viaduct. He normally resides at the STEAM Museum in Swindon, Wiltshire. | GWR 3700 Class 3440 City of Truro |
| Stepney | LBSCR 55 | A T engine, named after a district in London, from the Bluebell Railway. In The Railway Series, his friendly, enthusiastic attitude makes him a welcome visitor on the Fat Controller's railway.
|
LB&SCR A1X class |
| Class 40 | BR D4711 | A big green diesel engine who once visited the North Western Railway on loan from British Railways. He was brought to Sodor to help the other engines. Class 40 intentionally sucked in an inspector's bowler hat through his air intake, which lead to his engine failing. Afterwards, Class 40 was sent away in disgrace, leaving behind "a rather nasty smell, and a battered bowler hat". | British Rail Class 40 |
| Flying Scotsman | LNER 4472/BR 60103 | An LNER Class A3 Pacific, formerly an LNER Class A1 Pacific. Flying Scotsman holds the record for being the first engine to officially run at over 100 mph. In addition, Flying Scotsman is described as the 'world's most famous steam locomotive'. Flying Scotsman, is named after a service that runs from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley. In The Railway Series, he is the last of Gordon's brothers. | LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman |
| Diesel 199 | BR D199 | A diesel engine who once visited the North Western Railway on trial from British Railways. He soon made himself an enemy of the steam engines. The next day, 199 failed while pulling a train of fuel and oil tankers at a signal box in Kellsthorpe Road. After Henry came to help, the signalman called 199 "Spamcan" as an insult. After 7101 fails with the Limited, Henry helps both diesels and their trains to the next station. The Fat Controller wasn't pleased with 199 and soon sent him back for offending his engines. | British Rail Class 46 |
| Wilbert (originally named "G.B. Keeling") | DFR 3806 | A dark blue ST engine after the Thin Clergyman (Wilbert Awdry), who was a one-time president of the Dean Forest Railway. In Wilbert the Forest Engine, the Fat Controller arranged for Wilbert to come help on his railway. During his visit, Wilbert tells Thomas and Toby the story of his brother, Sixteen, accidentally filled up with milk instead of water, and used a coil of wire to couple it up to his damaged ballast truck.
|
Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST |
| Albert | A red T engine who worked on the Furness Railway with his two coaches, Victoria and Helena. Albert was once buried at a tunnel by an avalanche when he lets off too much steam starting from the station, one day after boasting about the snow.
|
Furness Railway Class J1 |
Non-rail vehicles
| Name | Description | Based on |
|---|---|---|
| Terence | An orange caterpillar tractor who usually works near Thomas' Branch Line, and is driven by Farmer Finney. When Thomas first met Terence, he insulted him for having 'ugly' caterpillar tracks , but later regretted it and befriended Terence after he pulled him out of a snowdrift.
|
Caterpillar Model 70 |
| Bertie | A little red bus who also works alongside Thomas' Branch Line. Bertie had a race with Thomas to Ffarquhar after claiming he was the faster of the two, but lost after having to stop at a traffic light. | Leyland Tiger |
| Trevor | A traction engine who resides at the Wellsworth Vicarage Orchard and driven by Jem Cole. He was due to be broken up before he was saved by the Vicar of Wellsworth. | William Foster & Co. Traction Engine No. 1459 |
| Harold | A white and red helicopter belonging to the Coastguard Service who patrols the skies of Sodor, searching for emergencies. When Percy and Harold met, he insulted the railways as being "slow and old-fashioned". Percy, who was cross at this when taking some trucks, decided to race Harold to Knapford Harbour. | Sikorsky S-55 |
| George | A grumpy green steamroller whose interactions with engines generally lead to trouble. Whenever he is flattening a road, he is seen rebelling by saying "Railways are no good! Pull 'em up! Turn them into roads!" | |
| Caroline | An elderly car owned by a cricketer from the Elsbridge Cricket Club. She tends to overheat when traveling at high speeds. | |
| Bulgy | A bad-tempered double-decker bus with an ideological opposition to railways. His catchphrase is "Free the roads. Free the roads from Railway Tyranny!" | AEC Regent III that served many of London's bus routes in the 1940s and 1950s |
Humans
- Sir Charles Topham Hatt II, better known as the Fat Controller, is the managerof the North Western Railway. He makes sure everything is running well and right on time, without confusion and delay. His son, Charles, succeeded him in 1954, and his grandson, Stephen, became the third controller in 1984. His son, Richard, would be the next Fat Controller.
- Sir Handel Brown is the manager of the Skarloey Railway. He often had other business to attend to and was never seen in the books.
- Peter Sam, known as the Thin Controller, is the vice president of the Skarloey Railway. He succeeded his father, Mr. Robert Sam in 1951 and was hired by the new owner, Sir Handel Lloyd Brown. Like his father, he spent his entire working life on the Skarloey Railway.
- Fergus Duncan, known as the Small Controller, is the manager of the Arlesdale Railway. Despite being known as by his nickname, he is taller than both the Fat Controller and the Thin Controller.
- The Fat and Thin Clergymen are two clergymen with a strong interest in the railways on Sodor. The Thin Clergyman is an author and is strongly hinted to be the Rev. W. Awdry. The Fat Clergyman, who likes taking pictures, is implied to be the Rev. Wilbert Awdry's real-life friend, the Rev. Teddy Boston.
References
- ISBN 9780434927623.
- ISBN 9780434927623.
- ^ "W. Awdry Dies". The Washington Post. The Washington Post. 23 March 1997. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ISBN 0-434-96909-5.
- ISBN 0 7182 0010 1.
- ISBN 0 434 92782 1.
- ISBN 0434927848.
- ^ ISBN 0-9549665-1-1.
- ^ ISBN 0-9549665-1-1.
- ISBN 0718200187.
- ISBN 0-434-92803-8.
- ^ "The Wisbech and Upwell Tramway: Toby and Mavis". lner.info. LNER. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
