Oliver

"Oliver's no use at all; thinks he's very clever. Says that he can manage us; that's the best joke ever! When he orders us about, with the greatest folly, We just push him down the well. Pop - goes old Ollie!"

- Troublesome Trucks, Oliver the Western Engine

    Oliver  Oliver is a Great Western tank engine who works on Duck's Branch Line.
 * Number: 11, previously 1436
 * Class: GWR 14xx 0-4-2T
 * Designer: Charles B. Collet
 * Builder: Swindon Works
 * Configuration: 0-4-2T
 * Arrived on Sodor: 1967

Bio in the Railway Series
Oliver worked on the Great Western Railway. Sometime during the 1960s, he ran away for fear of being scrapped with his coach, Isabel, and a brakevan named Toad. The three were forced to hide between signalboxes and rely on the goodwill of signalmen to pass at safe times. When control got wind of the runaways, they hid in an old quarry branch and had the cutting blocked by rubbish to avoid being spotted by the Diesels outside. The runaways decided it was safe to leave at some point, but before they could reach the greener pastures of Sodor, Oliver ran out of coal. Luckily, Douglas was able to rescue Oliver and hid him on a siding at Crovan's Gate. The Fat Controller soon found out and arranged for the three to be repaired and painted in Great Western colours. Toad decided to be Douglas' brakevan to thank him, and the Fat Controller rescued an autocoach named Dulcie and gave her to Oliver.

Oliver was then sent to work on the Tidmouth-Arlesburgh branch line, but became conceited after the big engines gave him their respect in recognition of his adventures and pushed his weight around, prompting several ballast trucks to push him into a turntable well. Oliver received little respect from the trucks after the incident, but got his own back by pulling the ringleader, S. C. Ruffey, apart. Oliver is now well-respected by the trucks, out of fear they will be pulled apart too.

Bio in the television series
Oliver and Toad were escaping from scrap when Douglas found, saved, and brought them to the North Western Railway. The other engines were impressed by his adventures and the attention soon went to Oliver's smokebox. He was so conceited that he ignored Duck and Donald's advice about trucks and several pushed him into the turntable well. Upon his return from the Works, Oliver regained his respect after pulling the ringleader of the trucks, S. C. Ruffey, apart. Oliver has since had many adventures, such as running Thomas' Branch Line during the engines' trip to England, discovering an abandoned house which was later turned into a tea-house, and spending a night as a snowman after crashing into one in the village.

Persona
Oliver is considered brave and a good role model by the engines. This went to his smokebox and led to his incident with the ballast trucks, but Oliver has since then learned his lesson and started to behave like a real role model. He is generally laid back and is usually able to avoid the occasional bickering of the engines. Because of this, he is on good terms with all of the engines.

Basis
Oliver is based on a GWR 14xx 0-4-2T. The particular engine Oliver is based on, No. 1436, was built at Swindon Works in the August of 1934 and worked until it was withdrawn in 1958. It was scrapped the following year.

Livery
In the Railway Series, Oliver is painted in the GWR's green livery with yellow lining, black wheels and a brass GWR numberplate on his cab side. In the television series, his paint had faded by the time he was rescued, leaving him a rusty-red colour. After his rescue, he was repainted green and has remained so since.

In the Railway Series, he carries two builder's plates on the sides of his cab.

Appearances
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Railway Series

 * Enterprising Engines
 * Oliver the Western Engine
 * Duke the Lost Engine (cameo)
 * Jock the New Engine (mentioned)
 * Henry and the Express (cameo)
 * Wilbert the Forest Engine (non-speaking role)

Television series

 * Season 3 - Escape, Oliver Owns Up, and Bulgy
 * Season 4 - Four Little Engines (cameo), Rusty to the Rescue (mentioned), Toad Stands By, Thomas and the Special Letter (does not speak), and Mind that Bike (cameo)
 * Season 5 - Gordon and the Gremlin (cameo), Oliver's Find, Make Someone Happy, and Busy Going Backwards
 * Season 6 - The World's Strongest Engine (cameo), Scaredy Engines (cameo), Percy and the Haunted Mine (cameo), Percy's Chocolate Crunch (cameo), and Edward the Very Useful Engine (deleted scene)
 * Season 7 - Emily's New Coaches, James and the Queen of Sodor (cameo), Snow Engine, Peace and Quiet (cameo), Bulgy Rides Again (cameo), and Best Dressed Engine (cameo)
 * Season 12 - Steady Eddie (does not speak) and Gordon Takes a Shortcut

Specials:
 * Thomas and the U.K. Trip (does not speak)

He also made two eighth season music video cameos.

Magazine stories
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 * 1997 - Oliver
 * 1998 - The Play Train!
 * 2001 - The Eyesight Test (mentioned)
 * 2002 - Travelling Tables! (does not speak)
 * 2008 - Giant Puffer
 * 2011 - Too Tired and Flag Flying!

Voice actors

 * Hikaru Midorikawa (Japan)

Trivia

 * Recent information has revealed that there really was a 1436 on the Great Western Railway.
 * In the story Oliver Gets the Bird from the 1985 Thomas and Friends annual, Oliver was incorrectly depicted as an 0-4-4. In Wilbert the Forest Engine, Oliver was incorrectly depicted as an 0-6-0.

Quotes
"Yon's an enterprising engine," Douglas thought. "I won away here with Donald; but I'd've been feared to do it on my own." - Douglas, Enterprising Engines

Merchandise

 * ERTL (discontinued)
 * Wooden Railway (two versions; discontinued)
 * Take-Along (normal and metallic; discontinued)
 * TOMY/TrackMaster
 * My First Thomas (normal and talking)
 * Hornby (discontinued)
 * My Thomas Story Library (discontinued)
 * Brio (discontinued)
 * Bandai Tecs
 * De Agostini
 * Wind-up (Japan only)