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. He has two Great Western autocoaches named Isabel and Dulcie, and a Great Western brakevan named Toad.
 * Number: 11, previously 1436
 * Class: GWR 14xx 0-4-2T
 * Designer: Charles B. Collett
 * Builder: Swindon Works
 * Configuration: 0-4-2T
 * Built: August 1934, rebuilt 1959
 * 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, spending a night as a snowman after crashing into one in the village, and being saved by Emily when he was about to be hit by Thomas. He then gave Gordon instructions when he was lost.

Persona
Oliver is the number 11 Great Western steam engine who works on Duck's branch line. He escaped the dreaded scrapyards of the Mainland, mainly thanks to Douglas, but also as the result of sympathetic signalmen, luck, and using "goods only" routes under cover of darkness, with some close calls along the way. Despite his previous heroism and daring feats, Oliver is an engine who is willing to admit every day is a learning curve. When he was still new to Sodor, he let the other engines' responses to his courage, resource, and sagacity from his amazing recounts of daring escapes and adventures get to his smokebox and he became conceited. However, when troublesome trucks pushed him into the turntable well, he grew into a much more humble, settled engine and was far warier of trucks. But later, with some help from his brake van Toad, he did gain much respect and authority among the trucks when he showed his strength with the ringleader of the trucks, S. C. Ruffey, a little more than he had perhaps been intending. Oliver still has gumption, but is now a more obedient, sensible engine. He feels his responsibility on the railway deeply, is ever thankful for being aided in his escape from scrap by Douglas, and is a trustworthy, tenacious, plucky engine.

Basis
Oliver is based on a GWR 14xx 0-4-2T. These engines were fitted with a mechanical system allowing the driver to control the locomotive remotely from the cab of an 'autocoach', such as Isabel. 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, Bulgy Rides Again (cameo), and Best Dressed Engine (cameo)
 * Season 12 - Steady Eddie (does not speak) and Gordon Takes a Shortcut
 * Season 18 - Toad's Adventure

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

He made two eighth season music video cameos.

Magazine stories

 * 1996 - The Play Train!
 * 1997 - Oliver
 * 1998 - Oliver
 * 2001 - The Eyesight Test (mentioned)
 * 2002 - Travelling Tables! (does not speak)
 * 2004 - Mountain Mistake, and Snow Engine
 * 2006 - Passenger Plane
 * 2008 - Giant Puffer
 * 2011 - Too Tired, Flag Flying! and Special Carriage (mentioned)
 * 2013 - Caught on Camera (does not speak) and Spencer's Statue

Oliver also appeared in the magazine stories, A Long Way Up!, Bumpers and Buffers, Come back, Please!, Diesel's Nasty Turn, Do-Nothing Dennis, Letting off Steam!, Mountains and Mess!, Oliver's Mistake, Ride and Slide, Seal Passenger, Seeing Sails, Snow Engine, So Many Stories, Special Passengers, Spencer's Statue, The Flying Broomstick, and The Great Race.}}

Voice actors

 * Joe Mills (US; eighteenth season onwards)
 * Hikaru Midorikawa (Japan; third-seventh seasons)

Theme instrumental
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Trivia

 * Oliver was named after Oliver Wicks, who was a much respected member of Stroud Baptist Church. He was the Reverend W. Awdry's next door neighbour in Rodborough, Stroud.
 * 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.
 * One of Oliver's models is currently on display at Nitrogen Studios.
 * From the eighteenth season onwards, Oliver appears to be smaller compared to his model counterpart and prototype. He has also gained a permanent lamp, black side-rods, more hand rails, and his running board is painted black just as it was in the Railway Series. However, the guard irons on his rear cab windows appear to be missing. He also speaks with a West Country accent, reflecting his origins.

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 (reintroduced 2006 and 2014)
 * Take-Along (normal and metallic; discontinued)
 * Take-n-Play (coming soon)
 * Motor Road and Rail (discontinued)
 * TrackMaster (UK only; discontinued)
 * My First Thomas (normal and talking)
 * Hornby (discontinued)
 * My Thomas Story Library (discontinued)
 * Trading Cards (discontinued)
 * Brio (discontinued)
 * Bandai (several versions; discontinued)
 * De Agostini
 * Wind-up (Japan only)
 * Nakayoshi (discontinued)