Edward

"I will do it! I will do it! I will do it!"

- Edward, "The Three Railway Engines"

    Edward the Blue Engine  Edward is an elderly mixed-traffic engine.
 * Number: 2
 * Designer: Pettigrew
 * Builder: Sharp, Stewart and Co.
 * Built: 1896
 * Configuration: 4-4-0
 * Arrived on Sodor: 1920

Bio
Edward was built by Sharp Stewart and Company in 1896 and worked on the Furness Railway before coming to Sodor in 1920 to finish the building of the North Western Railway. After his work was completed, Edward was kept in a shed, to the delight of the other engines, who claimed that he was too weak to work. Edward was eventually let out again, and proved that what he lacked in strength he made up for in work ethic.

Edward currently runs the Wellsworth-Brendam branch line with BoCo, and occasionally Donald and Douglas. He is sometimes used as a pilot engine for special trains.

Persona
Edward is kind-hearted and always keen to help a friend in need. The small engines trust him to lend a listening ear and sympathetic advice. He is a hard worker too, and always does his best to finish a job.

Sadly, the big engines often see Edward as old-fashioned and slow. While it is true he is the oldest engine on the North Western Railway - it must be noted he helped build it - he has proved time and time again that he is more than capable of working as hard as any engine, but he is a more clever and wiser engine, too.

Since the eighth season, Edward's persona differs slightly. Despite his reputation of being kind and friendly, Edward has sometime seemed to act cheeky. Edward has also acted with a lack of confidence in himself in that he keeps secrets from the other engines and the Fat Controller when once he was leaking steam, and likewise when he was told to pull the post train whilst Percy was being repaired.

Basis
Unlike most characters, Edward is not directly based upon any particular class of locomotive. The Reverend W. Awdry had stated that Edward is based on a heavily modified Sharp, Stewart and Co. "Larger Seagull", supplied to the Furness Railway in 1896, but this was a piece of retcon created for "The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways".

Sodor "historian" Martin Clutterbuck notes that Edward bears a close resemblance to a LNER D3/4 "Glen" (NBR Reid Class K) 4-4-0 from the London and North Eastern Railway. At any rate, the Reverend W. Awdry used an engine of this class to represent Edward on his model railway.

Crovan's Gate modifications to be seen are making rear splasher flush with cab, new cab windows as opposed to cutaway and new cab lookouts as opposed to the round originals.

Inspiraton
The inspiration for Edward himself came from the Reverend W. Awdry's watching trains on the Great Western Railway as a child. He said in an interview with Brian Sibley for "The Thomas the Tank Engine Man" that, to him, the noise of the locomotives' exhaust almost sounded like dialogue - for example, the larger engine having trouble climbing the hills would appear to be saying, "I can't do it, I can't do it," and the smaller engine helping them would sound like it were saying, "I will do it! I will do it! I will do it!"

Livery
Edward is painted NWR blue with the NWR red and yellow lining and the number "2" painted on his tender sides in bright yellow with a red border. He carries two plaques on his cab that reads "NWR No. 2, Rebuilt 1920, Crovans Gate Works".

It can be assumed that, before arriving on Sodor, Edward was painted in the Furness Railway's red livery with a yellow "FR" on his tender sides and black wheels.

Appearances
Edward's Railway Series appearances are listed in chronological order:
 * "The Three Railway Engines"
 * "Thomas the Tank Engine"
 * "James the Red Engine"
 * "Troublesome Engines"
 * "Henry the Green Engine"
 * "Gordon the Big Engine"
 * "Edward the Blue Engine"
 * "Four Little Engines"
 * "The Eight Famous Engines" (does not speak)
 * "Duck and the Diesel Engine"
 * "The Twin Engines"
 * "Gallant Old Engine" (does not speak)
 * "Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine"
 * "Main Line Engines"
 * "James and the Diesel Engines" (does not speak)
 * "More About Thomas the Tank Engine" (does not speak)
 * "Thomas and the Twins"
 * "Henry and the Express" (cameo)
 * "Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines"
 * "Thomas and Victoria"

Edward has appeared in every season of the television series, and in "Calling All Engines" and "The Great Discovery".

Merchandising

 * ERTL (discontinued)
 * LC Wooden
 * Take-Along (normal and metallic)
 * My First Thomas (normal and talking)
 * TOMY\Trackmaster
 * Hornby
 * Bachmann
 * My Thomas Story Library

Trivia

 * Edward was the very first character created for the Railway Series, in 1943.
 * Edward is the only engine whose crew has been named in the Railway Series. In the foreword of "Edward the Blue Engine" their names were given as Charlie Sand (driver) and Sidney Hever (fireman). Their surnames came from their duties (one of the driver's jobs is to sand the rails when they are slippery to let the engine's wheels grip, while the fireman "heaves" coal to the firebox); their Christian names came from an engine crew from the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway.
 * The Learning Curve Wooden range depicts Edward as a 0-4-0.
 * In the Japanese narration of the television series Edward was voiced by Yasuhiro Takato until the end of the eighth season, at which time Nozomu Sasaki became his new voice actor.
 * Keith Wickham will begin voicing Edward in Hero of the Rails, in the UK.