Duke

"That would never suit His Grace!"

- Duke, "Duke the Lost Engine ", page 5

Duke, named after the Duke of Sodor and originally The Duke, is considered a hero amongst the engines.

Bio in the Railway Series
Duke was built in 1879 for the opening of the Mid Sodor Railway, and named after the Duke of Sodor. He worked there alongside Sir Handel and Peter Sam (then known as Falcon and Stuart respectively) until 1947, at which time the line closed and Duke was sheeted and sheltered in Arlesdale Sheds. He was later discovered by Fergus Duncan, the Reverend Teddy Boston and the Reverend W. Awdry in 1969 and taken by road and rail to Crovan's Gate, where he was restored and returned to service in 1984.

Bio in the television series
According to Thomas, Duke lived on an unnamed narrow gauge railway with Falcon, Stuart and, briefly, Smudger, until the line went bankrupt and most of the engines were sold. Duke, however, was sheeted until a group of adventurers found his shed, buried under tons of soil. Skarloey and Rheneas took him back to the Skarloey Railway, where he was soon returned to service. His only remaining brother is Bertram.

Persona
Duke, when one first meets him, appears to be pedantic and strict, and in a sense both are true about him. However, Duke was sheeted up in a shed for more than two decades, so Duke possibly did not know how things have changed. Duke is wise from experience, and sees it as his duty to live upto his name's reputation.

Livery
Duke is painted light brown with yellow lining. He had "The Duke" written on his sides, number 1 on his cab and "MS" written on his tender.

Appearances
Duke's Railway Series appearances are listed below, in chronological order:


 * "Duke the Lost Engine"
 * "Great Little Engines"
 * "New Little Engine" (non-speaking role)

Duke was introduced in the fourth season, but this is the only season in which he was featured so far. He did make an appearance in the seventh season, but this was from stock footage.

His model was used for Bertram in the fifth season episode "Toby's Discovery".

Basis
The story of Duke was based upon a true story about an engine abandoned in the Brazilian rainforest. Duke himself is based on "Prince", a tender engine from the Ffestiniog Railway at Porthmadog, North Wales.