Murdoch

"Have you worked Mersey?"

- Salty, "Peace and Quiet", seventh season

    Murdoch  Murdoch is Sodor's largest and strongest steam engine.
 * Class: BR standard class 9F
 * Designer: Robert Riddles
 * Builder: Swindon Works
 * Built: 1960
 * Configuration: 2-10-0

Bio
Murdoch was brought to relieve the engines of their heavy workloads. He was big and strong, so the other engines were eager to learn more about him. Murdoch, however, disliked the noise of their chatter and got cross at Salty and Harvey when they inquired about his past exploits. The next day, Murdoch finally had a chance to pull a train in the quiet countryside, but his journey was interrupted by a flock of stray sheep. Murdoch had to wait with the noisy sheep until Toby could bring the farmer to lead them away. That night, Murdoch found Salty's and Harvey's company a relief.

Murdoch was happy, but shy about being decorated during the May Day festivities.

On one windy autumn day, a large red carpet landed on the back of Murdoch's goods train, unbeknownst to Murdoch. Percy briefly chased down after it, until the heavy winds blew it away again.

Emily once needed Murdoch's help when she became stranded in the mud and near the end Emily asked him which track should she take; Murdoch told Emily that the tracks on Gordon's Hill were being cleared and told her to take the valley route instead.

Murdoch pulled Rocky to help Thomas recover the lost materials for the Sodor River Bridge's restoration.

Persona
In spite of his size, Murdoch is gentle and shy. He prefers peace and quiet, also he can work very hard with any job he has, and his favourite hobby is to have a quiet run through the countryside.

Basis
Murdoch is based on a BR standard class 9F goods engine, the last make of steam engines to be built for British Railways, in 1960, before "Tornado".

Livery
Murdoch is painted orange with green and red lining. He has smoke deflectors, on which he wears red nameplates with gold lettering.

Appearances


Murdoch appeared in the seventh and twelfth seasons. He made a non-speaking appearance in the eighth season and a cameo in the eleventh season.

Merchandising

 * ERTL (discontinued)
 * LC
 * Take-Along
 * TOMY/Trackmaster
 * My First Thomas (talking)
 * My Thomas Story Library

Trivia

 * It was mentioned in "Peace and Quiet" that Murdoch was brand new. This statement is canonically incorrect, as this would have meant Murdoch would have arrived on Sodor before Salty. The only logical explanation is that Murdoch was built using parts from several locomotives of his class sometime after their build.
 * Murdoch gains a Scottish accent in the twelfth season.
 * In the Japanese dub of the TV Series, Murdoch is voiced by Kōzō Shioya.