Gordon

"Because... I'm the strongest and the best!"

- Gordon, "Respect for Gordon", ninth season

Gordon is a blue express engine.

Bio
Gordon was built by Sir Nigel Gresley at Doncaster Works in April 1922 as an A1 with a GNR eight-wheeled tender and originally painted green on the Other Railway, but when he arrived on Sodor with a spare boiler and firebox later that year he was painted in the North Western Railway's blue livery. He is mainly used for passenger duties, pulling the North Western Railway's express, the "Wild Nor' Wester", but has occasionally pulled goods trains: he has been known to run into ditches and stop on hills to get out of doing these jobs, as he believes that these are below him.

In July 1922, Gordon had been teased by Thomas until he took him with the Express, and later stalled on the large hill in the middle of the line, and hence its name.

In 1939, Gordon went to Crovan's Gate for a rebuild, where his conjugated valve gear was playing up as it did on alot of A1' during that period, was replaced by a 2 cylinder design, and he recieved a smoother running plate the Fat Controller designed himself, Stanier underframes, Black-5 wheels, cylinders and valve gear (Gordon could have had cylinders cast to specifications slightly larger than those of the Black 5s, however this is less likely, but not impossible), squared-off side windows, rectangular buffers and a Fowler-style tender (probably flush-riveted 3500 Gallon type with horizontal strip removed). Gordon's original pony and bogey were retained. He appears to have an A3-style cab, but he still has his A1 boiler with the super heater on the smoke box side replaced by another one-off design, mounted on the interior as had been done with other locomotives, and his running plate is curved flowing front after going straight then drops down at the back and at the front.

Gordon has become famous after his adventures: in 1953 he pulled Queen Elizabeth II's royal train and in 1956 he travelled to London, where he was lauded by a large crowd. Gordon did not like the visit, however, as he discovered that London's big station was St. Pancras. However, according to Gordon, he never went to London at all.

In 1986, Gordon got to visit Carlisle when a diesel taking a Railtour failed.

Of Gordon's brothers, only one remains in existence: Flying Scotsman, who visited Sodor during 1967-68.

Persona
Gordon's important position as the engine who usually pulls the Express has made him proud, pompous and arrogant, with good reason, too; he is the strongest engine on Sodor after all. Gordon's philosophy "tender engines don't shunt" meant that he looked down on tank engines and tender engines who do shunt, but after being locked in the Shed with Henry and James after going on strike he seems to have abandoned this philosophy.Gordon thinks he knows the Sodor Railway than any other engine and he always wants to look his best and be the finest engine on the Island of Sodor.But Gordon does want to be really useful and self-reliant.

Because of his rank amongst the social order of the North Western Railway, Gordon expects to get the important jobs and either sulks when he doesn't, or gets jealous of those who do. Sometimes, Gordon acts as a bully, particularly towards Edward but following mis-adventures where Edward had to help him, Gordon had to acknowledge that despite being old, Edward is still a very useful engine. Sometimes Gordon shows a kinder side and gives the younger engines advice, usually after he has had some mishap as a result of his foolhardiness. Some of his advice isn't exactly honest, though, as James and Sir Handel have discovered! in "Steady Eddie" his attitude with trucks seems to have changed.

Appearances
Gordon's appearances in the Railway Series 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"
 * "Percy the Small Engine"
 * "The Eight Famous Engines"
 * "Duck and the Diesel Engine"
 * "The Little Old Engine"
 * "The Twin Engines"
 * "Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine"
 * "Main Line Engines"
 * "Small Railway Engines" (not seen)
 * "Enterprising Engines"
 * "Oliver the Western Engine"
 * "Really Useful Engines"
 * "James and the Diesel Engines"
 * "Great Little Engines"
 * "More About Thomas the Tank Engine" (cameo)
 * "Gordon the High-Speed Engine"
 * "Thomas and the Twins" (mentioned)
 * "Thomas and the Great Railway Show"
 * "Thomas Comes Home"
 * "Henry and the Express" (non-speaking role)
 * "Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines"

Gordon has also appeared in every series of the television series.

"Drawn and Thought of"
Gordon, according to Sodor "Historian" Martin Clutterbuck, is supposed to be an experimental prototype for Sir Nigel Gresley's A1 "Pacific" design for the GNR. Gordon was then "concieved" and built at Doncaster Works, Yorkshire. He was then tested against a similar NER Pacific in 1923, and helped make the A3 "Pacifics" the top passenger engine for LNER for the next decade. Gordon, being an experimental engine, never recieved a number, and was later rebuilt at Crewe with LMS underparts and a tender, owning to various problems. Gordon has since been rebuilt below the footplate according to Stanier designs, his running plate being Sir Topham Hatt's own design.

Basis
Gordon is based on an LNER Class A1/A3 with a six-wheeled LMS-style tender. He has an LMS curving footplate,winch, square buffers, Stanier two-cylinder motion and Walschaerts valve gear. His boiler is easily distinguished by the rear curve of the footplate, with the firebox sides extended below the driving wheels in a smooth, angled line. On his running plate, it goes from the rear to the front straight then drops down at the front footplate. Before his 1939 rebuild, he had LNER curving footplate, round buffers, Gresley three-cylinder motion and Walschaerts valve gear on the outside, but Gresley conjugated valve gear on the inside and an eight-wheeled GNR-styled tender.

In an early version of the Railway Series, Gordon was modelled after a cross between a GCR Atlantic on a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement.

Livery
Gordon is painted NWR blue with red lining and a number 4 painted on his tender sides in bright yellow with a red border. Before arriving on Sodor, he was painted Doncaster dark green with white and black lining. In Railway Series, he has his name painted in bright yellow on his boiler, a number 4 painted in bright yellow with a red border on his cab sides and "North Western Railway" painted in bright yellow on his tender sides.

Trivia

 * Since 1939 and in the Railway Series, Gordon's buffers are square and pointy. The Rev. W. Awdry said in a letter to a young fan that the reason for Gordon's unusual buffer shape was simply that he had broken his round buffers and square ones were all that was available at the Works. However in the TV series he has had round oval-shaped buffers throughout the shows entireity
 * Also since 1939, Gordon's whistle is unique from the other engines, because it has a low, deep tone. His whistle also has several slight modifications-Gordon's whistle had a cone-shaped base, and an unrounded cylinder-shaped bell.
 * Gordon has five boiler bands, a lower-type cab, super heater on the smokebox side replaced by another one-off design, mounted on the interior as had been done with other locomotives, a large boiler with a LNER chimney and round LNER dome and a wide low-set firebox rested on the trailing carry axle giving a large grate area. Since 1939, he also has smooth curved LMS running plate, Stanier underframes, Black-5 cylinder and valve gear (slightly larger than those of the Black 5s), squared-off side windows, rectangular buffers and the six-wheel Fowler-style tender (flush riveted 3500 Gallon type with horizontal stripe removed)

Merchandising

 * ERTL model (discontinued)
 * LC Wooden model (available in two versions, but limited 'crashed' version, from his little mishap in A Better View for Gordon)
 * Take-Along model (also available in metallic; both models of Gordon have a 2-6-2 wheel arrangement)
 * TOMY/Trackmaster model
 * 'My First' model
 * Hornby model
 * Bachmann model

YouTube Account
http://www.youtube.com/GordontheComedian