Minor Locomotive Characters

This page is for minor locomotive characters who have appeared in the Railway Series and Thomas & Friends.

Percy's Ghost Engine
"...and every year on the date of the accident it runs again, as a warning to others, plunging into the gap, shrieking like a lost soul!"

- Percy

This Ghost Engine was mentioned in a story Percy told to Thomas and Toby, which his driver told him the night before. However, Thomas refused to believe him and Percy's driver confirmed to him that the ghost was on television. Percy could not help but feel disappointed.

When Percy crashed into a cart of lime, a signalman remarked that Percy looked like a ghost. This gave Percy an idea to scare Thomas. With the help of Toby, they convinced Thomas that Percy had crashed and returned as a ghost, thus scaring Thomas out of the shed. Later, Toby jokingly told Percy that Thomas had seen a ghost.

Appearances
Railway Series= The Railway Series
 * Tramway Engines - Ghost Train and Woolly Bear

Companion Volumes Television Series= Thomas & Friends
 * 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection
 * 2007 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection
 * Season 2 - Ghost Train
 * Season 3 - Thomas, Percy and the Dragon

Music Videos
Other Media= Books
 * Boo! Boo! Choo-Choo
 * 1994 - Thomas, Percy and the Dragon

Magazine Stories
 * 1988 - Ghost Train and Percy's Night Out
 * 1998 - Runaway Percy! and Thomas, Percy and the Dragon!

Trivia

 * The Ghost Engine was made using Percy's model covered in white streamers and used Edward's whistle sound.
 * In the UK narration of the episode, Percy's driver says the ghost was a pretend one on television. However, in both US narrations, he simply states that it was only a pretend ghost story.

Rusty's Ghost Engine
"It's the ghost! Take me back! Take me back! Please!"

- Duncan

Rusty's Ghost Engine was a narrow gauge tank engine who supposedly worked on the Skarloey Railway.

Biography
According to the story told by Rusty, the engine was returning home one misty night when he lost control and fell into a ravine. No one was ever able to find him, but several workmen claim to have seen his ghost trying repeatedly to cross the ravine, only to disappear half way every time.

Rusty told Duncan his story after he teased Peter Sam for allowing his trucks to derail and fall into the ravine. Duncan disbelieved the story, but the next day Duncan's crew arranged things so that Duncan believed the engine was trying to cross the bridge at the same time as him, and quickly ran back. The crew used fireflies to help form the ghostly appearance of an engine.

In the magazine story, Creepy Cutting!, "The Ghost Engine", presumably the same one, was mentioned by Skarloey who suspected that he was haunting Echo Pass.

Technical Details
The Ghost Engine is based on the Talyllyn Railway's "Talyllyn", a Fletcher Jennings Class C 0-4-2 tank locomotive Skarloey is also based on. The engine formed by the fireflies resembles Dolgoch, Rheneas and Smudger's basis.

Appearances
Thomas & Friends= Thomas & Friends Music Videos Other Media= Magazine stories
 * Season 5 - Duncan Gets Spooked
 * Boo! Boo! Choo-Choo
 * 2000 - Creepy Cutting!
 * 2005 - Mine Mystery

Trivia

 * The Ghost Engine was made using Skarloey's model and Percy's whistle sound. According to Models on TV, an online magazine, the model used was specially modified so that it could only travel a certain distance before a motor swung it off of the bridge.

Edward's Ghost Engine
"They say that on Halloween, the ghost engine returns from the smelters looking for his lost whistle!"

- Edward

Edward's Ghost Engine was mentioned in a story Edward told the other engines one Halloween. According to the story, the engine returns every Halloween to haunt the scrapyards, trying to look for his lost whistle. Thomas later teased Percy, saying Percy thought it was real, but he learned his lesson after remaining behind at the Smelters to take a special load and thinking that some chains touching his cab were ghostly fingers. He then believed that a whistle in the shed was the ghost's lost whistle, forcing him to race out of the smelters, frightened.

Technical Details
The Ghost Engine is based on a Caledonian Railway "Mclntosh 812" 0-6-0. Donald and Douglas are other members of this class.

Appearances
Thomas & Friends= Thomas & Friends
 * Season 6 - Scaredy Engines

Music Videos Other Media= Books
 * Boo! Boo! Choo-Choo
 * 2007 - Thomas and the Ghost Engine
 * 2011 - Thomas and the Ghost Engine

Trivia

 * The Ghost Engine uses either Donald or Douglas' model without the tender or nameplate. It also wears one of the twins' surprised face masks.

The Halloween Engine
"The engines love to hear tales of ghostly engines and scary steam trains."

- The Narrator

The Halloween Engine is a ghostly tender engine who appeared in the eighth season episode, Halloween. It was briefly seen at the Smelter's Yard.

Technical Details
The Halloween Engine is based on an LNER A1/A3 Pacific with a Fowler tender and BR Standard 9F cylinders.

Appearances
Thomas & Friends= Thomas & Friends Other Media= Magazine stories
 * Season 8 - Halloween
 * Thomas' Hallowe'en

Trivia

 * The Halloween Engine was made using one of Gordon's scrap models, Murdoch's cylinders and one of the old tenders pulled by Henry in Tender Engines with an added tail-lamp.

Hiro's Friends
Hiro's friends are engines who live and work on a Japanese railway owned by Sir Takaboushi Hideki on Hiro's homeland. They referred to Hiro as "Master of the Railway".

Hiro first mentioned them as his "best friends at home" when he first met Percy during his restoration. Hiro later remembers his old friends when he is homesick in a magazine story.

Appearances
Thomas & Friends=

Thomas & Friends
Movies:
 * 2009 - Hero of the Rails


 * -|Other Media=

Magazine stories

 * 2012 - Making Hiro Happy

Sixteen's Friends
"If the notice says 'danger,' you shouldn't pass it."

- Sixteen's friends, Cab Over Wheels, Wilbert the Forest Engine

When Sixteen worked at the steelworks, he worked with other industrial engines who were described by Wilbert as his friends. Unlike Sixteen, they obeyed the rules and never went beyond the "DANGER" notice at the tip. They tried their best to warn Sixteen not to go beyond the "DANGER" notice, to no avail.

Railway Series

 * Wilbert the Forest Engine - Cab Over Wheels (not seen)

Earnest
Earnest is a broad gauge tender engine who appeared in a portrait in Topham Hall and the Ffarquhar Stationmaster's house.

Technical Details
Earnest has no specific basis, and appears to be a freelance design. However, he does strongly resemble a Great Western Railway Star Class, the 2-2-2 broad gauge steam locomotive. A non-working replica of a GWR Star Class named North Star was constructed for the 1923 Cavalcade, and is now housed at Swindon Steam Railway Museum.

Earnest is painted light brown with a green tender, brass fittings, and gold lining.

Appearances
Thomas & Friends= Thomas & Friends Other Media= Books
 * Season 1 - Thomas in Trouble
 * Season 2 - Thomas Comes to Breakfast
 * 1984 - Toby and the Stout Gentleman and Thomas in Trouble
 * 1990 - Thomas in Trouble
 * 1991 - Thomas Comes to Breakfast

Trivia

 * According to a SiF interview, the portrait of Earnest was illustrated by Robert Gauld-Galliers, and was described to be a "made-up character" in the Victorian era to match the various other human portraits featured throughout the series. The portrait was roughly 80 x 60 mm.
 * In 2017, Robert Gauld-Galliers confirmed that at the time of production Earnest was not named, and suggested he be named 'Earnest'.
 * Earnest is the first engine in the television series to have a moustache, and the second overall.

Dockyard Engines
There are two dockyard engines who work on a railway in New York City.

Biography
When Vinnie arrived back to America after The Great Railway Show, the dockyard engines shunted some trucks for him to pull to the Big City. However, Vinnie started bragging that he could pull more. Because of this, they then added on more trucks to the point that Vinnie could not pull the train.

Basis
The dockyard engines based on the H.K. Porter 0-6-0ST, built in Butler, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. These mainly worked in the dockyards on the east coast of the United States. The Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal Railroad, which served the dockyards in Brooklyn, New York, owned several examples of the dockyard engines' design, all of which were retired after the railroad started using diesel locomotives in 1963. One of these, B.E.D.T. 15, was rebuilt into an operating replica of Thomas by the Strasburg Railroad in 1998 for use during Day Out with Thomas events throughout the US. Porter appears to be directly based on B.E.D.T. 15 prior to its rebuild. Another engine, 14, is preserved at the Ulster & Delaware Railroad Historical Society in Arkville, New York.

Porter is also based on this locomotive.

Livery
The dockyard engines' livery is viridian with yellow stripes, lining and brass fittings. They have a gold star on each side of their lamp and red window frames. Although these tank engines are of American design, all American locomotives have cowcatchers instead of buffers.

Videos

 * Great Race Friends Near and Far: Vinnie is Back in America

The Swiss Tank Engines
"There's a monster in the tunnel!" "And he's making scary noises!"

- The Swiss Tank Engines

The Swiss Tank Engines are two tank engines who Yong Bao met while in Switzerland.

Bio
The Swiss Tank Engines were afraid to go into a tunnel, because they believed a monster was inside, they also heard strange noises coming from the tunnel. Yong Bao journeyed into the tunnel to reveal that it was only a goat.

Basis
The Swiss Tank Engines appear to be based upon the Polish PKP 0-8-0T TKp No 5485, but with minor modifications. This locomotive was built in 1959 and was used at a coal mine railway in Bytlom, Poland until the mine was shut down in 1995. It was sold to the Nene Valley Railway in Peterborough where it has operated in excursion service, but as of 2012, is out of service undergoing an overhaul at the Flour Mill works in Gloucestershire.

Appearance

 * Great Race Friends Near and Far - Yong Bao and the Monster in the Tunnel

Trivia

 * At one point during the video, one of the engines gains eyelashes.

The Russian Engines
The Russian Engines are two steam engines that Ivan met while traveling home to Russia.

Great Race Friends Near and Far
Ivan found the tank engine stuck on the line while returning home from the Great Railway Show. The tank engine revealed that the coal delivery had been late, so he had run out of coal. Ivan, fortunately, had a full tank of diesel fuel and offered to pull him to the next station. On the way to the station, Ivan came across the tender engine, who had also run out of fuel, with a train full of freezing passengers. By now, Ivan's tank was half full, but he offered to push the tender engine and his train. Despite the tender engine's reservations, with great effort, Ivan was able to take the engines to the station.

Upon reaching the station, Ivan left the engines at the platform and went to the nearby depot to fetch some coal for them. The engines were very thankful, however when Ivan tried to move he found out he had used up all his fuel. The tank engine then offered to take Ivan to the nearest diesel depot to refuel. There, Ivan said that steam and diesel engines could always help each other.

Basis
The tender engine is based on the C Series 2-6-2, while the tank engine is based on the 9P Series 0-6-0T. A single C Series, C68, is preserved by the Russian Railway Museum in Saint Petersburg, while numerous 9Ps are preserved across the former Soviet Union.

Livery
The tank engine is painted black with red wheels and lining. The tender engine is painted green with gold lining, red wheels and white rims.

Promotional Videos

 * Great Race Friends Near and Far- Ivan's Chilly Way Home

The Chinese Engines
The Chinese Engines are two steam engines who work on a railway in China with Yong Bao.

Basis
The tender engine appears to be based upon the QJ Class 2-10-2 with a 4-10-4 wheel arrangement and removed smoke deflectors while the tank engine resembles the ET7 Class 0-8-0T. Designated as the primary mainline freight locomotive on the Chinese rail system in the 1980s, many QJs remained in service well into the 2000s. Many QJs survive throughout China, with ten preserved at museums, while three have been preserved in the United States in operating condition and one is preserved in Japan. At least two ET7s survive in a derelict state at the Baotou Iron & Steel Co. in Baotou, Inner Mongolia.

Appearance

 * Yong Bao & The Tiger