| For other uses, see Harry (disambiguation). |
| For other uses, see Bert. |
- "Got ya this time, Stepney. You'll make very fine scrap indeed. Buffer 'im, Bert!"
- ― 'Arry after capturing Stepney, Stepney Gets Lost
Harry, accented as 'Arry, and Bert, also known as Iron 'Arry and Iron Bert, are twin diesel shunters who work at the Sodor Ironworks.
Biography
In their first appearances, 'Arry and Bert stumbled upon lonely Stepney, who had travelled to the Smelter's Yard by mistake. They shunted him into the Smelter's Shed and placed him underneath the "Grabber" before leaving him there to be scrapped. Thankfully, the Fat Controller saved Stepney at the last second.[3]
In their second appearances, 'Arry and Bert placed Percy in between two lines of trucks. This caused Henry to mistakenly force him onto the coal tipper, which landed him in trouble with the Fat Controller. Afterwards, James took over Percy's duties and fell prey to the same trick.[4]
When Diesel tricked Fergus into going to the Smelter's Yard, 'Arry and Bert gave the latter such a fright that he ran away.[2]
When Percy whistled a greeting to them, 'Arry and Bert laughed at his whistle and claimed their horns to be better, only for Percy to later snuck up on and startle them with a blast from his whistle as payback.[5]
'Arry and Bert were among the diesels who were given water-contaminated fuel and thus broke down before Thomas brought them a delivery of clean fuel. [6]
When Thomas and Emily were sent to collect a delivery of iron from the Smelter's Yard on Halloween, 'Arry and Bert attempted to scare them with a ghostly prank, but they, along with Thomas, became frightened themselves when they thought that Emily was a ghost after a tarpaulin fell onto her and ran away. Afterwards, the Fat Controller sent them back to the Smelter's Yard to do Thomas and Emily's work as punishment for their prank.[7]
When the Sodor Airport was being built, 'Arry and Bert were tasked with helping out with its construction, along with Thomas and Percy, much to their annoyance. Later, Thomas delayed 'Arry and Bert's timber delivery to pay them back for bumping and insulting him and Percy, only to later discover that they were helping to rebuild Tidmouth Sheds and he had sabotaged the renovation. This led to a rivalry between the steam and diesel engines, which threatened the railway. However, Thomas eventually managed to convince them to put their differences aside, and they all worked together to finish the airport.[8]
When Neville arrived on Sodor, 'Arry and Bert laughed at him for bumping into his train.[9]
Later, 'Arry and Bert joined Diesel in calling Thomas "stinky", but the twins and Thomas later got covered in the latter's delivery of stinky cheese. By the time 'Arry and Bert had been washed, the Fat Controller gave them and Diesel the job of shunting Thomas' new delivery of cheese while Thomas got a washdown, much to their dismay and Thomas' delight.[10]
'Arry and Bert were among the diesels who were gathered at the Ffarquhar Quarry upon hearing that Thomas was found shortly before the reopening Great Waterton. [11]
Whilst racing each other backwards through the Sodor Slate Quarry, Thomas and Diesel mistakenly bashed 'Arry and Bert through the back of the engine shed. [12]
'Arry and Bert were later among the diesels who took over the Sodor Steamworks.[13] Sometime afterwards, they teased Henry for having to use special coal.[14] They also laughed at Gordon when he damaged his buffer beam.[15]
Much later, Diesel claimed that 'Arry and Bert liked him for being "rough and tough," to which they responded in agreement, despite chasing a butterfly when they said so. Thomas later attempted to blackmail Diesel into being nice with the threat of telling everyone of his secret affection for a group of ducklings. When Diesel broke his promise, Thomas took 'Arry and Bert to see the ducklings. Although Thomas had intended to embarrass Diesel with this, the two saw 'Arry and Bert also taking a liking to the ducklings, showing that they were just as big softies as Diesel when it came to them.[16]
After Diesel bumped Daisy and broke her springs in the process, Mavis told 'Arry and Bert that Den and Dart were having trouble repairing Daisy and said that she may have to be scrapped, horrifying them. They told this to Diesel, who thought that they were blaming him.[17]
Personalities
'Arry and Bert are unquestionably devious and scheming. They feel superior to steam engines and while working at the scrapyards, they enjoy having the chance to break up engines. They also enjoy playing tricks and coming up with schemes to make the steam engines' lives miserable and more difficult. Due to their grim task, they have earned a reputation on Sodor as the "Grim Messengers of Doom". According to their merchandise bios, they wish to scrap Oliver and Stepney who have both escaped the cutter's torch once before.
Despite their prejudices, the diesels have co-operated with steam engines on occasions. The steam engines have also often come to the rescue when they are in trouble. They also have a soft spot for ducklings and chasing butterflies, and appear to have a more caring side when it comes to hearing about a fellow diesel potentially having to be scrapped.
Technical Details
Basis
'Arry and Bert are based on British Rail (BR) Class 08 diesel-electric shunters. In the real world, BR Class 08s were in fact the most successful shunting engines in the world with 996 of them built. Over seventy of them are preserved by heritage railways, such as the and museums. Around one-hundred BR Class 08s also remain in service on the national rail network.
Diesel, Splatter, Dodge, Paxton, Sidney, Ulli, the Mainland Diesels and Fernando are also based on BR Class 08s along with the international Brazilian, Indian and Chinese diesels. Unlike these engines, 'Arry and Bert, along with Splatter and Dodge, have been modified without ladders going up on the sides of their fronts.
Livery
Originally, 'Arry and Bert's bonnets were painted dark olive green, whilst their cabs, utility boxes and hazard stripes were painted dark yellow before being repainted in bright yellow. Their company's name "SODOR IRONWORKS" is painted on their sides in white.
In the My Thomas Story Library books, they are missing the words "Sodor Ironworks" on their sides. In the Ravensburger and De Agostini merchandise range, they are depicted with black in place of their usual green, with the former also having it in place of their yellow paintwork bar their hazard stripes. They also incorrectly have grey footplates, red bufferbeams and runningboards.
Appearances
Magazine Stories
Books
My Thomas Story Library
Video Games
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Official Description
From Official Website:[1]
| “ | The Yellow Diesels: Arry and Bert work in the Scrap Yards and Smelter Sheds. Grim messengers of doom, these Yellow Diesels are determined to rid Sodor of all Steam Engines, and would really like to melt down poor Stepney and Oliver. After all, as far as they are concerned, Diesels do everything better!
|
” |
| “ | Iron 'Arry: Iron 'Arry (along with his brother Iron Bert) is a diesel engine that works down in the scrap yards and smelters sheds. As with most diesel engines, 'Arry feels that diesel engines are superior to steam engines and enjoys breaking them down when he gets the chance.
|
” |
| “ | Iron Bert: Iron Bert (along with his brother Iron 'Arry) is a diesel engine that works down in the scrap yards and smelters sheds. Iron Bert loves breaking up old steam engines, and would really like to melt down Stepney and Oliver if given the chance.
|
” |
| “ | Iron 'Arry: Iron 'Arry (along with his twin brother Iron Bert) is a diesel engine that works down in the scrap yards and smelters sheds. As with most diesel engines, Iron 'Arry feels that diesel engines are superior to steam engines and enjoys breaking them down when he gets the chance.
|
” |
| “ | Iron Bert: Iron Bert (along with his twin brother Iron 'Arry) is a diesel engine that works down in the scrap yards and smelters sheds. Iron Bert loves breaking up old steam engines, and would really like to melt down Stepney and Oliver if given the chance.
|
” |
Audio Files
'Arry
Horns
| First used | Last used | Sound Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Calling All Engines! | Series 11 | |
| Series 14 | Series 21 |
Bert
Horns
| First used | Last used | Sound Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Percy's New Whistle | ||
| Calling All Engines! | Fun Cubes | |
| Series 14 | Series 21 | |
Trivia
- 'Arry and Bert are actually not quite identical: Bert has more stubble.
- On 'Arry's Coatimundi Studios artwork and Bachmann model, he has more stubble than Bert, the opposite of how they actually are.
- 'Arry and Bert sport very strong Jersey accents. 'Arry's name is even pronounced with a Jersey accent, as the H is silent.
- 'Arry and Bert may have been named after two brothers nicknamed Harry and Bert from the 1970s BBC animated children's television series The Adventures of Sir Prancelot. These characters full names were Harold and Albert respectively.[18]
- In eighth series reference sheets, 'Arry is referred to as Harry, similarly to the character from The Adventures of Sir Prancelot, which suggests that Harry is his real name.
- Additionally, Splatter and Dodge are mistakenly listed as "Harry and Bert" in their sixth series face reference sheets.
- 'Arry is also referred to as Harry in various international dubs of Thomas & Friends, including:
- Throughout both the Japanese and Norwegian dubs.
- In the Latin American Spanish dub between the fourteenth and sixteenth series.
- In the Dutch and European Spanish dubs of the eighth series episode Percy's New Whistle.
- In the German dub of the eighth series episode Percy's New Whistle as well as the fourteenth and fifteenth series.
- The 1998 official website and Question Time with Sir Topham Hatt refers to 'Arry and Bert as "The Yellow Diesels".
- In merchandising and the official website, the twins are named "Iron 'Arry" and "Iron Bert", due to Bert's name having previously been trademarked from the duo Bert and Ernie from the long-running American children's television series Sesame Street.
- Despite 'Arry and Bert's television series models lacking stepladders around their fronts, several merchandise lines including ERTL, De Agostini, Hornby and Lionel do feature them.
- 'Arry and Bert's horn sounds have also been used elsewhere in the series:
- 'Arry and Bert's horn sounds from Calling All Engines! to the eleventh series are Diesel's, but at three steps lower-pitched ('Arry) and five steps lower-pitched (Bert), respectively. They are also BoCo’s, but at two steps lower-pitched (‘Arry) and four steps lower-pitched (Bert) respectively.
- Bert's horn sound from the eighth series episode Percy's New Whistle was later reused for Salty from Toby's Afternoon Off to the twelfth series.
- Bert's current horn sound was previously used as a sound effect for a ship's horn in the fifth series episodes Horrid Lorry and Something in the Air.
- 'Arry's current horn sound was used for a ship in Hickory Tickory Tock from the Nursery Rhymes album.
- 'Arry is the only character whose Minis toy does not have a normal variant, despite having a DC comics variant.
- 'Arry and Bert's liveries may have been inspired by the colours worn by the NS Class 600, which bear a similar appearance to their basis, the BR Class 08.
- 'Arry and Bert are accompanied by a triplet in the 2006 video game, Right on Time.
References
|
| Locomotives | 'Arry and Bert |
|---|---|
| Locations | Killdane | Heavy Industrial Area | Sodor Ironworks | Sodor Ice Cream Factory | The Brickworks | The Warehouse | Sodor Fuel Depot |
| Locomotives | Steam | The Little Blue Tank Engine* | Coffee Pots | W&SR Tank Engines* | Arlesdale Tramway Engines* | The Dark Green Tank Engine* | Lady** | Sodor Tramway Engines** |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | Mavis | |
| Other | Ministry of Defence Engine* | Skarloey Funicular Railway Trams* | Vicarstown Tramway Engines** | |
| People | Burnett Stone** | |
| Locations | Anopha Quarry | The Magic Railroad** | Sodor Tramways** | |