| For other uses, see Donald and Douglas. |
- “We'll soon have ye warmed up again, Dougie!"
"Ach, just knowin' my brother came back for me has already warmed me up!” - ― Donald and Douglas
Donald and Douglas are a pair of black tender engines from Scotland who live and work on the Island of Sodor, and are the North Western Railway's numbers 9 and 10 engines respectively.
Biography[]
Donald and Douglas were built together in Scotland and work together practically all the time. When Sir Topham Hatt needed a goods engine he ordered Donald. To his surprise, two engines arrived instead. Donald's twin Douglas could not stand to be separated from his brother and was smart enough to realise he would eventually be scrapped if he stayed in Scotland. This caused the Fat Controller to keep both until he could determine which engine was freeloading on his hospitality.
The Fat Controller was unaware of Douglas' motive and threatened the two that whichever engine he found out to be the truant would be sent home. Both engines resolved to give outstanding service so that Sir Topham Hatt would want to keep both of them. This plan quickly went to pieces, however, after Douglas accidentally shunted Thomas' special coach, full of passengers, into a siding at Tidmouth, causing a great deal of fury for the passengers. Things went from bad to worse when Donald crashed into a signal box at Tidmouth and Douglas accidentally destroyed a Spiteful Brake Van, who had caused trouble for him earlier.
Despite all this grief, the twins' professionalism, competency, strong work ethic and personable natures had begun to win them support, particularly when they demonstrated an aptitude for snowplough work that they had learned in Scotland. After rescuing Henry from just such a snowy ordeal, the other engines came over to Donald and Douglas' side which ultimately led to the engines of Sodor taking industrial action. After a suggestion by Edward and being pushed into it by Gordon, Percy was presented to the Fat Controller as a deputation to argue the twins' case on their behalf and pleading that if they were sent away, they would be scrapped. Although Sir Topham Hatt did not approve or appreciate them trying to interfere with his decision-making, he understood the engines' feelings upon the matters of saving steam engines and scrapping in general. In the end, Percy's statement and the twins' excellent performance was enough for The Fat Controller to take pity on the twins and keep both. He demonstrated this intent with an offer of a fresh coat of paint for both engines, as well as giving them both nameplates to avoid any more confusion.
Eventually, Douglas helped save Oliver and Toad from the prospect of scrap. The Fat Controller soon found out and arranged for the three to be repaired and painted in Great Western colours. Toad asked to be Douglas' brake van as a show of gratitude.
After Donald teased Duck about his "quacking", Duck's crew got a humorous payback by slipping a small duckling into Donald's tender. When discovered, the duckling became friends with Donald and his crew and eventually settled down at Haultraugh, where a small pond was nearby. She was named Dilly by the stationmaster, but she is known to everyone else as Donald's duck.
The Twins work together practically all the time, but they sometimes fall out with each other. This was shown when the two crashed into Trevor's hay cart. Donald accused Douglas of pushing him into the cart while Douglas accused Donald of pulling him. The twins refused to speak to each other for the rest of the day, leading to Donald taking the opportunity to help Duck at the Sodor Ironworks so as to get away from Douglas. While Douglas missed his twin and was ready to make up, Donald began to experience lapses of incompetence and demanded an apology. Eventually, Donald was not looking where he was going and crashed through some buffers into a ditch. As soon as Douglas heard from Duck that Donald was in trouble, he immediately rushed over to help his twin and the two engines made up.
Later, Callan Castle was to be reopened by Lord Callan and Donald and Douglas took some equipment up to the castle. The two argued whether or not the monster inside the lake existed. Unfortunately for the twins, a landslide occurred and the two became stranded. The Fat Controller promised help, but soon night came. The twins saw a shape moving towards them on the causeway and were petrified until they realised it was only Harvey who had come to help. Soon, the twins got their equipment to the castle on time and Lord Callan called them Really Useful engines.
Once, some points were jammed and Gordon was sent to pick up the engineer to mend them. Unfortunately, Gordon instead picked up a carpenter. He tried to reverse to Abbey hoping to collect the engineer, but Douglas was in the way. Gordon decided that Douglas should go to Wellsworth which was where Donald was and that Donald go to Maron to collect the engineer and bring him to Douglas to bring him back to Gordon. The plan was carried out and the points were fixed; Gordon thanked the twins for helping him.
Afterwards, Harvey was sent to help the twins after a tree had been knocked down. Thomas, however, misunderstood the situation and accidentally sent Harvey the wrong way. Thomas was proud of himself for being so helpful until he saw that Donald and Douglas were stuck and needed Harvey's help. He found Harvey and gave him the correct directions needed to help the twins. Thanks to Thomas and Harvey, the line was cleared and the twins were on their way.
The twins later helped with the construction of the Harwick Branch Line, delivering most of the heavy construction materials. When Douglas went over the unstable trackbed that hid the tunnel into Calles Cavern it began to crack and the workmen only just stopped Donald from going over it. The twins witnessed Rocky lifting Captain Calles' Pirate Ship out of the cavern and helped deliver it to Arlesburgh Harbour. They later attended the branch line's opening ceremony.
Once, they had to clear snow from the tracks during winter, but they kept arguing over which tracks to clear next. Douglas was accidentally separated from his tender and left behind by Donald, who eventually found him in a siding with some help from Toby.
Donald and Douglas were among the engines who asked the Fat Controller to take them to the Great Railway Show, but they were not chosen.
Another snowy day, they had to take a large shipment of pipes to Vicarstown and Emily came along to help. During the journey, Douglas told Emily about some of Donald's accidents and she began laughing which Donald could hear echoing through the pipes. Irritated, Donald stopped the train and got Douglas to take his place at the front. As they continued, Donald began telling Emily about Douglas' accidents, until Douglas stopped the train on Gordon's Hill and demanded that he and his brother swap back. With both twins uncoupled and busy squabbling and bumping each other, Emily was left holding the train on her own. They did not notice till too late that Emily and the train were slipping back down the hill - to make matters worse, a lump of coal shaken out of Donald's tender by a bump from Douglas had formed a giant snowball, which knocked Emily off the rails. Donald and Douglas instantly began arguing whose fault the accident was until Emily cut in and scolded them both for their behaviour. After Harvey had cleared away the mess, both twins took the rear of the train while Emily took the front and they reached Vicarstown without any further trouble.
Donald and Douglas were later seen at Knapford Station with Philip, Diesel, Emily, Gordon, Duck, Henry, James, Edward, Percy, Daisy, Oliver, Toby and Mr. Percival to welcome Thomas and his newest friend Nia to Sodor following the pair's adventure around the world.
Personalities[]
Donald and Douglas are Scottish twin engines. They are practical, peppery, proud and level-minded, but, despite their maturity, they enjoy playing practical jokes and have been known to impersonate one another in the past. They were fitted with nameplates to specifically end this element of their humour.
Donald and Douglas are very able workers, strong performers and handle any task well. They are fully capable of being firm with the other big engines, such as Gordon and Henry and even the Troublesome Trucks know better than to try their tricks on them. They are both used to harsh winter conditions too. Coupled back to back, with a coach between their tenders, they are very capable of patrolling the lines, clearing them of the snow. The twins both pull their weight on the Main Line and both Duck and Edward's branch lines. They can enjoy a joke with any engine. They are happy to act as the brawn of the Fat Controller's steam-driven goods haulers. While both are smart, Donald tends to be the charming, witty joker whereas Douglas is the quick-thinking, calmer-natured one of the pair. Both display a keen sense of wit and the pair usually get to have the last laugh, more often taking the moral high ground. But that does not mean they will not be just a little bit smug about it when a deserving engine meets their comeuppance.
Donald and Douglas hate to be parted from each other, but, like most twins, they occasionally have their argumentative feuds among themselves and can squabble with one another. Also, Donald and Douglas used to have a strong resentment of diesels. But over time their resentment for diesels has softened and they appeared to have grown accustomed to their diesel companions.
Technical Details[]
Basis[]
Donald and Douglas are both based on Caledonian Railway (CR) McIntosh 812 Class 0-6-0 goods engines. Their numbers, however, would realistically place them in the 652 sub-class. One example, No. 828, survives in preservation. This engine appears in the Character Encyclopedia.
Edward's ghost engine is also based on a CR McIntosh 812 Class; however, it does not have a tender and nameplate.
Livery[]
Donald and Douglas are painted in British Railways (BR) black livery with white and red lining on their cabs and tenders. Their numbers (9 and 10 respectively) are painted on their tenders in yellow with red outlines. They have black running boards and valances with red bufferbeams. The pair also have brass nameplates with red backing, mounted on either side of their smokebox.
In the My Thomas Story Library, Engine Adventures and some My First Thomas books, Donald and Douglas are painted NWR cerulean blue with red lining, as they appeared after being repainted in The Railway Series.
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Appearances[]
Official Description[]
From Official Website:[1]
| “ | Donald No.9 & Douglas No.10, the Scottish twins: Other than their name plaques and their numbers the twins are identical. They hate to be parted and they enjoy a joke - especially when outsiders can't tell them apart. Their antics sometimes lead to trouble - but they're hard workers and particularly good at ploughing snow.
|
” |
| “ | Donald: Other than their name plaques and numbers, Donald and his brother Douglas are identical twins. Donald really dislikes to be parted from his brother and loves to play practical jokes on the other engines.
|
” |
| “ | Douglas: Douglas, along with his twin brother Donald, loves playing jokes on the other engines. His antics usually lead to trouble, but he is a hard worker and is especially good at plowing snow.
|
” |
| “ | Donald: Donald and his brother Douglas are twins. Donald hates to be parted from his brother, and loves to play practical jokes on the other engines. Donald and Douglas love to play practical jokes, especially impersonating one another. They were fitted with nameplates to specifically end this element of their humour.
|
” |
| “ | Douglas: Douglas and his brother Donald are twins. Sir Topham Hatt had only ordered one goods engine, but when both Donald and Douglas showed up he decided to keep them both. Donald and Douglas love to play practical jokes, especially impersonating one another. They were fitted with nameplates to specifically end this element of their humour.
|
” |
Audio Files[]
Themes[]
| First used | Last used | Composers | Theme Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| Break Van | Thomas Comes to Breakfast | Mike O'Donnell Junior Campbell |
|
| The Deputation | Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree | ||
| Twin Trouble | Bad Day at Castle Loch | ||
| Bad Day at Castle Loch | |||
| Bad Day at Castle Loch (US Version) | Robert Hartshorne | ||
| Love Me Tender | Emily in the Middle | Chris Renshaw | |
Whistles[]
Donald[]
| First used | Last used | Sound Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Series 2 | Series 7 | |
| Series 4 | Dowager Hatt's Busy Day | |
| Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure | Big World! Big Adventures! |
Douglas[]
| First used | Last used | Sound Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Series 2 | Read and Play! | |
| Series 3 | Series 7 | |
| Series 4 | ||
| Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure | Big World! Big Adventures! | |
Trivia[]
- In production notes for the episode, Donald and Douglas are noted for possible use as Percy's friends in the second series episode Percy Takes the Plunge, along with Bill and Ben.[2]
- According to a magazine story, Donald and Douglas were built at The Scottish Engine Company around the same time as Emily, however this is inaccurate as their basis was built between 1899 and 1909 and Emily's was built between 1870 and 1895.
- Despite Donald and Douglas' Gauge 1 models not having visible water tank caps on their tenders, their close-up scale models did.
- In the Slovenian dub of the series, Donald and Douglas are not Scottish. They are stated to be from Jesenice, a town in the Gorenjska region of Slovenia, and speak in a regional accent.
- In the Korean dubs of the twentieth and twenty-first series, Donald is said to be the big brother and Douglas is the little brother.
- For Donald and Douglas' speaking roles in the sixth series, Alec Baldwin did not attempt a Scottish accent when voicing them for the US releases, unlike Ringo Starr, Michael Angelis, and George Carlin. This is also evident with Duncan (who previously had a Liverpudlian accent that Baldwin provided for the fifth series).
- Several of the whistle sounds used for Donald and Douglas are modified from other characters:
- Donald and Douglas' original whistles are Duck's but at one step lower-pitched (Donald) and three steps lower-pitched (Douglas), respectively.
- Douglas' whistle from the fourth series is Thomas' but at ten steps lower-pitched.
- Donald and Douglas' current whistles are Stephen's but at four steps lower-pitched (Donald) and seven steps lower-pitched (Douglas) respectively.
- According to a Twitter post from SiF, when Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure was in pre-production an idea was proposed to give Donald and Douglas new blue liveries similar to the ones they sported in the Railway Series. However, this was rejected in favour of keeping their original liveries as how most fans and parents remembered them.[3]
- Wooden Railway toys of Donald and Douglas appear in the Japanese drama, Rikon Bengoshi.
- According to the "Sodor Superstars Hall of Fame", Donald and Douglas' favourite place is Ffarquhar Quarry.[4]
- Donald and Douglas are the first engines to have a different English dialect (Scottish accent, which reflects the accent spoken in the northern parts of the Great Britain country) while speaking.
- Douglas is the only of the chronologically-numbered standard gauge engines (1-12) to never be mentioned by name in a song.
- For unknown reasons, Donald and Douglas were not featured in any magazine stories published during 1989 and 1990 while every other properly named character introduced in the first two television series did.
Quotes[]
- “Ye're a muckle nuisance! It's ta leave ye behind, I be wantin'!”
- ― Donald to the Spiteful Brake Van, Break Van, second series
References[]
| Locomotives | Steam | Thomas | Henry | Gordon | James | Donald and Douglas | Emily | Murdoch | Molly | Nia | Rebecca |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | BoCo | |
| Former | Edward | |
| Rolling Stock | Passenger | Annie and Clarabel | Emily's Coaches | Green Express Coaches | Red Express Coaches |
| Former | The Spiteful Brake Van | Slip Coaches | |
| Trains | Passenger | The Express | The Local | The Great Waterton Special |
| Goods | The Flying Kipper | The Midnight Goods | |
| Infrastructure | Stations | Tidmouth | Lower Tidmouth** | Knapford | Crosby | Wellsworth | Maron | Cronk** | Killdane** | Balladrine** | Kellaby** | Whispering Woods Halt** | Kellsthorpe Road** | Crovan's Gate | Great Waterton** | Vicarstown | Barrow-in-Furness** |
| Sheds | Tidmouth Sheds | Tidmouth Yard Sheds | Knapford Sheds | Crovan's Gate Sheds* | Vicarstown Sheds | |
| Tunnels and Bridges | Tidmouth Tunnel (South) | Henry's Tunnel | Crosby Tunnel** | Crosby Bridge* | The Viaduct | Sodor Suspension Bridge** | Maron Bridge* | Standard Gauge and Narrow Gauge Viaduct | Vicarstown Bridge** |
| Locomotives | Steam | Edward | Porter | Nia |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | BoCo | Derek | Salty | Philip | |
| Non-Rail Vehicles | Trevor | Cranky | Reg | Big Mickey | Carly | |
| People | The Vicar of Wellsworth | The Mayor of Sodor | The Dock Managers | |
| Affiliates | Sodor China Clay Company (Bill and Ben, Timothy, Marion) | Sodor Shipping Company | Sodor Search and Rescue Centre (Belle, Flynn, Rocky, Harold, Butch, Captain) | |
| Stations | Wellsworth | Suddery | Lower Suddery | Sodor Animal Park** | Upper Brendam | Brendam | |
| Locomotives | Duck | Donald and Douglas | Oliver | |
|---|---|---|
| Rolling Stock | Passenger | Old Slow Coach | Slip Coaches |
| Goods | Toad | S.C. Ruffey | |
| Non-Rail Vehicles | Bulgy | Bulgy's Friend | Skiff | |
| People | Captain Joe | The Museum Manager | |
| Stations | Tidmouth | Tidmouth Hault | Tidmouth Town Hall** | Haultraugh** | Bluff's Cove** | Arlesburgh West** | |