| For other uses, see Duncan. |
- "I'm a plain, blunt engine, I speak as I find. Tunnels should be tunnels and not rabbit holes! This railway is no good at all!"
- ― Duncan
Duncan is a grumpy yellow Scottish narrow gauge well tank engine on the Skarloey Railway.
Biography[]
Duncan came to the Skarloey Railway as a spare engine after Peter Sam's accident with some slate trucks. When he was new, he was prone to "Rock-n-Roll", which got him stuck in a tunnel and Skarloey had to come rescue him. He was also very rude to Rusty and called him a "smelly diesel" for warning him to be careful at a bad bit of track, but after Rusty saved him after coming off the rails there, he apologised and developed a friendship with him.
Also as in the Railway Series, Duncan made a fuss when Nancy did not have time to polish him. When he took Skarloey's coaches, he was so fussy that he threw a tantrum by stopping on the viaduct until Skarloey had to come and take him to the next station. Fed up with Duncan's attitude concerning passengers and not being polished, Skarloey told Duncan the story of how Rheneas saved the railway from closure, even if he stopped in the wrong place by mistake. Finally understanding his error, Duncan readily agreed to put passengers ahead of polish in the future.
Once, Rusty told Duncan a story about a ghost engine who fell off the Old Iron Bridge one night. That next morning, Peter Sam's driver had an idea and told Duncan's crew of a trick they could play on Duncan the following night for all his teasing; as Duncan was crossing the Old Iron Bridge the next night, he noticed some fireflies forming the shape of an engine which spooked him. His driver then dropped a rock into the ravine, which spooked Duncan even more and he went to his shed scared. This put Duncan in his place, thinking he had just seen a ghost.
Duncan liked teasing the standard gauge engines like Thomas and James when he saw either of them at the Wharf. He teased Thomas for supposedly not knowing what a Christmas tree looks like and James for how it would be hard for a big engine like him to do two jobs in one day. But soon Duncan's teasing caused problems as he heard James ran out of coal, so he came to James' rescue by bringing him some more. He even readily said he was sorry for his teasing.
Duncan is well known and often teased for his temper. He has met his match before - a passenger who grumbled more than him! He also showed a lack of Christmas spirit and often grumbled about the busy work that has to be done during the festive season, even going as far as to say Ebeneezer Scrooge's quote, "Bah Humbug!" Despite his rough exterior, he heroically helped Luke up a hill around Christmas time, showing his kinder side and was rewarded with a new coat of paint.
A while later, Duncan was at Crovan's Gate when he saw Hugo race by the station. This surprised him and Sir Handel, who were both wondering if that was an engine.
Personality[]
Duncan is a Scottish narrow gauge engine with rough manners and a strong temper, making him the least social of the Skarloey Railway fleet. He was prone to boisterously bouncing about, which became known as "rock 'n' roll", whenever the mood took him, which once led to wedging in the north mouth of Rheneas Tunnel (probably caused by keystones knocked down by his funnel) and derailing on a stretch of line near Cros-ny-Cuirn.
While Duncan means well, he often grumbles and complains (usually about not being polished or being over-worked) and can be rude, rough, stubborn and bad-tempered. This can easily be seen in his dislike for Christmas for some reason. He claims to be a plain engine who believes in plainly speaking, an approach that can cause him to make callous or belligerent remarks. Duncan can be a competitive engine too, particularly with James. He often makes rash decisions that usually lead to his downfall, such as getting into arguments or short-lived feuds with Rusty. He is not always quick to apologise or realise the error of his ways. However, upon Skarloey recalling Rheneas' gallant act to get his passengers home, Duncan readily admitted he had the wrong attitude and happily worked hard to be a more useful, social and respectable engine in the future. When Rusty helped him after his derailment near Cros-ny-Cuirn, Duncan apologised to him and extended a wheel of friendship, proving he has gratitude.
Despite his rough ways, Duncan is often focused, confident, resourceful, kind and has a big heart. He is always willing to lend a helping hand whenever he can and wants to be really useful.
Technical Details[]
Basis[]
Duncan is based on the Talyllyn Railway's Douglas, an Andrew Barclay "E" or "Light" Class 0-4-0WT. Several other engines of this class are also preserved.
2.jpg "Douglas(Talyllyn)2.jpg (185 KB)")
Livery[]
Originally, Duncan was painted yellow with black lining and gold boiler bands. From the sixth series onwards, Duncan is painted golden yellow - as of the switch to CGI, however, the lining on his cab is unpainted. His name and number are written on the sides of his boiler and coal bunkers respectively, on brass plates with black (now brass for his nameplate) backing.
According to The Big Book of Engines, Duncan was originally painted red before coming to Sodor.
Appearances[]
Official Description[]
From Official Website:[1]
| “ | Duncan: Means well but will Rock 'n' Roll whenever the mood takes him. He tends to have a mind of his own which makes him obstinate and rude on occasions. He sees reason only after careful explanations. A great big heart but a little misguided. Duncan was brought in to assist on The Fat Controller’s Narrow Gauge Railway, but feels that he is overworked.
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” |
From Official Website:[2]
| “ | Duncan: Duncan means well, but will "Rock 'n Roll" whenever the mood takes him. He tends to have a mind of his own which makes him obstinate and rude on occasions. He has a great big heart but a little misguided. He is now part of Sir Topham Hatt's narrow gauge railway and he feels he is very overworked.
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” |
From Official Website:[3]
| “ | Duncan: Duncan works on Mr. Percival's narrow gauge railway. He means well but will "Rock 'n Roll" along the rails whenever the mood takes him. Duncan has a great big heart but is a little misguided.
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” |
Audio Files[]
Themes[]
| First used | Last used | Composers | Theme Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series 4 | Mike O'Donnell Junior Campbell |
||
| Series 7 | |||
| Series 9 | Series 12 | Robert Hartshorne | |
Whistles[]
| First used | Last used | Sound Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Series 4 | Series 18 |
In some scenes of the fourth series and in the fifth to twelfth series, excluding the seventh series, Duncan has his whistle at 0.5 steps higher-pitched.
| First used | Last used | Sound Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Series 4 | Series 12 |
Trivia[]
- Duncan's large scale model is currently on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum in Japan and is wearing his chuckling face.
- Duncan is the only narrow gauge steam engine who did not gain a new whistle sound since his debut in the fourth series.
- Duncan was meant to appear in The Great Little Railway Show, but he was not included as this would have meant bringing Tom Stourton into the studio to only record one line of dialogue.
- Ever since his reappearance in the HiT era, Duncan has had a main episode in every series throughout the ninth series to the twelfth series.
- Duncan’s whistle sound was sourced from the American locomotive Rio Grande #168, albeit it was not in operation in 1994.
- Duncan's small scale model (used in the fourth and fifth series) is now owned by Twitter user TomsProps. His happy face for his model was originally owned by ThomasTankMerch, but they have since sent it to TomsProps after he acquired the model.
- In the US dub, Alec Baldwin provided a Liverpudlian accent for Duncan in the fifth series, and then provided him with a standard American accent with an obnoxious tone in the sixth series. To date, he is the only US narrator/actor in the television series to not give Duncan a Scottish accent.
- Following to his introduction in the CGI series, Duncan is much shorter than the other narrow gauge engines. This is somewhat ironic since he was much taller in The Railway Series.
- In some international dubs, Duncan's name was changed:
- In the French dub, he was called Dominique (sometimes misspelt as Dominque) until the ninth series.
- In the Polish dub, Duncan is called Damian. He was erroneously referred to as Darek in Don't Bother Victor, which is Douglas's name in this dub.
- In the magazine story, The Mountain Railway, Duncan is illustrated with a tender for unknown reasons.
- Duncan was supposed to appear in Blue Mountain Mystery, but when the production crew went to the Talyllyn Railway to measure the engines, his basis, Douglas, was being overhauled and could not be measured, thus making Duncan's appearance impossible.
- Duncan made a cameo appearance in the episode Bulldog, although he never worked on the Mid Sodor Railway, as far as we know.
- Duncan is the first and currently only engine to be cancelled by Bachmann.
Merchandise[]
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