| This article is about the railway traction engine. You may be looking for the Small Controller or the Story Library book. |
- "Do it right!"
- ― Fergus' catchphrase
Fergus is a small railway traction engine who works at the Sodor Cement Works.
Biography
Fergus primarily works at the Sodor Cement Works on the Kirk Ronan Branch Line, and is thus called "the pride of the Cement Works".
Fergus was once sent to work at the Ffarquhar Quarry with Mavis, Bill and Ben, but the twins immediately began to get annoyed with Fergus telling them to "Do it right". So when they brought a rock crusher, they decided to do the opposite of what he told them to do (to "Do it wrong"). However, their naughty actions nearly caused them to get caught in a landslide caused by blasting and their heavy rock crusher. Fergus managed to push them out of the way, only to end up in the rockslide himself. The twins managed to help Fergus out and apologized for their bad behaviour.
Fergus, not knowing the line, got lost once and ended up at the Sodor Ironworks. Salty was sent to fetch him, and the two departed for home. As they passed the lighthouse, the generator broke down and the light in the lighthouse went out. Luckily, Salty suggested Fergus to use his flywheel to power up the generator. The plan worked, and the ship managed to clear the path before it crashed into the rocks.
The Fat Controller once sent Devious Diesel to help Fergus at the cement works. Diesel soon started to find Fergus annoying with his "Do it right" attitude, and so tricked him by stating that the Fat Controller wanted him to work at the smelter's yard. When Fergus arrived there, he found the place very scary and he and his driver immediately ran away when 'Arry and Bert showed up. When the Fat Controller learned of Fergus' absence, he sent Thomas to search for him. Thomas eventually found Fergus, out of steam and hiding at the Maithwaite Quarry Mine. Although Fergus was worried that he would be in trouble, the Fat Controller had already heard the whole story and punished Diesel by sending him to the Ironworks. Fergus returned home, thankful for his friendship with Thomas and relieved that he was still "the pride of the cement works".
According to the Official Website, Fergus now has a slight but persistent cough which affects his speech, caused by working at the dusty cement works.
Personality
Fergus knows the rulebook by heart, and his catchphrase is "Do it right!" His insistence on doing everything absolutely according to the rules can annoy the other engines, such as Bill, Ben, and Diesel, but he is a decent engine at heart and will not hesitate to help others in trouble. He is also friendly to nearly everyone he meets.
According to the Thomas and Friends Writers' Bible, Fergus is suspicious of diesels, whom he considers “new fangled.”
Technical Details
Basis
Fergus is based on the Aveling and Porter 2-2-0WT 'TJ' class railway traction engine No. 9449 "The Blue Circle", the last standard gauge traction engine to ever be built. Like Fergus, "The Blue Circle" worked at a cement works, Snodland Cement Works, between 1926 and 1962. It was presented to the Bluebell Railway in April of 1964, but was deemed "too slow" and loaned to a group at Quainton Road in 1997. In 2001 it was officially sold to them, and then later in 2005 to the Chinnor Princes and Risborough Railway. In 2007, it was sold to the Battlefield Line at Shackerston. In January 2015, it then moved to the Rushden, Higham and Wellingborough Railway. After being bought again in 2019, it moved to work on the Nene Valley Railway. Since Fergus' introduction, "The Blue Circle" has been dressed up as Fergus on multiple occasions.
Livery
Fergus is painted royal blue with gold boiler bands and red wheels. He has a brass funnel cap and bronze buffers.
Appearances
Books
Magazine Stories
Video Games
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Official Description
| “ | Fergus: Fergus is a Traction Engine who works at the Cement Works. Working around all the dust has given Fergus a chronic cough, but he is extremely reliable and always plays by the rules.
|
” |
From Official Website[3]
| “ | Fergus: Fergus is a Traction Engine whose main function is to shunt trucks at the Cement Works. It's dusty work and has left him with a slight but persistent cough, which punctuates his speech. Fergus is a reliable down-to-earth character, who believes in playing by the rules (he knows the Rule Book off by heart). Unsurprisingly, he's resistant to change and can be irritated when other engines "muck about." Physically, Fergus is blue with red wheels and a tall funnel.
|
” |
From Official Website[4]
| “ | Fergus: Fergus is a Traction Engine whose main function is to shunt trucks at the Cement Works. It's dusty work and has left him with a slight but persistent cough, which punctuates his speech. Fergus believes in playing by the rules and is resistant to change.
|
” |
Audio Files
Themes
| Only used | Composers | Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Series 7 | Mike O'Donnell Junior Campbell |
|
| Series 7 (US Version) | Robert Hartshorne |
Whistle
| Only used | Sound Effect |
|---|---|
| Series 7 | |
| (NOTE: Unused audio, Unedited Version) |
Trivia
- According to the Official Website, Fergus' flywheel can be used to power tools such as a saw, drill or pump. It has also powered a generator in the past.
- Fergus is shown to operate much faster than his basis, which can only go 6 mph.
- In a SiF interview with Chris Lloyd, it was mentioned that Fergus' model was damaged during the filming of Bill, Ben and Fergus. His model still worked, but the flywheel could not turn anymore and the smoke unit no longer works. This was the reason why Fergus never appeared after the seventh series.
- Fergus differs slightly from his basis: his smoke box is larger to accommodate a face. His bufferbeam is also missing a large section for the same reason. Furthermore, the turntable behind his cylinder is actually part of the smoke mechanism. The pipe that runs into the back of the funnel through the steam chest delivers the smoke.
- According to Robert Gauld-Galliers' concept art, Fergus was originally going to have black, oval-shaped buffers. In reality, The Blue Circle does have oval buffers, but only as its rear set.
- His late 2013 Wooden Railway toy's wheels do not have the red interior of the previous toy.
- Before he was introduced in the series, Fergus' whistle was briefly used in the 1996 film, Muppet Treasure Island. The sound file for his whistle orignates from a 1989 BBC SFX collection.
- Unlike the bronze-colored buffers of his model, Fergus incorrectly displays black buffers on most of his promotional artwork and in several magazine stories.
- The Fergus model made an unexpected appearance at the Gauge 1 Model Railway Associations annual show on 12 October 2019, when the Lower Tidmouth station prop was on display by Twitter user TomsProps. The model was brought to the display by Sam Wilkinson. This was the first time the prop had been seen in public since 2003.
- Fergus is the only character in the series to have permanent bronze buffers. The other two (Emily and Spencer) had theirs replaced with silver ones in the following series.
- Fergus' theme composed by Robert Hartshorne was later reused in the eleventh series episode, Sir Handel in Charge.
- Despite the Writers' Bible stating that Fergus distrusts diesels, Fergus interacts with one or more diesel engines in every one of his appearances, and he either treats them as equals (Salty and Mavis) or is simply intimidated by them (Diesel, Arry, and Bert).
- Fergus' close-up model is the only motorized close-up locomotive. Both the fly wheel and drive wheels spin, though on seperate motors.
- Though he audibly has a whistle, Fergus' model does not physically exhibit one. The gold pipes on top of his steam chest are actually safety valves.
- In many shots and in the present day, Fergus' safety valve spring rod faces backwards on his model, as the arm should face away from the front of the engine rather than towards it. It is correct in a pre-filming image and in several shots, though not all of them.
- Fergus' personality may have been inspired by the inventor of the traction engine, Thomas Aveling. Aveling was very strict, and only employed the best men, traits inherited from his stepfather, who raised him with "a Bible in one hand and a birch rod in the other".
Merchandise
- ERTL (UK only; discontinued)
- Wooden Railway (reintroduced 2013; discontinued)
- Take Along (discontinued)
- Take-n-Play (cancelled)
- My Thomas Story Library (discontinued)
- Nakayoshi (discontinued)
- Capsule Plarail
- Super Surprise Egg (discontinued)
- Mini Diecast Collection Series (discontinued)
References
| Locomotives | Fergus | Whiff | Scruff |
|---|---|
| Affiliates | Whiff's Waste Dump | Sodor Cement Works |
| Stations | Kellsthorpe Road | Rolf's Castle | Kirk Ronan |