George

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This article is about the steamroller. You may be looking for the Story Library book.

George the Steamroller
Background Information
First appearance	Gallant Old Engine (RWS) Steam Roller (T&F)
Last appearance	Thomas Comes Home (RWS) The Great Discovery (T&F)
Creator(s)	Rev. W. Awdry
Character Overview
Name	George
Title	George the Steamroller
Gender	Male
Country	Island of Sodor England (built)
Affiliation	George's Friends Jem Cole (T&F)
Technical Details
Basis	Aveling-Barford R Class road roller
Power type	Steam
Vehicle	Traction engine
Type	Steamroller
Fuel type	Coal
Wheels	3 Rollers
Top speed	15 mph (24 kph)
Designer(s)	Aveling-Barford
Year built	Sometime between 1946 and 1950
Arrived on Sodor	1960
Owner(s)	Sodor Island Council

George is a grumpy green steamroller whose interactions with engines generally lead to trouble. He is owned by the Sodor Island Council.

Biography

The Railway Series

George immediately entered a conflict with the engines of the Skarloey Railway in 1960, while he was assisting with road widening works near Cros-ny-Cuirn. At the time, Sir Handel was boasting about his broad tyres, which the other engines referred to as "steamroller wheels". Skarloey tried to trick Sir Handel into confronting George to divert his attention. George and Sir Handel met and immediately disliked each other. One afternoon, Sir Handel took a train down the line parallel to the site where George was working. George would not give the train enough room to pass and rammed his front roller into Sir Handel's train. The train and construction crews argued until a policeman broke them up and a barrier was built between the road and the rails. George's work was finished, and he was taken away, although Sir Handel took the credit for this.

George later worked near Thomas' Branch Line, still grumbling about railways. He soon met Daisy and told her that friends of his have paved roads over old railway lines and he was eager to do the same on Sodor. Daisy tried not to cross him, fearing he would follow through with his threat. George and his crew left some road cones where they were working. These got blown over by the wind into the level crossing, fell into Daisy's path and were pulled under, jamming her brakes. Daisy felt certain he did this on purpose.

Thomas & Friends

As in the Railway Series, George took an instant disliking to the little engines, Sir Handel in particular, which resulted in rivalry and an accident.

Once, on Lady Hatt's birthday, the Fat Controller was running late. His car had broken down and when he was offered a ride by Caroline, she soon overheated. George pulled up alongside them and called Caroline "a disgrace to the roads". George's driver, who was fairly even-tempered, offered the Fat Controller a ride, but George lost control and veered into a pool of mud.

George later worked at Boulder Quarry with Skarloey and Rheneas and made rude remarks despite their assertion that their stone would be used to pave George's roads. George was still rude while Percy transported him on a flatbed to his new work site.

George later created a road on an old railway line, but was intentionally careless when he paved the road over a level crossing. This later caused Thomas to derail and crash. Finally, George refused to allow Duck to pass him at the yard. As a result, a truck from his train was still on the Main Line. When the express came through, Gordon collided with the truck, smashing it. The Fat Controller was furious with these recent disturbances and punished George by taking him off of the roads for a week to be used as machinery at the lumber mill.

Since this incident, George has had little to no actual contact with the engines. On one occasion, Thomas retrieved him to repair the runway of the new airport at the last minute. In the ninth and tenth series, he was seen working at McColl Farm.

Personality

George is a grumpy, bad-tempered and mean steamroller who dislikes all of the engines, even the ones who try to be nice to him. He is no friend of the railway, often heard rebelling that "railways are no good" and that they should be pulled up and turned into roads. George is happiest when he is rolling but enjoys causing bother for the engines across the island too. He is grouchy, disagreeable and his unpleasant and unfriendly attitude towards the engines and stubborn nature are often the cause of chaos and disruption, an example being when he crashed into Sir Handel's train for calling him a "great clumsy road-hog". He also does not get along with many road vehicles, either, as he insulted Caroline after she broke down. Unlike Bulgy or the Horrid Lorries, who simply attempt to take over the engines' jobs, George often takes more direct approaches, often by physically damaging the rails or blocking an engine's path if he feels he can intimidate them. Much like Bulgy and the Lorries, however, George's actions only end badly for him in the long run, but despite retrying his tactics, he eventually readily learns his lesson after the events of "Bye George!".

It was likely that George was given a second chance and was very important in helping the steam engines and diesel engines in repairing the runway at the Sodor Airport, so that the first aeroplane could land. This shows that even he has a good side in him.

Technical Details

Basis

George is based on an Aveling-Barford R class steamroller. The Rev. W. Awdry's friend, the Rev. Teddy Boston also owned a steam roller that inspired the creation of George.

George's basis

Livery

In the Railway Series, George is painted in an all-over green livery with gold boiler bands and a yellow roof. In Thomas Comes Home, he was a darker shade of green, almost teal. His name is painted yellow on both sides of his smokebox.

In the television series, George is painted green with red lining, gold boiler bands, and black smokebox and funnel with a brass cowl. His front-forks are painted bright red and his name is painted on the sides of his boiler in white.

Appearances

• Railway Series
• Television Series
• Other Media

The Railway Series Gallant Old Engine - Steam Roller Thomas Comes Home - Thomas Comes Home Companion Volumes 1970 - Twelve Happy Engines (mentioned) 1976 - Famous Engines 1987 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (mentioned) 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines (mentioned) 2007 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection

Thomas & Friends Series 4 - Steam Roller Series 5 - Lady Hatt's Birthday Party, Bye George! and Rusty and the Boulder (cameo) Series 6 - James and the Red Balloon (cameo) Series 7 - Toby's Windmill (cameo) Series 8 - Thomas and the Tuba (cameo), Henry and the Wishing Tree (deleted scene cameo) and Emily's New Route (cameo) Series 9 - Thomas and the New Engine (cameo) Series 10 - Big Strong Henry (cameo) Series 23 - Free the Roads (dropped) Specials 2000 - Thomas and the Magic Railroad (dropped) 2005 - Calling All Engines! (does not speak) 2008 - The Great Discovery (cameo) Music Videos Series 4 - Thomas' Anthem Grand Finale and Let's Have a Race Series 5 - Come for the Ride Series 6 - Little Engines Series 8 - Surprises Calling All Engines! - Together The Great Discovery - There's a Job for Everyone Learning Segments Series 9 - Emily Respects (cameo), Which Load for Which Route? (cameo) and Sir Topham Hatt's Helping Hand (does not speak)

Magazine Stories 1996 - Grumpy George 1997 - The Road Race and A Grumpy Christmas 1998 - Thomas' Trick and Smokey Joe! 2000 - Roads and Railways 2001 - On Track! 2002 - Road Wreckers 2003 - Slip and Grip! and Sunshine! 2004 - Road Ride 2005 - Badgers' Way, George's Little Joke (does not speak), Big Bad Roller, The Trainroller and Stranded 2006 - Heavy Load and Steamed Up 2008 - Wonky Whistle! 2009 - Luggage Lorry (mentioned) 2010 - Carnival Costume and Halloween Hats 2011 - Who's Highest?, Speedy Spencer and Fuss and Fumes 2012 - A Special Shelter and Team Effort George also appeared in the magazine stories, Coal Weather, Danger Signs!, Diesel Display, Shell Engine, The Balloon Race and The Strongest.

Audio Files

Theme

Whistles

First used	Last used	Sound Effect
Series 4	Series 4

In the fifth series episode Lady Hatt's Birthday Party only, George reuses and shares the same whistle sound as Trevor.

First used	Last used	Sound Effect
Lady Hatt's Birthday Party	Lady Hatt's Birthday Party

In the interactive game Sir Topham Hatt's Helping Hand, George has Donald's original whistle, but twelve steps higher-pitched.

First used	Last used	Sound Effect
Sir Topham Hatt's Helping Hand	Sir Topham Hatt's Helping Hand

Trivia

• George Carlin gives George a Brooklyn accent.
• George was meant to appear in Thomas and the Magic Railroad as one of Diesel 10's lackeys, but his model was never brought to Canada for filming and as a result, his role never passed the storyboard stage and original script. He was supposed to have been used to destroy the buffers on Sodor to find the ones that led to the Magic Railroad and in return, he could destroy the Tidmouth Sheds turntable and make it into a roller rink. However, he later switched sides and stopped Splatter and Dodge.
• In the French narration of the fourth and fifth series, George's name was Georges.
• George has occasionally been seen driven by Jem Cole, who is referred to as his driver in the fifth series episode, "Lady Hatt's Birthday Party".
• George's television series model is currently on display at Drayton Manor Theme Park and wore his angry face. As of October 2021, he is wearing his current happy face now.
• George was the first character to call Thomas a 'Blue Puffball'. The second being Diesel 10.
• George's original whistle sound is James' whistle from the fourth to fifth series and the Kids Station game, but twelve steps higher-pitched. It is also Duck's, but nineteen steps higher-pitched and Trevor's original, but four steps lower-pitched.
  • It was also used for Ben in the same game.
  • Bill also had this whistle in the same game, but at two steps higher in pitch.
• George's whistle in the interactive game Sir Topham Hatt's Helping Hand is Donald's original, but twelve steps higher-pitched.
• George's Ertl toy depicts him with his name printed on his smokebox like in The Railway Series. However, the rest of his merchandise features his nameplate in the middle of his boiler like in the television series.
• In some merchandise lines, George incorrectly has a green/white/yellow roof.
• According to Michael White, he had originally written for George to return in the Series 23 episode, Free the Roads. His role was later replaced by Max and Monty. This would have marked his first appearance in the CGI series.
• George was one of the characters that was originally going return in the CGI series but was dropped. The others being Billy, Dennis, Splatter, Dodge, Duke, Colin and Derek.
• In a puzzle by Ravensburger called "Roadside Repair", George is seen working with Jack and Isobella at Sodor Construction Company. However, the only steamroller from The Pack is Buster.
• George is the first steam character whose face is not on the smokebox door, rather the support plate for the front roller. Buster is designed the same way.

Merchandise

• ERTL (discontinued)
• Wooden Railway (2010 reintroduction; discontinued)
• Take Along (discontinued)
• My First Thomas (discontinued)
• My Thomas Story Library (discontinued)
• De Agostini (discontinued)
• Trading Cards (discontinued)
• Capsule Plarail (discontinued)
• Thomas Engine Collection Series (discontinued)
• Nakayoshi (discontinued)

References

Non-rail vehicles

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* RWS only | ** T&F only | *** Other Media only