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This article is about the character. You may be looking for the Story Library book or the magazine story.

“I'm not just a crane, I'm an engine too!”
― Harvey[src]

Harvey is a merlot crane tank engine who lives and works on the Island of Sodor, and is the North Western Railway's number 27 engine.

Biography

Harvey was brought to Sodor to help with the loading and unloading of freight. The engines said he looked different and all of them except Thomas did not trust him. However, he saved Percy after an accident with some Troublesome Trucks at Bulgy's Bridge and it made them realise that Harvey's difference is what makes him special. Since then, he has proved very useful and has used his crane arm for maintenance, building and clearing up debris. He mainly works at Brendam Docks and the Shunting Yards, but his favourite place to be is at the Sodor Water Works, where he is said to live.

Since his addition to the railway, Harvey has helped after many accidents. However, he was not able to do it alone and Rocky was brought to help.

Bill and Ben made fun of Harvey for being both a crane and an engine. However, Porter helped Harvey see the positives of being a crane engine. The dock manager asked Harvey to deliver flatbeds of scrap metal to Vicarstown since Edward had been delayed, but he was not paying attention when he was going down Gordon's Hill and his flatbeds derailed. Fortunately for Harvey, he was able to use his crane to clear up the mess and was able to deliver the cargo. He also helped Thomas back onto the rails after an accident.

Harvey teamed up with Samson with collecting trackside scrap for the scrapyards while Scruff was being repaired and helped build the Earl's new Dinosaur Park.

Diesel tried to make mischief between him and Daisy by saying that the other was boasting about being unique. However, this led to the two becoming good friends. After a branch got stuck in his gears, Harvey tried to fix the problem himself. Unfortunately, he ended up derailing in Conrad's Bridge tunnel though, luckily, no-one was badly hurt. After he was repaired, he spun his crane fast enough to throw a crate all the way to a dock worker. He later did the same thing again after Rebecca complimented him on his looks with his crane while helping Bill and Ben clear up an accident.

Personality

Harvey is a relentlessly cheery, bighearted, helpful crane engine. He has a very odd shape, due to his crane attachment atop his boiler, which he can be upset about if the other engines make fun of it. However, he is very able to show that his crane is very useful in lifting cargo, trucks, and sometimes some smaller engines. He has a tendency to throw a load if he gets excited enough.

He is also sensitive as shown when he first arrived on Sodor. He does not like to be made fun of or ridiculed. 

He has a booming, thoughtful voice and large wooden buffers. He is happy to work anywhere, ready to help clear up after an accident and offer words of care, comfort and advice.

Technical Details

Basis

Harvey is based on Dübs Crane Engine No. 4101, nicknamed "Dubsy", built in Glasgow, Scotland. "Dubsy" is presently based at the Foxfield Railway in Blythe Bridge, Staffordshire, England.

Livery

Harvey is painted merlot red with yellow and red lining and brown, square, wooden buffers. His name is painted on his sides in yellow and his number 27 is painted on the sides of his crane arm, also in yellow. In his original concept art Harvey was originally to be painted reddish-brown with yellow and red lining, this carried over to his early merchandise.

Appearances

Thomas & Friends

Specials

Music Videos

Learning Segments

Storytime

Magazine Stories

Harvey also appeared in the magazine stories, Harvey Saves the Harvest!, Mighty Magnet!, Sunny Smile and The Open Top Bus.

Annual Stories

Books

Official Description

From Official Website[1][2]

Harvey: Harvey is a good-natured crane engine brought to the Island to help with the loading and unloading of freight  No job is too big for him! He is used in the yards, the docks and building sites, but his true home is the Sodor Water Works.


Fun Fact: Although at first the other engines teased him for his unique look, Harvey, with his breakdown crane, soon proved that he too was a Really Useful Engine.

From Official Website[3]

Harvey: Harvey is big-hearted and relentlessly cheerful. Mocked by James and Gordon for not looking 'normal' when he arrived, Harvey proved himself to be very useful by clearing up after a crash, so is now a popular addition to the group. He's a mainline worker, but because of his shape, doesn't fit into the Tidmouth Sheds and has to park parallel. This means he can overhear the principal characters' conversations, but not quite join in. His voice booms, and he loves helping others.


Fun Fact: He's happy working in the yards, the Docks and building sites, but his true home is at the 'Sodor Water Works'.

From Official Website[4]

Harvey: Harvey is a big-hearted and relentlessly cheerful crane engine. With his booming voice and unusual shape, Harvey is always ready to help clean up after any crash.


Fun Fact: He's happy working in the yards, the Docks and building sites, but his true home is at the 'Sodor Water Works'. Harvey is based on an industrial crane engine - Dubs Crane Engine No. 4101.

Audio Files

Themes

First used Last used Composers Theme Song
Series 6 Series 7 Mike O'Donnell
Junior Campbell
Series 17 Robert Hartshorne

Whistles

First used Last used Sound Effect
Series 6 Series 7
Series 12 Series 24

Trivia

  • Excluding the real-life engines, Harvey is the twenty-seventh standard gauge engine introduced in the television series, which corresponds with his number.
    • In the show, Harvey has his number before he even treads wheel on Sodor, which is also before Sir Topham Hatt and the Railway Board decide that Harvey is going to become part of the railway.
  • Harvey's face was inspired by Desperate Dan, from The Dandy comics, minus the stubble.[2]
  • Harvey is the only character created by Jonathan Trueman that is not related to Jack and the Pack.
  • Keith Wickham gives Harvey a Scottish accent, reflecting his basis' origins.
  • In the twelfth series episode, Saved You!, Harvey appeared without a CGI series face. However, a magazine had two images from this episode showing Harvey with one. These same pictures appeared again in the annual story Gordon Takes a Shortcut.
  • One of Harvey's television series models was on display at Drayton Manor and wore his happy face, but was returned to HiT Entertainment in 2011.
  • One of Harvey's faces (production-made) was sold from The Prop Gallery. Two of his faces were sold to the Top Props preservation group.
  • A large quantity of Harvey's merchandise incorrectly depicts him as brown instead of red and with black buffers instead of brown. Some of his merchandise also incorrectly depict him with the ability to move his crane arm up and down despite neither him nor his basis being capable of doing so.
  • Harvey's current whistle sound from the twelfth series onwards is Mighty Mac's whistle sounds from the eleventh series, but at ten steps lower-pitched (Mighty) and twelve steps lower-pitched (Mac), respectively.
  • In the Polish dub of the seventeenth series Harvey was named "Hector."
  • Throughout his appearances in the eighth series, Harvey starts every sentence with the sound "Hmm."
  • Harvey has destroyed crates twice, one instance being Stuck in Gear, after he gets his crane fixed.
  • Although Harvey is often seen performing recovery work, in real life, a crane tank engine would not be strong enough for the task, and would primarily be used for transferring loads in a shunting yard or industrial complex. This would be slightly referenced in that Harvey is almost never seen lifting an engine heavier than Thomas or Percy, and flat out stated in Edward Strikes Out that he is not strong enough to try and lift Gordon.

Quotes

“Maybe my coming here wasn't such a good idea, sir".
"Nonsense!"
"But the engines don't like me, I'm too different".
"'Different' is what makes you special.”
― Harvey and the Fat Controller, Harvey to the Rescue, sixth series
“Hey there! You're a really useful engine... or should I say, you're a really useful crane!"
"I'm a crane engine, so you can say either I suppose".
"Oooh, look Ben. It's Harvey! What's he doing down at the docks?"
"He's probably trying to go fishing, Bill. Better put your hook in the water, Harvey, if you want to catch something!”
Porter, Harvey, Bill and Ben, Gone Fishing, seventeenth series

Merchandise

References



--- Dropped | * 1991-1994 maps only | ** 2014 map only
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