Kwaku is a large Garratt engine from Tanzania. He is close friends with Nia.
Biography
Kwaku once had to bring a goods train to Dar es Salaam Docks and was present when Ace and the other rally cars were racing around the dockyard. He met up with Nia and Thomas when the two brought a goods train to Dar es Salaam and he took the time to catch up on recent events with Nia. Kwaku was last seen hauling another goods train when the Fat Controller had arrived at Dar es Salaam trying to find Thomas, with the former having little to no luck.[1]
Personality
Kwaku is a kind and friendly engine with a good sense of humour. He is good friends with Nia and was aware that she had lost her engine shed and had nowhere else to go. He was shown to be sympathetic before asking Nia about her shed. Like Nia, he is always making sure that his friends' boiler, wheels and any other engine parts are in good working order and that they are being treated well.
Technical Details
Basis
Kwaku is based on the East African Railways (EAR) 59 class, a class of 4-8-2+2-8-4 oil-fired Garratt engines built by Beyer, Peacock and Company, which entered service in 1955-56. These were the largest, heaviest and most powerful steam engines to operate on any metre gauge railway in the world and were the mainstay of freight services from Mombasa to Nairobi until the 1970s. Two surviving engines, No. 5918 Mount Gelai and No. 5930 Mount Shengena, are preserved by the Nairobi Railway Museum in Nairobi, Kenya.
Kwaku has been partially modified from his original basis. Whereas his class is metre gauge, Kwaku has been scaled up to standard gauge. Additionally, he has been fitted with buffers and screw-link couplings, allowing him to work with British rolling stock.
Livery
Kwaku is painted red with light yellow lining. His cylinders are painted black with red lining.
Appearances
Thomas & Friends
Specials
Songs
Videos
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Books
Audio StoriesThomas & Friends Storytime
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Official Description
From Official Media:[2]
“ | Kwaku: Kwaku is a large engine who hauls goods in Tanzania. He is friends with Nia, and cares for all his engine friends.
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” |
Voice Actors
- Abubakar Salim (UK/US)
- Kenta Miyake (Japan)
- Leonardo García (Latin America)
- Maurizio Tesei (Italy)
- Otar Saralidze (Poland)
- Tuukka Leppänen (Finland)
- Amnon Wolf (Israel)
- Erik Schäffler (Germany)
- Daniil Eldarov (Russia)
- Varga Rókus (Hungary)
- Alex Barone (Brazil)
Audio Files
Whistle
Only used | Sound Effect |
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Big World! Big Adventures! |
Trivia
- His name is an Akan name for people born on a Wednesday.
- Kwaku is the second Garratt introduced in the franchise, the first being the Edith, as well as the first to appear in the main television series.
- Kwaku is the only African engine besides Nia that has appeared in the series to not be a retexture of another engine.
- Kwaku's smaller wheels are reused from Nia.
- Kwaku's smokebox door was reused for model versions of Thomas, Henry, James and Percy in the twenty-fourth series episode The Great Little Railway Show.
- A reference sheet for Percy's model in The Great Little Railway Show reveals that Kwaku was originally named Polo.[3]
- Kwaku uses Connor's whistle sound at a higher pitch. This, in turn, is a recording of Canadian Pacific No. 136's whistle.
Gallery
Thomas & Friends
CGI Series
Promotional Material
Behind the Scenes
Others
Promotional Art
Miscellaneous
References