Minor Locomotive Characters

This page is for minor locomotive characters who have appeared in the Railway Series and Thomas & Friends.

Percy's Ghost Engine

This Ghost Engine was mentioned in a story Percy told to Thomas and Toby, which his driver told him about the night before. However, Thomas refused to believe him and Percy's driver confirmed to him that the ghost was on television. Percy could not help but feel disappointed.

When Percy crashed into a cart of lime, a signalman remarked that Percy looked like a ghost. This gave Percy an idea to scare Thomas. With the help of Toby, they convinced Thomas that Percy had crashed and returned as a ghost, thus scaring Thomas out of the shed. Later, Toby jokingly told Percy that Thomas had seen a ghost.

Appearances

Trivia

• The Ghost Engine was made using Percy's model covered in white streamers and used Edward's whistle sound.
• In the UK narration of the episode, Percy's driver says the ghost was a pretend one on television. However, in both US narrations, he simply states that it was only a pretend ghost story.

Gallery

Edward's Ghost Engine

Edward's Ghost Engine was mentioned in a story Edward told the other engines one Halloween. According to the story, the engine returns every Halloween to haunt the scrapyards, trying to look for his lost whistle. Thomas later teased Percy, saying Percy thought it was real, but he learned his lesson after remaining behind at the Smelters to take a special load and thinking that some chains touching his cab were ghostly fingers. He then believed that a whistle in the shed was the ghost's lost whistle, forcing him to race out of the smelters, frightened.

Technical Details

Basis
The Ghost Engine is based on a Caledonian Railway "McIntosh 812" 0-6-0. Donald and Douglas are other members of this class.

Appearances

Thomas & Friends

• Season 6 - Scaredy Engines (does not speak)

Music Videos

• Season 6 - Boo! Boo! Choo-Choo

Books

• 2007 - Thomas and the Ghost Engine
• 2011 - Thomas and the Ghost Engine

Trivia

• The Ghost Engine uses either Donald or Douglas' model without the tender or nameplate. It also wears one of the twins' surprised face masks.

Gallery

The Halloween Engine

The Halloween Engine is a ghostly tender engine who appeared in the eighth season episode, Halloween. It was briefly seen at the Smelter's Yard.

Technical Details

Basis
The Halloween Engine is based on an LNER A1/A3 Pacific with a Fowler tender and BR Standard 9F cylinders.

Appearances

Thomas & Friends

• Season 8 - Halloween (does not speak)

Magazine stories

• Thomas' Hallowe'en (mentioned)

Trivia

• The Halloween Engine was made using one of Gordon's scrap models, Murdoch's cylinders and one of the old tenders pulled by Henry in Tender Engines with an added tail-lamp.
  • The scrapped Gordon model used is his model made for the unaired pilot.

Gallery

Emily's Ghost Engine

Emily's Ghost Engine is an engine that once appeared in Emily's dream. It only appeared in a magazine story.

Technical Details

Basis

The engine is a freelance design.

Livery

The engine appears as a ghostly apparition, resembling a cloud.

Hiro's Friends

Hiro's friends are engines who live and work on a Japanese railway owned by Sir Takaboushi Hideki on Hiro's homeland. They referred to Hiro as "Master of the Railway".

Hiro first mentioned them as his "best friends at home" when he first met Percy during his restoration. Hiro later remembers his old friends when he is homesick in a magazine story.

Appearances

Thomas & Friends

Movies:

• 2009 - Hero of the Rails (mentioned)

Magazine stories

• 2012 - Making Hiro Happy (mentioned)

Sixteen's Friends

When Sixteen worked at the steelworks, he worked with other industrial engines who were described by Wilbert as his friends. Unlike Sixteen, they obeyed the rules and never went beyond the "DANGER" notice at the tip. They tried their best to warn Sixteen not to go beyond the "DANGER" notice, to no avail.

Appearances

The Railway Series

• Wilbert the Forest Engine - Cab Over Wheels (not seen)

Earnest

This section is about the broad gauge engine. You may be looking for the mountain engine.

Earnest is a broad gauge tender engine who appeared in a portrait in Topham Hall and the Ffarquhar Stationmaster's house.

Technical Details

Basis
Earnest has no specific basis and appears to be a freelance design. However, he does strongly resemble a Great Western Railway Star Class, the 2-2-2 broad gauge steam locomotive. A non-working replica of a GWR Star Class named North Star was constructed for the 1923 Cavalcade and is now housed at Swindon Steam Railway Museum.

Livery
Earnest is painted light brown with a green tender, brass fittings and gold lining.

Appearances

Thomas & Friends

• Season 1 - Thomas in Trouble (portrait cameo)
• Season 2 - Thomas Comes to Breakfast (portrait cameo)

Books

• 1984 - Toby and the Stout Gentleman and Thomas in Trouble (portrait cameo)
• 1990 - Thomas in Trouble (portrait cameo)
• 1991 - Thomas Comes to Breakfast (portrait cameo)

Trivia

• According to a SiF interview, the portrait of Earnest was illustrated by Robert Gauld-Galliers and was described as a "made-up character" in the Victorian era to match the various other human portraits featured throughout the series. The portrait was roughly 80 x 60 mm.
• In 2017, Robert Gauld-Galliers confirmed that at the time of production Earnest was not named and suggested he would be named 'Earnest'.
• Earnest is the first engine in the television series to have a moustache and is the second overall.

Gallery

The Log Engine

According to Lexi, she and Theo once knew of a locomotive who was built with log wheels.

Appearances

Trivia

• Due to the wheels this engine has, it would not be able to run in real life.

Dockyard Engines

There are two dockyard engines who work on a railway in New York City.

Biography

When Vinnie arrived back to America after The Great Railway Show, the dockyard engines shunted some trucks for him to pull to the Big City. However, Vinnie started bragging that he could pull more. Because of this, they then added on more trucks to the point that Vinnie could not pull the train.

Technical Details

Basis
The dockyard engines are based on the H.K. Porter 0-6-0ST, built in Butler, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. These mainly worked in the dockyards on the east coast of the United States. The Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal Railroad, which served the dockyards in Brooklyn, New York, owned several examples of the dockyard engines' design, all of which were retired after the railroad started using diesel locomotives in 1963. One of these, B.E.D.T. 15, was rebuilt into an operating replica of Thomas by the Strasburg Railroad in 1998 for use during Days Out with Thomas events throughout the US. Porter appears to be directly based on B.E.D.T. 15 prior to its rebuild. Another engine, 14, is preserved at the Ulster & Delaware Railroad Historical Society in Arkville, New York.

Porter is also based on this type of locomotive.

Livery
The dockyard engines' livery is viridian with yellow stripes, lining and brass fittings. They have a gold star on each side of their lamp and red window frames. Although these tank engines are of American design, all American locomotives have cowcatchers instead of buffers.

Appearance

Videos

• Great Race Friends Near and Far - Vinnie is Back in America

Gallery

The Swiss Tank Engines

The Swiss Tank Engines are two tank engines who Yong Bao met while in Switzerland.

Bio

The Swiss Tank Engines were afraid to go into a tunnel, because they believed a monster was inside and they also heard strange noises coming from the tunnel. Yong Bao journeyed into the tunnel to reveal that it was only a goat.

Basis

The Swiss Tank Engines appear to be based upon the Polish PKP 0-8-0T TKp No. 5485, but with minor modifications. This locomotive was built in 1959 and was used at a coal mine railway in Bytlom, Poland until the mine was shut down in 1995. It was sold to the Nene Valley Railway in Peterborough where it has operated in excursion service, but as of 2012, is out of service undergoing an overhaul at the Flour Mill works in Gloucestershire.

Appearance

• Great Race Friends Near and Far - Yong Bao and the Monster in the Tunnel

Trivia

• At one point during the video, one of the engines gains eyelashes.

Gallery

The Russian Engines

The Russian Engines are two steam engines that Ivan met while travelling home to Russia.

Biography

Great Race Friends Near and Far
Ivan found the tank engine stuck on the line while returning home from the Great Railway Show. The tank engine revealed that the coal delivery had been late, so he had run out of coal. Ivan, fortunately, had a full tank of diesel fuel and offered to pull him to the next station. On the way to the station, Ivan came across the tender engine, who had also run out of fuel, with a train full of freezing passengers. By now, Ivan's tank was half full, but he offered to push the tender engine and his train. Despite the tender engine's reservations, with great effort, Ivan was able to take the engines to the station.

Upon reaching the station, Ivan left the engines at the platform and went to the nearby depot to fetch some coal for them. The engines were very thankful, however when Ivan tried to move he found out he had used up all his fuel. The tank engine then offered to take Ivan to the nearest diesel depot to refuel. There, Ivan said that steam and diesel engines could always help each other.

Technical Details

Basis
The tender engine is based on the C Series 2-6-2, while the tank engine is based on the 9P Series 0-6-0T. A single C Series, C68, is preserved by the Russian Railway Museum in Saint Petersburg, while numerous 9Ps are preserved across the former Soviet Union.

Livery
The tank engine is painted black with red wheels and lining. The tender engine is painted green with gold lining, red wheels and white rims.

Appearance

Videos

• Great Race Friends Near and Far- Ivan's Chilly Way Home

Da Li and Xiao Hu

Da Li and Xiao Hu (Mandarin: 大力 和 小胡) are two Chinese steam engines who work on a railway in China with Yong Bao.

Technical Details

Basis
Da Li appears to be based upon the QJ Class 2-10-2 with removed smoke deflectors or, possibly a KF7 class 4-8-4 with a skyline casing while Xiao Hu resembles the ET7 Class 0-8-0T. Designated as the primary mainline freight locomotive on the Chinese rail system in the 1980s, many QJs remained in service well into the 2000s. Many QJs survive throughout China, with ten preserved at museums, while three have been preserved in the United States in operating condition and one is preserved in Japan. One KF7 is preserved in the National Railway Museum in York. At least two ET7s survive in a derelict state at the Baotou Iron & Steel Co. in Baotou, Inner Mongolia.

Appearance

• 2018 - Yong Bao and the Tiger

Gallery

The Grey Tank Engine

This tank engine appeared in a picture frame alongside Thomas in Thomas' driver's home.

Technical Details

Basis

The engine resembles Thomas, and therefore it can be assumed that it is an LB&SCR E2 class.

Livery

The engine is painted light grey.

Appearances

The engine appears in a book written by Christopher Awdry and illustrated by Ken Stott.

References