- “Look how fast I am! You can't catch me!”
- ― Philip
Philip is a small American diesel boxcab who lives and works on the Island of Sodor, and is the North Western Railway's number 68 engine.
Biography
Philip came to the Island of Sodor as the new shunting engine at Knapford. During his first day of work, he was eager to impress Gordon by showing him how fast he was, but nothing he did was enough to impress him. He challenged Gordon to a race and took off out of the yard, racing all the way to Brendam Docks, oblivious to the fact that Gordon had not actually competed.[2]
Philip continued to be proud of his speed and boasted about how many trucks he could pull. After taking a train of empty trucks to the quarry, he found James hanging over the top of a tunnel, having had an accident after trying to prove to Philip that he could pull more trucks than the boxcab. Just as James began to fall down, Philip caught him with the top of his cab roof. After James had been recovered and sent to be repaired at the Steamworks, Philip proudly told the other engines in the shed of his rescue.[3]
When Philip first saw Toby, he was eager to make friends with him, thinking he was a diesel boxcab like himself. The tram engine, however, was overwhelmed by Philip's enthusiasm. The two of them briefly raced each other until Philip nearly collided with Thomas. Philip then learned how to be quiet from Toby, though he has not lost his enthusiasm.[4]
When Hugo visited Sodor, Philip was one of the engines who went to see him at Ulfstead Castle, but missed seeing him when he passed by.[5]
Philip was among the many engines who were eager for the Fat Controller to take them to the Great Railway Show. After Thomas' first encounter with Ashima following the show competitors' accidental arrival on Sodor, Philip insisted that she was nothing but trouble and advised Thomas to avoid her.
Ultimately, Philip was not chosen to compete in the Great Railway Show, instead representing Sodor in the show as its mascot and flag carrier. At the show, a series of incidents occurred after he kept accidentally getting in the way of Vinnie, who soon lost patience with Philip and chased him briefly before getting covered in coal from a hopper where Carlos was taking on coal. Vinnie, infuriated, chased Philip around the railway show yard, eventually winding up in the middle of the shunting competition and cornering Philip in front of a turntable well. Seeing this, Thomas and Ashima - who were both in the shunting competition - managed to couple up to Vinnie and pull him clear of the points, allowing Philip to escape. Philip then joined the other engines in watching the competition and later accompanied Sodor's team and Ashima back to Sodor.[1]
During Dowager Hatt's tenure as temporary controller, Philip was sent to work in Ulfstead Mine. The job proved too much for him, however, and he ended up stuck in the mines when the lights went out.[6]
Once while at Wellsworth, Philip got teased about the number 68 painted on his side by Gordon and tried to discover why he had the number. After sixty-eight sheep ran onto the tracks and Philip saved them from a speeding Gordon, he decided that it is his lucky number.[7]
When Edward's berth at Tidmouth Sheds was destroyed by James, Edward stayed over in Philip's shed at Wellsworth. While it was originally hard for Edward to deal with Philip's loud chattering, he soon enjoyed his company and eventually decided to move in with Philip as the shed was close to his branch line.[8]
After a series of incidents, Philip got fed up with James pushing him around and not apologising, so he refused to give way when he and James ended up facing each other on the Fenland Track. James also refused to move and they ended up in a stalemate. This unfortunately caused Thomas, Paxton, Rebecca, Annie and Clarabel to be held up behind them and the bridge became in danger of collapsing, leading to Philip deciding to back down for the safety of the others. Eventually, James apologised to Philip and the others for causing delay between them, and Philip happily accepted his apology.[9]
Philip later heard from Percy that there was due to be a railway show for little engines at Ulfstead Castle and passed on the news to Oliver to attend. This ended up with him abandoning his duties at Knapford to attend, not shunting the Express Coaches for Gordon and causing him to be late.[10]
Personality
Philip is a little diesel boxcab with a big personality. He is very eager and full of enthusiasm, but has an innocently overblown sense of his own capabilities. He can also be very fun, but some of the bigger engines have very little patience for the little boxcab and find him annoying.
Philip's confidence is as big, if not bigger, than anyone else's. He is always willing to try and definitely believes in himself. His attitude has won him many new friends on Sodor - especially Thomas and Percy - but Gordon and James find his bragging a little hard to accept.
Philip is a quick little diesel who likes to hurry about. He enjoys racing and likes to boast of the time he beat Gordon. Though often hyperactive, Philip can calm down for the benefit of others. He can be quiet and enjoy the scenery, but usually finds himself excited once more when he comes across another engine.
All in all, Philip reminds Edward of Thomas when he first came to Sodor.[3]
Technical Details
Basis
Philip is loosely based on the Pennsylvania Railroad (PR) Class A6 "Boxcab" diesel-electric switcher, albeit with some differences. He has the curved back end and extra door of the AGEIR (Alco, General-Electric and Ingersoll-Rand) prototype boxcab #8835, albeit with five windows instead of seven. Additionally, to fit in with the other engines on Sodor, Philip has buffer beams added at each end with loose chain couplings and buffers.
Livery
Philip is painted dark green on the bottom half of his body and yellow on the top half, with red buffer beams and black wheels. His number 68 is painted on his sides in black, surrounded by a white circle with a black outline.
Appearances
Annual Stories
Magazine Stories
Books
Audio StoriesThomas & Friends Storytime
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Official Description
From Official Media:[1]
| “ | Philip: Philip is little diesel boxcab engine with a big personality. Philip is a comic character and a bit of a clown. He is very eager and full of enthusiasm, and he has an innocent, but very overblown sense of his own capabilities. Philip can be very funny, but some of the bigger engines have very little patience for the little boxcab. Philip is strong and can pull lots of trucks, but not that many trucks compared to the really big engines.
|
” |
Audio Files
Theme
| Only used | Composer | Theme Song | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series 19 | Robert Hartshorne | ||
Horn
| First used | Last used | Sound Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Series 19 | Series 24 |
Trivia
Multiple versions of Philip as seen in Philip's Number.
- Philip is both the first American diesel engine to be introduced in the series and the first diesel boxcab introduced in the series.
- Philip is the second Pennsylvanian engine to be introduced in the series, the first being Hank.
- In the twenty-first series episode, Philip's Number, Philip imagines 67 doppelgangers of himself during a fantasy sequence. They were retextured with different numbers accordingly.
- Much like Rosie's number 37, Philip's number 68 has to do with the number of standard gauge engines introduced in the television series. In Philip's case, Victor is also counted, thus making Philip the sixty-eighth engine.
- In the canon of the series, the reasoning behind Philip's number is never revealed. It is only stated that Philip was already numbered 68 when he arrived and that the Fat Controller found out the reason after doing some research.
- Even though Philip is an American engine, he speaks with a British accent in both the UK and US dubs of the series, much like Timothy and Marion. This would later apply to Rosie following Nicola Stapleton's casting in 2017.
- Philip's horn sound came from a BR Class 08 Diesel.
Quotes
- “See James? I told you I was very strong!”
- ― Philip speaking to James after his accident, "Philip to the Rescue"
- “The point is, that you can do anything you want to Thomas, if you just put your mind to it.”
- ― Philip encouraging Thomas to go to the Great Railway Show, "The Great Race"
- “S-O-D-O-R. What does that spell? Sodor!”
- ― Philip cheering on Team Sodor, "The Great Race"
Video
References
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| Locomotives | Steam | Thomas | Henry | Gordon | James | Donald and Douglas | Emily | Murdoch | Molly | Nia | Rebecca |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | BoCo | |
| Former | Edward | |
| Rolling Stock | Passenger | Annie and Clarabel | Emily's Coaches | Green Express Coaches | Red Express Coaches |
| Former | The Spiteful Brake Van | Slip Coaches | |
| Trains | Passenger | The Express | The Local | The Great Waterton Special |
| Goods | The Flying Kipper | The Midnight Goods | |
| Infrastructure | Stations | Tidmouth | Lower Tidmouth** | Knapford | Crosby | Wellsworth | Maron | Cronk** | Killdane** | Balladrine** | Kellaby** | Whispering Woods Halt** | Kellsthorpe Road** | Crovan's Gate | Great Waterton** | Vicarstown | Barrow-in-Furness** |
| Sheds | Tidmouth Sheds | Tidmouth Yard Sheds | Knapford Sheds | Crovan's Gate Sheds* | Vicarstown Sheds | |
| Tunnels and Bridges | Tidmouth Tunnel (South) | Henry's Tunnel | Crosby Tunnel** | Crosby Bridge* | The Viaduct | Sodor Suspension Bridge** | Maron Bridge* | Standard Gauge and Narrow Gauge Viaduct | Vicarstown Bridge** |
| Locomotives | Steam | Edward | Porter | Nia |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | BoCo | Derek | Salty | Philip | |
| Non-Rail Vehicles | Trevor | Cranky | Reg | Big Mickey | Carly | |
| People | The Vicar of Wellsworth | The Mayor of Sodor | The Dock Managers | |
| Affiliates | Sodor China Clay Company (Bill and Ben, Timothy, Marion) | Sodor Shipping Company | Sodor Search and Rescue Centre (Belle, Flynn, Rocky, Harold, Butch, Captain) | |
| Stations | Wellsworth | Suddery | Lower Suddery | Sodor Animal Park** | Upper Brendam | Brendam | |