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- “Bluebells forever!”
- ― Stepney
Stepney, named after a district in London, is a tank engine from the Bluebell Railway. His friendly, enthusiastic attitude makes him a welcome visitor on the Fat Controller's railway.
Biography
Rusty first came across Stepney when he was stranded in the scrapyard at Vicarstown Goods Depot. The little diesel helped Stepney to escape the scrapyards and helped arrange for him to be put back into service running the branch line to Bluebell Valley.[2]
Some time after, Stepney - wishing for a change of scenery - visited Sir Topham Hatt's railway. He worked briefly with Duck in Knapford Yards before being sent to Thomas' Branch Line, during which time he caught a cricket ball in one of his trucks while passing the Elsbridge Cricket Field.[3][4] On his last day, he double-headed the Express with Duck after a visiting diesel had failed.[5]
Stepney later returned to Sir Topham Hatt's railway (again on a visiting basis) to help Toby and Mavis at Ffarquhar Quarry. This excursion nearly ended in disaster after 'Arry and Bert tried to scrap Stepney - luckily without success due to the intervention of Sir Topham Hatt - after Stepney accidentally ventured into the Sodor Ironworks.[6]
On a few other occasions, Stepney has been seen again elsewhere on Sir Topham Hatt's railway.[7] He was once at Tidmouth Sheds when Duck accidentally ran into the back of him while watching a hot air balloon.[8] He also once helped Edward run a new loop line.[9]
In his final appearance, Stepney was accidentally covered in pink sugar from one of Rosie's trucks.[10]
Personality
Stepney is a bubbly, modest and humble chap who is bursting with enthusiasm. He is very eager to please and is every engine's friend. When given a job to do, he is determined to complete it to the best of his ability. Even if an engine might not like him at first, his personality wins them over. After being saved from scrap by Rusty and the Bluebell Railway, he now runs his own branch line, but loves visiting and helping out on the Fat Controller's railway. He has an enthusiasm for learning and listening to advice, as well as keeping busy. Stepney can feel down in the dumps if he does not get enough work to do or if he does not get a good long run to stretch his wheels. Stepney is high-spirited, lively and is keen to see fair play. He is popular amongst the engines and is always game for more work. Unlike most of Sodor's engines, Stepney loves to work with trucks.
Technical Details
Real-Life History
Stepney was built by Brighton Works in 1875 and was rebuilt into an A1X in 1912. It was bought by the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society and arrived on the railway on 17 May 1960, making it the first standard gauge steam locomotive to be saved for the Bluebell Railway.
Since Stepney's first appearance in the Railway Series and Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, Stepney has become one of the most popular engines on the railway, with children all across the country coming to see Stepney. Stepney has even participated in "Day Out with Thomas" events and has carried a face for these events.
Livery
Stepney is painted in LB&SCR ochre gold, formally known as "Stroudley's Improved Engine Green", with green, red, white and black lining. His name is painted on his side tanks and the number "55" is painted on the sides of his bunker, both in white.
Appearances
Thomas & Friends
Music Videos
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Annual Stories
Magazine Stories
Stepney also appeared in the magazine story Really Useful Edward Books
My Thomas Story LibraryVideo Games
Documentaries
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Official Description
From Official Website:[1]
| “ | Stepney: Saved from the scrap yard by Rusty, he is now a "Boys' Own Engine". Buzzing with enthusiasm and always eager to please, Stepney is every engine's friend. Thomas had to put him in his place though!
|
” |
From Official Website:[2]
| “ | Stepney: Stepney was saved from the scrap yards by Rusty, and is now always buzzing with enthusiasm and eager to please. He has no main place to work, but instead, will help out wherever Sir Topham Hatt needs him.
|
” |
From Official Website:[3]
| “ | Stepney: Stepney is busting with enthusiasm and eager to please, Stepney is every engine's friend. He loves helping out on Sir Topham Hatt's railway.
|
” |
Audio Files
Themes
| Only used | Composers | Theme Song | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series 4 | Mike O'Donnell Junior Campbell |
||
| Series 5 | |||
Whistles
| First used | Last used | Sound Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Series 4 | ||
| Thomas and Stepney (US only) | ||
| Series 5 | Series 7 | |
| Series 12 | ||
Trivia
- In Heritage Railway's July 2000 edition, it was stated that the promotion manager of The Britt Allcroft Company, William Mitchell, wrote to the Bluebell Railway for plans to feature Stepney as part of a cavalcade of Thomas and his friends which ultimately never went through. In addition, Mitchell mistakenly believed that the real Stepney basis was under the Thomas character guise before eventually being informed of its history - thus clearing up the misunderstanding between the railway and the production company.[11]
- Alec Baldwin gave Stepney a Cockney accent in the US dub. This may have been intentional, as Stepney is a region of East London and the inhabitants of that area, amongst others, were known as Cockneys.
- The prototype of Stepney's 1996 Wooden Railway toy has the original face and magnets of Thomas.
- Several of Stepney's whistles have been modified and reused for and from other characters:
- Stepney's original whistle is the same as Rheneas'.
- Stepney's whistle in most of the US version of Thomas and Stepney is the same one used for Smudger.
- Stepney's whistle from the fifth to seventh series is Skarloey's original whistle.
- Stepney's whistle from the twelfth series is Thomas' at a higher pitch and Bill's at an octave lower in pitch.
- Stepney has been erroneously referred to as a narrow gauge engine several times:
- At one time, his page on the Official Website incorrectly stated he was a narrow gauge engine.
- In the book Railway Rhymes, Stepney is depicted as narrow gauge.
- Stepney was included in a Take Along Narrow Gauge Gift Pack.
- In the Spanish and Czech dubs of the Thomas & Friends television series, he is known as the Hyacinth engine instead of the Bluebell engine. In the Dutch dub, he is known as the Violet engine.
- In the French dub, Stepney was named Sylvain during the fourth and the fifth seasons.
- Both of Stepney's appearances in the seventh series were made up of stock footage.
- Although he has not been featured in the CGI series, Keith Wickham has voiced him in Thomas-saurus Rex.
- According to Thomas-saurus Rex, he knew both Sir Topham Hatt and his grandfather prior to his arrival.
- Stepney is one of the four engines to be saved from scrap, with the others being Oliver, Hiro and Glynn.
- In some promotional artwork and Thomas & Friends television series tie-in book illustrations, he is seen wearing the express headcode lamps he wears whilst pulling the special train in Thomas and Stepney.
See also
External Links
- Stepney on the Bluebell Railway website.
- LB&SCR A1X class 55 Stepney on Wikipedia
- LB&SCR A1X Class No. 55 "Stepney" on Locomotive Wiki
References
- ↑ T&F S4 #15 "Rusty to the Rescue"
- ↑ T&F S4 #15 "Rusty to the Rescue"
- ↑ T&F S4 #16 "Thomas and Stepney"
- ↑ T&F S4 #17 "Train Stops Play"
- ↑ T&F S4 #18 "Bowled Out"
- ↑ T&F S5 #13 "Stepney Gets Lost"
- ↑ T&F S6 #13 "Percy and the Haunted Mine"
- ↑ T&F S6 #15 "James and the Red Balloon"
- ↑ T&F S6 #23 "Edward the Very Useful Engine"
- ↑ T&F S12 #3 "Rosie's Funfair Special"
- ↑ Sodor Island Fansite on Twitter
| Locomotives | Stepney | Flora |
|---|---|
| Former | Sodor Tramway Engines |
| Rolling Stock | Branch Line Coaches | Flora's Tram Coach |
| People | Stepney's Controller |
| Locations | Skarloey Railway Depot | Bluebell Valley (Engine Sheds) | Rolling River Bridge (Junction) | Green Hills Junction (The Man in the Hills) | Great Waterton (Engine Sheds) | Morgan's Mine |