Victor

Victor is a Cuban narrow gauge tank engine who works at the Sodor Steamworks with his assistant, Kevin.

Biography

Thomas & Friends

Victor is a narrow gauge engine who used to work at the Manuel de Céspedes Sugar Mill in Cuba. He was transferred to Sodor by boat and, during his journey, the chains holding him to the deck snapped. Once Victor and Luke, an engine they had picked up during the journey, docked at Brendam, Victor tried to tell the workmen about his problem, but they did not understand him, as he only spoke Spanish. Luke was lifted off of the ship first and knocked into Victor, sending him rolling off the deck and into the sea. Thankfully, Victor landed on a jetty, but because of the bad weather, he was left there for a very long time. When he was finally lifted out of the water, he was sent to the Sodor Steamworks. Victor decided that he must learn English and his first word was "red" as that was the colour he chose to be repainted in; "a bright new colour for his bright new life on Sodor."

He now works at the Sodor Steamworks and is always busy finding, delivering, or collecting parts and supervising activities around the yard. He works closely with and mentors Kevin, whose clumsiness often drives Victor mad. He is a wise and friendly engine who is always ready to help his friends, however, he refuses to put up with nonsense.

In his first appearance, Victor helped Thomas restore Hiro with the help of Kevin. Victor would leave flatbeds of old engine parts for Thomas and the other engines to bring to Hiro. After the Fat Controller found out about the situation, he put Victor in charge of overseeing Hiro's restoration.

Victor has helped to repair many engines. However, such work can sometimes become too much for him. Once he had four engines awaiting their turn for repairs when he and Kevin were attending to the maintenance of some trucks. Then he ended up with too much to do when Gordon arrived with blocked valves, Thomas came with a loose footplate, and Emily wanted her buffers polished. Quickly though, Victor rearranged the workload, telling Thomas, Percy, Edward, and Emily to wait whilst Gordon was mended followed by 'Arry and Bert.

Until recently, Luke believed that Victor had been scrapped as a result of the damage he had taken after Luke had accidentally knocked the Cuban engine off the boat and blamed himself for the accident. Years later, when the truth about the situation came out, Victor told Luke that he was not to blame.

Victor visits the Skarloey Railway once a week to examine the narrow gauge engines. Once Peter Sam did not want to bother him prior to his visit, even when Skarloey, Sir Handel, and Duncan needed repairs. However, when Peter Sam ran out of coal, he asked Rheneas to get Victor. Victor informed Peter Sam that it is his job to fix engines, so it would not be a bother to ask for his assistance.

In the seventeenth series, Victor allowed Kevin to work at the docks, helped Scruff get clean and get a new coat of paint, and allowed Edward and Henry to sleep at the Steamworks when the turntable at Tidmouth Sheds was frozen.

In the eighteenth series, when Duncan became exceedingly grumpy during the holidays, Victor and Mr. Percival made him a bet: if the Scottish narrow gauge engine could go a whole day without complaining, Victor would give him a new coat of paint before the other engines.

When Kevin got lost in the snow, Victor feared for the worst and set out to find him, despite his hatred for the snow. He refused to give up his search for him until he was eventually informed by Thomas that Kevin was safe and sound back at the Steamworks.

When the Great Railway Show was being held on the Mainland, Victor assisted in preparing the Sudrian contenders for the competitions. He insisted that Gordon wait for the workmen to complete their safety checks after his streamlining, but the big engine, eager to compete and show up his brother, refused. When Thomas was left behind to be repaired, he tried to cheer him up, only for Kevin to reveal that Gordon's safety valve mechanism was not properly reassembled. Knowing the potentially catastrophic results of Gordon racing without a safety valve, Victor insisted that Thomas head to the Show and give it to him. Unfortunately, he was not successful.

Personality

Victor is a narrow gauge engine who keeps the Sodor Steamworks operating. He is a busy engine with a winning sense of humour and a heart of gold. He is highly respected among all of the Sodor engines for helping to sort their repairs and see to their needs. He is very friendly, can often put a smile on an engine's smokebox, and will often help guide an engine where he feels it may be to their benefit. Victor also has a firm manner when something needs to be sorted and stands no nonsense from naughty steam engines or lurking diesel engines. He takes his work very seriously and takes great pride in helping to maintain the service of the Steamworks. In his time, Victor has helped restore, repair, and repaint many of Sodor's locomotives and he keeps the Steamworks a welcoming, bustling, hospitable environment. He keeps a keen, watchful eye over Kevin the crane, who assists him in the works' operations. Kevin's clumsiness and antics may cause Victor bother and disturbance, but Victor is fond of Kevin and glad to have him as part of the team. Due to coming from a warm country, he has a deep hatred of snow, but he was able to overcome this when Kevin was in danger.

Technical Details

Basis

Victor is based on Minaz No. 1173, an 0-4-0ST+PT locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works that worked at the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Sugar Mill in Cuba. The engine carried water in its saddle tank and oil in its side tanks. It was in poor condition and withdrawn after 1993. 1173 was rescued from Céspedes on 3 August 2012. From there it was transferred to the Patria Sugar Mill Museum where it was repainted and put on display with other engines rescued from Céspedes and other sugar mills.

As the Sodor Steamworks is based on high profile locomotive works (such as Crewe, Doncaster and Darlington), Victor is also based on the narrow gauge locomotives that lived there, delivering parts to different departments. So, while Victor's prototype is standard gauge, he, like the high profile works locos, is narrow gauge.

Victor's basis

Livery

Originally, Victor was painted in bright yellow with green lining and was numbered "1173" when he first arrived on Sodor. When he learned to speak English, his first word was "red", so he was currently repainted dark red with yellow lining, and black and yellow hazard stripes on his front bufferbeam; the black and yellow hazard stripes on the rear of his cab are above his rear bufferbeam. The sides of his cab have the Sodor Steamworks logo painted on them.

Appearances

Voice Actors

Trivia

• Victor is, presently, the only narrow gauge engine owned by the North Western Railway and the only one to be seen using a snowplough.
• Victor is the first engine to speak a language other than English. Other engines who also speak different languages include Millie, Daisy, Axel, Etienne and Carlos. He is also the first Spanish-speaking engine.
• In his original yellow livery, Victor has the same number (1173) as his basis.
• In the nineteenth series, Victor gained a tail lamp.
• Victor is the first narrow gauge engine to appear in the CGI series.
• Victor is a narrow gauge engine, but his basis is a standard gauge engine. This was done to make it easier for him to go around tight turns and through small spaces at the Steamworks.
• Before it was decided that Hero of the Rails would be produced entirely into CGI, there were plans to build a live-action model for Victor along with Hiro and Kevin. Only one face mask of Victor is known to have been produced for what would have been for his model.

Quotes

Merchandise

References