Gordon the Big Engine

Gordon the Big Engine


Gordon the Big Engine
Thomas and Friends character
First appearance

The Three Railway Engines (The Railway Series)

"Thomas and Gordon" (Thomas and Friends)
Portrayed by Keith Wickham (UK)
Kerry Shale (US)
Number 4

Gordon the Big Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic tender locomotive in The Railway Series books by Rev. W. Awdry. Gordon is painted blue and carries the number 4. Gordon views himself as the most important engine because he is the biggest (not including Murdoch from Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends) and he pulls the Express. Gordon is one of the central characters in the TV series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, which is based on the books.

Although he can be boastful, he is hard working and strong, and performs his express duties to the absolute best of his ability. He is also the fastest engine in the Island of Sodor. He is sometimes teased by other engines, particularly the smaller ones, and has been known to have a good-natured rivalry with fellow main line engines Henry the Green Engine and James the Red Engine. Nevertheless, he is also quick to forgive and sometimes gives advice and assistance to other engines. He also has a ready wit.

He is usually the first choice for special trains, and was honoured to pull the Royal Train when Queen Elizabeth II visited Sodor. His great strength means that he is also sometimes called upon for heavy goods trains and rescue operations, but he by far prefers passenger trains. Once, when he was to pull a freight train, he got stuck in a ditch in an attempt to get out of pulling the train.

In the Railway Series book The Eight Famous Engines, Gordon made headlines when he visited London. He has also been to Carlisle when an enthusiasts' special train broke down.

Despite his fame and importance, he can be very competitive. He particularly dislikes being told about engines who are faster than he is, and once lost his dome through trying to compete with City of Truro.

He is proud of having been built at Doncaster and his work on the East Coast Main Line in his youth. Therefore, he never misses an opportunity to talk about his Doncaster brothers and cousins from the London and North Eastern Railway. He arrived on Sodor in 1923.

His first appearance in the Railway Series was in Book 1, The Three Railway Engines. The eighth book in the series was dedicated to him, as was the thirty-first.

Contents

Gordon's origins

Gordon was one of the first characters created in The Railway Series, initially to provide a foil for Edward. Inspiration came from watching locomotives at work on the Great Western Railway near the Rev. W. Awdry's childhood home, in particular from the large locomotives that would have to be assisted up the hill. When a story inspired by this was devised for the young Christopher Awdry, the big engine was named Gordon after a bossy child who lived on the same road.

Gordon is a 4-6-2 similar to the Flying Scotsman, a LNER A3 class locomotive. In the book Enterprising Engines, it is stated that the two engines are in fact brothers. The Rev. Awdry elaborates upon this in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways. This companion volume to The Railway Series states that Gordon was built as a test locomotive for the Great Northern Railway. When the Great Northern Railway had finished with him, they sold him to the Fat Controller for a knockdown price. Gordon was rebuilt by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at Crewe Works with new wheels, motion and running plate designed by William Stanier, the Fat Controller's mentor, who was also responsible for Henry's rebuild.

Actually, the reason for this somewhat complicated explanation lies with the early illustrations of the character. The Rev. Awdry constantly sought railway realism in his books, and often argued over the illustrations provided by C. Reginald Dalby, which tended to be inconsistent in terms of scale and accuracy. In an effort to combat this problem, he sent the illustrator a number of photographs of the characters as portrayed on his own model railway. The model of Gordon was converted into an A3 from a Tri-ang model of a Princess Royal class locomotive. The conversion was not perfect and still retained many of the Princess Royal's features, including the chassis, and so these errors were carried over into subsequent illustrations.

Gordon in The Railway Series

  • In the Railway Series, Gordon's buffers were square and pointy. In the TV show, they were rounded at the corners. The Rev. W. Awdry said in a letter to a young fan that the reason for Gordon's unusual buffer shape was simply that he had broken his round buffers and square ones were all that was available at the Works. (A drawing inaccuracy in the last picture in The Three Railway Engines shows Gordon with round buffers.)
  • In the Railway Series story "Gordon Goes Foreign" from The Eight Famous Engines, we find out that Gordon used to work from Kings Cross in London. In the book James and the Diesel Engines it is revealed that he used to be "green" when he was young.
  • Two of Gordon's relatives have appeared in the Railway Series. His brother Flying Scotsman was a major character in the book Enterprising Engines, and his cousin Mallard in Thomas and the Great Railway Show. Although Mallard was indirectly described as Gordon's cousin in Gordon the High Speed Engine, the link was not made when he actually appeared.
  • In Great Little Engines in the picture where Gordon is seen with Sir Handel he has a banjo dome like other A3s.

Gordon in the TV Series

Gordon has appeared in every season in the television series. He has also appeared in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Calling All Engines, The Great Discovery, Hero of the Rails and Misty Island Rescue.

For the CGI productions, from Hero of the Rails onwards, Gordon is voiced by Keith Wickham (UK) (who also voices Edward, Henry, James & Percy) and Kerry Shale (US).

Gordon in Thomas and the Magic Railroad

Gordon is voiced by Neil Crone on the Thomas and the Magic Railroad film. His character was very much as it appears in the television series and early Railway Series books.

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Henry the Green Engine — is a fictional anthropomorphic 4 6 0 steam locomotive from The Railway Series books written by the Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry, and the spin off children s television series, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends .… …   Wikipedia

  • Percy the Small Engine — is a fictional anthropomorphic steam engine from The Railway Series of children s books written by the Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. Percy also appears in the spin off television series Thomas and Friends . Percy… …   Wikipedia

  • The Big Steal (1990 film) — Infobox Film name = The Big Steal image size = caption = director = Nadia Tass producer = writer = David Parker narrator = starring = Ben Mendelsohn Claudia Karvan Steve Bisley Marshall Napier Damon Herriman Angelo D Angelo Tim Robertson Maggie… …   Wikipedia

  • The Railway Stories — are a series of audio adaptations of The Railway Series books by the Rev. W Awdry and his son Christopher.Nearly all of the 40 books in the series has been recorded by one of five different narrators: Johnny Morris, William Rushton, Ted Robbins,… …   Wikipedia

  • Gordon — may refer to: Contents 1 People 2 Places 2.1 Australia 2.2 …   Wikipedia

  • Edward the Blue Engine — is a fictional anthropomorphic steam locomotive from The Railway Series by Rev W. Awdry, and the TV Series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends . He is a blue 4 4 0 tender engine with red stripes, about the same size as James the Red Engine, and… …   Wikipedia

  • The Other Railway — In the children s books The Railway Series, by the Rev. W. Awdry, The Other Railway refers to British Railways (later British Rail), the UK nationalised rail organisation that existed from 1948 until 1997. Several of the characters in the books… …   Wikipedia

  • The Railway Series — Nota: Aún faltan algunas correcciones e imágenes. The Railway Series Autor Rev. Wilbert V. Awdry Christopher Awdry Género Infantil Fantástica Idioma …   Wikipedia Español

  • The Railway Series — Infobox Book name = The Railway Series title orig = translator = image caption = Map showing the railways on the fictional Island of Sodor author = Rev. W. Awdry Christopher Awdry illustrator = William Middleton Reginald Payne C. Reginald Dalby… …   Wikipedia

  • List of The Big O characters — The fictional characters of The Big O anime series were designed by series creator Keiichi Sato, who also designed characters for the City Hunter series. Because of union rules,[1] most of the English voice cast for the first season were credited …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”