Top Hat

"Well said, Ten Cents; he's a pain in the funnel!"
"The way he moves his head about, I'd say he's a pain in the neck!"
— Sunshine and Ten Cents on Top Hat, Munitions
TUGS
TopHat
Top Hat
Number: 4
Tug Type: Railway Tug
Affiliation: Star Fleet
Nationality: British
Top Hat is a railway tug and Captain Star's fourth tug. He is an uppity and snobbish character with a monocle, vintage top hat and a Posh English accent who looks down on everyone, both his friends and his foes, thinking that he is the best tug in the Star Fleet.
Contents[hide]
Bio
Livery
Behind the Scenes
Appearances
Episodes
Books and Annuals
Voice Actors
Trivia
Quotes
Merchandise
Gallery
Merchandise Gallery
BioEdit
Although he tries to avoid any job that will make him dirty, he is used for a wide variety of tasks around Bigg City Port, mainly distributing railway rolling stock with his barges Frank and Eddie. Despite his problem with dirty jobs, he is often used to tow Lord Stinker the garbage barge in episodes such as High Tide. In that episode, he gained a great respect for the barge. Yet in other episodes he complains about the garbage itself, and often teases Warrior for his garbage smell.
Like O.J., Top Hat's whistle is very deeply pitched (the deepest of the Star Tugs), but softened somewhat in comparison with O.J.'s.
Play sound
Top Hat's Hooter 1
Aside from his snobbish personality, Top Hat's most distinguishing feature is his elevated wheelhouse; it's this feature that distinguishes him as a railway tug, as real tugs built to haul railroad rolling stock on barges had equally high wheelhouses to allow their pilots and crews to see over the top of their high loads. Unlike his real-world counterparts, however, Top Hat can bob his wheelhouse up and down, giving his model an extra element of movement which was often used for dramatic or comedic purposes. Top Hat cares mainly about himself and saving his own neck. He may pretend to be cool and collected, but when he is actually faced with a threat or is placed in danger, he will panic and complain. This type of behaviour is shown in the episodes Ghosts and Regatta. He is often ridiculed by his companions, particularly Ten Cents and the villainous Z-Stacks. Despite his self-absorbed and arrogant demeanour, Top Hat has proven himself on numerous occasions and can cope fairly well in an emergency, such as when he propped up Zebedee's steel load under a railway bridge to help Puffa get across, and when he used Lord Stinker to save the Goods Engine from a serious accident when the bridge collapsed. He also cares for the rest of the Star Fleet, although he very rarely shows it.
LiveryEdit
Top Hat is painted in the Star Fleet's corporate livery. This consists of a black hull, a yellow superstructure, white mast and an American flag-styled red, white and blue funnel. His name is painted on the sides of his bow in white and he has the number 4 on his funnel. He wears a black vintage top hat and a monocle.
Behind the ScenesEdit
Like the rest of the Star Fleet, Top Hat is based on the tugs of San Francisco waters from the 1920s, although he also resembles John-A.-Dialogue-&-Sons-built New York Central Tugboat 13, which is also a railway tug, and his personality is based on Kenneth Williams. His name derives from his trademark hat he wears.
AppearancesEdit
Episodes
Sunshine
Pirate
Trapped
Regatta
Munitions
Warrior
High Tide
Quarantine
Nothing to Declare
Ghosts
Jinxed (cameo; larger role in deleted scene)
High Winds
Up River
Bigg Freeze
Thomas and Friends: Season 3 Episodes: Narrated by George Carlin
Top Hat, Duck and the Potato Wedge Crossed
Henry's Eleven-Year-Old Conecatations (does not speak in Thomas and Friends TV Version)
Books and Annuals
Kidnapped
Ten Cents, Mallinathena and the Couch Containers
The Race
Ship In Distress
Naval Manoeuvres
Voice ActorsEdit
John Baddeley
Masashi Ebara (Japan)
Pauli Virta (Finland)
Other:
French Tickner (Salty's Lighthouse)
Kerry Shale (Thomas and Friends: U.S.)
TriviaEdit
His face masks (except his shocked face mask) were sold to Ryan of The Star Tugs Company (formerly The Star Tugs Trust), although the whereabouts of his model are currently unknown, making him the only Star Tug that hasn't been sold yet.
Top Hat is the only character who can raise his head (wheelhouse) up and down.
Top Hat is the only railway tug in Bigg City Port.
Top Hat is the only tug of the Star Fleet known to have a foghorn.
Top Hat was the only tug arrived at Sodor and take the potato wedges to Duck who takes them to the Coran city.
Play sound
Top Hat's Foghorn
Quotes Edit
"There he goes - always playing 'Mr. Nice Guy'! What a bore."
— Top Hat on Ten Cents, Sunshine
"Now for the voice of experience..."
— Top Hat on O.J. Trapped
"Clear off, Zorran! It's our business!"
— Top Hat, Regatta
"Of all the tugs, I get the clumsiest."
— Top Hat to Warrior, Pirate
"You're remember Big Mac and Ten Cents are rescue Alain was fell off the Knapford Harbor bridge and crashed on his barge with the freight cars and Davattad was get Little Ditcher to repair the bridge. The bridge was good as new and you take him to the Sodor Steamworks and he was good as new, too."
—Top Hat to Duck the No. 8 Great Western Engine, Top Hat, Duck and the Potato Wedge Crossed
MerchandiseEdit
Takara (discontinued)
Pin Badge (discontinued)
Pins (discontinued)
Category:Railway Tugs
Category:Characters
Category:TugBoats
Category:Star Tugs
Category:Tugboats
Category:Star Fleet