Oliver

**Oliver** is a Great Western tank engine who was saved from scrap by Douglas. His daring escape made him popular with the other engines, which perhaps made him a little overconfident. He now works on the Little Western with Duck. He has two Great Western autocoaches, named Isabel and Dulcie, and a brake van named Toad.

## Biography

### *The Railway Series*

Oliver was built by the Great Western Railway at Swindon Works and was "push-pull" fitted for branch line work. He was originally numbered in the 48xx series, but along with the rest of his class was renumbered into the 14xx series in 1946, eventually becoming 1436. He worked as a passenger engine on a branch line in the West Country.

Oliver reached Sodor in 1967. With the rapid closure of West of England branch lines, Oliver’s crew were appalled at the prospect of their engine being scrapped, or left to rust away at Barry Scrapyard. Both were bachelors with no local ties, so they determined to take a chance and try to save their engine, along with his coach and brake van. An escape route was carefully worked out with the help of a chain of sympathetic signalmen. It was necessary to travel at night - often over ”goods only” lines - and lie hidden by day. They had many narrow escapes, and the journey took longer than planned.

When control got wind of the runaways, they hid in an old quarry branch and had the cutting blocked by rubbish to avoid being spotted by the diesels outside. The runaways decided it was safe to leave at some point, but before they could reach the greener pastures of Sodor, Oliver ran out of coal in Barrow Yard. Luckily, Douglas was able to rescue Oliver and took him to Sodor, taking him to Crovan's Gate Works. The Fat Controller soon found out and arranged for the three to be repaired and painted in Great Western colours. Toad decided to be Douglas' brake van to thank him and the Fat Controller rescued another auto coach named Dulcie and gave her to Oliver.

Oliver was then sent to work on the Tidmouth-Arlesburgh branch line, but became conceited after the big engines gave him their respect in recognition of his adventures and pushed his weight around, prompting several ballast trucks to push him into a turntable well. Oliver received little respect from the trucks after the incident, but got his own back by pulling the ringleader, S.C. Ruffey, apart. Oliver is now well-respected by the trucks, out of fear they will be pulled apart too.

### *Thomas & Friends*

Oliver and Toad were escaping from scrap when Douglas found, saved and brought them to the North Western Railway. The other engines were impressed by his adventures and the attention soon went to Oliver's smoke-box. He was so conceited that he ignored Duck and Donald's advice about trucks and several pushed him into the turntable well. Upon his return from the Works, Oliver regained his respect after pulling the ringleader of the trucks, S.C. Ruffey, apart.

Since then, (with the exception of running Thomas' Branch Line during the engines' trip to England) Oliver has worked at Callan Yard, also known as Oliver's Yard, and the trucks have feared him, considering him to be dangerous and preferring Percy. Oliver missed the long runs and wanted to do more than simply push trucks onto the turntable, but he remained tight-lipped about his problem and grew unhappy as a result. He ended up roughly biffing the trucks into the turntable well, damaging it. The Fat Controller transferred him to the mail train so the night air can clear his smokebox, but Oliver ended up getting lost, discovering an abandoned house (which was later turned into a tea-house) in the process. When Harold found him, Oliver concluded that being found is much nicer than being lost. His brakevan Toad started feeling a similar problem when he was glum about always going backwards. Oliver tried to cheer him up by reminding him of his usefulness. When the trucks broke away from Oliver on the hill, taking Toad with them, Oliver determinedly chased after the runaway through Wellsworth and Crosby and all the way to the Old Stone Bridge. Oliver could not help teasing Toad when all was said and done and assured him no harm done in case of Toad causing Oliver an embarrassment.

He once broke down on the Intersection and was saved by Emily when he was about to be hit by Thomas. He also complained about the snow, but later crashed into a children's snowman in the village, in which he had to spend the night in the snowman's body.

Oliver started repeatedly telling everyone about his "escape" from the scrapyard, even to the point of annoying Toad. After his brake van had an adventure without him, James told Oliver to listen to Toad's story for once. During a flood, he collided with Rocky and James who were rescuing Duck, who had stalled underwater. He also nearly collided with Duck after the latter ran a red signal by mistake. Later, he broke down whilst on his way to the docks to deliver some trucks. When Gator arrived to take the train, Oliver was surprised by his unusual shape and wondered where Gator's lamp was, unaware it was not working properly.

He began to get fed up of Toad singing during their journeys and explained to Duck that Toad is always like this when he is in a good mood. Later Toad told Oliver that he saw a whale and he did not believe him at first until he saw the whale for himself. He then helped with rescuing the whale.

When the Harwick Branch Line was being built, Oliver helped with the line's construction. Marion believed that he had made a wish to turn himself into a digger and the Arlesdale engines had granted his wish. It was not until the branch line's opening ceremony that Marion discovered there were in fact two Olivers.

When a storm struck the Island, Oliver and Duck were responsible for taking people safely home. At Arlesburgh, the two met Skiff and warned him to get to safety, upsetting the rail boat. When he had finished his jobs, Oliver picked up Toad and headed for home, however they nor Duck, who was travelling to Tidmouth on the opposite track, were aware that a lightning strike had caused a tree to fall on the line. Thankfully, Skiff, who had been blown away by the storm, was able to warn them just in time. Oliver proclaimed him the bravest rail boat he had ever known. Another time, he found Judy and Jerome, the Breakdown Train, in Arlesburgh Harbour. He agreed to take the two to the countryside. He later informed Ryan that Duck had moved them again.

## Personality

Despite his heroism and daring feats of escape, Oliver is an engine who is willing to admit every day is a learning curve. When he was still new to Sodor, he let the other engines' responses to his courage, resource and sagacity from his amazing recounts of daring escapes and adventures get to his smoke-box and he became conceited. However, when the Troublesome Trucks pushed him into the turntable well, he grew into a much more humble, settled engine and was far warier of trucks. But later, with some help from his brake van Toad, he did gain much respect and authority among the trucks when he showed his strength with the ringleader of the trucks, S.C. Ruffey, a little more than he had perhaps been intending. Oliver still has gumption, but is now a more obedient, sensible engine. He feels his responsibility on the railway deeply, is ever thankful for being aided in his escape from scrap by Douglas and is a trustworthy, tenacious, plucky engine. However, he can still be occasionally boastful, or temperamental; but despite this setback, Oliver is still one of the more really useful and well-behaved engines on Sodor.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Oliver is based on a GWR 14xx Class 0-4-2T. These engines were fitted with a mechanical system allowing the driver to control the locomotive remotely from the cab of an 'Autocoach', such as Isabel. They were originally assigned numbers in the 48xx series, but were renumbered into the 14xx series in 1946. Oliver's number comes from a real 14xx, No. 1436, which was built at Swindon Works in August 1934 as No. 4836 and worked in the West of England until it was withdrawn in October 1958. It was scrapped at Morkot Ltd., Caerphilly on the 30th of April, 1959. According to The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways and Sodor: Reading Between the Lines, "It is doubtful whether this (1436) was the number actually allotted to him in 1946". Four engines of this class survive in preservation.

The real 1436

### Livery

In the Railway Series, Oliver is painted in GWR Brunswick green with yellow lining, black wheels, brass GWR number plates on the sides of his cab and a brass safety valve bonnet. Before he came to Sodor, he was painted in BR Brunswick green with a BR crest painted on the sides of his tanks. He carries two builder's plates on the sides of his cab.

In the television series, his paint had faded by the time he was rescued, leaving him in a rusty red colour. After his rescue, he was repainted in NWR apple green with the 1934 GWR crest painted on the sides of his tanks and his number 11 painted on the sides of his cab in yellow. In between the sixth and twelfth series, he was painted in a light shade of green. From Tale of the Brave onwards, he is painted in a slightly darker shade of green from his original NWR apple green.

## Appearances

* Railway Series
* Television Series
* Other Media

### *The Railway Series*

* **Enterprising Engines** - Escape and Little Western (*does not speak*)
* **Oliver the Western Engine** - Resource and Sagacity, Toad Stands By and Bulgy
* **Duke the Lost Engine** - Sleeping Beauty (*cameo*)
* **Jock the New Engine** (*mentioned in foreword*)
* **Henry and the Express** - Sliding Scales (*cameo*) and Henry Sees Red (*cameo*)
* **Wilbert the Forest Engine** - Wired-Up (*does not speak*)

#### Companion Volumes

* **1972** - The Railway Series: Surprise Packet (*does not speak*)
* **1987** - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (*mentioned*)
* **2005** - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines (*mentioned*)

### *Thomas & Friends*

* **Series 3** - Escape, Oliver Owns Up and Bulgy
* **Series 4** - Four Little Engines (*cameo*), Rusty to the Rescue (*mentioned*), Toad Stands By, Thomas and the Special Letter and Mind that Bike (*cameo*)
* **Series 5** - Gordon and the Gremlin (*cameo*), Oliver's Find, Make Someone Happy and Busy Going Backwards
* **Series 6** - The World's Strongest Engine (*cameo*), Scaredy Engines (*cameo*), Percy and the Haunted Mine (*cameo*), Percy's Chocolate Crunch (*cameo*) and Edward the Very Useful Engine (*deleted scene*)
* **Series 7** - Emily's New Coaches, James and the Queen of Sodor (*stock footage cameo*), Snow Engine, Bulgy Rides Again (*stock footage cameo*) and Best Dressed Engine (*stock footage cameo*)
* **Series 12** - Steady Eddie (*does not speak*) and Gordon Takes a Shortcut
* **Series 18** - Signals Crossed (*cameo*), Toad's Adventure, Duck in the Water, Spencer's VIP, Toad's Bright Idea and Last Train for Christmas
* **Series 19** - The Beast of Sodor (*cameo*), Toad and the Whale, and The Little Engine Who Raced Ahead (*cameo*)
* **Series 20** - Blown Away, The Way She Does it, The Missing Breakdown Train and Skiff and the Mermaid
* **Series 22** - Trusty Trunky (*stock footage*)

He is likely to appear in the twenty-fourth series.

#### Specials

* **1992** - Thomas and the U.K. Trip (*does not speak*)
* **2014** - Tale of the Brave (*cameo*)
* **2015** - Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure
* **2016** - The Great Race
* **2017** - Journey Beyond Sodor (*cameo*)
* **2018** - Big World! Big Adventures!

#### Music Videos

* **Series 3** - Thomas' Anthem
* **Series 4** - Thomas' Anthem Grand Finale, Let's Have a Race, Don't Judge a Book By its Cover, The Island Song and Really Useful Engine
* **Series 5** - Night Train, Accidents Will Happen, It's Great to be an Engine, Donald's Duck, Come for the Ride and Percy's Seaside Trip
* **Series 6** - James the Really Splendid Engine, Little Engines, Down by the Docks and Boo! Boo! Choo-Choo
* **Series 7** - Troublesome Trucks and The Whistle Song
* **Series 8** - Emily and Surprises
* **Tale of the Brave** - Let's Be Brave
* **Series 18** - The Best Friends Express
* **Thomas' YouTube World Tour** - Navigation, It's Great to be an Engine, The Island Song and Rules and Regulations
* **Series 19** - Engine Roll Call and Spring is Here!
* **Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure** - We Make a Team Together
* **Series 20** - Accidents Will Happen
* **The Great Race** - Will You Won't You, Streamlining (*cameo*) and Be Who You Are, and Go Far (*cameo*)
* **Journey Beyond Sodor** - I Want to Go Home (*cameo*)
* **Series 21** - Set Friendship in Motion, Doing it Right and Little Engines
* **Big World! Big Adventures!** - We're Friends
* **Series 22** - Engine Roll Call and The Steam Team

#### Videos

* **2018** - Different Ways to See the World (*cameo*)

### Books

* **1996** - Annual
* **2001** - A Better View for Gordon and other Thomas the Tank Engine Stories
* **2004** - Oliver
* **2008** - Thomas' Sticker Express
* **2010** - Movie Theater
* **2011** - The Big Book of Engines
* **2015** - Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure: Sticker Activity Book and Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure: The Movie Storybook (*cameo*)
* **2018** - Character Encyclopedia

### Magazine Stories

* **1996** - The Play Train!, Oliver's Mistake and Really Useful Oliver!
* **1997** - Oliver and Star Story!
* **1998** - Oliver
* **2000** - Rubber Rings
* **2001** - The Eyesight Test (*mentioned*)
* **2002** - Travelling Tables! (*does not speak*), Safe as Houses! (*does not speak*)
* **2004** - Mountain Mistake, Snow Engine and Back on the Road (*does not speak*)
* **2005** - The Big Bell
* **2006** - Passenger Plane
* **2008** - Giant Puffer, Perfect Promise (*cameo*) and Come Back, Please! (*does not speak*)
* **2011** - Too Tired, Flag Flying! and Special Carriage (*mentioned*)
* **2013** - Caught on Camera (*does not speak*) and Spencer's Statue
* **2015** - Duck in the Water (*does not speak*)

Oliver also appeared in the magazine stories, A Long Way Up!, Bumpers and Buffers, Diesel's Nasty Turn, Do-Nothing Dennis, Letting off Steam!, Mountains and Mess!, Ride and Slide, Seal Passenger, Seeing Sails, Snow Engine, So Many Stories, Special Passengers, The Flying Broomstick and The Great Race.

### Annual Stories

* **1985** - Oliver Gets the Bird and Donald's Duck (*mentioned*)
* **1986** - Funnel Trouble, Gordon's Stowaway (*not seen*) and You Never Know (*mentioned*)
* **1987** - Donald and the Lost Tarpaulin (*mentioned*)
* **1991** - Near Miss (*mentioned*)
* **1993** - Oliver Gets the Bird
* **1995** - Oliver's Sparkler
* **1996** - All Pull Together
* **1997** - We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

## Songs

* Will You Won't You (*performed*)
* We're Friends (*performed*)

## Trivia

* Oliver's model was on display at Nitrogen Studios, but is now on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum in Japan.
* Oliver's theme first heard in the third series is a musical variation on the theme from the 1963 film, *The Great Escape*. It is also reminiscent to a portion of the TUGS Danger theme. Some fans have also considered it similar to John Williams's theme for *Indiana Jones* as well.
* Some of Oliver's earlier merchandise had black wheels, indicating he was based off how he looked in the Railway Series.
* In the French Dub from the third to seventh series, Oliver was called *Olivier*.

## Quotes

*“'You's an enterprising engine, I won away here with Donald; but I've been feared to do it on my own.”*
―Douglas, Enterprising Engines
*“Oliver's no use at all; thinks he's very clever*
Says that he can manage us; that's the best joke ever

When he orders us about, with the greatest folly,

We just push him down the well...Pop goes old Ollie!”

―The Troublesome Trucks and S.C. Ruffey teasing Oliver with a song, Oliver the Western Engine
*“I'm a Great Western engine, I shouldn't have to shiver!”*
―Oliver, Snow Engine, seventh series
## Merchandise

* ERTL (*discontinued*)
* Wooden Railway (*three versions; discontinued*)
* Take Along (*discontinued; normal and metallic*)
* Take-n-Play (*discontinued*)
* Motor Road and Rail (*discontinued*)
* TrackMaster (*UK only; discontinued*)
* My First Thomas (*normal and talking; both versions discontinued*)
* Hornby (*discontinued*)
* Bachmann
* My Thomas Story Library (*discontinued*)
* Trading Cards (*discontinued*)
* Brio (*discontinued*)
* Thomas Engine Collection Series (*discontinued*)
* Mini Die Cast Collection (*discontinued*)
* Thomas Town (*discontinued*)
* De Agostini (*discontinued*)
* Tomica (*cancelled*)
* Capsule Plarail
* Pocket Fantasy (*discontinued*)
* Nakayoshi (*discontinued*)
* Boss (*discontinued*)
* Engine Adventures
* Adventures (*discontinued*)