Rusty

**Rusty the Little Diesel** is a narrow gauge diesel and one of the secondary protagonist of the Seventyverse. He is the number five engine of the Skarloey Railway.

## Backstory

When Rusty was first built, he was built female but was actually male. Rusty was bought to the Skarloey Railway to help Sir Handel and Peter Sam. Although, Sir Handel didn't trust Rusty at first, this changed after Rusty helped Peter Sam out of the incline incident. The engines did not have a problem with Rusty using male pronouns and after a while, Rusty had somehow been rebuilt to male. Since then, he's been a valuable asset to the Skarloey Railway.

## Relationships

### Skarloey

Skarloey was very impressed by Rusty mending the tracks when he got home. He also stood in Rusty's defence when someone was harassing him for being transgender. Skarloey reveals in the shed that night that he is trans himself.

### Rheneas

Rheneas was surprised to find Rusty on Sodor, as he was a diesel. Yet he was very welcoming of him, and impressed with the way he mended the line.

### Sir Handel

Sir Handel used to not like Rusty, due to all the anti-diesel propaganda being spread over Sodor. However, this changed when Rusty helped Peter Sam out of the incline incident. Sir Handel started to see Rusty in a better light, and helped him mend the railway before Skarloey came home. He also heavily supports the budding romance between Rusty and Peter Sam.

### Duncan

Although Rusty and Duncan got at first, there was a brief rift when James told Duncan about the trouble Diesel caused. Things were patched up, however after Duncan derailed at a bad section of track and Rusty came to his rescue.

## Romance

### Peter Sam

Despite the anti-diesel propaganda, Peter Sam was quick to befriend Rusty and after Peter Sam's accident at the incline, Rusty helped him out. As time went on, the two engines would grow feelings for each other before they eventually became a couple.

## Personality

Rusty is a trusty, tame, friendly little diesel and a dedicated work, often maintaining the line while understanding and respecting the importance of his duties.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Rusty is based on the Talyllyn Railway's Midlander, a Ruston 44/48HP diesel. Unlike his counterpart, Rusty was never rebuilt with a differently-shaped radiator. Midlander was built in 1941, while Rusty in the books was built between 1936-1942 (no exact year is given). In this series, Rusty is implied to be very young when he first comes to the island.

Midlander also has a whistle instead of a horn.

### Livery

Rusty is painted orange with yellow lining around his windows and white lettering. His radiator is black with a brass cap.

## Differences between the books, TV show and the series

* In the books, Rusty was painted charcoal-black. In the TV shows and this series, Rusty is painted orange.
* In the books, Rusty was male. In the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh series of the TV series, Rusty was gender-neutral before becoming male from the ninth series onwards (apart from being female in early US narrations of S9). In this series, Rusty is transgender (female-to-male)
* Rusty's arrival on the Skarloey Railway is showcased in detail. In the books, it's skimmed over. In the TV series, he's taking some trucks and meets Harold.
	+ Harold's subplot was reused in *Little Engines Can Do Big Things*, and Duck meets him instead.

## Trivia

* When first built, Rusty has a smaller face. This is a reference to the TV show when Rusty later gained a face. In this series, it reflects Rusty's change of gender.
* While Rusty retains his CGI voice actor post-transition, her preferred voice actress pre-transition is Tegwen Tucker, who voiced Penny Morris from *Fireman Sam*.