Spencer

**Spencer (née Silver Bullet) the Private Engine** is the private engine of the Duke and Duchess of Boxford.

## Backstory

When he was first built, Silver Bullet (or Spencer as he preferred) worked express passenger trains for the London and North Eastern Railway. However, when diesels began taking over his work, he was relegated to goods work. Unfortunately, he ended up in a bad accident and was withdrawn from service. It was fortunate for him that the Duke and Duchess of Boxford came looking for a private engine and upon seeing Spencer, they purchased him as the Duchess had fond memories of the A4's. Since that, Spencer has been escorted the Duke and Duchess on their travels and that includes multiple visits to Sodor.

## Personality

Due to Spencer's time in the scrapyard, he was insecure and become snooty and stuck-up in order to mask those insecurities. This reached it peak when Spencer tried to get Hiro scrapped. Recently, however, Spencer has started to improve this attitude as he opened up about his experience to Douglas and during the Great Railway Show in Canada, he helped Etienne over the finish line. In the latter case, he stated that despite England having issues with French culture, Spencer did not want Etienne's country to come last.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Spencer is based on a London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) Class A4 Pacific, a type of streamlined 4-6-2 tender locomotive designed by Sir Nigel Gresley and built between 1935 and 1938. The A4s were designed for high-speed, long-distance express services such as the 'Silver Jubilee', the 'Coronation', and the 'West Riding Limited' and many members of the class set new world speed records for steam locomotives, including Mallard. Originally built with side valances covering their wheels, the A4s later had these removed during the Second World War to improve maintenance, an appearance which Spencer shares. Spencer is also fitted with a corridor tender, which many A4s used to change crews during non-stop runs to Scotland in LNER and British Railways service. Six A4s survive in preservation, including Mallard and Sir Nigel Gresley; the latter named after the class's designer.

### Livery

Spencer is painted metallic silver with black lining and black wheels. He has a red nameplate with his name painted on them in gold on the sides of his smokebox, the number 60179 painted on his cab, the crest of the Duke and Duchess of Boxford on his tender. His livery may have been inspired by that of the first four A4s, which were painted in a silver-grey livery for use on the LNER's 'Silver Jubilee' service.

## Differences between the TV Show and the series

* In the TV show, Spencer lacks a number and his wheels match his paintwork. In this series, he is given the number 60179 plus the Boxford crest and his wheels are black, akin to his Hornby model.

## Trivia

* Spencer's number BR No. 60179 is fictional as the A4's BR numbers only ever went up to 60034 and no engine carried the number 60179 in real life. This is a reference to the episode number of his debut.
	+ If his number was an injoke, the next one in the sequence would have been 4904/35/60035. It is possible Spencer wore the number 35 before being given the number 60179, as one of the pacifics was destroyed before getting their final LNER number.