George

**George** is a grumpy green steamroller whose interactions with engines generally lead to trouble. He is owned by the Sodor Island Council.

## Biography

George is a grumpy, bad-tempered and mean steamroller who dislikes all of the engines, even the ones who try to be nice to him. He is no friend of the railway, often heard rebelling that "railways are no good" and that they should be pulled up and turned into roads. George is happiest when he is rolling but enjoys causing bother for the engines across the island too. He is grouchy, disagreeable and his unpleasant and unfriendly attitude towards the engines and stubborn nature are often the cause of chaos and disruption. He also does not get along with many road vehicles, either, as he insulted Caroline after she broke down. Unlike Bulgy or the Horrid Lorries, who simply attempt to take over the engines' jobs, George often takes more direct approaches, often by physically damaging the rails or blocking an engine's path if he feels he can intimidate them. Much like Bulgy and the Lorries, however, George's actions only end badly for him in the long run, but despite retrying his tactics, he eventually readily learns his lesson after the events of "Bye George!".

George immediately entered a conflict with the engines of the Skarloey Railway in 1959, while he was assisting with road widening works near Ben Glas. At the time, Sir Handel was boasting about his broad tyres, which the other engines referred to as "steamroller wheels". Skarloey tried to trick Sir Handel into confronting George to divert his attention. George and Sir Handel met and immediately disliked each other. One afternoon, Sir Handel took a train down the line parallel to the site where George was working. George would not give the train enough room to pass and rammed his front roller into Sir Handel's train. The train and construction crews argued until a policeman broke them up and a barrier was built between the road and the rails. George's work was finished and he was taken away, although Sir Handel took the credit for this.

Once, on Lady Hatt's birthday, Sir Bertram Topham Hatt was running late. His car had broken down and when he was offered a ride by Caroline, she soon overheated and broke down again. George pulled up alongside them and called Caroline "a disgrace to the road". George's driver, who was fairly even-tempered, offered the Fat Controller a ride, but George lost control and veered into a pool of mud.

George was still grumbling about railways and was rude while Percy transported him on a flatbed to his new work site.

George later created a road on an old narrow gauge line at Hawin Lake, but was intentionally careless when he paved the road over a level crossing. This later caused Thomas to derail and crash into the lake. Finally, George refused to allow Duck to pass him at Crosby. As a result, a truck from his train was still on the Main Line. When the express came through, Gordon collided with the truck, smashing it. The Fat Controller was furious with these recent disturbances and punished George by taking him off of the roads for a week to be used as machinery at the lumber mill.

## Livery

George is painted green with red lining, gold boiler bands, and black smokebox and funnel with a brass cowl. His front-forks are painted bright red and his name is painted on the sides of his boiler in white.

## Appearances

### Season 5

* Lady Hatt’s Birthday Party
* Bye George!

## Trivia

* George is the first steam character whose face is not on the smokebox door, rather the support plate for the front roller. Buster is designed the same way.