Donald & Douglas

## Douglas the Scottish Twin

**Douglas**

* Joe Mills (2015-present)

Donald and Douglas (originally known by their old numbers, 57646 and 57647, respectively) are twin Scottish mixed-traffic tender engines. Douglas tagged along with Donald to Sodor in order to escape from scrap, despite Donald being the only engine expected. After proving themselves to be really useful, they were both allowed to stay. They now work as utility engines on the NWR; working wherever they are needed. They work primarily on The Little Western, but sometimes on Edward's Branch Line and the Main Line.

## Biography

* Click here to view Donald and Douglas' coverage.

## Personalities

Donald and Douglas are Scottish twin engines. They are practical, peppery, proud and level-minded, but, despite their maturity, they enjoy playing practical jokes and have been known to impersonate one another in the past. They were fitted with nameplates to specifically end this element of their humour.

Donald and Douglas are very able workers, strong performers, and handle any task well. They are fully capable of being firm with the other big engines, such as Gordon and Henry, and even the Troublesome Trucks know better than to try their tricks on them. They are both used to harsh winter conditions too. Coupled back to back, with a coach between their tenders, they are very capable of patrolling the lines, clearing them of the snow. The twins both pull their weight on the Main Line and both Duck and Edward's branch lines. They can enjoy a joke with any engine. They are happy to act as the brawn of the Fat Controller's steam-driven goods haulers. Between the two, Donald tends to be the charming, witty joker whereas Douglas is the smart, quick-thinking, calmer-natured one of the pair. Both display a keen sense of wit and the pair usually get to have the last laugh, more often taking the moral high ground. But that does not mean they will not be just a little bit smug about it when a deserving engine meets their comeuppance.

Donald and Douglas hate to be parted from each other, but, like most twins, they occasionally have their arguments among themselves and can squabble with one another. Also, Donald and Douglas used to have a strong dislike of diesels. But over time their dislike for diesels has softened and they appeared to have grown accustomed to their diesel companions.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Donald and Douglas are both based on the Caledonian Railway McIntosh 812 Class 0-6-0 goods engine. Their numbers, however, would realistically place them in the 652 sub-class. One example survives in preservation.

Donald and Douglas' basis
### Livery

According to the Railway Series, Donald and Douglas were painted black from construction and arrived on Sodor in the BR's black goods livery with red-and-white lining on their tenders. They remained as such (with the addition of numbers on their tenders in yellow with red borders) until it was decided that both engines could stay, at which point they requested to be repainted in the North Western Railway's sky blue livery with red-and-yellow lining. They apparently like the colour, as it reminds them of the Caledonian Railway, where many of their shedmates carried a similar shade of blue. They received red nameplates with their names in gold at the same time. In the Railway Series their names are in all capitals, whereas in the television series only their initials are capitalized.

In the Railway Series, they carry two builder's plates on the sides of their cabs.

In the Television Series, the twins arrived in BR lined black and have remained in this livery ever since.

## Appearances

### Thomas & Friends

* **Season 22** - Counting on Nia (stock footage cameos)

## Trivia

* The Rev. W. Awdry only made a model of Donald for his model railway; there never was a Douglas model. The model is currently on display at the Narrow Gauge Museum in Tywyn.
* According to a magazine story, Donald and Douglas were built at The Scottish Engine Company.
* Donald and Douglas' television series models are currently on display at Hara Model Railway Museum in Japan. As a result of the eye mechanisms not being replaced after the twelfth season, new eyes and pupils have been put in for display.
* In the My Thomas Story Library and Engine Adventures series, the twins were painted blue following their being allowed to stay, just as they were in the Railway Series.
* The twins' original numbers are an in-joke. The 812/652 Class numbers only went up to 57645.
* In the Railway Series, Donald and Douglas are nicknamed "The Caledonian Twins." In the television series, they are nicknamed "The Scottish Twins." This is because they originated from the Caledonian Railway, in Scotland.
* Donald and Douglas' models did not have any watertanks on their tenders, this is also carried on to their CGI models. However, this was present on their large scale models.
* Despite Duck not being number 8 in the Railway Series, Donald and Douglas were number 9 and 10 in the Railway Series.
* Donald and Douglas went through several aesthetic changes in the television series:
	+ Season 3:
		- Their nameplates were moved from their smokeboxes closer to the centre of their boilers.
		- Their brake pipes were moved from their left (viewer right) to their right side.
		- Douglas shared Donald's whistle sound.
	+ Season 4:
		- Their nameplates were moved precisely to the centre of their boilers.
		- Their whistle sounds changed.
	+ Season 6:
		- Their brake pipes now face upwards.
		- Douglas' whistle sound is the same as Donald again.
	+ Season 12:
		- Their cheekbones disappeared.
	+ Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure:
		- Their nameplates are smaller and have moved back to the sides of their smokeboxes, like in the second season. Their nameplates are now curved to their smokeboxes rather than a flat plate.
		- They have rivets on their bufferbeams and smokeboxes.
		- Their handrails are thicker.
		- Their cheekbones are restored, though somewhat less prominent compared to earlier appearances.
		- Both twins gained permanent lamps and taillamps.
		- Their funnels and cabs are more accurate to their basis.
		- They gained a stepladder in the middle of their running boards, like in the Railway Series.
		- They gained new, deep-toned whistle sounds.
		- They are slightly smaller.
		- Their bufferbeams are lower to the track.
		- Their tenders slightly decreased in height so the lining matches the lining on their cabs.
* In the Slovene dub of the series, Donald and Douglas are not Scottish. In fact, they are stated to be from Jesenice, a town in the Gorenjska region of Slovenia.
* When Alec Baldwin was the US narrator for Season 6 he does not attempt a Scottish accent for the twins like how George Carlin did before him, this is also evident with Duncan.