Rocky

Rocky

Background information

**First episode**
"The Trouble With Trucks"

Character information

**Full name**
* Rocky the Rescue Crane
* Rocky the Crane
* Rocky the Big Crane
* Rocky the Rail Crane

**Age**
Unknown (*Crane*)

**Home**
Island of SodorEngland (*built*)

**Friends**
* Thomas
* Edward
* Henry
* Gordon
* James
* Percy
* Toby
* Duck
* Emily
* Diesel
* Belle
* Flynn
* Harold
* Butch
* Captain

**Quote**
"Hello, I'm Rocky. I can lift any engine to safety, and have them back on the tracks in no time."

**Rocky** is a large red breakdown crane who is part of the Sodor Search and Rescue Team.

Personality
Rocky likes to lift heavy objects such as engines, coaches and trucks. He is a friendly and careful crane and helps the engines when there is an accident. He takes pride in his work and is always happy to help, but while his strength is considerable, Rocky does have a limit to how big of a load he can easily lift at times, such as a particularly heavy pallet of slate. In addition to being the muscle of the Sodor Search and Rescue center faculty, Rocky also serves as both the dispatcher and leader of the group, giving out both emergency descriptions for his teammates and orders to others on how to perform a rescue. In the latter role, Rocky will often make himself firm if any arguments break out among the group. Unlike his teammates, Rocky is more level-headed and less likely to show off, simply being content with doing his job, sometimes putting him at the mercy of the antics of others. Despite his amiable nature, Rocky could not help but snark at Spencer's accident.

Technical Details
Basis
Rocky is a Ransomes and Rapier 45-ton steam crane, built around 1945. A crane of this type is preserved on the Bluebell Railway.

Rocky's basis
Livery
Rocky is painted brick red with yellow hazard stripes on his sides and back.

Appearances
Television Series* **Season 1** - The Trouble With Trucks (does not speak)
* **Season 2** - Disaster on Sodor
* **Season 4** - All For One and One For James (does not speak) and Arthur Helps Out (does not speak)
* **Season 11** - Stepney and the Bluebell Branchline
* **Season 12** - Stafford's Electric Slide
* **Season 13** - Duck and the Quack Attack
* **Season 14** - Flat Stanley (cameo)
* **Season 15** - The Crosby Coalition (cameo)
* **Season 16** - Marion Had a Little Lamb (cameo), Bowler Strikes Again (cameo) and Paxman Pulls Through
* **Season 17** - Wellsworth the Wait (cameo), James and the Giant Screech (cameo), Thomas' Crown Affair (does not speak), Rocked by a Hurricane (does not speak) and Para-Norman Activity (does not speak)
* **Season 18** - Choo-Choo-Déjà-Vu (cameo)

Specials* Saving Pirate Ryan (cameo)

Trivia* One of Rocky's television series models used to be on display in Canada at Nitrogen Studios and wore his smiling face. It has been sent back to the UK and was put on display at the 'History of Thomas & Friends' exhibition at the Midland Railway Centre in May 2019 with his happy, smiling, content, sad and angry faces sometimes. It was then later put on display at the Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition at Drayton Manor and wore his content face. As of July 2022, he is now wearing his smiling face.
* He, along with Rosie, are the only characters introduced in Series 10 to appear in CGI.
* Rocky has a much taller cab than his basis, in order to accommodate a face.
* Although Rocky says in Duck in the Water that he must have his crane arm secured properly, in Series 19-20, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, Journey Beyond Sodor, Deep Trouble, Emily to the Rescue and The Inventor's Spectacular Bridge, Rocky has been transported without his crane arm lowered, which is very dangerous.
* Rocky does not have windows on the front of his cab, making it difficult for the operator to see what is happening.
* In the eleventh series episode, Thomas and the Runaway Car, it was stated that Rocky was too heavy for Thomas to move. However, since the twelfth series, Thomas has been able to move him, as have several other smaller, weaker engines.
	+ The same goes for Percy in the fourteenth series. In Being Percy, Percy stated he was not strong enough to pull Rocky on his own, but since the nineteenth series, he has been able to move Rocky.
* At Day Out with Thomas events, Rocky has Bulgy's face.
* In his debut episode, Rocky had a whistle, which is basically the same as the Rainbow Sun's, and it basically came from Canadian National 3254's out of tune 1980s whistle. However, Rocky appears to lack a whistle in all of his future appearances.
* Unlike most Breakdown Cranes. Rocky has a whistle, which was only heard in Series 10.
* Rocky had a total of five facial expressions during the model era, one of which an angry face was never shown on-screen.