Bulgy

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> Free the roads! - Bulgy's catchphrase
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**Bulgy** is a bad-tempered double-decker bus with an ideological opposition to railways. His favourite phrase is "Free the roads!"

## History

### The Railway Series

Bulgy despised railways and believed that they would eventually be completely replaced by roads. He even carried a poster on his side telling people to "JOIN THE ANTI-RAIL LEAGUE." His slogan was "free the roads!"

Bulgy once attempted to steal Duck and Oliver's passengers by pretending to be a railway bus. He was determined to get them to Tidmouth before Duck could, but he got stuck under a bridge after trying to take a short cut. After Duck safely got his passengers across the bridge and took them to their destination, Bulgy's lies were exposed. He was subsequently turned into a henhouse and placed near the bridge, which is now nicknamed Bulgy's Bridge.

### Thomas & Friends

As in the Railway Series, Bulgy attempted to steal Duck and Oliver's passengers but got stuck under a bridge. Eventually, he was converted into a henhouse and placed near the said bridge.

Bulgy was later given a second chance and brought back to the road to help with passengers while Thomas and Emily needed repairs. Unfortunately, his driver brought him back to his field for the night after he was restored and the chickens who had lived in him nestled in his luggage racks and caused trouble the following morning. Under Emily's suggestion, he decided to become a mobile vegetable stand. Bulgy enjoyed his new green livery and his work delivering vegetables — they do not lay eggs and they never complain. Throughout the rest of the model series, Bulgy made few appearances in both his green and red liveries.

Bulgy returned in the twenty-first series, much to Thomas' confusion, to which Bulgy explained that he was put back into service; this was to help Thomas while Bertie was being mended. Bulgy expressed his belief that it would be better if passengers simply used roads instead of railways, but Sir Topham Hatt reminded him not to return to his anti-rail ways, lest he find some chickens that needed a place to stay, so Bulgy relented and apologised.

Once, Bulgy accidentally caused a chain reaction that catapulted a bag of soil into a nearby water tower and contaminated the water that Thomas took on. Bulgy was the only one to witness, but instead of telling Thomas not to take it, he decided to use it to his advantage as an opportunity to take more passengers while the engines became ill and unable to work. When Bertie's engine was damaged due to the amount of passengers he was carrying, Bulgy offered to take his passengers for him. Unfortunately, Bulgy took on more than he thought he could handle and eventually broke his axle wheels. The engines were soon well enough to work and much to Bulgy's dismay, he had to be taken to the repair garage by Thomas.

## Personality

Bulgy was a very grumpy, formerly cold-hearted and cynical double-decker bus who firmly believed that roads are superior to railways and would occasionally lie to get himself out of trouble. After being restored, he saw the error of his ways and changed his attitude.

Nowadays, he means well and works hard, and while he still believes passengers should travel by road—if the chance comes, he is willing to take advantage of an engine's inability to take passengers, even if it means sabotaging them if he thinks he can get away with it. However, Sir Topham Hatt keeps a close watch on him and makes sure that he is on his best behaviour, gently reminding Bulgy about what happens when he is not. Bertie also serves to mediate his opposing personality.

According to the "Character Cube" bonus features of several US DVDs, Bulgy has no scruples and knows how to tell a lie when he is in a tight jam and is good friends with Diesel.

## Livery

Bulgy was originally painted scarlet and cream, but after becoming a vegetable bus he was painted green and cream. Prior to this, he had a sign on his left side reading "RAILWAY BUS" and another sign on his right side reading "JOIN THE ANTI-RAIL LEAGUE" - this was replaced with another "RAILWAY BUS" sign when he was restored. He also has signs on his front and back, reading "FREE THE ROADS" and a nameplate above his rear door. When he was repainted, the signs on his sides were replaced with green ones reading "MOBILE GROCERY STORE" in white. In a tenth series Learning Segment, he was repainted back into his original scarlet and cream livery. In the Railway Series, his face is black but in the series, he has a traditional grey face. In the Railway Series, when he was turned into a henhouse, his right side read "BALEFUL RUST" and had "BULGY" chalked in right on his body.

## Appearances

* Specials - Attack of the Philips (*cameo*)

## Trivia

* Even though Oliver states that he only calls Bulgy such in his debut episode, his nameplates still read Bulgy.
* In the Railway Series, one of Bulgy’s catchphrases was “down with railways.” This phrase was omitted in the television series until he returned in *Unscheduled Stops*, in which he uses the phrase at the end.
* According to the clearance sign that appears on the bridge in the Railway Series and the television series, Bulgy is approximately fourteen feet and nine inches tall.
* According to the magazine story, *Playbus*, Bertie and Bulgy are cousins.
* The Official Website states that he is now a refreshment stand. However, this was a mistake.
	+ In magazines, he has been converted into a playbus and a greenhouse.
* He is the final non-human character to be re-introduced in the CGI series after a period of absense.
* Bulgy is the first road vehicle to hate railways.
* Bulgy's third series behind the scenes photos artwork and the begining of his debut episode depict him with his "Railway Bus" and "Join the Anti-Rail League" switched around on the second deck, just like in the Railway Series. This also carried over into promotional art and merchandise.
* In the UK dub, Bulgy developed a nasal voice in the seventh series, and in the US dub, Bulgy developed a stuffy-nosed voice.
* Bulgy uses Dunlop branded tires.
* Bulgy was only seen in his green livery in two episodes, those being *Bulgy Rides Again* and *Follow that Flour*. He was reverted back to his red livery in a tenth series learning segment and *Excellent Emily*.
* According to SiF, Bulgy was intended to be the main character of one episode in the twenty-first series. This episode, along with seven others, was cancelled to make way for the production of the twenty-second series.
* If one looks closely, Bulgy has a beard in The Railway Series, this feature was removed when he was introduced in the model series.

## Quotes

> "YAH! BOO! SNUBS!" - Bulgy to Duck and Oliver after stealing their passengers.
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> Free the roads. Free the roads from Railway Tyranny! - Bulgy
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