Alistair, Mirabel and Benjamin

**Alistair (née Alice), Mirabel and Benjamin the Slippies** are Duck's coaches and three of the deuteragonists of the Seventyverse. They are also composite characters of Alice and Mirabel from the Railway Series and the Slip Coaches from the TV series.

## Backstory

When Duck worked on the Great Western Railway, he sometimes work with Alice, Mirabel and Benjamin on the Sunshine Line. When diesels came into existence, Alice (who came out as male and renamed himself Alistair), Mirabel and Benjamin went to the Rolling Hills Railway where they worked with Duck's sister, Jackie. Years later, the North Western Railway was experiencing a lot of passenger rush due to the Summer rush and Duck would tell the other engines about the slip coaches. James then told Sir Charles Topham Hatt about the slip coaches but never told him it was Duck's idea. Alistair, Mirabel and Benjamin arrived the next day and Duck was ecstatic until he learnt that James was pulling them and had taken credit for the idea. However, James did not know how to handle slip coaches and after a mishap at Bluff's Cove, they refused to work with him anymore. Luckily, Duck was nearby, much to their delight and after learning the truth, Sir Charles assigned Duck to pull the slip coaches. Since then, Duck has used them regularly on passenger runs.

## Little Western Crew

### Duck

Duck's slippies on the Sunshine line, and he loves them very much. When he got them back one year during the Summer rush, he was ecstatic to see them. Maybe a bit too ecstatic, as he neglected Old Slow Coach in the excitement. He also is very particular as to who he lets pull them. While a bit hesitant to let Oliver take them, he did start mentoring him. However, letting Arry or Bert near them is a huge mistake, as Dowager Sharon Hilary Hatt found out. He also didn't take kindly to Thomas and Conner using the slippies without his consent during *Last Train for Christmas*, if Diesel's thoughts during *Ruffled Feathers* was anything to believe.

### Oliver

Duck allows Oliver to take the trio, and even mentored him with how to use them. Until Isabel and Dulcie joined the railway, Oliver and Duck took it in turns with the slippies. They don't hold any ill will to him for messing up on their first run together. Unfortunately, like Duck, Oliver got caught up in the curiosity of seeing the slippies, and neglected Old Slow Coach.

### Jackie

Jackie had known the slippies for quite a while, long enough to figure out that Alice was really Alistair, a boy. When she came to Sodor, she and Duck share the slippies between them.

## Other relationships

### James

When Alistair, Mirabel and Benjamin first arrived, they were assigned to work with James. The three coaches are nervous as they were unsure whether he knew how to use them properly. They were proven correct when James slowed down at Bluff's Cove to show his paintwork. Unfortunately, Benjamin had been uncoupled at the time and bumped into the back of the rest of the train. The slip coaches then refused to move, as James did not know how to use them.

### Arry and Bert

Because Arry and Bert attempted to murder Duck, the slip coaches were not happy when Dowager Hatt assigned them to work with Arry for the day. As a result, they stalled their brakes and made it difficult for him, so much so that when Duck demanded them back, Arry was only too glad to comply.

### Dowager Hatt

The Slippies didn't trust Dowager Hatt after she assigned them to Arry.

## Personality

Alistair, Mirabel and Benjamin are very good friends with Duck. Like most coaches, they do not like being bumped by an engine. They can be very judgemental if they are not treated right, and need to be handled delicately.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Alistair, Mirabel and Benjamin are based on the Great Western Railway Collett Slip Coaches. These coaches had the unique ability in which they could be uncoupled at stations without stopping. The uncoupled coaches are stopped when the guard sets a handbrake. In an era when the railway companies were highly competitive, they strove to keep journey times as short as possible, avoiding intermediate stops wherever possible.

The last service took place in 1960 and was hauled by GWR Castle Class No. 5023 Brechin Castle on the London to Wolverhampton express. One slip coach remains, however, it has not moved in decades.

### Livery

Alistair, Mirabel and Benjamin are painted claret and cream with black roofs and window frames, loosely based off of the chocolate and cream livery used by coaches on the Great Western Railway, later the Western region of British Railways.

## Differences between the books, episodes and the series

* In the books, Alice and Mirabel were autocoaches just like Isabel and Dulcie and were given to Duck after Oliver and Isabel joined the Little Western. In the episodes, Alice and Mirabel were replaced by the slip coaches who never had any individual names. In this series, the slip coaches are called Alistair, Mirabel and Benjamin, with Alistair formerly being Alice until he came out as male.