Duck

North Western Railway

**Montague**, affectionately known as "**Duck**" because of his supposed waddle, is a green pannier tank engine. He holds great pride in being Great Western and this results in him having a strong work ethic. This can, however, be a cause for friction with his colleagues, when he insists that his way is the only right way to do things.

## Biography

Duck worked at Paddington before moving to Sodor in 1955 to take over Percy's shunting duties at Tidmouth, leaving the latter free to assist with the construction of Knapford Harbour.

## Personality

Duck is a Great Western pannier tank engine. His real name is Montague, but he is usually called Duck, which he prefers. This is said to be because he waddles, though he does not really. Duck knows how to hold his own and tends to stand for no nonsense from any engines that might get ideas above their station and try to order him or others about; as a result of this and his strength, most tank engines look up to him. though he has never gotten along particularly well with Thomas, until the day when Thomas has tought his another way of doing things ever since that day he has been firm friends with him. However, his moral code is not perfect and often favours fairness to kindness, like when he asserted to Percy that Thomas deserved his comeuppance at the scrapyard. He enjoys running like clockwork, without problems, or interruptions, making him a very efficient and loyal engine. He takes tremendous pride in the responsibilities bestowed upon him, particularly in his role of running his own branch line with Oliver, sometimes known as the "Little Western" as a result.

Duck is cheerful, busy and tends to bustle about. He is very proud of his noble Great Western heritage, often claiming that "there are two ways of doing things: the Great Western way, or the wrong way", occasionally to the annoyance of other engines. He strongly admires City of Truro and enjoyed talking "Great Western" with him when he visited the North Western Railway.

Duck is often welcoming of newcomers, even most diesels, in spite of having lies told about him by Devious Diesel not long after his arrival. He will often support the underdog, stick up for his friends and help others see the error of their ways. However, occasionally he does have the "Tank Engine sense" of teasing the bigger engines such as Gordon. Duck is also known to have a rivalry with James, but he has earned the respect of the bigger engines and has firm friendships with Edward, Percy, and BoCo.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Duck is based on a Great Western Railway 57xx Class 0-6-0 pannier tank engine with added sand boxes. Duck's Great Western number, 5741, was that of a real 57xx, built by the North British Locomotive Co. in 1929 and scrapped at Swindon in 1958. 863 of these engines were built by various manufacturers over a 21 year period, making it the most produced class of British tank engine. 16 of these engines survive in preservation. However in Percy the Small Engine and The Eight Famous Engines, Duck was incorrectly illustrated as a Great Western Railway 64xx Class 0-6-0 pannier tank engine.

### Livery

Duck is painted in the North Western Railway's green livery, unlined, with a green safety valve cover and black wheels. The number "8" is painted on each side of his cab in yellow, upon a black background with a yellow border.