Duck

Montague (affectionately known as "Duck" because of his supposed waddle) is a Great Western 57xx pannier tank engine. Previously being the station pilot at Tidmouth, he now has his own branch line that runs between Tidmouth and Arlesburgh and is commonly seen working with Oliver.

In the Railway Series, Duck has two Great Western autocoaches named Alice and Mirabel. In the television series, he has three Great Western Slip Coaches, collectively nicknamed Slippies.

## Bio

Duck: A peacekeeper that was born to shop! He's no dummy when it comes to stopping tears!

## 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 seventeenth season episode The Thomas Way and has since established a firm relationship 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 likes things to run like clockwork, without problems, or interruptions, which makes 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, Oliver, Toad, BoCo and the Scottish twins.

## Appearance

### 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.

Duck's basis
### Livery

In the Railway Series, Duck is painted in the Great Western Railway's Brunswick green livery with yellow lining and black wheels, splashers and pipes. He has the letters "GWR" written on his pannier tanks in yellow and red. He had brass GWR numberplates on his cab sides (5741) along with a builder's plate on either side of his cab, as well as a brass safety valve cover. Despite his appearance on arrival, it is said in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways that he was in British Railways livery which would make sense for 1955. It is highly likely that he would have carried the Lion and Wheel insignia during this period. The Swindon trained Sir Topham Hatt soon allowed him to revert to his GWR livery though, possibly at the same time he was given above running plate sand boxes. It is worth pointing out his number plate is not necessarily the one originally assigned to him during his building.

In the television series, 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.

## Trivia

* The Rev. W. Awdry's model of Duck explains his name: when the model for Duck was purchased for Awdry's model railway, it was soon discovered that its wheels were uneven, hence giving him a "waddling" gait. He was promptly christened "Duck" by Awdry's children.
* In the Greek dub of the first seven seasons, Duck is female and is called "Jackie". As of the seventeenth season, Duck has reverted back to his original gender.
* In the French dub, prior to Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, Duck was called 'Duck' instead of 'Canard', the French word for 'Duck'. However, since Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, he is referred to by his real name.
* One of Duck's models used to be on display at Nitrogen Studios.
* Duck has sandboxes, while most of the engines of his class do not. However, they were absent in Percy the Small Engine and Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine.
* According to SiF's interview with Sam Barlow, Duck was originally considered to be part of the Steam Team, but was dropped in favour of Emily so as to give a female character a more prominent role.