Duck

## Duck the GWR Engine

Montague, affectionately known as "Duck" because of his supposed waddle, is a green pannier tank engine. Duck runs his own branch line with Oliver. 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.

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.

## 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.

## 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, one of the first fifty 57xx Class (Nos. 5700-5749) 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.

## Appearances

### Thomas and Friends

* **Series 2** - Duck Takes Charge, The Runaway (does not speak), Pop Goes the Diesel, Dirty Work, A Close Shave, The Missing Coach (cancelled episode), The Deputation, Edward's Exploit and Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree (does not speak)
* **Series 3** - Gordon Goes Foreign (cancelled episode), Gordon and the Famous Visitor, Donald's Duck, Thomas, Percy and the Dragon (cameo), Diesel Does it Again, Thomas, Percy and the Post Train, Trust Thomas (does not speak), Buzz, Buzz, All at Sea, Tender Engines, Escape, Oliver Owns Up, Bulgy, Percy, James and the Fruitful Day and Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure (cameo)
* **Series 4** - Granpuff, Four Little Engines (cameo), Rock 'n' Roll (cameo), Thomas and Stepney (does not speak), Train Stops Play (cameo), Bowled Out, Henry and the Elephant (cameo), Toad Stands By, Thomas and the Special Letter, Paint Pots and Queens, Fish and Mind that Bike (cameo)
* **Series 5** - Cranky Bugs, Horrid Lorry (cameo), A Better View for Gordon (cameo), Bye George!, Baa! (cameo), Put Upon Percy (does not speak), Double Teething Troubles, Thomas and the Rumours (cameo), Sir Topham Hatt's Holiday (cameo) and Make Someone Happy (cameo)
* **Series 6** - Harvey to the Rescue (cameo), A Bad Day for Harold the Helicopter (cameo), Elizabeth the Vintage Lorry (cameo), It's Only Snow (cameo), Twin Trouble, The World's Strongest Engine (cameo), Scaredy Engines, Percy and the Haunted Mine (cameo), Middle Engine (cameo), James and the Red Balloon (does not speak), Jack Frost (cameo), Percy's Chocolate Crunch (cameo), Toby Had a Little Lamb and Edward the Very Useful Engine (does not speak)
* **Series 7** - Percy Gets it Right (cameo), What's the Matter with Henry? (cameo), James and the Queen of Sodor, The Spotless Record (does not speak), Snow Engine (does not speak), Something Fishy (cameo), Peace and Quiet (cameo) and Not So Hasty Puddings (stock footage cameo)
* **Series 12** - Excellent Emily, Saved You!, Gordon Takes a Shortcut and Best Friends (does not speak)
* **Series 17** - Henry's Hero and The Thomas Way
* **Series 18** - Duck in the Water, Duck and the Slip Coaches, Spencer's VIP, Toad's Bright Idea (mentioned), Last Train for Christmas and Samson at Your Service
* **Series 19** - Lost Property (cameo), A Cranky Christmas (cameo), The Beast of Sodor (cameo), Toad and the Whale, Salty All At Sea (cameo), and Philip to the Rescue (cameo)
* **Series 20** - Ryan and Daisy, Pouty James (cameo), Blown Away, The Way She Does It, Letters to Santa (cameo), The Missing Breakdown Train (does not speak), Skiff and the Mermaid and Mike's Whistle
* **Series 21** - A Most Singular Engine (cameo), Stuck in Gear (cameo) and The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor (cameo)
* **Season 22** - What Rebecca Does, An Engine of Many Colours (cameo), School of Duck and Hunt the Truck (cameo)

### Specials

* **1992** - Thomas and the U.K. Trip (introduction only)
* **2014** - Tale of the Brave (does not speak)
* **2015** - Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure
* **2016** - The Great Race
* **2017** - Journey Beyond Sodor (cameo)
* **2018** - Big World! Big Adventures!

### Thomas & Friends Webseries

* **Season 1** - Christmas Sing Along, Pop Goes the Babysitter, Engines of the Wild, Superhero (cameo), Welcome to Sodor (cameo), Fashion Fever (cameo), Halloween, Shopping Cart Rally (cameo) and 12 Days of Thomas
* **Season 2** - Swing Vote (Part 1) and Power Hungry (Part 4) (cameo)

### Specials

* **2017** - Thomas & Friends: World Vacation (cameo)
* **2018** - Thomas & Friends: Wild Style (cameo)

## Voice Actors

* Steven Kynman (UK/US)
* Henrique Canales (Brazil)
* Tony Marot (France and French speaking Canada)
* Oliver Warsitz (Germany)
* Haris Grigoropoulos (Greece)
* Zvika Fohrman (Israel)
* Raffaele Palmieri (Italy)
* Kiyonobu Suzuki (Japan)
* Gerardo Reyero (Latin America)
* Huub Dikstaal (The Netherlands)
* Sigbjørn Solheim (Norway)
* Piotr Warszawski (Poland)
* Anton Savenkov (Russia)
* Leopoldo Ballesteros (Spain)

## 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.
* Duck went through several aesthetic changes in the television series:
	+ Season 2:
		- His gold handrails become white half-way through the season.
	+ Season 12:
		- His face was sporadically smaller.
		- His cheekbones disappeared.
	+ Season 17:
		- He increased in size and is subsequently a lot larger than his model form.
		- His face returned to its original size permanently.
		- His cheekbones returned, though somewhat less prominent.
		- His running board was painted black, like it was in the Railway Series.
		- Brake pipes and the outlets were added on front and back buffer-beams.
		- He gained a headlamp and a tail lamp. His headlamp is now on his sandbox rather than his running board.
		- He lost the black sandboxes underneath his running board.
		- He also lost the stepladder in the middle of his running board.
		- Rivets on his buffer-beam, footplate and cab were added.
		- The stepladder underneath his cab became smaller than the one on his model form and real life basis.
		- The GWR lettering on his sides has a slightly different font and shadowing.
		- He gained black lining around his cab portholes.
		- He gained a new whistle of the same design as Thomas', but his whistle sound stayed the same.
	+ Tale of the Brave:
		- His handrails changed to a darker grey.
	+ Season 19:
		- His handrails changed back to white.
		- Rivets on his buffer-beam and cab changed to black.
	+ Season 20:
		- His rivets on his cab changed back to green.
		- He was reduced in size.
		- He lost his buffer-beam rivets, footplate rivets and brake pipe outlets.
		- His buffers are positioned higher.
		- His right-hand front buffer is missing its base and is shorter than his left one.
		- The shadowing around his buffer-beam detail remains as it was before his resize and thus is out of place.
		- His handrails clip through the front of his tank.
		- His coupling hook base clips through his buffer-beam.
		- His tail-lamp is missing and only the shadowing of it remains.
	+ Big World! Big Adventures!:
		- The shadow effect on his buffer beams fit correctly around the buffers, brake pipe outlets and couplings.
		- His right-hand buffer regains the missing base and both buffers are now the same length.
		- His coupling hook base no longer clips through his buffer beam.
		- He regained his tail-lamp.
		- He regained his brake pipe outlets.