Jack

Duck

Background information

**First episode**
"The Trouble With Trucks"

Character information

**Full name**
Jack the Front Loader

**Age**
Unknown (*Road Vehicle*)

**Home**
Island of Sodor

**Friends**
* Nelson
* Alfie
* Oliver the Excavator
* Max and Monty
* Kelly
* Byron
* Ned
* Isobella
* Patrick
* Brenda
* Buster
* Darcy
* Jenny Packard
* Thomas
* Percy

**Quote**
"It's off to the works with you tomorrow, Jack. The Pack can't have a front loader with bent arms.""You mean, I can STAY?!""I wouldn't have it any other way.”

**Jack** is a friendly and enthusiastic front loader who works for the Sodor Construction Company. He is Alfie's best friend.

Personality
Jack is brave and will not take any hassle, as seen whenever he stands up to Max and Monty when they bully him and Alfie, or when he rescued Thomas and Stephen. He is also kind and caring but tends to be rather impulsive. Despite being one of the younger members of the Pack, Jack has the makings of a good leader. He can also be a bit panicky like when Monty fell down into a mineshaft.

Technical Details
Basis
Between the sixth and twelfth series, Jack was based on a Nuffield tractor with an added front loader.
Since the special, King of the Railway, Jack was designed as an International 454 tractor. Because of this, his face shape has changed dramatically from round to rectangular.

Jack's basis
Livery
Jack was painted red with the top half of his cab and his wheels painted cream. He had the number 11 painted in cream on his sides. From King of the Railway onwards, the top half of his cab and his number are painted white, his back wheels are painted grey and his front wheels are painted red.

Appearances
Television Series* **Season 1** - The Trouble With Trucks (cameo)
* **Season 2** - The Daring Duel
* **Season 5** - Snow Can't Stop Us
* **Season 8** - Jack is Back
* **Season 12** - Greetings, Montague! (not named; does not speak) and Percy Gets a Promotion
* **Season 13** - The Duke of Hazard, Oliver's Fossil Fright and Ivo Hugh's Day at the Zoo (cameo)
* **Season 14** - Hugo Takes Flight
* **Season 15** - Roundhouse Roulette (cameo), For Whom The Belle Tolls and The Island Of Misfit Engines (cameo)
* **Season 16** - Bulstrode Barges In, Painting the Rosie's Red (cameo) and Paxman Pulls Through (cameo)
* **Season 17** - Dustin the Really Useless Engine (cameo), Sidney Transplant (cameo), Wellsworth the Wait, Oliver Confusion (cameo), Toby, Or Not Toby (cameo), Thomas' Crown Affair (mentioned), and Para-Norman Activity (cameo)

Specials* Thomas and the Storm (cameo)
* Lady the Lost Engine
* Claw of the Law
* Saving Pirate Ryan

Trivia* According to Robert Gauld-Galliers, Jack was originally going to be called **Helpful Harry**.
* In some promotional sketches of the Pack, Jack is seen with a backhoe arm and bucket. According to an SiF interview with Chris Lloyd, the arm was built but was too problematic as it was hard to store all of the radio gear inside the model. An interview with Phil Fehrle gives a very different reason: "...if a story required Jack to be digging (using his back-hoe) and interacting with another character working at the same time, his face would be facing away from the action. For story purposes, it was important to feature the faces as much as possible; thus, the backhoe was removed".
* Jack has had a few modifications in the television series:
	+ King of the Railway:
		- He gained hydraulics.
		- His exhaust pipe became taller and gained holes on the sides, as well as a handle.
		- He decreased in size.
		- His face changed from round to square.
		- His rear wheel wells were moved back.
		- The tread patterns on his tyres changed slightly.
		- The colour of his alloys also changed from cream to grey.
		- His roof became completely orange.
		- His number increased in size.
		- His bucket increased in size.
		- The colour of his cab changed from cream to white.
		- His wipers were removed.
* Nathan Clarke did an audio sample for Jack on his DAA Management Page.
* A semi-complete face mask of Jack was preserved by the Top Props preservation group.
* Jack's Trackmaster Push Along toy lacks his number, his larger wheel is also sized down.
* Jack is the only character to have his face change shape over the course of the series.
* Jack had a total of fifteen facial expressions, five of which (confused, drowsy, intrigued, anxious and yawning) were not used on-screen.
* According to Meet the Characters!, Jack is now the leader of the Pack likely due to Kelly not returning in CGI.
* Jack shares his name with Hilary Fortnam's grandson. Fortnam was the youngest daughter of *The Railway Series* creator Wilbert Awdry.
* Jack's horn sound is similar to Caroline and Bertie’s current horn sound. It was reused for Brum in The Adventures of Brum, Dodger in Bob the Builder: Project: Build It and for PUTT-PUTT in the computer game series "PUTT-PUTT" developed by Humongous Entertainment.
* Jack is the only Pack member, as well as the only character introduced in the sixth series, to be made into the Thomas Engine Collection Series range. He was also the last character to be made into the aforementioned range.