Lady

## Lady the Magical Engine

**Lady** is a small, magical tank engine who serves as the guardian of the Magic Railroad, keeping the worlds of Shining Time and Sodor alive with her magic powers. She is the special engine of the Conductor family, and is owned and protected by Burnett Stone, who also serves as her driver.

## Biography

### *Thomas and the Magic Railroad*

Lady once came to visit the Island of Sodor a long time ago with her driver, Burnett Stone. Unfortunately, she was found by Diesel 10, an evil diesel engine who wanted to destroy her. Diesel 10 chased Lady across Sodor, and after Burnett used up all her coal and made her go too fast, Lady crashed. Burnett took Lady back to his workshop in Muffle Mountain and desperately tried to restore her to working order; however, he did not have the right type of coal to make her steam.

Lady remained dormant inside the workshop for many years, and without her magic, the Magic Railroad began to deteriorate, risking the existence of both Shining Time and Sodor. That all changed when Lily, Burnett's granddaughter, and Thomas brought a truck of coal from Sodor to Muffle Mountain. The Sudrian coal proved to be the right coal to make Lady steam, and she came back to life once more. Lady returned to Sodor once again, but unfortunately, she was once again found by Diesel 10. Lady, Burnett and Thomas ran away from Diesel 10 and ran over an old viaduct, which was beginning to crumble. Lady made it safely across the bridge with Thomas, while Diesel 10 fell into a barge below. Afterwards, Lady gave the Conductor family the gold dust they needed, and went back to working on the Magic Railroad. (*Film; Thomas and the Magic Railroad*)

### *Television Series*

Lady is described to be a very special steam engine, who works high up in the mountains of Sodor. When the steam and diesel engines were having a feud, Lady appeared to Thomas in a dream alongside Rusty the diesel. Lady told Thomas how he could resolve the argument between the two different kinds of engines by working together. (*TVS; Calling All Engines*)

## Personality and Traits

Very little is known about Lady's personality. However, judging by her very few lines in both her appearances, she appeared to be a wise and thoughtful engine.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Contrary to many characters that have been introduced in the Railway Series and television series, Lady does not have a specific basis, and is one of the only characters in the series to not be based on a real railway locomotive. It has been suggested that Lady bears some resemblance to Gladstone, the steam locomotive featured in the British 1936 film, Oh, Mr. Porter!, with the rear cab cut off and an enlarged chimney. In edition, Sodor "historian" Martin Clutterbuck has suggested that Lady could also based on "Lively Polly", owned by the Liverpool Overhead Railway Company.

GladstoneLively Polly
### Livery

Lady is painted a reddish-purple colour with gold lining on her cab, coal bunker, side tanks and cylinders. Her smokebox, valve gear, headlamps, buffers, dome and the top portion of her funnel are painted gold, while her cab roof, footplate and the lower portion of her funnel are painted a very dark purple. Her chassis is painted black, and her name is written on each side of her side tanks in gold, cursive lettering.

### Variations

In original concept art of her design, Lady was drawn as a 2-2-2 tank engine, with her name written on her wheel-arches. Her cab roof and the lower portion of her funnel were painted gold, and her smokebox door was much less realistic in design than the one on her final design. She had three headlamps instead of two, and her buffers were much closer together. Her design was drastically changed, and later concept art of her resembled her final design more than the first one had; however, her side tanks were very short and her crosshead was angled.

In her final design, Lady has a very short wheelbase with four wheels, large, block-like cylinders, and a footplate which curves at the end. The back of her cab is opened, and she has a short coal bunker with a cab roof over it. Her side tanks are curved at the end, and the top portion of her funnel and the lower part of her dome are elegantly-designed. She also has two golden headlamps mounted on each side of her footplate. Her boiler is slightly larger than her smokebox, suggesting she *might* be a saddle-tank engine. Strangely, she does not have a coupling on her front bufferbeam, but does on her back.

Lady's orginal concept artLady's later concept art
## Trivia

* Lady's face only appears when she is on Sodor; when she is in Muffle Mountain, only her smokebox door can be seen.
* Lady was originally not intended to speak in Thomas and the Magic Railroad; instead, her only method of communication with Thomas was by using her whistle to speak with him telepathically. In order to smooth over the drastic cuts made to the movie, she was given dialogue.
* Lady's whistle sound was later re-used for Millie starting with King of the Railway.