Rosie

**Rosie** is a lively little tank engine who has a crush on Thomas, which sometimes bothers him. She works as both a shunting engine and a mixed traffic engine. She used to work mainly at the Knapford Shunting Yards, but is now based at Vicarstown.

## Appearance

Rosie is a small tank engine who came to help Thomas on Alice's birthday. Rosie has a tall funnel and three domes. A golden headlamp and three red wheels. When she first arrived on Sodor, Rosie was painted lavender with light grey tank panels, red lining and gold boiler bands.

However, starting from the twenty-first series onwards, Rosie is painted cherry red with dark raspberry tank panels, gold boiler bands and light grey lining. She has gold lining above her wheels and around her ladder. Rosie has the letters "NWR" written on her tank panels in light grey and the number 37 in light grey under her cab windows. She still retains her original red buffer beams and wheels with light grey wheel rims.

## Personality

Rosie is a friendly, respectful and helpful tank engine who likes Thomas very much. She and Thomas like to have fun and also like to help each other when they are working. She also enjoys racing just as much as she loves to be really useful, and is very eager to prove her worth, as evidenced by her wanting to help Thomas deliver Alice's birthday presents, or even attempting to pull a special train on her own. Rosie can be described as a feisty, energetic and free-spirited tomboy who is not afraid to do hard work.

With the pass of the time, Rosie became more level-headed and mature, serving as a voice of reason to James' arrogance. She also stands no nonsense for teasing or rudeness, although she does have a good sense of humour and likes a friendly joke.

Rosie still manages a healthy relationship with Thomas, despite some incidents that unintentionally worry, annoy, or even embarrass her. But Rosie means well, and she's always happy to help her friends.

## Technical Details

Rosie is based on an USATC S100 Class/SR USA Class, designed for shunting duties in Europe during the Second World War. After the war ended, fifteen of these engines were sold to the Southern Railway, who modified them for use as dockyard shunters at Southampton. There, they worked alongside the LB&SCR E2s (Thomas’ class). Both classes were replaced by BR Class 07 diesels (Salty's class) in 1962, though members of the class remained in service on departmental duties until 1967.

Over 100 of the USATC S100 Class still remain, or are preserved, in various conditions in Europe, the US, China and Egypt. Four members of SR USA Class are preserved, including one at the Bluebell Railway. In addition, several Yugoslavian-built copies of the S100 design also exist, including two that have been imported into the UK and modified to represent USA Class members.

## Trivia

* Rosie is the first engine of several things:
* The first engine of an American class introduced in the television series and the second such engine (after Stanley) introduced in the franchise overall.
* The first engine in the television series to have their debut livery changed permanently and the second character in the television series overall, the first being S.C. Ruffey.
* The first engine in the television series to receive a number who did not already have one.
* The first engine in the television series to be lettered for the North Western Railway.
* Her whistle sound is the same as Thomas', but in a higher pitch.
* She along with Rocky are the only characters introduced in Series 10 to be in CGI.
* She is the only standard gauge engine outside of the Steam Team to be the lead character of an episode between the eighth and twelfth series.
* Most merchandise lines depicted Rosie without the lip gloss and blush that she had worn prior to the twenty-first series.
* Since her debut, Rosie has appeared in every series and special except The Adventure Begins, which was set before she arrived on the railway and the twentieth series, possibly due to her model being reworked for the twenty-first series and Journey Beyond Sodor.
* In the twenty-first series, Rosie was given the number **37**, this is a reference to her being the **thirty-seventh** standard gauge engine to be introduced in the television series.