Duck

"*There are two ways of doing things, the Great Western way and, the wrong way.*"
— Duck to Thomas, Visitor

## Character Information

### Arrived on Sodor:

1934 (First visit)
1960 (Permanently)

### Works at:

* Great Western Railway (1929-1947)
* British Railways (1948-1960)
* North Western Railway (1960-present)

### Basis:

GWR 5700 Class

**Montague Stanford** (nicknamed **Duck**) is a Great Western GWR 57xx.

## Biography

Duck was built in 1929 at the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow and quickly gained his nickname from his waddle. He worked on a branch line of the Great Western Railway. In 1931, he met a newly built diesel locomotive named  Bruce while at the Hao Zowyn branch line and gave him advice on how to prove himself for the LMS executives. A conflict started between them as Diesel became more tyrannical with the trucks and when he learned the diesel had been passing off his advice as his own. Diesel would soon get knocked down a peg after breaking down and Duck would soon bring about the end of his rule in the yard. He would also visit Sodor from time to time. On one of these visits in 1934, he had visited during a big day for the Nor'Easters as they had gotten a new engine and they had been given the contract for a large goods train from the Duchess. He told the Midis that the Duchess had arrived early, as well as James. Later, he witnessed Diesel throw a truck into the back of Percy while he, James and Thomas were moving the goods train. Because of his busy schedule, he wasn't able to tell Thomas about it until the next morning, who then spread the news to the others.

In 1938, Duck would visit Sodor once more along with the GWR's flagship engine,  City of Truro, otherwise known as Montgomery, and he told them about his motto which has rubbed off on him: "There is two ways of doing things: The Great Western Way and the wrong way." While Montgomery would leave the next day, Duck stayed behind to help with the work.

One night, while Sodor was in the midst of strikes, he came to Henry's assistance with his train after Colin couldn't help him. He had arrived on Sodor as a goodwill gesture to the LMS and the LNER after the thieving incident with Wendell. While Duck was helping Henry up the hill, his pushing unintentionally destroyed the brake van which was getting old. While Duck would continue to help on Sodor after the end of the strikes and no one teased him about the accident, it would inadvertently reawaken Dominick's spirit.

In 1960, Duck and Oliver were reassigned to Sodor to build and subsequently run the new Waterton Branch on the west coast of the Island, which helped them get away from their old branch which has been swamped with constantly breaking down diesels who never thanked them when they helped out. The two of them then proceeded to the construction site, where they would be assisted by engines from the Ffarquhar Branch two at a time. Things went well until Oliver had to go to the works after falling bunker-first into a turntable well, so The Fat Controller arranged for Diesel to help out instead. Duck didn't like this, as he still was angry with Diesel as he had never apologised for his actions. Although Duck and Diesel made an effort to work together at the Fat Controller's behest, they soon started arguing again, with Percy taking Duck's side. After being persuaded by Toby, they started acting more amiably again, only for Diesel to attack Duck and Percy out of blind fury after overhearing the trucks singing his reviled song and S.C.Ruffey claimed a gleeful Duck shared it when it was really Percy. After a heated row broke out again, the three engines returned to their sheds.

Duck had decided to press charges against Diesel and had the backing of the Fat Controller. That night, as he reprimanded Diesel, Duck began to have second thoughts about pressing charges as he realised Diesel putting his animosity with Duck aside to assist with the project did matter. Seeing Diesel's remorse, he and Percy forgave him and terminating the end of their rivalry that had lasted for almost thirty years.

## Persona

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.

## Livery

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.

In the Sodor Short, Glutton, Duck was painted orange, mostly for comedic purposes, moreso with him being Eric's "Duck l'Orange" dish. This later occured in Glitch.

## Basis

Duck is based on a Great Western Railway 57xx Class 0-6-0 pannier tank engine with added sand boxes. 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.

## Trivia

* His real name is **Montague**, but he is usually called **Duck**, which he prefers. It’s said to be because he waddles, though he does not really.
	+ The real origin of his nickname came from Wilbert Awdry's model of a GWR 57xx which had a malformed wheel that waddled.

* In The Stories of Sodor episodes based on episodes from TUGS, Duck takes the role of Izzy Gomez.
* His full name is **Montague Stanford**, as revealed in Childbirth.

## Appearances

### The Stories of Sodor

#### Season 1

* Preview *(cameo)*
* Prologue *(cameo)*
* Percy
* Scrap *(cameo)*

#### Season 2

* Visitor
* Thief *(cameo)*
* Strike
* Spectre *(mentioned)*
* Prejudice *(cameo)*
* Maintenance *(mentioned)*

#### Stories of War

* Evacuation
* Blitz *(cameo)*
* Espionage *(cameo)*
* Atrocity *(mentioned)*

#### Season 3

* Controller *(cameo)*
* Books *(cameo)*
* Nationalisation
* Fog

#### Season 4

* Diesel
* Secrets *(cameo)*
* Diplomacy *(does not speak)*
* Animosity
* Revelations *(cameo)*
* Relationships *(mentioned)*
* Beeching
* Dieselisation
* Return *(cameo)*

#### Season 5

* Vandalism *(cameo)*
* Competition
* Enthusiasts *(cameo)*
* Training *(cameo)*
* Experiment *(cameo)*
* Fallout *(cameo)*

#### Sodor Shorts

* Monster
* Song *(cameo)*
* Justice
* Storytime
* Rap
* Marc *(cameo)*
* Switch
* Costume *(as a costume)*
* Remembrance *(does not speak)*
* Restaurant
* Travel
* Siege *(does not speak)*
* Mask
* Update *(in the new intro)*
* Sins
* Pets
* Adaptation *(cameo)*
* FRANKenstein
* Imposter *(as a disguise)*
* Possessed *(cameo)*
* Money
* Annoying
* Government
* Hypnotised
* Shakespeare
* Greed
* Glutton
* Wrath *(cameo)*
* Gaffe *(cameo)*
* Lineup
* X-Ray
* First
* Glitch
* Gender
* Childbirth *(mentioned)*
* Childhood
* Like
* Dislike
* Unlucky
* Dibs
* Duel
* Injury
* Tyranny *(cameo)*
* Sued
* Lawsuit *(does not speak)*
* Microtransactions
* Crypto
* Shylock
* Hiding
* Framed
* NFT
* WTF *(as a costume)*
* Borrow
* Backfire