Duncan

Duncan

Background information

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

Character information

**Full name**
* Duncan the Stubborn Engine
* Duncan the Narrow Gauge Engine

**Age**
Unknown (*Engine*)

**Home**
Island of SodorScotland (*formerly*)

**Friends**
* Skarloey
* Rheneas
* Sir Handel
* Peter Sam
* Rusty
* Freddie
* Mighty Mac
* Madge
* Thomas
* James
* Luke

**Duncan** is a grumpy Scottish narrow gauge well tank engine who came to the Skarloey Railway as a spare engine after Peter Sam's accident with some slate trucks.

Personality
Duncan is a Scottish narrow gauge engine with rough manners and a strong temper, making him the least social of the Skarloey Railway fleet. He was prone to boisterously bouncing about, which became known as "rock 'n' roll", whenever the mood took him, which once led to wedging in the north mouth of Rheneas Tunnel (probably caused by keystones knocked down by his funnel) and derailing on a stretch of line near Cros-ny-Cuirn.
While Duncan means well, he often grumbles and complains (usually about not being polished or being over-worked) and can be rude, rough, stubborn and bad-tempered. This can easily be seen in his dislike for Christmas for some reason. He claims to be a plain engine who believes in plainly speaking, an approach that can cause him to make callous or belligerent remarks. Duncan can be a competitive engine too, particularly with James. He can be impulsive, even more so than Sir Handel, and make rash decisions that usually lead to his downfall, (such as getting in arguments or short-lived feuds with Rusty). He is not always quick to apologise or realise the error of his ways. However, upon Skarloey recalling Rheneas' gallant act to get his passengers home, Duncan readily admitted he had the wrong attitude and tried hard to be a more useful, social and respectable engine in the future. When Rusty helped him after his derailment near Cros-ny-Cuirn, Duncan apologised to him and extended a wheel of friendship, proving he has gratitude.
Despite his rough ways, Duncan is often focused, confident, resourceful, kind, and has a big heart. He is always willing to lend a helping hand whenever he can and wants to be really useful.

Technical Details
Basis
Duncan is based on the Talyllyn Railway's Douglas, an Andrew Barclay "E" or "Light" Class 0-4-0WT. Several other engines of this class are also preserved.

Duncan's basis
Livery
In the television series, he is painted golden yellow with black lining and gold boiler bands - as of the switch to CGI, however, the lining on his cab is unpainted. He also has a brass (originally black) nameplate on the side of his boiler and a black number plate on the side of his coal bunkers. According to The Big Book of Engines, Duncan was originally painted red before coming to Sodor.

Appearances
Television Series* **Season 1** - The Trouble With Trucks (does not speak) and Wilbert, Frank, and the Milk (cameo)
* **Season 2** - Skarloey & Rheneas Depart For Crewe
* **Season 3** - Rusty Rocks the Railway, Clumsy Culdee and Rickety's Revenge
* **Season 4** - Duncan and the Passengers
* **Season 5** - Skarloey and the Big Hill
* **Season 6** - Little Engines, Big Help
* **Season 7** - Neil's Nonsense and Not So Fearless Freddie
* **Season 8** - The Crash Course and Find That Bike!
* **Season 9** - A Frenzy for Falcon and Special Tunnel
* **Season 10** - A Crack in the Track and Tour de Sodor
* **Season 11** - Around the Railyard in 64 Seconds, Duncan in the Dumps, Hank and the Hatt St Crossing (cameo), Wooden Brakes (cameo) and BoCo and the Cocoa (cameo)
* **Season 12** - The Importance of Being Billy (cameo), Gordon's Last Hurrah (cameo) and Rheneas and the Risky Rendezvous
* **Season 13** - Victor's Loco Motives (cameo) and Ivo Hugh's Day at the Zoo (cameo)
* **Season 14** - Millie's Castle Hassle and Freddie at the Ready
* **Season 15** - Philip Finds a Friend (cameo) and The Maron Station Makeover (cameo)
* **Season 16** - Bulstrode Barges In (cameo), Luke Dukes It Out and Bowler Strikes Again (cameo)
* **Season 17** - Hard to Handel (cameo)

Specials* Lady the Lost Engine (does not speak)

Trivia* Duncan's large scale model is currently on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum in Japan and is wearing his chuckling face.
* Duncan is the only narrow gauge steam engine who has not gained a new whistle sound since his debut in the fourth series.
* Duncan was meant to appear in The Great Little Railway Show, but he was not included as Tom Stourton had to only record one line of dialogue.
* Duncan's happy face for his small scale model (used in the fourth and fifth series) is now owned by Twitter user Thomas Merchandise.
* Duncan's whistle sound was sourced from the American locomotive Rio Grande No. 168.
* Duncan is the only narrow gauge engine whose whistle hasn't been changed since his debut, although in the seventh series a cutout version of his whistle is heard, sounding it a bit different.
* In the US dub, Alec Baldwin provided a Liverpudlian accent for Duncan in the fifth series, and then provided him with a standard American accent with an obnoxious tone in the sixth series. To date, he is the only US narrator/actor in the television series to not give Duncan a Scottish accent.
* Following to his introduction in the CGI series Duncan is much shorter than the other Narrow Gauge Engines. This is somewhat ironic since he was much taller in *The Railway Series.*
* In the French dub, he is called Dominique.