Gordon

**Gordon the Big Engine** is one of the main protagonists of the SeventyVerse and the fourth engine on the North Western Railway.

## Backstory

Built as the official prototype for the flagship express engine on the Great Northern, Gordon took immense pride in such a feet. That being said, he was an excellent student to a GNR C1 named Alice. Also on his time on the mainland, when the GNR became the LNER, Gordon met another engine named Henry. Much to his shock, this engine was his half-brother, made with rejected plans by Sir Nigel Greasley. Gordon became quite protective of Henry, and when plans were arranged for Gordon to go to Sodor, he took Henry with him.

## Main line Team

### Henry

Though they get into some disagreements, Gordon and Henry are very close. Gordon stood in Henry's defense when he was being ridiculed for his old shape, and was a very good brother to him.

### James

James and Gordon have a turbulent friendship. Occasionally, Gordon calls James a 'goods engine' or calls him 'little', but he does have James' back. Their relationship was especially strained when Gordon blamed James for Edward departing Tidmouth sheds, but Gordon did feel guilty about that.

### Donald and Douglas

Gordon was a bit surprised when the twins showed up together, but was very welcoming of them. He later lead the indignation meeting when he realised Donald or Douglas were going to be scrapped, and suggested Duck be a deputation for them. Occasionally, the twins do make fun of Gordon's nonsense, like when he was scared by a cow.

### Bear

Gordon trusts Bear to take the WildNorWester when he's unavailable, and generally has a good relationship with him. Not too much else is known about their relationship.

### Emily

Gordon highly respects Emily as they are both express engines of the Great Northern Railway. He was also pleasantly surprised when he found out Alice was mentored by Emily. Unfortunately, their relationship faltered when Gordon thought Emily stole Annie and Clarabel from Thomas.

### Murdoch

Not much is known about their relationship, but Gordon appreciated Murdoch's help during the London trip.

## Other friendships

### Thomas

Though very strained when the duo first met, they started to realise they were very similar. Thomas had a pride for his branch line and Gordon had a pride for the express. Perhaps it's this, coupled with the mine shaft incident, that got both engines to form an alliance. This is a double-edged sword, as Gordon's boastfulness rubbed off on Thomas, and it nearly tore apart his relationship with Percy and Toby. One of the stronger parts of their alliance is when Thomas got Gordon to come clean about being upset over his siblings being scrapped, and Thomas revealed he lost his siblings too. The two of them cried over this fact together, which helped them to move on in the long run.

### Percy

Percy's relationship with Gordon isn't as strong as it is with Thomas. Many arguments include Gordon mocking Percy for his 'scarf' incident and telling him there was such a thing as a 'backing signal'. However, Gordon did help rescue Percy from a bank of earth when they first met, so they have each other's backs.

### Duck

Gordon and Duck's prides do get in the way, such as when were arguing over the 100mph steam engine speed record. But that being said, Gordon and Duck do have each other's backs. One such instance was when Gordon realised Duck was worried if Diesel would replace him in the yards. Another instance of this was when Duck realised Gordon was upset when his siblings were dead, and he apologised for being insensitive.

### Nia

Gordon at first was outraged as Nia 'stole Edward's spot at Tidmouth', even though Edward had moved out for quite a while. However, after Percy ranted at him, Gordon had serious time to reflect and managed to patch things up with Nia. The two are currently on good terms.

### Spencer

Gordon and Spencer have an enstrained cousin relationship. Spencer makes Gordon look humble by comparison, and the silver engine can rally Gordon up. Things got worse when Spencer almost got Hiro scrapped. Gordon even compared him to Arry and Bert, much to Spencer's outrage.

## Romance

### Rebecca

Gordon wasn't in too good of state of mind when he first saw Rebecca. Yet, she was exactly what he needed. Rebecca provided a listening ear for Gordon when he was upset over Henry and Edward leaving Tidmouth. And in turn, he helped her through her past trauma of losing her sister, Miranda.

## Personality

Gordon knows he's the fastest engine on Sodor, and one of the strongest ones too. This can get to his pride and ego, and sometimes make him impossible to be around. But at his core, Gordon has proven to be one of the most humble engines, and with a strong sense of loyalty.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Gordon is a prototype for the LNER A1s, built between 1922-1935 and rebuilt between 1928-1949 (He himself was built between 1920-1921). This engines were primarily named after racehorses in The Derby. He also had a rebuild at Crewe at some point. Gordon's middle piston and conjugated valve gear were removed, and his eight wheel tender was replaced with a Fowler tender. Unlike most of the other engines in this series, Gordon doesn't have a 'real engine' counterpart.

Gordon's streamlined form as the Shooting Star is based on a streamlined Pennsylvania Railroad K4 (Hank's basis), more specifically #3768. The K4s were, incidentally, the inspiration for the design of the boilers on Gordon's basis, the Gresley A1s.

### Livery

Gordon is painted in NWR cerulean with red lining on his cab, splashers, tender, cylinders and boiler and yellow lining around his windows. His number (4) is painted on his tender in yellow with a red outline. He has a white running board with red bufferbeams and valences.

In his streamlined form as the Shooting Star, Gordon is cerulean with red, silver and dark blue stripes which wrap around his body. His number is encircled by a red circle with a dark blue background. He also has a star emblem on the shrouding just above his cylinders, which is silver with a while outline.

Before arriving on Sodor, he was painted in Great Northern Railway (GNR) apple green with white and black lining and brown frames.

## Differences from the episodes and the books

* Gordon came to Sodor at the same time as Henry, rather than after.
* Gordon was on Sodor when Henry was walled in the tunnel. According to the books, he came to Sodor later.
* Gordon took up some of Henry's spots in the book when the latter was being rude. This is to fit more in line with Gordon's Brenner era persona.
* Gordon is in a romantic relationship with Rebecca.

## Trivia

* Gordon is stated to be straight during a 30 Facts About the SeventyVerse document on Railfanbronymedia's page. Despite this, and his prideful nature, he has no problems with non-straight couples.
* The preferred voice actor for Gordon is Keith Wickham, who voiced Gordon in the UK dub of the CGI episodes and specials.