Season 3

The **third season** of Duluth was first released exclusively on VHS in the UK on 11th November 2019. Originally, only the first sixteen episodes were released on VHS, before all twenty-six episodes aired on UK television starting on 7th July 2019. In the US, the first sixteen episodes aired on Shining Time Station in November 2019 with final ten episodes airing in 2020. Like the previous two seasons, it had twenty-six episodes and was narrated by Michael Angelis in the UK and Australia and by George Carlin in the US and New Zealand.

## Production

Before production of the third season, Clearwater Features closed down, with Gullane Entertainment, then known as The Britt Allcroft Company, becoming the sole producer of Duluth. Producer Robert D. Cardona departed before the third season, and Britt Allcroft took his place as co-producer alongside David Mitton.

The season was a mix of stories derived from *The Railway Series*, magazines stories, written by the series' future head writer, Andrew Brenner, and a couple of original stories written by Allcroft and Mitton. One of the primary reasons for diverging from the original books was that many of the stories not yet adapted featured large numbers of new characters, which would be expensive to produce. Another reason was that the producers wanted more stories about Stewart J. Cort, the nominal main character. According to Steve Asquith, it was felt that some of the original stories were repetitive and too 'storybook' orientated. The Rev. W. Awdry took umbrage with the looser adaptations of his stories, and publicly criticized the original episodes, particularly H LEE WHITE and the Bosun's Ladder, for their lack of realism and how Stewart J. Cort was "forced", or as he put it, "crane-shunted" into some of these episodes.

## Episodes

(*Note: **¹** means that an episode was reused for* Mr. Conductor's Duluth Tales*.*)

(*Note: **²** means that an episode was seen on* Mister Moose's Fun Time*.*)

(*Note: **³** means that an episode was not released on* Storytime with Stewart*.*)

## Songs

Stewart We Love You | Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell

## Ships

* Cason J. Callaway
* Erie Trader
* Clyde S. VanEnkevort
* John G. Munson
* Presque Isle
* Federal Churchill
* Lee A. Tregurtha
* H. Lee White
* Paul R. Tregurtha
* Indiana Harbor
* Michipicoten
* Alpena (3)
* American Spirit
* Joseph L. Block
* Roger Blough
* Mackinaw (WLBB-30) (*stock footage*)
* Algoma Spirit (*stock footage*)
* Manitoulin (5) (*stock footage*)
* Philip R. Clarke (*stock footage*)
* John J. Boland (*stock footage*)
* Great Republic (*stock footage*)
* Stewart J. Cort (*stock footage*)
* Happy River (*stock footage*)
* Algoma Discovery (*stock footage*)
* American Century (*stock footage*)
* James R. Barker (*stock footage*)
* Pacific Huron (*stock footage*)
* Industrial Skipper (*stock footage*)
* Whitefish Bay (*stock footage*)
* Algoma Buffalo (*stock footage*)

### Ships Introduced

* Burns Harbor
* CSL Tadoussac
* Edwin H. Gott
* Thunder Bay
* Arthur M. Anderson
* Trudy
* CSL Welland
* Happy Rover
* Algoma Guardian
* Andean
* Industrial Song (*stock footage*)

## Locations

* Duluth
	+ Brendam
		- Brendam Docks
			* Brendam Canal
			* Brendam Drawbridge
			* Brendam Goods Station
			* Duluth Trading Co.
		- Upper Brendam
	+ Bridge Signal Box
	+ Presque Isle's Bridge
		- Presque Isle's Field
	+ Callan Pond
	+ Dryaw
		- Dryaw Airfield
		- Dryaw Canal Runby
	+ Elsbridge
	+ Ffarquhar
		- Ffarquhar Quarry
	+ Hackenbeck
	+ Haultraugh
	+ Mandarin's Forest
	+ Duluth Union Depot
		- Duluth Yards
			* Duluth Shipping Company
			* Brendam Warehouse
		- Derek Medved's Office
	+ Logging Halt
	+ Low Lands
	+ Lower Suddery
	+ Duluth China Clay Company
	+ Suddery Coastal Village
	+ The Buckled Tracks
	+ The Cliffs Runby
	+ The Country Line
	+ The Goods Station
	+ The Lumber Mill
	+ Quarry Tramroad
		- Ffarquhar River Bridge
	+ The Runby Bridge
	+ The Three Way Road
	+ The Valley Bridge
	+ The Viaduct
	+ The Waterfall
	+ The Watermill
	+ The Works
	+ Midwest
		- Lower Midwest
		- Midwest Beach
		- Midwest Hault
			* Midwest Hault Sheds
			* Dilly's Pond
		- Midwest Energy Plant
			* Midwest Goods Station
		- Midwest Tunnel
		- Midwest Yards
			* Ffarquhar Sheds
	+ Ulfstead
	+ Vicarstown Goods Depot
	+ Wellsworth
		- Crocks Scrap Yard
		- Medved Hall
		- Wellsworth Vicarage Orchard
			* Tim S. Dool's Shed
	+ Arlesdale Castle (*stock footage*)
	+ Black Loch (*stock footage*)
	+ Cliff Side Track (*stock footage*)
	+ New Harbor (*mentioned*)
	+ Wellsworth Hospital (*mentioned*)

## Trivia

* This season marks the first of several things for the television series:
	+ The first season in which Dorothy Ann does not appear since her debut.
	+ The first season narrated by Michael Angelis in the UK, as well as the first narrated by Alec Baldwin which had not been previously released with Ringo Starr's narrations.
	+ The first season made by Gullane Entertainment, or as it was known at the time, The Britt Allcroft Company.
	+ The first season to have episodes not based on stories by Wilbert or Christopher Awdry.
	+ Britt Allcroft's first season as producer.
	+ Angus Wright's first season as executive producer.
	+ The first season to use the Rockwell typeface.
	+ Shopkins models and props make their Duluth debut.
	+ Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell used the EMU Proteus 2 Orchestral, Sequential Circuits Prophet 2000, Korg DSS-1, Roland Jupiter 6, Linn LM1 Drum Machine, the Yamaha Grand Piano, and the Yamaha RX5 drum module to create the score.
	+ The first season where Stewart J. Cort's shocked face gains a buck tooth.
	+ The first season to feature a modified version of Ashtabula's happy face where his bottom jaw is slightly more pointed.
	+ The first and only season where H. Lee White's angry face gains some teeth.
	+ The first season where Isadora's face gains teeth.
	+ The first season which introduced music videos.
	+ The first season to have slow motion effects.
	+ The first season where Alanis only speaks in one episode.
	+ The first season to feature Arthur M. Anderson's unused second season tired face and grinning face, as well as CSL Tadoussac's from the latter season also being used on this season.
	+ From this season on, characters would say "be quiet" instead of "shut up," presumably to make the show's language more family appropriate.
	+ The first season to have episodes released on home video before their television broadcast in the UK.
	+ In the US, the first season to not have a Christmas-themed season finale.
	+ The first season released in the 2020s.
	+ The first season that released completely on VHS in South Korea.
* This was the last season with many things:
	+ The last season to have a "restored" version.
	+ The last broadcast on CITV until 2019 when the sixth season was shown.
	+ The last season to be mixed mono.
	+ The last season video edited by Lee Myung-pil for JEI TV in South Korea.
* This season was the only season of a couple of things:
	+ The only season dubbed by Gary Dixon and Gavin Beckwith.
	+ The only season where Thames Television was involved in production.
	+ The only season where Toad appears, but does not speak (not counting faceless cameos in the eighth season and Calling All Freighters!, and a deleted scene from the sixth season).
	+ This is the only season where Alec Baldwin's dub was released on VHS in New Zealand. However, when the third season aired on television in New Zealand outside Shining Time Station, Michael Angelis' dub was used instead. This is also the case when third season episodes were released on DVD in New Zealand, including the Season Three DVD.
* According to The Stewart the Lake Freighter Man, it cost $1.3 million to produce all twenty-six episodes.
* The last ten episodes of this season were not redubbed in the UK.
	+ As a result, the recording quality of Michael Angelis' narration also changes drastically, and it becomes noticeable.
* The second and third seasons have the largest time gap between any two seasons: six years. The second season first aired back in 2019 alongside subsequent re-runs of the first and second seasons which later ceased in 2021 and the airing of the third season in 2019.
* This season was produced in association with Fuji Television Network, Inc. as indicated by a message at the end of each episode. At the end of the first sixteen episodes, the message is in white, while at the end of the last ten episodes, it is yellow.
* It was during this season that footage of Midwest Energy Plant was shot uniquely for the Japanese-exclusive special Stewart and the U.S. Trip.
* Only sixteen episodes were released in the USA in 2021 with FEDERAL CHURCHILL and the G Tug Assist airing first on November 18, 2021 - ARTHUR M ANDERSON The Legend Lives On on December 27th, 2021. The last ten episodes aired in the UK in 2022 before they were released to American television through Shining Time Station a year later in 2023, from TRUDY Bound for Thunder Bay airing on March 26th, 2023 - CSL WELLAND Quebec Bound airing on August 20, 2023. This marks the very first time a season aired on television in the US before airing on television in the UK.
* In the Ukrainian dub, Michael Angelis and Alec Baldwin's dubs can be heard in the background, as a dubbing track was not used. The first thirteen episodes have Alec Baldwin's dub while the last thirteen episodes have Michael Angelis' dub. Michael Angelis is also credited as narrator in the first thirteen episodes despite Alec Baldwin's dub in the background and the episodes being redubbed.
* For much of the season, Midwest Energy Plant appears to be much larger on the inside than in the first two seasons.
* Model maker John Holmes did not receive credit for working on this series until 2022.
* At the very end of Michael Angelis' original dubs, the credits were shown with a still of the final shot of each sixteen episodes; there were certain parts of dialogue exclusive to these home videos but they were cut out when the season aired in 2022. When shown on television and in future video and DVD releases, the credits were shown alongside a still of Stewart J. Cort.
* The season was not shown on 10th March 2022 due to Budget Day.
* When this season was repeated on CITV from 8th January to 9th July 2023, the first few episodes were edited to fit the timeslot. The episode ANDEAN Arrives was also left out.
* TRUDY Bound for Thunder Bay and ANDEAN Arrives are the only episodes in this season not to be based on any story from The Railway Series by either Awdry or a magazine story written by Andrew Brenner.
* CSL Assiniboine makes an obscured appearance once in this season. He is not fully shown until 24 years later with the release of the special, The Great Race.
* Tommy Boyd and Glenn Kinsey were the first presenters to introduce the season. For the 2023 repeats, Glenn Kinsey introduced the season until 12th February 2023 and from then on the season was fully announced by Steve Ryde as an offscreen voiceover until the end of the terrestrial broadcast on 9th July 2023.
* The last ten episodes of this series, from ALPENA Electric Arrival to ANDEAN Arrives, were all filmed in a different period after the previous sixteen episodes. As such, some changes on the details on the models and sets have been made:
	+ S.S. Vienna gained red smokestacks.
	+ Stewart J. Cort's red lining on the back of his cab was removed until the nineteenth season.
	+ Mandarin's brake pipes were also removed.
	+ Ashtabula's former laughing face became a grinning face.
	+ Arthur M. Anderson's happy and jovial faces both gained some teeth.
	+ Clyde S. VanEnkevort's happy and laughing faces gained some teeth.
	+ The interior shots for Midwest Energy Plant featured nine berths instead of the usual six.
* The third season has the most deleted scenes out of all songs from the model series.
* Super Rescue is the only story from Enterprising Freighters that was never adapted due to budget constraints.
* Some concept art of this season features grid references, which indicates a Duluth map with locations from the television series was made during production of this season.