Splatter and Dodge

**Splatter** and **Dodge** (collectively referred to by Diesel 10 as **"Splodge"**, a portmanteau of their names) are two diesel shunters, who were Diesel 10's bumbling minions.

## Biography

### Thomas and the Magic Railroad

Splatter and Dodge are two diesel shunters who, at one point, worked alongside Diesel 10. Diesel 10 referred to the two as "Splodge", claiming he did not have time to say both names. They did not take a liking to their boss when he collectively refers to them as "Splodge" and grew impatient with them when they asked him questions about his scheme.

Diesel 10 wanted to rid the railway of steam engines, and they were complacent with his plans, regularly keeping a lookout for their boss and being present when he was scheming. As time went on Splatter and Dodge spent their time mocking their boss and pointing out the flaws in Diesel 10's scheme causing Diesel 10 to lose his temper and cause trouble during his temper problems. At one point, they found the Magic Buffers, but instead of going through them, they decide to tell Diesel 10 the following morning. Percy witnessed this and went back to warn Thomas.

However, the two eventually grew tired of Diesel 10 and when he tried to chase down Lady and Thomas, they refused to follow him and told him to do his own dirty work.

What happened to them after that is unknown, although it can be assumed they returned to the Mainland.

## Personalities

Both engines are simple-minded, awkward, cowardly and tend to banter. Splatter is the more talkative of the two, while Dodge is more intelligent. Although Percy fears them, they do not have the intelligence or villainy to match Diesel 10's. They enjoy watching Diesel 10's plans backfire, but are also prone to making a mess of things. Despite initially siding with Diesel 10, they seem reluctant to destroy a fellow engine, even a steam engine, and eventually abandon Diesel 10 in the end.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Splatter and Dodge are based on BR Class 08 diesel-electric shunters. Over seventy members of this class survive today in preservation, while around 100 remain in service on the national rail network. They were in fact the most successful shunting engines in the world, with 996 of them built. Diesel, the Diesel Shunter, 'Arry, Bert, Paxton, Sidney, Ulli and the Mainland Dieselsare also members of this class.

However, unlike the other BR Class 08s, Splatter and Dodge have been modified without ladders going up each side of their fronts.

Splatter and Dodge's basis

### Livery

Splatter is painted purple and grey while Dodge is painted olive and grey. Both are heavily weathered, and both have their names painted on their sides in white.

## Appearances

* Television Series
* Other Media

### Thomas & Friends

#### Specials

* **2000** - Thomas and the Magic Railroad

#### Books

* **2000** - Thomas and the Magic Railroad (manga)
* **2001** - Diesels and Engines, Diesel 10 Means Trouble, Little Engines Can Do BIG Things (not named), Thomas and the Magic Railroad (activity book), Thomas and the Magic Railroad (book) and Thomas and the Magic Railroad (sticker book) (do not speak)
* **2006** - Thomas' Sticker Express
* **2007** - Thomas' Read-Along Storybook
* **2011** - The Big Book of Engines

Splatter and Dodge also appeared in several Japanese Books related to Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

#### Video Games

* **2000** - Thomas and the Magic Railroad Print Studio

## Trivia

* Splatter and Dodge were the last characters created by Britt Allcroft before she left the production team.
* A behind the scenes picture shows them without their names.
* Splatter and Dodge are repainted from Arry and Bert's fifth series models. The hazard stripes from the latter diesels are even visible under their paintwork in a rare promo.
	+ According to an interview with Chris Lloyd, their models never came back from Canada after filming of Thomas and the Magic Railroad was complete. This however is untrue, as the models were turned back into Arry and Bert in the sixth series. The purple is visible under one of them in Calling All Engines.
* Splatter and Dodge's television series models do not have handrails, yet some of their merchandise lines do, possibly modelling after Diesel.
* In the original script:
	+ Splatter and Dodge never turned on Diesel 10. Instead, George, who was to be one of Diesel 10's henchmen, turned on them, causing them to rush at him, only to smash into each other and derail. In another version of the script, they were trapped in a siding when Junior, helped by George, pushed a large boulder down into their path.
	+ Another difference from the original script was that their boss referred to them as "Spladge" instead of "Splodge".
* Early concept artwork shows that Splatter was going to have hazard stripes of some kind along the lower portion of his body, and Dodge was going to have handrails on his running plate. In addition, both were drawn with significantly different facial features to one another.
* Some production made Splatter and Dodge face masks are currently in possession of Diesel10TV on Twitter.

## Merchandise

* ERTL (discontinued)
* Wooden Railway (reissued 2011, discontinued)
* Thomas Engine Collection Series (discontinued)
* Thomas Town (discontinued)
* Motor Road and Rail (discontinued)
* TrackMaster (discontinued)
* Brio (discontinued)
* Trading Cards (discontinued)
* Nakayoshi (discontinued)
* Capsule Plarail
* Pocket Fantasy (discontinued)