Bill and Ben

**Bill and Ben the China Clay Twins** are two of the deuteragonists. They are privately owned by the Sodor China Clay Company.

## Brendam Team

### Each other

Bill and Ben are always together, be it playing jokes or shunting trucks. They may argue a lot, but they always have each other's backs and would be lost without each other.

### Edward

Edward has a fatherly relationship with Bill and Ben and is very good at keeping them in order. He is also wise to the twins' tricks and is ready to guide them when they end up in trouble.

### BoCo

When BoCo first arrived, there was a misunderstanding with the china clay trucks and Bill and Ben played a trick on him. This put poor BoCo into a right state until Edward intervened and sorted the mess out. After Bill and Ben stood up for him against Gordon, BoCo now has a more positive relationship with the twins.

### Derek

The cheeky duo get along really well with Derek. Instead of them pulling pranks to annoy Derek, they do it to cheer him up when he’s upset. They also like to listen to Salty’s stories together.

### Salty

When Salty first arrived, the twins were annoyed by Salty's storytelling. However, as time went by, Bill and Ben grow fond of Salty and consider him a 'cool uncle'. Nowadays, Bill and Ben enjoyed listening to his stories.

### Porter

Bill and Ben gave Porter a hard time when they found out about him. They called him 'bumpy boiler' behind his back, and messed up the dockside. Porter was very cross with this, but ultimately found a way to block their teasing out.

### Philip

When the duo met Philip, they tricked him by getting him to shunt trucks behind Gordon's express. They later got a taste of their own medicine when they saw several 'Philips' that were really just a prank set up by Philip and BoCo to get back at them.

### Timothy

Timothy is unfortunately often goaded into Bill and Ben's pranks. This was because the duo were severely missing BoCo and Derek when he arrived, who had been gone for a long time. Timothy does get frustrated with them easily, and doesn't know how to get a grip on them.

### Marion

Bill and Ben get on better with Marion, as they often play "Guess what's in my shovel" with her. Unfortunately, Marion can also fall victim to the twins' antics, like when they mess up the China Clay quarry.

### Cranky

Cranky didn't like Bill and Ben on sight, and called them "Bugs". However, he turns out to need their help when a tramper knocks him over. Ben accidentally pulls Cranky back down again.

## Other relationships

### Thomas

Thomas saw the twins as always cheeky and never taking things seriously, which upset the duo when they saved him from a rockslide.

### Mavis

Mavis sometimes acts as a motherly figure to the duo, and she often wonders if she acted this bad to Toby under his mentorship.

### James

The twins once scared James out of the docks when they realised he was accusing Duck of something he didn't do.

### Duck

Bill and Ben played a prank on Duck by pretending they were the same engine. However, they quickly changed their tune when they realised Duck was in distress due to Diesel's lies. Their relationship got to a more solid start when the twins scared James away.

## Personalities

Bill and Ben have a reputation for being mischievous and naughty with many engines falling victim to their pranks. They are prone to squabbling with each. Despite this, Bill and Ben have good hearts and when someone is in trouble, they are ready to rescue them such as when they evacuated the workmen from the rockslide at the Clay Pits and Thomas from a similar rockslide, years later.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Bill and Ben are based on the Bagnall 0-4-0STs "Alfred" and "Judy" of Par, Cornwall, who are both preserved and in working order at the Bodmin and Wenford Railway. According to the foreword of Thomas and the Twins, Alfred and Judy are both Bill and Ben's twins. However, in real life, Alfred was built in 1953 and Judy in 1937, while Bill and Ben were built in 1948 in the books and this series.

Alfred was once repainted yellow for a Days Out with Thomas event, to resemble Bill.

In the television series, Bill and Ben are twice the size of their basis'; Alfred and Judy. This was so their eye mechanisms and motors could be accommodated. When they returned to CGI, they were modelled in the same larger size.

### Livery

Bill and Ben are painted golden yellow with red lining. Both have brass nameplates with yellow writing, the initials "SCC" painted on the sides in yellow and "BRENDAM BAY" on the front of their saddle tanks. The twins have red wheels instead of black like in the model series. In the episode *Bill or Ben?* from the same series, the twins were painted dark blue with dark blue wheels, yellow lining and yellow lettering, but returned to their normal livery soon afterwards. It's unknown when or how this happened.

## Differences from the books, TV show and this series

* This series adds more of an innocent and childlike factor to Bill and Ben, like when they're assuming BoCo will be good as new after he goes to the works.