Porter

**Porter the Dockside Tank Engine** is one of the deuteragonists of the SeventyVerse and the thirty-first engine on the North Western Railway. However, he was the thirtieth engine purchased for the North Western Railway. Prior to this, he was the third engine on the Bigg City Dock Railway.

## Backstory

Porter worked in the USA for many years with his siblings along with Puffa and Little Owl on the Bigg City Dock Railway.

(Details regarding Railhead, Dieselisation of the Dock Railway, and the TUGS Epilogue to be added)

After his restoration, Porter arrived at Brendam Docks, where he met Salty and reunited with Rosie.

In the Canon Divergent AU, Porter lived on the LMS and is close with Arthur, Jinty, Pug and later on, Rosie. Like the main timeline, Porter joined the North Western Railway and met Salty.

## Brendam crew

### Edward

Porter respects Edward for his patience and ability to keep troublemakers like Bill and Ben in line.

### Bill and Ben

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.

### BoCo

Not much is known about BoCo and Porter's relationship, but they did manage to get off to a good start when BoCo returned from his Bluebell Railway trip.

### Derek

Not much is known about this relationship, but Porter and Derek seem to have a decent one so far.

### Salty

Porter came to the docks, and Salty assumed he was going to be replaced by him. However, it turned out they were to work alongside each other. Porter and Salty now sleep in the same shed, and Porter can't sleep without Salty's sea shanties in his sleep.

### Philip

Due to Porter's professionisam, it can be assumed his relationship with Philip isn't great. Philip often gets too excited and shunts trucks into the wrong locations.

### Timothy

Timothy and Porter get along rather well. The duo met one day when Timothy was new to the island, and the duo arranged the trucks at the docks when Bill and Ben messed things up. Later, Timothy helped out Porter at the docks when Salty was on the mainland.

### Marion

The two haven't interacted yet, but with them being on the same branch, it's inevitable.

## Other relationships

### Rosie

Rosie and Porter both knew each other back in America. Porter became disheartened when he found out Rosie had to go to the UK due to a desperate time, and he hoped to see her again. Ultimately, the two were reunited on Sodor when Rosie had to fill in for Salty at the docks when he was having a wash.

### Hank

Porter often arranged trains for Hank back in the states, and he appreciated Hank's go with the flow attitude. He was saddened to depart from him, but he knows Hank is in good hands in some kindly preservationists.

## Personality

Porter is a very professional type of engine and tries to keep on top of things. He is very irritable when someone messes things up on purpose. That being said, he has found a way to cope with the teasing of engines such as Bill and Ben.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Porter is based on a H.K. Porter 0-6-0ST, built in Butler, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. These engines mainly worked in the dockyards on the east coast of the United States. The Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal Railroad, which served the dockyards in Brooklyn, New York, owned several examples of Porter's design, all of which were retired after the railroad started using diesel locomotives in 1963. One of these, B.E.D.T. 15, was rebuilt into an operating replica of Thomas by the Strasburg Railroad in 1998 for use during Days Out with Thomas events throughout the US. Porter appears to be directly based on B.E.D.T. 15 prior to its rebuild. Another engine, 14, is preserved at the Ulster & Delaware Railroad Historical Society in Arkville, New York. Yet another is preserved in Essex, Connecticut on the Valley Railroad. Porter's 'real life' number is 12, which is a backwards number of the episode he debuted in during series 17. It's unknown when this engine was built, withdrawn or scrapped.

In the Canon Divergent AU, Porter is based on an LMS Dock Tank. His sister Henney is also based on this class in this AU.

### Livery

Porter is painted viridian (grey-green) with yellow stripes and lining, brass fittings and gold nameplates with his name painted on them in black. He has a gold star on each side of his lamp and red window frames.

(Details regarding Porter's livery from the Bigg City Dock Railway to be added)

## Differences from the episodes

* Porter wasn't explicitly stated to come from America. Here, it's a key part of his background.
* Porter didn't have a number in the show. In this series, he's number 31. He was also the third engine of the Bigg City Dock Railway.