Edward

**Edward the Blue Engine** is one of the main protagonists of the SeventyVerse and the second engine on the North Western Railway.

## Backstory

On the mainland, Edward mostly handled express trains. In his younger days, he didn't have nearly as much backbone as he does now, and often was the victim of being bullied. His shy steaming didn't help matters. However, Edward did manage to get rebuilt curtesy of Sir Bertram Topham Hatt, and he was able to make some new friends in the process.

## Brendam Team

### Bill and Ben

Ever present as their mentor, Edward guides the china clay twins through their various antics they strike up. Though the twins are mischievous and are often up for pranks, Edward is a good fatherly figure ready to help clean up their shenanigans. The twins have Edward's back too, as they hardly ever go against his word.

### Derek

Edward had taken Derek under his wing as a younger brother of sorts. He enjoys his jovial, open minded nature. Edward keeps Derek on the right path when his more naïve traits come into play.

### Salty

Edward enjoys listening to Salty's tales of the sea and is impressed with the way he handles trucks and Bill & Ben.

### Porter

Edward is impressed with Porter's professionalism and how he can brush off any remarks from the other engines.

### Philip

Philip is yet another engine Edward had taken under his wing. He is one of few engines who was patient with his more hyperactive side. That being said, Edward did become frustrated when Philip talked too much and he was under sleep deprivation. Thankfully, Philip managed to learn his lesson and the two are now shedmates.

### Timothy

Not too much is known about their relationship, but Edward has worked with Timothy to help tidy up the dockside.

### Victoria and Helena

The two coaches had Edward's back when he was young, and he appreciated their kindness. Edward misses them and wonders where they could be.

### Trevor

Having witnessed horrors back before Sir Bertram Topham Hatt was in charge, Edward was not willing to let Trevor die in the scrapyard. The traction engine was very grateful to Edward, and they often have talks during their breaks. Edward helped out Trevor when the Vicar forgot to put up posters for a fete, and Trevor was concerned for Edward's wellbeing when he was clanking.

## Other Relationships

### Thomas

Edward sees Thomas as a little brother/son figure/student, and looks out for his wellbeing. Thomas learned all about trucks from Edward, he was his first friend, and there's a lot of light-hearted teasing between the duo. Edward does put his wheel down with Thomas however, like when he nearly got buried alive in a mine shaft.

### Henry

Edward and Henry are very close. Due to the fact they were both shy steamers at one point, Edward felt like he could confide in Henry where he couldn't with Gordon or James. Henry was the first engine to discover Edward was gay, and he promised not to tell anybody about it.

### James

The relationship with Edward and James is very on-off. Sometimes, James is annoyed with Edward for being late or when he's struggling with a train. Other times, James is very grateful to Edward, such as when he mentored him and when Edward caught him after he ran away. James also suspected Edward was gay and had feelings for BoCo, and had kept his word on allowing Edward to reveal the truth when he was ready.

### Percy

Like Thomas before him, Edward had taken Percy under his wing. Edward admires Percy for his quick learning, sharp wit and kindness. Percy is also very loyal to Edward, such as when he, Thomas and Duck defended him from James.

### Toby

Being a fellow old engine, Toby and Edward had managed to hit it off. The two often have conversations that fly over the others' smokeboxes/radiators. Edward is sometimes annoyed by Toby's 'sit back and watch things unfold' approach, and will call him out on it on occasion.

### Duck

Edward was a very good confidant to Duck when he was temporarily transported to Wellsworth. Edward also gave Duck advice for figuring out why he was cross with Diesel when they first met, when he didn't do anything to warrant such anger at first. When Diesel was revealed to have spread lies about Duck though, Edward was very bold in standing in Duck's defence.

### Donald and Douglas

Edward knew something was wrong when the twins arrived together. When he learned about Douglas being put in the line of scrap, he asked Douglas to work with him on the Brandam branch so he could calm down.

### Emily

(Info regarding Edward's relationship with Emily to be added)

### Flower and Fiona

(Info regarding Edward's relationship with Flower and Fiona to be added)

### Doris/98462

(Info regarding Edward's relationship with Doris/98462 to be added)

### Herbert/87546

(Info regarding Edward's relationship with Herbert/87546 to be added)

## Romance

### BoCo

Edward was very welcoming of BoCo straight away when he arrived. He helped managed to straighten him out with the China Clay twins, and was the first to learn of BoCo's mechanical issues. Edward was very impressed when BoCo took the express for James, and BoCo also had Edward's back when Gordon and James were mocking him. They denied any romantic feelings between them for a while, but one night, their confession just slipped out. It was also when BoCo went to the Bluebell Railway to assist there for a while that Edward became depressed. However, they kept in touch via letters, and when BoCo eventually came home, Edward couldn't have been happier.

## Personality

Edward is a very gentle and loving engine to everyone on Sodor; the glue that keeps everyone together. He is a metaphorical shoulder to cry on, brave, wise and extremely kind. However, Edward's kindness has proven to be as much of his weakness as well as his strength. He will often give others the benefit of the doubt, and sometimes makes decisions out of kindness that cloud his rationality.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Edward is a Furness Railway K2 "Larger Seagull" tender engine, built in 1896 (first batch) and 1900 (second batch). The engine Edward is specifically based on in this series is No. 34, built in 1896. This engine was fitted with an experimental Phoenix smokebox superheater in 1913 before it was removed the following year. This engine later carried the number 46 from an unknown year, and 10137 upon the LMS grouping in 1923. Edward was rebuilt on Sodor shortly after he met Henry and Gordon. Changes were: Making his wheel splashers flush with the cab, thus also removing the coupling rod splashers, a new cab side windows as opposed to cutaways in his cab side sheets, a square cab lookouts as opposed to the original round ones, a higher pitched boiler and longer smokebox and the replacement of his original Furness Railway tender with a Fowler tender. The K2s were withdrawn a lot earlier than most of the engines in the series; during the years of 1929-1931, which was during the Great Depression. The 'real Edward's' withdrawal date is unknown.

Flower and Fiona share this basis.

### Livery

Edward is painted in NWR cerulean with red lining on his cab, splashers, tender and boiler and yellow lining around his windows. His number (2) is painted on his tender in yellow with a red outline. He has a white running board with red bufferbeams and valences. Before being repainted blue, he once wore Furness Railway red and LMS black with his number (34/46 and LMS number 10137) on his sides.

Edward's LMS black livery
## Differences from the episodes and the books

* Edward arrived before Thomas in the SeventyVerse, like *The Adventure Begins*.
* Edward was part of the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway (later Tidmouth, Wellsworth and Suddery Railway), before joining the North Western Railway.
* Edward wore Furness Railway red before getting his blue livery.
* In his younger days, Edward was more timid and shy.
* In the International Railway Series, Edward has Victoria and Helena as his coaches.
* Edward is in a romantic relationship with BoCo.
* Edward's old number was 34. This belonged to a real life Larger Seagull who was built at the time that the RWS Edward would have been built. His later numbers in real life would have been 46 (debatable if he carried this number or not in the books; he came to Sodor in 1915) and 10137 (which Edward wouldn't have carried in the books due to being an NWR engine at the time of the grouping).

## Trivia

* The preferred voice actor for Edward is Keith Wickham, who voiced Edward in the UK dub of the CGI episodes and specials.