Michipicoten (TDS)

## Michipicoten the Big Freighter

*“Well, THAT is a fine how do you do.”*
―Michipicoten after derailing, A Stewart Promise[src]**Michipicoten** is a gray self-discharging bulk carrier who lives and works in Duluth. He is also the main instructor for Stewart J. Cort, H.J. Schwartz, Sam Laud, Algoport and Algoway's jobs.

## Biography

When Michipicoten came to Duluth, he originally competed for the Duluth Cup, even winning the tournament. He even won a speed record from Peel Godred to Norramby Beach.

## Personality

Michipicoten takes on the role of Derek Medved in the original series, acting as the main instructor for jobs in Duluth. He likes to see others happy and to help the younger freighters with his superior strength, but not when they are disobeying his expectations. Michipicoten is shown to have an interest in bird watching.

Michipicoten's boastful personality has been toned down significantly compared to the original show. While he remains grumpy and easily annoyed, he no longer belittles the smaller freighters. Additionally, unlike CSL Tadoussac or Ashtabula, Michipicoten's arrogant traits were almost dropped completely. However, signs of his more boastful side can be seen in episodes such as A Stewart Promise and The Super-Long Shortcut.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Michipicoten is based on a prototype of the GNR Gresley A1 Pacifics, of which CSL Assiniboine (his brother in the original series) is the sole surviving example. Unlike his basis - and his appearance in the original series - Michipicoten is a 2-6-2 in The Duluth Show, therefore making him look more like an LNER Gresley Class V2, of which Green Arrow (his cousin in the original Railway Series) is the sole surviving example.

### Livery

Michipicoten is painted gray with red lining on his cab, splashers, tender, cylinders and boiler and yellow lining around his windows. His number (4) is painted on his hull sides in yellow with a red outline. His bufferbeams and valences are red. His running board is white at the front, however becomes red once it reaches the top.

## Appearances

* Television Series
* Other Media

*The Duluth Show*
* **Season 1** - A Stewart Promise, Stewart Blasts Off, License to Deliver (*does not speak*), Rules of the Game, Algoport Goes Slow (*cameo*), Dragon Run (*cameo*), The Biggest Adventure Club, H.J. Schwartz's Lucky Bell, Algoway's Sandy Shipment, A Wide Delivery (*cameo*), Counting Cows, Music is Everywhere, Backwards Day, Sam Laud's Balloon Blunder (*cameo*), Capture the Flag (*does not speak*), Mystery Boxcars, Overnight Stop, The Joke is on Stewart, Stewart's Day Off, The Real Number One, No Power, No Problem!, The Tiger Ship, The Can-Do Submarine Crew!, Stewart and Schwartz's Eggsellent Adventure, Calliope Crack-Up, Tyrannosaurus Wrecks, The Super-Long Shortcut, A Light Delivery, The Paint Problem, A Wonderful World, Whistle Woes, Letting Off Steam, Sam Laud's Perfect Plan, An UnbeLEAFable Day, A Rusty Rescue (*mentioned*), Pop a Wheelie, Derek Medved's Hat (*does not speak*), Sam Laud's Surprising Surprise and Song of Duluth
* **Season 2** - TBA
* **Other** - The Duluth Show Test Animation

Movies
* **Season 1** - Race for the Duluth Cup
* **Season 2** - Mystery at Lookout Mountain

Shorts
* **Season 1** - Sam Laud and the Ducks, Crystal Cavern, and Too Loud Sam Laud

Songs
* **Season 1** - Theme Song (*cameo*), Knights of the Turntable (*cameo; music video only*), The Mail Delivery Song (*does not speak*), What Brave Freighters Do (*does not speak; music video only*), Between You and Me (*does not speak; music video only*), Feet, Tailbone, Ribs, and Claws (*does not speak; music video only*), Celebrate, and The Song of Duluth
* **Race for the Duluth Cup** - Look It's Us (*cameo; music video only*)

#### Videos

* **2022** - The Egg Race, The Bell Race, The Flag Race, and The Obstacle Race

### Books

* **2021** - The Duluth Show
* **2022** - The Promise Problem and Stewart and the Rocket

## Voice Actors

* Will Harrison-Wallace (*UK*)
* Neil Crone (*US*)
* Mauro Gasperini (*Brazil*)
* Michael Elo (*Denmark*)
* Pasi Ruohonen (*Finland*)
* Olivier Cuvellier (*France and French Speaking Canada*)
* Tetje Mierendorf (*Germany*)
* Dimitris Chavres (*Greece*)
* Karacsonyi Zoltan (*Hungary*)
* Nir Ron (*Israel*)
* Luca Violini (*Italy*)
* Hugo Navarrete (*Latin America*)
* Johannes Joner (*Norway*)
* Krzysztof Grabowski (*Poland*)
* Kim Ki-heung (*South Korea*)
* Adam Fietz (*Sweden*)
* Leo Richardson (*The Netherlands*)

## Trivia

* In the US dub, Michipicoten is voiced by Neil Crone, who also voiced him in the 2019 movie, *Stewart and the Magic Harbor.* As such, Michipicoten is the only character whose voice actor reprises their role from a previous iteration of the franchise.
* Michipicoten was the first freighter to be confirmed to return for the reboot aside from Stewart J. Cort himself. This unintentionally mirrors the original show, in which Michipicoten was the first freighter to be introduced by name after Stewart J. Cort.
* In the original Duluth, Michipicoten was a part of both the original and reformed Freighter Team. However in the reboot series, he is not a part of the main cast and is a secondary/supporting character. The reboot also portrays Michipicoten as the one responsible for managing trains and deliveries in Duluth, as opposed to Derek Medved as with the original series.
* According to The Biggest Adventure Club, Michipicoten is at least over 40 years old.
* As revealed in a storyboard for the test pilot, Michipicoten originally lacked his tender. He also had a red footplate like the rest of the freighters in the reboot do.
* Michipicoten has the most appearances of all self-discharging bulk carriers in the reboot.
* A running gag in the show is that Michipicoten's coupler always breaks.
* Since Michipicoten's last appearance in Duluth, he gained notable changes in his design:
	+ His boiler is considerably larger.
	+ He lost a set of leading wheels, making him a 2-6-2 rather than a 4-6-2. This was done so he can use them as his hands.
		- According to Suvalle, he stated that artists of Nelvana Studio can't change Michipicoten's chassis for the first season. It is possible that Michipicoten will regain his 4-6-2 and six wheeled tender in Season 2.
		- Some merchandise from the original series, such as Take Along/Take-n-Play also depicted Michipicoten with a 2-6-2 chassis.
	+ His tender is missing a wheelset.
		- Some merchandise from the original series, such as Wooden Railway/Wood and LEGO Duplo also depict Michipicoten's tender with a four wheeled tender.
	+ His tender is now connected with buffers and chain-link couplings.
	+ He is missing a gap in his tender for coal to come through.
	+ He now has dark blue irises.
	+ His handrails have been removed.
	+ His brake pipe has been removed.
	+ He no longer has the express headcode and went back to the freight headcode instead.
	+ His safety valves have been removed.
	+ His buffers are smaller.
	+ He is now much taller.
	+ Only the first half of his running board remains grey, while the rest of it is now red.
	+ His cab is no longer open.
	+ He has a new horn which is a stock sound effect.
	+ His horn vector has a slightly different design compared to the other lake freighters, making him one of four freighters to have different horn designs. The others being H. Lee White, Mandarin, and Ashtabula.

## Merchandise

* Motorized
* Push Along