Salty

**Salty** is a red dockside diesel shunter who works at Brendam Docks. He speaks like a stereotypical pirate and enjoys telling stories revolving around the sea and fantasy.

## Biography

Salty worked on an unnamed coastal railway for many years, where he acquired his vast collection of stories, songs and possibly his sailor's accent, before coming to Sodor to work at Ffarquhar Quarry with Mavis, Bill and Ben. Salty was upset, being used to working near the sea, but he soon won the trucks over with his tales and sea shanties and as a reward for his hard work was sent to work at Brendam Docks.

Salty's presence at the docks led to Cranky having a huge distaste for Salty's stories. Cranky snapped at Salty when he pulled up and when Salty thought that Cranky needed company, this made him recall a story about a lonely old Grand Banks lighthouse keeper. He started to tell this story to Bill and Ben (who had not heard it before) which infuriated Cranky and led to him dropping a load of pipes he had which knocked over the Brendam Docks sheds. With Salty, Bill and Ben being trapped at Brendam Docks, Salty decided to tell the twins many stories all night. When Harvey arrived to clear their line the next day, Cranky was very grateful.

Gordon once told Salty to keep his distance in case he made his paint sooty, but Salty pointed out that his job requires him to get sooty and Gordon does not know that because he's too full of himself. When Gordon had to pull trucks, he decided to "show Salty how an express engine pulls trucks". Unfortunately, he ignored a "Go slow" sign and had a horrific accident. Salty apologised for teasing him and Gordon apologised for being too full of himself.

Later, he and Fergus saved a ship from crashing into the rocks when the lighthouselamp went out. He and Harvey later asked Murdoch about his past, which annoyed him.

Salty has shared many stories with his fellow engines that have often come into play later on. He told Percy that the carpet he was delivering was apparently magic and odd happenings convinced Percy and Gordon that it was.

Once, he accidentally ran over a flagpole that Henry was meant to deliver to the Scottish Castle.

He also told a story about a treasure on Sodor and Thomas followed all of Salty's clues and eventually found the treasure, just as the new Maritime Museum opened.

He later introduced Thomas to Billy, was one of the first engines to meet Stanley, looked at the docks for Thomas when he was missing, cheered when Thomas was found and tried to take some woodsmen into the forest, but was blocked by trucks.

## Personality

Unlike some diesels, Salty is an easy-going, jolly, friendly, and very practical diesel who very rarely gets upset. He also enjoys telling stories revolving around the sea and fantasy. His seafaring ways and nautical accent are sometimes ridiculed and teased by the other engines (though Percy and Thomas imitated his accent because they thought he was grand), but his usefulness almost always helps the others overlook that. He can work with trucks like no other engine; this is due to his enjoyment of working to a musical rhythm like the trucks and it may also be due to his vast collection of sea shanties. He loves the sea so much that he pines for it when he is away from it for long periods of time. He was once afraid to travel by ocean due to his knowledge of sea tales, but he overcame that.

While Salty is normally very patient and easygoing, certain levels of tomfoolery like Cranky being cranky and Gordon trying to leave without any buffers can provoke a far more stern reaction from him. For most other cases, however, Salty normally deals with issues in a playful manner; his response to Gordon's boasting was to make jokes at the big engine's expense.