Gordon

**Gordon** is a big blue express engine who works on the Main Line. He is Flying Scotsman's only surviving brother. Gordon is also one of the fastest and strongest engines on the Island of Sodor and his main task is to pull the Wild Nor' Wester, the railway's express train. At times, this leads him to feel superior.

## Biography

Gordon was built at Doncaster in 1920 as an experimental prototype for Sir Nigel Gresley's A1 Pacific design for the Great Northern Railway. Inevitably there were faults which needed correction; so Gordon was kept "hush hush" and apart from test runs, was never put into regular traffic or given a GNR number. He was used experimentally until all defects had been cured and the first batch of Pacifics had appeared in 1922/23. In 1923 therefore Gordon was no longer needed and was sold to the North Western Railway together with a spare boiler and firebox.

During Gordon's early years on the railway, he often looked down on the smaller engines like Edward and Thomas. However, he would soon find he needed help from Edward to be his banker after he got stuck on a hill with a train of trucks. He also needed Edward and Henry to pull his passenger train after he broke his safety valve in front of Henry's Tunnel.

Gordon often found Thomas very annoying for whistling rudely at him, so he taught him a lesson by bringing him along with his express train before he could be uncoupled. Thomas usually fetched the coaches for him, however, after Thomas left the yard when he was given a branch line, Gordon, along with Henry and James, soon found that they had to fetch their own coaches. After the big engines had several mishaps, one of which involved him having to pull his train backwards, Gordon proposed that they all go on strike, where they would only pull their coaches if another engine fetched them. Edward was the only engine left and since he was a tender engine and that Gordon proposed that tender engines do not shunt, they started to discriminate against Edward until the Fat Controller decided to leave them in the shed until they learned the error of their ways.

After Gordon, Henry and James saw how silly they were, the Fat Controller let them out, reminding them to behave and bought a tank engine named Percy to help fetch their coaches. Gordon almost had a run-in accident with Percy when he carelessly stood on the Main Line. After Percy ran away backwards and stopped in a pile of dirt, Gordon helped him out. Gordon was still arrogant and insulted Henry for the way he whistled. However, he ate his own words when his whistle jammed and he went running down the main line whistling continuously. He did not stop until a fitter climbed up and knocked his whistle in place.

Gordon is mainly used for passenger duties, pulling the North Western Railway's express, the Wild Nor' Wester, but has occasionally pulled goods trains, much to his dislike. He has been known to run into ditches and stop on hills to get out of doing these jobs, as he believes that these are below him.

In 1939, Gordon went to Crewe for a rebuild. His conjugated valve gear, which had been giving much trouble, was replaced by a two-cylinder chassis (designed by the Fat Controller) and he received a smoother running plate, as the new cylinders could not fit under the original. This rebuild effectively made him a hybrid with Stanier valve gear, running plate and cylinders, while the rest above was Gresley built.

Gordon has become famous after his adventures: In 1952, he was forbidden from pulling passenger trains following his incident in the ditch he caused, but after a period of good behaviour including saving Thomas after he fell down a mine and the two engines making an alliance of helping each other, by 1953, his punishment ended and he pulled Queen Elizabeth II's royal train. In 1956, he travelled to London, where he was lauded by a large crowd. Gordon did not like the visit, however, as he discovered that London's big station was St. Pancras, which he thought was King's Cross.

During City of Truro's visit in 1957, Gordon heard that the famous engine had reached 100 miles an hour and believed that he could reach that speed. This resulted in him losing his dome on the viaduct. Later, when Diesel arrived on trial and was having trouble moving some old trucks, he accused Duck by making rumours about him giving Gordon a bad nickname, "Galloping Sausage". As a result, Gordon, Henry and James began to turn against Duck by forbidding him from the shed. However, when the truth came out that Duck had not made the nicknames, they began to feel very silly about jumping to conclusions before knowing the true story.

In 1965, Gordon complained about BoCo going on the main line, because the diesel only works on Edward's Branch Line. He claimed that the Fat Controller would never agree and states that branch lines are vulgar. That night, Gordon's crew mistakenly believed that the passenger with a green hat was the guard waving his green flag. As a result, Gordon left with the majority of the passengers, the luggage and the guard stranded on the platform. Everyone was surprised, but the surprise quickly gave way to anger. This made Gordon so embarrassed, he brought his train back down to the big station as Edward was already late with his train. But the signalman at the junction was not told about the change. Because of this, Edward was sent to the main line and Gordon was sent down to Edward's branch line. He spent the night at Brendam and was teased by Bill and Ben of being a lot of old iron that should be scrapped. BoCo stopped them and Gordon gained respect for him.

In 1967, Gordon felt devastated to hear that his brothers and sisters were all scrapped on the Mainland, but happy to hear that his brother Flying Scotsman was preserved, when the Fat Controller brought him to reunite with Gordon.

Then, in 1986, Gordon heard about high speed trains on the Other Railway and believed that he could go faster than them. However, he had an excessive wheelslip and later covered wedding guests and the Fat Controller's top hat with soot. He managed to redeem himself and get the Express over his hill after his firebars collapsed and got to visit Carlisle when a Diesel taking a Railtour failed.

In 1995, Gordon had been hauling the Express when a flock of crows swooped in front of the train, resulting in one of them knocking the seal out of his front brake pipe.

As Gordon could not go far on the Other Railway due to a lack of waterpipes, he would have to change places with a diesel locomotive at Barrow, who would take the Wild Nor' Wester onwards to London. By the early 2000's, however, this wasted too much time and the timetable was considered too slow. The Fat Controller decided to buy Pip and Emma to run the service, as they are capable of doing a complete round trip every day, which he did so in 2010. Gordon now pulls stopping passenger trains, which he prefers as he can do two round trips per day instead of one and does not need to hurry.

Gordon's last train of the day stops at all the stations on the Main Line. One evening, delays on the Other Railway resulted in him being late. At Killdane, he encountered a fire and he urged his driver to do something; his driver used a hose to put out the fire with water from Gordon's tender. Following this, the Fire Brigade recommended him for The Queen's Fire Service Medal, which he is very proud of.

## Personality

Gordon's important position as the engine who pulls the Express has made him proud, pompous, arrogant, prideful and self-important, with a good reason too; he is the fastest engine on Sodor. He is extremely proud of this and is inclined to boast. But despite his pompousness, he is goodhearted, always willing to forgive and uses his superior strength to help smaller engines out of trouble. Though he is also vengeful and will plot retribution if he feels he has been sufficiently slighted, as mentioned before he is happy to forgive especially after he has either had his retribution or the individual has received some other comeuppance. He also has a great hatred of goods trains, though not to the extent that James does. Because of his rank in the social order of the North Western Railway, Gordon expects to get the important passenger jobs and either sulk when he does not and/or gets jealous of engines who do.

Sometimes, Gordon acts mean and insulting, particularly towards Edward, but following misadventures where Edward had to help him, Gordon had to acknowledge that despite being old, Edward is still a very useful engine.he was very upset after he learned that Edward and Henry moved out of Tidmouth Sheds to sleep elsewhere for their own reasons, thus indicating how much he missed them. He appears to have a hard time accepting change, but with help from his friends, he is able to pull through it.

Sometimes, Gordon shows a kinder side and gives the engines some advice, usually after he has had some mishap as a result of his foolhardiness. Some of his advice is not exactly helpful or honest, though, as James, Percy and Sir Handel have discovered. This side resurfaced once Rebecca joined the NWR, but this time, Gordon realized himself that he was wrong to do so, especially when he ended up smashing through a set of buffers.

## Technical Details

### Basis

According to The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways, Gordon is the experimental prototype for Sir Nigel Gresley's A1 Pacific design for the Great Northern Railway. Gordon was built at Doncaster Works in Yorkshire. Once the first batch of A1 Pacifics appeared in 1922 Gordon would have more than likely have been reclassified A1/1 - the '/1' indicating he is slightly different to the rest of the class.

Gordon, being an experimental engine, never received a number and was never put into regular traffic; he was only ever used on test runs. Owing to various problems, Gordon was rebuilt in 1939 at Crewe. Sir Topham Hatt and Sir William Stanier worked together to rectify these problems - everything under the running board is of Stanier's design while the running board itself is that of Sir Topham Hatt's. In both the Railway Series and television series, Gordon is depicted with a Fowler tender.

His valve gear is similar to that of the LMS Stanier Pacifics in the illustrations, but in the television series, he and Henry share the same valve gear.

According by to his Meet the Contenders video, Gordon is stated to be an LNER A3 Pacific in the television series, just like Flying Scotsman and his other siblings. However, this incorrect as Gordon is an A0, which would mean he is the prototype for the class.

## Appearances

### Season 1

* Whistle Trouble (cameo)
* A Near Miss For BoCo
* Daisy the Royal Diesel Rail-Car
* Henry's Nightmare
* Rowdy Singing (cameo)
* Taking The Plunge Again? (cameo)
* Donald, Douglas and the Presents Train (cameo)
* Diesel's Christmas Carol

### Season 2

* Toby and the Express
* Not a Toy! (does not speak)
* Vandalised
* Thomas and the Whistle
* Whistling Rescue
* Blue Engine for Sale
* A Sticky Situation for Gordon and James
* A Cow in the Tunnel
* Duck Runs Dry
* Gordon Forgets
* The Flaming Kipper
* Thomas' Christmas Tree
* A Christmas for Diesel (cameo)
* Happy Hogmanay

### Season 3

* First Impressions (does not speak)
* Non-Swindon Fashion (cameo)
* Daisy and the Cows (cameo)
* Engine Who (cameo)
* Annie and Clarabel (episode) (cameo)
* Trevor's Easter Sunday (cameo)
* New Hope for Caroline (cameo)
* A Gronk and Bucket Rivalry (does not speak)
* The Past Is In The Past (cameo)
* Fear (cameo)
* Technology
* Stop and Smell the Roses (mentioned)
* The Importance of Brake Vans (cameo)
* NWR 100
* Emily and the Trespasser (cameo)
* James' Branch Line (mentioned)
* Farewell Mrs. Kyndley
* A New Boiler for James
* William (cameo)
* The Sodor Blitz (cameo)
* Heavy Goods (cameo)
* A Kyndley Christmas

### Season 4

* The Fishy Smell
* Oliver and the Enthusiast (does not speak)
* Thomas the Cheeky Tank Engine (does not speak)
* Tender Engines Don't Shunt
* The First Visit
* The Lost Engine of Ballahoo
* Kidnapped! (mentioned)
* Hard Work Brings Success (cameo)
* Looking Splendid
* Neil (cameo)
* Gordon and the Pigs
* Rumours and Reveals
* A Christmas Wish
* New Year, New Life

### Season 5

* Goodbye Percy (cameo)
* Who's The Favourite?
* The Train Protection and Warning System (cameo)
* Jim & The North Western Railway
* Forgotten?
* The Flying Duck
* Duck and Scott
* Gordon and Scott
* Ryan
* The Legacy Of Glynn The Coffee Pot Engine (cameo)

### Season 6

* Percy and the Queen
* Whistle Trouble (5th Anniversary Episode) (cameo)
* Pip and the Trucks (cameo)
* The Box-cab and the Pacific
* Philip and the Windy Runaway
* Slow Down, Gordon!

### Season 7

* No Laughing Matter (cameo)
* Mavis' Impatient Driver (cameo)
* Toby's Easter Egg Hunt (cameo)
* The Earl's Coffee Pot (cameo)
* Troublesome Tourists (cameo)
* Thomas and Percy's Field Trip (cameo)
* Glynn and the Hill (cameo)
* Bill and Ben's Christmas Rescue

### Season 8

* Tender First (does not speak)
* Paxton (does not speak)
* Changed? (cameo)
* Lobster on the Line (cameo)
* Typical Engines

### Season 9

* A New Coat for Rheneas (cameo)
* A New Friend For Trevor (cameo)
* BoCo and the Brake Tender
* Philip's Royal Rescue
* Gordon and the Bluebell Railway
* Toby and the Cheeky Twins (mentioned)
* Percy and the Express
* Lost and Found (cameo)
* Talking Whoppers (cameo)
* Christmas Day Emergency!

### Season 10

* Geoffrey and the Trucks (does not speak)
* Really Useless Coach (cameo)
* No Rails for Winston (mentioned)
* James and the Turntable
* Seasons E-Greetings?

### Season 11

* Bill the Ice Skater (does not speak)
* Regrets (cameo)
* Diesel's Christmas Carol (10th anniversary remake)
* A New Year for Toby & Algy (music video cameo)

### Season 12

* Gordon's Fallout
* Duke and the Scouts
* Framed!
* Thomas and Douglas (*does not speak*)
* A Stuffed Friend for Duck
* Fowl Train (*cameo*)
* Softy Bulgy (*cameo*)
* A Cranky New Year! (*cameo*)

### NWR Flashback Tales

#### Season 1

* Magic Man
* Gordon’s Snow Machine

### Series 1

* James Makes a Mistake (does not speak)
* Trial of Trust
* Thomas and Timothy
* Cursed Coaches
* Engines and Egos
* No Stone Unturned (cameo)
* Duke The Proud Engine (does not speak)
* Thomas' Bad Day (does not speak)
* The Secret Benefactor
* Edward's Precious Passenger (cameo)
* Bear Reads a Book (does not speak)
* The Missing Coach
* Duck Comes Around
* Preservation (cameo)
* Fireless Engines
* Toby and the Old Coaches (mentioned)
* Oliver's Faithful Friend (does not speak)
* The Tale of the Bad Engine
* Goods Engines
* The Lonely Scrapyard (cameo)
* In Demand (cameo)

### Series 2

* Across the Bridge
* Gordon's Trucks
* Diesels and Dogma (does not speak)
* One Bump Too Many
* The Bakery Express (does not speak)
* Percy's Ploy
* Edward Finds a Phantom
* Rhebenezer (cameo)

### Annual Adaptations

* Toby Saves the Day (cameo)
* Very Special Engines (does not speak)
* Super Rescue (does not speak)
* Thomas, Percy and the Suspension Bridge (does not speak)
* Gordon's Stowaway
* The Monster Under the Shed
* Thomas' Night Before Christmas
* The Picnic Express
* Ice Magic
* Pipe Dreams (mentioned)
* Edward Saves the Day (cameo)
* Donald and the Lost Tarpaulin (cameo)
* Percy and the Brake Van (cameo)
* Near Miss (cameo)
* Percy's Passengers
* The Strawberry Special (mentioned)
* Henry Scores a Goal (cameo)
* Gale Warning (cameo)
* Percy in Print
* Thomas and the Snowplough