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 The Express. At times, this leads him to feel superior.

## Gordon The Big Engine

Gordon, as he appears in Tales From The Tracks.

### Aliases

* The Shooting Star (By Himself)
* Big G (By Himself)
* Lazybones (By Thomas and Henry)

## Personal Status

### Relatives

* Flying Scotsman (Brother)
* Spencer (Cousin)
* Mallard (Cousin)

## Appearances And Media

### English Voice Actor

* Leland Nitzel
* Zach Johnson (Standing For Sodor)

### Music Theme

* Gordon's Theme
* Ode To Gordon

## 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.

Sometimes, Gordon acts mean and insulting, particularly towards Edward, such as the time he did not believe Edward could win a race against Spencer as he is only a "back engine" and a "waste of steam". He soon stopped belittling Edward for good after being tricked by Thomas; he learned his lesson and apologized to Edward, saying that he promised not to call him old or unreliable anymore. Despite the way he treats Edward sometimes, deep down, Gordon cares a great deal about Edward and the other engines on the railway. This was especially shown when 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.

## 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 indicating he is a slight deviation from the "standard" A1 design.

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. His middle piston and conjugated valve gear were removed, and his eight wheel tender was replaced with one of lower capacity for Sudrian trains. In both the Railway Series and television series, Gordon is depicted with a Fowler tender, though in the latter, his tender is differently design from those of Edward and James, as it features a cutout in the back that accommodates his filler cap.

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

As the "Shooting Star", Gordon's appearance is based on a streamlined Pennsylvania Railroad K4 (Hank's basis), more specifically #3768.

### Livery

Gordon is painted in NWR bright blue with red and yellow lining. His number 4 is painted on the sides of his tender in yellow with red lining and the lining around his cab windows is yellow. Before arriving on Sodor, he was painted in LNER apple green with white and black lining.

### Behind The Scenes

*Visit Gordon's Behind The Scenes Page for more information.*

## Appearances

### Season 2

* Premium Engines
* Gordon & The Squeak
* The Record

## Gallery

*Visit Gordon's Gallery Page for more information.*