Gordon

Pretty Polly (sister)

Spencer (cousin)

Mallard (cousin)

Green Arrow (cousin)

**Gordon** is a big, blue tender engine who works on the North Western Railway. He is the railway's number 4 engine. He is the Flying Scotsman's only surviving brother. He works on the main line, where he pulls the Express.

## Biography

Gordon was built at Doncaster in 1920-1921 by Sir Nigel Gresley. In 1923, he was sold to the North Western Railway. 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, but then Thomas left the yard when he was given a branch line and Gordon, along with Henry and James, became infuriated when they soon found that they had to fetch their own coaches. After the big engines had several mishaps (one of which involved Gordon having to pull his train backwards), Gordon proposed that they all go on strike; 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 learnt 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 the latter 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.

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, cylinders and wheels, while the rest above was Gresley built.

In 1952, he was called upon to pull a special goods train, much to his disgust. To get out of pulling the train, he tried to jam the turntable, but he could not stop himself and ran into a ditch. After he was rescued from the ditch, the Fat Controller banned Gordon from pulling passenger trains for nearly an entire year until he proved himself a Really Useful Engine. After a period of good behaviour, the Fat Controller rewarded him by allowing him to pull Queen Elizabeth II's royal train when she came to visit Sodor.

## Personality

Gordon is pompous and arrogant, and looks down on any engines he considers inferior to him. He is known to sulk when he does not get his way, and enjoys the thrill of pulling important passenger trains.

## Appearances

* **Series 1** - Thomas and Gordon, Edward's Day Out (not named; doesn't speak), Edward and Gordon, Alled Greedy's Apples, Edward's Express, Edward, Gordon and Henry, Thomas' Trick, Thomas and the Breakdown Train, James and the Top-Hat (mentioned), Bootlaces (mentioned), Troublesome Trucks (mentioned), James' Rest Cure, James and the Express, Henry and the Elephant, Tenders and Turntables, Trouble in the Shed, Push-Pull Percy (mentioned), Express Coming Through, Percy Runs Away, Coal (mentioned), It's Good to be Gordon, The Flying Kipper (mentioned), Gordon's Whistle, Presents for Percy, Thomas's Christmas Party, Off the Rails, Leaves, Teatime for Gordon, Down the Mine, Paint Pots and Queens

## Trivia

* Gordon was named after Gordon Chapman, a rude boy who lived on the Reverend Wilbert Awdry's street when Christopher was a child.