The Railway Series book, featuring Percy, which also carries Percy's name.

Percy the Small Engine
as portrayed in the TV series.

Percy the Small Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic steam engine from the children's television series, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, and The Railway Series books written by the Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. Image File history File links RS11. ... Image File history File links RS11. ... Map showing the railways on the fictional Island of Sodor (click to enlarge). ... Image File history File links PercyTTTE1. ... Image File history File links PercyTTTE1. ... FicTioNaL is a Gaming Legend. ... Anthropomorphism, also referred to as personification or prosopopeia, is the attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, forces of nature, and others. ... Thomas & Friends (formerly Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, also known as Thomas the Tank Engine) is a British childrens television series which was first broadcast in 1984. ... Map showing the railways on the fictional Island of Sodor (click to enlarge). ... The Reverend W. V. Awdry OBE (15 June 1911 – 21 March 1997) was a clergyman, railway enthusiast and childrens author, best known as the creator of Thomas the Tank Engine. ... Christopher Awdry (born 1940) is a British author best known for his contributions to The Railway Series of books featuring Thomas the Tank Engine, which was started by his father Rev. ...

Percy lives on the Island of Sodor with many other locomotives, including Thomas the Tank Engine, Gordon the Big Engine and Henry the Green Engine. He is the smallest, youngest and probably cheekiest, of the principal steam engine characters. He carries the number 6 on his bunker. Sodor and Man is a diocese of the Church of England. ... Thomas the Tank Engine. ... Gordon the Big Engine. ... Henry the Green Engine Henry the Green Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic 4-6-0 steam locomotive from the childrens television series, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, and The Railway Series books written by the Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. ...

The Fat Controller brought him to Sodor when there was an engine strike due to a shortage of shunting engines. The bigger engines initially tried to bully him, but Percy soon showed that he was more than capable of standing up for himself. After a few years of shunting at the Big Station, the Fat Controller promoted him to goods traffic on Thomas' branch line. When not pulling trucks, he can be seen pulling the post train or even taking Annie and Clarabel when Thomas is busy. Percy's best friends are Thomas and Toby. Sir Topham Hatt, the Fat Controller is the head of the railway in The Railway Series of books written by Rev. ... A branch line is a relatively minor railway line which branches off a more important through route. ... In the fictional world of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, Annie and Clarabel are Thomas coaches. ... Thomas the Tank Engine. ... Toby the Tram Engine. ...

He is reasonably experienced, but can still occasionally be a little naive and overconfident. In that sense, he is the perfect foil for Thomas - who can be just as headstrong.

Percy's first appearance in The Railway Series was in book no. 5, Troublesome Engines, originally published in 1950. He was given his own title with book no. 11, Percy the Small Engine This list consists all of the Railway Series books by both the Rev. ... This list consists all of the Railway Series books by both the Rev. ...

In the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends television series, he made his debut in the first season, in an episode called "Trouble in the Shed" which originally aired in the mid-1980s.

He was voiced by Linda Ballantyne in the Thomas and the Magic Railroad film. Linda Ballantyne is a voice actress currently charged with voicing Sailor Moon in the American dub. ... Thomas and the Magic Railroad is a 2000 film based on the well-known TV series and its American spinoff. ...

Illustration controversy

Like Henry the Green Engine, Percy was the source of much friction between Rev. W. Awdry and C. Reginald Dalby, the illustrator of The Railway Series. Awdry complained that Percy did not look like a real locomotive, an issue that had caused contention between the two men on several occasions and concerning several characters. In the case of Percy, it was particularly infuriating, as Awdry had built a model of the engine in order that the artist could use it as a reference. Henry the Green Engine Henry the Green Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic 4-6-0 steam locomotive from the childrens television series, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, and The Railway Series books written by the Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. ... Clarence Reginald Dalby (born in 1904 in Leicester) was the first illustrator of the Railway Series by W.V. Awdry. ... Map showing the railways on the fictional Island of Sodor (click to enlarge). ...

All this came to a head when the book Percy the Small Engine, centring on the eponymous character, was written. Awdry sent Dalby a letter requesting that he should make Percy look less like "a green caterpillar with red stripes". Insulted by this, Dalby resigned from the Railway Series.

Subsequent illustrators modified the design to make Percy look more like a typical industrial locomotive. The television series, however, utilised the original design.

The phrase "a green caterpillar with red stripes" resurfaces in the later story 'Woolly Bear', in which Thomas uses it as an insult to Percy. This list consists all of the Railway Series books by both the Rev. ...

The Origins of Percy

In general outline, Percy is a fairly typical British industrial shunting locomotive. His bunker is quite unusual for an 0-4-0 shunter, but was presumably added to allow him to travel greater distances without refuelling than was previously possible. It is not known where Percy came from, but according to the book Troublesome Engines, he was bought at an "engine workshop" by the Fat Controller. Percy was needed to shunt the yard at the main station, as the tender engines (Gordon, Henry, James) had protested about having to shunt their own trains .

Rev. W. Awdry considered it essential that his railway stories should be as realistic as possible. To this end, most of his locomotive characters were based upon real designs. However, Percy was designed before that policy came into effect. Percy's history within the fictional universe is largely unknown, as he does not precisely match any real locomotive design – he is of "obscure antecedents", as the Rev. Awdry himself puts it.^[1] He does bear a resemblance to several designs of 0-4-0 tank locomotive built by the Avonside Engine Company such as GWR No. 1340 Trojan, and so Awdry stated that Percy had probably begun as one of these, but had been extensively rebuilt – fitters at Crovan's Gate have found components made by Hunslet and other manufacturers^[1] A selection of early 20th century locomotive types according to their Whyte notation and their comparative size The Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives by wheel arrangement was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte and came into use in the early 20th century. ... A tank locomotive (occasionally tank engine, especially in England, notably used in reference to Thomas the Tank Engine) is a steam locomotive that carries its own fuel and water on it, instead of pulling it behind it in a tender. ... The Avonside Engine Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Bristol, England. ... No. ... There are many fictional locations in The Railway Series of books by Rev. ... Irish Mail is typical of many small engines builf for use in quarries Much rebuilt Hunslet Blanche is always popular on the Ffestiniog Railway Hunslet build several hundred 0-6-0STs for the War Department and National Coal Board A typical Hunslet diesel mechanical shunter from the 1950s A typical...

A mock-up "Percy" at a Days out with Thomas event on the Llangollen Railway

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 600 KB) Percy the Small Engine, an 0-4-0 tank locomotive, from the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends books and TV series. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 600 KB) Percy the Small Engine, an 0-4-0 tank locomotive, from the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends books and TV series. ... Llangollen railways station alongside the River Dee The Llangollen Railway is a preserved railway in Denbighshire, Wales, which runs from Llangollen to Carrog. ...

References

Wilbert Vere Awdry, OBE, (June 15, 1911 – March 21, 1997), better known as the Reverend W. Awdry, was a clergyman, railway enthusiast and childrens author. ...

External links

• Percy the Small Engine Fan page
• Martin Clutterbuck's page on the origins of Percy.