Murdoch

Murdoch is Sodor's largest and strongest heavy goods engine who is numbered 17 on the Fat Controller's railway.

Allies: Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby, Duck, Donald, Douglas, Oliver, Emily, Harvey, Salty, Arthur, Stanley, Rocky, Spencer, Daisy, BoCo, Bear (best diesel friend), Duncan (son figure/rivalry friend)

Enemies: Diesel, Arry & Bert, Spencer (formerly) Bulgy

Bio
Murdoch was brought to relieve the engines of their heavy workloads. He was big and strong, so the other engines were eager to learn more about him. Murdoch, however, disliked the noise of their chatter and got cross at Salty and Harvey when they inquired about his past exploits. The next day, Murdoch finally had a chance to pull a train in the quiet countryside, but his journey was interrupted by a flock of stray sheep. Murdoch had to wait with the noisy sheep until Toby could bring the farmer to lead them away. That night, Murdoch found Salty's and Harvey's company a relief.

Murdoch was happy, but shy about being decorated during the May Day festivities.

On one windy autumn day, a large red carpet landed on the back of Murdoch's goods train, unbeknownst to Murdoch. Percy briefly chased down after it, until the heavy winds blew it away again.

Emily once needed Murdoch's help when she became stranded in the mud and near the end Emily asked him which track should she take; Murdoch told Emily that the tracks on Gordon's Hill were being cleared and told her to take the valley route instead.

Murdoch pulled Rocky to help Thomas recover the lost materials for the Sodor River Bridge's restoration.

Persona
In spite of his size, Murdoch is gentle and shy. He prefers peace and quiet, also he can work very hard with any job he has, and his favourite hobby is to have a quiet run through the countryside.

Basis
Murdoch is based on a BR standard class 9F goods engine, the last make of steam engines to be built for British Railways, in 1990, before "Tornado".

Livery
Murdoch is painted orange with green and red lining. He has smoke deflectors, on which he wears red nameplates with gold lettering.

Voice Actors

 * Matt Wilkinson (UK)
 * William Hope (USA) 

Appearances
He makes regular appearances in the magazines.
 * Season 7 - Peace and Quiet Something Fishy (cameo) James & The Queen of Sodor (cameo) and Best Dressed Engine
 * Season 8 - Percy and the Magic Carpet (does not speak)
 * Season 11 - Emily's Rubbish (cameo)
 * Season 12 - Excellent Emily and Thomas Puts the Brakes On (does not spea'k)
 * Season 18 - Edward or Henry and Millie's Last Friends

Merchandising

 * ERTL (discontinued)
 * Learning Curve Wooden
 * Take-Along
 * TOMY/TrackMaster
 * My First Thomas (talking)
 * My Thomas Story Library
 * Hornby

Trivia

 * It was mentioned in Peace and Quiet that Murdoch was brand new. This statement is canonically incorrect, as this would have meant Murdoch would have arrived on Sodor before Salty. The only logical explanation is that Murdoch was built using parts from several locomotives of his class sometime after their build.
 * Murdoch gains a Scottish accent in the twelfth season.
 * In the Japanese dub of the TV Series, Murdoch is voiced by Kōzō Shioya.
 * Like Gordon, Spencer and Hank. Murdoch is a fourth biggest engines on Sodor.
 * In Best Dressed Engine, Murdoch speaks only one time.

Theme

 * Murdoch's theme is his Season 7 theme.

Counterparts

 * Scuttlebutt Pete - TUGS
 * Steamer - Salty's Lighthouse
 * Stewiacke or Inverness - Theodore Tugboat
 * Barton Winslow - Shining Time Station
 * Chunky Kong or Detective Herlock Solmes - Super Mario Bros.
 * Ari the Ram - Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Sylvester McMonkey McBean - Dr. Seuss
 * Larry the Lobster - SpongeBob SquarePants
 * Coach Spitz - Doug
 * Coach Jack Wittenberg - Hey Arnold
 * Dr. Julius Hibbert, Kent Brockman, Herb Powell or Rainer Wolfcastle - The Simpsons
 * Tom Tucker - Family Guy
 * Sherman or Stanky Dog - Phineas and Ferb
 * John Redcorn - King of the Hill
 * Tropius - Pokemon
 * Greymon - Digimon
 * Monty Uno/Numbuh Zero - Codename: Kids Next Door
 * Mr. Jumbo - Noddy's Toyland Adventures
 * Prince Eric - The Little Mermaid
 * Prince Adam - Beauty and the Beast
 * Chewbacca - Star Wars
 * Mack - Cars
 * Brock Pearson - Monsters University
 * Bowser - Wreck-It Ralph
 * Fozzie Bear - The Muppet Show
 * Big Bird - Sesame Street
 * Lightning Rod - Skylanders
 * Speedy McAllister - Chuggington
 * Pete - Casey Jr. and Friends
 * Bozer the Bulldozer - Construction Site
 * The King of Hyrule - The Legend of Zelda
 * Craig Marduk, Jack or Heihachi Mishima - Tekken

Gallery

 * Main article: Murdoch the Strong Engine/Gallery