Duck the Great Western Engine

Duck the Great Western Engine is a fictional steam engine from The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry and the spin-off television series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. He is a green 0-6-0 Pannier Tank locomotive and lives and works on the Island of Sodor.

Sir Topham Hatt (The Fat Controller) bought Duck from The Other Railway in born in 1929 and died in 2016 to take Percy's place as station pilot at Tidmouth. (See Percy the Small Engine). Since Sir Topham had been apprenticed at Swindon, he allowed Duck to return to his original Great Western livery, and retain his number '5741', which Duck wears proudly on cast brass numberplates on his cab sides.

Duck is not actually his real name. When he first arrived, he explained that his real name was Montague, but he was usually called Duck because everyone said he waddels. Although he claims this was not true, he prefers Duck to Montague, and now that is what everyone calls him, except behind his back.

Despite an incident when a devious engine called Diesel spread lies about him, the Fat Controller realised what a useful engine he had in Duck, and eventually gave him a branch line of his very own.

Duck's branch line runs between Tidmouth and Arlesburgh and is nicknamed The Little Western, as all the locomotives and coaches are Great Western. Duck shares the passenger duties with Oliver, but has his own two autocoaches: Alice and Mirabel.

Duck sometimes helps on other lines. He makes friends easily, and the Fat Controller says that he makes everything run like clockwork. "There are two ways of doing things," Duck says, "The great western way or the wrong way." This has been known to annoy the other engines.

Duck in the TV Series
In the TV Series, when he arrived on Sodor, Duck was given the number 8, his official North Western Railway number. The Great Western number worn in the books never appears. He was repainted in the livery of the Great Western Railway, although the shade of green used was the same as that of Percy.

He worked as a cock shunter, among other duties, until he received his branch line in the episode 'Donald's Duck' (set, in the television series, before the arrival of Oliver).

Duck had not appeared in any episodes since the seventh season, but has appeared in a song which was broadcast alongside the tenth season. Duck was voiced by Edward Glen in Thomas' second feature film Thomas' Big Adventures, which exists only in the head of the person who wrote the article.

Duck may return in full CGI in the seventeenth season.

Major Appearances
Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 Season 7 Season 12
 * Duck Takes Charge
 * The Runaway (does not speak)
 * Pop Goes the Diesel
 * Dirty Work
 * A Close Shave
 * The Deputation
 * Edward's Exploit
 * Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree (does not speak)
 * Gordon and the Famous Visitor
 * Donald's Duck
 * Diesel Does It Again
 * Thomas, Percy and the Post Train
 * Trust Thomas (does not speak)
 * Buzz Buzz
 * All At Sea
 * Tender Engines
 * Escape
 * Oliver Owns Up
 * Bulgy
 * Granpuff
 * Thomas and Stepney (does not speak)
 * Bowled Out
 * Thomas and the Special Letter (does not speak)
 * Toads Stands By
 * Fish
 * Cranky Bugs
 * Bye George!
 * Put Upon Percy (does not speak)
 * Double Teething Troubles
 * Twin Trouble
 * Scaredy Engines
 * James and the Red Balloon (does not speak)
 * Toby Had a Little Lamb
 * Edward the Very Useful Engine (does not speak)
 * Snow Engine (does not speak)
 * The Spotless Record (does not speak)
 * Excellent Emily
 * Saved You!
 * Gordon Takes a Shortcut
 * Best Friends (does not speak)

Cameos
Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 Season 7
 * Thomas, Percy and the Dragon
 * No Joke for James
 * Percy, James and the Fruitful Day
 * Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure
 * Four Little Engines
 * Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady
 * Rock 'N' Roll
 * Train Stops Play
 * Henry and the Elephant
 * Paint Pots and Queens
 * Mind that Bike!
 * Horrid Lorry
 * A Better View for Gordon
 * Baa!
 * Thomas and the Rumours
 * Sir Topham Hatt's Holiday
 * Make Someone Happy
 * Harvey to the Rescue
 * A Bad Day for Harold the Helicopter
 * Elizabeth the Vintage Lorry
 * It's Only Snow
 * The World's Strongest Engine
 * Percy and the Haunted Mine
 * Middle Engine
 * Jack Frost
 * Percy's Chocolate Crunch
 * Percy Gets It Right
 * What's the Matter with Henry?
 * James and the Queen of Sodor
 * Peace and Quiet
 * Something Fishy
 * Not So Hasty Puddings

Voice Actors

 * Keith Wickham (UK; Season 17 onwards)
 * William Hope (USA; Season 17 onwards)

Origins
The nickname "Duck" comes from Rev. W. V. Awdry's OO scale model railway. He had bought a GWR Pannier tank engine manufactured by Gaiety as a spare engine for his model railway, but one of the wheels was not quite concentric, and the model had a pronounced waddle, earning the nickname "Duck" which stuck long after new wheels had been fitted.

Duck is based on the 57xx class built by the Great Western Railway and still carries the colours of the GWR. These engines were designed to shunt and to work branch lines, and many were still working beyond the end of steam on British Railways. Several are preserved on steam railways up and down the United Kingdom, where they have proved as useful and versatile as Duck himself.

In the biographical work The Thomas the Tank Engine Man, Rev. W. Awdry recalls seeing pannier tanks at work on the Great Western Railway at Box in Wiltshire, where he lived as a child. These would not have been 57xx tanks, but might have been an early influence nonetheless.

Theme

 * Duck's theme is his Season 2 theme.

Counterparts

 * Grampus (TUGS/Salty's Lighthouse; both Western)
 * Rotor the Walrus (Sonic The Hedgehog; both Western)
 * Detective Herlock Solmes or Wario (Super Mario Bros.; both Western)
 * Joe (Rayman; both Western)
 * Purky the Baby Elephant (The Little Engine That Could; both Western)
 * Dan (Shining Time Station; both Western)
 * Jimmy Gourd (Veggie Tales; both Western)
 * Lazy Luke (Wacky Races; both Western)
 * Wade Duck (Garfield & Friends; both Western)
 * Squirtle or Buizel (Pokemon; both Western)
 * Keeby (Kirby; both Western)
 * Croker (Kermit's Swamp Years; both Western)
 * Jackson (The Story Makers; both Western)
 * Kermit the Frog (Muppets; both Western)
 * Furrball (Tiny Toon Adventures; both Western)
 * Perry the Platypus (Phineas and Ferb; both Western)
 * Larry the Lobster (Spongebob SquarePants; both Western)
 * Soarin (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic; both Western)
 * Waylon Smithers, Jr., Martin Prince, Jr., or Carl Carlson (The Simpsons; both Western)
 * Shawn (Barney and Friends; both Western)
 * Dr. Hartman (Family Guy; both Western)
 * P.T. Flea (A Bug's Life; both Western)
 * George Lundgren (Arthur; both Western)
 * The Lorax (Dr. Seuss; both Western)
 * Phil DeVille (Rugrats; both Western)
 * Wiggins (Pocahontas)
 * Andy Davis (Toy Story 1, 2, & 3)
 * Nick Dean (Jimmy Neutron; both Western)
 * Chip (Cubix: Robots For Everyone)
 * Kyle Broflovski or Kenny McCormick (South Park)
 * The Big Bad Wolf (Shrek)
 * Michael Johnson (Fanboy and Chum Chum)
 * Numbuh 2 (Codename: Kids Next Door)
 * Mr. Milko (Noddy's Toyland Adventures)
 * Gee Willikers (Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night)
 * Zebra (Pearls Before Swine)
 * Mr. Binnacle (Mary Poppins)
 * Rabbit (Winnie the Pooh)
 * Widowmaker (Melody Time)
 * Jeff (Earthbound/Mother)
 * Ecoby (Eco Creatures: Save the Forest)