Oliver the Great Western Engine

Oliver 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 0-4-2 tank locomotive who 'escaped' from the Other Railway where he was due to be scrapped. He first appears in the book Enterprising Engines, where his rescue by Douglas is described. Also escaping with Oliver were his faithful coach, a GWR autocoach called Isabel, and a GWR brake van named 'Toad'. His daring escape made him popular with the engines, which perhaps made him a little over-confident. After arriving on Sodor, Oliver was restored, painted GWR green, and allocated loco number 11 on the NWR books. However, he was allowed to keep his GWR number '1436'. He was assigned to work with Duck on his branch line, "The Little Western", hauling Isabel and a second autocoach, Dulcie, both of whom have also been restored to full GWR livery. When Oliver arrived on Sodor, he was not used to handling trucks. While shunting his first ballast train, an incident resulted in Oliver landing bunker-down in a turntable well. On his return from the Works, Oliver learned how to deal with them (albeit after having pulled one truck apart! - see S.C.Ruffey for the full story). Since then, he has gained experience and sense. Oliver is based on a GWR 1400 Class 0-4-2T tank locomotive of The Great Western Railway. These engines were fitted with a mechanical system allowing the driver to control the locomotive remotely from the cab of an 'autocoach', such as Isabel. The story of Oliver's 'escape' is related by the Rev. Awdry in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways. Oliver has appeared in Enterprising Engines and, of course, the stories in the next book in the series, Oliver the Western Engine. He was mentioned in later books, but not seen again until Wilbert the Forest Engine.

Oliver in the TV series
In TV Series, when he arrived on Sodor after he was being saved from scrap by Douglas along with his brake van, Toad, his official North Western Railway number 11. The Great Western number worn in the books never appears. He was repainted in the livery of the Great Western Railway, although the much lighter shade of green used was olive.

Oliver is voiced in the Japanese version of the TV Series by Hikaru Midorikawa, who also voiced Zelgadis Greywords in the Slayers series, Heero Yuy in Moblie Suit Gundam Wing, and Seto Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh.

Oliver had not appeared in any episodes since the seventh season, but he will appear in Season 12's episode "A Problem for Patrick".

Origins
Oliver comes Rev. W. V. Awdry's OO scale model railway. He had bought a GWR side tank engine manufactured by Gaiety as a spare engine for his model railway.

Oliver is based on the 14xx 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 Oliver himself.

In the biographical work The Thomas the Tank Engine Man, Rev. W. Awdry recalls seeing side tanks at work on the Great Western Railway at Box in Wiltshire, where he lived as a child. These would not have been 14xx tanks, but might have been an early influence nonetheless.