Donald and Douglas
| Donald and Douglas | |
|---|---|
| Thomas & Friends character | |
|
|
|
| First appearance |
The Twin Engines (Thomas & Friends) |
| Voiced by |
Rob Rackstraw (UK/US; 2016-present; S20 onwards; Donald) Joe Mills (UK/US; 2015-present; Sodor's Legend of the Lost Tresure onwards; Douglas/2015-2016; Sodor's Legend of the Lost Tresure and The Great Race; Donald) Yūki Satō (Japan; 1990-2003; S2-7: Donald/Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Thomas and the Special Letter only: Douglas) Takeshi Endo (Japan; S2-7; 1990-2003: Douglas) Kyousei Tsukui (Japan; 2007-present; S11 onwards) |
| Numbers | 9 and 10 |
| Information | |
| Gender | Males |
The Twin Engines
(The Railway Series)
Donald and Douglas are two fictional steam locomotives from The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry. They also appear in Thomas & Friends, the television series based on the books. They are twin Scottish engines.
The Fat Controller originally only ordered one engine from Scotland, but was surprised when two engines arrived, neither with numbers or any distinguishing features – both engines were painted completely black. He could not tell which engine was which, and so decided to keep whichever one was the more useful. Unfortunately, Douglas accidentally shunted Thomas' Special Coach, full of Passengers, into a siding at Tidmouth, thus infuriating the Passengers. Things worsened when Donald managed to demolish a signal box. Douglas, meanwhile, made the decision harder by helping James up a hill, succeeding in spite of James losing steam, but destroying a spiteful brake van in the process.
However, the twins proved their worth to the railway in winter, when their experience and expertise with snow made them excellent snowplough engines. The other engines appealed to the Fat Controller in "The Deputation" and he decided to keep both of them. In the Railway Series, they were painted blue shortly afterwards and given nameplates.
The twins are almost identical (except for their names and numbers), and some episodes of the television series have depicted them as being inseparable (notably the episode "Twin Trouble"). The reason for their both arriving on Sodor was that Donald was bought and saved from scrap, but Douglas was not and was due to be cut up (this fact is revealed in the story "The Missing Coach"). They could not bear the thought of one being saved and the other not so they decided to go to Sodor together and hope for the best. As their crews were also related, it was not difficult for them both to stay on the island. To allow the engines to be told apart, the Fat Controller ordered that numbers be painted on their tenders. Following an incident in which the engines swapped tenders, he decided that it would also be wise to give them nameplates on their boilers as well.
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Wikipedia