Donald and Douglas facts for kids

Donald and Douglas are two friendly twin steam locomotives. They are special because they act like people, which is called anthropomorphic. You can find them in The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry. They also star in the popular TV show Thomas & Friends. Joe Mills is the voice actor for both Donald and Douglas in the TV series.

These twin engines are from Scotland, and their Scottish background is often mentioned in their stories. For example, in the book Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine, Douglas talks about the famous Scottish song 'The Bluebells of Scotland'.

In another book, Jock the New Engine, Douglas sees a new engine with an unusual color. He remembers that some engines in the Scottish Highlands were that color. He even suggests the name "Jock" for the new engine, which is a common Scottish nickname. This is how the engine gets its name and a special pale green paint job, like the old Highland Railway engines.

In The Railway Series books, Sir Topham Hatt (also known as the Fat Controller) decided to paint Donald and Douglas blue. This was the color of the North Western Railway. However, in the Thomas & Friends television show, they always stayed black.

The author, Rev. Wilbert Awdry, made a model of Donald for his own model railway in 1959. He used parts from a Tri-ang 3F locomotive. Interestingly, he never made a model of Douglas, and no one knows why.

Real-Life Inspiration

Donald and Douglas are based on real trains called the Caledonian Railway 812 Class. These were Scottish steam locomotives. In The Railway Series books, one of them is numbered 57646. However, no real 812 class engine ever had this number. The highest number for those engines was 57645.

In the books, Donald and Douglas are painted blue, similar to the color used on the Caledonian Railway. They also appeared in black with red and white stripes, like the British Railways engines. Donald and Douglas have very deep-sounding whistles. Other engines like Gordon and Henry noticed they sounded like buses or ships. These deep whistles were common on the Caledonian Railway and the LMS in real life.

One real-life Caledonian '812' class engine still exists today! It's numbered 828 and is kept on the Strathspey Railway in Aviemore, Scotland. It has been restored and is currently running.

Douglas on the Mid Hants Railway

In 2000, a railway called the Mid Hants Railway in Hampshire, England, changed one of their engines. They transformed a Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST engine to look like an old tender engine. This new engine was made to resemble Douglas for special events. It's not an exact copy of a real engine, but it's a fun way to bring Douglas to life for visitors.