Duke the Lost Engine
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Duke the Lost Engine is a fictional character from book of the same name in The Railway Series written by Rev. W. Awdry.
Duke lived and worked on the Mid Sodor Railway with the engines Stuart and Falcon (later Peter Sam and Sir Handel respectively). He was the oldest engine on the line, and liked everything to be "just so". Whenever a young engine did something of which he disapproved, he would always say, "That would never suit His Grace." Falcon and Stuart thought he was a fusspot and a fuddy-duddy, and gave him the nickname of "Granpuff".
Once he managed to show Stuart up by playing a trick on him. He was rescued by the young engine when he was ill, but managed to trick the passengers into thinking that Stuart was the one who had broken down. On another occasion, he saved Falcon from a terrible accident when double-heading a train with him. Falcon came off the line on a steep mountainside, and only Duke's holding on prevented him from falling.
The biggest adventure yet came when his line was closed. Falcon and Stuart were sold, but nobody wanted the old-fashioned Duke. He was locked up and forgotten about. After many years, he was found by the Small Controller, the Thin Clergyman and the [Fat Clergyman]. He was then moved to the Skarloey Railway, where he now resides.
The story of Duke was based upon a true story about an engine abandoned in the Brazilian rain forest. Duke himself is based around the engine Prince, a tender engine on the Ffestiniog Railway at Porthmadog, North Wales.
References
- Awdry, Wilbert Vere. Duke the Lost Engine, (London: Kaye & Ward, 1970) ISBN 0718208404
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