All Engines Ought To Have Names

All Engines Ought to Have Names

"Yes," agreed Edward, "it's most important."

Engines care a lot about names. It's one of the few things that engines have ownership of and not every engine is lucky enough to get one. It's a mark of distinction on most railways and, by that measure, it's perhaps notable that engines on Sodor are nearly always given names if they don't already have one.

No. 1 - 5 (Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, and James)

We can assume Sir Topham Hatt named all these guys because their respective backstories allow for that. Most of them are experiments that weren't ever meant to see real use, and we can afford Edward and Thomas that engines generally have to earn names outside of Sodor.

Hatt seems to favor common names for his engines. He's been around long enough perhaps to see what too lofty a name might do to an engine but leaving an engine unnamed has never been his style either. Giving an engine a name is a gesture of intent: you don't do so unless you plan to keep him around. It's also a great leveler: even the lowliest of engines on Sodor have names. Everyone is distinct, everyone is important to the railway.

No. 6 (Percy)

Percy is the only engine we actually see Hatt name. The big book of people, places, and things suggests Percy has a quite diverse prior work history, but taking his introduction in the book at face value, we could assume he's freshly built. If he did indeed work so many other places before without getting a name, being given one more or less sight unseen would be quite the statement to him.

I quite like to think he's named for Mr. Percival. They have a similar emotional intelligence.

No. 7 (Toby)

Toby already had a name and Hatt generally respects existing names which is why some other engines have names that do not follow his common naming convention, like Salty and Whiff.

No. 8 (Montague/Duck)

Duck is a Great Western engine and Hatt is said to be an admirer of the GWR. In fact, he came up at the Swindon Works. So when he asks Duck what his name is, it's an assumption that Duck does indeed already have one. And if he's a GW engine, he's undoubtedly quite proud of it. Hatt probably did expect that name to be somewhat pretentious, as the GWR seemed to take a humorous delight in that sort of thing, but that Duck had a nickname he preferred was probably a surprise.

He apparently received this nickname because the other engines thought he waddled. This could be a relic from the GWR, but I rather prefer to think it's from his time on the BR, where pannier tanks were perhaps a less common sight. Duck is also shorter, more relatable among other common engines, and easier to shout and hear over busy train yard noise. That he prefers it over Montague is probably practical (and it is merely a preference, he seems equally proud of his real name in "Duck in the Water"), but there's room for to be a trophy of acclimating to the BR.

SR No. 1 and 2 (Skarloey and Rheneas), MSR No. 1 (Duke), CFR No. 1, 4, 5, and 6 (King Godred, Culdee, Shane Dooiney, Lord Harry)

A lot of railways like to name their engines after scenic features of their lines or people that are important to it. This is particularly a mark of being a flagship engine on that railway.

MSR/SR. No 3 and 4 (Sir Handel and Peter Sam)

Beyond Duke, who was named for the Duke of Sodor, the Mid-Sodor Railway preferred to name its engines for their designers (Falcon and Stuart). If the railway had lasted longer, they might have run into trouble with that, but it didn't so all's well that ends well enough.

When Falcon and Stuart were sold to the Skarloey Railway, they were renamed Sir Handel and Peter Sam, after people significant to the SR.

Jinty and Pug

So an interesting note about these guys is that Jinty and Pug are actually nicknames for their classes of engine, not names proper. BR engines seem to usually go by a class name or a number; they're rarely given genuine names as far as we see.

Diesel

So it follows that Diesel is probably not a name proper either. And unlike other diesels who were eventually brought into the NWR, Diesel himself remains without a name proper.

I think Diesel has a complicated relationship with his place on Sodor and that he continues to lack a proper name speaks to that. However, I also think he likes it that way. When you speak of him, you have to qualify that you mean Diesel Himself. And even if he was not the first diesel to properly join the NWR (he even lacks a number, black sheep as he is), he gets to be called Diesel because he was the first to arrive. Though the distinction is dubious, it's a distinction all the same.

SR No. 5 (Rusty)

As seen with Sir Handel and Peter Sam, the done thing on the SR was to rename an engine after an important person to the railway. If we take Rusty's counterpart Midlander into account, who was bought from a quarry for the Talyllyn, it's possible Rusty already had a name upon arrival to the SR and was permitted to keep it. Rusty typically does not do customer facing work, so the name doesn't strictly need to fit the convention.

SR No. 6 (Duncan)

I suspect that Duncan was allowed to keep his name from his factory days as well, despite that he does do customer facing work and so should have been renamed to match the rest of the fleet. While it might just be that Duncan is a grumpy little cuss of an engine and so naming him after someone might come off as an insult to them, I prefer to think this is actually a consideration for him.

Given that factories probably don't need a whole fleet of engines and that Duncan has Opinions about diesels despite this, it stands to reason he was obsolesced and replaced by one. He's a complainer anyway, but he's probably not thrilled with his new lot in life. He's used to tidy, evenly laid (and probably indoor) rails and being able to say whatever is on his mind without worrying about what high-minded passengers will think.

Mr. Percival's got five kids. He gets it. No one likes change. Let that cunty little engine keep something that's his. It's a gesture to let him buck convention.

No. 9 and 10 (Donald and Douglas)

Hatt also asks these guys what their names are upon meeting them. If naming engines was likely on the Caledonian too, then Hatt expects they have names already, despite being BR engines at the present. They claim to have only given themselves names when they lost their numbers, but they're already lying about that so it's possible they're also lying about this. All the same, the BR apparently has little need for names, so it's a lie that would pass muster. If Hatt called the controller on the BR, he'd probably have no idea about this.

No. D1 (Daisy)

Daisy is the only BR engine who seemingly came with a name right out the box. Given that the BR wasn't exactly handing them out, but that she's apparently been treated very preciously by her fitter, I'd have to guess the name came from said fitter. Maybe that's where she's learned all her French nonsense too.

No. D2 (BoCo)

BoCo first gives his name when Edward spits out his entire class to Bill and Ben and they struggle to apologize to him in the face of it. It's a reversal of Co-Bo which is the name for his wheel arrangement. Given the more "affectionate" sound to it, it was a perhaps understatedly bold of him to give a name for himself. Co-Bo would have been utilitarian and given for ease of use, plausibly deniable if anyone objected. BoCo is a choice, it's him taking the liberty.

He was an NWR engine all along.

No. 11 (Oliver)

Also a Great Western, and so he had a name to begin with. And he uses it, even before he's accepted on the NWR. He might not be completely devoted to the Great Western Way as Duck is, but few engines are going to neglect a name if they have one.

No. D3 (Bear)

Bear was named by the other engines on the NWR, for the growling noise he makes. He likes the name his new friends have given him.

"It's nicer than just a number," he says. "Having a name means that you really belong."