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Arthur is a maroon tank engine originating from the London, Midland and Scottish Railway who runs the branch line to the Fishing Village.

Biography

Arthur was first brought to Sodor by the Fat Controller as a goods engine and shunter. Upon arrival, he had a spotless record, meaning he had never had an accident or been naughty. On his first day, his record was broken when he crashed into Duck's goods train after Thomas tricked him into provoking the Troublesome Trucks. Despite this, the two decided that his spotless record could be mended after Thomas apologised to him for causing the accident.^[4]

One morning, while he was still new to the Island, Arthur discovered the line to the Fishing Village, which quickly became his favourite place. He hoped that he would be chosen to run it, but was instead to his disappointment asked to pull coal to the Steelworks, while Thomas was chosen to run the Fishing Village line. After Arthur took his trucks to Brendam Docks when Thomas derailed on the old pier rail, Arthur asked Sir Topham Hatt to be allowed to have the line for himself as Thomas hates fish. From then on, Arthur has run the line to the Fishing Village, much to his delight.^[5]

Personality

Arthur is a big tank engine who has never been naughty in his life. He was highly esteemed for his "spotless record" before he arrived on Sodor, never having made a mess, fuss or caused an accident. His main duties were to shunt trucks and haul goods trains. Arthur can be a bit naïve, however, and after an envious Thomas tricked him into setting his standards too high with the trucks, his record did not stay as spotless as he had hoped. Arthur is very obedient, cautious and well-behaved. He aims to please in his work and do everything as best he can. He now mainly runs the Fishing Route by the coastal village, a duty which Thomas was all too grateful to be relieved from. Here, Arthur enjoys the sea air and the smell of the fish.

Technical Details

Basis

Arthur is based on a London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Ivatt Class 2MT 2-6-2T. Some features of his design - such as the dip in the running board below the tanks and the shape of the bunker - appear to have been erroneously modelled using a BR Standard Class 3 2-6-2T for reference, rather than his intended basis.

According to Robert Gauld-Galliers' original artwork, Arthur was originally going to have the number 41241 painted in yellow on his coal bunker and a top feed like his original basis. The number 41241 comes from a preserved member of his class on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, which was built in September 1949 under British Railways and thus never worked for the LMS. Three other members of the class are also preserved.

Livery

Arthur is painted in LMS Crimson Lake with gold boiler bands and yellow lining on his tanks, bunker and cylinders. The initials "LMS" are painted on the sides of his tanks in yellow with red lining. His wheels are also painted red and his ladder is painted black while the steps at his front buffer beam are red and he has white lamp irons.

Interestingly, while these colours were used by the LMS, this livery is inauthentic for Arthur, as his class was only ever painted black when in service on the LMS.

Appearances

Official Description

Audio Files

Themes

Only used	Composers	Theme
Series 7	Mike O'Donnell Junior Campbell
Series 7 (US Version)	Robert Hartshorne

Whistles

First used	Last used	Sound Effect
Series 7
Arthur's Tricky Travels	Series 12

Trivia

• According to an early leak on the names of the seventh series characters, Arthur was originally going to be called Clarence.^[6] It was then changed to Arthur, when a television magazine ran a competition to give him an official name, and that was the one chosen. Arthur was named after Arthur Sharp, the late grandfather of competition winner Luke Sharp. In an ABC Kids promo he was also referred to as Clarence most likely due to the the competition not yet being ran.
• Arthur's normal whistle sound is a stock sound effect of an LMS Stanier hooter whistle. However, in the ninth series DVD game Arthur's Tricky Travels and the twelfth series episode Steady Eddie, Arthur reuses and shares Edward's whistle sound.
• Although he appeared in the twelfth series, Arthur was never seen with a CGI face. Despite this, a 2021 display by Sam Wilkinson revealed that he did have a target used for animation reference that would be placed on his smokebox instead of a face, much like the engines who had CGI faces.
• Despite not appearing in the CGI series, Arthur was mentioned on concept artwork for Ryan, as it was considered for Ryan to have "a rich red ground just slightly brighter than Arthur".
• Arthur is the only new engine from the seventh series to not have a Nakayoshi toy. Said toy was intended to be released, but was cancelled for unknown reasons.
• Due to the inconsistency in the placement of the Fishing Village, it is unknown exactly which branch line Arthur runs.^[7]
• In the French dub, Arthur lisps when he speaks.
• Interestingly, a photograph of Arthur's basis (41241) appeared in the 1980 annual on a page dedicated to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.^[8]

References