RWS #25: Duke the Lost Engine

I hope you've all recovered from my April Fool's joke from yesterday; I do apologize if you were offended in some way, but I hope you liked what I reviewed regardless, but now, we're onto the 25th book of the Railway Series featuring Duke the Lost Engine.

THE OPINIONS, THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS IN THIS BLOG POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF ZACK WANZER, NOT THE THOMAS FANDOM IN GENERAL

(special thanks to the Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia for the images)

The Railway Series Book #25

Duke the Lost Engine

Written by The Rev. W. Awdry

Illustrated by Gunvor and Peter Edwards

Published October 15, 1970

We now enter the 1970s, where a new era for music is beginning - disco and glam rock. On Sodor, meanwhile, we still have some loose ends to tie up with the Skarloey and Arlesdale railways...

Dear Friends,
An engine lost in the South American jungle was found after 30 years. A tree had grown through its chimney and hornets nested in its firebox. When mended it gave good service for 30 more years.

"The Duke" was lost too; not in the jungle but in his own shed which a landslide had buried. Not long ago he was dug out and mended. His own railway had been pulled up, so he is now at the Thin Controller's.
The Author

Granpuff
Season 4, Episode 1

Once upon a time, there was the Mid-Sodor Railway, run by three little engines - Duke, Stuart, and Falcon. The latter two are cheeky and often tease wise Duke and nickname him "Granpuff", but when he tells them of the story of Stanley, they behave and work happily for many years. However, the railway closes down and the engines are up for sale - Stuart and Falcon are sold, but Duke is unwanted and sheltered up in the shed at Arlesdale where he sleeps for many years...

Two things:

1. Why were the standard gauge engines shoe-horned into the episode? They have absolutely no reason to be here and should've been cut from the episode (and the other three as well) altogether.
2. This should not have been adapted first. Because Stuart and Falcon were introduced in this episode, they had a re-introduction in Four Little Engines and A Bad Day for Sir Handel which makes no sense.

And it doesn't stop there; Stuart and Falcon could've had removable buffers to represent their Mid-Sodor days, although to be fair, it would've been odd having two gaping holes in the bufferbeam. Also, Smudger is a repainted Rheneas; if they made a lot of characters for season five, why couldn't they make a model of No. 2/Stanley? It's also a shame that the Duke's death wasn't mentioned - kids should never be kept in the dark from issues like death and war! It happens all around us, so why sugarcoat it? If that had replaced the standard gauge engines' roles, it would've been a better adaptation... but no.

RWS Rating: 9.5 out of 10
TV Series Rating: 7 out of 10

Bulldog
Season 4, Episode 3

After Skarloey and Rheneas' centenary, Peter Sam protests that the real Duke never came, and he and Sir Handel explain why... Back then, Sir Handel was painted blue and called Falcon, and one day, he is assigned to work with Duke to learn the Mountain Road. Falcon ignores Duke's warning, but he pays the price when he derails, but Duke holds on to keep Falcon from falling. The blue tank engine is relieved that Duke saved him, and he tells Falcon that if he hadn't held on, it would've spoiled the tank engine's paint.

This should've aired directly after Granpuff, and I'll get to why. Again, Peter Sam and Sir Handel should've told the story since they knew what happened. Oh, and Toby's scared of Duke, because... reasons. (Was he in awe or something?) To be fair, the accident was nicely filmed and it shows the consequences of not paying attention to your surroundings.

RWS Rating: 9 out of 10
TV Series Rating: 7.5 out of 10

You Can't Win
Season 4, Episode 4

Stuart (Peter Sam) teases Duke for his old age, but the brown engine dismisses the green engine's teasing. However, his valves begin to leak, so Stuart and Falcon are brought in to help. Falcon takes Duke's passengers to Arlesburgh while Stuart takes over Falcon's train with Duke coupled in front, chortling about helping him. However, Duke and his crew get the last laugh when Duke makes a great effort on the last hill, and a boy's father believes Stuart broke down and Duke had to help, much to the green engine's embarrassment.

Of the adaptations, this is the least loose; at least Thomas wasn't narrating, but what is the point of his cameo at Crovan's Gate? Could they not have built a new set and replaced him with Edward instead? The best thing is the moral; don't underestimate older people - they may have a few tricks up their sleeve.

RWS Rating: 9 out of 10
TV Series Rating: 8 out of 10

Sleeping Beauty
Season 4, Episode 2

Duke's story soon spreads across Sodor, eventually reaching the attention of the Small Controller and the two Clergymen. They go looking for Duke close to the Arlesdale Railway but have no luck until the Fat Clergyman literally drops in through Duke's roof onto his boiler. Duke is pleased to hear that his Grace is coming, but not when he's made to travel by road to Arlesburgh, but he cheers up when he sees that people remember him. Sir Handel and Peter Sam are pleased to see him and tease him by saying they'll keep him in order, much to Duke's amusement, but he's happy all the same to be reunited with them.

This is definitely the weakest of the adaptations. Why are the stories out of order? Did they want to provide a quick, happy ending for Duke? The structure is quite terrible; the Duke stories should've been adapted last, not first! Heck, they could've had it spread out during two seasons (and possibly a special) and it would've worked so much better! Instead, we had Duke being taken by Skarloey and Rheneas, the Arlesdale engines being cut, the Fat Controller in charge of the Skarloey Railway, and the shoehorning of the standard gauge engines. Very poor adaptation on whole, and it's a shame too as the original story is fantastic...

RWS Rating: 10 out of 10
TV Series Rating: 5 out of 10

Stray Observations

Of the books featuring the Skarloey Railway, Duke was the final act, and Four Little Engines the first. In the latter, Peter Sam and Sir Handel are new arrivals; we're introduced to them only once, and we're not re-introduced to them twice. Little Old Twins showed Peter Sam and Sir Handel worrying about being sold on like they were on Mid-Sodor, and in Gallant Old Engine, Peter Sam expressed sympathy for Skarloey's story. In Bad Look-Out, Sir Handel was spooked by Culdee's story, fearing that Duke may have suffered a similar fate to Godred, and in Duck and Dukes, Peter Sam fretted that Duke might have been scrapped (he didn't know Duck meant GWR Dukedogs, but that's another matter). Duke gives us the complete picture and we learn all about Sir Handel and Peter Sam's backstory, and what became of the Mid-Sodor's old trackbed three years earlier.

Bulldog is based on an incident that occurred on the Ffestiniog Railway; Prince (Duke's brother) double headed with a 0-4-0 tank engine (now a 2-4-0) named Linda, and she derailed at what is now Linda's Leap.

Stanley/No. 2 (named for politician Stanley Baldwin) is a Baldwin Class 10-12-D 4-6-0 tank engine built in Philadelphia. Although he was a pumping engine prior to Falcon's arrival, strangely, he is in the sheds in the second illustration of Bulldog behind Falcon! Shouldn't Falcon know about Stanley, or was it a different No. 2? And people blame Sam Barlow's writing team for continuity errors...

Overall

It sounds like throughout this review, I have been bashing Duke the Lost Engine, but this isn't the case; the adaptations themselves were not very good (even the good ones were heavily flawed) and they were made way too early. The book itself is fantastic, and so far, my third favorite overall, and it gives me a greater appreciation for the Skarloey and Arlesdale engines and their histories. Since the Arlesdale engines are being made into CGI and since SiF have hinted on Twitter that a sequel to The Adventure Begins is possible if it sells well (even though I'm not a big fan of it) I'd love to see them adapt Duke the Lost Engine and hopefully get right what Britt didn't back in 1994. If that won't suit his Grace, I don't know what will!

Overall Book Rating: 9.4 out of 10

No episode will be reviewed on Friday; I'll be away at BABSCon all day!

The Railway Series Scorecard

1. The Three Railway Engines: 8.4

2. Thomas the Tank Engine: 9
3. James the Red Engine: 7.5
4. Tank Engine Thomas Again: 9.5
5. Troublesome Engines: 8.1
6. Henry the Green Engine: 8.4
7. Toby the Tram Engine: 9
8. Gordon the Big Engine: 8.6
9. Edward the Blue Engine: 9.3
10. Four Little Engines: 8.8
11. Percy the Small Engine: 8.9
12. The Eight Famous Engines: 8.8
13. Duck and the Diesel Engine: 8.5
14. The Little Old Engine: 8.9
15. The Twin Engines: 9.1
16. Branch Line Engines: 9.3
17. Gallant Old Engine: 9.3
18. Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine: 8.5

19. Mountain Engines: 8.9
20. Very Old Engines: 9.1
21. Main Line Engines: 9
22. Small Railway Engines: 9.3
23. Enterprising Engines: 9.5
24. Oliver the Western Engine: 8.9
25. Duke the Lost Engine: 9.4

Thomas and Friends Season 4 Scorecard

1. Granpuff: 7
2. Sleeping Beauty: 5
3. Bulldog: 7.5
4. You Can't Win: 8
5. Four Little Engines: 7
6. A Bad Day for Sir Handel: 6.5
7. Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady: 9.5
8. Trucks!: 8
9. Home at Last: 8.5
10. Rock 'n' Roll: 9
11. Special Funnel: 7.5
12. Steam Roller: 9
13. Passengers and Polish: 9
14. Gallant Old Engine: 9
15. Rusty to the Rescue: 2
16. Thomas and Stepney: 2.5
17. Train Stops Play: 8.5
18. Bowled Out: 9
19. Henry and the Elephant: 7
20. Toad Stands By: 8
21. Bulls Eyes: 6.5
22. Thomas and the Special Letter: 8.5
23. Paint Pots and Queens: 8