Background Information
Railway Series
Gordon is a fictional standard gauge tender engine created by the Rev. W. Awdry in 1942. Gordon was designed by locomotive engineer Sir Nigel Gresley, and was built for work on the Great Northern Railway, at the Doncaster railway works plant in 1922 (Construction on Gordon began in 1920). He served as an experimental prototype of Gresley's A1 Pacific Locomotive Class, therefore he can be referred to as an 'A0' of sorts, having different modifications from that of his brothers and sisters that were built later on. Gordon was never put into regular traffic on the Great Northern Railway and was usually kept in storage, apart from test runs. When the first batch of Pacifics were built and all flaws to their design was fixed, Gordon was thus no longer needed on the railway, and was sold to Sir Topham Hatt I in 1923 along with a spare boiler. Due to being an experimental-design, and the prototype of his class, the design-flaws that were fixed in the later members of the class, were not initially rectified for Gordon, that is until Sir Topham Hatt I, sent Gordon to Crewe in 1939 for a rebuild, in which his original conjugated valve gear, was replaced with a two-cylinder chassis, of the Fat Controller's own design. He was also given a new running plate, for the new cylinder's couldn't fit under the original one. The new valve-gear and running plate were Stanier in design, as opposed to original Gresley parts. In 1957, Gordon lost his original Dome, when the high-wind caused by Gordon's fast speed, swept it off The Viaduct, when the big engine was trying to prove that he could also go 100 MPH, just like City of Truro had done years earlier. By the time of 2011, Gordon was allowed to retire from his duties of pulling the express, a job in which he had been doing, ever since he first arrived on Sodor, 88 years prior. Pip and Emma were finally purchased by the railway, to replace Gordon in these duties. Gordon currently works, pulling stopping passenger trains, twice a day. Gordon is based on the LNER A1 and A3 Class locomotives, particularly the Flying Scotsman. Gordon is the last remaining brother of the Flying Scotsman, and is mentioned as being Mallard's cousin.
Main Illustrations of Gordon (Front):
Main Illustrations of Gordon (Back):
Other Illustrations of Gordon:
Other Illustrations of Gordon showing illustration errors etc. Illustration errors pertaining to Gordon that appeared throughout the Railway Series, where that the number of red lining on his boiler would frequently change, and that the size of his dome and funnel would change frequently.
Television Series
In 1984, Gordon was introduced in Season 1 of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. As the show was new, the season placed a great focus on him, Thomas, Edward, Henry, James, Percy, and Toby. Throughout the shows history Gordon has been depicted as a older engine who looks down upon smaller engines, he holds his responsibility as the express engine greatly, believing that only he is fit to pull it. When the show transitioned into full CGI in 2009, Gordon continued to appear as usual, and has appeared in every season of the television series so far. Although never specifically referred to as cousins in the Television Series, many other forms of Thomas media have mentioned Spencer as being cousins with Gordon.
Wilbert Awdry's Gordon Model
1953 Model
It can be presumed that a model of Gordon was constructed in 1953 for the failed BBC pilot episode adaptation of "The Sad Story of Henry". Gordon, as well as Henry and James' model were created my modifying 00 scale Hornby models. The models were designed by P.R. Wickham who had, around the same time, created models of Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, and Percy as reference to Railway Series illustrators. It can be presumed that Gordon's model from the lost pilot episode would have been somewhat similar to these. No models from the pilot have ever been found, making it very likely that Gordon's model was destroyed at some point.
Gauge 1 Model
Gordon's main model throughout the series, his Gauge 1 Model was constructed for first season production, and appeared until the show switched to CGI in the thirteenth season. The model was constructed by heavily modifying a Märklin company engine's model, in order to create Gordon and the other character's.
Large Scale Model
Gordon had a large scale model constructed in the first season for closeup scenes. Another model was constructed in the eighth season. The eighth season model lacked a face and wheels on the tender.
CGI Model
Gordon's full CGI model first appeared in the special Hero of the Rails, when the show transitioned to CGI. Like the other character's he had previously gained a CGI face in the twelfth season as the CGI transfer was underway.
Trivia
- Thomas' original basis resembled a GNR Class J23 Locomotive, had this basis been used in the Railway Series, it would have meant that Thomas and Gordon would have been cousins.
- In the Railway Series story, Thomas and Gordon, the top of Gordon's cab appears to be cracked, this error would continue in Gordon goes Foreign, and Patience is a Virtue.
- Gordon is named after a rude child, who was Christopher Awdry's neighbor when he was young.
- When he was first built, Gordon was painted green, he was later repainted after being bought by Sir Topham Hatt I.
- He first received his number in the book "Henry the Green Engine".
- During his model's refurbishment during Season 3, his body was specially modified to have a removable dome, specifically for the episode "Gordon and the Famous Visitor".