Edward

Edward is a blue Furness Railway K2 class mixed-traffic engine. He runs his own branch line with BoCo. Edward is one of the oldest engines on Sodor and is occasionally made fun of for his age. Despite this setback, he is also very wise and optimistic, and spreads his knowledge and encouraging attitude toward the other engines.

Trivia

 * Edward was the very first character created for the Railway Series, in 1943.
 * Edward is the only engine whose crew has been named in the Railway Series. In the foreword of "Edward the Blue Engine" their names were given as Charlie Sand (driver) and Sidney Heaver (fireman). Their surnames came from their duties (one of the driver's jobs is to sand the rails when they are slippery to let the engine's wheels grip, while the fireman "heaves" coal to the firebox); their first names came from an engine crew from the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway.
 * Three of Edward's models are currently on display; two at Drayton Manor and the other is in Japan at the Hara Model Railway Museum (previously on display at Nitrogen Studios).
 * In Steady Eddie, Charlie and Eddie and Edward the Hero, Edward refers to himself as "Eddie". Charlie also refers to him by this name. "Eddie" also happens to be Edward's real name in the Greek narration and in Italy from the fifteenth season onwards; however, in the Engine Roll call he is referred as Edward.
 * One of Edward's production made face masks is now owned by Twitter user Thomas Merchandise.
 * In the French dub, Edward is called Edouard in the first seven seasons.
 * According to Britt Allcroft, there was a suggestion that Edward should become female and be renamed to "Alice" in the US dub, (fairly similar to Sunshine from TUGS and its US incarnation Salty's Lighthouse) but he ended up retaining his original name and gender.
 * Edward, along with Henry and Toby, are the first characters to be removed from the Steam Team.
 * Edward went through several aesthetic changes in the television series:
 * Season 4:
 * The lining on his wheel arches became slightly thinner and moved outward.
 * His whistle was at a lower pitch.
 * Season 5:
 * In Happy Ever After, his whistle returned to its original pitch.
 * Season 6:
 * His safety valve disappeared.
 * His stepladder became longer.
 * The gap at the back of his tender became smaller.
 * His eyebrows become smaller and longer and are raised up slightly.
 * Season 8:
 * His eyebrows become thinner.
 * Season 9:
 * His eyebrows are lowered and become even thinner.
 * Season 10:
 * The riveting on his front bufferbeam disappeared.
 * His buffers were moved downward and widened in length.
 * Season 12:
 * His face became bigger, now matching his smokebox/boiler size.
 * His pupils also became smaller.
 * His eyebrows become thicker and change shape.
 * The gap between his second and third boiler bands became larger.
 * Hero of the Rails:
 * He slightly decreased in height.
 * His buffers became bigger and moved towards the centre of his bufferbeam.
 * His pupils returned to their larger size.
 * Season 17:
 * He gained a lamp and tail lamp.
 * Season 18:
 * His handrails were painted black.
 * The Adventure Begins:
 * His handrails were painted silver again.
 * The inside of his tender became blue.
 * His side rods become silver.