Kwaku

Kwaku is a large Garratt engine from Tanzania. He is close friends with Nia.

Biography
Kwaku once had to bring a goods train to Dar es Salaam Docks and was present when Ace and the other rally cars were racing around the dockyard. He met up with Nia and Thomas when the two brought a goods train to Dar es Salaam and he took the time to catch up on recent events with Nia. Kwaku was last seen hauling another goods train when the Fat Controller had arrived at Dar es Salaam trying to find Thomas, with the former having little to no luck.

Personality
Kwaku is a kind and friendly engine with a good sense of humour. He is good friends with Nia and was aware that she had lost her engine shed and had nowhere else to go. He was shown to be sympathetic before asking Nia about her shed. Like Nia, he is always making sure that his friends' boiler, wheels and any other engine parts are in good working order and that they are being treated well.

Basis
Kwaku is based on the East African Railways (EAR) 59 class, a class of 4-8-2+2-8-4 oil-fired Garratt engines built by Beyer, Peacock and Company, which entered service in 1955-56. These were the largest, heaviest and most powerful steam engines to operate on any metre gauge railway in the world and were the mainstay of freight services from Mombasa to Nairobi until the 1970s. Two surviving engines, No. 5918 Mount Gelai and No. 5930 Mount Shengena, are preserved by the Nairobi Railway Museum in Nairobi, Kenya.

Kwaku has been partially modified from his original basis. Whereas his class is metre gauge, Kwaku has been scaled up to standard gauge. Additionally, he has been fitted with buffers and screw-link couplings, allowing him to work with British rolling stock.

Livery
Kwaku is painted red with light yellow lining. His cylinders are painted black with red lining.

Appearances
Television Series= {{Scroll box|

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 22 - Forever and Ever

Specials

 * 2018 - Big World! Big Adventures!

Songs

 * Series 22 - All the Girls Around the World

Videos

 * 2018 - Why is Africa Important to Nia?

Storytime
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 * Series 1 - The Story of Nia the Helpful Engine
 * -|Other Media=

Books

 * 2018 - Big World! Big Adventures! (Golden Book)
 * 2019 - Engines Around the World
 * 2021 - Friends Around the World

Official Description
2019= From Official Media:

Voice Actors

 * Abubakar Salim
 * Kenta Miyake
 * Leonardo García
 * Maurizio Tesei
 * Otar Saralidze
 * Tuukka Leppänen
 * Amnon Wolf
 * Erik Schäffler
 * Daniil Eldarov
 * Varga Rókus
 * Alex Barone

Audio Files
---Whistle---

Trivia

 * His name is an Akan name for people born on a Wednesday.
 * Kwaku is the second Garratt introduced in the franchise, the first being the The Australian Garratt.
 * Kwaku is the only African engine besides Nia that has appeared in the series to not be a reskin of another engine.
 * Kwaku's smaller wheels are reused from Nia.
 * Kwaku's whistle sound is Connor's at a higher pitch. It's also Canadian Pacific No. 136's whistle.
 * Kwaku's smokebox door was reused for model versions of Thomas, Henry, James and Percy in the twenty-fourth series episode The Great Little Railway Show.
 * A reference sheet for Percy's model in The Great Little Railway Show reveals that Kwaku was originally named Polo.