Hugo

Hugo is a silver rail zeppelin, unique for being fitted with a propeller. He is a very fast engine, whose spinning propeller makes him very popular with passengers.

Thomas & Friends
Upon arriving on Sodor, he surprised many engines and Sir Topham Hatt with his fast speed. Stephen, however, told Thomas that he may replace them. This made all the engines except Percy unfriendly with him and it was not until Hugo explained to Thomas and Percy that Stephen was wrong. He was not replacing the engines; he does not even have a coupling hook to pull coaches or trucks. This helped the engines learn that Hugo is actually very nice and later they gave him a proper welcome.

He would later see a real Zeppelin in the sky and felt upset that he could not fly like it. He followed it all over the island and was so keen on flying that he forgot to turn off his propeller upon entering Knapford's platform. Sir Topham Hatt explained that he is a rail Zeppelin meant to travel on the rails and not in the sky.

Personality
Hugo is a kind and gentle engine. He loves to be useful, but is also a bit sensitive. This was shown when his feelings were hurt by the other engines ostracising him, out of fear that his kind would replace them; but they soon saw that they were wrong and apologised to him.

Basis
Hugo is based on the Schienenzeppelin, known as "the Rail Zeppelin" in English, an experimental German propeller driven railcar built in 1929. It set several speed records, including the world rail speed record in June 1931 at 143 mph, which was not surpassed until 1954. It still holds the world speed record for a petrol powered rail vehicle. Due to safety concerns about having a moving propeller in crowded stations and its inability to haul rolling stock, it did not enter regular service and only a single example was built. It was scrapped in 1939 due to its material being needed by the German Army during the Second World War.

The Schienenzeppelin was rebuilt several times during its short career; Hugo is based on its appearance "as-built".

Livery
Hugo is painted silver, with a two-tone blue strip beneath his windows and a thin blue stripe above them. He has blue nameplates on the sides of his cab with his name in white and he has blue wheels. The area around his front lights is painted black.

Appearances
Television Series= {{Scroll box|

Thomas & Friends

 * Series 20 - Engine of the Future and Hugo and the Airship

Specials

 * 2017 - Journey Beyond Sodor

Music Videos
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 * Journey Beyond Sodor - I Want to Go Home
 * Series 21 - Set Friendship in Motion
 * Series 24 - How Does it Work?
 * -|Other Media=

Books

 * 2018 - Engine of the Future/Hugo and the Airship
 * 2019 - Engines Around the World

Audio Files
Horn

Siren

Hugo shares the same siren as Flynn.

Trivia

 * Hugo's driver is named Franz, who is most likely named after Franz Kruckenberg, the real life designer of Hugo's basis.
 * Hugo is the second railcar to be introduced into the television series, the first being Daisy.
 * Even though he does not have any couplers on either his back or front, he is depicted with them in his Wooden Railway, Wood and TrackMaster toys so that way he is compatible with the rest of the toylines.
 * Hugo was the last new Wooden Railway character ever produced before Wooden Railway's revival in 2021.
 * Hugo is the only Wood model released in 2018 that did not get a redesign announced for him in 2019.

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway
 * TrackMaster
 * Adventures
 * Capsule Plarail
 * Wood

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