Alice and Mirabel

Alice and Mirabel are two Great Western autocoaches pulled by Duck on his branch line. They were rescued from scrap by the Fat Controller, along with Dulcie.

Biography
Around the time of Oliver, Isabel, and Toad's arrival on Sodor, the Fat Controller was in the process of re-opening the Little Western line between Tidmouth and Arlesburgh West. He assigned Duck and Oliver to the line, but the only coach was Isabel. The Fat Controller was able to rescue three more autocoaches like Isabel. Two of the coaches, Alice and Mirabel, became Duck's coaches while Dulcie joined Isabel and Oliver.

When Oliver tried to teach the Troublesome Trucks, Alice, Mirabel and Duck cheered him on. Later, on that year's Summer Bank Holiday they complained about the heat, so Duck let them cool in the Goods Shed. That evening, a bus named Bulgy stole their passengers, which made them very cross. Fortunately, they got them back when Bulgy got stuck under a bridge.

Personality
Alice and Mirabel are affable funny coaches and are very attached to Duck. They are known to complain about the heat and they do not appreciate their passengers being "stolen" by buses, like Bulgy.

Basis
Alice and Mirabel are based on British Railways (BR) Hawksworth autocoaches, which were used in push-pull service on branch lines - while designed by Hawksworth for the Great Western Railway (GWR), they were never built until after British Railways was formed. The autocoaches were efficient because it eliminated the need for the engine to run around to the other end of the train to turn around. Fifteen Hawksworth autocoaches are preserved by heritage railways, such as the Llangollen Railway in North Wales.

Isabel and Dulcie are also based on these coaches.

Livery
Alice and Mirabel are painted in the GWR chocolate brown with cream window surrounds livery. Their rooftops are painted light grey.

In the My Thomas Story Library book, "Bulgy", their entire front and back ends are painted chocolate brown.

Appearances
Railway Series= {{Scroll box|

The Railway Series

 * Enterprising Engines - Little Western
 * Oliver the Western Engine - Donald's Duck, Toad Stands By and Bulgy

Companion Volumes
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 * 1976 - Famous Engines
 * 1979 - Annual
 * 1980 - Annual
 * 1987 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways
 * 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection
 * 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines
 * -|Other Media=

Books

 * 2003 - Bulgy
 * 2005 - Duck, Diesel and Thomas the Tank Engine Encyclopedia
 * 2011 - The Big Book of Engines, Bulgy the Double-Decker Bus, Duck the Great Western Engine and Diesel the Mean Engine
 * 2015 - No Nonsense, Duck!

Magazine Stories
Alice and Mirabel were also mentioned in a 2014 magazine file fact dedicated to Duck.
 * 2008 - Giant Puffer

Annual Stories
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 * 1986 - Funnel Trouble
 * 1989 - Harold and the Landslide

Trivia

 * In the third series episode, Bulgy, Alice and Mirabel's roles as Duck's coaches were replaced with three red express coaches. Since the eighteenth series episode, Duck and the Slip Coaches, the Slip Coaches have become Duck's standard coaches.
 * In the Korean version of the Railway Series book, Mirabel's name is "Miel".