Duke (RWS)/Behind the Scenes

Background Information
Duke is a fictional narrow gauge saddle tank tender locomotive created by the Rev. W. Awdry.

Duke was named after his grace, The Duke of Sodor and originally belonged to the Mid Sodor Railway. He later became part of the Skarloey Railway after he was rediscovered.

He first appeared in The Railway Series book, Duke the Lost Engine, which was published in 1970. His last appearance was in New Little Engine, published in 1996.

Duke's affectionate nickname of "Granpuff" that was given to him by Stuart and Falcon was the same affectionate nickname Wilbert Awdry was given by his grandchildren, due to their observation of smoke coming from his pipe looking like that of a steam engine.

Front of Duke:

Awdry's model
The Reverend Wilbert Awdry built two OO9 scale models of Duke (known as "The Duke") for his layouts of the Mid Sodor Railway. Duke's models was donated by Awdry and put on display at the Reverend Teddy Boston's Cadeby Light Railway in Cadeby, Leicestershire, before the railway finally closed in 2005. The models along with the other engines and layout are in the care of the Awdry family.