George (RWS)

George is a grumpy green steamroller whose interactions with engines generally lead to trouble. He is owned by the Sodor Island Council.

Biography
George immediately entered a conflict with the engines of the Skarloey Railway in 1960, while he was assisting with road widening works near Cros-ny-Cuirn. At the time, Sir Handel was boasting about his broad tyres, which the other engines referred to as "steamroller wheels". Skarloey tried to trick Sir Handel into confronting George to divert his attention. George and Sir Handel met and immediately disliked each other.

One afternoon, Sir Handel took a train down the line parallel to the site where George was working. George would not give the train enough room to pass and rammed his front roller into Sir Handel's train. The train and construction crews argued until a policeman broke them up and a barrier was built between the road and the rails. George's work was finished, and he was taken away, although Sir Handel took the credit for this.

George later worked near Thomas' Branch Line, still grumbling about railways. He soon met Daisy and told her that friends of his have paved roads over old railway lines and he was eager to do the same on Sodor. Daisy tried not to cross him, fearing he would follow through with his threat. George and his crew left some road cones where they were working. These got blown over by the wind into the level crossing, fell into Daisy's path and were pulled under, jamming her brakes. Daisy felt certain he did this on purpose.

Personality
George is a grumpy, bad-tempered and mean steamroller who dislikes all of the engines, even the ones who try to be nice to him. He is no friend of the railway, often heard rebelling that "railways are no good" and that they should be pulled up and turned into roads. George is happiest when he is rolling but enjoys causing bother for the engines across the island too. He is grouchy, disagreeable and his unpleasant and unfriendly attitude towards the engines and stubborn nature are often the cause of chaos and disruption, an example being when he crashed into Sir Handel's train for calling him a "great clumsy road-hog".

Basis
George is based on an Aveling-Barford R class steamroller.

Livery
George is painted in an all-over green livery with gold boiler bands and a yellow roof. In Thomas Comes Home, he was a darker shade of green, almost teal. His name is painted yellow on both sides of his smokebox.

Appearances
Railway Series= {{Scroll box|

The Railway Series

 * Gallant Old Engine - Steam Roller
 * Thomas Comes Home - Thomas Comes Home

Companion Volumes
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 * 1970 - Twelve Happy Engines
 * 1976 - Famous Engines
 * 1987 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways
 * 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection
 * 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines
 * 2007 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection

Trivia

 * George is the first steam character whose face is not on the smokebox door, rather the support plate for the front roller.
 * George's ERTL toy was originally intended to be based off of his design in The Railway Series. It was later changed to his television series design in the final release, though his promotional art still features his original design from The Railway Series.
 * In the 1995 Thomas & Friends magazine story, George gets Stuck!, George was illustrated in his original design from The Railway Series.