Daisy (RWS)

"Look at Me! I'm the latest Diesel. Highly Sprung and right up to date!"

- Daisy boasts to the Passengers Daisy is a green diesel railcar who came to work on the Ffarquhar Branch Line after Thomas crashed into the Stationmaster's house.

Biography
Daisy was built especially for service on the Ffarquhar Branch Line. After Thomas was sent to the Works to have his bufferbeam repaired in 1960, Daisy arrived to do his work. Daisy was nasty to Henrietta, Annie and Clarabel, refused to sleep in the Ffarquhar engine sheds on the grounds that it was "smelly" and blatantly refused to pull freight because it was "bad for her swerves". Daisy later called Toby cowardly for having side plates and cowcatchers and claimed that one only needed to "toot and look them in the eye" to shoo animals away. This, of course, was proven false when Daisy tried to shoo an inquisitive bull named Champion and ended up being humiliated. The Fat Controller discovered that Daisy was lazing about and spoke to her sternly, saying that lazy engines were not welcome on his railway, but he gave her a second chance after Daisy helped clear up the mess made when Percy crashed into a train of stone. Daisy promised to change her ways.

In 1962, after Douglas claimed all diesels were "devils", Percy used Daisy as an example of a good diesel to try and change his opinions about them.

Once, Mavis sought Daisy's advice about how to show Toby that her method of doing things was correct. This was not exactly the best move, as Daisy knew next to nothing about trucks.

In the latter half of 1990 and the former half of 1991, Daisy was put in charge of Thomas' fast run to Knapford while Thomas was in York. Daisy later claimed that she was not afraid of snow, but changed her mind after getting stuck in a snowdrift for a week.

When Thomas finally returned from York, Daisy was given charge of a special train to bring guests to Knapford for the welcome-home party but was delayed after running over some cones left inside the crossing gates at Dryaw crossing. She only just made it in time.

In 1993, Daisy - along with Thomas, Percy and Toby - saw Wilbert off when he returned to Gloucestershire.

While the Railway was preparing for the Golden Jubilee of the Railway Series in 1995, Daisy became stranded on the Main Line when the stretch before Dryaw was declared unsafe as rabbits had burrowed beneath it and so she was given the task of ferrying passengers from the airfield to Knapford. She later tried to cheer Henry up when he started to worry about the Golden Jubilee.

In 2007, Daisy teased Percy for being afraid of grass snakes but was humiliated when she blew a fuse out of fright when a crate of eels dropped beneath her.

In 2011, Daisy attended the ceremony where the bust of the Thin Clergyman was unveiled at Tidmouth.

Personality
Daisy is a diesel railcar, who has been known to consider herself "highly sprung and right up to date". She was brought to help run passenger services on Thomas' Branch Line, while Thomas was "indisposed" after running into the stationmaster's house. She can be hard to please, mostly indignant, and highly opinionated. She is extremely authoritative, trustworthy, and confident in herself and can sometimes boast of her abilities in particular situations, unconcerned, despite having never actually been in such a position before. She will sometimes presume she can show other engines a thing or two, despite knowing little on the matter, until she actually learns for herself.

After arriving on Sodor, Daisy insisted that she required delicate handling and considered pulling trucks and vans to be below her. She was very lazy and stubborn, but the Fat Controller spoke severely to her, telling her that his engines must work hard and that he sends lazy engines away. However, the Fat Controller felt she deserved another chance after she worked hard clearing up after an accident Percy had. Daisy is now good friends with the other engines on Thomas' Branch Line, tries to work much harder to be a Really Useful Engine and is better capable of handling things alone. She can be described as a self-obsessed diva and is also vain about not wanting her interior be dirty one bit.

Despite changing for the better, Daisy is still snarky and irritable. Generally, though, Daisy is one of the more well-behaved diesels, as aside from minor squabbles she gets along with the Ffarquhar branch line residents rather well.

Basis
Daisy is based on the British Rail (BR)/Metro-Cammell Class 101/102 DMU. She is, however, a single railcar instead of the traditional two to four-piece units.

These were one of the longest serving class of "First Generation" Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs), with its service life of 47 years only being replaced by the Class 121. A total of 41 cars are preserved. Daisy was the namesake of #101685, which was the last of the class to be retired, and is now under preservation.

Livery
Daisy is painted in British Railways (BR) Multiple Unit green with yellow stripes, as worn by most BR diesel multiple units in the early 1960s. When she first arrived, Daisy had the BR "Cycling Lion" crest on her sides, however this seems to have disappeared since. She has red bufferbeams.

Awdry's model of Daisy features her with small yellow warning panels on each end and BR's later "Ferret and Dartboard" crest replacing the "Cycling Lion", to reflect the livery used by diesel multiple units in the late 1960s. She also has the number 71 underneath her end 1 side windows in yellow.

Appearances
Railway Series= {{Scroll box|

The Railway Series

 * Branch Line Engines - Thomas Comes to Breakfast, Daisy, Bulls Eyes and Percy's Predicament
 * Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine - Bluebells of England
 * Tramway Engines - Ghost Train and  Mavis
 * Thomas and the Twins - Scrambled Eggs
 * Thomas Comes Home - Snow Problem, Washout! and Thomas Comes Home
 * Wilbert the Forest Engine - Percy's Porridge and Wired-Up
 * Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines - Rabbits and Golden Jubilee
 * Thomas and Victoria - Eels on Wheels
 * Thomas and his Friends - Centenary

Companion Volumes
}}|-|Other Media=
 * 1970 - Twelve Happy Engines
 * 1972 - The Railway Series: Surprise Packet
 * 1976 - Famous Engines and Railway Map of the Island of Sodor
 * 1985 - Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Thomas and the Evil Diesel
 * 1987 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways
 * 1992 - Thomas and the Hurricane
 * 1995 - Thomas the Tank Engine and the Scrambled Eggs
 * 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection
 * 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines
 * 2007 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection

Annuals

 * 1985 - Percy to the Rescue
 * 1992 - Percy and the Vicar's Prizes

Trivia

 * Daisy was the first female engine introduced in the series and the first diesel to permanently move to the Island of Sodor, as Diesel never joined the railway permanently.
 * Some of the stories involving Daisy reflect events in real life that were faced by railway staff when it came to dealing with "highly sprung" diesel engines in the earlier phases of dieselisation.

Quotes
"Daisy was hard to please. She shuddered at the engine shed. This is dreadfully smelly!" she announced. "I'm highly sprung and anything smelly is bad for my swerves!" Next, they tried the carriage shed. "This is better", said Daisy. "But whatever is that rubbish?!" The rubbish turned out to be Annie, Clarabel and Henrietta, who were most offended. "We won't stay here to be insulted!" they fumed."

- Daisy insults the coaches, "Daisy", "Branch Line Engines"

"The Fat Controller spoke severely to Daisy too. "My engines work hard. I send lazy engines away!" Daisy was ashamed. "However, Toby says you worked hard after Percy's accident. So you shall have another chance!" "Thank you, sir!" said Daisy. "I will work hard, sir. Toby says he'll help me." "Excellent! What Toby doesn't know about Branch Line problems isn't worth knowing. Our Toby is an experienced engine!"

- Sir Topham Hatt and Daisy, "Percy's Predicament", "Branch Line Engines"

"At Ffarquhar Mavis met Daisy. "Toby's an old fusspot!" she complained. Daisy liked Toby, but was glad of a diesel to talk to. "Steam engines", she said. "Have their uses, but they don't understand." "Toby says that only steam engines can manage trucks properly!" "What rubbish!" put in Daisy, who knew nothing about trucks. "Depend upon it my dear, anything steam engines can do, we diesels can do better!""

- Daisy gives Mavis advice, "Mavis", "Tramway Engines"