Mavis (RWS)

Mavis is a privately-owned diesel engine who works for the Ffarquhar Quarry Company.

Biography
Mavis was supplied by the Drewry Car Company to the Ffarquhar Quarry Company. Mavis was particularly fond of putting the trucks at Ffarquhar Quarry in different places, despite Toby's protests. Toby finally lost patience and left Mavis to her own devices. Mavis - urged by Daisy - started to ignore Toby's advice and ended up looking silly when she got stuck in the middle of a crossing outside Ffarquhar.

Mavis was then forbidden to leave the quarry, but when a thaw increased production at Ffarquhar Quarry, Mavis persuaded the manager to let her go up to the first crossing in order to shunt trucks quicker and formulated a plan to pass the level crossing with help from the trucks. However, the plan backfired when the trucks decided to bump Toby instead and he ended up being suspended by flimsy rails over a rushing stream and Mavis had to help. Mavis confessed, but the Fat Controller and Mavis' manager were pleased by Mavis' courage and honesty and allowed her occasional trips to Ffarquhar.

In 1987, Mavis was involved in a collision with a lorry and Toby had to do her work while she was absent. She returned to the quarry for the next few years until 1991 when she took Toby's stone trains while Thomas was in York and in 1995 attended the Golden Jubilee of the Railway Series at the Big Station.

Personality
When Mavis first came to Sodor, she was naïve, arrogant and did not take advice very well. She was mostly interested in her own ideas but was brought down to earth after her embarrassing incident at the Ffarquhar crossing. Still, she wanted to see more of the line and schemed to have the trucks push her past the level crossing beyond the quarry - this inadvertently resulted in a near accident for Toby. After rescuing him, Mavis resolved to change her ways for good. She is now more mature and capable of keeping the trucks in line and more willing to take advice.

Unlike many Diesels, Mavis shows respect for the steam engines and unlike most engines, hauling trucks makes her feel important. She is a reliable, honest, and hard-working engine. Over the course of time, Mavis has matured and acts as a motherly figure to the other engines.

Basis
Mavis is a based on a British Rail (BR) Class 04 0-6-0 diesel locomotive. She is more specifically based on the BR Class 04's that worked on the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway, as they were fitted with additional cowcatchers and side plates so they could run near public roads. Twenty of these locomotives are preserved, including one "tramway" example.

Livery
Mavis is painted black with yellow hazard stripes on her front and rear. Her name is painted on the sides of her cab in white and "THE FFARQUHAR QUARRY CO LTD", is painted on her side plates, also in white.

Appearances
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The Railway Series

 * Tramway Engines - Mavis and Toby's Tightrope
 * James and the Diesel Engines - Fire-Engine
 * Toby, Trucks and Trouble - Mavis and the Lorry and Toby Takes the Road
 * Thomas Comes Home - Snow Problem and Toby's Megatrain
 * Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines - Golden Jubilee
 * Thomas and his Friends

Companion Volumes
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 * 1971 - The Railway Series: Surprise Packet
 * 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

 * Awdry's model of Mavis was actually made in 1964. It was not until eight years later in 1972 that Mavis debuted in the Railway Series itself.
 * Mavis was named after an old Neighbour of Rev. W. Awdry.
 * Mavis was the last character Wilbert Awdry created before he retired from writing the Railway Series.
 * Mavis' basis would later replace Toby's basis on the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway.
 * She along with Diesel are the only diesels in The Railway Series to have gray faces.