Troublesome Trucks (RWS)

The Troublesome Trucks are pieces of rolling stock that are nicknamed so because they can be very troublesome, and love to play tricks on the engines.

Open Wagons
Open Wagons are the most common Troublesome Trucks. They can be seen working in most places on the North Western Railway. They carry a variety of loads, including crates, stone, slate and coal. Plank trucks are the most common type of open wagon trucks.

There are also narrow gauge open wagon counterparts on the Skarloey Railway and Mid Sodor Railway.

Basis
Plank trucks are based on 5 and 7-plank open wagons. The smaller trucks are based on the narrow gauge Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway open wagon, scaled up accordingly. The slate trucks are based on the 2-bar wooden slate wagons of the Talyllyn Railway, scaled up accordingly.

Livery
The plank trucks were painted in a number of different liveries. Typically, Private Owner plank wagons had their own liveries in great multitude.

Vans
The Vans carry goods and freight on the North Western Railway. There are several types of anthropomorphic vans featured throughout the Railway Series

Livery
The vans were painted primarily in grey or brown.

Tankers
The Tankers are used to carry a variety of liquids. Most of the tankers in the Railway Series do not have faces. The only types to be seen with faces are the standard tankers, tar tankers, milk tankers, a fuel tanker and oil tankers.

Livery
The Oil Tankers and Tar Tankers are painted black, with their respective symbols on their sides. The Milk Tankers are painted white with "TIDMOUTH MILK" in blue lettering The Standard Tankers are painted black with blank sides and the Fuel Tanker is painted yellow.

Brake Vans
Brake Vans are railway carriages from which the train's brakes can be controlled by the guards.

Basis
The brake vans that appeared are based on a BR Standard 20 Ton Brake Van. The other brake van is an NER 20 Ton Brake Van.

Livery
Brake vans are commonly painted grey. Some are painted brown.

Personalities
Every wise engine knows trucks cannot be trusted. On railway networks in Great Britain and Sodor, trucks could be considered the rebels and the troublemakers of all rolling stock on the railway, as most of them love to cause trouble and show no remorse for whatever damage they do unless they are told off by their engine or controller that knows how to handle them. If an engine is having a bad day, makes a mistake, or is naive and easily played upon, the trucks begin their wild antics of singing, name-calling, holding back, shoving, bumping, giggling, teasing and so on. They will play tricks on an engine based on how they treat them. They are known to be the cause of many accidents and some of them are a form of revenge due to mistreatment. They are not known for their common sense; they will carry out their plans to pay back an engine or cause trouble out of boredom even if they result in derailing, damaging or in some instances, destroying themselves. Very rarely do they behave, if they ever do.

Trucks can also be described as territorial; when they get used to certain engines pulling them, another engine in the yard to take them may cause confusion or anger for the trucks. For example, there was an occasion when Toby and Percy switched jobs, making Toby's trucks furious and causing Percy to crash. In another instance, when Oliver was to work with certain trucks, they refused for him to take them and demanded Duck or Donald or Douglas instead.

To the trucks, one engine is as good as another, as on one occasion, when Toby took them instead of Mavis, the latter of whom had asked them to push her at the level crossing, the trucks decided to bump him instead anyway.

Trucks are also shown to be somewhat manipulative and can take advantage of other engines that do not know much about them.

The only engines the trucks are known not to play tricks on are Edward, Stepney, and Wilbert. These engines have their ways of necessary sternness and knowledge of how to properly discipline them when they misbehave and only bump them when they deserve it. Additionally, the trucks are hesitant to play tricks on Peter Sam due to his friendly nature, though some once crashed into him on the Incline when they mistook him for Sir Handel, who often bumps them regardless whether or not they behave.

They are also afraid of Donald and Douglas after the latter crushed the Spiteful Brake Van to pieces and Oliver since he pulled a privately owned truck called S.C. Ruffey - who was also their leader - apart. Although they were all accidents, the trucks were never told that and since these incidents, they always keep in mind never to play tricks on those engines out of fear of being pulled or pushed to pieces.

There have, however, been some cases where the trucks and engines are on the same side, such as when they asked Percy to help move them away from Bulstrode, only to end up in his hull and damage him, resulting in him being sent to a beach. The trucks are also capable of realizing when they have gone too far, as they never seem to want to harm any passengers.

Appearances
Railway Series={{Scroll box|

The Railway Series

 * The Three Railway Engines - Edward and Gordon
 * Thomas the Tank Engine - Thomas and the Trucks and Thomas and the Breakdown Train
 * James the Red Engine - Troublesome Trucks
 * Troublesome Engines - Percy Runs Away
 * Toby the Tram Engine - Dirty Objects
 * Gordon the Big Engine - Off the Rails, Leaves and Down the Mine
 * Percy the Small Engine - Percy and the Signal and Percy and Harold
 * The Eight Famous Engines - Percy Takes the Plunge
 * Duck and the Diesel Engine - Pop Goes the Diesel, Dirty Work and A Close Shave
 * The Little Old Engine - Trucks!
 * The Twin Engines - Break Van
 * Branch Line Engines - Percy's Predicament
 * Gallant Old Engine - Special Funnel
 * Oliver the Western Engine - Donald's Duck, Resource and Sagacity and Toad Stands By
 * Tramway Engines - Mavis and Toby's Tightrope
 * Toby, Trucks and Trouble - Bulstrode
 * Wilbert the Forest Engine - Cab Over Wheels

Companion Volumes
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 * 1972 - The Railway Series: Surprise Packet
 * 1976 - Famous Engines and Railway Map of the Island of Sodor
 * 1984 - Henry the Green Engine and the Elephant and James the Red Engine and the Troublesome Trucks
 * 1986 - Percy the Small Engine Takes the Plunge and Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection
 * 1987 - Thomas and the Evil Diesel
 * 1990 - Thomas and Gordon Off the Rails
 * 1994 - James the Red Engine and the Signal
 * 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection
 * 2007 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection