George the Steamroller

George is a grumpy steamroller whose interactions with engines generally lead to trouble.

Bio in the Railway Series
George immediately entered a conflict with the engines of the Skarloey Railway in 1961. 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 rail. 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, and told Daisy 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. One day, wind blew some cones inside the level crossing into Daisy's path and were pulled under, jamming her brakes. Daisy felt certain he did this on purpose.

Bio in the Television Series
As in the Railway Series, George took an instant disliking to Sir Handel which resulted in rivalry and an accident.

Once, on Lady Hatt's birthday, the Fat Controller was running late. His car had broken down, and when he was offered a ride by Caroline, she soon overheated. George pulled up alongside them and called Caroline "a disgrace to the roads". George's driver, who was fairly even-tempered, offered the Fat Controller a ride, but George lost control and veered into a pool of mud.

George later worked at Boulder Quarry with Skarloey and Rheneas, and made rude remarks despite their assertion that their stone would be used to pave George's roads. George was still rude while Percy carried him on a flatbed to his new work site.

George was later creating a road on an old railway line, but was intentionally careless when he paved the road over a level crossing, later causing Thomas to become derailed and crash. Finally, George refused to allow Duck to pass him at the yard. As a result, a truck from his train was still on the main line. When the express came through, Gordon collided with the truck, smashing it. The Fat Controller was furious with these recent disturbances and punished George by taking him off of the roads for a week to be used as machinery at the lumber mill.

For a long time afterwards, George had little actual contact with the engines. On one occasion, Thomas retrieved him to repair the runway of the new airport at the last minute. In the ninth and tenth seasons, he can be seen working at McColl Farm.

Persona
George is a grumpy, rude steamroller. He is no friend of the railway, often heard rebelling that "railways are no good", and that they should be ripped up and turned into roads. George is happiest when rolling, but enjoys causing bother for the engines across the island too. He is grouchy and disagreeable and his unpleasant attitude and stubborn nature is often the cause of chaos and disruption. He can occasionally show his use if there is tarmac to be flattened and was very important in helping the steam engines and Diesel engines in repairing the runway at the Sodor Airport, so that the first aeroplane could land.

Basis
George is based on an Aveling and Porter steamroller named Thistledown formerly owned by the Reverend Teddy Boston, who also owned the traction engine on which Trevor is based on. Buster shares the same basis.

Livery
In the Railway Series, George is painted in an all-over green livery with gold boiler bands. In Thomas Comes Home, his green livery has been painted teal. His name is painted yellow on both sides of his smokebox.

In the television series, George is painted green with gold boiler bands and his funnel and smokebox are painted black. His front-forks are painted bright red and his name is painted on both sides of his boiler in white.

Appearances
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Railway Series

 * Gallant Old Engine
 * Thomas Comes Home

Television series

 * Season 4 - Steam Roller
 * Season 5 - Lady Hatt's Birthday Party, Bye George!, and Rusty and the Boulder (cameo)
 * Season 6 - James and the Red Balloon (cameo)
 * Season 7 - Toby's Windmill (cameo)
 * Season 8 - Thomas and the Tuba (cameo), Henry and the Wishing Tree (deleted scene cameo), and Emily's New Route (cameo)
 * Season 9 - Thomas and the New Engine (cameo)
 * Season 10 - Big Strong Henry (cameo)

Specials:
 * Thomas and the Magic Railroad (cut from movie)
 * Calling All Engines! (does not speak)
 * The Great Discovery (cameo)

Learning Segments

 * Season 9 - Emily Respects (cameo) and Which Load for Which Route? (cameo)

George also appeared in a DVD game, Sir Topham Hatt's Helping Hand.

Magazine stories

 * 1996 - Grumpy George
 * 1997 - A Grumpy Christmas
 * 1998 - Thomas' Trick and Smokey Joe!
 * 2003 - Slip and Grip! and Sunshine!
 * 2005 - Badgers' Way, George's Little Joke (does not speak),Big Bad Roller and The Trainroller
 * 2006 - Heavy Load and Steamed Up
 * 2008 - Wonky Whistle!
 * 2009 - Luggage Lorry (mentioned)
 * 2010 - Carnival Costume and Halloween Hats
 * 2011 - Who's Highest?, Speedy Spencer, and Fuss and Fumes
 * 2012 - A Special Shelter and Team Effort

George also appeared in the magazine stories, Coal Weather, Danger Signs!, Diesel Display, Road Ride, Shell Engine, The Balloon Race, The Great Race, and The Strongest. }}

Voice Actors

 * Masato Hirano (Japan; fourth and fifth seasons)

Trivia

 * According to an SiF interview with Chris Lloyd, a larger model of George was made for Jack and the Sodor Construction Company.
 * He was to appear in Thomas and the Magic Railroad as one of Diesel 10's henchmen, but his model was never brought to Canada for filming, and as a result, his role never passed the storyboard stage. He was supposed to have been used to destroy the buffers on Sodor, to find the ones that led to The Magic Railroad, and in return he could destroy the Tidmouth Sheds turntable and make it into a roller rink.
 * One of George's face masks is now preserved by the Top Props preservation group from The Prop Gallery.
 * George has had several whistle sounds throughout the series:
 * Season 4:
 * He had a higher pitched version of James' Season 4 whistle.
 * Season 5:
 * He shared the same whistle sound as Trevor's.
 * Season 9:
 * In the learning segment, "Sir Topham Hatt's Helping Hands", George's whistle is a lower pitched version of Trevor's.

Merchandise

 * ERTL (discontinued)
 * Wooden Railway (2010 Reintroduction; discontinued)
 * Take Along (discontinued)
 * My First Thomas
 * My Thomas Story Library (discontinued)
 * De Agostini (discontinued)
 * Trading Cards (discontinued)
 * Wind-up
 * Thomas Engine Collection Series (discontinued)
 * Nakayoshi (discontinued)