Recap / The Railway Series B13: "Duck and the Diesel Engine"

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Duck and the Diesel Engine is the thirteenth book of The Railway Series published in 1958. This contains four stories:

• Domeless Engines: City of Truro, the first engine to go more than 100 miles an hour, visits Sodor and has a lengthy conversation with Duck till late at night. Gordon is jealous of City of Truro's record, claiming that he is a domeless engine and not to be trusted. Gordon later tries to equal the record, but his dome becomes loose from the speed and is blown off at the viaduct. That night someone jokes about the event — Gordon believes it's Duck.
• Pop Goes the Diesel: The engines are tired of Duck's talk about his Great Western heritage and are happy when a visitor comes. The visitor, a Diesel named Diesel, claims he is "revolutionary", but Duck is unimpressed and tells him to shunt some trucks. Diesel attempts to take some rusty old vans away afterwards, but their brakes are on and all Diesel does is derail them. As he cleans up, the trucks start singing a rude parody of "Pop goes the Weasel", called Pop Goes the Diesel.
• Dirty Work: Diesel believes that Duck made him look silly and plans to have Duck sent away by telling the trucks rude jokes about the big engines and attributing them to Duck. The trucks tell the engines, and when they find out they refuse Duck entry into the shed. The Fat Controller comes to stop the noise, and, after hearing all three sides of the story, kindly asks Duck to go to Wellsworth for a while.
• A Close Shave: Edward feels sorry for Duck and helps him settle into life at Wellsworth. Duck takes up a position as a banker, but one day a train breaks away and chases him down the hill. Duck manages to slow down gradually, slowing the trucks down too in the process, but they are diverted onto a siding stopping outside a barber's shop. Duck crashes into the wall, and the furious barber lathers his face over. When the workmen come to pull Duck away the Fat Controller points out that if Duck hadn't done anything someone could have been badly hurt. The barber, repentant, rinses Duck's face. To add to his joy, the Fat Controller tells Duck that Diesel has been sent away after his lies were found out and he is welcome back.

The book contains examples of:

• Acquired Situational Narcissism: Downplayed with Duck. After the City of Truro's visit, Duck became proud of his Great Western heritage and talked endlessly about it, but still worked hard.
• Actually Pretty Funny: When Duck admits he wished he'd thought of the insulting names himself, the Fat Controller has to disguise his laughter as a coughing fit.
• All There in the Manual: Christopher Awdry later wrote some side stories in the 1990, '91 and '92 annuals about the individual incidents with the three big engines that inspired Diesel's rude names for them.
• Always Chaotic Evil: Played straight as usual with the trucks, who bully both Duck and Diesel at whim. However despite the unpleasant first impressions of diesel engines, the foreword notes that not all diesels are likely troublesome.
• Artifact Title: Despite the name of the book, "Domeless Engines", the first story of the book, has nothing to do with the appearance of Diesel.
• Artistic License – Physics: It’s most likely that the barber and his customers would... not have survived Duck crashing into the barber shop if this was Real Life. However, see Very Loosely Based on a True Story, below.
• Batman Gambit: Diesel told the trucks in supposed privacy about a few names "Duck" had called the other engines, knowing the trucks would be eager to cause trouble for Duck and blab anyway.
• Big "SHUT UP!": Duck says this to the trucks to make them stop singing rudely at Diesel.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Diesel.
• Black-and-Grey Morality: The dynamic between Diesel and Duck. Yes, Diesel is an arrogant diesel shunter who firmly believes in diesel supremacy, but Duck isn't exactly a saint himself. His boasting about doing things the Great Western way didn't exactly do him any favors, and the very first thing he did to Diesel was pull a prank on him (although to be fair, he intended to teach Diesel humility after the latter claimed that he knows everything and that both Duck and even the Fat Controller himself were wrong for believing he needs to learn how to work). Perhaps not surprisingly, Diesel loses no time in slandering Duck, and Gordon, James, and Henry believe Diesel. The difference is that Duck redeems himself to A Lighter Shade of Gray, whereas Diesel does not and is caught trying to slander Henry.
• "Both Sides Have a Point" Remark: The initial disagreement between Duck and Diesel, at least prior to Diesel committing Disproportionate Retribution:
  • Duck for his part was right to believe that Diesel was being snobbish and haughty about being a diesel and needed to be brought down to earth and taught humility, believing he was so "revolutionary" that Duck and even the Fat Controller himself were wrong that he needed to be taught how to do his job. His reaction to realising his mistake is to blame everything on Duck and try to get him banished from the main line rather than to remotely adjust his work ethic, proving Duck was right to distrust him all along.
  • While his retaliation was out of line, Diesel is right that Duck intentionally withheld details about the trucks he was meant to shunt. The Fat Controller had specifically told Duck to teach Diesel the ropes, and while Diesel was being very vain, snobbish, haughty, and entitled about it, he was still being somewhat polite and obedient until Duck, himself quite the braggart lately, led him on a fool's errand, ruining his first impression and making him a relentless butt of jokes with the trucks. Even Duck, upon seeing the consequences, seems to realise that the joke went a bit too far and tries to mend the fence with Diesel by standing up to the trucks for him, but Diesel believes Duck made the trucks laugh at him.
• Brake Angrily: To avoid a crash with the runaway trucks, Duck has to race down Gordon's Hill at full speed. When the trucks catch them, the challenge then becomes stopping. Duck's fireman forces the guardless-van's brakes down with a scream, and the Great Western engine has to have his regulator thrown into reverse by his driver to prevent an imminent disaster.
• Break the Haughty:
  • Happens to Gordon in "Domeless Engines" when the wind blows his dome off.
  • This happens with Diesel in "Pop Goes the Diesel" when he fails in pulling the trucks.
  • Then in "Dirty Work", Diesel manages to pull this off on Duck after this. This is a rare case of the trope though, as Duck actually tries to stand up for Diesel before this, but the 08 doesn't take this well.
• Bullying a Dragon: After getting annoyed by his bragging, Duck sends Diesel on a fool's errand to try and take him down a peg. A vengeful Diesel proves more than capable of his own tricks, and nearly gets Duck thrown off the main line.
• Car Meets House: This is more like Train Meets Barber Shop.
• Comically Missing the Point: The barber is angry with Duck scaring his customers instead of crashing into the barber shop. Although later, when the Fat Controller arrives, the barber tells him that he's not happy about that either.
• Consummate Liar: Diesel.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: The barber lathering shaving cream all over Duck's face.
• Deconstruction: In all the books leading up to this installment, whenever an arrogant character gets put in their place by the protagonist, that’s the end of it. Awdry turns this narrative on its head by having the antagonist retaliate.
• Deus ex Machina: It were to seem that the trucks were going to push Duck into the coaches, but gradually, he was diverted into a siding. Subverted in that he crashes into the barber shop.
• Didn't Think This Through: Sure, barber, set up shop at the end of a train track without any buffers. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? ^note A case of Reality Is Unrealistic; in the No OSHA Compliance days of steam engines, many railway yards did have shops and businesses right next to short-subbed sidings.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • After Duck leaves Diesel to his own devices in an attempt to humble him, the latter blames him for turning him into a laughing stock, and tries to get him disowned by the rest of the railway as payback.
  • The trucks easily believed in Diesel's lies and were eager to tell the engines the jokes that they claim Duck made, in order to get back at Duck for bumping them.
• Doesn't Trust Those Guys: Gordon: "Never trust domeless engines. They aren't respectable."
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After everything that happened to Duck when Diesel spread lies about him and after crashing into the barber shop, the Fat Controller and the other engines now realise that Diesel had lied and was sent away, and the engines give Duck a warm welcome back to the sheds after coming home from being mended.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Henry states that while many engines have their differences, they would never tell them about it to the trucks.
  • While Duck was irritated with Diesel's oily behaviour and had no qualms having him humbled, he was outraged when the trucks started teasing him.
• Excellent Judge of Character:
  • Deconstructed with Duck, who takes a disliking to Diesel on first sight. While he was correct that Diesel's polite words were an unctuous front, Duck's eagerness to humble him the second he shows his haughty true colours leads to him sparking a feud. While Duck knew Diesel had a bad attitude, he underestimated just how spiteful and manipulative he could be when provoked.
  • It turns out the Fat Controller never believed Diesel in the first place, only having sent Duck to Wellsworth so the others could see Diesel's true colors on their own (which came to pass once he slandered Henry) with the true culprit being sent packing afterward.
• Failed a Spot Check: You have to wonder how nobody In-Universe noticed the obvious danger of a barber shop being built at the end of a train track without any buffers.
• The Freelance Shame Squad: The people laugh at Gordon who is domeless.
• Fantastic Racism: Deconstructed in both cases:
  • The book that kicked off the Steam/Diesel rivalry in later stories. ^note Though, even if Diesel didn't come to Sodor, it may have cropped up later with steam engines escaping the cutters torch because of diesels in the first place. In this case however, the two engines, while imperious about their lineage, are spiteful to each other more out of personal hubris as opposed to engine class, which makes it a bit of an Unbuilt Trope as a result.
  • Gordon's vendetta against "domeless engines", albeit inspired by jealousy towards the particular engine more than anything else.
• First Day from Hell: After Diesel brags too much for Duck's liking, he’s left to shunt in the yard alone. He first tries to collect the wrong line of trucks, which prove so old and dilapidated that their brakes stick and they fall apart as Diesel tries to fetch them out. He’s then forced to help clear up the mess left while the other trucks laugh relentlessly over the humiliating incident, leaving Diesel holding an intense grudge towards Duck for intentionally letting him make a fool of himself.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Gordon towards the City of Truro.
• Hate Sink: Diesel is the first truly malicious character in the series and had no redeeming qualities at all. He outright lies to destroy the reputation of another character over a simple prank and then turned to lying about Henry for no given reason.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: In "Dirty Work", Duck gets shunned by Gordon, James, and Henry after Diesel spreads lies about them and pins the blame on Duck. Duck's boasting about doing things the Great Western way didn't exactly do him any favors.
• Humiliation Conga: Duck goes through this. He’s alienated by the other engines due to Diesel's manipulations, he’s sent to Edward’s station by the Fat Controller, gets pushed into a barber shop by 20 heavy-loaded trucks, and lastly, he gets lathered with shaving cream by the barber.
• Hypocrite:
  • After annoying the other engines by ceaselessly bragging about "the Great Western Way", Duck quickly takes a dislike to Diesel for bragging about his own heritage. Though, if you know your history with 5700 classes and 08s, you may understand where Duck is coming from. Also, Diesel insinuated that even the Fat Controller himself, whom Duck has nothing but the utmost respect for, was wrong in thinking that he needed to be taught how to do his work.
  • Henry says that Duck would never tell tales to the trucks, yet he's just as convinced as Gordon and James later when Diesel says Duck's been doing it. Maybe that's why Henry's the one who had lies told about him after Duck had left.
  • Diesel gets mad with Duck after the trucks sang Pop Goes the Diesel to annoy him, yet he was prepared to deceive them about Duck, claiming the Great Western engine called Henry "Old Square Wheels", James "Rusty Red Scrap Iron" and Gordon a "Galloping Sausage".
  • The main reason Diesel held a grudge against Duck was for not telling him about the dilapidated trucks. While it's true this was a harsh move, it was in response to Diesel snubbing the idea of being taught as "diesels don't need to learn" and Duck wanting to bring him down to Earth.
• Hypocrite Has a Point: "Pop Goes The Diesel" suggests Duck is no position to be offended by Diesel's open pridefulness of his lineage, given he similarly annoys the other engines relentlessly with "the Great Western Way". On the other hand, as the story notes, Duck can back up his bragging with actual hard work, while Diesel, after bragging during his first day on the line, quickly proves clueless at shunting a goods train, and rather than learning from his mistakes, chooses to spite the engine that pointed out his misgivings.
• Ironic Echo: Gordon says "Never trust domeless engines. They aren't respectable", but after the incident with the dome, an engine (which is assumed to be Duck) says this to him.
• Jerkass Realization: When all the engines realise it was Diesel spreading Malicious Slander and Duck, they ask the Fat Controller to bring Duck back home. Especially after his bravery in stopping the runaway trucks before they could harm any passengers or people.
• Karmic Trickster: While not directly, Duck has no problem watching Diesel go on a wild goose chase with some dilapidated trucks after he proves conceited.
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Duck is overjoyed to meet City of Truro, a famous Great Western engine.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Diesel scoffs at claims that he needs to learn how to do his job as he believes that diesels by design know everything, smugly dismissing even his own boss as wrong for claiming otherwise. An unimpressed Duck puts him to task for it and leaves him to shunt his trucks without his guidance as he goes to collect Gordon's coaches. Expectedly Diesel tries to collect the wrong ones and makes a disaster of the job, leading him to throw a snit fit at Duck for not explaining it to him.
• Lethally Stupid: The barber endangers his customers (and himself) by setting up shop at the end of a train track without any buffers. Fortunately, Artistic License prevents them from being killed by Duck crashing through the wall.
• Malicious Slander: Diesel tells lies about Duck to the trucks and then tells lies about Henry.
• Motor Mouth: Duck.
• Noodle Incident: Even after Duck is gone, Diesel gets caught spreading more slander, this time about Henry. For what reason is never said, only being mentioned to indicate how the Fat Controller (who never believed Diesel to begin with) foiled him, showing everyone that Diesel was a petty engine who'd try to pull the same scheme on another engine in short time.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: The trucks are more dangerous in "A Close Shave" than in most stories, where they are usually more mischievous than malicious. This is because they try to push Duck into the back of a passenger train, which would have likely resulted in the deaths of many innocent passengers had Duck not held them back in time to be diverted into a siding.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: The arrival of Diesel foreshadows the fate in store for steam all over the Other Railway, and launches the progression of the North Western from contemporary to curiosity.
• Offscreen Karma: The Fat Controller informs Duck that Diesel was caught spreading Malicious Slander about Henry during his absence, so he sent him away for his lies.
• Out-of-Character Moment: The first illustration of "Pop Goes The Diesel" shows the normally kind and tolerant Edward as one of the engines who is annoyed with Duck's endless talking of the Great Western heritage.
• Prank Gone Too Far: Duck's reaction makes clear his prank on Diesel was only meant to humble him and teach him humility, instead it makes him a relentless subject of mockery by the trucks, and embitters Diesel into his Arch-Enemy who plays a much crueller prank in retaliation.
• Put on a Bus: Diesel was sent away after the Fat Controller discovered his lies, and wouldn't appear again until the standalone story Thomas and the Evil Diesel.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Duck being sent to Edward's station on the end of "Dirty Work". Diesel in turn is sent back to the Other Railway after his actions are discovered.
• Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: After Diesel annoys him by bragging diesels don't need to be taught anything, Duck complies and watches with enjoyment as Diesel attempts hap hazardously to pull out a line of old, dilapidated trucks.
• Rejected Apology: Despite Duck telling off the trucks for their singing, Diesel blames him for making them do that in the first place, and this leads to him telling lies about Duck.
• Runaway Train: In "A Close Shave", the trucks cause this just by breaking away from a foreign engine and chase after Duck.
• Shamed by a Mob: Duck is met with showers of steam blown by a hostile Gordon, Henry, and James.
• So Proud of You: The Fat Controller commends Duck for his bravery in stopping the trucks.
• Tempting Fate: Diesel boasts he doesn't need to be taught anything. Duck tests him on that, and he predictably makes a mess trying to shunt a line of faulty trucks.
• Too Dumb to Live: The barber and his customers conduct their business at the end of a train track, with no buffers for protection. They never realise anything wrong with this. They would have all been seriously injured at best and most likely killed, if the same accident happened in real life.
• Trickster Mentor: Deconstructed in a rather disastrous way, as Duck's hands-off methods of teaching Diesel humility only turn the latter into a bitter laughing stock who retaliates with a much nastier trick.
• Troll: Duck's cheeky response to Diesel ("You didn't ask!"), especially considering the whole point was throwing Diesel's own words back at him.
• Unbuilt Trope: This is the first steam vs. diesel storyline in the series; however, since diesels have not yet been established as a threat, the Fantastic Racism of the feud is not present here, and is instead just a petty clash of egos between two lineage-proud engines brought about by simple boasting and pranks. The other steam engines in fact are won over by Diesel at first due to his flattering comments, making him a Villain with Good Publicity early on rather than the usual open scorn other antagonistic diesels have.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: After the crash, the barber's customer is startled and attempts to turn to see what's happened. The barber merely re-positions him and continues his work, only stopping after Duck interjects to sternly lecture him.
  Barber: It's only an engine.
• Very Loosely Based on a True Story:
  • "Domeless Engines" is based on an event in 1958 when an LNER K3 No. 61809 lost its dome.
  • "A Close Shave" is based on a true event which took place at a railway station in Hull, Yorkshire, England.
• "The Villain Sucks" Song: The Troublesome Trucks sing a parody of "Pop Goes The Weasel" as a mockery of Diesel's failure in pulling the trucks:
  "Trucks are waiting in the yard, Tackling them with ease'll,
  Show the world what I can do, Gaily boasts the Diesel,
  In and out he creeps about, Like a big black weasel,
  When he pulls the wrong trucks out, Pop Goes The Diesel!"
• Villain Ball: Diesel clutches it when he spreads Malicious Slander about Henry for no good reason, resulting in his true colours being exposed and him being sent away by the Fat Controller in disgrace.
• Villain with Good Publicity: In "Dirty Work", Diesel manages to get Gordon, James, and Henry on his side when he spreads lies about them to the Troublesome Trucks and pin the blame on Duck. He had managed to get on their good side in the previous chapter, "Pop Goes the Diesel" by complimenting them when he first visited the sheds.
• Visionary Villain: Diesel.
  "Your worthy Sir Topham Hatt thinks I need to learn. He is mistaken. We diesels don't need to learn, we know everything. We come to a yard and improve it. We are revolutionary!"
• Visual Pun: The Fat Controller explains that Duck had prevented the trucks from crashing to the coaches and then tells him it was a very close shave while looking at Duck's face covered in shaving cream.
• Whole Episode Flashback: The events of this story takes place in 1957.
• You Didn't Ask: Diesel asks if Duck wants the arranged, yet jammed trucks, but Duck tells him he already has his trucks. Diesel then asks why he didn't tell him the trucks he picked were the wrong ones, to which Duck says he never asked.
• You Shall Not Pass!: Duck holds off a Runaway Train of twenty trucks from crashing into a passenger train.