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in: Steam locomotives, 0-4-0, Tank engines, Other Sudrian railways

Bill and Ben

Revision as of 11:57, 1 November 2014 by DuckFan98 (Message Wall | contribs) (→‎Livery)
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“There's no real harm in them, but they're maddening at times.”
― Edward, The Diseasel, Main Line Engines
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Bill and Ben
  • Numbers: SCC 1 and SCC 2 respectively
  • Class: Bagnall 0-4-0STs
  • Designer: W.F. Bagnall
  • Builder: W.F. Bagnall
  • Configuration: 0-4-0ST
  • Built: 1948
  • Arrived on Sodor: 1965

Bill and Ben are tank engine twins that work for the Sodor China Clay Company, near Brendam, though they have also been known to work at Centre Island Quarry. They enjoy playing tricks and being cheeky to bigger engines.

Bio in the Railway Series

Main Line Engines

One day, Bill and Ben returned from shunting some trucks to find that some other trucks they had shunted earlier were missing. Their drivers, after examining a puddle of oil on the ground, concluded a diesel was responsible. After the twins argued over who brought the "diseasel" into the yard, the drivers suggested they go looking for the diesel. The twins were horrified at the possibility that the "diseasel" might magic them away like he did with the trucks, but their drivers quickly persuaded them otherwise, and so they set off.

At last, the twins found the "diseasel". While Ben ran behind, Bill confronted the "diseasel" over the theft. The "diseasel" claimed the trucks were his and ordered Bill to "go away"; Bill pretended to be frightened and slunk away, remarking, "You'll be sorry". With that, Ben ran up and accused the "diseasel" of being a "truck stealer", before running back so Bill could run up again. This continued until the "diseasel", under the impression that there was only one very swift and annoying saddletank, became so giddy that his eyes "nearly popped out", just as the twins puffed up beside him. The "diseasel", initially confused, laughed at his ignorance. When Edward arrived moments later, inquiring as to why Bill and Ben were not shunting, the twins angrily claimed that the "diseasel" had sneaked into their yard and stolen their trucks. Edward soon realized what was going on and explained the situation. The twins, embarrassed, apologised to the "diseasel", who asked to be called BoCo, and then left to shunt some more trucks, leaving Edward and BoCo to laugh about the incident.

A few days later, after BoCo took the Express in James' "absence", Edward recounted what Gordon had said about branch lines to the twins. The next morning, after Gordon ended up at Brendam after a series of events involving poor preparations and a large floppy green hat, the twins snuck up beside him and loudly recounted what Gordon had said about branch lines. Concluding that the engine beside them could not be Gordon, the two declared he was nothing more than a pile of old scrap-iron, and began to contemplate what they should do (Bill was all for sending Gordon to be scrapped, while Ben favoured the more humane option of dumping him in the sea), all the while ignoring Gordon's protests, until at last, BoCo arrived. Gordon begged him to save him, and so BoCo threatened the twins to leave with the trucks he had brought. The twins quickly left, leaving Gordon with BoCo. BoCo wisely neglected to tell Gordon the twins were joking.

Sometime later, a group of enthusiasts came to visit the railways of Sodor. When Edward brought them to Brendam, the twins took them to the China Clay Workings in a brakevan special.

Thomas and the Twins

In 1988, Thomas was sent to work on Edward's Branch Line while repairs were carried out on the bridge. The twins were quick to tease him about his colour, but Edward was savvy enough to send the twins away before an argument broke out.

After Thomas returned to the Yard, covered in dairy from a collision with a farm lorry, the two teased him even more about his new livery. This continued until Edward announced a party of enthusiasts were coming, and threatened that he would not bring them to see the twins. The twins, excited, decided instead to worry about their own paint - e.g., how clean it was - although one day, when the drivers remarked that "the enthusiasts [would not] eat their dinner off [them]", Bill quipped that "They might if we were Thomas".

When at last, the enthusiasts did arrive, a photographer with an "instant" camera began harassing Ben by continuously taking pictures of him, even after the remainder of the crowd went to watch Bill tug a boat into deeper waters. At last, the photographer prepared to take one final picture, just as Bill's driver arrived to ask for assistance. Ben's driver turned on the steam just as the photographer took the picture; disgusted with the poor quality of the shot, he abandoned it on the floor and left. The picture was later discovered by Bill's driver after the two rescued the boat.

The repairs to the bridge took a long time, and Thomas was still at Brendam when the rainy season came. At the "Drain", a hollow in the land where rainwater collected, the water even began to come near the rails, although no one took much notice. One particularly wet day, as Ben returned from the Workings, the wind whipped the rainwater into a wave which swamped Ben, dousing his fire. His fireman went for assistance, and brought Thomas to help. While Thomas dragged Ben out, Bill took away the trucks. When at last the water subsided four days later and Bill returned to Brendam, the two made a pact to never tease Thomas again.

Bio in the television series

One day, Bill and Ben were sent to work in the yard. They got to use the turntable as a reward for their hard work. But Bill and Ben were accidentally sent down the same track and they end up buffer-to-buffer. They each blamed each other for the incident and refused to speak to one another. At last, Edward and BoCo lost patience and The Fat Controller is heard about the incident. He gave the twins a chance to work together, and sure enough, the plan worked. The twins started to speak to each other again. Bill and Ben sometimes find it dull up at the clay works and they wanted something exciting to happen. They got their wish when a rockslide devastated the quarry. Luckily, Bill and Ben had taken all of the workmen and the foreman out of the quarry before the rockslide. The Fat Controller was so pleased that he called them heroes.

Later, BoCo couldn't handle the twins as much as he used to, so The Fat Controller had to bring in another Diesel, Derek. Bill and Ben had heard from Percy that Derek had a toothache. But they soon found out that Derek really had teething troubles. The twins and Derek had to pull a train the next day, and Derek soon overheated. Together, the twins got the train to their destination. That night, they, BoCo, and Duck talked about Derek all night long.

In the sixth season, Salty was sent to work with the twins and Mavis with an important job. When Salty handled the trucks with songs and tales of the sea, Bill and Ben became jealous. They became even crosser when Salty told them stories. Luckily for them, Salty was transferred to Brendam Docks. Afterwards, Ben had to get new buffers, so he was sent to the Works. Bill became jealous and his mind drifted away from his work. After some trucks tease him, Bill crashed into a ditch. Ben arrived to rescue Bill and Bill was taken to the Works to be mended.

Some time later, Fergus was sent to help the twins at the quarry. They got tired of his "do it right" attitude. Bill and Ben collected a rock crusher from the docks and caused a rockslide. Fergus pushed them out of the way, but the twins returned the favour when they helped him out of the rocks.

In the ninth season, the twins complemented Thomas and James' new trucks. Later, Diesel had told Ben of a monster in a tunnel and Thomas had to help him get through it to discover there was no monster. In the eleventh season, the twins carried Hector to the yards, resulting in them get biffed and bashed by him.

Later, Bill and Ben told Molly that Stanley had found Thomas. In the twelfth season, Ben was working at the Timber Yards when Gordon accidentally biffed into his trucks resulting in logs rolling down the hill nearly crashing Stanley.

In the seventeenth season, the two constantly argued, which led to Ben derailing. Bill couldn't pull Ben back onto the tracks on his own, but luckily, Percy stepped in to help and pulled Ben back onto the rails. They later played tricks on Connor after racing him and pretending to be faster than him. But, in actual fact, Bill was at the start, and Ben was at the end! The Fat Controller eventually figured this out and sent Bill to be repainted. Bill was upset, which lead to Ben tricking Kevin into letting him be repainted, like Bill. They later teased Harvey about his hook, asking if he was going fishing. This however, ended up helping Harvey to decide what to do when his flatbeds derailed.

In Tale of the Brave, Thomas was sent to work with the twins at the Clay Pits while a bridge on his branch line was being repaired. They ran away from him, and after he caught up, they teased him about being slow. They showed him to a line of trucks, which he was coupled up to. Thomas began pulling them, but did not realize that Timothy was on the other end, jerking the little oil-burning engine backwards. Later that day, there was a storm at the Pits, and the rain made the cliffs unstable. Thomas was near some cliffs, and saw a set of mysterious footprints. However, the area was still unstable and he was unable to investigate. Bill and Ben pushed Thomas to safety just before the three were hit by a landslide. The next morning, the twins were congratulated by the Fat Controller. Later in the week, when Thomas asked if they were playing a trick on him by scaring him with fake footprints, Bill and Ben, offended, puffed away. The next morning at dawn, when Percy went to the clay pits to prove his bravery to James, Bill accused Ben of making puffing noises in his sleep, and when Thomas came looking for Percy, the twins assumed that they could literally hear what Timothy was dreaming. When they went to work for the day, they were almost hit by a landslide, and after Marion found a fossil, Bill and Ben were both very intrigued by the concept of fossils.

In the eighteenth season, Salty told Bill and Ben the story of the Flatbeds of Fear. As Emily told Salty to stop telling made-up stories, the flatbeds rolled away from behind the twins, without anyone noticing. They also played 'Guess What's In My Bucket' with Marion, and later had to rely on Timothy after a coal shortage at the Clay Pits.

Persona

Bill and Ben are Sodor's mischievous saddle tank engine twins, who have great fun in teasing the other engines of the railway. Each has four wheels, a tiny chimney and dome, and a small squat cab. They often work in the China Clay pits and quarries. Their loads of clay can be used for many things such as paper, paint, and pottery. They take trucks for engines on the main line and ships in the harbour and are regularly seen around Brendam Docks. They enjoy attention and love taking visitors and being photographed. They tend to work together, like most twins, but even this youthful pair can have their arguments among themselves and can squabble with one another. They are highly prone to playing tricks and being cheeky. They have even teased Gordon on more than one occasion. Duck has called them "the bees" before, for being terrors when they start buzzing around. Edward and BoCo are the only engines who can really keep them in order enough to put a stop to their games and make them scamper along and behave. There is no real harm to them, but even Edward admits that they are maddening at times.

Basis

Bill and Ben are based on the Bagnall 0-4-0STs "Alfred" and "Judy" of Par, Cornwall, who are both preserved and in working order at the Bodmin and Wenford Railway.

According to the foreword of Thomas and the Twins, Alfred and Judy are both Bill and Ben's twins.

Livery

In the Railway Series, Bill and Ben are painted dark orange with red lining. In the television series, they are painted yellow with red lining.

Bill and Ben both have brown nameplates with yellow writing, "SCC" written on both sides in yellow and "Brendam Bay" on the front of their saddle tanks. In the Railway Series, they have number plates reading 1 and 2 respectively above both the back of their cabs and their faces.

From the seventeenth season onwards, the twins have had red wheels instead of black ones. In the seventeenth season episode, Bill or Ben?, the twins were painted dark blue with blue wheels, yellow lining and yellow lettering, but they returned to their normal livery soon afterwards.

Appearances

Railway Series

Television series

Specials:

Magazines stories

Bill and Ben also appeared in the magazine stories, April Fools, Ben's Blunder, Ben at the Station, Bill and Ben's Trick, Bill and BoCo, Bulgy's Bridge, Diesels with Measles!, Engine Plates, New Paint, Nice Neville, On Inspection, Railway Open Day, Rock and Roll, Snake Mistake, So Much to See, Special Treats, and The Trainspotters.

Voice Actors

Bill:

Ben:

Theme Instrumental

Template:MPC

Trivia

  • A behind the scenes picture reveals that Bill and Ben were to have numbers on their smokeboxes above their faces.
  • From the third to twelfth seasons, Bill and Ben's nameplates were painted on their tanks.
  • In the television series, Ben has appeared more times than Bill.
  • Bill and Ben's television series models are currently on display at a museum in Japan.
  • When Bill and Ben returned in the seventeenth season, they had some modifications. These include
    • Permanent Lamps
    • Taillamps
    • Taller cabs
    • Brass nameplates
    • Red lining behind "SCC"
    • Red wheels
    • Black domes
    • Brake pipes
    • Yellow wheel lubricators
    • Accurate valve gear
    • Additional sandboxes upon which their lamps are mounted
    • Yellow siderod guards.
    • Red lining in the crevices of their wood paneling.
  • In an interview with SiF , Andrew Brenner stated that Bill and Ben were some of his favourite characters, along with James and Toby.

Quotes

Their drivers examined a patch of oil.
"That's a diesel!" they said.
"It's a what'll?" asked Bill.
"A Diseasel, I think!" replied Ben. "There's a notice about them in our shed."
"Coughs and sneezles spread diseasels!"
"You had a cough in your smokebox yesterday! It's your fault the Diseasel came!"
"It isn't!"
"It is!"
"Stop arguing you two!" laughed their drivers.

- Bill and Ben arguing, "The Diseasel", "Main Line Engines".

"What's that?" asked Bill loudly.
"Shh!" whispered Ben. "It's Gordon!"
"It looks like Gordon, but it can't be. Gordon never comes on branch lines, he thinks them vulgar!"
Gordon pretended he hadn't heard.
"If it isn't Gordon!" said Ben. "It's just a pile of old iron."
"Which we better take to the scrapyard!"
"No Bill, this lot's useless for scrap! We'll take it to the harbour and dump it in the sea!"
Gordon was alarmed.
"I am Gordon! STOP! STOP!"

- Bill and Ben teasing Gordon, "Wrong Road", second season.

"I remember the first time I met those two," laughed BoCo. "They nearly made my eyes pop out! Edward soon put a stop to their games."
"Edward is the only one who can keep Bill and Ben in-order," chuckled Duck. "I sometimes call them, the Bees."
"A good name!" replied BoCo. "There terrors when they start buzzing around!"

- BoCo and Duck talk about Bill and Ben, "Buzz Buzz", third season.

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