| This article is about 'the diesel engine'. You may be looking for 'the song or the Story Library book'. |
- “Ahoy mateys! Salty, pride of the seven seas. I'm a new diesel and I'm here to give you some help.”
- ― Salty, Salty's Secret, sixth season
Salty is a diesel shunter who works at Brendam Docks.
Bio
Salty worked on an unnamed coastal railway for many years, where he acquired his vast collection of stories and songs and possibly his sailor's accent, before coming to Sodor to work at the Centre Island Quarry with Mavis, Bill and Ben. Salty was upset, being used to working near the sea, but he soon won the trucks over with his tales and sea shanties, and as a reward for his hard work was sent to work at Brendam Docks.
Salty's presence at the docks led to Cranky having a huge distaste for Salty's stories. Cranky snapped at Salty when he pulled up, and when Salty thinks that Cranky needs company, this made him recall a story about a lonely old Grand Banks lighthouse keeper. He starts to tell this story to Bill and Ben (who haven't heard it before), infuriating Cranky. Salty, Bill and Ben being trapped at Brendam Docks led to Salty telling the twins many stories all night, making Cranky very grateful when Harvey arrived to clear their line.
Gordon told Salty to keep his distance lest he make his paint sooty, but Salty pointed out that his job requires him to get sooty and Gordon only doesn't know because he's too full of himself. When Gordon had to pull freight cars, he decided to "show Salty how an express engine pulls freight cars", but he ended up ignoring a "Go slow" sign and had a horrific accident. Salty apologises for teasing him, and Gordon apologises for being too full of himself.
In the seventh season, he and Fergus saved a ship from crashing into the rocks, when the lighthouse lamp went out. He and Harvey later asked Murdoch about his past, which ended up annoying him.
Salty has shared many stories with his fellow engines that have often come into play later on. He told Percy that the carpet he was delivering might be magic, and odd happenings convinced Percy and Gordon that it was.
In the ninth season, he accidentally ran over a flagpole that Henry was meant to deliver to the Scottish Castle.
He also told a story about a treasure on Sodor and Thomas followed all of Salty's clues and eventually found the treasure, just as the new Maritime Museum opened.
He later introduced Thomas to Billy, was one of the first engines to meet Stanley, looked at the docks for Thomas when he was missing, cheered at the docks when Thomas was found, and tried to take some woodsmen into the forest, but was blocked by trucks.
Salty later told the engines about the "strange engines" (Bash, Dash, and Ferdinand) that lived on Misty Island, a mysterious island not far from Sodor. He also told Thomas that the Star of Knapford could be magical.
In the sixteenth season, he told Percy about the "Monster of Brendam" and Edward tried to find him a present.
In the seventeenth season, he tried to make Kevin feel better about working with Cranky. Later, Salty started experiencing engine trouble, but refused to go to the Dieselworks, as he was worried that the Fat Controller might send him back to the quarry if he was not useful. This concern was strengthened with the arrival of Porter. Salty went to the Dieselworks, but ended up crashing into a flatbed of fuel cans in his hurry to return to the Docks. The fuel made his wheels slip, and he ended up colliding with a shipment of party decorations! Salty was now certain that he would be sent away, but, to his relief, the Fat Controller told him that he was meant to work with Porter, who had been sent to help him.
In the eighteenth season, he told the engines about the flatbeds of fear, encouraged Percy when Percy was missing Gator, along with Porter almost had a collision with Bill and Ben and also helped Timothy to play a trick on the twins.
In the nineteenth season, Salty had to go to the Mainland as they were short of an engine, but he was afraid to go on a ship and travel by sea. However, he overcame his fears thanks to Thomas, who reminded him of his past tall tales which scared the other engines, he later pretended to be the Ghost of Christmas Past to frighten Diesel, and reminded him of his past mistakes.
In Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, he told Edward, Henry, James, Cranky and Porter about a "lost pirate".
Persona
Salty is easy-going, friendly and very practical. He also enjoys telling stories revolving around the sea and fantasy. His seafaring ways and accent are sometimes ridiculed by the other engines, but his usefulness almost always helps the others overlook that. He can work with trucks like no other engine; this is due to his enjoyment of working to a musical rhythm like the trucks and it may also be due to his vast collection of sea shanties. He loves the sea so much that he pines for it when he is away from it for long periods of time.
Basis
Salty is based on a BR Class 07 diesel shunter. The number he has, 2991, is a real BR number belonging to a member of the class; built in 1962, this locomotive escaped the cutter's torch by becoming a static generator at Eastleigh Railway Works and is still working there under the ownership of Knights Rail Services as of March 2007. This class of locomotives worked at Southampton Docks, where they replaced the older SR USA (Rosie's class) and LB&SCR E2 (Thomas's class) tank engines.
Livery
Salty is painted crimson with pink warning stripes along his body, yellow and black hazard stripes on his front and rear and yellow buffer beams with signs of rust. At the top of his forehead, he has the brim of a skipper's hat. His name is painted on his rear section and his number is painted on his cab sides, both in black.
In Salty's Surprise, it is revealed that due to a shortage of red paint, he was once painted green.
Appearances
Voice Actors
|
Trivia
- Salty differs slightly from his basis. Most Class 07s have a crankshaft at the end of their siderods. Salty lacks this feature.
- Salty speaks with a West Country accent, which matches his bio and his deep love for the sea.
- Some Nitrogen Studios promos of Salty lack the rust on his bufferbeams.
- One of Salty's models used to be on display at Nitrogen Studios.
- A production-made face of Salty is preserved by the Coffey Man Preservation from the Prop Gallery.
- Salty has gone several modifications throughout the Television Series. These include:
- Season 7:
- His horn sound changed.
- Season 8:
- His horn sound changed to Derek's at a higher pitch.
- Season 9
- His horn changed back to how it sounded in Season 7.
- Season 10
- His horn changed again.
- His eyebrows became thicker.
- Misty Island Rescue:
- His cap brim became shorter
- He gained a permanent tail-lamp.
- His buffers became less rusty and weathered.
- His face became larger.
- Day of the Diesels:
- His horn sound changed to Derek's at regular pitch.
- Tale of the Brave:
- He gained a permanent lamp.
- Season 19:
- His cap brim became longer again.
- Season 7:
Quotes
- Mavis shows sympathy for Salty, Salty's Secret, sixth season.
- Salty and Porter singing, Away From The Sea, seventeenth season
- Salty, Emily Saves the World, eighteenth season
- Salty singing, A Cranky Christmas, nineteenth season "We've hit an iceberg!" -Salty startled by Cranky, Cranky at the end of the line, twenty-first season |
Merchandise
|
| Locomotives | Steam | Edward | Donald and Douglas | Porter** | Nia** | |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | BoCo | Derek** | Salty** | |
| Rolling Stock | Coaches | Branch Line Coaches | Express Coaches |
| Trucks | Quarry Trucks | |
| Non-Rail Vehicles | Trevor | Big Mickey** | Cranky** | Carly** | Reg** | |
| People | The Vicar of Wellsworth | The Mayor of Sodor** | The Dock Managers** | |
| Affiliates | Sodor China Clay Company | Bill and Ben | Timothy** | Marion** | Sodor Shipping Company** | |
| Locations | Wellsworth (Vicarage Orchard, Yards, Engine Sheds) | Crocks Scrap Yard | Suddery (Island Records Office, Castle, Junction) | Brendam (Docks, Canal**) | The Fenland Track** | The Flour Mill** | Lower Suddery** | Suddery Coastal Village** | Sodor Animal Park** | Dingley Hall** | Upper Brendam** | |