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This article is about the diesels. You may be looking for the steam engine, the Story Library book, the cleaner or the porter.

“Got ya this time, Stepney. You'll make very fine scrap indeed. Buffer 'im, Bert!”
― 'Arry after capturing Stepney, Stepney Gets Lost

Harry (accented as 'Arry) and Bert, also known as Iron Harry (accented as Iron 'Arry) and Iron Bert, are twin diesel engines who work at Sodor Ironworks.

Biography

In their first appearance, 'Arry and Bert crept alongside a lonely Stepney, who had traveled to the smelters by mistake. They shunted Stepney into the larger smelting shed underneath a giant grabber and left him there to be scrapped. Thankfully, Stepney was saved by the Fat Controller at the last second.[3]

In their next appearance, the pair shunted trucks in front of and behind Percy to make him a "middle engine". This later led him to being pushed onto the coal tipper by mistake. When James took over Percy's duties following the incident, 'Arry and Bert played the same trick on him.[4]

When Fergus was tricked into going to the smelters by Diesel, 'Arry and Bert gave him such a fright that he ran away.[2]

One winter, 'Arry and Bert teased Percy when he whistled hello. Bert responded by loudly blowing his horn to one-up Percy, rattling him. Percy paid them back by creeping up behind them and blowing his whistle as loudly as possible.[5]

During Halloween, 'Arry and Bert played a ghostly prank on Thomas and Emily when they were sent to work at the smelters. The pair were later spooked when a tarpaulin covered Emily and made her look like a ghost. After running all the way to Tidmouth Sheds, the two had to fess up to their pranks and were punished by the Fat Controller.[6]

'Arry and Bert were later tasked with helping to build the Sodor Airport along with Thomas and Percy, much to both their and Thomas and Percy's annoyance. Thomas later paid them back for bumping them by delaying their timber delivery, unaware that they were helping to rebuild Tidmouth Sheds. This led to a fallout between the steam and diesel engines, which threatened the construction of the airport. However, Thomas managed to set things right by having a meeting with the two groups, and they managed to put aside their differences and all worked together to finish the airport.[7]

When Neville first came to Sodor, 'Arry and Bert bullied him by tricking him into bumping his trucks and calling him "clumsy wheels".[8]

On another occasion, the two - along with Diesel - began teasing Thomas for being smelly, but later got covered in stinky cheese. By the time they had a washdown, Diesel, 'Arry and Bert were assigned the task of shunting Thomas' delivery of stinky cheese while Thomas got a washdown, much to Thomas' delight.[9]

'Arry and Bert were part of the group of diesels that took over the Sodor Steamworks, headed by Diesel 10. After the Fat Controller sorted out the situation, they helped with the reconstruction of the Vicarstown Dieselworks, which had burned down while the diesels were raiding the Steamworks.[10]

The pair later teased Henry because of the coal he had to use by calling him "Mr. Special Steam".[11] They also laughed at Gordon after he ran into Diesel's flatbed and damaged his buffer beam.[12]

Diesel claimed that his friends, 'Arry and Bert, like him because he is rough and tough, to which they responded in kind as they passed by, despite chasing a butterfly when they said so. Thomas later attempted to blackmail Diesel into being nice with the threat of telling everyone of his secret affection for a group of ducklings. When Diesel broke this promise, Thomas took 'Arry and Bert to the ducklings while Diesel followed behind them. Although Thomas had intended to embarrass Diesel like this, the two found out that 'Arry and Bert also took a liking to the ducklings and are just as big softies as Diesel when it comes to them.[13]

After Diesel had bumped Daisy and broke her springs, Mavis told 'Arry and Bert that Den and Dart were having trouble repairing Daisy and thought she would be possibly scrapped, horrifying them. They told Diesel, who thought that they were blaming him.[14]

Personalities

'Arry and Bert are unquestionably devious and scheming. They feel superior to steam engines and working at the scrapyards, they enjoy having the chance to break up engines. The pair also enjoy playing tricks and coming up with schemes to make the steam engines' lives miserable and more difficult. Due to their grim task, they have earned a reputation on Sodor as "The Grim Messengers of Doom". According to their merchandise bios, they wish to scrap Oliver and Stepney who have both escaped the cutter's torch once before.

Despite their prejudices, the diesels have co-operated with steam engines on occasions. The steam engines have also often come to the rescue when they are in trouble. They also have a soft spot for ducklings and chasing butterflies, and appear to have a more caring side when it comes to hearing about a fellow diesel potentially having to be scrapped.

Technical Details

Basis

'Arry and Bert are based on British Rail (BR) Class 08 diesel-electric shunters. In the real world, BR Class 08s were in fact the most successful shunting engines in the world with 996 of them built. Over seventy of them are preserved by heritage railways, such as the and museums. Around one-hundred BR Class 08s also remain in service on the national rail network.

Diesel, Splatter, Dodge, Paxton, Sidney, Ulli, the Mainland Diesels and Fernando are also based on BR Class 08s along with the international Brazilian, Indian and Chinese diesels. Unlike these engines, 'Arry and Bert (along with Splatter and Dodge) have been modified without ladders going up on the sides of their fronts.

Livery

'Arry and Bert are painted green with yellow cabs and yellow hazard stripes on their fronts. They have their company's name (Sodor Ironworks) painted on their sides in white.

In a Ravensburger puzzle and their De Agostini toys, 'Arry and Bert are depicted with black in place of their usual green.

Appearances

Thomas & Friends

Specials

Music Videos

Learning Segments

Magazine Stories

Books

My Thomas Story Library

Video Games

Official Description

From Official Website:[1]

The Yellow Diesels: Arry and Bert work in the Scrap Yards and Smelter Sheds. Grim messengers of doom, these Yellow Diesels are determined to rid Sodor of all Steam Engines, and would really like to melt down poor Stepney and Oliver. After all, as far as they are concerned, Diesels do everything better!


Historical Note: The Yellow Diesels are based on British Rail Class 08 Shunters.

From Official Website:[2][3]

Iron 'Arry: Iron 'Arry (along with his brother Iron Bert) is a diesel engine that works down in the scrap yards and smelters sheds. As with most diesel engines, 'Arry feels that diesel engines are superior to steam engines and enjoys breaking them down when he gets the chance.


Fun Fact: Because of his grim job of melting down engines, Iron 'Arry is sometimes referred to as the "Grim Messenger of Doom" by the other engines.

Iron Bert: Iron Bert (along with his brother Iron 'Arry) is a diesel engine that works down in the scrap yards and smelters sheds. Iron Bert loves breaking up old steam engines, and would really like to melt down Stepney and Oliver if given the chance.


Fun Fact: Iron Bert is based on the British Rail Class 08 type of Shunters.

From Official Website:[4][5]

Iron 'Arry: Iron 'Arry (along with his twin brother Iron Bert) is a diesel engine that works down in the scrap yards and smelters sheds. As with most diesel engines, Iron 'Arry feels that diesel engines are superior to steam engines and enjoys breaking them down when he gets the chance.


Fun Fact: Because of his grim job of melting down engines, Iron 'Arry is sometimes referred to as the "Grim Messenger of Doom" by the other engines. Iron 'Arry is based on a British Rail Class 08 Diesel-Electric Shunter.

Iron Bert: Iron Bert (along with his twin brother Iron 'Arry) is a diesel engine that works down in the scrap yards and smelters sheds. Iron Bert loves breaking up old steam engines, and would really like to melt down Stepney and Oliver if given the chance.


Fun Fact: Iron Bert has more stubble than his brother Iron 'Arry. Iron Bert is based on a British Rail Class 08 Diesel-Electric Shunter.

Audio Files

'Arry

Horns

First used Last used Sound Effect
Calling All Engines! Series 11
Series 14 Active

Bert

Horns

First used Last used Sound Effect
Percy's New Whistle Percy's New Whistle
Calling All Engines! Fun Cubes
Series 14 Active

Whistle

In Thomas & Friends: MINIS, Bert incorrectly has a whistle, despite him having a horn. His whistle in the app is the same sound effect used for Emily (Series 7), Peter Sam (Series 9-12) and Freddie at two steps lower pitched.

Only used Sound Effect
Thomas & Friends: MINIS

Trivia

  • 'Arry and Bert are actually not quite identical: Bert has more stubble.
    • On 'Arry's trading card and Bachmann model, he has more stubble than Bert, the opposite of how they actually are.
  • 'Arry and Bert sport very strong Jersey accents. 'Arry's name is even pronounced with a Jersey accent, as the H is silent.
  • 'Arry and Bert may have been named after the nicknames of two brothers from the 1970s BBC animated children's show Adventures of Sir Prancelot. These characters full names were Harold and Albert respectively.[15]
  • In eighth series reference sheets, 'Arry is referred to as Harry, suggesting this is his full name.
    • Additionally, Splatter and Dodge are mistakenly listed as "Harry and Bert" in their sixth series face reference sheets.
    • 'Arry is also referred to as Harry in various international dubs of Thomas & Friends, including:
      • Throughout both the Japanese and Norwegian dubs.
      • In the Latin American Spanish dub between the fourteenth and sixteenth series.
      • In the Dutch and European Spanish dubs of the eighth series episode Percy's New Whistle.
      • In the German dub of the eighth series episode Percy's New Whistle as well as the fourteenth and fifteenth series.
  • The 1998 official website and Question Time with Sir Topham Hatt refers to 'Arry and Bert as "The Yellow Diesels".
  • In merchandising and the official website, the twins are named "Iron 'Arry" and "Iron Bert", due to Bert's name having previously been trademarked from the duo "Bert and Ernie" from the long-running children's TV show Sesame Street.
  • Despite 'Arry and Bert's television series models lacking stepladders around their fronts, several merchandise lines including ERTL, De Agostini, Hornby and Lionel do feature them.
  • 'Arry and Bert's horn sounds have also been used elsewhere in the series:
    • 'Arry and Bert's horn sounds from Calling All Engines! to the eleventh series are Diesel's, but at three steps lower-pitched ('Arry) and five steps lower-pitched (Bert), respectively.
    • Bert's horn sound from the eighth series episode Percy's New Whistle was later reused for Salty from Toby's Afternoon Off to the twelfth series.
    • Bert's current horn sound from the fourteenth series onwards was previously used as a sound effect for a ship's horn in the fifth series episodes Horrid Lorry and Something in the Air.
    • 'Arry's current horn sound was used for a ship in Hickory Tickory Tock from the Nursery Rhymes album.
  • 'Arry is the only character whose Minis toy does not have a normal variant, despite having a DC comics variant.
  • 'Arry and Bert's liveries may have been inspired by the colours worn by the NS Class 600, which bear a similar appearance to their basis, the BR Class 08.
  • 'Arry and Bert are accompanied by a triplet in the 2006 video game, Right on Time.

References


--- Dropped | * 1991-1994 maps only | ** 2014 map only
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