Crovan (also known as 87546) was the Governor of Sodor's private engine and often pulls his coach, who is named Helen, and he worked on Emily’s Branch Line.
Biography[]
The Railway Series[]
In 1923, Crovan, along with Alfred and Raven - were sent to the North Western Railway on trial. They were horrid engines and were very spiteful, feisty and mean to poor Edward, so the Fat Director decided to send them away.
He and the two engines stayed at Vicarstown Sheds during their visit where they, along with Gordon, Henry and Eagle, notably teased Edward for being small.
Thomas & Friends[]
In the fifth series, after Spencer is sent the works, the Fat Controller brought Crovan back to be the private engine of the Duke and Duchess. Crovan, while excited, is worried he won’t be able to do the job as well as Spencer can. When the job was completed, The Fat Controller present Crovan a new governor Kevin Volley, who were in need of an engine to transport the Governor and given a coach named Helen, just before he ran on Emily's Branch Line.
He was so selfish and prone to temper tantrums and actually impatient for not being chosen to bring the chocolate bunny trucks to Edward's station. Crovan was very impatient. Until He felt very rude to everyone, even the Troublesome Trucks. They taught Crovan a lesson for being such a horrid engine. They pushed him through the buffers at Maron station. The Governor was so furious at Crovan for being impatient to the other engines, coaches and trucks. Crovan was left, laying in the ditch all day. But that night, Crovan was rescued by Emily, Judy and Jerome.
Appearances[]
The Railway Series[]
- The Three Railway Engines - Edward's Day Out (not named)
- Crovan the Private Engine - Crovan the Private Engine, Cranky Crovan, An Impatient Engine, The Fogman
Companion Volumes[]
- 1950 - Scenes from The Three Railway Series (cameo)
- 1995 - The Thomas the Tank Engine Man (mentioned)
- 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection (not named)
Thomas & Friends[]
- Series 1 - Edward and Gordon (does not speak), The Sad Story of Henry, Thomas' Train, Thomas and the Trucks (cameo) and Express Coming Through
- Series 6 - Crovan the Private Engine, Cranky Crovan, Alfred's Important Passenger, Impatient Crovan and The Fogman
- Series 10 - The Steam Trio, Steven and Peel Godred (stock footage; cameo), Ellie and the Reopening (cameo) and Barry and the Shooting Star (cameo)
- Series 11 - Emily's Rubbish and Crovan's Triumph
Video Releases[]
- 1995 - The Thomas the Tank Engine Man (cameo)
- 2015 - Secret Journey of Thomas the Tank Engine (cameo)
Technical Details[]
Basis[]
According to The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways, Crovan is the experimental prototype for Sir Nigel Gresley's 02 Pacific design for the Great Northern Railway. Crovan was built at Doncaster Works in Yorkshire. Once the first batch of 02 Pacifics appeared in 1922 Crovan would have more than likely have been reclassified 02 indicating he is a slight deviation from the "standard" A1 design.
Crovan, being an experimental engine, never received a number and was never put into regular traffic; he was only ever used on test runs. Owing to various problems, Crovan was rebuilt in 1939 at Crewe. Sir Topham Hatt and Sir William Stanier worked together to rectify these problems - everything under the running board is of Stanier's design while the running board itself is that of Sir Topham Hatt's. His middle piston and conjugated valve gear were removed, and his eight wheel tender was replaced with one of lower capacity for Sudrian trains.
His valve gear is similar to that of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Stanier Pacifics in the illustrations, but in the sprite series, he, Gordon and Henry share the same valve gear.
Livery[]
Crovan is painted in NWR bright blue with red and yellow lining. His number 25 (formerly 87546) is painted on the sides of his tender in yellow with red lining and the lining around his cab windows is yellow. In some illustrations of the Railway Series, he has a golden builder's plate on the side of his cab. He received red nameplates with their names in gold on both sides of his boiler.
| Locomotives | Emily | Jinty and Pug* | Crovan | Lily* | Julie* | Gator* |
|---|---|
| Rolling Stock | Emily's Coaches | Helen | Bertha and Millison | Jeremy and Jackie | Jonah and Jane |
| People | Kevin Volley | Cyril the Fogman | Lord Callan |
| Locations | Callan (Engine Sheds) | Kirk Machan | Misty Valley (Cyril's Cottage) | The Campgrounds | Black Loch (Causeway) | Callan Castle | Harwick Harbour |
| North Western Railway | Locomotives | Alain | Alfred | Belle | Crovan | Den | Edward | Fergus | Flint | Frieda | Gordon | Hank | Hugo | Kaleb | Maxwell | Myles | Pip and Emma | Sidney | Sora | Thomas | Timothy | Tucker |
|---|---|---|
| Rolling Stock | Bradley and Beverly | Dexter | James' Trucks | Rickety | Victoria and Helena | |
| Non-Rail Characters | Algy | Brenda | Butch | Captain Kelly | Private Jones | |
| Skarloey Railway | Locomotives | Mighty Mac | Sir Handel |
| Rolling Stock | Ada, Jane and Mabel | Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice | Cora | Gertrude and Millicent | |
| Culdee Fell Railway | Locomotives | Ernest | Shane Dooiney |
| Arlesdale Railway | Locomotives | Bert | Sigrid of Arlesdale |
| The Mainland | Locomotives | D5701 | Logan | Frankie | Lexi | Mallard | Octavia | Thomas | Wilbert |
| Rolling Stock | Beverly and Jennifer | |
| Non Rail Characters | Beresford | |
| United States | Locomotives | Vinnie |
| France | Locomotives | Étienne |
| Brazil | Locomotives | Gustavo |
| China | Locomotives | Hong-Mei |
| India | Locomotives | Rajiv |
| Italy | Locomotives | Lorenzo |
| Russia | Locomotives | Ivan |
| Austrailia | Non-Rail Vehicles | Gary |
| North Western Railway | Currently | Alfred | Bertha | Crovan | Flint | Henry | Marcia and Marcio | Maxwell | Nicole | Raven | Rebecca | Reginald | Richard | Spencer |
|---|---|---|
| The Mainland | Currently | Bahamas | Cornwall | Flying Scotsman | Flying Thistle | Herbert | The Highland Engines | Gordon's Siblings | Lemberg | Mallard | Merlin | Pretty Polly | Scrapped Engines | Silver Jubilee |
| China | Currently | Yong Bao |