Stepney is a yellow tank engine from the Bluebell Railway.
Bio
Stepney was built in 1875 and originally worked on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR).
Beginning in 1923, he began working on the Southern Railway (SR), which absorbed the LB&SCR following the Railways Act of 1921.
Following the nationalization of the four major railways in the United Kingdom in 1948, Stepney then began to work on British Railways. He worked on the railway for 12 years until 1960 when he was withdrawn and preserved by the Bluebell Railway, being one of the first steam engines to be preserved. He first visited Sodor in 1962 and has visited Sodor many times since then. However, he was involved in an accident in 2008 when a sugar truck that broke away from Rosie's carnival train and the truck collided into him as he was waiting in a siding.
In 2014, he was withdrawn from service following a failure of his main steam pipe, shortly after coming back from Sodor. It is unknown whether he will get a much needed overhaul. He was transported back to Sodor in May 2015, however, for Thomas's 100th birthday.
Trainz Model
SI3D's 2009 model is used for Stepney.
Basis
Stepney is based on the LB&SCR A1 class, a class of locomotives built from 1872 to 1880. Mostly nicknamed "Terriers" (due to the "bark" of the exhaust beat) these engines were withdrawn between 1901 and 1964 with ten being preserved. 17 A1s were rebuilt into the A1X.
Stepney himself is a real life engine built in 1875 and was rebuilt into a A1X in 1912. He was withdrawn in 1960 and is now preserved on the Bluebell Railway.
Appearances
The Engines of Sodor
Season 1
- A Wretched Day for Henry and James (does not speak)
- Gordon Goes Swimming
- Engine Unknown (cameo)
- A Tale of a Small Green Engine
Because he is withdrawn from service, future appearances will be difficult.
NWR Origins
Season 1
- Tank Engine Mixup (cameo)
Thomas1Edward2Henry3's Remakes
- Toby's Discovery (cameo)
- Horrid Lorry (cameo)
- Stepney Gets Lost
Voice Actors
- Thomas1Edward2Henry3: Episode I-VIII
TV Apperances
Stepney's introduction in the Television Series was much different than in the RWS. He first appeared in the Fourth Season episode Rusty to the Rescue. Like Oliver, he was sitting in a scrapyard, all rusty and ready to be scrapped when Rusty the Diesel saved him. It is widely accepted that in the TV series, Stepney works on a small branch line near the Skarloey Railway on Sodor, not the Bluebell Railway. His other episodes in Season 4 followed the Railway Series.
Stepney then made an appearance in the fifth season, being the main character of the episode Stepney Gets Lost. He then made a few speaking roles in the sixth season but he only spoke in the American dub and not the British dub. In the seventh season, he had one non speaking role and a cameo, but these were all made up of stock footage from the sixth and fourth seasons. Stepney then returned for the twelfth season episode Rosie's Funfair Special, though oddly he only spoke in the American dub and not in the original British dub.
In conclusion, Stepney appeared in seasons 4-7 and 12. T1E2H3 does not consider Rusty to the Rescue to be canon because of many strange aspects of the episode, including the narrow gauge Skarloey Railway going all the way to a scrapyard on the mainland.
Trivia
- Stepney is one of the few engines who enjoy's trucks along with Salty.
- Stepney was the first real life locomotive to have a major role in the RWS (not counting Talyllyn). In the TV Series, the Flying Scotsman has that distinction, though his appearance was limited to his two tenders and very brief so one could consider Stepney to be the first.
- As a child, T1E2H3 always confused Stepney's name with Stephanie. This was before he could read the name on his tanks.