Edward

Edward is a blue Furness Railway K2 class mixed-traffic engine. He runs his own branch line with BoCo. Edward is one of the oldest engines on Sodor and is occasionally made fun of for his age. Despite this setback, he is also very wise and optimistic, and spreads his knowledge and encouraging attitude toward the other engines.

Personality
Edward is kindhearted and always keen to help a friend in need. The small engines trust him to lend a listening ear and sympathetic advice. He is a hard worker too and always does his best to finish a job. If ever an engine misbehaves or acts out, it is Edward that the Fat Controller turns to in order to soothe things out.

Sadly, the big engines often see Edward as old-fashioned and slow. While it is true he is one of the oldest engines on the North Western Railway - it must be noted he helped build it - he has proved time and time again that he is more than capable of working as hard as any engine, and he is a much cleverer and wiser engine, too. In fact, for a time, he and BoCo were the only engines who looked after Bill and Ben and knew how to put them in their place should they misbehave. Like any other wise old engine, he stands for no nonsense from anyone, especially from the bigger engines.

From the ninth season to the fifteenth season, Edward had occasionally expressed insecurity in himself by keeping secrets from the other engines and Sir Topham Hatt, when he was once leaking steam and likewise when he was told to pull the post train whilst Percy was being repaired.

Since the seventeenth season, Edward has been portrayed with his original personality, such as when he gave Thomas advice to ignore Max and Monty and accepted James' request to bring the Mayor of Sodor to Callan Castle.

Basis
The Reverend W. Awdry stated that Edward is based on a heavily modified Sharp, Stewart and Co. "Larger Seagull" K2 Class, supplied to the Furness Railway in 1896.

Sodor "historian" Martin Clutterbuck notes that Edward bears a close resemblance to an LNER D34 "Glen" (NBR Reid Class K) 4-4-0, and an LNER D20 from the London and North Eastern Railway. The Reverend W. Awdry also used an LMS Class 2P to represent Edward on his model railway.

Visible Crovan's Gate Works modifications are: making the rear splashers flush with the cab, removal of the coupling rod splashers, new cab windows as opposed to cutaways in his cab side sheets and square cab lookouts as opposed to the original round ones. In both the Railway Series and television series, Edward is depicted with a Fowler tender.

Trivia

 * Edward was the very first character created for the Railway Series, in 1943.
 * Edward is the only engine whose crew has been named in the Railway Series. In the foreword of "Edward the Blue Engine" their names were given as Charlie Sand (driver) and Sidney Heaver (fireman). Their surnames came from their duties (one of the driver's jobs is to sand the rails when they are slippery to let the engine's wheels grip, while the fireman "heaves" coal to the firebox); their first names came from an engine crew from the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway.
 * Three of Edward's models are currently on display; two at Drayton Manor and the other is in Japan at the Hara Model Railway Museum (previously on display at Nitrogen Studios).
 * In Steady Eddie, Charlie and Eddie and Edward the Hero, Edward refers to himself as "Eddie". Charlie also refers to him by this name. "Eddie" also happens to be Edward's real name in the Greek narration and in Italy from the fifteenth season onwards; however, in the Engine Roll call he is referred as Edward.
 * One of Edward's production made face masks is now owned by Twitter user Thomas Merchandise.
 * In the French dub, Edward is called Edouard in the first seven seasons.
 * According to Britt Allcroft, there was a suggestion that Edward should become female and be renamed to "Alice" in the US dub, (fairly similar to Sunshine from TUGS and it's US incarnation Salty's Lighthouse) but he ended up retaining his original name and gender.
 * Edward, along with Henry and Toby, are the first characters to be removed from the Steam Team.
 * Edward went through several aesthetic changes in the television series:
 * Season 4:
 * The lining on his wheel arches became slightly thinner and moved outward.
 * His whistle was at a lower pitch.
 * Season 5:
 * In Happy Ever After, his whistle returned to its original pitch.
 * Season 6:
 * His safety valve disappeared.
 * His stepladder became longer.
 * The gap at the back of his tender became smaller.
 * His eyebrows become smaller and longer and are raised up slightly.
 * Season 8:
 * His eyebrows become thinner.
 * Season 9:
 * His eyebrows are lowered and become even thinner.
 * Season 10:
 * The riveting on his front bufferbeam disappeared.
 * His buffers were moved downward and widened in length.
 * Season 12:
 * His face became bigger, now matching his smokebox/boiler size.
 * His pupils also became smaller.
 * His eyebrows become thicker and change shape.
 * The gap between his second and third boiler bands became larger.
 * Hero of the Rails:
 * He slightly decreased in height.
 * His buffers became bigger and moved towards the centre of his bufferbeam.
 * His pupils returned to their larger size.
 * Season 17:
 * He gained a lamp and tail lamp.
 * Season 18:
 * His handrails were painted black.
 * The Adventure Begins:
 * His handrails were painted silver again.
 * The inside of his tender became blue.
 * His side rods become silver.