Duck (The Railway Series)

Montague (affectionately known as "Duck" because of his supposed waddle) is a Great Western pannier tank engine. He has his own branch line.

Duck has two Great Western autocoaches named Alice and Mirabel, as well as three Great Western Slip Coaches collectively nicknamed "Slippies".

In the Railway Series
Duck worked at Paddington before moving to Sodor in 1955 to take over Percy's shunting duties, leaving the latter free to assist with the construction of Knapford Harbour. Duck was a hard worker, but the others mistook his work ethic for simplicity and tried to use this to their advantage. They soon found their mistake when Duck and Percy took revenge on them by barring them from the shed.

When Diesel arrived, the others took a liking to his flattery, but Duck was doubtful and left Diesel to his own devices, which resulted in the latter getting into a mishap with some old trucks. Diesel vowed to get revenge and, inspired by several incidents occurring around the yard in Duck's absence, spread rumours that Duck had given offensive nicknames to the others. Duck was sent to work as a banker at Wellsworth pending further inquiry and after bravely stopping a runaway goods train at his own risk regained the respect of the others. Of course, by this time the others were aware that the matter was all Diesel's fault, but Duck's triumph certainly helped.

Duck continued working on the main line until 1967, at which time the Tidmouth-Arlesburgh branch line - nicknamed The Little Western - was restored and Duck was asked to run it with help from Oliver and, on occasion, Donald and Douglas.

In the television series
Duck and Percy often worked at the harbour. The workload eventually got too heavy and the Fat Controller had brought Diesel to help. Duck and Percy were furious and went on strike until the Fat Controller made them work again. When Diesel pushed some trucks into the sea, he was sent away. Duck and Percy gladly did the work alone. Duck often liked to watch the boats sail at Brendam. One day, a regatta was being held and Duck wished he could sail to faraway lands. Percy and Harold ignored Duck's remarks. When a man had hurt his hand, Duck brought him to Bertie, who would take the man to the hospital. Thanks to Bertie's remarks at Duck for flying along the rails, Duck now knew that rails could take him as many places as water could.

In the fourth season, Duck had many adventures, such as: Helping Stepney take the express to Crovan's Gate after the Diesel broke down, supporting Oliver when he took on S. C. Ruffey and the other trucks, went to the Big City with the engines after they received a letter from a little girl, and tried helping Henry with getting the Flying Kipper up Gordon's Hill, but ended up crashing into it after the tail lamp fell off.

Later, Duck was trapped at the docks with the big engines and Cranky. A tramp steamer crashed into the shed causing the shed and Cranky to topple over while also causing the engines to be trapped. Luckily, Thomas and Percy rescued them. Afterwards, George refuses to let Duck get his truck off the Main Line, resulting in Gordon crashing into it.

Duck has often been away from his branch line since the fifth season such as when he helped Thomas and Percy at the Smelter's Yard and when he got stuck on Gordon's Hill so Edward had to push him and Gordon. In the seventh season, Duck was part of Arthur's first accident and helped Oliver after he crashed into a snowman.

In the twelfth season, Duck helped give advice to Emily and gave directions to Gordon when he was lost. He also was working with Rocky when Thomas told him to move and a water tower was smashed.

In the seventeenth season, he warned Hiro and Henry that they were using bad coal. He later worked with Thomas to take Harold to the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre; however, conflict arose when the two engines found that their respective ways of working were entirely different. But in the end, Duck knew that Thomas' way was equally as good as The Great Western way.

In the eighteenth season, Duck got stuck on some flooded track, so James and Rocky attempted to rescue him, with disastrous results. During the peak summer months, he came up with the idea to use slip coaches on the railway.

Persona
Duck is a Great Western pannier tank engine. His real name is Montague, but he is usually called Duck, which he prefers. This is said to be because he waddles, though he does not really. Duck knows how to hold his own and tends to stand for no nonsense from any engines that might get ideas above their station and try to order him or others about. He likes things to run like clockwork, without fuss, and is a very efficient, loyal engine. He takes tremendous pride in the responsibilities bestowed upon him, particularly in his role of running his own branch line with Oliver, sometimes known as the "Little Western" as a result. Duck is cheerful, busy, and tends to bustle about. He is very proud of his noble Great Western heritage, often claiming that "there are two ways of doing things: the Great Western way, or the wrong way", occasionally to the frustration of other engines. Duck is often welcoming of newcomers, even most Diesels, in spite of having lies told about him by devious Diesel not long after his arrival. He will often support the underdog, stick up for his friends, and help others see the error of their ways. However, occasionally he does have the "Tank Engine sense" of teasing the bigger engines such as Gordon. Duck is also known to have a rivalry with James. But he has earned the respect of the bigger engines and has firm friendships with Edward, Percy, Oliver, BoCo, and the Scottish twins.

Basis
Duck is a Great Western Railway 57xx 0-6-0 pannier tank with added sand boxes.

Livery
Duck is painted in the GWR's green livery with yellow lining and black wheels, splashers, and pipes. He has the letters "GWR" written on his pannier tanks in yellow and red and a gold brass safety valve cover.

In the Railway Series, Duck carries a brass GWR numberplate on his cab sides (5741) along with a builder's plate on either side of his cab.

In the television series, he has a yellow "8" painted on each side of his cab, upon a black background with a yellow stripe around.

Trivia

 * The Reverend W. Awdry's model of Duck explains his name: when the model for Duck was purchased for Awdry's model railway, it was soon discovered that its wheels were uneven, hence giving him a "waddling" gait. He was promptly christened "Duck" by Awdry's children.
 * Unlike most of the characters within the Railway Series, Duck's number was real. The real engine possessing this number was scrapped in 1958.
 * In the Greek narration, Duck is female, and is called "Jackie".
 * One of Duck's models is currently on display at Nitrogen Studios.
 * Duck has sandboxes, while most of the engines of his class do not. However, they were absent in Percy the Small Engine.
 * When the series transitioned to CGI beginning with the twelfth season, Duck's face was smaller and his cheekbones were missing. These were corrected when Duck appeared in full CGI for the seventeenth season.
 * When Duck returned in the seventeenth season, he had some modifications:
 * His running board was painted black, like it was in the Railway Series.
 * Brake pipes on both ends.
 * a taillamp
 * He was missing the black sandboxes underneath his running board.
 * He is also missing the stepladder in the middle of his running board.
 * Rivets on his bufferbeam and footplate.
 * His lamp is located on top of his sandbox rather than his running board.
 * The "GWR" lettering on his sides is slightly different.
 * The design of his whistle changed
 * According to SiF's interview with Sam Barlow, Duck was originally to be part of the Steam Team, but was dropped in favour of Emily so as to give a female character a more prominent role.
 * In the Annual Story "Donald's Duck", Duck is incorrectly depicted as a GWR 14xx.