Games - Sir Handel

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	Games - Sir Handel

Sir Handel is a fictional locomotive from The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry. Sir Handel lives and works on the Skarloey Railway on the Island of Sodor as Engine No.3.

Sir Handel can be badly behaved at times and is very prone to temper tantrums when he doesn't get his own way. He is not popular with the trucks, and they often play tricks on him. Generally, he feels that he should only pull coaches.

He was originally called Falcon and lived on the Mid-Sodor Railway with Duke and Stuart. When the railway closed, he and Stuart were sold to the Sodor Aluminium Company, and then later to the Skarloey Railway, where he was renamed and given a red coat of paint (In the TV Series, he remained painted blue).

He had problems with staying on the track, so he was fitted with a set of wheels with wide tyres, nicknamed "steamroller wheels" by the other engines. He was taken to pieces for a television program when he pretended to be ill. Later, he was sent to the Talyllyn Railway in Wales when one of their engines needed repairs. Most recently, he caused trouble for the Thin Controller by deliberately damaging his firebox.

Sir Handel was renamed after the founding member of the Skarloey Railway, and doesn't get on well with either trucks or coaches (although he eventually befriended some in the original books and TV series).

Sir Handel is based on the locomotive Sir Haydn which works at the Talyllyn Railway in Wales. This locomotive was built by Henry Hughes & Co at the Falcon Works in Loughborough in 1878, one of three identical locomotives for the 2'3" gauge Corris Railway in Merionethshire. Nos.1 and 2 were scrapped in 1930 and No.3 soldiered on until the Corris Railway closed in 1948, being purchased (and named) by the nearby Talyllyn Railway in 1951. The Corris-design cab was replaced in the 1960s, and this change can be seen in the TV version of "Sir Handel". "Sir Haydn" the real locomotive is itself named after Sir Henry Haydn Jones former owner of the Talyllyn Railway and the person upon whom the owner of the Skarloey railway himself is based.

Regular audiences of the Thomas & Friends television series will have noticed that Sir Handel was dropped from the case following Series 4. HIT Entertainment confirmed earlier in 2005 their intentions of reintroducing Sir Handel into the case for the next 2006 series.

HIT Entertainment cited creative differences and an "inability to adapt to a modern-day railway story" as a main reason for the release of Sir Handel. Although the dropping of Sir Handel was a blow to children audiences worlwide, HIT Entertainment assured viewers that, "Sir Handel is very well. Please do not be mad, Sir Handel is currently being serviced at the train stop for a cranky valve. His alternator also needs work". Obviously, the letter sent out was to calm the giant backlash from the children about Sir Handel's release.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Sir Handel ]

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