Francis

Francis, also known as "Diesel" by the steam engines, is a Class 08 diesel shunter

Personality
Diesel is, in essence, the average pantomime villain. He is oily, malicious, devious, scheming and full of ideas to get revenge. He views himself and any other diesel as highly above the steam engines and believes that all diesels are "revolutionary" - he has also claimed diesels should be "rough and tough", as an excuse for bullying the other engines. His antics give diesels on Sodor a bad reputation, which causes most steam engines (particularly Duck and Thomas) to mistrust him. His rough demeanour also affects his fellow diesels, who are often victims of his tricks alongside steam engines, mainly diesels who are friendlier to steam engines and are just nice in general, with Paxton being a prime example.

Basis
Diesel is based on a British Rail (BR) Class 08 diesel-electric shunter. In the real world, BR Class 08s were in fact the most successful shunting engines in the world with 996 of them built. Over seventy of them are preserved by heritage railways, such as the Dean Forest Railway and museums, such as the National Railway Museum. Around one-hundred BR Class 08s also remain in service on the national rail network. 08850, a BR Class 08 preserved by the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, appears in a Mr. Perkins' Railway segment.

Livery
Diesel is painted in the British Railways mixed-traffic livery of black, which was the standard livery for shunting engines from 1948 until the mid-1960s.

Appearances

 * The Prologue

Trivia

 * His real name is Francis but is called "Diesel" by the steam engines