Bill and Ben

Bill and Ben are tank engine twins belonging to the Sodor China Clay Company. They are young and cheeky and love playing jokes on the bigger engines, but are kept in order by Edward. They work in the china clay works and at Brendam Docks, where they are kept busy shunting freight cars.

Biography in the SC Shorts
Bill and Ben both debuted in the SC Shorts in separate episodes. While Ben first appeared in the episode "Minis Go Mini", Bill first appeared and cameoed in the episode, "James' Day Out". The two would later be seen together in the episode, "Capture The Tender".

One snowy day on Sodor, Bill and Ben were feeling cold and cross as they had no work to do, and no engines around to torment. Bill then thought of an idea for a game that they could both play called "capture the tender" (which was just a train version of capture the flag). After Ben agreed with the idea, the two then went on to find a couple of engines that weren't working to play the game with them.

After they had gathered up a few engines, Bill and Ben made up the two teams and then the game began. While Bill's base was well guarded with some freight cars, Ben's base was cheap and pathetic. Knowing that they would most likely lose this way, Percy then came up with an idea to make the game more interesting. The teams could use freight cars from their base as a defense weapon, and use them to hit the other opponents' members to get them kicked out of the game. Bill didn't like this change in the rules, and refused to go along with Ben's idea to make capture the tender more interesting. But after a bit convincing from Thomas, Bill decided to go along with Ben's new rules. And although it was close, Bill managed to beat Ben's team in the end by getting Ben's tender over to his team's base.

When Henry had an accident while pulling a freight train, Sir Topham Hatt sent Bill, Ben, and Philip over to take his train to the Mainland as they were the only engines who were available at the time. Bill was doubtful of them being able to pull the train all on their own, but his confidence was soon raised when Philip broke down and he and Ben had to try and manage to pull him as well as the freight train all on their own. Despite making it as far past as Vicarstown Station, Ben soon burst his safety valve and the engines weren't able to pull the train any further. Despite this, Sir Topham Hatt was still proud of the three engines for giving it their best effort, and sent them off to get a good night's rest.

Personalities
Bill and Ben are Sodor's most mischievous saddle tank engine twins, who have great fun in teasing and playing jokes on other engines of the railway. The two have four wheels, a tiny chimney and dome and a small squat cab. They often work in the China Clay pits and quarries. Their loads of clay can be used for many things such as paper, paint and pottery. They take trucks for engines on the mainline and ships in the harbour and are regularly seen around Brendam Docks. They enjoy attention and love taking visitors and being photographed. They tend to work together, like most twins, but even this youthful pair can have their arguments among themselves and can squabble with one another - particularly about whose fault one of their follies was. They are highly prone to playing tricks and being cheeky. They have even teased Gordon on more than one occasion. Duck has called them "the bees" before, for being terrors when they start buzzing around. Edward is the only engine who can really keep them in order enough to put a stop to their games and make them scamper along and behave. There is no real harm to them, but even Edward admits that they are maddening at times. Bill appears to be the quicker-witted leader, while Ben seems to be the follower of the pair.

Despite their cheeky and mischievous antics, if a dangerous event occurs, such as a rockslide, they are shown to be quick-witted and capable to act to rescue anyone in trouble. This was shown when they saved a group of workmen and Thomas from many rockslides. The two also usually try to keep their jokes from becoming harmful, and will show remorse if their cheeky antics go too far and like all engines on the North Western Railway, they want to be Really Useful.

Trivia

 * In "Capture The Tender", Bill's Wooden Railway model was replaced by another Wooden Railway Bill but in better condition. The original Bill model's nameplates were later covered over with Ben's nameplates so it could be a custom Ben model.
 * Bill and Ben are the only set of twins to not debut in the same episode.