#wellsworth and suddery railway

[edwards-exploit]

Not pictured: The Fireman, Micheal Moraghan.

Anyway, Rushton! I know the W&SR only had four 0-6-0 tank engines but I bent canon a little to make him work (who says that they didn't have OTHER engines who helped them out that didn't make it...?)

Thomas and Edward never met him, but they WERE told of him...

more about him under the cut, though some of it might be subject to change

Rushton was built in October 1871 along another of his class MR no. 67, and he was bought by the W&SR to keep up with increasing passenger demand in 1904. His train, the "The Coastal Express", was to be an express passenger train that ran from its terminus station of Crosby to Brendam, as the railway planned to extend their line there (before abandoning the project in 1909 and moving to Tidmouth in 1912).

The fact that he's a tender engine and an express passenger engine very much got to his smokebox, as he began treating everyone and everything beneath him and developed a cold attitude- goods trains, maintenence, the tank engines, the passengers (though, in all fairness, he didn't outwardly show this and was polite to them), his own crew...

Which, for Micheal. with his short temper, did not go well. Rushton and Micheal got into arguments and Alec, who tried to play mediator between the two, got into the crossfire often. Unfortunately, the two were the only ones willing to put up with Rushton's attitude and were the ones who were semi successful in reining him in when he bullied the tank engines or when he went too fast. so he was stuck with them and they with him.

In 1909, before the closing of the Brendam Port project, Rushton was his usual self- snobbish, cold, and hard to work with. As per usual, his crew was Alec and Micheal.

Perhaps it was the weather, perhaps it was the fact that it was night and things were less visible, perhaps it was Rushton going way too fast to finish this train already so he could go back and sleep, perhaps it was Micheal arguing with Rushton and telling him to suck it up, or perhaps it was Alec not paying attention to the water levels or the tracks as he tried to tell them both to knock it off...

In any case, there was a very, very nasty accident.

...

The other engines could swear up and down that they could still hear Rushton passing them by. Especially at night. And if you listen closely, maybe you can hear the men on the footplate, trying to tell him to slow down.

(not pictured: a young thomas immediately crying because he didn't know HUMANS CAN DIE FROM RAILWAY ACCIDENTS, wellsworth and suddery no. 3 laughing at thomas- what, he's been coddled enough, let him learn!- and young edward trying to soothe a crying thomas)

#live from tidmouth #creative on the mainline #ttte #thomas the tank engine #thomas and friends #rws #the railway series #wellsworth and suddery railway #ttte oc rushton #ttte oc alec #ttte oc micheal #fun fact theyre all named after narrators (tho i had to change micheal from george) #they're still around... somewhere. though thats a story for another day #obviously theyre gonna be showing up as ghosts i just need to draw their ghost forms

[www-islandofsodor]

#planetsodor #all engines go #ttte boco #instagram artist #wellsworth and suddery railway #Instagram

[megalosaurusstudios]

Wellsworth and Suddery Railway Engines (My AU)

#1 “Charlie”: Manning Wardle Q class 0-6-0ST (built in 1878, still operational).

#2 “Billy”: Manning Wardle Q class 0-6-0ST (built in 1878, withdrawn in 1920, currently resides in the National Railway Museum of Sodor).

#3 “Stanley”: Manning Wardle Q class 0-6-0ST (built in 1878, still operational).

(OC) #4 “Jane Ruby”: Highland Railway Jones Goods (built in 1894, still operational).

#5 “Emily”: GNR No. 1 class 4-2-2 Stirling Single (built in 1895, still operational as NWR #16).

#thomas and friends #Thomas and friends AU #AU #Thomas #thomas the tank engine #ttte #wellsworth and suddery railway #W&SR #rws #Emily ttte #Charlie ttte #Stanley ttte #billy ttte #Thomas OC

[weirdowithaquill]

After reading your series multiple times, I have to wonder what happened to the 3rd S&M box tank. Clive was said to be scrapped, and Neil never left the island. These kind of questions would also apply to the other OG Sudrian Railways.

Thank you for your ask!

So, in the story "Construction" from Neil the Boxy Engine, I mentioned that Matthew was initially bought by the Sodor China Clay Works, before being shipped 'to some nation in the Tropics'. That nation was actually Venezuela - Matthew arrived in 1947 and worked in Venezuela until some time in the 1980s, when political uprest led to his destruction and scrapping.

As for the other pre-NWR engines? Well, many of them were scrapped during World War II for their scrap metal, which was needed for the war effort (this was done under Sir Topham Hatt I's nose, and he was pretty furious when he found out, but was unable to do anything.) However, some had more interesting lives:

TK&ER Coffee Pot 3 was sent to Belgium in WWI as a shunter to supply the trenches of the Western Front. He was quite successful in this, and became famous after he helped save a town from a German attack in 1917. For his bravery, he was given the name Lennart and after the war, he was preserved. He is currently at the Musée du chemin de fer à vapeur, Treignes in Belgium.

W&S Manning Wardel 1 worked on Sodor until WWII, when he was sold to the Iraq State Railways and loaded onto a ship bound for the Middle Eastern Nation. Unfortunately, the ship was torpedoed while traversing the Mediterranean Sea and the engine was lost at sea. His sibling, W&S Manning Wardel 2 was shipped to Northern Queensland in 1931 during the Great Depression, having been sold to Queensland Railways. They were converted to 3ft 6in gauge in Cairns, and worked as a shunter around Northern Queensland until the 1950s, when they were converted to a stationary boiler and later scrapped.

Finally, there was W&S Number 4. Number 4 was an LB&SCR E4 class (hence the similarities to the E2 class) and was purchased new in 1898. The engine was quiet, and a hard worker, and worked well on the line until the Viaduct between Maron and Cronk was constructed. They began to act... different, more contemplative than quiet. It's unknown what happened to cause the accident (and subsequent death) of W&S 4 - however, one cold Autumn evening, the engine plunged into the ravine with a passenger train. They were destroyed upon impact.

I know that might be a bit more of an answer than you were expecting, but your question really got me thinking! Thank you again!

#weirdowithaquill #railway series #thomas the tank engine #ao3 stuff #ers ask answered #ask answered #tw engine death #scrap #ask my anything #Wellsworth & suddery railway #Sodor & Mainland Railway

[steam-beasts]

My TTTE timeline - a concept

1800s

1805 - Construction of the first ever railway on Sodor was initiated. The first ever line to be built was horse-powered, which obviously meant that horses were used pull carts along a plate way from the Balladwail harbour to the copper mines in the foothills of Wardfell, this very tiny railway was simply dubbed "The Railroad". Slate was later on discovered in the hills and were eventually also mined.

1853 - After a few decades of using just horsepower, and having the only railroad on Sodor, the government finally caved in and agreed to help build a standard guage line from Ballahoo to Rolf's Castle in the Kirk Ronan area. This line would then be planned to be extended north to the Mainland. Three box-tank engines were sent to this line to assist with construction, one of which was called Niel.

1863 - The S & M railway soon extended south to the Kirk Ronan harbour in order to export slate and copper from the mines. Soon, the plateway was moved up to a new route near the Skarloey lake and replaced with rails for steam engines. This new railway was named the Skarloey Railway.

A narrow guage engine was ordered from the Fletcher, Jennings & Co from White Haven in England. At this time, Skarloey and Talyllyn had been built and were both waiting eagerly to be bought. However, when the year came around for Skarloey to depart for Sodor, he was quite upset to be leaving his sibling Talyllyn as he and the other had gotten quickly attached to each other. This caused some complications with unloading him at the docks, as Skarloey would have a bit of a tantrum due to being separated from Talyllyn. Neil, one of the box-tank engines had to step in and help calm Skarloey down, and transport him to the new railway. This sparked a new rule to be spread around to other steamwork companies on other railways which was to not let sibling engines get too attached to each other.

1865 - Later in the year, another engine from the same company that made Skarloey was bought and made to work alongside him, this engine was called Rheneas. He was bought not only to double the speed of work at the railway, but to be a companion for Skarloey as he began displaying signs of loneliness and possible depression from not seeing Talyllyn anymore.

1867 - Two years later, Skarloey is sent back to White Haven for a rebuild. He was given an added ponytruck and an enclosed cab for his updated design. Talyllyn was also given these new parts but in a separate room as to not let the pair interact. Rheneas would eventually follow suit (even if he didn't like it a lot). Meanwhile, on the south of the Sodor mountains, coal mines are dug and a town formulated around the hub called Great Waterton. A standard-guage tramway is built from the town, going through Crovan's Gate to the wharf at Balladwail, connecting to the S & M railway.

1870 - In another few years, more standard-guage railways were built. A new line was built up from the wharf at Suddery to Wellsworth and back, then known as the "Wellsworth & Suddery Railway". A fleet of four 0-6-0 saddle tank engines were sent to the railway, it's unknown where these four specific engines are to this day.

Mysteriously, during the construction of what was Sodor's 4th official railway, the slow but steady appearances of the railways and their engines began catching the attention of a bizarre community. One by one, strange men and occasional women would be seen around the railways. These mysterious people were all dressed up in tidy conductor uniforms and would appear and disappear in a cloud of golden dust...but that's what the workers stated, so it's still unclear.

No one's too sure who these strange folks are, or WHAT they are, but the managers say its best not to interact with them to be on the safe side...

1872 - Due to a recent shortage of sleepers in some parts of Sodor, along with the stormy showers wearing away the wood, the decision was made to find the sturdiest and most resistant wood in the world for the sleepers, thus discovering Jobi Wood. Unfortunately, the wood could only be found in the likes of Japan, which was ALL the way on the other side of the globe. This decision gets dismissed until a month later, two hikers visited Misty Island; A tiny neighbouring island located off the east coast, which was untouched by mankind for a century, and was nicknamed due to the heavy mist that surrounded it.

It was there that the two hikers discovered the Jobi wood when trying to burn it for their fire, only to find that it just partially burnt up and mostly still ok. This discovery was later spread, and managers of the standard guage lines were DELIGHTED to hear the news. Another month passes and Sodor gets in contact with an American logging company, known as the Bear Harbour Lumber Company.

A deal was struck and four boats from the company later arrived on Misty Island to begin constructing a new logging station and railway, with help of the Sodor Construction team.

1875 - A few years pass before the railway on Misty Island is officially completed and is named "The Bear Valley Railroad". Later that year, a small fleet of Climax Class A, B, and C logging engines are built at the Climax Locomotive Works in Corry, Pennsylvania and almost immediately are sent to work on Misty Island.

1879 - Up in the west of Sodor, a second narrow guage railway is constructed from the Arlesburgh harbour to the west mines of Peel Godred. This would be the Mid-Sodor Railway, which consisted of four engines, the first one to arrive being Duke. The others would arrive later.

1885 - Meanwhile, a third standard guage railway would be made at Toryreck to serve the lead mines located there, it was named the Elsebridge and Knapford Railway. A fleet of freshly built vertical boiler engines nicknamed "Coffee Pots" are loaned from the mainland. Glynn, a member of the Coffee Pots was designed and hand-built by a young rookie engineer named Richard Hatt and named by him personally. Richard Hatt will play a huge role in the railway's developments later...

Glynn was later bought from the Mainland to resume a permanent service at the railway after working tirelessly day and night. The other Coffee pots would remain loaned.

It was during this year the Mid-Sodor and Skarloey companies would attempt to built a third narrow guage line that went east through the Bluebell valley into Vicarstown, creating a link between it and Peel Godred. But this line would be abandoned shortly after as the Mainland built the Vicarstown bridge that went over the river and into the actual mainland. The S & M hammered the final nail in the coffin by extending their line down to the holiday seaside town of Norramby.

1886 - Back on Misty Island, a near-accident occurs where a Climax Class B locomotive almost gets hit by a landslide in the valley. A young Class C logging loco named Ferdinand luckily notices and pulls him out of the way. Ferdinand, like the other climax locos was initially loaned to the railway, but due to his heroic act, he was purchased and officially became the Bear Valley's No.1 engine.

1899 - Elsewhere, a rack railway was constructed to climb to the top of Culdee Fell, Sodor's largest mountain. Five angled-boiler engines were purchased from Switzerland, and they were odd ones. With the usual grey faces on the front of their smokebox and a second face on the back of their cabs. The railway's namesake, Culdee was trialed the year after before the grand opening and passed with flying colours. On Misty Island, one of the world's first diesel engines is sent to work there – her name was Dolly, and she was mostly used to clear away logs on the rails or to double-head log flatbeds. After a few months of tension, her and Ferdinand warmed up to eachother and became close friends from then on.

1900s

1900 - It is the 20th century. After Culdee's successful trial, the railway was soon approved for opening and opened in May for passengers and hikers. Everything went smoothly, until an accident occurs a couple months later where Godred, the Culdee Fell's No.1 derailed and tumbled down the mountain side, suffering critical damage. He was scrapped shortly after, and the railway was forever left without it's No.1.

1901 - During the first 15 years of the 20th century, several developments to the standard guage lines occured, the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway extend south to Brendam.

1902 - On Misty Island, two new engines arrive and are quite odd looking – A pair of young 0-4-0 twin B.H.L.C engines named Bash and Dash. They are both rather cheeky and annoying, causing disruption at the station and being a pair of little shits to everyone, especially the No.1, Ferdinand who wants nothing to do with them. But trouble blooms as Ferdinand accidentally derails in a more secluded part of the island. Bash and Dash rescue him, and are purchased as a reward, becoming the railroad's No.2 and No.3. The three are on good terms now.

1903 - Back on the Mid-Sodor, a new engine named Falcon is purchased and brought to the railway alongside Duke. On his first run up the mountain with the older engine, Falcon is reckless and nearly tumbles to his death. Duke however, catches him in time and is deemed a hero.

1904 - The harbour at the Elsbridge and Knapford railway becomes hard to upkeep, and is eventually abandoned. The line is moved up to Tidmouth through the headlands, and even though Tidmouth's a small place, it's harbour is surprisingly larger than the Knapford harbour. But unfortunately, a storm destroys the track.

To prevent this from happening again in the future, another track is created going through Knapford and a tunnel is constructed to let the track go on to Tidmouth

1905 - The tunnel is complete and the Elsbridge and Knapford railway becomes the Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Light Railway. Later on, the Light railway and the Wellsworth and Suddery line fuse to become the Tidmouth, Wellsworth and Suddery Railway.

(Ya'll feeling a bit confused? Good. So am I :,D)

1905 seemed to be the year where multiple changes would occur, as on April, the tracks to Elsebridge would become the Elsbridge branchline. Back to Great Waterton, an unfortunate event occurs where the mines dry up and the people abandon the town to find other jobs. Great Waterton is left to become ruins and the tramway is closed.

1906 - A year later, all the standard guage lines finally fuse together into one big railway, known as the "Northwestern Railway". The Wellsworth and Suddery become the brendam branchline. There is now a plan to create a big station in Knapford that links together the headland line and the mainline together.

1907 - The big station at Knapford is complete, and named "Knapford Station", for obvious reasons. It becomes the railway's top link station. Meanwhile, all the the way in Japan, a rail engineer called Hideo Shima creates a Class D51 2-8-2 called Hiro. Hiro is quite a rarity, he is actually a prototype Class D51 2-8-2 tender engine, he came WAY before any of his brothers and sisters. As a replacement for the retired D50s, Hiro's design was initially a practice design and not yet official, and Hideo Shima and the JR didn't plan on using him as many engines already took up the railway. So a call was made to the Northwestern Railway in Sodor, offering the prototype to take up any freight services or passenger runs.

The offer was, after a lot of persuading, accepted and Hiro was sent Sodor and was loaded off at Brendam Docks, becoming the Island's first ever standard-guage tender engine. Hiro would go on to do passenger runs from Knapford to Vicarstown and many freight runs. Mind you, this all happened near the start of the year.

1908 - Back at Misty Island, an incredible discovery is made – a tunnel. This tunnel however, wasn't normal. It was found that the tunnel linked the small island with Sodor by going right under the ocean bed and out of a tunnel mouth on Sodor that was covered up by years of growing terrain and plants. A very bizarre discovery indeed. The tunnel seemed to be incredibly old as well, sodor historians and geographers theorised that it dated back to the 1600s, where King Godred ruled. The Misty Island tunnel could've been a secret escape passage that allowed kings and queens to escape to safety without being seen by enemies.

The idea was then made to reuse this tunnel as a quicker way to deliver jobi wood to Sodor instead of sending it by boat. A new line was built through the tunnel that would be used to fetch and bring wood from the Bear Valley Railroad. Hiro and Glynn would be first to do this. However, for Hiro, this is the last time he is ever seen before suddenly vanishing the following year.

1910 - Glynn's designer, Richard Topham Hatt becomes the director of the Northwestern Railway.

Remember that "odd community" that I mentioned before? The small crowd of strange conductors had blended into the Sodor population by then, so they were hardly noticed. That was until after a month of becoming director, Richard Hatt is approached by one of them. He was a tall man with elf-like ears and a mustache.

The conductor explained who he and his fellow conductors were, that they came from an unseen railway, a "magic railroad" as a way to put it. He then requests the new director to allow him and his fellow conductors to stay. Reluctantly, Richard agrees to this, and that's how Mr Conductor and his family became involved with Sodor.

1914 - To help with passenger runs and freight services after Hiro's sudden disappearing act, the Northwestern Railway loans a small, elderly dark red tender engine from Barrow-in-Furness named Edward. At the time, Edward was the only tender engine on the Northwestern Railway, and had to do a majority of tasks by himself. But he got help from a couple of the Coffee Pots now and again. He was the top-link express engine and delivered goods trains across the whole railway. With help from the Coffee pot engines, Edward managed to finish the line all by himself. Glynn and two other vertical boiler engines are sent to Knapford to shunt trains as at the time.

A branchline is created during this time, running from Ballahoo to the seaside town of Norramby.

1918 - Edward is purchased by the NWR, and becomes the No.2 of the railway. Glynn, being the only officially bought engine, is still the No.1. Edward is repainted into a NWR royal blue later that year.

1920 - Back to the Mid-Sodor, a new little engine named Stewart is bought and is transferred to the railway via traction engine.

1922 - Several engines from the Mainland are loaned to help out on the railway. A third engine is purchased, a supposed A3 Pacific meant to help out with passenger runs. However, due to poor steaming problems because of an unusually small firebox, he's unable to. The engine's name is Henry, and it turned out he was a squandered design that Sir Nigel Gresley threw away. Despite these issues, the Fat Director kept him out of the kindness of his heart.

But Henry would put that generosity to the test when later that year, he goes into a tunnel due to apparently not wanting to get his livery ruined by the rain. Even long after the rain stops, he refuses to come out like a stubborn big baby. Despite all the efforts, Topham ultimately decides to brick Henry up in the tunnel, remove the tracks and never let him out. Suffice to say, Henry regrets his life decisions.

1923 - The next year rolls by, Edward finds himself retired in terms of Express duties by a new and flashy A3 Pacific from the L.N.E.R called Gordon. Gordon becomes the island's top link express engine, replacing Edward. With all the more modern steam engines coming to the island, poor old Edward is used less and less, eventually left sitting at the back of the sheds. Eventually, a sympathetic crew let him out for some fresh air and he got to pull trains again, along with the express. The Fat director is pleased with Edward, so he awards him with odd jobs to do in Wellsworth. Sometime later, Gordon gets stuck on a hill and Edward has to come and help him up. A few months later, Gordon bursts his safety valve near the Ballahoo tunnels where Henry was walled up in.

Edward comes along to pull the Express for him, but finds himself struggling to do so. The Fat director, who was on the Express decided to try with Henry again. Henry was let out and successfully assisted Edward with pulling the coaches. The three of them became long-time friends after that.

The Peel Godred Electric company constructs a hydro-electric power station in Peel Godred that utilises the three nearby lakes. The only issue was that the bulky equipment they used was too big to fit the line clearances on the Mid-Sodor, so they switched to standard guage lines instead. The company struck a deal with the Northwestern to build a branchline from Kildane up to it. The gradients were steep, so electric engines with currents supplied from the power station would run it. With that, the line is made and a junction is created at Kildane with facilities for the electric engines and a line that stretches up to Kirk Machan. This line takes you from the NW to Culdee Fell. These changes would seal the Mid-Sodor Railway's fate.

1924 - In early January, a 5th engine for the NWR is bought. He is a sleek black Class 28 tender engine from the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, and his name is James. He was bought and assigned to goods trains, but was personally not fond of it. The only problem with James (asides from his obnoxious personality) were his brakes; For some reason, James had wooden brake blocks which made braking a little risky for him as they could catch fire. During the time of James's arrival, Glynn goes missing. After an island wide search, the NWR finds itself left without its No.1.

In the late summer after Glynn's disappearance, and without a station pilot at Knapford to handle the coaches and shunt in the yard, the Fat Director tries to find a replacement. He was initially planning on buying an E2 tank engine in 1916, but other Railway directors had purchased them all. It was until he discovered that a new E2 was very recently built and grabbed at the chance.

Phone calls were made and a week later, an E2 tank engine arrives on Sodor, his name is Thomas.

Almost immediately, Topham and Edward notice something off about Thomas's appearance; Despite being an E2, Thomas was much too small, probably just a tiny bit smaller than a Jinty or a Pug class. E2s were, I kid you not, MASSIVE, just a little taller than a tender engine, whereas Thomas was the opposite. Asides from his size, there were other complications with his design if you compared it with the blueprints.

At first, the Fat director thought he was scammed like he was with Henry, but after a talk with the supposed E2's crew and a look at his blueprints, it turned out that Thomas really WAS an E2. Thomas's build was just delayed due to the war and so had to be postponed, but when his build DID happen, it was rushed. However, the reason for his homunculus appearance is still unknown, as he refuses to say why.

Moving on, Thomas became Knapford's new Station pilot. He was although, newly built and was still trying to find his way around the railway. But luckily, Edward decided to come forth and mentor him through tough times.

1925 - Thomas eventually gets bored of being a station pilot and finds himself yearning for something different. One day he complains to Edward about this and the elderly K2 offers Thomas with taking his goods train to Wellsworth. Since it's his first time, Thomas has some... difficulties with the trucks, but manages them in the end. The Fat Director is there to see him with Edward's train and tells him off, same with Edward.

Thomas's promotion from pilot duties would coincide with the deal struck between the NWR and LMS that year. This deal allowed the NWR to extend their services over into the Mainland and so, a bridge was built over the wide river that separated the island from the Mainland. Sometime later, an incident occurs where James's wooden brake blocks fail and the trucks send him barreling through Wellsworth. Thomas tries to prevent him from crashing out in the farm fields but fails and James derails. Thomas acts quickly and fetches the Breakdown train, he is then considered a Really Useful Engine. As a reward, Thomas gets the Ffarqhuarr branchline and a repaint into the NWR blue like Edward.

He later encounters Glynn, the lost coffee pot engine who was sitting behind thick foliage that hid him rather well. Glynn had caught wind of his bravery and asks Thomas to take his place as No.1. So, by Glynn's request, the little blue tank engine has a number #1 painted on his side-tanks. James arrives back from the works later that year in a splendid new red livery.

Thomas's branchline runs from the Elsebridge station to Ffarqhuarr, the Ffarqhuarr quarry had recently opened, so the Fat Director believed Thomas would be the right engine for the job. In the early days, Thomas does many things on his branchline such as; fishing, leaving his guard behind, getting rescued by Terence on his first snow day on the line and racing Bertie. James pilots at Knapford for a little while before the director allows him to pull passenger trains.

1926 - A year passes, and Knapford still has no station pilot. The big engines start getting sick of shunting their own trucks and coaches, and decide to initiate a strike. They would nevertheless, begin regretting it as the Fat Director would keep them stuck in the sheds. Because of them refusing to do their jobs, Thomas has to come back and help Edward with the extra workload. Luckily, the Fat Director acts accordingly and purchases a small green saddle-tank engine he named Percy.

Percy takes up pilot duties, and the big engines are let out of their berths at Tidmouth once more. The Fat director even lets Thomas and Edward take a couple days off, saying as they had to handle most of the work.

1928 - After a series of accidents and warnings from Duke, the No.2 of the Mid-Sodor, Smudger is broken up and reduced to a generator at the back of the shed. Falcon and Stewart are quite horrified at this change.

1934 - Henry's steaming problems are becoming more and more frequent each week, and the Fat Director gets fed up with trying to fix him. It's until Henry's fireman recommends trying Henry with Welsh coal, and it seems to do the trick.

1935 - The year after, Henry pulls the Flying Kipper – a non-stop fish train to Manchester. However, due to an iced over signal, Henry ends up barreling into a siding where he has a high-speed collision with the back of a goods train. His crew and the guard and crew of the engine pulling the goods train were, by a miracle, not badly injured. Henry, needless to say, WAS badly injured. Henry is then sent to Crewe, where he is overhauled into a new shape and gets a bigger firebox. Henry returns that summer a better and stronger engine, and has had no steaming problems ever since.

1943 - World War II has begun, and over on Sodor, a couple events occur on the Skarloey railway. The railway's two main engines, Skarloey and Rheneas are over 70 years old now, and are starting to show their age. Skarloey unfortunately goes out of commission, and with no money due to wartime to overhaul him, Rheneas is forced to run the line himself.

1945 - Over on the mainland, Wilbert Awdry, a clergyman and priest writes and publishes the first ever Railway Series book that tells the many stories of Henry, Gordon and Edward, also known as "The Three Railway Engines". During this year on Misty Island, the Bear Valley Railroad encounters a sudden bankruptcy and immediately closes down. The company abandons the island so fast that three of their logging engines get left behind; Bash, Dash and Ferdinand, including a couple of its young lumberjacks.

1947 - A couple years after, the Mid-Sodor Railway meets its demise and closes after the mines are flooded. Most of the remaining engines that worked there are sold off, including Falcon and Stewart who are auctioned off to the Aluminum works at Peel Godred, while Duke is left in the sheds, tarped up and abandoned. Smudger is still a generator at this time and remains at the back of the shed, what's left of his body rotting away to time. It's just... haunting to think he's probably still there to this very day.

Later that winter, Thomas intentionally breaks his snow plough one day due to how uncomfortable it feels and as a consequence, ends up crashing into a snow drift later on. Luckily, Terence the Tractor comes by and rescues him, showing that you can never judge a book by its cover.

1948 - All four railways on the mainland join forces and become a national network called British railways, this officially makes the Northwestern Railway the Northwestern region of British Railways. The Fat Director is awarded his baronetcy for his services to the railways and becomes chairman of the Regional Executive, thus gaining the title "Sir" and having his nickname changed to "The Fat Controller". On his branchline, Thomas meets Bertie the Bus and races him to the Ffarqhuarr station.

Clay beds are discovered near Brendam and the Sodor China Clay Pits are formed. Two little Bagnall saddle tank engines called Bill and Ben are brought to Sodor and are sent to work there. They pull the clay trucks from the pits to the Brendam Docks. With Brendam Docks becoming revitalised, the line to it find new use, and so Edward is sent to run it.

Later on, Edward is taking a train of scrap to the new Peel Godred Ironworks, built at Peel Godred. The NWR built a branchline through the Mid-Sodor, north of Abbey and through a valley up to it. On his way there, he meets Trevor the Traction Engine, who's due to be broken up the following week. Edward refuses to let this happen, so he convinces the Vicar of Wellsworth to save him.

1950 - Deep in the bowels of one of Sodor's biggest forests, two young best friends, a boy named Burnett Stone and a girl named Tasha make a remarkable discovery when they find an old, dying driver and his engine at the cliff face of a mountain. This discovery will change how these two children view engines forever..

1951 - Sir Topham Hatt takes his family on holiday to East Anglia, where they meet an elderly J70 steam tram named Toby, and his faithful coach, Henrietta. The family takes a liking to the pair and by the children's request, go for passenger rides along the tramway. Sadly for Toby and Henrietta, they both knew these were the last passenger rides they were ever gonna give...or so they thought.

Later that year, Thomas gets in trouble with a policeman because his wheels aren't covered, so he can't get on the tramway to the quarry. Sir Topham Hatt remembers Toby and writes to his controller, then purchases him and Henrietta. Toby and his coach arrive later, and he becomes the railway's 7th engine. Back on the Skarloey, Rheneas finally reached his limit and his valve gear jams while he is on route with a passenger train. He reaches the station by good luck but is in need of an overhaul. With both of the main engines out of action, two new engines are brought to take over; Stewart and Falcon. But now, the two had been renamed "Peter Sam" and "Sir Handel". The pair had been auctioned off to the Aluminium Works four years prior and had been repurchased and named after the owner and controller of the railway respectively.

That Christmas, a landslide occurs and blocks the tunnel that Mrs Kyndley's cottage is situated near. Mrs Kyndley was sick that day, but after seeing the landslide, she quickly grabbed a red blanket and waved it out of her window, knowing Thomas was coming. She flagged Thomas down and stopped him just in time. After Mrs Kyndley's heroic act, Sir Topham Hatt came and thanked her personally at her cottage.

1952 - The next year rolls around on the Skarloey railway and Rheneas is finally sent to be overhauled, being absent for 9 whole years. On the NWR, Edward is sent away for an overhaul after rescuing a runaway James who had his controls messed with by some foolish boys. While waiting for his turn to go to the works, Edward and Skarloey converse, with Skarloey filling him in on everything that's happened on the SR.

After Sir Handel derails, Skarloey is let out of the shed after years of not running, despite a leaky boiler and warped firebox. He breaks a spring during his first-in-a-long-time passenger run, but gets the passenger train to the next station. The railway is so pleased with him, that they agree to send him for an overhaul. He leaves, leaving Sir Handel and Peter Sam to handle the railway themselves.

That same year, before Edward left for his overhaul, Gordon refused to pull a goods train and ran off the turntable into a ditch. He managed to make up for his mistake though after rescuing a reckless Thomas who fell down a dilapidated mine at Toryreck. That Christmas, the fat controller hosted a Christmas party to thank Mrs Kyndley for her act of heroism last year. Everybody gets a little drunk while being surrounded by a bunch of sentient trains with faces. 1952 was a big year.

1954 - The newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth || travels around the whole of Britain to greet everyone, including Sodor. Gordon is chosen to haul her coaches. Sir Richard Topham Hatt retires, leaving his son, Charles Topham Hatt to inherit the railway.

1955 - On his first year of becoming controller, the Fat Controller's first act is to reopen service at the old Knapford harbour. Work begins immediately that year, and Percy, Thomas and Trevor are enlisted to help with restoration. With Percy not stationing at Knapford, the Fat Controller purchases another engine from the mainland to take his place. The new engine is a Pannier tank from the Great Western region named Montague, but is nicknamed Duck.

After Percy proves to be quite good at the harbour, he is relocated to work at Thomas's branchline, and Duck becomes the new official station pilot. Duck is purchased and becomes the railway's 8th engine, but the Fat Controller graciously lets him keep his Great Western livery and nameplates.

Due to the new construction of the harbour, the map of the Ffarquhar branchline changes; the south harbour junction closes and a new one is opened north of the river. A new line for passenger services is built over the old dryaw line, and so the old one closes, but then it is revitalised for goods services.

Probably everyone who read this all so far;

During the time when Percy is helping to restore the harbour, he meets Harold the Helicopter at the Dryaw Airfield and doesn't take a huge liking to him. Soon enough, the old Knapford harbour is finished and opened for service.

Later that year, the Ffarquhar branchline caught in a heavy downpour and suffers flooding near Elsebridge. Percy is filling in for Thomas at that time, but braves the flood and gets the passengers home.

1956 - At the Knapford harbour, Percy brags to Bill and Ben about the time he braved the flood to get Thomas's passengers home. Bill and Ben were amazed, Henry...not so much. At this time, the foundations of the key had sunken, making the rails slope down. There is a danger sign to warn engines of this, but Percy was too big-headed to believe it, even a warning from Thomas doesn't make him wary. Out of stubbornness and seeing what he can get away with, Percy one day gets some troublesome trucks to push him past the sign, but this doesn't end well as he ends up plunging into the sea. Percy got humbled that day U_U

A month later, a horrid storm beats down on Sodor and destroys a forest situated between Wellsworth and Crosby. Henry is dismayed at the news. To cheer him up, Toby, Terence and Trevor help to clear up and repair the damage.

Meanwhile at Barrow on the mainland, an engine derails, leaving Gordon to step in to take their train to London.

The railway series books are proving to be a massive success, and the Fat controller gets letters from children on the mainland asking if his engines are real. So, he gathers his eight famous engines and they all embark on a trip to Houston station for a rail gala. Several BR engines fill in for them on the railway.

Sir Topham Hatt | passes away in his house, leaving his son, Charles to inherit the baronetcy and become Sir Topham Hatt ||.

1957 - The famous 100mph record-breaker engine, City of Truro visits the railway and has a lovely time with the other engines on their railtour. Gordon himself tries to go 100mph, but to no avail, loses his dome when going over a bridge.

A few months later, an 08 diesel shunter named Diesel (what a beautiful name) is trialed on the railway. Diesel doesn't take a liking to Duck after he plays a trick on him and spreads false rumours around the yard that lead to Duck being sent away to bank trains at Wellsworth.

One day, Duck crashes into a newly opened Barbour shop at Crosby after being chased by runaway trucks. Turns out that all along, Sir Topham Hatt || knew about Diesel's scheme and sent him packing, much to Duck's relief. From then on, Duck was allowed to sleep at Tidmouth once more, the big engines greeted him warmly.

Back on the Skarloey railway, a new maintenance diesel named Rusty is brought to the railway to help mend the old dilapidated tracks. They end up discovering the disused line that goes through the Bluebell Valley.

1958 - A new engine from a factory on the mainland called Duncan joins the Skarloey fleet. He instantly dislikes Rusty. Shortly after, Peter Sam suffers an accident that damages his funnel. Skarloey returns from his overhaul that year, and just in time as a group of BBC producers arrive to broadcast a live documentary about the Skarloey Railway.

Back on the NWR, parts of the railway were starting to show their age and problems began to rise; a few tracks on the Ffarqhuarr branchline had been warped from the heat and Thomas ended up derailing because of it. So, Sir Topham Hatt sends everyone to work at different areas until the issues are fixed. Percy and Duck are sent to work at Brendam Docks and have the unfortunate experience of meeting Devious Diesel, who hasn't changed a bit. Turns out he was given a second chance, but fails once more. A few months prior to this, a circus visited the NWR and one of its elephants ran away and hid in Henry's tunnel.

After the commotion with Diesel, Duck discovers his love for the sea.

1959 - On the mainland, steam is slowly dying and being taken over by diesel, being dubbed "a new era" for British Railways.

Sir Topham Hatt purchases a Caledonian engine from Scotland to help out on the railway as it's growing and needs more handling, but is dumbfounded and utterly confused when two arrive, the twins' names are Donald and Douglas. Sir Topham Hatt had purchased Donald, but Douglas stowed away with him as he knew he would be doomed to become scrap. The Fat Controller finds himself stuck on what to do, so for the time being, he trials both of them.

The twins prove themselves to be useful after saving a derailed Henry on a snowy day. After some persistence from the other engines, Sir Topham Hatt agrees to keep both of them. They become the NWR's 9th and 10th engines respectively.

A few months pass and the Fat Controller decides to build a new station near the old port at Arlesburgh. This ends up resulting in the creation of a new branchline from Tidmouth to Arlesburgh, with plans to stretch it up through the fish town of Harwick and along the west coast. Duck was requested to run it.

1960 - We're starting off with a literal crash into the 60s as Thomas crashes into the stationmaster's house during their breakfast at Ffarqhuarr. Despite the crash mostly not being his fault, he gets scolded by Sir Topham Hatt and sent to the Works to have his buffers mended. In Thomas's absence, a new diesel railcar named Daisy is brought to manage the passenger service. She is selfish and spoilt at first, but gets humbled a month on after Percy endures a bizarre derailment that lands the branchline in quite a predicament. Luckily, Thomas is back from the Works by this time, so it's not all terrible.

On the same year, the mascot of the Bluebell Railway on the mainland, Stepney, is withdrawn from service. Also on the same year, Boco arrives on the island and gets harassed by Bill and Ben. He joins the railway later after Edward suffers an accident that gets his side all ripped up and taken to get repaired, becoming the NWR's second diesel.

The branchline from Tidmouth to Arlesburgh is completed and the village of Harwick celebrates by holding a fun fair. Toby is chosen to be the attraction, but by the time he goes there, plans are changed and he just went up there for nothing.

1961 - Peter Sam's funnel finally breaks one snowy day after it gets hit by a fallen icicle. He gets it replaced by a new, special funnel, a Geisel Ejector. It proves to be a success.

Finally, Rheneas makes a gallant return to the railway after his 9 year overhaul

1962 - Stepney brings a rail tour to Sodor as a big marketing event for the Bluebell Railway. During his time on Sodor, Sir Topham Hatt trials a Class 40 diesel called Derek. Derek ends up breaking down while going down the line to Brendam and Stepney and Duck double-head the train in his place. Stepney departs Sodor the next day.

1963 - Culdee, the namesake of the Culdee Fell Mountain Railway returns after his overhaul in Switzerland and gets to know the new faces brought in to the railway, one of them was called Lord Harry.

Lord Harry would later rescue a climber at the Devil's back, a part of the mountain known for often having bad weather. In return for his heroism, he gets his name changed to Patrick after the climber he rescued.

On the mainland, Alan Peglar rescue Gordon's brother, The Flying Scotsman, from scrap. Sadly, all of Gordon's other siblings aren't lucky.

1964 - On Thomas's branchline, the Ffarqhuarr quarry acquires it's own small diesel shunter named Mavis. She's young and confident, so she believes she can do everything herself and insults toby. But after Diesel gives her bad advice, she eventually gets her just-do and learns to never take advice from Diesel, who was miraculously still on the railway.

On autumn that year, Percy crashes into a lime cart that gives him a ghostly white appearance. He uses this to his advantage to scare Thomas after he states his disbelief of ghosts. During this time, the Norramby branchline is in need of an engine to run it, so Rusty is tasked with finding one.

Rusty stumbles upon Stepney on their way through a scrapyard one night, and helps him escape. After Stepney is rescued, he is purchased by the railway and sent to run the Norramby branchline for a while. Eventually, Stepney gets bored and decides to go visit the west side of Sodor by the Fat Controller's invitation. During his time there, he makes Thomas jealous, double-heads the Express with Duck, escapes from the Ironworks and gets chased down by Caroline. He leaves for the final time after that with a proper send off.

1965 - The Skarloey celebrates its 100th anniversary of being open, with the brand new opening of a loop line around the lake of Skarloey. The current owner of the Skarloey Railway, Sir Robert Norramby, hosts the celebration. Before the opening, a talk with Duck about dukes sends Peter Sam into a crisis, panicking about the fact that his Duke may have gotten scrapped. He learns his mistake but he and Sir Handel start to talk about him frequently.

An incident at Knapford occurs when a beehive is found within the station and a swarm of bees attack the passengers. James gets stung on the nose by one and the swarm latches on to James's boiler. After several attempts, the bees finally let go.

The NWR decides to reopen the Arlesburgh harbour as an addition to Tidmouth, thus extended Duck's branchline.

1966 - A discovery of ballast is made at the old Mid-Sodor mines. Subsequently to this, all of the railway controllers come together to create a miniature guage railway that runs along one of the old track beds of the long-abandoned Mid-Sodor Railway.

1967 - The next year, the Arlesdale Railway officially opens for services and a new controller is hired, he is Mr Fergus Duncan. The engines brought on to run the line are Rex, Mike and Bert. There is also a miniature diesel named Frank, but passengers of the railway rarely see him. Duck meets them while visiting one day.

Two clergymen visit the railway one day and have encounters with them, one of which is Wilbert Awdry, author of the railway series and his friend, Teddy Boston. Awdry decides to write a book about Rex, Mike and Bert, but leaves out Frank which gets him upset and crashes into the back of the shed in retaliation.

Meanwhile, Gordon catches wind of the fate of his siblings on the mainland and enters a severe depression because of it. To cheer him up, Sir Topham Hatt calls Alan Peglar and they arrange a meeting between Gordon and his last surviving brother, the Flying Scotsman. Henry gets jealous of Scotsman's two tenders, but after getting tricked by Percy, learns that one tender is good enough

During the FS's visit, two diesels are trialed on the railway. One of them breaks down and the other gets to stay. The new third diesel is nicknamed Bear.

On Duck's branchline, new sheds are built adjacent to the Arlesdale railway. Douglas has his own adventure when he's delivering a midnight goods train and comes across Oliver, who's marked for scrap. Oliver and his brakevan, Toad are trying to get to Sodor to escape getting scrapped. Douglas decides to help him out and brings him back with him.

Upon meeting him, Sir Topham Hatt purchases Oliver and he becomes the railway's 11th engine, joining the twins and Duck at the Little Western.

1968 - The end of steam traction arrives, and the Island of Sodor becomes the only place in Britain with a steam-powered railway.

1969 - Peter Sam and Sir Handel won't stop talking about Duke, and this gets the two clergymen intrigued and wondering about his whereabouts. They, Mr Fergus Duncan and the duke then band together to find Duke. They search the remains of the Mid-Sodor Railway, and the search reaches an end when Teddy Boston falls through the roof of Duke's old shed and lands on top of the old engine, who turned out to be asleep for 20 whole years and wasn't aware of how much time passed.

He is rescued, restored and brought to the Skarloey Railway where he reunited with Peter Sam and Sir Handel.

1970 - The Arlesdale railway unveils its own newly made steam engine, Jock. Jock was built by the railway itself. Meanwhile, the ever-growing Brendam Docks acquires a new crane named Cranky. When a storm hits the island, Cranky gets knocked over, he's raised, then knocked over again...then raised again.

1971 - A branchline from Kirk Ronan is built up to Kellsthorpe, the branchline has a big canopy station as its terminus that overlooks part of the island. Gordon's brakes failed here and he ended up crashing through the station wall on its opening day, getting the "better view" he wanted. He makes up for it and is rewarded with his own window.

1972 - Signalmen and late night railroaders had begun reporting peculiar sightings of a mysterious female steam engine with a maroon pink livery steaming around during the night, leaving gold dust trails along the tracks she glides along. They say it's like seeing a ghost, and they can even hear her whistle echo throughout the night. Due to the bizarre descriptions of these sightings, the controllers and mayor all pass it off as "foolish folklore" or just a hoax.

After these rumors cleared up, Henry was taking a midnight goods train to Peel Godred where he encountered Old Bailey, the original stationmaster for the Mid-Sodor station at the crossover. The Sodor Preservation society restores the station, and anoints Bailey as its keeper.

Sometime later, the lake adjacent from the station is drained and the old Mid-Sodor tracks are pulled up, making way for tarmac to be paved down to create a road link, but it's not done too well.

1975 - On the Skarloey Railway, Duke is sent for a lengthy overhaul. When he'll be back? No one knows...

At some point, the NWR took charge of the Norramby line from the previous manager, and Sir Topham Hatt gained ownership of Stepney. He allowed Stepney to revisit for a little while by helping out Toby and Mavis at Ffarqhuarr Quarry. After helping out, Stepney takes a wrong turn when returning to his shed and ends up at the Ironworks where he is taken by Arry and Bert, who try to scrap him. Luckily, Sir Topham Hatt rescues him in the nick of time. Later in the year, the Skarloey's owner, Sir Robert Norramby decides to go on a global trip around the world and leaves Sir Topham Hatt in charge of his railway.

1979 - After Gordon breaks down before pulling the Express, Thomas, Duck and Percy are enlisted to triple-head the train.

The China Clay Pits meanwhile suffer a catastrophic avalanche, making everyone evacuate. Bill and Ben act quickly though and rescue everyone before doom struck them fatally. The clay pits end up closing after this and Bill and Ben relocate to Ffarqhuarr Quarry.

One early autumn night, Oliver is temporarily assigned to pulling the mail train, but ends up taking a wrong turn into a abandoned line and crashes into an old shed at Arlesdale end. He is saved later on by the Fat Controller, who takes an interest into the old area and decides to refurbish it for visitors. He acquires the rights and relocates Toby there to help finish construction. The old shed that Oliver crashes into is refurbished as well into a new shed for Toby and Henrietta. The line now belongs to Toby.

1981 - On Toby's line, the Great Dam breaks due to heavy rain and unleashes a flood that nearly kills Toby and his crew. In the warmer months, the dam is fixed and the line is fully complete and open for service with its terminus at Callan on the Little Western.

Sometime later, Toby and the Hatt family venture into the abandoned mining network at the tail end of Thomas's branchline. There, they come across the ruins of Ulfstead Castle and the gold mine. Both are restored and Ulfstead Castle is opened for tourists. During restoration, an old engine from the Mid-Sodor era called Bertram was discovered and was sent to pull tourists around the gold mine after restoration was finished. A connection between Ulfstead and Arlesdale end was built, creating a loop. Arlesdale End became a through-station.

1983 - Thomas and Percy travel up to the Ironworks and come across an old coach dubbed "Old Slow Coach". After a fire breaks out at the worker's hut at Tidmouth Hault, Old Slow Coach is repurposed into a new permanent housing quarters to replace it, and is quite happy. But when Mrs Kyndley's daughter gets married later, she becomes part of the good luck package.

Around the month of August, Sir Topham Hatt decides to reopen the old boulder quarry at the Mid-Sodor. The plans are changed when a seemingly sentient boulder terrorises the little engines and deals significant damage to the site. Sir Topham Hatt then figures that the boulder some sort of warning from God and ultimately decides to abandon the quarry.

1984 - Sir Handel gets into trouble for some unknown reason and Sir Topham Hatt sends him to the Shadow Re– the slate mines as a punishment for an undefinite amount of time. On the same year, a television series based off of the stories from the Railway Series is created by a lady called Britt Allcroft and a man called David Mitton. The series is named "Thomas the Tank engine & Friends" and uses model versions of the engines. The series is narrated by the Beatle himself, Ringo Starr.

1988 - A blue Class 07 diesel-electric shunter purchased from the mainland travels all the way to Sodor to work as a quarry diesel with Mavis and the tank engine twins. He works there for a short while, but longs to be by the sea, and so he is relocated to work as a shunter in the yard at Brendam Docks. His name is Salty.

The Elsbridge is getting weak and is in need of renovation, and so Sir Topham Hatt puts up a weight limit for the bridge. Thomas is too heavy for the bridge and so is relocated to Wellsworth with Edward for the time being, but returns next year.

1989 - The Skarloey gains a new maintenance diesel named Fred to help out Rusty, but going into present-day, no one sees him anymore. On the NWR, the railway gains a new Crane-tank engine named Harvey.

1990 - The National Railway Museum in York invites Thomas to take part in a Rail gala. Thomas leaves the next day in his own power, and Toby, Daisy and Percy take care of the branchline while he's gone.

1992 - Thomas returns from York and Henry is send to Crovan's Gate for an overhaul. He comes back early after a locomotive crisis and isn't fully repainted yet. Later that year, Sir Charles Topham Hatt retires, leaving his son, Bertram to inherit the railway. On his first act as controller, he rescues three engines from being scrapped; Murdoch, Arthur and an elderly, yet youthfully spirited Stirling Single named Emily.

1995 - While on route to Brendam, Thomas breaks down and his crew come across a shed, where inside is an old steam lorry named Elizabeth, after she gets let out, Elizabeth helps Thomas reach Brendam. She was Sir Topham Hatt |'s first ever vehicle, but was eventually left in a shed. The Fat Controller was so pleased with the discovery of his grandfather's old lorry that he paid for her to be restored to full beauty. She now works on the roads close to the narrow guage lines.

50 years have passed by since the first Railway Series book, and a big celebration is held at Tidmouth to celebrate it.

A high-speed train from the mainland carrying Prince Charles arrives at Knapford to celebrate the occasion.

1996 - Utter horror and tragedy strikes the rails as a feud between two drivers named P. T Boomer and Burnett Stone leads to Burnett's wife, Tasha getting killed after she and their steam engine are pushed off of a partially dilapidated viaduct by Boomer's equally malicious Class 46 Warship, Diesel 10. As said, Tasha is tragically killed in the fall, but their steam engine is still clinging to her life. Burnett leaves Sodor the next week to repair his engine and is never heard from after that.

2000s

2000 - The events of my TATMR rewrite occur. Just think of the og TATMR but the American test audience didn't screw it over.

2004 - Sir Topham Hatt || dies peacefully in his sleep, leaving the current Fat Controller to inherit the baronetcy, becoming Sir Bertram Topham Hatt |||.

2005 - (My planned CAE rewrite) The station at Kellsthorpe Road is rebuilt into a bigger station with a bay platform. During construction, Thomas prevents runaway trucks from crashing into it. Above the Kellsthorpe Road, the ground is prepped for the construction of a new airport for holidaymakers and tourists.

The construction sparks a rivalry between steamies and diesels as the construction requires nearly every single engine on the NWR. As the construction begins, a bad storm delays the build and destroys the suspension bridge over the River Hoo (I dunno how to spell it 🥲). It was quickly rebuilt, and mainline services resumed. The storm had also demolished the original Tidmouth Sheds, and so the engines all had to relocate until it was rebuilt.

Thomas stayed at Knapford Sheds with Emily, who had taken a sudden switch in personality during that time (seriously, she became a gODDAMN BI–) and didn't take kindly to him staying there...at first.

Tidmouth Sheds gets rebuilt with an extra berth for Emily, who stays there permanently.

2006 - The expanding Skarloey Railway was becoming too much for Sir Topham Hatt ||| to handle, which makes sense since he was in control of two whole railways. He hired a man called Peregrine Percival, more commonly known as the Thin Controller, to run it.

A bunch of loaned engines from different railways arrive to the island for temporary services on the NWR. These engines are Molly, Dennis, Neville and Mighty Mac. The bridge for the Peel Godred across the mainline falls into disrepair, and during its reconstruction, Neville missed the warning signal and nearly ran off it. Thomas catched him just in time.

A new statue of the main Tidmouth engines (and Toby) is put on display at Abbey Station.

Around June on the Skarloey, Sir Handel makes a return from the slate mines after his extended, and isolated stay.

2007 - Gordon attempted to beat his speed record again, but gave it up to help out Henry. He eventually did break it, and Sir Topham Hatt awarded him with special coaches. Toby's old shed at Arlesdale End was rebuilt with a new roof, and his old roof was made into a little birdhouse up front.

Another engine from the Mid-Sodor called Freddie was found...somewhere, and brought back to former working order. He reunites with Sir Handel, as he and him are old friends.

Meanwhile, a new breakdown crane named Rocky comes to Sodor, and Edward just hates him for some reason . Why did Edward not like him, you may wonder?

I don't know.

More engines are brought to the island like Rosie, who at the time was absolutely obsessed with Thomas. A engine called Whiff is purchased to work at the recycling plant. There was also Billy, but he's in the Shadow Realm now.

2008 - A snow slide blocks the Skarloey Railway and Duncan has to be transported via road by a snub-nosed lorry called Mage, who takes him to the transfer yard, south of the sheds. In early July, Duncan gives Thomas the wrong directions to the wharf to get him lost. Thomas instead ends up finding the ruins of the long abandoned Great Waterton. He brings Sir Topham Hatt to see it, and he is thrilled with Thomas's great discovery.

Reconstruction of the town is made at once, with Thomas in charge. A new, bigger tank engine called Stanley is brought on to fill in for Thomas's branchline duties and ends up staying at the railway.

A big celebration is held later on for Sodor Day at Great Waterton.

During the same year, a new quarry site is made near Daisy Halt. The quarry is dubbed "The Blue Mountain Quarry". A little Irish engine named Luke is picked up from Ireland by a boat setting course for Sodor to work at said quarry. While on the boat, he meets a Cuban engine named Victor who speaks a different language. As the two are being loaded off at Brendam, Cranky accidentally knocks Victor into the ocean while unloading Luke. After a couple months, Victor is sent to the Steamworks at Crovan's Gate and is repaired. He now works there.

2009 - The Duke and duchess of Boxford build a summerhouse in Sodor while their private engine, Spencer helps with reconstruction. Thomas and him race, but the race ends when Thomas gets diverted down an overgrown siding and discovers Hiro. Hiro had been abandoned by his crew due to him breaking down, with the empty promise that they'd be back. Attempts to restore him prove successful and he gets on the next boat to Japan, bidding everyone farewell.

However, he comes back later that year as the railways in Japan had become overrun with speedy bullet trains, and he preferred the slow and steady nature of Sodor more.

2010 - Imagine Misty Island Rescue but it actually makes sense and the characters, including the Logging Locos, have genuine personalities and aren't bad. Oh yeah, and I gave the island the most logical reason for existing as I could.

2011 - Diesel 10 returns to Sodor with a second chance given to him by Sir Topham Hatt. However, he hasn't changed a bit, as he gathers as many diesels as he can to the rundown Dieselworks in Vicarstown to plot his revenge on all the steam engines. Mainly, Diesel 10 plans to kill Thomas himself for helping Lady escape from his grasp all those years ago. Diesel 10 then attempts to try and derail Edward, set Henrietta on fire with Toby watching, attempts and fails at sending a truck full of explosives into Tidmouth Sheds and crushes one of Thomas's side-tanks, causing a leakage.

Diesel 10 then gets pursued by a few of the steamies and invades the Steamworks. After another life-threatening situation, Sir Topham Hatt confronts the warship and punishes him severely, taking away his wheels and his claw. Diesel 10 now sits at the Arlesburgh beach as a beach hut. He's absolutely ruthless.

2012 - Back to the Blue Mountain Quarry, the Skarloey fleet now works at the quarry as it is part of their railway. Paxton, a diesel who was unwillingly forced into helping Diesel 10 during his fiasco, pulls the slate train from the quarry to Brendam. An accident puts him out of commission and Sir Topham Hatt puts Thomas as the temporary slate hauler.

Thomas ends up finding out about Luke and after hearing his sad story, attempts to find the truth. Diesel catches wind about Luke and views him as dangerous, he then tries to rat out Luke with a reluctant Paxton following behind. You know how the rest goes ;)

After the blue mountain situation is resolved, Sir Topham Hatt's rail inspection car, Winston discovers something VERY special; It was Sir Topham Hatt ||'s old birthday carriage that he used to go around in as a boy. It gets refurbished and is pulled by Edward for Sir Topham Hatt's upcoming birthday. Nevertheless, Sir Topham Hatt becomes tearful when he sees it, a rediscovered remnant to remember his father by.

2013 - Sir Robert Norramby returns from his global trip, and along the way, it's discovered that he purchased Stephen, formally known as Stephenson's Rocket from the National Railway Museum. The Earl reveals that he wants to reopen the tourist attraction at Ulfstead Castle and have Stephen be the main feature of the attraction. Before the grand reopening, Stephen ends up getting lost in the mines beneath the castle and ends up discovering King Godred's crown. He is soon rescued and the crown is brought back to the estate, where it is put on display.

A collision between Gordon and Paxton occurs at Knapford and a stone from Paxton's trucks flies out and punctures Gordon's boiler. At first, Gordon ignores it, but then he soon finds himself constantly low on water. Meanwhile, a new dock engine called Porter is brought on to help Salty.

At the Ulfstead Estate Railway, Stephen is tasked with bringing ingredients for the afternoon tea. Spencer makes fun of him, but Stephen ends up with the last laugh.

Henry and Hiro are enlisted to double-head a big goods train from Ffarqhuarr to Tidmouth Harbour. Unfortunately, they struggle along the way due to bad coal. But in the end, they got there eventually.

Two years after the Diesel 10 fiasco, Percy finds that the out-of-commission diesel, Sidney still hasn't been put back into service and proceeds to help him get his new wheels. Sidney gets his new wheels when Christmas rolls around and visits the engines at Tidmouth to thank them personally.

2014 - After years of heavy reconstruction, the Sodor China Clay Pits are finally approved for a grand reopening, and Sir Topham Hatt sends Thomas there as there is maintenance being done on one of the bridges at his branchline. Along the way, Thomas meets a newly purchased oil-burning engine named Timothy, who he met after being pranked by Bill and Ben. He then meets a very enthusiastic steam shovel locomotive named Marion.

After a few days of working at the pits, a storm comes and Timothy warns Thomas of the unstability of the clay cliffs during bad weather. Out of stubbornness, Thomas doesn't listen and he goes down a line that traverses through the cliffs while the storm is at its highest. A landslide occurs and luckily, Bill and Ben swoop in and save him. The rest will be in my rewrite in the future :)

Later that year The Fat Controller purchases Duck's old slip coaches from the Great Western Railway after he talks about them to the other engines.

2015 ‐ The Earl constructs a new dinosaur park at the estate after getting inspired from the dino skeleton in Wellsworth. The dinosaur park can now be seen on one of the estate railway's routes. A little diesel boxcab named Phillip is purchased and brought on to be Knapford's new station pilot after Duck abandoned it years ago. He takes a liking to Gordon, who doesn't share the same sentiments.

He then races the big engine and wins, and doesn't stop talking about it, much to everyone's annoyance. Some months later, he rescues James from a rather nasty fall.

One of Sir Topham Hatt's workers, Albert has a baby who gets named after Thomas after Thomas babysits him.

A new branchline from Harwick to Arlesburgh is being built, and many engines make a return, even Donald and Douglas who came back after a hefty overhaul to help with construction. Thomas is also sent to help as a punishment for a coach mishap and is replaced by a cocky, over-confident big tank engine named Ryan who does his branchline duties. Thomas tries telling Sir Topham Hatt that he had nothing to do with it and that Gordon was teasing him. But no one believes him.

At Harwick, an incident at the site occurs where the ground collapsed and Thomas goes down a cavern (this gives me flashbacks). When he hits the bottom, Thomas discovers a 4000 year old pirate ship. The ship is raised, moored and put at the Arlesburgh harbour as a part of the maritime museum.

Judy and Jerome, the breakdown train that was used to hoist James out of the fields all those years ago are old and are hardly used anymore due to Rocky taking charge in rescues. They are finally relocated to Harwick, where they handle all derailments from there.

2016 - Thomas travels all the way to Vicarstown, where he meets the Flying Scotsman for the first time. Scotsman reveals that he has been invited to a rail gala happening on the mainland, sparking jealousy from Gordon. Several of the sudrain engines are invited to the event, and Gordon streamlines himself in an attempt to become faster than Scotsman. He gets upset about not being recognised as an A3 Pacific which nearly hinders the start of his race against other big engines.

He loses after nearly exploding because of his missing safety valve, and the Flying Scotsman makes fun of him for it since Gordon was claiming he'd win. Pretty cruel thing to do. Gordon now began despising his only brother the more he was ever talked about or mentioned.

Meanwhile, on the Kenya-Uganda Railway in Kenya, a little orange tank engine named Nia abandons her goods train to go hide in an old mine tunnel.

Back on Sodor and right Before Christmas, Marion discovers Glynn, the old Coffee pot engine from the original Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsebridge Light Railway days. He is taken back to the Steamworks for restoration. Sir Topham Hatt comes to visit and Glynn mistakes him for his Sir Topham Hatt, Richard Hatt. The current Topham is is Bertram. After some explanations, Glynn offers to take Sir Topham Hatt to the Christmas eve fair at Ulfstead, in which he gladly complies. The Fat Controller drives Glynn to the estate where he join joins Stephen from now on.

2017 - A new modern gantry crane named Carly arrives on the docks to help Cranky as his age was catching up with him. Also, Big Mickey breaks his silence. Meanwhile, Rosie, a little pink tank engine gets repainted red and relocated to Vicarstown to pilot trains.

James tries to create a world record as the fastest red engine on Sodor, and his brakes end up failing and he crashes into the Tidmouth Sheds. He is taken away for repairs and the others have to find other places to sleep while the sheds are being fixed. Edward decides to permanently move into the Wellsworth sheds as it starts at his branchline. Gordon really hates this change and tries getting him to come back, but to no avail.

Sometime later, Thomas steals James' goods train to Bridlington, but ends up getting lost on the mainland and imprisoned by the Steelworks engines, Frankie and Hurricane, and their boss. James and Percy go to look for him, find him, and save him.

2018 - A yellow rally car named Ace arrives on Sodor to get the next boat to Africa. Thomas meets him on a passenger run, and Ace tries convincing him to go to Africa. Thomas, at first, is unsure. He may have wanted to see the world when he was still new on the railway. After some more persuading and to be honest, flat out pressuring from Ace, Thomas sneaks away from his branchline and gets on a boat to Africa at the Tidmouth harbour. He takes Annie and Clarabelle with him.

His departure to Africa takes a few days and during those days, everyone panics about his whereabouts. Thomas arrives on Africa and follows Ace. But along the way, he's mistook for a goods engine and is forced to pull a goods train to Dar E Salaam. On his 5000 mile journey, he comes across a little tank engine named Nia blocked up in a mine tunnel.

He helps her get to a nearby Steamworks for repair and continues on his way. However, Nia comes back to Thomas, who is struggling up a hill and helps him out as thanks and joins him on his journey. The two go to a few countries while chasing Ace and get into a few mishaps along the way. The two return to Sodor in one piece and a welcome back party is initiated.

A few months pass, Nia stays in Edward's berth by invitation and Gordon isn't happy with it. Gordon only gets more mad about the changes when Henry decides to move to Vicarstown to have his jobs done quicker, and to have time to visit his forest. Gordon lashes out about the changes and takes it out on Sir Topham Hatt and Nia. The sudden changes are messing with Gordon, but everyone dismisses his feelings as him overreacting. Gordon is just forced to suck it up.

2019 - A quick rise in tourists coming to the island puts a bit of pressure on Gordon, tiring him out as schedules are a lot tighter, and so he has to pull the Express much earlier and much more than usual. So, Sir Topham Hatt purchases a Bulleid Light Pacific named Rebecca. Gordon does NOT take kindly to Rebecca, especially when she takes Henry's old berth. Meanwhile, Nia begins to pick up feelings for Henry.

A storm destroys the school in Harwick, and Duck finds an old coach named Dexter, who becomes restored into a new schoolhouse for the kids.

2020 - A few years had passed since the birth of Albert's son, Little Thomas who has come to see Big Thomas. Henry meanwhile, begins hearing about a stray canine nicknamed "The Railway Hound", as the dog is only ever seen walking along or resting beside the tracks. Concerned for the dog's safety, Henry goes looking for it along with Thomas. They eventually find the dog and Little Thomas adopts it.

Many events would follow suit; Emily gains a shiny new brass nameplate on her smokebox and gets her number at last. A technology fair is held at Ulfstead Castle, introducing a new bullet train named Kenji. Kenji stays on Sodor before going back to Japan, and after a rough 10 year stay on Sodor, Hiro leaves for Japan.

In winter, things take a turn for the worse when Nia takes the Flying Kipper when Henry's filling in for another engine. She crashes into a goods train near Kirk Machan due to faulty signals, sliding into a cold ditch along the way. Thankfully, James pulls by with the Judy and Jerome and hoists her back up to safety. She is then sent to the Steamworks for an indefinite long repair.

2021 - Nia returns from the Works in early Spring with a new safety valve and a better firebox, everyone welcomed her return. A month after, Queen Elizabeth || writes a letter to Sir Topham Hatt, inviting him to London for a special reward for his services to the railways. By the specific request of Prince Charles, Edward and Thomas get to come along with their controller. Along the way, the trio encounter many mishaps ànd end up getting dirty.

During the journey, Edward and Thomas have several encounters with Diana, who rudely keeps taking their spots for coal refills and water fills. After she bursts her safety valve, the two help her get to London Station and to their utter shock, Diana turned out to be the Queen's private engine and she was pulling the Queen and his son during the entire trip.

Prince Charles tells Edward and Thomas how he loved to read the books about them as a child and personally rewards them both with medals. Sir Topham Hatt gets a medal too, of course.

Alls well that ends well...

Or is it...?

#thomas and friends #thomas the tank engine #tatmr #ttte thomas #ttte gordon #ttte lady #ttte henry #ttte edward #ttte james #ttte harold #ttte henrietta #ttte duck #ttte culdee #ttte donald #ttte douglas #ttte oliver #ttte emily #ttte whiff #ttte murdoch #ttte arthur #ttte porter #ttte salty #ttte carly #ttte cranky #ttte percy #ttte toby #ttte nia #ttte rebecca #ttte jeremy #ttte hiro

[hazel-of-sodor]

Day 12-Of Reds and Ones

Traintober 2023

Other Stories

Day 12-Something Borrowed

Of Reds and Ones

James was simmering contently at Crovan's Gate station, his fresh paint gleaming in the sunlight. One of the little engines of the Skarloey Railway was going about their day on the other side of the platform. He wasn't sure which one it was, as he only caught glimpses through the trucks and carriages.

 Claire was topping off his oil reservoirs when she suddenly laughed.

 James, who had just been dozing off, looked back. "What? Do I have mud on my wheels or something?" he grumbled.

Claire smirked at him, "You got your paint from the Skarloey engines didn't you?"

Before he could answer, someone else did. "That he did lass. Took one look while at the works and came out looking like he belonged to our little railway."

James looked over to see the engine he'd been catching glimpses of was Skarloey himself. James rolled his eyes, "They're hardly identical, but yes it is meant to resemble their livery."

"I always thought they had just flipped the normal livery. Red with blue stripes rather than Blue with red stripes.

James shook his head with a sigh. "no it was originally a tribute livery, much like Henry's was, but I've been wearing it for over seventy years now..."

"So everyone just thinks of it as your livery," Claire said.

"Even though we were wearing it seventy years before you did." Skarloey chuckled.

"Well, I can't help that I wear it better." James rolled his eyes, but Claire knew him well enough to know he actually didn't mind.

"You said Henry's livery was a tribute livery?" She asked.

James nodded, "That was before my time, but it was meant to represent the Sodor and Mainland Railway, one of the railways that were merged to become the North Western."

"Even though it's a completely different shade of green," Skarloey interjected.

James shrugged, "I wasn't there when they chose the shade, I actually wouldn't arrive for several more years. I only know what the others told me, although I doubt they explained it to them either."

"I believe the blue and red were also borrowed," Skarloey mused. "The original blue was that of the Wellsworth and Suddery, while the red stripes were the same color as the Tidmouth, Elsbridge, and Knapford engines."

James frowned, "I thought Thomas just painted those colors and the railway liked them."

"That too." Skarloey laughed, "The North Western lacked a number one and Thomas lacked a number. The way crews saw the opportunity to have the number one. They kept painting ones on him, which management would remove." Finally one night they painted him, blue from the Wellsworth and Suddery, the TEKR's Red for stripes, and a large golden number one line in red on his tanks.

Lord Harwick stepped onto the platform, looked at Thomas while taking a long draw of coffee, which had all the workmen worried they'd pushed too far. He finished his sip and told them they could keep the one if they painted the other engines as well."

James snorted, "I see very little has changed about Sodor crews then."

"Nothing important." Skarloey smiled.

Claire snorted, "Come on big red, you've got a train to pull." 

She climbed into the cab, "James whistling a farewell to Skarloey as he pulled off.

Skarloey whistled his reply and returned to his shunting with a snort. Big red indeed.

#Traintober #Traintober23 #Traintober 2023 #ttte fanfic #rws fanfic #Prompt-Something Borrowed #ttte james #ttte skarloey

[cerenemuxse]

The engines as different basis (EoSR but built different) - 1

(Tender engines as tank engines, vice versa)

From No. 1 - 6 (Thomas, Edward, Emily, Henry, Gordon, James)

NWR 1 Thomas (formerly LBSCR 307, SR 2307)

Class: London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) Class C3 Horsham Goods

Previous Owners: London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway; Southern Railway; British Railways (Southern Region)

Built: August 1906

Real-life Withdrawal: May 1949 (never received a BR number)

Designer: Douglas Earle Marsh

Builder: Brighton Works

Bio:

Thomas is the first tender engine purchased by the NWR, after the withdrawals of the original NWR 1 - 6 (the last one being in 1925). The NWR had believed that they wouldn't need any tender engine power until the withdrawal of NWR 1 in 1925.

NWR 2 Edward (formerly W&SR 5)

Class: Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway (DW&WR) 52 class; North Western Railway (NWR) Class S-W52

Previous Owners: Wellsworth & Suddery Railway

Built: 1893

Real-life Withdrawal: n/a

Designer: William Wakefield

Builder: Sharp, Stewart and Company (Glasgow, Scotland)

Bio:

Edward was commissioned by the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway. His design was altered so that he could run on standard gauge rails. When the merger occured, he was passed down to the NWR, along with Emily, and the NWR attempted to rebuild him so he could handle the new jobs. This did not work out, resulting in Edward having poor steaming issues. He was swapped with Emily, working lighter and fewer jobs.

NWR 3 Emily (formerly GNR 1009 and W&SR 6)

Class: Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class H1 Stirling Tank; North Western Railway (NWR) Class S-S1 Stirling Tank

Basis (Inspiration): GNR Stirling Single A3, GNR G1, and B&ER 4-2-4 tank engines

Previous Owners: Great Northern Railway; Wellsworth and Suddery Railway

Built: 1882

Real-life Withdrawal: n/a

Designer: Patrick Stirling

Builder: Doncaster Works

Bio:

Emily is an experimental tank engine version of the GNR A1, A2, and A3 Stirling Singles, with a wheel config of 4-2-4T. While she did perform decently, she did not perform as they expected so she was withdrawn. The Wellsworth and Suddery Railway took interest in Emily. They purchased her from the GNR before she could be sold to a scrapyard. She worked welled on the W&SR, able to be passed down to the NWR in 1915, along with Edward. She ended up replacing Edward on the express passenger service when the latter's rebuilds proved to worsen his performance.

NWR 4 Henry

Class: North Eastern Railway (NER) Class F; North Western Railway (NWR) Class S-S5 (4-6-4T) Black Five Tank

Basis (Inspiration): NER Class D (pre-1935); LNER Class A2 (pre-1935); LMS Class 5MT Black Fives (post-1935); LMS 4MT 2-6-4T (two-cylinder) (post-1935)

Previous Owners: Unknown

Built: 1920

Real-life Withdrawal: n/a

Designer: Vincent Raven; Henry Stanier

Builder: Unknown

Bio:

Henry was built from stolen duplicates of Vincent Raven's plans of a 4-6-2T, which were derived from the NER Class D (4-4-4T). Unfortunately, these duplicate plans were the discarded designs due to uneven weights on the chassis and the use of a Schmidt boiler. He was under-powered and a hazard to operate. Sir Louis Topham Hatt I was swindled to buy Henry in 1922 when promised that Henry would be the next best thing for railways. This was when the NWR believed that they wouldn't need tender engines to run the railway. After the Flying Kipper crash, Henry was rebuilt into a new class of his own, the LMS Class 5MT Black Five Tank.

NWR 5 Gordon

Class: Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class B1; North Western Railway (NWR) Class S-G1

Basis (Inspiration): GNR Gresley Class A1, GNR Gresley Class A3, and GNR Gresley Class N2

Previous Owners: Great Northern Railway

Built: 1920 - 1923

Real-life Withdrawal: n/a

Designer: Nigel Gresley

Builder: Doncaster Works

Bio:

Gordon is an experimental tank version of the GNR Gresley A1s, in hopes of surpassing the capabilities of the Gresley N2s. This did not work out but served as a basis for the LNER V1s. He was sold off to the NWR, replacing Emily on heavy passenger duty, which was the express service for the NWR.

NWR 6 James (formerly L&YR 506, LMS 11546)

Class: Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) Class 24; NWR Class S-A25

Previous Owners: L&YR, LNWR, LMS

Built: 1919

Real-life Withdrawal: 1959 (BR number would've been 51546)

Designer: John Audley Frederick Aspinall

Builder: Horwich Works

Bio:

James was bought as he was originally built in 1925. However, Sir Bertram Topham Hatt II ordered for James to be rebuilt into a 2-6-2T. This took well over a few months until they finally came up with a decent design. Unfortunately, James' great performance came at the cost of James' loosing his memories.

#eosr but built different #ttte thomas #ttte edward #ttte emily #ttte henry #ttte gordon #ttte james #her train of thoughts #''what if'' AUs are so fun #ttte #ttte au

[lnwrcauli]

Before The Fleet [NWR AU]

Sorry for my lack of AU posts recently, I've been rather busy. To get things rolling again, here's a bit about some of the engines that were loaned to the North Western but didn't stay. Seeing as I'll be talking about multiple very different engines, I'll format this slightly different to my usual posts.

Brooke the Bullying Engine

Brooke was a Great Central Railway Class 1 that was loaned to the North Western in 1915. She was meant to be the engine pulling the express, but mostly found herself rostered on heavy freight work due to her size and power. Her official name was City of Lincoln, but if you called her that, you might just end up in the turntable well. She was a horrible bully by all accounts and along with her accomplices Ashley and Micah, she reigned over Vicarstown through fear and violence until her return to the Great Central Railway in 1922.

Ashley the Eastern Engine

Ashley was a Great Eastern Railway S69 fitted with experimental larger cylinders. They were loaned to the North Western in 1916 to undergo trials but ended up staying until 1922. They did the passenger work that Edith couldn't. Upon the purchase and subsequent failures of Henry in 1918, they had to pick up the slack from both engines. Being reportedly as rude and self-important as Brooke, they wreaked havoc upon Vicarstown until their return to the G.E.R.

Micah the Mineral Engine

Micah was a Caledonian Railway 600 class loaned to the NWR in 1918. He was brought in to pick up the slack in the freight work that Henry and Edith were meant to be doing. Out of the 3 horrid engines stationed at Vicarstown, he was likely the worst. He often bullied smaller engines such as Thomas, Edith and some of the other loaned shunters. He even sent an engine to the works once. Everyone on the line was glad when he was called back to Scotland by the C.R. in 1922.

Sprite the Buckjumper Engine

Sprite was a Great Eastern Railway S56 that was loaned to the North Western in 1916 to run the Ffarquhar Branchline. They took over from 2 of the much smaller TK&ELR Coffee Pot engines. They worked the line mostly without fuss or incident until 1925, when Thomas was reassigned to the branch and they were sent back to the Great Eastern Railway.

Elsie the Midland Engine

Elsie was a Midland Railway 1377 Class loaned to the North Western Railway in 1917. She took over the mantle of Tidmouth's station pilot from Wellsworth & Suddery Railway No.1. She worked the role without fuss for quite some time, becoming a favourite target of Micah's due to her small size and relatively low power output. She was sent back home in 1925 when the North Western Railway bought Percy.

Kirtley the Old Engine

Kirtley was a Midland Railway 700 Class loaned to the North Western Railway in 1914. She did short-distance freight work and other odd jobs. She was reportedly very kind-hearted and surprisingly strong-willed despite her age. She left the island in 1947 after 3 years of inactivity when the L.M.S. recalled her to Derby Works for scrap.

Jenny the Banking Engine

Jenny was a Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Aspinall Class 30 loaned to the railway in 1914. To start with, she worked the railway's heavy freight services but was reallocated to the Suddery Junction banker siding in 1918 when Micah was purchased. She worked through the 10s, 20s, 30s and 40s pushing trains up the gradient, during which time her northern bluntness and hospitality rubbed off on some. Sir Topham Hatt I had made plans to buy her from the LMS, but they came too late as she was recalled to Horwich Works for scrap in 1946.

Thanks for reading, I hope to see you all in the next one.

Cheerio!

#ttte #ttte au #rws au #ttte headcanon #rws #alt history #TTTE hc

[sudriantraveler]

Find Another Engine? - Traintober Day 12: Something Borrowed

“The truth is Sir, if we are to remain our own railway we’ve got to find some more engines” said the inspector, “The engines we have on loan will all have to be sent back soon. You know the Midland is already pestering us about when they can expect theirs back”.

The Fat Director pondered, “Hmm… I’ll see to it about finding some more motive power. In the meantime we’ve got to take stock of what we can keep”.

“That would be hardly anything” replied the inspector, “only the old Wellsworth and Suddery bunch and the Coffee Pots”.

“And Thomas,” added the Fat Director.

“106 is something of a… special case. But yes, so long as Brighton doesn’t come looking for him he’ll stay. You seem quite determined to ensure that”.

The Fat Director said nothing.

At that moment, a goods train puffed into the yards nearby. Both men turned to watch it pass.

“What about him?” asked the Fat Director, and pointed to the engine pulling the train.

“One of the Furness lot” replied the Inspector, “He’s due back in Barrow at the end of the month. A pity really. Apparently he’s considered a poor steamer back on his home metal, but here… Well he’s been practically doing the work of two engines with no fuss whatsoever”.

The Fat Director pondered.

Then he said “Well… I’m sure no one would mind if we kept him a little longer”.

#ttte #rws #ttte sir topham hatt #ttte edward #early nwr #traintober #traintober 2023 #Prompt - Something Borrowed

[theflyingkipper]

A TTTE AU I wrote about when I was bored on day. It's not so much an AU as it is a collection of random thoughts.

In short, this is an AU where Thomas, Edward, and Percy are not the basises described in the IoS book, but completely original designs. There are also notes about Henry in this possible AU.

- Thomas and Edward are original Island of Sodor built engines, one and only members of their class with no affiliation to the LB&SC or Furness Railway.

- Thomas is built to look how Awdry modeled him from wood, and Edward resembles his Middleton depiction.

Their given names are also the names of their classes.

W&S 4-4-0 "Edward"

NWR 0-6-0 "Thomas"

They are numbered so because of the purchasing order. (Edward is still older than Thomas in this universe) They're not the oldest on the island, but they are the first NWR engines built by exclusively Sudrian company.

- as an extension to this universe, Percy is the third engine designed and built on Sodor. He was a conglomeration of industrial engine designs, and was put together at Crovan's gate works. His builders called his build the "little caterpillar" class because of how round his saddle tanks made him look as they stretched all the way around his boiler. There were plans to make more of his design, but monetary restrictions prevented this from ever happening.

- I really like the idea of Henry not being exclusively a Gresley design. As he was put together in a shady unknown shop, I'd imagine a lot of his parts from his original build were taken off lots of other engines from other railways. His Great Western copper chimney cap and large GER style splashers that almost make him look like an Atlantic are just the superficial parts. I also like to think he was never a Pacific, and was always a 10 wheeler.

(note ends here)

I guess 1, 2 and 6 are all pretty removed from their basis (if any) in some way or another. The reason Gordon isn't included is because his LNER heritage and connection to the A1/A3 class is very important to his character. Thomas on the other hand only became an E2 because of Dalby's illustrations- and his character isn't impacted too much by changing his basis or design.

The idea for Edward being constructed for the Wellsworth and Suddery is inspired by @houseboatisland :)

#praying the readmore doesn't glitch >:[ #ttte #thomas the tank engine #ttte headcanon #ttte au #ttte thomas #ttte edward #ttte percy #ttte henry #kips cant shut up #the railway series

[ladychandraofthemoone]

🖤💙💚💜

So uh I know imma nearly a month late and it’s 4/22 so here have all my numbers 4 as of now!! ❤️💙💚💜

Emily is of the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway ( I mainly based this concept off Of Wildnorwester ver of her, she’s their version of an express engine/passenger devices,) A bossy yet well meaning girlboss who’s best friends with fellow W&S Lily and Neil and tries to stop the boys (mainly Adam from arguing with Colin).

OG Express coming through dude himself!!

I adore Stuart with all my heart and soul, he got a slight redesign, I based him way too much on Human Mikey’s (mainly Rise and KiKina on Twitter)designs cause their personality and roles are quite fitting since in this au it’s plays quite differently (ex. He’s got cracks to represent his accident with the trucks though the way it happened changed ex)

U can tell I’m obsessed with Rise Donatello so I had to based a character on his personality (though I based too many haha slightly inspired by glowynatior on Twitter) off of that + plus the anime trope of a mad scientist character plus meme time baby!!

So yeah hope y’all enjoyed these lovely folks and Rise Baby Rise Baby! ✨✌️

#ttte #ttte emily #emily the stirling engine #ttte gordon #gordon the big engine #ttte stuart #ttte peter sam #peter sam #ttte culdee #culdee #culdee fell railway #ttte culdee fell #culdee fell #humanization #ttte humanized #my art stuff #my art style #my art owo #my art #i know it’s late but better late than never I suppose #also anime science dudes r from sailor moon code Geass and #sekirei #maybe a teeny bit of ninatro and Shinra #also Emily’s and Gordon r wasian(Scottish-southeast Asian/British-east Asian) #stuarts mixed blasian-Latino and Culdee Sami #4/4

[imitation-steamroller]

Story Ideas

Okay the first one isn't showing up in the story ideas tag for some reason, so I'm just gonna link the previous ones at the beginning from now on. Here’s the first and here’s the second.

Lost and Found - After discovering so many lost places and engines, Thomas gets a little puffed up in the smokebox. But after deciding to try and find more lost engines, Thomas gets a little lost himself.

Early Days - When she learns that the Fat Controller still hasn't learned to drive properly, Elizabeth tells Winston about her own early days.

Molly Makes Her Mark - Gordon is sent for an overhaul, and the Fat Controller sends Molly to pull the express. Can she overcome her fear of passenger work, or will she cause confusion and delay?

Fiendish Frankie - Frankie is brought over from the mainland to help out at the ironworks while Bert is being repaired. But when the other engines find out about what she did to Thomas, she’s met with suspicion and scorn.

Them’s the Brakes - Rebecca is having having more trouble timing her stops than usual, so Philip volunteers to come along and brake from behind. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go as well as they hope.

A Brake in the Case - Rebecca is put on goods duty until she can learn to brake properly. But when her cargo begins going missing, it’s up to Rebecca and Bruno to solve the mystery.

The Hidden Engine - While they’re visiting the Vicarstown Railway Museum, Stewart - an engine from the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway - tells Rosie and Kana about how he narrowly avoided being scrapped.

Daisy and Dexter - As more and more passengers visit Harwick, Daisy finds herself unable to carry everybody by herself, so Dexter is asked to help lighten her load. Along the way, Daisy learns that coaches are just as important as railcars.

Pride of the Line - Kana is tasked with taking a special train to the mainland for a pride parade, but forgets to charge her battery due to her excitement. But when her battery dies not long after she sets off, she’ll need all the help she can to get her passengers to the station on time.

Madeline - When Nia is sent to run Edward’s branch line while he’s away at the works, she notices a little girl watching her from a station platform. But to her confusion and worry, Nia seems to be the only one who sees her.

#ttte #thomas and friends #story ideas #ttte thomas #ttte elizabeth #ttte winston #ttte molly #ttte gordon #ttte frankie #ttte rebecca #ttte philip #ttte bruno #ttte rosie #ttte kana #ttte daisy #ttte dexter #ttte nia #i'm gonna get as much mileage out of brake puns as i can

[www-islandofsodor]

#planetsodor #thomas and friends #wellsworth and suddery railway #Wellsworth branchline #Derek the Paxman #steamcember #Youtube

[megthetrain]

Sodor's Revolutionary Team: Origins

Section 1. The Revolutionary Operator

Chapter 4. The Years of 1914 to 1920

1914 was a pivotal turn in world history. World War 1 had started, changing the landscape of Sodor. In 1915, the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway, along with other railways had been absorbed, turning into the North Western Railway we all know today. Mr. Adams had fallen out of the graces of the public eye, due to bad business dealings and overall corruption. He would move back to the mainland in 1917, in disgrace. But before that...

1916 was an important year for young Raymond. He turned 14 in May, meaning he was due for an apprenticeship. Usually, Raymond would be sent to the mainland to study. But due to the war, that would be dangerous to do. And that is where Mr. Adams comes in. Despite Mr. Adams's shortcomings, he still had some influence in train politics.

One of Mr. Adams's last acts on Sodor would be helping the Browns get Raymond into a well-rounded apprenticeship on the rising North Western Railway. This made Raymond one of the first-ever apprentices to come out of Sodor. Mr. Adams had also made sure Raymond would receive a well-rounded education as well. As he believed, that to succeed on a railway, you must know the ins and outs of formal education as well.

Raymond would study in Sodor for 4 years until he became an adult. Then he would study on the mainland for 3 more years, as intended, as the men on the North Western Railway believed him a worthy apprentice.

Because of his well-rounded education on Sodor, Raymond learned many things about how the mainland worked. Before the age of 21, Raymond would manage to earn a degree in Political Science, due to the tutors Mr. Adams had provided.

Raymond's tutors saw him as a goofball, but a very hard-working student. Raymond also worked hard at mastering his powers as well. He would produce two more clones during that time, one of fear and one of sadness. Raymond enjoyed his clones, as they helped him vent his frustrations about the war.

We have jumped everywhere in this chapter, but next chapter we must next focus on a specific moment in 1920, when Raymond finally arrives on the mainland.

#thomas the tank engine #thomas and friends #ttte thomas #ttte fanfic #Sodor's Revolutionary Team: Origins

[weirdowithaquill]

Traintober 2023: Day 9 - Viaduct

The Viaduct has a Story Behind It:

The Maron Viaduct stands as a testament to the Sodor and Mainland Railway’s poor financial decisions, stretching across the gorge between the town it’s named after and the rails to Cronk, the remains of a failed attempt by the old railway to build a railway to connect the island’s capital at Suddery to Barrow-in-Furness on the mainland.

The company had agreed to a 75-25 split with the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway on the other side of the gorge to build the viaduct, paying a massive lump sum of money they did not have to begin construction on what they believed would be the company’s salvation.

Neil disagreed. He saw the bridge for what it was: a vanity project by desperate men. “Too big to fail” they said. Neil wondered if they would ever come to regret those words. They certainly didn’t seem to mind when the bills kept piling up. Every other week, it seemed like something was going wrong – though in the beginning, they barely noticed.

At first, it was just tools vanishing in the night, small enough that it was not essential to the construction site and able to be written off as petty theft – but then, a stick of dynamite went off by itself. Neil wasn’t sure why they even had dynamite – he was told it was to remove boulders deep in the gorge; he thought that it should’ve been kept down there instead, and not up with the rest of their supplies.

An entire hut filled with tools went up in flames, the explosion sending debris shooting across the work site. Neil was just thankful it had happened in the late evening, when he had been leaving the site with the workmen. The men were shaken, but unharmed. Neil hurried away with the coaches, not wanting to look back.

He wasn't quite sure what he was going to see. 

The next week, a line of trucks Neil was shunting were diverted onto a siding leading to the edge of the gorge, a coupling snapping when the little engine tried to brake the train to a stop before it all went over. Three trucks kept rolling, and despite Neil whistling a warning, not everyone could get clear of the trucks before they went hurtling over the edge. They smashed down the side of the gorge, splintering and fracturing and shooting shards of wood everywhere, while their contents scattered out over the river. Mangled pieces of metal and splintered wood came raining down. 

Four men lost their lives, leaving Neil assaulted with nightmares that had his boiler run dry when the stars glinted high above them in the sky.

And yet it did not end.

The crane broke, more dynamite went off. The rope basket carrying tools and men across the gorge snapped, sending the basket crashing into the gorge, smashing to smithereens against the jagged rocks below. Every single time, Neil willingly turned a blind eye, and every night, Neil sat awake in his shed and wondered if it was worth praying to the human god. There was something deeply wrong with that gorge. 

Stories began to circulate, of the figure of a man who just wasn’t there. He wore clothing of the previous millennia, and he screamed and cursed at the bridge from afar. The men swore they saw him, standing just at the furthest point of the gorge visible to the railway. Neil felt an uncomfortable presence around the site – he felt like an intruder. They were not wanted here. 

The Wellsworth and Suddery Railway pulled out of the agreement. The losses were mounting, and the Elsbridge tramway was offering a far more lucrative offer for amalgamation and tunnel building to a harbour on the far side of the island, in the Irish Sea. Skarloey said it was a place called ‘Tidmouth’, and that somewhere on that side of the island another little railway ran, with an engine almost as old as the pair. Neil didn’t believe him – the terrain on that side of the island only grew rougher, less habitable. The shepherds who took their sheep into the foothills to graze said it was impassable, that the only way up to the Ancient City of Peel Godred was through the valley – but the people of Peel Godred refused to sell their land to the S&MR to build up that way. They said that it was old land, full of ghosts and demons borne of heretics cursed to forever wander the earth in search of a salvation that never came. 

Neil wondered if the figure the men saw in the gorge was one of these ghosts. From the way he acted, he could have been a demon. The fire that broke out and burnt the supports to ash and brought an entire pillar crumbling down was testament to that. 

Still, the S&MR refused to back down from this folly. They continued trying to stretch their viaduct across the gorge, even as the bills rose ever higher. Tools continued to go missing, dynamite exploded and damaged the blocks, trucks moved on their own, derailing and falling into the gorge.

And then, it happened.

Neil remembered being there, that silent night. He’s been ordered up to the construction site to drop off a line of trucks, to replace the ones filled with waste that had derailed and blocked half the line the night before. As he approached, he noticed a thick column of smoke blast up into the night sky.

“There’s a train coming on the other side,” his driver noted. “But the W&S said they weren’t going to run beyond Maron,” Neil replied slowly, peering into the darkness.

An engine rounded the bend, face white as a sheet and eyes wide with horror. Fire was bursting out on all sides, and on the footplate stood a man in clothing from nearly a millennia prior, cackling with glee as the engine roared towards the gorge. The poor engine looked as though he was on a one-way trip to the underworld, and he screamed and pleaded in horror; the man in his cab refused to respond. 

Neil could only shut his eyes and try to block out the explosion that came from the engine’s boiler rupturing and crumpling on impact. An entire section of the bridge shattered, crumpling in on itself and burying the destroyed engine. 

They finally stopped trying to build the bridge after that. The costs had grown too steep, and both the S&MR and the W&S could not afford to go near it. The rails were ripped up, and the remains of the structure were left to fade away. The two companies met similar fates: The W&S was merged with the TK&ER and bored a tunnel to Tidmouth, while the S&MR declared bankruptcy, and sold off all its assets. Both companies were decimated by the events of the construction of the Maron Viaduct, leaving little but their histories and their rail lines behind them…

At least, until the admiralty bought the three railways in 1915 and began construction once more. But before they could, they unearthed a skeleton nestled in the river at the base of the gorge, preserved in the sediment built up by the rushing water. He wore the tattered remains of what may have been a Viking and looked as if he had been attempting to crawl out of the water when he succumbed to his fate.

They moved his remains to a parish at Wellsworth; and performed several rites over the bridge before beginning construction once more. Neil stayed well away – he knew it wasn’t safe.

Today, the Maron Viaduct stands tall and proud over the gorge; and inscribed in its pillars is a single name, written in runes no man can read. No one knows how they got there, nor does anyone know what they say. But it’s said, if you touch the viaduct at the very moment the sun dips below the horizon, you will meet a ghost, who will impart on you your fate.

Neil refuses to go near the viaduct and discover if the legend is true. 

And it's a good thing he does... 

Back to the Master Post

#fanfiction writer #railway series #weirdowithaquill #thomas the tank engine #railways #traintober #traintober 2023 #the viaduct #ttte neil #Sodor & Mainland Railway #ghost

[feigeroman]

The NWR's 'Dublin' Stock

(Above: One of the NWR 'Dublin' coaches, as seen following restoration in 1973. This coach - known affectionately as 'Old Slow Coach' - is now the only surviving example of 'Dublin Stock' in service on the NWR.)

When the North Western Railway was formed in 1914, it inherited many unrealised plans from its constituent companies. Some were more ambitious than others, and one of these was the Sodor & Mainland Railway's scheme to develop the quiet fishing port of Kirk Ronan as an embarkation point for steamships sailing to and from Dublin. The S&MR had actually tried to enact these plans back in 1865, only to be met with failure. In 1919, the fledgling NWR decided to try and revive these plans, and run both a twice-daily Kirk Ronan-Dublin steamer service and a series of connecting boat trains.

To this end, the board approved the design and construction of a set of new coaches to operate what they hoped would be a prestigious service. The process was overseen by a certain Mr Topham Hatt, though it can be argued that his new coaches were not so much designed as traced - they bore a striking resemblance to coaches built by the Great Western in the 1890s. This is hardly surprising, as Mr Hatt would likely have seen those coaches being built at Swindon Works while serving his apprenticeship there.

(Below: An example of a GWR clerestory coach. Although it was built slightly later, this design is very similar to that which inspired the NWR clerestories.)

Anyway, twenty coaches were built to Mr Hatt's designs - three rakes of six, with two extra coaches intended to act as strengtheners during peak periods. These were turned out in the green-and-cream livery used on the NWR's top-line stock, inspired by that used by coaches inherited from the Wellsworth & Suddery Railway. In view of the coaches' intended duties, it was only a short while before staff began nicknaming them the Dublin Stock - and shorter still before this name was also adopted by higher management!

In 1920, the Dublin Stock entered service when both the steamship service and the connecting boat trains began in earnest. Although not as fast or direct as other steamers making the British-Irish sea crossing, the NWR's service quickly became popular among locals and tourists alike...

Too popular, though, for the comfort of some people - namely, the neighbouring LMS. They already operated their own Dublin steamers out of Holyhead, and so were greatly disturbed by the success of the NWR's service. Indeed, this was one of the points they raised during the NWR's battle to remain independent, and when the two companies finally reached an Agreement in 1925, one of the conditions was that the NWR would have to reduce the timetable of its Kirk Ronan-Dublin service - now the service would only run on Tuesdays and Fridays, as a local service.

The 1925 Agreement had grave implications for the Dublin Stock. A lot of money and attention had been devoted to its upkeep, which the NWR felt was justified by the fact that the boat trains ran daily. But now that they were only running two days a week, those costs began to look rather steep. In the end, the board decided that to get their money's worth, the Dublin Stock would be employed elsewhere on the NWR. Their boat train duties were taken over by cheaper stock which had itself just been displaced from top-line duties by a new range of Maunsell-pattern coaches.

For the Dublin Stock, the next few years were marked by gradual downgrading. Split up into six rakes of three, they were first used on local main line trains, with occasional jaunts down some of the branch lines. These jaunts became more frequent as more modern stock was introduced on the main line, and then as this found its way onto the branch lines, the Dublin Stock was eventually mothballed - only coming out when passenger numbers grew so vast as to demand extra coaches.

Sadly, such demands didn't happen often, let alone often enough to even keep the Dublin Stock in mothballs, and so in the early-1930s, the decision was taken to dispose of them altogether. The two independent strengtheners were retained for departmental service, but most of the rest had their bodies taken off, and the underframes converted into flat wagons for the Vicarstown-Barrow car ferry trains. The bodies were either broken up or sold off for use as domestic dwellings.

Over the next twenty-odd years, the two coaches which survived into departmental service were put to various uses. Initially serving as inspection saloons, they were later also used as mess coaches for the breakdown trains, storage space for tools, and temporary accommodation for staff. They were even briefly used as part of the NWR's own ambulance train during the Second World War.

Given the somewhat intensive nature of the NWR's operations, it is not surprising that by the mid-1950s, the two remaining Dublin coaches were beginning to show their age. It was decided that the best bits of both coaches should be combined into one, with the rest being scrapped. While this did ensure the longevity of the Dublin Stock in a small way, the reprieve would only be a short one...

The remaining coach - who became known as Old Slow Coach - survived in her rebuilt form until about 1966, when she was finally withdrawn from departmental service. She was placed into storage at Tidmouth, pending a final movement to the scrapyard. Ironically, she was joined by some of the car ferry wagons made from the underframes of her siblings - these had been displaced from the Vicarstown-Barrow car ferry service by new Motorail stock.

(Below: Old Slow Coach in storage at Tidmouth, circa 1973 - shortly before she was returned to service once again.)

For whatever reason, Old Slow Coach was never moved to the scrapyards, and she remained in her siding until 1973, when she was unexpectedly rediscovered by Thomas and Percy. Shortly afterwards, a workman's hut on the Little Western was destroyed by a fire (coincidence, of course), and the two engines suggested that Old Slow Coach could be restored to serve as a temporary replacement.

As a result, Old Slow Coach was cleaned up, repaired, and returned to the departmental stocklist. In place of her former NWR livery, she was repainted in a pastiche of the GWR's chocolate-and-cream coach livery, as a homage to her design's origins.

(Above: Old Slow Coach at her first posting as a dormitory coach - replacing the burnt-down workmen's hut at Tidmouth Hault.)

The original intention was that Old Slow Coach would serve as temporary accommodation while the workmen's hut at Tidmouth Hault was rebuilt, being returned to other departmental duties afterwards. However, she proved so successful as a dormitory coach that it was decided this would become her new job. So once her duties at Tidmouth Hault were complete, she was fitted out with more substantial living quarters, and lettered on the outside to indicate her new function.

Old Slow Coach has served as a dormitory coach ever since. Wherever there's a job that requires the workmen to stay overnight, you'll find her parked in the nearest siding. As such, Old Slow Coach has been spotted in many parts of the NWR network, helping out in her own small way with many of its long-term construction jobs.

#thomas the tank engine #the railway series #sodor #island of sodor #north western railway #ttte headcanon #old slow coach #sodor and mainland railway