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feigeroman · 1 month
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The Vicarstown Car Ferry
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Above: This is not the Vicarstown car ferry train. I just needed a screenshot of a car on a train, and this was the closest I had to hand.
Every year, the Island of Sodor receives thousands of visitors from the Mainland, and obviously, the vast majority come by rail. A significant number, however, choose to arrive by car. Nowadays, this is no trouble, as they can simply drive across the Jubilee Bridge, which carries the main A950 road over the Walney Channel.
The bridge only opened in 1977, though, and any motorists arriving before then had to rely on the NWR's services to get themselves and their cars on and off of Sodor. And thereby hangs a fascinating tale about a little-known aspect of the NWR's history.
EARLY NWR EFFORTS
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Above: The Vicarstown Bridge, in an undated view (obviously post-1975, given the presence of Spencer).
It all started with the construction of the NWR's own bridge over the Channel in 1915. In those days, there was no other link between Sodor and the Mainland, and thus no other way for goods and passengers to arrive. Some of those passengers wanted to bring their own horse-drawn carriages with them, and so was born one of the earliest vehicle-and-owner trains to run on Sodor. To begin with, it was simply a case of strapping the vehicle to a special carriage truck, and coupling it up to whatever passenger train its owner was travelling in. The truck then travelled as far as the nearest station to wherever the owner was going, where it was detached and the vehicle rolled off.
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Above: For a time, the NWR also offered the use of a horsebox in conjunction with a carriage truck, so that the carriage’s owner could take his own horse with him, and avoid having to search for one at the other end of his journey. This cost extra, though, so there were few takers.
THE VICARSTOWN CAR FERRY
With the boom of private motoring in the early-1920s, there came a similar explosion in demand for the carriage of road vehicles by rail. This in turn resulted in the NWR running its first dedicated car-carrying trains - albeit only on an as-and-when basis, and with cars and drivers travelling in separate trains. The NWR did not return to vehicle-and-owner trains until 1927, when it launched a regular car ferry service between Vicarstown and Barrow-in-Furness - probably the best-known of all its car-carrying trains.
This new service had been made possible by the 1925 LMS Agreement, which gave the NWR running powers into Barrow, and in turn required Vicarstown to be converted for through running. Among the changes which resulted was the conversion of the adjoining goods depot to handle parcels and mail (goods facilities moving to a new depot elsewhere), and the closure of the existing parcels platform. This platform was thus free for conversion into a loading dock for the new car ferry service.
OPERATIONS
Throughout the fifty years the car ferry service ran, the basic pattern of its operation remained much the same, with only details like the motive power, rolling stock and timings seeing much change. It is thus worth looking at a typical journey for the service, starting at Vicarstown and ending at Barrow.
Below: A vague representation of how the loading process would have looked. I've employed a bit of artistic license with this photo: while the NWR did have some enclosed double-decker car carriers, these were never used on the car ferry services.
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To begin with, the consist for that particular crossing was shunted into the station - the carriage trucks going to the loading dock, and the passenger coaches to one of the through platforms. Drivers and passengers boarded their coaches, leaving their cars to be loaded by the station staff. Once loading was completed, the carriage trucks were marshalled and coupled to the coaches. All shunting was done by the train engine, who then ran round to the front and hauled the train to Barrow. On arrival, the whole train was shunted to the loading dock there, where passengers and cars were unloaded together. The stock was then taken away for servicing. Of course, it goes without saying that in the opposite direction, the whole procedure was repeated, only in reverse.
In all, ten car ferry trains ran daily (five in each direction), with provisions in the working timetable for an extra four (two in each direction) if they were needed - say, during the busier summer months. To avoid overcrowding, a maximum of 20 cars were allowed on each crossing, and motorists had to book in advance. This enabled staff to work out how many carriage trucks were required, and what types, well ahead of time. It also allowed them to work out how many passenger coaches were needed - the rule here was that there should be at least one compartment for every car carried.
In the early 1930s, the NWR began allowing larger commercial vehicles to make use of the car ferry trains, and this required a slight amendment to the 20 cars rule. This amendment counted the size of a vehicle in car lengths - if, for example, a lorry turned up which was as long as three cars, then it took up three slots on that particular crossing. Any number of vehicles could thus travel on a single train, so long as their total length did not exceed 20 car lengths.
STOCK
The car ferry trains never had a specific engine allocated to run them - generally, any engine could do the job if they happened to be at Vicarstown or Barrow at the right time. As the NWR’s locomotive roster expanded, the car ferry became the exclusive preserve of the engines based at either of those sheds - the job generally being allocated to any engine who wasn't busy anywhere else that day.
The car ferry was also a neat way of getting an engine from one station to the other, without having to find an extra path for a light engine movement. For similar reasons, it was not uncommon for visiting LMS (later BR) engines to take charge of a Barrow-bound car ferry on their way home.
Below: An example of a long-wheelbase covered carriage truck. Many were later converted for parcels, newspapers or general goods traffic. This particular example went into departmental service, and in this view is carrying engine parts.
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As far as rolling stock was concerned, this mainly consisted of both open and covered carriage trucks (henceforth referred to as OCTs and CCTs respectively). When the service first started, cars were carried on short-wheelbase OCTs, but these proved unpopular with motorists, as the cars often had their paintwork spoiled by smoke and soot spewing from passing engines - and sometimes from the engine pulling the train! The NWR tried to remedy this by offering the use of protective tarpaulins, but eventually they decided it would be more prudent to switch to CCTs instead.
Single cars were carried in short-wheelbase vans, similar in design to the GWR’s Mogo vans.
For pairs of cars, longer wheelbase CCTs could be used.
For trios or quartets, bogie CCTs were employed.
When larger commercial vehicles began to be carried, bogie OCTs were used - converted from the underframes of the fabled Dublin Stock.
Because of the aforementioned one compartment for every vehicle rule, the passenger coaches were at first quite a motley collection, with the numbers being made up by any old stock just lying around. It was only from the 1930s onwards that more consistent rakes of coaches began to be used - starting with Ironclad-pattern stock, moving on to Maunsell-pattern just after the War, and finishing up with Bulleid-pattern in the BR era.
MOTORAIL
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Above: A display of Scottish country dancing at...I think it's Kensington Olympia? No, I don't know why either.
In the 1960s, British Rail officially launched its Motorail service, offering fast travel for passengers and their cars to all parts of the country. To serve Sodor, one of the new services ran twice daily between Kensington Olympia and Vicarstown, and the latter’s existing loading dock was upgraded into a terminal. Two of the car ferry's ten daily crossings clashed with the proposed timings of the new Motorail services, and so were slashed from the timetable. Other than that, the car ferry was able to carry on as normal.
By then, the rolling stock used for the car ferry was beginning to show its age, and a programme of gradual replacement was implemented from about 1966 onwards:
For cars, General Utility Vans replaced the old bogie CCTs, which were retained for parcels traffic.
For commercial vehicles, Carflats replaced the OCTs, which were either scrapped or placed into departmental service.
Finally, for passengers, some of the NWR’s own allocation of BR Mk1s replaced the Bulleid-pattern stock.
The car ferry trains continued unabated into the 1970s, but it was clear they were running on borrowed time - for the first time, demand was beginning to outstrip capacity, and there was no room in the timetable to run extra trains. Then, exactly fifty years after the car ferries had first began, came a blow from which they were never to recover.
THE JUBILEE BRIDGE
That year saw the opening of the Walney Road Bridge, to mark the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Needless to say, this snuffed out the NWR's car ferry monopoly in an instant. Nobody was more incensed at this development than Sir Topham Hatt, and he saw to it that the NWR was substantially compensated for the extinguishment of their ferry rights.
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Above: The Jubilee Bridge. Visitors to Barrow (and native Barrovians, too) may think that this is the only bridge here. This is an illusion!
All was not totally lost, however, for 1977 also saw the extension of BR's existing London-Vicarstown Motorail service to a brand new terminal at Killdane - a more convenient base for the visiting motorist to explore Sodor. Such was the success of this new service that further others were introduced, linking Sodor with other provincial centres. Some of these services employed the stock which had previously worked the car ferry trains.
MODERN DAY MOTORAIL
The expansion of Sodor's Motorail services came during a period of gradual decline for the brand across the rest of BR. The expansion of Britain's motorways, the improvement of car technology, and the chaos of privatisation all ultimately conspired to kill off Motorail by the early-1990s.
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Above: First Great Western briefly revived the Motorail concept in the early-2000s, using a fleet of converted GUVs.
Despite this, Motorail on Sodor has continued to flourish into the present day. Not only are its existing terminals at Vicarstown and Killdane still in operation, but there is now a third terminal at Tidmouth. These form the basis for the NWR's current Motorail services, which all serve to help solve a very basic problem.
The thing is, many visitors to Sodor now arrive in their own cars, but the island's road transport infrastructure isn't really suited to the needs of the long-distance motorist. Fortunately, the NWR has them covered. Special car-carrying trains now run regularly between the Motorail terminals at Vicarstown, Killdane and Tidmouth. While you still have to book in advance, it's a small price to pay for having the convenience of a car at your disposal, without the insanity that comes from having to drive it all the way across Sodor.
Of course, while the NWR's Motorail trains are available to all motorists (local and foreign) the majority of their customers are Mainlanders - the typical Sudrian would just as soon leave his car at home altogether!
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feigeroman · 5 months
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Any Mr. Percival headcanons?
Just one, and ironically, it's that there is no Mr Percival in my headcanon. Let me explain:
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When the TV producers finally decided to introduce a Thin Controller in Series 9, they were faced with the dilemma of what his formal name should be. Series 9 as a whole was based on events which happened in 1977 - according to my own timeline headcanon - and during that time, the Skarloey Railway's general manager was Mr Peter Sam. Obviously that name couldn't be used - the potential for confusion with Peter Sam the engine was too great.
So after a bit of brainstorming, he became Mr Peregrine Percival. Over time, the character evolved into an amalgamation of all the real-life Thin Controllers - in the same way that the TV producers had previously rolled up all the Fat Controllers into one.
In the 'reality' of my headcanon, of course, this change never happened, so the SR remains under the control of Mr Peter Sam from S9-12 (1977-80), and Mr Roger Sam from S12-onwards (1980-onwards).
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feigeroman · 7 months
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The Boulder Quarry Line
I recently binged the entire Classic Series again, as background noise while I was working on something else. When I got to Series 5-7, I remembered a headcanon I’d developed ages ago, to link together most of the Skarloey Railway episodes from those seasons. This recent binge spurred me to finally write it down, and bash it into something a little more coherent. Most of this is just me thinking aloud, but I thought I'd run it up the flagpole and see who salutes it...
1951
Just as operations are winding down at the old slate quarry at Ward Fell, new beds of good-quality slate are discovered in the hills north of Rheneas. A new quarry is established to extract this slate, and this helps to revive the Skarloey Railway’s then-declining fortunes. Even so, the surveyors who uncovered this slate are convinced there are still further treasures to be found deeper into the mountains.
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1950s-60s
The search for such treasures is carried out as time allows - which isn’t very often, considering all the new developments which take place on the SR during this time.
Roughly 1970
Finally, a discovery is made - large deposits of stone in the northern foothills of Shane Dooiney, of similar quality to that quarried at Ffarquhar. Plans are quickly devised to extract the stone, and the Skarloey Railway is tasked with building a line to the new quarry.
The proposed line branches off the Rheneas Quarry line, passes through a natural ravine known locally as Echo Pass, travels alongside the main Skarloey-Peel Godred road, and finally turns south towards the new quarry site.
1970-early 1972
The line is constructed, following the route described above. When it is completed, trains start carrying building supplies to the site of the new quarry. Some trains are also laid on for the benefit of a road-building company, which is upgrading the Skarloey-Peel Godred road so that heavier vehicles can access the quarry as well.
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Winter 1972
Due to a problem with the winch, some trucks break away on the incline at Rheneas Quarry. The breakaway tumbles into Echo Pass, triggering an avalanche which buries Skarloey, who happened to be travelling through the Pass with a supply train. He is subsequently rescued by Rusty.
These events are later loosely adapted into the episode Snow.
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Early 1973
The new quarry finally opens for business, and even has a new name - Boulder Quarry, after an enormous, spherical boulder which looms ominously over part of the line. Boulder Quarry enjoys a prosperous first few months, and the Skarloey Railway enjoys the revenue boost provided by the new stone traffic.
After a while, Rusty begins to feel nervous about the Boulder, but can’t really explain why. The others don’t take him too seriously.
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Autumn 1973
After several weeks of heavy rain, Boulder Quarry is able to try out its latest acquisition - an experimental drilling machine known as Thumper. Unfortunately, the vibrations from Thumper cause the Boulder to fall off its perch, and run away down the Skarloey Valley. The Boulder causes a great deal of damage to track and property all down the valley, culminating in the destruction of some new stone-cutting sheds just outside Crovan’s Gate.
All concerned parties agree the disaster is an act of god telling them to leave that part of Sodor alone, and Boulder Quarry shuts its doors for good - financially crippled by having been forced to pay substantial compensation to every property owner in the valley.
The Skarloey Railway also ends up in dire straits - besides the damage caused by the Boulder, several years of hard work have just gone down the tubes.
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The remainder of 1973
The Thin Controller decides to temporarily close the SR, so that everyone can focus their efforts on repairing all the damage to track and property. The rest of 1973 is spent doing just that.
The events of Duncan Gets Spooked take place during this clean-up operation.
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At some point, the time is found to move the Boulder to a new, safer perch - on a specially-constructed plinth on a hill near to Crovan’s Gate, and positioned to face in the direction of its old perch.
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That winter, during a break, the little engines tell Thomas (or more likely some other standard gauge engine) the story of Skarloey’s Avalanche.
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1974
The clean-up continues into 1974, and the line remains closed for the first half of that year. The Thin Controller hopes to have the line ready to reopen in time for the start of the summer operating season. Fortunately, Rheneas Quarry is closed for the two weeks before, freeing up men and engines to help. Elizabeth also happens to be working in the area, and is persuaded to lend a wheel. With all this help, the clean-up is completed in the nick of time, and the Skarloey Railway is officially declared open once more.
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Meanwhile, the people of Glennock decide to treat themselves to a new organ for the village school. Headmaster Hastings personally oversees the delivery of the organ. This isn’t really relevant to the Boulder saga - I just felt like mentioning it.
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1975
By this year ,things are more or less back to normal on the Skarloey Railway. One day, Rheneas takes a special charter train carrying a party of schoolchildren from the Mainland. On his way back down the line, he is accidentally diverted onto the abandoned line to Boulder Quarry. The line isn’t in the best condition, and wasn’t designed to carry passengers anyway, so Rheneas has a real rollercoaster ride to the Quarry and back.
Since the children enjoyed themselves so much, the Thin Controller lets Rheneas off for his mishap, but it gets him thinking about the old line, and how he might be able to get his money’s worth from it after all…
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Surveys are carried out, and it is decided to reopen the old quarry line to serve as a connection between the SR and the Culdee Fell Railway - the latter being reached by rerouting the line in the direction of their station at Skarloey Road.
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 The line also passes through many areas of natural beauty, and so a number of stations are proposed to serve some of these areas. These stations include Elephant Park (above) and Rumblin Bridge (below).
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The terminus of the line is at the village of Skarloey Road. So as to avoid confusion with the CFR station, the SR station is known as Upland Station. While not a direct link between the two railways, their respective stations are still a reasonably short walk away from each other.
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The reconstruction of the line takes place throughout the first half of 1975, and is completed just in time for the summer operating season. Sir Topham Hatt and Lady Hatt attend the grand opening, having first viewed the new line from a hot air balloon (and then made a crash-landing in said balloon).
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To finish off, here is a rough map of the original Boulder Quarry line, the subsequent Upland Extension, and how they both relate to the main SR line.
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feigeroman · 1 year
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feigeroman · 1 year
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My NRM Visit
The other day, me and my mum embarked on a grand adventure to the National Railway Museum. Having previously tried and failed to visit on two previous occasions, we naturally made the most of our day there. I in particular took many, many photos, and there now follows but a small sample of these:
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It wouldn’t be a Tumblr post without a crab, and so we start with an LMS Crab 2-6-0 - this is in fact the first of the class, LMS #13000 (later #2700).
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LMS Royal Saloon #799. Originally built in 1941 as an armoured saloon for the Queen Mother, who used it to travel around the country to boost morale during the War. This saloon was used by the Royal Family right up until 1977, when the present royal train came into service.
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GNR J13 0-6-0ST #1247. This was the first steam engine ever to be privately purchased direct from British Railways, in 1959. Mum for scale.
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Waterloo Station 1967 by Terence Cuneo. Exactly what it says on the tin. As with all of Cuneo’s paintings, this one is crammed with all sorts of little details and cameos (including his trademark mouse, who is sitting on top of the Johnnie Walker advert to the right).
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SECR D Class 4-4-0, #737. Not a whole lot to say about this one that hasn’t been said already. I just included it here to provide context for the next photo. Speaking of which:
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Pullman coach Topaz, with whom #737 currently shares exhibition space. Rather than the traditional chocolate-and-cream, this Pullman carries its original crimson livery, which seems to have been the inspiration for that worn by the Pullmans seen in Thomas.
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BR (SR) Merchant Navy 4-6-2 #35029, Ellerman Lines. As you can see, she’s been cut in half to more easily demonstrate how a steam locomotive works. Which is pretty neat, even if it does make for a rather grisly spectacle.
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Furness #3 0-4-0, Coppernob. Also known as that engine who used to be on display in Barrow-In-Furness, and still carries literal battle scars from a 1941 air raid on that town. Also also known as Nobby, if you’re @mean-scarlet-deceiver​ or any of their followers.
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LNER A4 4-6-2 #4468, Mallard. I couldn’t not take a photo of the world’s fastest steam engine (whose 126mph record was quantified by the dynamometer car just visible in the background).
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And finally, the little blue bugger himself - specifically an RG Mitchells kiddie ride from about 1994.
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feigeroman · 2 years
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Any particular headcanons for the Skarloey?
On the whole, not really - as far as my Thomas headcanons go, my attention has largely been focussed on the NWR as of late. However, I do have one or two stray narrow-gauge headcanons, which are as follows:
The Original #7
The SR first considered a #7 engine in the late-60s, and a number of different ideas were proposed. The proposal that got the furthest was to purchase a brand-new engine from Hunslet, to a modified version of their Eva 0-4-2T design. This would have been delivered as a kit of parts, to be assembled at Crovan's Gate. The engine was to have been named Rowan - at the time, the Owner lived in a house called The Rowans.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the proposals fell through at the last minute. Apparently, though, things had progressed far enough that the SR had preemptively allocated the #7 slot to Rowan. This meant that when Duke was rediscovered and brought to the SR, he was given the #8 slot. It would not be until another thirty-odd years later, when Ivo Hugh was built, that an SR engine actually carried the number 7.
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(Above: Coincidentally, the Talyllyn Railway also had the idea of buying an Eva themselves, but this too was shelved after they bought the engine who would become Tom Rolt. This model shows what the TR's Eva might have looked like, bearing the name Cader Idris. Picture and model courtesy of Galveira.)
(Also, one smaller headcanon about Ivo Hugh: My version of the SR has all the engines in their TVS liveries, so I've done what loads of other fans have done, and made Ivo Hugh purple.)
The Double Fairlies
In 1923, the Peel Godred Power Company obtained powers to build a dam and hydroelectric power plant a mile or so north of that town, and considered using the Mid Sodor Railway to transport the required building materials and equipment. The MSR realized that stronger engines would be needed for this work, and on the advice of the Ffestiniog Railway, decided that a Double Fairlie was just what they needed.
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Two such engines ended up being built, as kits of parts at the FR's own workshops, which were shipped to Sodor for final assembly at Crovan's Gate. Little Giant was the first of the two to be completed, and he arrived at Arlesburgh by rail in 1925. Unfortunately, what with the PGPC's decision to use the NWR's newly-constructed Peel Godred branch line, Little Giant's extra strength proved to be surplus to requirements, and he was sold just a couple of years later.
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Meanwhile, the other engine, Saint Machan (alias Mighty Mac), had just been completed when the call came through that he was no longer wanted. Crovan's Gate decided they had to get their money's worth somehow, and so Mighty Mac became the new works shunter, running on the site's own internal railway system. As the Works expanded, however, it gradually became too big for Mighty Mac to cope with on his own, and by the 1970s, the size of the complex had reached a point of no return.
Fortunately, it just so happened that by the 1970s, traffic had increased on the Skarloey Railway to the point that another engine was sorely needed. One thing led to another, and Mighty Mac was sold to the SR in 1976. This left his old position as works shunter open for Victor (NWR #67), who arrived shortly afterwards.
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feigeroman · 2 years
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Troublesome Trucks be like...
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Bonus points if whatever they're roasting an engine about can be sung to the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel.
(Seriously, read some British sports chants at some point in your life - some of them are rude AF, but they're all fuckin golden!)
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feigeroman · 2 years
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The New NWR Stocklist
As you'll no doubt be aware, about 90% of my Thomas output on this blog concerns my interpretation of the NWR locomotive roster - be it headcanons about our famous heroes, or write-ups on my metric shit-ton of OCs. You may remember I posted a stocklist, which neatly doubled up as a hub for all those headcanons and write-ups. For the benefit of those who haven't already see that post, I'll briefly summarize:
I've always thought that the NWR, as seen in both the RWS and TVS, seemed rather understaffed - only a dozen or so engines are ever seen in the former, with the latter expanding this to about 40 engines. Canonically, though, the NWR is said to have about 80 engines to its name, with the vast majority going undocumented officially.
So I took it upon myself to expand the visible fleet accordingly, deftly mixing elements from the RWS, TVS and my own ideas. Taking a leaf out of the Extended Railway Series, I limited myself to eighty steam engines, and thirty diesels, the names of which are listed under the break.
Now, the main purpose of this new stocklist is to showcase a substantial rethink I've had regarding the numbering sequence. To cut a long story short, I've massively overhauled the sequence so that it bears more relation to the order in which the characters officially joined the NWR - as well as take account of those characters with canon numbers.
As before, characters listed in bold are canon, and all others are my OCs - some have their roots in canon, though, and are also listed in bold, and marked with an asterisk (*). The numbers in brackets indicate the order in which the engines on this list entered NWR service.
STEAM
Thomas The Tank Engine (1)
Edward The Blue Engine (2)
Henry The Green Engine (9)
Gordon The Big Engine (10)
James The Red Engine (11)
Percy The Small Engine (12)
Toby The Tram Engine (23)
Duck The Great Western Engine (26)
Donald The Scottish Twin (32)
Douglas The Scottish Twin (33)
Oliver The Little Western Engine (50)
Barry The Rescue Engine (108) *
Vanguard The Austerity Engine (107) *
Charlie The Fun Engine (82)
Maggie The R.O.D Engine (3)
Murphy The R.O.D Engine (4)
Everett The R.O.D Engine (5)
Nia The Helpful Engine (102)
Warren The R.O.D Engine (7)
Vernon The R.O.D Engine (8)
Reagan The Director's Engine (6)
Rebecca The Happy Engine (103)
Barbara The Mixed-Traffic Engine (13)
Albert The Jubilee Engine (14)
Spike The Wharf Shunter (15)
Wendy The Dock Shunter (16)
Harvey The Crane Engine (66)
Maura The Atlantic Engine (17)
Sarah The Naughty Engine (18) *
Metin The War Department Engine (19)
Temel The War Department Engine (20)
Jesse The Steelworks Engine (21) *
Jason The Night Owl Engine (22)
Evadne The Commuter Engine (24)
Hilda The Commuter Engine (25)
Cathy The New-Build Engine (27)
Rosie The Yankee Tank Engine (77)
Siani The Welsh Engine (28)
Big Bertha The Banking Engine (29)
Grace The Midland Engine (30) *
Abigail The Compound Engine (31)
Heidi The Cambrian Engine (34)
Monique The Goods Engine (35)
Fletcher The Recluse Engine (36)
Roy The Scottish Engine (37)
Errol The Jazzer Engine (39)
Heather The North-British Engine (41)
Lady Margaret The School Engine (42)
Clarence The Calm Engine (43)
Michael The Franco-Crosti Engine (44)
Hiro The Japanese Engine (84)
Rhonda The Welsh Engine (46)
Elspeth The Caley Tank Engine (47)
Roscoe The Cool Engine (48)
Stepney The Bluebell Engine (40)
Loretta The Utility Engine (49)
Saffron The Hippie Engine (51)
Raven The Vicarstown Pilot (54)
Franklin The Really Usual Engine (55)
Jasmine The Suburban Engine (56)
Ashley The Suburban Engine (58)
Shanks The Suburban Engine (59)
Emily The Stirling Engine (68)
Arthur The Obedient Engine (69)
Murdoch The Mighty Engine (70)
Whiff The Rubbish Engine (78)
Victor The Works Shunter (71)
Molly The Shy Engine (74)
Neville The Ugly Duckling Engine (75)
Billy The Silly Engine (79)
Stanley The Silver Engine (80)
Hank The American Engine (81)
Scruff The Rubbish Engine (83)
Belle The Big Tank Engine (85)
Porter The Dock Tank Engine (93)
Callum The Highland Engine (94)
Robyn The Private Engine (96)
Caneri The Colliery Engine (97)
Ryan The Purple Engine (98)
Sonny The Fugitive Engine (105)
DIESEL
Daisy The Diesel Railcar (38)
BoCo The Diseasel (45)
Bear The Hymek Diesel (52)
Gideon The Station Pilot (53)
Sheridan The Railbus (57)
Mungo The Heavy-Freight Diesel (61)
Derek The Paxman Diesel (62)
Salty The Dockyard Diesel (67)
Dennis The Lazy Diesel (76)
Diesel Ten (65)
'Arry The Ironworks Diesel (63)
Bert The Ironworks Diesel (64)
Violet The Multiple Unit (72)
Hyacinth The Multiple Unit (73)
Den The Works Diesel (86)
Dart The Works Diesel (87)
Stafford The Battery-Electric Shunter (92)
Sidney The Australian Diesel (88)
Paxton The Green Diesel (89)
Norman The New-Build Diesel (90)
Argyll The Express Diesel (91)
Chopper The Quiet Diesel (95)
Maxine The Push-Pull Diesel (100)
Philip The Boxcab Diesel (99)
Donna The Heavy-Freight Diesel (101)
Devious Diesel (104)
Tracy The Thunderbird Diesel (60)
Tanner The Postal Shunter (106)
Pip The High-Speed Diesel (109)
Emma The High-Speed Diesel (110)
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feigeroman · 2 years
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The NWR's 'Dublin' Stock
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(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.)
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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.)
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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.
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(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.
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feigeroman · 2 years
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A merry Independence Day and/or Municipal Garbage Day to you all. Have some behind-the-scenes footage from Series 5 that just* dropped.
* I say 'just' - this went up at like 3AM this morning, and it's now about half-past 10 GMT as I'm posting this.
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feigeroman · 2 years
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Already have this file through mysterious circumstances, but I figured this was worth signal-boosting anyway.
for anyone who wants a pdf copy of Awdry's The Island of Sodor: A History of Etc
it's out of print, can only be bought secondhand for an arm and a leg, i don't feel bad about this. free to reblog share far and wide.
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feigeroman · 2 years
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Unaccustomed as I am to reblogging other people's posts, I just had to share this piece of artwork by @wannabesudrian, who's gone down the same route as I've done of Rebecca's livery being a more subdued, LBSCR-esque shade of yellow than she wears in canon - seriously, this is the spitting image of what I had in mind when I first headcanoned this!
Thomas Headcanons: Rebecca
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In my headcanon, Rebecca is BR #34073, 249 Squadron, which in real life was left at Barry Scrapyard for about twenty years. It was later purchased for preservation in 1988, but to this day has yet to be restored (in fact, it’s been used as a source of spare parts for a couple of other Battle of Britain engines). I normally wouldn’t have chosen an engine that was already preserved, but as the real life 249 Squadron remains a kit of parts, I figured it couldn’t hurt to bend history a little.
It wasn’t until long after I decided this that I discovered that someone on the ERS team clearly had the same idea, as their character Squaddie is based on this exact engine as well. I promise the similarity was accidental on my part, but I think my version of Rebecca is different enough for me to get away with it.
Anyway, this means that Rebecca originally entered service in May 1948, and so is technically a BR engine. Her working life wasn’t terribly eventful, with only the occasional moment of drama to break the monotony. One of these moments came in 1952, when she was selected to take part in trials to compare the performances of the Light Pacifics, the Merchant Navies, and the then-new Britannia locomotives. History does not state who had the most success, but Rebecca’s way with words certainly helped brighten the sour moods of the losing engines!
Another moment of drama occurred a couple of years later when Rebecca unexpectedly caught fire. This was one of the more serious issues with her design, caused by a mixture of coal dust, ash and oil saturating her boiler lagging, Fortunately, this only happened to Rebecca once, but even that was once too often.
As built, the Light Pacifics had numerous problems stemming from their unique design, and so in the late 1950s, many of them were rebuilt along more conventional lines. Rebecca had long felt insecure about many of her problems - particularly her increased tendency to wheelslip - and hoped that she might be rebuilt too. Sadly, the rebuilding programme was cut short by the onset of Modernization, and so Rebecca retained her original shape until her withdrawal from BR service in 1964.
At this point, Rebecca’s story pretty much exactly parallels that of her real-life counterpart: After being withdrawn in 1964, she was moved to Barry Scrapyard, and ended up staying there for about twenty years, before being saved by a preservation group based in Brighton. However, I’ve backdated the latter event to 1985, to allow time for her lengthy restoration, prior to arriving on Sodor in 1989.
The Brighton group originally intended to restore and operate Rebecca themselves, but within two years, they’d realized the job was bigger than they could manage - or indeed afford - and they appealed for any outside help they could get. They eventually accepted an offer from the NWR, who agreed to undertake the restoration on the condition that Rebecca was allowed to work for them.
However, Rebecca’s restoration wasn’t carried out at Crovan’s Gate, as they were working at full capacity at the time, and didn’t have any room to spare. Instead, she was restored on the premises of the then-new heritage centre Steamtown in Carnforth, a stone’s throw from Sodor. As a result, the job ended up taking just under two years - a good chunk of which was spent arguing over what livery she should be painted in…
Some believed she should be painted in an imitation of the Southern’s malachite green livery, but others argued that as she was built by BR, such a livery would be inauthentic. They instead pushed for one of the many BR liveries worn by the Light Pacifics, while further others made the case for one of the NWR’s own house colours.
Eventually, the question was put forward to Rebecca herself, and she surprised everyone when she asked to be painted yellow. Officially, this was because her namesake squadron had been known as the Gold Coast Squadron - unofficially, she just really liked the colour yellow.
The actual application differs from that seen in canon. Instead of a fluorescent sunshine yellow, the exact shade is more akin to the golden ochre worn by LBSCR engines. And instead of what I like to call her corporate stripes, her lining more closely matches what a real Light Pacific would have.
In 1988, the NWR had hosted a series of events to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the 1918 Armistice, among which were a series of railtours hauled by various war memorial engines. Afterwards, the point was made that the NWR had no such engine of its own, and the decision was made that because of her military name, Rebecca should have this honour.
It was only at this point that Rebecca officially became known as such. Obviously the real 249 Squadron had no connection with Sodor, and so another more local name was required. The name that met with the most favour was Rebecca Miller. The Second World War had only just broke out when Miller was made signalwoman at Tidmouth, and she quickly became famous for her expert handling of the increased traffic through the complex arrangement of lines outside the station. Sadly, Miller was killed during an air raid in April 1941, when her box was engulfed in flames after receiving a direct hit from an incendiary bomb. Her time on the NWR was brief, but her legacy was everlasting, and it was unanimously agreed that the railway’s war memorial engine should carry her name.
Rebecca (the engine) was still being restored in 1988, but luckily, it was determined that she would be ready by early 1989 - just in time to take part in celebrations commemorating the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of war. As it turned out, she was ready ahead of schedule, and she was pressed into NWR service to help handle a sudden surge in passenger traffic. Rebecca entered service already wearing her commemorative nameplates, but her official naming ceremony didn’t take place until that September.
Even by this time, Rebecca was still sensitive about her flawed design, and still held out hope that she might be rebuilt, in order to deal with those flaws. When she entered service, however, her first crew turned out to have been trained under ex-Southern drivers, and so were fully aware of the issues with Rebecca’s design. This meant they knew just how to get the best performance out of her, in spite of her problems.
Rebecca was upset by this, as it meant the chances of her being rebuilt started to dwindle further and further. There was a bit of conflict between engine and crew, but Rebecca came round to them in the end, and now likes them both very much. She still sometimes thinks about how much better she’d perform with a rebuild, but she knows now that with the right crew, it doesn’t really matter how many flaws her current design has.
Rebecca now primarily helps Gordon with the Wild Nor’ Wester express service, but she can also be found on other fast trains - both passenger and goods. She’s even come into her own as one of the regular engines on the Midnight Goods. Rebecca is also the main motive power for a special boat train which runs between Barrow-in-Furness and Kirk Ronan, connecting with cruise liners from all over the world.
Because of her light weight, Rebecca is also capable of travelling on most of the branch lines, and can be called in at a moment’s notice to help cover shortages in motive power. However, because some lines can’t accommodate her great length, such occasions are rare.
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feigeroman · 2 years
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This week's Fat Controller in a nutshell...
*TFC holds up a teapot*
The Fat Controller: Spot of tea...?
*TFC suddenly drops the teapot and pulls out a knife*
The Fat Controller: GIVE US YER ENGINES!
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feigeroman · 2 years
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I noticed that some of my headcanon posts have been picking up traction recently, and I'd just like to thank all the kind souls who have liked and reblogged my stuff.
I thought maybe you'd like to see some of my other headcanon posts - assuming you haven't already, of course - and so I've reblogged my NWR Stocklist master post from last year, which has them all grouped together in one easy-to-reach place. It also has the majority of my OCs, which are well worth a read if you're into that sort of thing.
The NWR Stocklist (my version)
So you’re all aware of my various Thomas headcanons, right? You must be, if you’ve been following me for the past month. Well, the fact is, I have a metric shit-ton of headcanons, a small amount of which I’ve been sharing recently. But I’ve been holding back, mainly because of that metric shit-ton, many of them feature characters of my own creation, and I wanted to get those out there first.
The bulk of these are my additions to the North Western Railway locomotive fleet. Like most people, I find it hard to believe that a railway of that size could function with such a small fleet of engines - about twenty in the RWS, expanding to god knows how many in the TVS.
So I decided to expand the fleet accordingly. Over the past few years, I’ve been developing and refining this, deftly mixing characters from the RWS, TVS and my own ideas. Taking a leaf out of the Extended Railway Series, I limited myself to eighty steam engines, and thirty diesels, the names of which are listed under the break.
Keep reading
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feigeroman · 2 years
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One day at Crewe Works (circa 1939)
Stanier's Secretary, on the phone: He's right here, Sir. Do you want to talk to him?
Sir William Stanier: (mouths "No!" several times)
Secretary: He's right here...
(Stanier flees, only for his secretary to chase him halfway across the Works)
Secretary, still holding the phone: He's rIGHT HERE-
(Cut to Stanier being pinned to the floor by his secretary, who has the phone pressed against his ear)
Stanier, reluctanctly talking on the phone: Why, Sir Topham, how are you doing...?
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feigeroman · 2 years
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I posted 126 times in 2021
120 posts created (95%)
6 posts reblogged (5%)
For every post I created, I reblogged 0.1 posts.
I added 890 tags in 2021
#thomas the tank engine - 120 posts
#the railway series - 120 posts
#sodor - 115 posts
#island of sodor - 115 posts
#north western railway - 108 posts
#ttte headcanon - 101 posts
#ttte analysis - 99 posts
#ttte oc - 53 posts
#original character - 52 posts
#incorrect ttte quotes - 7 posts
Longest Tag: 57 characters
#you could substitute percy for literally any other engine
My Top Posts in 2021
#5
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Head empty. No thoughts. No kings, no gods...
Only Toby.
30 notes • Posted 2021-10-18 08:46:21 GMT
#4
One night at Ffarquhar Sheds...
Thomas: What time is it, Percy?
Percy: Dunno. Give me a second, and I'll find out...
*Percy whistles furiously for a minute or so*
Daisy, over in the carriage shed: WHO THE HELL IS BLOWING THEIR WHISTLE AT 3AM?!
*Percy stops whistling*
Percy: It's 3am.
33 notes • Posted 2021-08-30 14:28:05 GMT
#3
On the standard and narrow (gauge)...
Right, for starters, does everyone know who Victor is? Here he is:
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The main shunter at the Sodor Steamworks, at least in canon. My headcanon is that instead of the separate steam and diesel workshops, all major repairs are concentrated in a single facility at Crovan’s Gate (I also reckon that there are other smaller workshops spread across Sodor, but that’s neither here nor there).
Anyway, as part of that headcanon, I wanted to keep Victor as the main works shunter, but my issue was this: What gauge to make him? He’s based on a standard gauge prototype, but is canonically the same narrow gauge as the Skarloey Railway engines. There are some equally good cases for going in either direction: Making him standard gauge would allow more to be done with the character, as he could then travel further. However, narrow gauge would be in keeping with canon, and also pay lip service to similar engines in works like Crewe or Doncaster.
That was the problem I faced, until I happened upon a solution: Why not just do both? And how might this be done, no-one asked? Allow me to introduce you to something called a haulage truck:
See the full post
34 notes • Posted 2021-01-05 19:58:16 GMT
#2
‘Edward’s Day Out’ in a nutshell...
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55 notes • Posted 2021-07-30 12:34:06 GMT
#1
Thomas: You know, Toby, It's real sad that Henry isn't here to help us anymore...
Henry, in the background: I'm right here! Stop telling everybody I'm still bricked up in the tunnel!
Thomas, ignoring him: Sometimes, I can still hear his voice...
92 notes • Posted 2021-08-25 17:24:56 GMT
Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →
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feigeroman · 2 years
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*Psst* Y'all like model trains?
...Because if you do, I want to share something with you that's very dear to my heart:
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For context: In the 80s and 90s, there was a video magazine series known as Railscene, which was a mix of contemporary reports on present-day railways - both preserved and modern - and archive footage. Of all the direct-to-video railway releases during this period, Railscene was probably the most highly-praised, thanks to its high quality and production values. Sadly, the series came to an end in 2003, thanks to a combination of rising costs, increasing ineptitude, and a lack of new items to film...
I don't actually own any Railscene tapes, but what I do have is Railscale - a spin-off production by the same team, which looked at various aspects of railway modelling using the same magazine format. Unfortunately, it didn't quite take off in the same way as its parent series, only lasting three issues from 1987-88. While its production values were similarly high, it had many things working against it - its main problem being that it was too niche for the casual viewer, and too general for the serious modeller.
In spite of all its problems, though, I really quite like Railscale, and out of all the numerous features across the three issues, my absolute favourite has to be The Bromford & High Peak Railway - the huge, spectacular layout which had the honour of opening the first issue. I must say, the producers certainly started off with a hell of a bang when they decided to cover this layout! I don't even think I can describe it in a way that'll do it justice, so just watch it for yourselves, and you'll see why I've been so keen to share it with you...
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