North Western Railway

> Please tell everyone that whatever happens elsewhere, Steam will still be at work here. We shall be glad to welcome all who want to see and travel behind, real engines.
>
> The Fat Controller, Enterprising Engines

The **North Western Railway** (**NWR**) is the main standard gauge rail network on the Island of Sodor. From nationalisation on 1st January 1948 until privatisation in 1997, it was the **North Western Region** of British Railways. The railway's motto is "Nil Unquam Simile", which is Latin for "There's nothing quite like it".

## History

### *The Railway Series*

The North Western Railway was formed in 1914 by the Government-sponsored amalgamation of the three standard gauge railways on the island - the Sodor and Mainland, the Wellsworth and Suddery and the Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge, the latter two already in the process of amalgamation - as a strategic railway for coastal defence against possible danger from Ireland. Albert Regaby, Lord Harwick, always maintained that his gift to the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, of a copy of the *History of the Island of Sodor*, which lays great emphasis on the importance of Sodor as an outpost in the direction of Ireland, was the deciding factor that led to the formation of the NWR.

Lord Harwick was appointed Chairman, while Mr. Topham Hatt, formerly of the TK&ER, was appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer and the NWR began operating in 1915. Much construction work was needed in order to connect the three absorbed railways and meet the Admiralty's requirements. The NWR cut a single bore tunnel through the Ballahoo Ridge, allowing it to extend to Vicarstown, where it established its Administrative Headquarters and main Motive Power Depot. A rolling lift bridge, designed by Topham Hatt, was subsequently erected across the Walney Channel, finally connecting Sodor with the Mainland. Repair shops were also established at Crovan's Gate, while many of the routes of the former railways were converted from single to double track.

In 1916, the NWR constructed a single line extension of the Main Line up to Arlesburgh by Government Order. The line was a key part of the NWR's obligations as a strategic railway, for it allowed the Admiralty to regularly patrol the West Coast of the island with armoured trains. It was originally intended to reach Harwick, but by the time Arlesburgh was reached, the immediate threat had passed and a further extension was dropped. Apart from the four "Coffee Pots" of the TK&ER and the four 0-6-0 tank engines of the W&SR, the NWR when formed had no locomotives of its own. Throughout the First World War, it was worked with locomotives and rolling stock borrowed from the Midland and the Furness Companies, such as Edward. It also acquired a tank engine from the LB&SCR named Thomas.

By 1921, most of these locomotives had to be returned and replacements needed to be found. This was a time of great difficulty for the NWR as with the end of the war the NWR's military value was ended and Government support withdrawn. This resulted in a locomotive crisis and Mr. Topham Hatt, now also a Director, was placed in charge of finding new motive power. In 1922, he attempted to buy a Robinson Atlantic but ended up with Henry, an engine riddled with flaws, while in 1923, he acquired Gordon and James, both experimental prototypes.

In 1923, came the Grouping and the NWR was threatened with either closure or absorption into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) system. The NWR Board, however, led by their Chairman Lord Harwick believed in the Railway's future and fought off the plans. In this, they were ably backed by the new General Manager, Topham Hatt and to such good purpose that by 1925, the LMS had been brought to terms and the NWR was enabled to maintain its identity. The agreement with the LMS granted the NWR Running Powers across the Vicarstown Bridge into Barrow-in-Furness and also began a joint suburban service between Barrow and Norramby, at the cost of the NWR curtailing a steamer service between Kirk Ronan and Dublin it had launched in 1920.

Also in 1923, following an agreement with the Peel Godred Power Company, the NWR constructed a branch line from Killdane to Peel Godred to serve the Sodor Aluminium Works, using powers it had inherited from the S&MR. Due to the heavy gradients, the branch line is unique for being worked by electric locomotives. While the branch has provided steady revenue to the NWR, it resulted in the closure of the Mid Sodor Railway (which eventually occurred in January 1947). The following year, 1924, the NWR entered an agreement with Jabez Croarie to extend its Elsbridge Branch Line to Ffarquhar to service the Anopha Quarry, providing a new source of traffic.

After the NWR came to an agreement with the LMS in 1925, the Motive Power Depot moved from Vicarstown to Tidmouth. This resulted in the closure of the sheds located there in 1927. Albert Regaby stepped down as chairman in 1934.

When the railways in the United Kingdom were nationalised, Sodor was affected too with the North Western Railway becoming the North Western Region of British Railways. However, the railway was allowed to keep a large degree of independence from the rest of the network; this is why steam traction was preserved on the railway, as well as why none of the branch lines or stations were affected by the Beeching Axe. The other railways on the island were not affected by nationalisation. Since privatisation, the railway has again become the North Western Railway Company and unlike most post-privatisation train companies, it is not part of National Rail and is completely responsible for the running of the freight and passenger operations and for the maintenance of the track and infrastructure of the railway.

## Station Pilots

Thomas was the original Vicarstown station pilot, until the time that Edward suggests Thomas to take his trucks to Wellsworth along the Main Line, while Edward shunts coaches for the big engines at Vicarstown, letting the little blue engine being pushed by the trucks down the hill, then The Fat Controller allocated Thomas to shunt trucks at Wellsworth, until the day that he discovered a breakdown train and rescued a runaway engine (James), and was given two coaches coming from The Mainland called Annie and Clarabel to run the Ffarquhar Branch Line. At some point in the late 1920's to early 1930's, following a series of incidents resulting in a strike, Percy was acquired from a workshop to be Tidmouth's new station pilot after Thomas was allocated to the Ffarquhar Branch in 1924. In 1955, due to congestion at Tidmouth Harbour, the Fat Controller had reopned the old TKELR's Knapford Harbour, and sent Percy to work on the line as a goods engine, letting Charles Topham Hatt buying a 0-6-0PT Pannier Tank Engine, which is turned to be Duck, for be the new station pilot. In 1967, due to congestion at Tidmouth and Knapford Harbours, The Fat Controller had reopened the Arlesburgh Docks, along with a minium gauge railway's opening and he sent Duck to lead the reopened line, letting the NWR Main Line don't have any more station pilots.

It is unknown what happened to the station pilots who ceased to exist, altough is possibly that Gordon, Henry and James stopped going on strike or Sir Topham Hatt bought another tank engine or a diesel shunter.

## Liveries

The North Western's steam engines are painted primarily blue with red and yellow lining (Thomas, Edward, Gordon, Donald and Douglas†), secondarily green with red and yellow lining (Percy, Henry) and tertiarily red with yellow and blue or black lining (James), and the numbers painted in yellow with red or black borders on the side of the cabs, tanks or tenders. The diesel engines are painted either BR black, BR green or BR blue (Diesel, Paxton, Sidney). The diesel shunters are painted with black and yellow hazard stripes (Salty, Den, Dart), and the mainline diesels (Bear, The Works Diesel) are painted with yellow warning panels.

The express carriages in the Railway Series are firstly painted brown with yellow lining and white lettering and numbering. Secondary carriages are principally painted either orange (Annie and Clarabel), red, dark green with cream window surrounds (Emily's Coaches, Old Coaches) and white wheel rims. GWR Autocoaches are chocolate brown with cream window surrounds.

The wagons and brake vans are mostly painted either dark grey, dark green, dark blue, or brown with black frames and "N W" (The Spiteful Brake Van), numbers and lettering painted on the sides in white.

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## NWR railway lines

* The Main Line
* Norramby Branch Line
* Kirk Ronan Branch Line
* Peel Godred Branch Line
* Brendam Branch Line
* Ffarquhar Branch Line
* The Little Western

### Television Series only

In the television series the railway also has the following lines.

* Quarry Branch Line
* Ulfstead Branch Line
* Toby's Branch Line
* The Loop Line
* Coaling Plant Branch Line
* The Main Line Loop
* Stepney's Branch Line
* Misty Valley Branch Line
* Killdane Branch Line
* Harwick Branch Line

## Trivia

* According to The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways, the North Western Railway has at least a total of *eighty* (**80**) locomotives, the vast majority of which are undocumented in *The Railway Series*. No details about them are given.
* In the television series, Diesel, Mavis, Bill, Ben and Stepney are owned by the North Western Railway despite being owned by British Railways and private railways respectively in The Railway Series. The Skarloey Railway was under the same management as the NWR from its introduction in the fourth series until the introduction of Mr. Percival in the ninth series.
* The Adventure Begins marked the first time the name **North Western Railway** was stated in the television series. Some merchandising and promotional material had previously referred to it as **Sodor Railways**. In Thomas and the Magic Railroad, which is not canon to the television series, it was known as the **Sodor Railway.**
* Emma, Rosie and Rebecca are the only engines to have the railway's acronym displayed on them.
* On some promotional items to tie-in with the Railway Series books dating from the 1970s the NWR is called ***Sodor Rail*** and uses a logo similar to the famous British Rail one now used by the organization National Rail.
* The Railway adheres to a very strict code, though not all of its contents have been revealed. Emily states in *The Steam Troll*, an audio episode, that Clause 2A of the code states that "Any object placed deliberately or accidentally on the tracks could be very dangerous, and more importantly, cause confusion and delay."
* A poster for the railway depicts LNER-styled illustrations of Thomas and Gordon.