Wellsworth

**Wellsworth** is a village with a population of 550, located near Sodor's south coast, at the northern end of a peninsula. As it is the start of Edward's Branch Line, the station is commonly called **Edward's Station**.

## History

### *The Railway Series*

The name is most likely derived from a well, now dry, in the grounds of the Old Nunnery. Legend has it that St. Tibba (or Saint Ebba), in the seventh century, dug a well to collect water which yielded remarkable cures. A Nunnery was later established here in 1160. The Poor Clares, an Order of Catholic Nuns, settled there sometime after 1286 and built their hospital around the well. Though King Henry VIII nominally suppressed the Order in 1534, the Sudrian interpretation of the Act secured that St Tibba’s Hospital remained and expanded as need arose. Shortly before 1987, it was rebuilt on a new site and has deservedly the highest reputation of any hospital on the Island.

Wellsworth is a pleasant seaside village. The air here is reputedly pure and bracing. There is a Convalescent Home and many doctors recommend a period spent here to patients suffering from respiratory ailments. Sir Topham Hatt and his family live here their mansion, Topham Hall, located in the outskirts of the town. Crocks Scrap Yard is located here.

The line from Wellsworth to Brendam is one of Sodor's oldest and was built in 1870 as part of the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway, which was later extended to Knapford in 1912 to connect with the Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Light Railway before becoming part of the North Western Railway in 1915. Wellsworth became a station on the Main Line, while the line to Brendam was downgraded to a branch line, with the junction located slightly east of the station. At some point, Edward was given the branch line, resulting in the station being rebuilt and nicknamed Edward's Station.

A goods yard, commonly known as Edward's Yard, is located here. It consists of several sidings, a turntable and a two-berth engine shed, with a coal hopper nearby. A breakdown train is kept here. As Wellsworth is some 280 ft below Maron, engines based here serve as bankers for trains going up Gordon's Hill.

## Appearances

* Railway Series
* Television Series
* Other Media

### *The Railway Series*

* **Thomas the Tank Engine** - Thomas and the Trucks and Thomas and the Breakdown Train
* **James the Red Engine** - James and the Top Hat (*mentioned*)
* **Troublesome Engines** - Trouble in the Shed and Percy Runs Away (*mentioned*)
* **Henry the Green Engine** - Coal and Gordon's Whistle
* **Toby the Tram Engine** - Dirty Objects
* **Edward the Blue Engine** - Bertie's Chase, Saved from Scrap and Old Iron
* **Duck and the Diesel Engine** - Dirty Work (*mentioned*) and A Close Shave
* **The Twin Engines** - Break Van and The Deputation
* **Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine** - Stepney's Special and Bowled Out
* **Really Useful Engines** - Fish and Triple-Header
* **Gordon the High-Speed Engine** - Smokescreen and Fire Escape (*mentioned*)
* **Henry and the Express** - Out of Puff and Henry Sees Red
* **Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines** - Edward and the Cabbages
* **Thomas and Victoria** - Toby's Vintage Train (*mentioned*)

#### Companion Volumes

* **1976** - Famous Engines
* **1986** - Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree

### *Thomas & Friends*

* **Series 1** - Thomas and Gordon, Edward, Gordon and Henry, James and the Express, Trouble in the Shed, Percy Runs Away, Coal, The Flying Kipper and Whistles and Sneezes
* **Series 2** - Cows, Bertie's Chase, Saved from Scrap, Old Iron, Thomas and Trevor, Dirty Work (*mentioned*), A Close Shave, Break Van, The Deputation, The Diseasel and Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree (*deleted scene*)
* **Series 3** - Time for Trouble, Gordon and the Famous Visitor, Henry's Forest (*deleted scene*), The Trouble with Mud, No Joke for James, Thomas, Percy and the Post Train, Trust Thomas (*mentioned*), Edward, Trevor and the Really Useful Party, One Good Turn, Tender Engines and Escape
* **Series 4** - Bowled Out, Paint Pots and Queens and Fish
* **Series 5** - A Better View for Gordon, James and the Trouble with Trees, Gordon and the Gremlin, Bye George!, Haunted Henry, Happy Ever After and Busy Going Backwards
* **Series 7** - Emily's New Coaches, Edward's Brass Band, What's the Matter with Henry?, Peace and Quiet (*deleted scene*), Bulgy Rides Again, Gordon and Spencer, Not So Hasty Puddings and Three Cheers for Thomas
* **Series 8** - James Gets a New Coat, Percy's Big Mistake, Don't Tell Thomas, Edward the Great, Thomas and the Circus, Halloween, You Can Do it, Toby!, Chickens to School and Percy and the Magic Carpet
* **Series 9** - Thomas and the Statue (*mentioned*)
* **Series 11** - Gordon and the Engineer, Henry's Lucky Day, Edward and the Mail and Percy and the Left Luggage
* **Series 12** - Thomas and the Billboard (*mentioned*) and Excellent Emily (*mentioned*)
* **Series 15** - Tree Trouble
* **Series 16** - Race to the Rescue, Thomas and the Rubbish Train, Sodor Surprise Day and Whiff's Wish
* **Series 17** - Wayward Winston, Gordon Runs Dry, Calm Down Caitlin, Steamie Stafford, Henry's Hero, Percy's Lucky Day, Too Many Fire Engines, The Missing Christmas Decorations, No More Mr. Nice Engine and The Afternoon Tea Express
* **Series 18** - Old Reliable Edward, Not So Slow Coaches, Flatbeds of Fear, Duck and the Slip Coaches, Missing Gator, Spencer's VIP, Last Train for Christmas, The Perfect Gift, Emily Saves the World and Samson at Your Service
* **Series 19** - Who's Geoffrey?, The Truth About Toby, Henry Spots Trouble, Salty All at Sea and Reds vs. Blues
* **Series 20** - Sidney Sings, Pouty James and Hugo and the Airship
* **Series 21** - Philip's Number, A Shed for Edward and Confused Coaches
* **Series 22** - Forever and Ever (*mentioned*), Confusion Without Delay, School of Duck, Seeing is Believing, Rosie is Red and Hunt the Truck
* **Series 23** - Free the Roads (*fantasy*), Chucklesome Trucks, Steam Team to the Rescue and Wish You Were Here

#### Specials

* **2008** - The Great Discovery (*music video*)
* **2011** - Day of the Diesels
* **2012** - Blue Mountain Mystery
* **2014** - Tale of the Brave
* **2015** - The Adventure Begins
* **2018** - Big World! Big Adventures! (*map only*)

#### Learning Segments

* **Series 8** - Being on Time, Edward Helps Emily Up Gordon's Hill and How Does Thomas Get to the Timber Yards?

#### Videos

* **2018** - Meet the New Steam Team and Still the Best of Friends

### Magazine Stories

* **1988** - Old Iron
* **1996** - Lost Property! and Flag Waving!
* **1998** - The Exhibition!
* **2001** - A Special Story about the Fire Engine!
* **2003** - Frozen Engine
* **2008** - Mystery Music
* **2012** - Clock Countdown

## Trivia

* Wellsworth is named after Elsworth, where the Rev. W. Awdry was Rector between 1946-53. In merchandising, it is occasionally misspelt as "Ellsworth".
* In the eighteenth series episode, Duck and the Slip Coaches, the station appeared to represent a station on the Great Western Railway in Duck's flashback.
* In both the PC game Railway Adventures and the eleventh series episode, Edward and the Mail, Wellsworth was referred to as a Post Depot. This idea seems to be carried onto the later series when it returned in CGI.
* Wellsworth station has had numerous modifications throughout the years:
	+ Series 1-12:
		- The shunting yard's size and layout constantly changed.
	+ Series 3 (*only*):
		- The station gained an extra large shunting yard behind it. It was later reused as the yard from Oliver Owns Up.
	+ Day of the Diesels:
		- The green metal bridge nearby became larger and received a new design.
		- A red brick road bridge was added near the station.
		- The shunting yard layout became one single siding with three ends with no more turntables.
		- A large warehouse was added nearby.
		- The tracks entering the station changed from straight to curved.
		- The road bridge now has rails running across it.
	+ Series 17-18:
		- The asphalt in the yard was occasionally replaced with grass before becoming consistent the following series.
	+ Series 21:
		- The three ended shunting siding became a two ended siding and gained a two berth shed on it.
* The green metal bridge used to be on display at Nitrogen Studios.

## Merchandise

* ERTL (*discontinued*)
* Wooden Railway (*discontinued*)
* Take-Along (*discontinued*)
* Motor Road and Rail (*discontinued*)
* TrackMaster
* Brio (*discontinued*)
* LEGO (*discontinued*)
* Mega Bloks (*discontinued*)
* Hornby (*signal box only, discontinued*)
* Bachmann (*signal box only*)
* Lionel (*discontinued*)
* Sui Sui Oekaki (*discontinued*)