North Western Railway

"*Nil unquam simile*"
— The railway's motto

The **North Western Railway** (**NWR**) (Sudric: **Yiarnraad Iarthuath**), commonly known as "**the Fat Controller's Railway**", is the main transportation company on the Island of Sodor. It links the port town of Tidmouth with Barrow-in-Furness on the Mainland via the North Western Main Line, with several branch lines linking to towns further into Sodor's interior. The railway was formed in 1914 by the Government-backed amalgamation of Sodor's standard gauge railways for strategic reasons.

From nationalisation on 1 January 1948 until privatisation on 1 January 1993, it was the **North Western Region** of British Railways, though it maintained most of its operational independence. Unlike all other main line railways, it has retained steam locomotives as its main form of motive power, which has brought the railway considerable attention and traffic.

## History

### Formation

The North Western Railway was formed on the 4th of August 1914 by the Government-backed amalgamation of the Sodor & Mainland Railway, Wellsworth & Suddery Railway and Tidmouth, Knapford & Elsbridge Light Railway. The reasons for the founding of the railway was two-fold; for many years Sudrians had wanted an island-wide transportation network and a reliable connection to the Mainland to drive economic growth and fuel investment. The failure of the S&M, however, resulted in several small rail networks springing up instead and while they were moderately prosperous, they lacked the ability to truly thrive. In the waning years of the 19th century, a group advocating for the amalgamation of these small networks sprang up led by Albert Regaby, Lord Harwick. The bankruptcy of the S&M in 1901 had dampered such discussion, as neither of the surviving railways saw merit in taking over the burden of the S&M or taking the same costly risks it did.

Lord Harwick refused to give up on the idea, and continued the fight for an island wide rail network. Regaby was motivated by his role in researching the History of the Island of Sodor, which revealed tales of a proud, prosperous Kingdom, now degenerated to a poor territory of little significance. He noted that the small networks brought local economic growth, and believed that a unified network would allow the effects to be replicated across the island and allow Sodor to forge itself a place in the world. To achieve this goal, Lord Harwick would lobby prominent members of Sodor's railway industry, and eventually gained a number of prominent supporters, including Topham Hatt, Chief Engineer of the TK&E, and Percy Onchan, General Manager of the W&S.

In 1910, the W&S and TK&E entered into merger talks, as the former wanted access to latter's port facilities at Tidmouth. Lord Harwick was approached as a neutral mediator in the discussions, and a deal was reached. The railways formed a Joint Management Committee, with Lord Harwick as Chairman, Onchan as Manager and Hatt as Engineer, to run the new Tidmouth, Wellsworth and Suddery Railway, commencing 1 January 1912, pending formal approval of the merger by Parliament. The bill that would have granted approval made no progress, and while Regaby claimed this was because Parliament was concerned with other matters, there is no evidence he actually introduced it, probably because he wished to include the bankrupt S&M in the merger, but could not gain support amongst the Board of Directors for such a move.

To force the Board's hand, he began lobbying Government ministers for support and played up Sodor's role as an outpost in the direction of Ireland. Notably, he gifted the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, a copy of the History of the Island of Sodor, which greatly supported his views. This was successful, and when tensions in Europe began looking like they'd lead to war, the Admiralty stepped in to offer support for the amalgamation of the Sudrian rail network as a strategic concern. Completion of the negotiations were preempted by the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914 and the Admiralty issued an order for the immediate amalgamation of the Sudrian network, to commence operations on 1 January 1915. At the suggestion of Onchan, who was retained as General Manager, the railway was named the North Western Railway. Regaby and Hatt similarly remained in their posts.

### Early History (1915-1947)

Immediately after the order for amalgamation was received, work began to connect the Western network of the TKE and W&S to the remnants of the eastern network of the S&M. To ensure swiftness of construction

## Routes

* North Western Main Line
	+ Coastway Loop Line
* Peel Godred Line
* Norramby Branch Line
* Great Waterton Branch Line
* Kirk Ronan Branch Line
* Ulfstead Castle Branch Line
* Brendam Branch Line
* Ffarquhar Branch Line
	+ Quarry Tramroad
* Arlesburgh Branch Line
	+ Harwick Branch Line

## Operations

### Ancillary

* Sodor Docks & Harbour Board
* North Western Hotels & Catering
* North Western Steam Navigation
* Sodor Roadways
* Sodor Airways

## Notes

* Translated from Latin, the Railway's motto is "**There's nothing quite like it!**"