Lauren

**Lauren the Midland Flatiron** is one of the deuteragonists of the Seventyverse, and the twenty first engine on the North Western Railway. However, she, Johnson and Julie were the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth engines purchased for the North Western Railway in the series.

## Backstory

Lauren, along with Johnson, Nicole, Katie and Julie, was brought to the North Western Railway during a motive power crisis, although their stay on the railway was far longer than any of them anticipated.

Lauren, along with Julie and Johnson, were later purchased by Sir Bertram Topham Hatt, while Nicole and Katie went to the Rolling Hills Railway.

## Kirk Ronan Crew

### Julie

Lauren managed to cope with Julie's hyper activeness a bit better than Johnson did, and was very impressed with how much Julie had matured. She also understands that Julie can be easily stressed and is sensitive, often helping her calm down. They do get up to some mischief together.

### Johnson

Lauren and Johnson probably have the most stable relationship that Johnson has with the Midi quintet. Of course, Lauren's rebellious does get Johnson annoyed from time to time, and she also teases him with nicknames of 'John' and 'Johnny'.

### Audrey, Hilary and Mark

Lauren had a lot of patience when dealing with Audrey, Hilary and Mark's ridiculing and harassment. She was able to get to the bottom of it, and realises they were grieving over the loss of their old Coffee Pot friends. As a reward for her efforts, she got to keep Audrey, Hilary and Mark as her coaches.

## Other relationships

### Katie

Not much is known about Lauren's relationship with Katie, but she did find her antics a bit amusing. She was like a goofy little sister and Lauren enjoyed keeping Katie on the straight and narrow. They still keep in touch when Katie headed to the Rolling Hills Railway.

### Nicole

Lauren and Nicole had worked on the Kirk Ronan branch for a very long time, but Lauren knew Nicole could get into jobs she wasn't designed for. Likewise, Nicole had to keep Lauren in check when she was becoming huffy and overconfident. Both engines have a mutual trust within each other, and Lauren dearly missed Nicole when she went to the Rolling Hills. They still keep in touch though.

## Personality

Lauren was easily one of the most sensible of the Midi quintet. However, that didn't stop her from getting into her own misadventures, such as with the old coaches. With Nicole now on the Rolling Hills, Lauren had to take up the mantle of being in charge of the branch line. She takes this responsibility very seriously.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Lauren is based upon the Midland Railway 2000 0-6-4T, (built in 1907), which makes her one of the largest tank engines on the North Western Railway. Only 40 members were built and none were preserved. Her number is completely fictional.

### Livery

Lauren is painted in the standard Midland Railway red livery with her NWR number (21) on her sides.

## Trivia

* The preferred voice actor for Lauren is Linda Cardellini, whose most notable roles include Velma Dinkley in the live-action *Scooby-Doo* films, Wendy Corduroy in *Gravity Falls* (of whom Lauren's personality is inspired and where her voice comes from), and Laura Barton in the *Marvel Cinematic Universe*.
* Lauren's old number was MR/LMS 2040. Her class never made it to BR ownership and her number is an in-joke, as none of her class went past 2039.