Sir Topham Hatt

Charles Topham Hatt (son)

Stephen Topham Hatt (grandson)

Bridget Hatt (granddaughter)

**Sir Betram Topham Hatt**, also known as the Fat Controller and formerly the Fat Director, is the controller of the North Western Railway.

## Biography

Topham Hatt was apprenticed at the Great Western Railway's Swindon Works in 1894 at the age of fourteen. During his time there, he seems to have struck up a friendship with William A. Stanier, a fellow apprentice. The story current at Crovan's Gate Works is that on at least one occasion, perhaps more, the future Sir Topham was able to help the future, Sir William, to escape the consequences of what might have been a serious scrape. Due to his training at Swindon, he always admired things Great Western.

He came to Sodor in 1901 and joined A.W. Dry and Company, a firm of drainage engineers, at Tidmouth. On their recommendation, he became an engineer to the Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Light Railway in 1910, the Tidmouth, Wellsworth and Suddery in 1912 and the North Western Railway upon its formation in 1914. He would eventually go on to become the railway's director and later controller.

For A.W. Dry and Company, he built a series of four vertical boiler engines known as Coffee Pots between 1905 and 1908, which were used by the TK&ER. After an Autumn gale in 1908, he directed unemployed miners in cutting a tunnel through the ridge south of Tidmouth. In 1915, for the NWR, he designed a double-tracked Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge of 120 ft span to cross the Walney Channel. Sometime after this, he was appointed a director of the company.

When the railway was suffering from a locomotive crisis in the early 1920s, he was responsible for acquiring new engines. During this time, he made one of his rare bad bargains when he was tricked into purchasing Henry, who suffered from numerous flaws, instead of the Robinson Atlantic he wanted. He remembered the mistake with sorrow for the rest of his days and was so angry at having been "done" that he would never admit who it was who had swindled him. No-one was better pleased than Topham Hatt when the Killdane accident occurred in 1935. Using his connections with William Stanier, now CME of the LMS, he was able to have Henry completely rebuilt at Crewe Works.

In 1953, when The Queen visited Sodor in Coronation year he had the honour of welcoming her to Tidmouth, having been previously presented to Her Majesty by Viscount Harwick, the Governor, who was also his son-in-law.

He retired in 1954 in favour of his son Charles, whom the Board had no hesitation in electing as his successor. It is no exaggeration to say that the present prosperity of the Railway is almost entirely due to his initiative and resource.

He married Jane, sister of Sir Handel Brown in 1910 and they had two children, a daughter named Barbara Jane (born 1911) who married Henry Regaby in 1938 and later a son named Charles Topham (born 1914) who would later become the second Fat Controller.

Sir Topham Hatt I passed away at his house in Wellsworth in 1956 at the age of 76.

## Personality

Sir Topham Hatt is an authority figure, and carries his position as the railway's controller seriously. That said, he is also a rather friendly man, acting almost like a father figure to many of the engines. He is always trying to seek ways to help them when they need it, and is willing to give second chances to those who deserve it. He is also known to crack jokes when suitable.

## Appearances

* **Series 1** - Alled Greedy's Apples, The Sad Story of Henry, Edward's Express, Edward, Gordon and Henry, Thomas' Train, Thomas' Trick, Thomas and the Trucks, A Streak of Blue, Thomas and the Breakdown Train, James and the Top-Hat, Bootlaces, Troublesome Trucks, James' Rest Cure, James and the Express, Thomas and the Guard (mentioned), Thomas Goes Fishing, Thomas and Bertie (mentioned), You've Never Run A Branch Line (mentioned), Shocked! (mentioned), Henry and the Elephant (doesn't speak), Tenders and Turntables (mentioned), Trouble in the Shed, Push-Pull Percy (mentioned), Express Coming Through, Percy Runs Away, Coal, James' Special Coal, It's Good to be Gordon, The Flying Kipper, Gordon's Whistle, Henry's Sneeze (mentioned), Percy and the Trousers, Thomas and Tail Lamps, Toby and the Stout Gentleman, Thomas in Trouble, A Ring of the Bell, Dirty Objects, Verandas and Vendettas (doesn't speak), Draft Dodger, Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas, Presents for Percy, Thomas's Christmas Party, Off the Rails, Leaves, Teatime for Gordon (mentioned), Down the Mine, Paint Pots and Queens

## Trivia

* Sir Topham Hatt was nicknamed 'The Fat Director' between Alled Greedy's Apples and Thomas and the Breakdown Train, gaining the title of 'The Fat Controller' some time before the episode James and the Top-Hat.