Vicarstown

**Vicarstown** (often mis-spelt **Vickerstown**)[1] is a town on the eastern side of Sodor.

## History

### *The Railway Series*

The monkish chronicler, Arnold of Cronk, recorded that when in 1150 Cronk Abbey was founded as a daughter house of Furness Abbey, the Abbot of Furness asked for a grant of land on which his Agent or Vicar could build a residence. King Ogmund, suspecting that this might lead to English infiltration, would only grant him land for a house here; hence the place’s name. A town eventually sprung up around the Vicar's house.

The North Western Railway extended to Vicarstown in 1915, and built their main Motive Power Depot and Administrative Headquarters here, as well as a rolling lift bridge connecting Sodor with the Mainland. After the 1925 agreement with the LMS to allow NWR trains to travel across the bridge to Barrow-in-Furness there was no further use required. A smaller replacement station and shed were built for the engines operating the car ferry service in 1927/8, and the turntable was taken up and installed at Barrow, while the headquarters moved to the other end of the main line at Tidmouth. Thomas served as the station pilot here until being transferred to Wellsworth in 1925.

### *Thomas & Friends*

Vicarstown Station is situated on a viaduct, which contains shops in several of its arches. The station is the largest on Sodor, consisting of 8 platforms with a lower level beneath them. The station is built in an elegant Victorian architectural style and is covered by a glass roof, with clock towers on each end.

There is an electric tramway running along the roads underneath the viaduct, and a cathedral is located in the town, near the station.

The Vicarstown Goods Depot, Vicarstown Sheds, Vicarstown Goods Yard, Rolling Bridge and a Viaduct are located here. The Vicarstown Dieselworks is also located a short distance west of the town.

## Appearances

* Railway Series
* Television Series

### *The Railway Series*

* **Thomas the Tank Engine** - Thomas and Gordon, Thomas' Train and Thomas and the Trucks
* **Gordon the High-Speed Engine** - Smokescreen
* **Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines** - Golden Jubiliee

#### Companion Volumes

* **1995** - Thomas the Tank Engine and the Scrambled Eggs (*cover only*)

### *Thomas & Friends*

* **Series 17** - Calm Down Caitlin (*mentioned*) and Gone Fishing (*mentioned*)
* **Series 18** - Not So Slow Coaches (*mentioned*), Flatbeds of Fear (*mentioned*), Toad's Adventure (*mentioned*), Thomas the Quarry Engine (*mentioned*) and Last Train for Christmas (*mentioned*)
* **Series 19** - Salty All at Sea (*mentioned*)
* **Series 20** - Letters to Santa (*mentioned*), All in Vain (*mentioned*) and Engine of the Future (*mentioned*)
* **Series 21** - Dowager Hatt's Busy Day (*mentioned*), P.A. Problems (*mentioned*), Emily in the Middle and Daisy's Perfect Christmas
* **Series 22** - Forever and Ever (*mentioned*), Confusion Without Delay, What Rebecca Does, Samson and the Fireworks and Rosie is Red
* **Series 23** - Free the Roads (*mentioned*), Chucklesome Trucks, The Other Big Engine (*Photo*), Steam Team to the Rescue! and All Tracks Lead to Rome (*mentioned*)

#### Specials

* **2014** - Tale of the Brave (*mentioned*)
* **2015** - The Adventure Begins (*mentioned; appears in credits*)
* **2016** - The Great Race
* **2017** - Journey Beyond Sodor
* **2018** - Big World! Big Adventures!

Vicarstown would have also appeared in the Cancelled 2015 Special.

## Trivia

* The name comes from the Rev. W. Awdry's time as an Anglican priest, and on maps of Sodor it replaces the real Vickerstown, a suburb of Barrow situated on the Isle of Walney.
* As seen in the concept art, several different designs were tested for Vicarstown Station before the final design was decided upon.
	+ In one concept, the station was on ground level, with access to streets without walking down.
	+ In another concept, the station's train shed was more level, with a gentle curve, unlike the final version.
* According to concept art, Vicarstown's architecture is inspired by various stations including Spa Road, while its colour scheme is inspired by that of St. Pancras.
* As of the twenty-second series, it appears in every end segment.
* Before Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure was developed, Vicarstown was intended to be introduced in the 2015 special. Additionally, three new trams were to be introduced to run the tramway around the town underneath the station.

## Merchandise

* Wooden Railway (*discontinued*)
* Wood (*Busy Island Set*)