Sir Handel

* SR
* MSR

*"You are a Troublesome Engine. You are rude, conceited, and much too big for your wheels."*
―The Thin Controller[src]
**Sir Handel**, named after Sir Handel Brown and formerly named **Falcon** after his builder, is a narrow gauge saddle-tank engine. He previously worked on the Mid Sodor Railway, but when the line closed, he was sent to work at the Sodor Aluminium Company. In 1952, he was brought to the Skarloey Railway.

Sir Handel is arrogant, rude and conceited, and believes that he is more important than any of the other engines, often throwing temper tantrums when things do not go his way. Although he may cause his fair share of trouble, Sir Handel still tries his best to be a Really Useful engine.

## Biography

### Mid Sodor Railway

Falcon was built as an 0-4-0 by Messrs Hughes at the Falcon Works in Longborough, England in 1904 for the Mid Sodor Railway to replace an engine that had been scrapped. He was delivered to Arlesburgh on a ship, and upon his arrival, he was painted blue and was named "Falcon", after his builder. In 1910, he was shipped back to Longborough to receive a pair of trailing wheels, as his long footplate caused him to bounce along the track.

Falcon proved himself to be a useful engine during his first days on the railway, and was allowed to pull the "Picnic" train along the Mountain Road. Falcon was excited, but became cross when he found out that Duke would be double-heading the train with him. Duke warned Falcon to pay attention to the track, but Falcon ignored his warning and insisted that he go at the front of the train, not wanting Duke to ruin the view for him. As the train made its way through the tunnel, Falcon somehow derailed, and he hung dangerously over the edge. Duke managed to hold onto Falcon long enough for the breakdown gang arrived, and the train arrived at the top station safely. Falcon then apologized to Duke for his behavior, and Duke forgave him.

Falcon was one of the few engines on the Mid Sodor Railway to stay even when the railway was facing hard times, and happily worked on the railway with Duke and Stuart for many years. However, the mines began to close down, and by 1947, the railway closed too. Falcon and Stuart were both purchased by the Sodor Aluminium Company, and left the railway to begin their new job while Duke was left oiled and sheeted up inside the engine shed at Arlesdale.

Falcon and Stuart both helped with the construction of the extension at the Aluminium Company. However, when the project was finished in 1950, Falcon was sheeted up and locked away in a shed at Peel Godred. He and Stuart were left in the shed for over a year, until they were purchased by the Skarloey Railway in 1951. After an overhaul at Crovan's Gate, Falcon was renamed "Sir Handel" after the Owner, and he entered traffic in 1952.

### Skarloey Railway

When Sir Handel arrived on the Skarloey Railway, he proved to be rude and conceited. He grumbled about the size of the engine sheds, insulted Skarloey when he first met him, and insulted the coaches, Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice, calling them "cattle trucks" due to their size. The coaches were infuriated, and as Sir Handel tried to pull the train up the hill, they pulled him back and made him struggle.

After being scolded by the Thin Controller, Sir Handel behaved well for several days. However, when he found out that he would have to go up to the Quarry and fetch some trucks, Sir Handel refused to go and deliberately derailed by pushing the rails apart. When the Thin Controller found out about this, he had Sir Handel shut up in the shed, and Peter Sam began doing his work for him.

However, on Market Day, Peter Sam needed to be mended, so Sir Handel was allowed to come out of the shed. Sir Handel learned sense during his time in the shed and tried to be friendly with the coaches, but they still did not trust him. Unfortunately, when Sir Handel came to a sudden stop to avoid running into some sheep on the line, the coaches assumed he had bumped them on purpose and bumped him off the rails, damaging him. As Sir Handel could no longer pull the train, Skarloey came out of the shed to do it instead.

When Skarloey was sent to England to be overhauled, Sir Handel worked alongside Peter Sam. He gained a newfound respect for Skarloey and began to mature, becoming much friendlier with the coaches, who finally began to trust him.

However, while Skarloey was still away, Sir Handel began complaining about the extra work he had to do. The Owner gave him and Peter Sam buffers and acquired a diesel, Rusty, to help them, but he continued to grumble. After a suggestion by Gordon, Sir Handel feigned illness so that he would not have to work. As there was not enough time to examine Sir Handel, Peter Sam did his work for him, but his plan backfired when Peter Sam was damaged when the slate trucks, who mistook him for Sir Handel, broke away from the incline winch and crashed into him. While Peter Sam rested in the shed, Sir Handel did his work as well as his own, much to his chagrin.

When a group of men came to the railway and began inspecting everything, Sir Handel feared that the railway would be closing down. When he found out that the men were producers who were filming a documentary about the railway, he was not impressed and once again tried to pretend he was ill to avoid being filmed, but was left speechless when the Thin Controller jokingly threatened to have him taken apart for the producers to film.

Sir Handel found himself slipping between the rails quite often, which was caused due to his narrow trailing wheels. To cure this issue, his trailing wheels were fitted with broader, "steamroller-like" tyres. Sir Handel became conceited, and bragged to the other engines about his new wheels. In order to teach him some sense, Skarloey told Sir Handel about George, a rude steamroller who was working alongside the railway. When Sir Handel met George, he immediately took a disliking to him and boasted to him.

A few days later, Sir Handel was taking a goods train along the line running parallel to the road, when he met up with George once again. The two began to argue and exchanged insults with each-other, when George ran into Sir Handel's train and derailed the brake van. An argument broke out between the two crews until a policeman came to stop the noise, and the mess was taken care of. Afterwards, George left when his work was done, but Sir Handel believed *he* had made George go away and boasted to the engines more than ever before. However, his boasting came to an end when some boys began teasing him about the incident.

Sir Handel began having trouble with the coaches once more when they brought him to a standstill twice, and rudely insulted them when he grumbled to Skarloey and Rheneas. He then argued with the two engines over whether or not a mountain railway could exist, as he believed such a thing was impossible. However, his argument was debunked when Culdee, a mountain-climbing engine, arrived at the Wharf. Culdee befriended the narrow gauge engines, and later left to go back to his home railway.

When Sir Handel heard that the Duke of Sodor would be visiting the Skarloey Railway for Skarloey and Rheneas' 100th Birthday, he and Peter Sam were excited, as they believed that the Duke from their old railway would be coming. He was disappointed to find out that the Duke who had came was actually a man, and he and Peter Sam told the other narrow gauge engines about Duke and their old railway. Duke was later rediscovered, and Sir Handel was reunited with him when he was brought to Crovan's Gate.

In 1982, Duke entered service on the Skarloey Railway after an extensive overhaul. This meant that the Skarloey Railway had locomotive power to spare for the first time, and the railway planned to loan Sir Handel to the Talyllyn Railway when the line needed an extra engine, but Sir Handel had to wait for Duke's overhaul to be complete first. While he waited at Rheneas with a passenger train, Sir Handel became impatient while he waited for the Guard and began to leave the station before he could get on. Fortunately, the train was stopped when a passenger pressed Beatrice's emergency buzzer, and Sir Handel realized his mistake.

When Duke returned from the Works after his overhaul, Sir Handel was sent to the Talyllyn Railway. He witnessed the Royal Family visiting the railway, and got the chance to pull a wedding train. On one occasion, Sir Handel had to pull a passenger train on a rainy day, when he was hit in the face by a tree branch that was lying on the track. Sir Handel was not injured, but his crew made such a big fuss about it that they bandaged up his left eye. Sir Handel stayed on the Talyllyn Railway for two years, and returned to the Skarloey Railway in 1984.

In 1997, Peter Sam returned after he visited the Talyllyn Railway. Sir Handel became jealous of Peter Sam when he had to do his work for him, and knocked his firebars out of anger when he believed Peter Sam was grinning at him, and he had to wait in the shed until new ones came. At first, Sir Handel was glad he had no work to do, but he became concerned when nobody came to see him. When the Thin Controller arrived at the sheds, Sir Handel apologized to him and confessed his mistake. The Thin Controller thanked Sir Handel and "arranged" for his firebars to arrive, purposely neglecting to inform him that they had only just arrived.

Sir Handel later attended the naming ceremony of Ivo Hugh, along with the other narrow gauge engines.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Sir Handel is based on the Talyllyn Railway's "Sir Haydn", an 0-4-2 tank engine named after Sir Henry Haydn Jones, former owner of the Talyllyn Railway. This engine worked on the nearby Corris Railway until the line was closed in 1948. In 1951, Sir Haydn was purchased by the Talyllyn Railway, along with the other surviving Corris locomotive, No. 4, which became Edward Thomas. The Corris Railway is currently building a new engine of the same design.

In the 1980s, the Talyllyn Railway repainted Sir Haydn to resemble her Sudrian counterpart. Christopher Awdry wrote about this in the book, *Great Little Engines*, explaining that Sir Handel was visiting the Talyllyn Railway to help out. An incident in which Sir Haydn ran into a tree branch and received an eyepatch was turned into a story in the book, with little to no alteration from the reveal event.

Sir Haydn running in the guise of Sir Handel
### Livery

Sir Handel was painted dark blue with black lining during his time on the Mid Sodor Railway, and his footplate frames and bufferbeam were red. He carried two gold nameplates on each side of his saddle-tank, and he carried a builder's plate on his cab.

When Sir Handel arrived on the Skarloey Railway, he was painted in the railway's signature red livery with blue lining. His name is written on his saddle-tank in yellow, and his number is carried on two black plates in gold writing on his coal bunker. In *Four Little Engines*, Sir Handel had red wheels, but they became black later on.

## Background Information

### Sir Handel in Thomas & Friends

Sir Handel is a minor character in *Thomas & Friends*. Like in the Railway Series, he used to be known as "Falcon" and worked with Duke and Stuart before he came to the Skarloey Railway. He was originally arrogant and conceited, but in the tenth season, he became a more mature and wise engine. He currently works at the Blue Mountain Quarry with the other narrow gauge engines. Unlike the Railway Series, Sir Handel kept his blue livery even after he arrived on the Skarloey Railway.

## Trivia

* The Rev. W. Awdry created a model of Falcon for his Mid Sodor Railway layout. The model was placed at the Reverend Teddy Boston's Cadeby Light Railway until the line was closed in 2005.
* Up until *New Little Engine* was published, Sir Handel's coal bunkers were never visible outside of his cab.

## References

1. ↑ The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways
2. ↑ Duke the Lost Engine
3. ↑ The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways
4. ↑ Four Little Engines
5. ↑ The Little Old Engine
6. ↑ Gallant Old Engine
7. ↑ Mountain Engines
8. ↑ Duke the Lost Engine
9. ↑ Great Little Engines
10. ↑ New Little Engine

**Skarloey Railway**