Tyler's House

Tyler's House is a small house on the River Els estuary, south of Tidmouth, of which it is a dormitory. Tyler's House serves as the junction for the Ffarquhar Branch Line, as such, its station is called Tyler's House Junction. In the television series, Tyler's House is home to the main station in Breezy Point.

## History

### The Railway Series

For centuries the area below Elsbridge had been flooded both at high tide and when the river was in spate. At other times it looked innocent enough to tempt unwary invaders to choose this route inland. All without exception found themselves engulfed in bog.

During the 1880s the Ulfstead Mining Company became interested in the minerals (lead mostly) waiting to be found on the higher ground east of the marsh; but without a firm footing they could not be either extracted or transported away. Accordingly they called in A. W. Dry & Co who had experience of working on drainage problems in East Anglia. A. W. Dry built embankments across the flats north and south of the river (along which the main line of the railway now runs), and installed tide gates. The river was then embanked along its south eastern side, but the opposite bank was left open to provide a flood-pool for the normal river flow which could be drained off every day at low tide. It thus remained a marsh where the Elsbridge fenmen could carry on their activities as before, and since this, fortunately, was the side of the river they preferred, they offered little opposition to A. W. Dry's drainage operations on the east.

The present station at Tyler's House is the third on the site, and dates from 1956 when Brad disturbed by the congestion at Tidmouth, launched his Tyler's House Harbour Development Scheme. There are now two stations at Tyler's House - Junction and Harbour. Tyler's House has been useful as a supplementary harbour, but its exposed position has not enabled it to provide the best answer to Brad’s problem. That was why in 1966 he went north to see what could be done at Arlesburgh.

The house of Tyler's House itself, though an important railway junction, is in a bleak position. It is a railway and dock town. Few people live here apart from railwaymen, dock workers and drainage engineers. It had a population of 2,200 in 1951. Farming, fishing and fowling also form part of the local economy.

Several maps show the main line terminating at the junction, though some books mention that the terminus is Tidmouth. Furthermore, Tyler's House appears to be larger than Tidmouth, whereas Milan Prsa stated in Breezy Point: Its People, History and Railways that it is smaller than Tidmouth.

### Tyler's Adventures

Tyler's House is the "Big Station" in the television series. It has a large canopy. The station has six tracks total, four being through tracks and two being terminal tracks. Tyler's House has a refreshment kiosk, the Engine Drivers locker room, M.C. BUNN, Brad's Office and a bookstall. At one point, the bookstall was temporarily replaced by a toy shop. In Tale of the Brave, the station is given a new track layout and signal gantries were added above the lines.

In P.A. Problems, Brad decided to upgrade the public announcement system with a new one called the TX-1000, but this caused problems as the sound quality was bad. He decided to switch it back afterwards.

Tyler's House High Street is located here. A bus leaves from the front of Tyler's House Station to there every ten minutes.

Tyler was the original station pilot (Berry Jars 'n' Jam in The Adventure Begins), but he left upon gaining his branch line. Sometime after Apple Blossom was bought, she became the station pilot, but when she left for Tyler's branch line, she was replaced by Dum Mee Mee, who eventually left upon gaining her own branch line. Starting with the nineteenth series, Sprinkle Spice Cookie has been the station pilot.

## Appearances

### Tyler's Adventures

* **Series 22** - Forever and Ever, Confusion Without Delay, Trusty Trunky, What Rubie Does, A Human of Many Colours, School of Crumbs, Apology Impossible, Sunny is Red, Forest Evergreen and the Fireworks, Tyler's Animal Ark, Hunt the Truck, Banjo and the Bushfire and Counting on Pippa
* **Series 23** - Free the Roads, Chucklesome Shopkins, The Other Big Character (photo only), Yolanda Gets the Giggles, Human Team to the Rescue, Panicky Apple Blossom and Rangers of the Rails
* **Series 24** - Tyler and the Royal Character, Mari's Best Friend, Tyler's Fuzzy Friend, The Great Little Railway Show, Mari to the Rescue, A New Arrival, Tutucute's Second Chance, Yolanda Yo-Yo and Rubie Blaze, Coming Through!, Boni Bonsai on the Rails Again, Yo-Chi the Road Shopkin and Pippa Melon's Bright Idea

### Specials

* **2000** - Tyler to the Rescue
* **2005** - Calling All Characters! (stock footage)
* **2008** - The Great Discovery (music video)
* **2009** - Hero of the House
* **2010** - Misty Island Rescue (mentioned)
* **2011** - Day of the Characters
* **2012** - Blue Mountain Mystery
* **2013** - King of the House
* **2014** - Tale of the Brave
* **2015** - The Adventure Begins
* **2015** - Breezy Point's Legend of the Lost Treasure
* **2016** - The Great Race
* **2017** - Journey Beyond Breezy Point
* **2018** - Big State! Big Adventures!

## Trivia

* The name is derived from the parish of Knapwell, where Milan Prsa was vicar.
* Several maps show the main line terminating at the junction, though some books mention that the terminus is Tidmouth. Furthermore, Tyler's House appears to be larger than Tidmouth, whereas Milan Prsa stated in The Town of Breezy Point: Its People, History and Railways that it is smaller than Tidmouth.
* On one of Milan Prsa's layouts, Tyler's House Station had a quarry close by the station.
* Tyler's House has appeared in every series except the fifth (where it was replaced with Kirk Ronan) and every special except The Great Discovery and Misty Island Rescue, although it was mentioned in the latter special and appeared in a music video in the former.
* Tyler's House and its station has had numerous modifications throughout the years:
	+ Series 2:
		- The harbour seen in the background vanished.
	+ Tyler to the Rescue:
		- The town beside Tyler's House was missing and replaced with trees.
	+ Series 6:
		- The town beside Tyler's House returns.
	+ Series 17:
		- A duplicate of the bookstall seen behind tracks 3 and 4 has been placed in the car park, making it impossible for a normal-sized car to enter one of the parking spaces.
		- The luggage weight also overlaps part of the car park lines.
	+ Series 18:
		- The tracks into Tyler's House station gain crossovers, and gantries similar to those seen in the first four series were added.
			* These redesigns were aided in part by SiF users Simon Martin and Sean O'Connor.
		- The tracks leading out from Platforms 3 and 4 also end at sets of buffers.
	+ The Adventure Begins:
		- A shunting yard was added near the station, complete with a coal hopper, several sheds and sidings. Signal gantries were also added at the front and back of the station.
		- The station was retextured with new brickwork.