Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice

**Agnes, Ruth, Jemima** and **Lucy** are the oldest coaches on the Skarloey Railway, whilst **Beatrice** is their guard's van.

## Biography

The Brown, Marshalls and Co stock have been part of the Skarloey Railway since the beginning of its history. When Skarloey took them out for the first time as part of the directors' train, Agnes was very suspicious and warned the other coaches to "be on their guard". She warned Skarloey that they would keep a sharp eye on him, but after Skarloey began to bounce when Mr Mack shut his regulator too quickly, they thought he bumped them on purpose and bumped him back, causing Mr Mack to fall into a set of bushes. He was so cross that he rode in Beatrice for the rest of the journey. However, when Skarloey was given a pair of trailing wheels and a cab, the coaches, even Agnes, could not help but feel impressed by it. Lucy arrived in 1866.

When the railway was facing hard times, the coaches were sometimes so full that passengers had to travel in Beatrice and third-class passengers were allowed to travel in Agnes, to the latter's ire, on occasions, particularly on Market Days.

In 1952, when Sir Handel and Peter Sam  came to the Skarloey Railway, they immediately began to dislike Sir Handel for calling them "cattle trucks", so they decided to seek revenge by holding him back on the hill. When Peter Sam had to take the coaches out, they preferred him over Sir Handel, given his good nature, despite a small incident where they told him that he left the Refreshment Lady behind after Henry jokingly threatened to leave their passengers behind.

The coaches still held a grudge against Sir Handel when he had to take them out for Market Day and when Sir Handel had to stop for sheep that strayed onto the line, the coaches thought he bumped them on purpose and derailed him by bumping him onto a set of points. Skarloey was the only engine left and he scolded the coaches severely for their bad behaviour and warned them not to play tricks on him. They were left feeling ashamed of themselves. Since then, especially after Skarloey went away to be mended, they never play tricks on Sir Handel that involve derailing him and they all got along with him. Despite this, they can still be awkward on occasions and act in a way that only Skarloey and Rheneas know how to handle.

Early in the summer of 1982, the railway had so many visitors that there was not enough room in the four coaches to carry all the passengers, so some had to travel in Beatrice. When they reached Rheneas (station), the guard had to check the passengers' tickets, which made Sir Handel impatient. When the guard had finished and blown his whistle, he tried to climb into Beatrice but some passengers blocked the entrance and Sir Handel set off without him. Beatrice tried to stop but was unable to on her own, but a passenger had pressed a buzzer inside her which sounded an alarm in Sir Handel's cab, which alerted his crew to the problem and made them stop Sir Handel and pick up the guard.

## Personalities

The coaches like all the engines, Sir Handel least of all for referring to them as "cattle trucks". They were also mistrustful of Skarloey at first for being bouncy. On the contrary, they took to Peter Sam right away, and he even called them his 'dears' whenever he took them out.

Agnes is a deep-voiced and proud first-class carriage who looks down on the others, who are third-class. She appears to be the leader of the five. Jemima is somewhat deaf. All four coaches look down on Beatrice and claim that she "smells of fish and cheese". Beatrice is, however, very useful. She has a ticket booth and an emergency buzzer and sometimes even carries passengers when the coaches are full.

The coaches are genuinely nice and quiet like many other coaches but can be hot-tempered and sinister if an engine does not treat them properly. They can occasionally be silly and awkward and play tricks on the engines by pushing them down a hill without thinking about what they are doing, something that Sir Handel and Duncan struggle with. However, Skarloey and Rheneas, given their many years of experience, always know when to be stern with them when they misbehave and put them in their place.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Agnes, Ruth, Jemima and Lucy are based on the Talyllyn Railway's first four coaches, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4, while Beatrice is based on the Talyllyn Railway's first guard's van, No. 5. Coaches Nos. 1, 2, 3 and No. 5 were built by Brown, Marshalls and Co. Ltd. between 1866-67, while No. 4 (also known as "Limping Lulu") was built by the Lancaster Wagon Co. in 1866 to a different design.

Agnes is based on the first-class No. 1, while Ruth and Jemima are No. 2 and No. 3 respectively, with Lucy being No. 4. Although Agnes is misidentified as having been based on No. 4 in *Sodor: Reading Between the Lines*, the Rev. W. Awdry's own writings state that Lucy is Coach No. 4. This is confirmed by her arriving later than Agnes, Ruth and Jemima and thus being absent from "Bucking Bronco".

### Livery

Agnes, Ruth, Jemima and Lucy are painted in the Skarloey Railway light blue with cream window surrounds livery. Agnes has a number "**1**", Ruth has a number "**2**" and Jemima has a number "**3**", all painted under their doors in gold to indicate what class they are. In *Four Little Engines* only, Ruth, Jemima and Lucy are numbered as "**3**", indicating that they are all third class. In most illustrations, however, they lack numbers.

In *Four Little Engines* and *The Little Old Engine*, all have "**SKARLOEY RAILWAY**" painted under their windows in black. In a flashback to the railway's opening in *Very Old Engines*, Agnes has the letters "**CGMC**" painted under her windows in black.