Remembrance

GWR (1942-1944)

BR (1948-1955)

Valleyfields Central Railway (1955-current)

North Western Railway (2014-current)

Solario

Preston

Wilson

Cameron

Colin

Quentin

Thomas

Edward

Henry

Gordon

James

Percy

Duck

Donald & Douglas

Cudworth

Beattie

Stroudley

Hackworth

Thomas

Riley

Rani

Stepney

Preston

Wilson

Quentin Butcher

**Remembrance** is a cheeky, free-spirited mixed traffic engine. She works on both the Valleyfields Central Railway *and* the North Western, pulling her self-titled *Remembrance Flyer* between both lines.

## Biography

Remembrance started her working life as a Baltic L tank engine. She worked on the LB&SCR, just like Thomas, and taught the little tank engine everything she knew. She had been named in honour of those who fought and died for their country in the First World War, a fact that’d gone to her smokebox and made her boastful. From 1934 to 1939, she and several of her siblings would be rebuilt into tender engines in the hopes of being up to the standards of the N15 engines. However, her first Express run as a tender engine failed when she ended up bouncing her crew about. The driver was so frustrated with her bounciness that he stopped her in the middle of the line and left her there; Stephenson had to come and help her finish the journey.

Despite getting her name from the First World War, it wasn’t until World War II that she would truly become a war hero. She, along with Stephenson and Trevithick, had been sent to the Great Western Railway to assist with the war effort, where she would first meet Duck. They got off on the wrong wheel due to Duck’s grumpiness, but they became great friends after she saved him and his passengers from an Nazi aircraft. They kept in touch even after Remembrance and her siblings had to return to the Southern region. She spent many happy years there, until British Rail built a fleet of Bulleid Pacifics in the early 1950’s. These new engines began replacing her siblings, as they proved to be more powerful and reliable.

In 1955, Remembrance was purchased by Richard Cavendish, the controller-at-the-time of the VCR. She was excited and relieved to be saved from scrap, but was devastated when she heard that Stephenson was to be withdrawn. Not wanting to lose her brother, she took him with her to Rhendowhen, without him knowing it till they arrived the next morning. The two engines started their lives on the VCR as the main Express engines, but when Enterprise was brought to the railway, Remembrance was transferred to the then Newport branch line. She worked there for over a decade with her sister Ravenville, until the line was bought by Ford in 1981; she would be sent back to the Main line to make way for Murph the diesel. By this time, she’d stopped replying to Duck’s letters out of fear that she and Stephenson would be discovered by British Rail and hunted down for scrap.

Upon her return to the Main, the VCR’s controller arranged a new passenger service called the “Valleyfields Flyer”, and gave the train to her and Stephenson to take turns pulling. She pulled this train until she was next taken out of service in 2010 to be overhauled. She returned to service in 2014, but instead of returning to said train, she was partially bought by Kris Topham Hatt to run a new service: the Remembrance Flyer, named after her. She was supposed to run the flyer between Rhendowhen and Sodor right after her overhaul, but Gordon’s injector had failed, forcing her to stay on Sodor to cover his trains. The day she arrived also happened to be days after Thomas’ centenary, and he was overjoyed to see her again after so long.

Remembrance didn’t leave the best first impression on some of the other engines, particularly Percy and James; she’d tease Percy for struggling with his stone trucks and James for having to pull trucks against his will. But she managed to win them over when she defended Percy against a couple of angry tourists and carried James and his passenger train as well as her own to the Works after the latter’s firebox incident. Unfortunately, her namesake flyer’s debut was delayed even further when Rachel played a trick on James that ended in him bursting his safety valve; Gordon’s repairs had finished by then, but Remembrance now had to stay longer to stand in for *James*. It wasn’t until he returned that she could finally return home and the Remembrance flyer could come to fruition.

## Personality

Remembrance is a cheeky engine and somewhat competitive, but also wise and careful. She does, however, tend to get anxious from time to time, which makes her overbearingly stern. What makes her most popular with engines and staff alike is her fun-loving and carefree side. She considers herself to be a Sodor fan in her own right, as she’s fascinated with everything about it, locations, stories, lore and all; she’s a self-proclaimed expert on the island, even though she hasn’t discovered a lot about it beyond the Thin Clergyman’s writings. But she also loves cars and car-racing; her crew are both Top Gear enthusiasts, which is how she knows a great deal about it.

When she was still a tank engine, Remembrance also used to be boastful and would look down on those who were prone to misfortunes. She believed that nothing bad would ever happen to her, but that changed on her maiden voyage as a tender engine. The faster she went, the more she ended up shaking her driver and fireman about, leading them to stop and abandon the train in the middle of the line. She has since become much more humble, but she can still be boastful every now and then.

Despite having a large social status, she still cares deeply about her family, even if she doesn’t always show it. In fact, she can’t stand even the thought of losing someone in her family, especially those she’s been close with. She also tends to be afraid to speak up when confronted by her peers, especially Duck. This can be traced back to Duck’s hostility towards her when they first met.

## Basis

Remembrance was originally based on an LBSCR 4-6-0 Baltic L tank engine, just like her real-life counterpart. In the 1930's, however, she was converted into a tender engine, and is now based on a Southern Railway 4-6-0 N15X class. The real locomotive was scrapped in 1955.

## Livery

Remembrance was originally painted in SR Olive Green with black and white stripes during her tank engine years. Following her rebuild, she was given royal blue with red stripes, with the number 33 painted on her tender.

## Voice Actor(s)

* RJ Bandsma (Remembrance promo only)
* TheCluelessWolf (Episodes 1-3, outtakes only)
* Annie C. (Episodes 1-10)
* Mika Michelina (Episode 11 onwards)

## Appearances

* Season 1- Thomas & Remembrance, There's Something About Remembrance, James the Dragon, Stephenson and the Valleyfields Flyer *(does not speak)*, A Tale of Two Red Engines, Hobos *(cameo)*, Remembrance's New Shape, Remembrance and the Great Western Way, Invasion of the Bulleids, Withdrawal, Remembrance Makes a Splash
* Other Media - Remembrance the Blue Lightweight Express Engine, Engines of the Valleyfields Central Railway

## Trivia

* Remembrance was the first of the series' original characters to be created, having been developed as far as 2010. Her original model was simply a requested reskin of the actual locomotives model for Microsoft Train Simulator that was done by Thunderbird Studios.
* She was also Fantastic Mr. S' first ever Trainz model to be made.