North Western Railway

The **North Western Railway (NWR)** is the main standard gauge rail network on the Island of Sodor.

## History:

Before the NWR was created there were many other railways before they were all joined together to form the line.

The first ever railway was the Sodor and Mainland Railway, running from Barrow and connecting Sodor to the mainland starting in 1856 and opened in 1857, ran by its three engines, Clive, Neil and Matthew. The railway would extend further into Sodor by 1882, to Maron.

The second railway was the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway (now known as the Brendam Branch Line), which started construction in the autumn of 1885, ran by its trio of engines, Colin, Lily and Adam. The line ran from Wellsworth to Brendam, ending at the docks. They were also responsible for the creation of the Preston Incline (now known as Gordon’s Hill, due to the NWR 4’s breakdown upon it.)

The third railway was the Elsbridge and Knapford Railway, which started in 1904. Toby (who previously worked on the Harwick Tramway) arrived after it was closed, and spent the next year laying the line between Crosby and Elsbridge. Thomas was built at the Crovan’s Gate Works in 1905 and assisted Toby with the line extending the line to Knapford, finishing in 1907, the year Edward would arrive and work as the passenger engine.

During the time of the first World War, The S&M engines extended the line to Tidmouth and Arlesburgh for defensive reasons. Alongside this extension was the construction of a new rail line linking Knapford and Lower Knapford, creating Ballahoo Tunnel (known more commonly as Henry’s Tunnel) created as a collaboration project by the W&S and E&K engines. Knapford Harbour was created in 1916. (with the assistance of Ten Cents and Drollan) The former was assigned with help at the Harbour while the latter went to Brendam. In 1917, The Cardon Lumber Yard was created, followed by the Marston Heights Coal Mine and the start of Ffarquhar Branch. Whiff did most of the construction of the Ffarquhar Branch.

In 1923, the Elsbridge and Knapford Railway was merged into a part of the London and North Eastern Railway, led by Mr. Star. and the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway was merged into a part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, led by Mr. Zorro. The Main Line was used by both companies while the branch lines at the time were too small to be shared. The LNER (Nor’easters) handled Ffarquhar, while the LMS (Midis) handled Brendam. Other engines arrived to be part of the Midi and Nor’easter fleets,  starting with Gordon, Douglas and Arthur (the latter who was replaced by Donald after his fatal accident) in 1923 and ending with Peter and Eric in 1935. Throughout the years, a number of other projects were completed during that time. Knapford went from two platforms to five. The Oil depot at Lower Knapford was built in 1929 and the Tidmouth Dairy was created in 1930.

Along with the rest of the companies of the big four (the GWR and SR), The LNER and LMS were closed in 1948 and absolved upon the Nationalisation of British Railways and the Island became the North Western Region of British Railways, linking all of the lines together with The Fat Controller as controller starting in 1946 after Mr. Zorro retired due to lung cancer.

## Interchanges with other railways:

* The Main Line - The Skarloey Railway at Crovan’s Gate.

## Staff:

The Fat ControllerBasil Corbett (briefly)Mr. Zorro (briefly : deceased)Morty (formerly)
## Engines and Lines:

### The Main Line

HenryGordonJamesReginaldEmilyBoCoSamantha (Knapford shunter)Peckett (Vicarstown shunter)
### Brendam Branch Line

EdwardEric Diesel Donald DouglasRosieSalty Bill (China Clay Pits) Ben (China Clay Pits)
### Other Engines

DaisyBarryDerek (Fire and Rescue Service)Joey (Railway Inspectors Unit)
### Former Engines

Murdoch (briefly)Joshua (briefly)Johnny Cuba (briefly : deceased)Thomas (deceased)Peter (deceased)Geoffrey (deceased)Adam (deceased)Mickey (Fire and Rescue Service) (deceased)Benson (Railway Operating Division) (deceased)
## Rolling Stock:

AnnieClarabelBrianMaggieToadToby's coachLNER Express CoachesLMS Express CoachesBranch Line Coaches