Tidmouth Sheds

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**Tidmouth Sheds** are the main engine sheds of the North Western Railway located at Tidmouth. In the *Railway Series*, they are shown as a shed with three or four rails leading inside them (the illustrations were inconsistent), but in later books, they were depicted as a shed enclosing twelve berths around a turntable. Numerous major events have occurred at the sheds, such as the strike of the big engines and the confrontation among Duck, Diesel and the big engines.

## History

### The Railway Series

In 1925, an agreement was made with the LMS, which allowed NWR trains to run as far as Barrow-in-Furness. Following this, the main motive power depot was moved from Vicarstown to Tidmouth, where the new four-road engine shed was built nearby the station. There was also a turntable outside of the shed, which was close to the sea, which once caused James to be spun around at high speed due to the wind. Additionally, a large coaling stage for the steam engines is situated just outside of the shed, with a ramp to push up trucks supplying coal.

In 1952, the engine sheds were heavily rebuilt. While the original four-road building remained, it was now also the entrance to a much larger roundhouse building situated behind it, with the turntable now being moved inside the shed rather than outside by the sea. The roundhouse followed a similar design to typical LMS roundhouses such as Barrow Hill, with twelve berths with ash pits underneath situated around a turntable and an entrance and exit at either end. Additionally, a new two-road carriage shed was erected next to the original four-road structure. That same Christmas, a party for Mrs. Kyndley was held at the newly-completed sheds.

Later on, a diesel fuelling and cleaning facility was added to the area of the original shed shared by BoCo and Bear. Sometime after this (but before 1983), a visiting diesel from The Other Railway nicknamed Old Stuck-Up once crashed through the back of the shed wall, which was later repaired, while going to be cleaned and refuelled here before heading for home.

### Thomas & Friends

n the television series, Tidmouth Sheds are located between the Town Square and the Rail Under Road Bridge and Stone Wall, which are located north of Tidmouth Station. The sheds were presented as a German-style roundhouse with six berths and a turntable outside at the front. There is also a goods station located near the sheds. Thomas, Gordon, James, Percy and Emily generally sleep here, although other engines sometimes spend the night here. Edward, Henry, Toby and Duck formerly slept here, in which the former two later left the sheds to live in other locations to make room for Nia and Rebecca, although Edward and Henry still stay at the sheds occasionally. Duck has stayed at the sheds on at least two occasions since leaving. The sheds have appeared in every series and special of *Thomas & Friends*.

During the events of *Thomas and the Magic Railroad*, the left side of the sheds was being repaired due to upgrades to the railway, however, Diesel 10 destroyed the side while the engines were asleep. The sheds were later demolished and rebuilt in *Calling All Engines!* with a new architectural style and an extra berth for Emily. Diesel, 'Arry and Bert were put in charge of building them, but Thomas, attempting to pay them back for their bad behaviour earlier on, sabotaged the three, unaware that they were delivering building supplies for the sheds, causing the engines to sleep elsewhere until it was repaired. When the job was completed, Emily then became part of the team at Tidmouth Sheds.

The turntable had frozen one time due to the icy weather and Gordon got trapped in the sheds until it could be fixed. Later on, the steam team went on strike by objecting to leave the sheds until the Fat Controller was allowed to stay on Sodor, however it was just a misunderstanding as Sir Topham Hatt was never leaving.

Sometime later, James crashed into the back of the shed wall after having trouble with his brakes. A week later, the shed was repaired and everybody moved back in, but Edward then chose to permanently move to Wellsworth Sheds with Philip, as it was near his branch line. Sometime later, Henry left to stay at Vicarstown Sheds with Rosie.

## Residents

ThomasGordonJamesPercyEmilyNiaRebeccaToby (occasionally)Duck (occasionally)Donald (occasionally)Douglas (occasionally)Oliver (occasionally)Harvey (occasionally)Spencer (occasionally)Arthur (occasionally)Murdoch (occasionally)Stanley (occasionally)Scruff (occasionally)Charlie (occasionally)Bear (occasionally)Philip (occasionally)Diesel (temporarily)Class 40 (temporarily)D199 (temporarily)Edward (formerly)Henry (formerly)
## Trivia

* Although they do not appear until *Gordon the High-Speed Engine*, the new sheds from the later books were actually present since 1952, as in *Thomas' Christmas Party* it mentions the new engine shed and according to the Reverend W. Awdry, they were the most accurate in *The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways*, indicating the old shed up until *James and the Diesel Engines* was inconsistent.
* Though the engines seem to use the berths at random, in some series/specials, the engines are mostly seen in the sheds in a particular order, with these orders (right to left) being: In the HiT era for example, the order was in some episode in the ninth series: Edward, James, Henry, Gordon, Thomas, Percy and Emily (but in some episodes, *Thomas and The Golden Eagle*, *Thomas's Day Off* and *Thomas's Milkshake Muddle*,) it went: Edward, James, Henry, Gordon, Percy, Thomas and Emily.
	+ In several episodes of the seventeenth series; the three big engines (Henry, Gordon and James) at the right side of the shed in a random order, Thomas and Percy in the middle and Emily and Edward at the left side of the shed.
	+ In *Tale of the Brave*, *Spencer's VIP*, *Helping Hiro* and *Philip to the Rescue*, the order from right to left was: Edward, Henry, Emily, Gordon, James, Thomas and Percy (though Henry and Edward switched places in the latter episode).
	+ From the twentieth to twenty-first series (excluding *Three Steam Engines Gruff*, *The Great Race* and *Cranky at the End of the Line*), the order (right to left) was: Henry, Gordon, Edward, James, Thomas, Percy and Emily.
	+ Starting in *Big World! Big Adventures* (the twenty-second series) after Henry and Edward moved out, the order was still the same as in the twentieth series, except Rebecca is in Henry's place and Nia is in Edward's, so the order (right to left) goes: Rebecca, Gordon, Nia, James, Thomas, Percy and Emily.
	+ In *Thomas' Animal Ark*, James and Nia switch places, so the order (right to left) was: Rebecca, Gordon, James, Nia, Thomas, Percy and Emily.
	+ Prior to the All Engines Go reboot, whenever Toby stays at the sheds with the whole Steam Team, he sits outside the sheds on a siding next to the main structure.
* In the *Railway Series*, Tidmouth Sheds is based on Bournville Engine Sheds.
* In the television series, Tidmouth Sheds is based on Vollmer Roundhouse.
* Tidmouth Sheds has had numerous modifications throughout the years:
	+ Series 1-12:
		- The track layout and yards around the shed were constantly changed.
	+ Series 3 (only):
		- The interior of the shed had more than nine berths while the outside had six in Oliver Owns Up, Percy, James and the Fruitful Day and *Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure*.
			* However, it had the normal six berths in *Henry's Forest*.
	+ *Thomas and the Magic Railroad*:
		- The sheds appeared in a new taller architectural design.
		- There are ten windows on each side wall instead of six.
		- The turntable well in-front of the sheds changed in design.
	+ *Calling All Engines!*:
		- The sheds were demolished and rebuilt with an extra berth, totalling seven.
		- The buffers in each berth disappeared.
	+ *Hero of the Rails*:
		- A part of Tidmouth town was located behind the sheds.
		- In promotional images only, the buffers are present in the berths.
		- The track layout became consistent.
	+ Series 13:
		- The current shed received weathering.
	+ Series 17:
		- The surroundings changed.
	+ Series 19:
		- Partway through the series, the buffers returned inside the sheds.
	+ Series 20:
		- Throughout *Henry Gets the Express*, *Henry in the Dark* and *The Christmas Coffeepot*, the workmen's shed on the right of the sheds was in the same position it had always been in since *Hero of the Rails*.
		- It remains in that position in most of *Three Steam Engines Gruff* but disappears at the end of that episode.
		- In *Engine of the Future*, the workmen's shed appears in a new position.
		- In all other episodes of the series, the workmen's shed appears in a position slightly different from the above.
	+ Series 21:
		- The town, wall and roads behind the sheds were moved back.
* Tidmouth Sheds is one of only two locations to appear in every series of *Thomas & Friends*, the other being Gordon's Hill.