#coal shortage | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

steam-beasts · 11 months ago

Text

My TTTE timeline - a concept

1800s

1805 - Construction of the first ever railway on Sodor was initiated. The first ever line to be built was horse-powered, which obviously meant that horses were used pull carts along a plate way from the Balladwail harbour to the copper mines in the foothills of Wardfell, this very tiny railway was simply dubbed "The Railroad". Slate was later on discovered in the hills and were eventually also mined.

1853 - After a few decades of using just horsepower, and having the only railroad on Sodor, the government finally caved in and agreed to help build a standard guage line from Ballahoo to Rolf's Castle in the Kirk Ronan area. This line would then be planned to be extended north to the Mainland. Three box-tank engines were sent to this line to assist with construction, one of which was called Niel.

1863 - The S & M railway soon extended south to the Kirk Ronan harbour in order to export slate and copper from the mines. Soon, the plateway was moved up to a new route near the Skarloey lake and replaced with rails for steam engines. This new railway was named the Skarloey Railway.

A narrow guage engine was ordered from the Fletcher, Jennings & Co from White Haven in England. At this time, Skarloey and Talyllyn had been built and were both waiting eagerly to be bought. However, when the year came around for Skarloey to depart for Sodor, he was quite upset to be leaving his sibling Talyllyn as he and the other had gotten quickly attached to each other. This caused some complications with unloading him at the docks, as Skarloey would have a bit of a tantrum due to being separated from Talyllyn. Neil, one of the box-tank engines had to step in and help calm Skarloey down, and transport him to the new railway. This sparked a new rule to be spread around to other steamwork companies on other railways which was to not let sibling engines get too attached to each other.

1865 - Later in the year, another engine from the same company that made Skarloey was bought and made to work alongside him, this engine was called Rheneas. He was bought not only to double the speed of work at the railway, but to be a companion for Skarloey as he began displaying signs of loneliness and possible depression from not seeing Talyllyn anymore.

1867 - Two years later, Skarloey is sent back to White Haven for a rebuild. He was given an added ponytruck and an enclosed cab for his updated design. Talyllyn was also given these new parts but in a separate room as to not let the pair interact. Rheneas would eventually follow suit (even if he didn't like it a lot). Meanwhile, on the south of the Sodor mountains, coal mines are dug and a town formulated around the hub called Great Waterton. A standard-guage tramway is built from the town, going through Crovan's Gate to the wharf at Balladwail, connecting to the S & M railway.

1870 - In another few years, more standard-guage railways were built. A new line was built up from the wharf at Suddery to Wellsworth and back, then known as the "Wellsworth & Suddery Railway". A fleet of four 0-6-0 saddle tank engines were sent to the railway, it's unknown where these four specific engines are to this day.

Mysteriously, during the construction of what was Sodor's 4th official railway, the slow but steady appearances of the railways and their engines began catching the attention of a bizarre community. One by one, strange men and occasional women would be seen around the railways. These mysterious people were all dressed up in tidy conductor uniforms and would appear and disappear in a cloud of golden dust...but that's what the workers stated, so it's still unclear.

No one's too sure who these strange folks are, or WHAT they are, but the managers say its best not to interact with them to be on the safe side...

1872 - Due to a recent shortage of sleepers in some parts of Sodor, along with the stormy showers wearing away the wood, the decision was made to find the sturdiest and most resistant wood in the world for the sleepers, thus discovering Jobi Wood. Unfortunately, the wood could only be found in the likes of Japan, which was ALL the way on the other side of the globe. This decision gets dismissed until a month later, two hikers visited Misty Island; A tiny neighbouring island located off the east coast, which was untouched by mankind for a century, and was nicknamed due to the heavy mist that surrounded it.

It was there that the two hikers discovered the Jobi wood when trying to burn it for their fire, only to find that it just partially burnt up and mostly still ok. This discovery was later spread, and managers of the standard guage lines were DELIGHTED to hear the news. Another month passes and Sodor gets in contact with an American logging company, known as the Bear Harbour Lumber Company.

A deal was struck and four boats from the company later arrived on Misty Island to begin constructing a new logging station and railway, with help of the Sodor Construction team.

1875 - A few years pass before the railway on Misty Island is officially completed and is named "The Bear Valley Railroad". Later that year, a small fleet of Climax Class A, B, and C logging engines are built at the Climax Locomotive Works in Corry, Pennsylvania and almost immediately are sent to work on Misty Island.

1879 - Up in the west of Sodor, a second narrow guage railway is constructed from the Arlesburgh harbour to the west mines of Peel Godred. This would be the Mid-Sodor Railway, which consisted of four engines, the first one to arrive being Duke. The others would arrive later.

1885 - Meanwhile, a third standard guage railway would be made at Toryreck to serve the lead mines located there, it was named the Elsebridge and Knapford Railway. A fleet of freshly built vertical boiler engines nicknamed "Coffee Pots" are loaned from the mainland. Glynn, a member of the Coffee Pots was designed and hand-built by a young rookie engineer named Richard Hatt and named by him personally. Richard Hatt will play a huge role in the railway's developments later...

Glynn was later bought from the Mainland to resume a permanent service at the railway after working tirelessly day and night. The other Coffee pots would remain loaned.

It was during this year the Mid-Sodor and Skarloey companies would attempt to built a third narrow guage line that went east through the Bluebell valley into Vicarstown, creating a link between it and Peel Godred. But this line would be abandoned shortly after as the Mainland built the Vicarstown bridge that went over the river and into the actual mainland. The S & M hammered the final nail in the coffin by extending their line down to the holiday seaside town of Norramby.

1886 - Back on Misty Island, a near-accident occurs where a Climax Class B locomotive almost gets hit by a landslide in the valley. A young Class C logging loco named Ferdinand luckily notices and pulls him out of the way. Ferdinand, like the other climax locos was initially loaned to the railway, but due to his heroic act, he was purchased and officially became the Bear Valley's No.1 engine.

1899 - Elsewhere, a rack railway was constructed to climb to the top of Culdee Fell, Sodor's largest mountain. Five angled-boiler engines were purchased from Switzerland, and they were odd ones. With the usual grey faces on the front of their smokebox and a second face on the back of their cabs. The railway's namesake, Culdee was trialed the year after before the grand opening and passed with flying colours. On Misty Island, one of the world's first diesel engines is sent to work there – her name was Dolly, and she was mostly used to clear away logs on the rails or to double-head log flatbeds. After a few months of tension, her and Ferdinand warmed up to eachother and became close friends from then on.

1900s

1900 - It is the 20th century. After Culdee's successful trial, the railway was soon approved for opening and opened in May for passengers and hikers. Everything went smoothly, until an accident occurs a couple months later where Godred, the Culdee Fell's No.1 derailed and tumbled down the mountain side, suffering critical damage. He was scrapped shortly after, and the railway was forever left without it's No.1.

1901 - During the first 15 years of the 20th century, several developments to the standard guage lines occured, the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway extend south to Brendam.

1902 - On Misty Island, two new engines arrive and are quite odd looking – A pair of young 0-4-0 twin B.H.L.C engines named Bash and Dash. They are both rather cheeky and annoying, causing disruption at the station and being a pair of little shits to everyone, especially the No.1, Ferdinand who wants nothing to do with them. But trouble blooms as Ferdinand accidentally derails in a more secluded part of the island. Bash and Dash rescue him, and are purchased as a reward, becoming the railroad's No.2 and No.3. The three are on good terms now.

1903 - Back on the Mid-Sodor, a new engine named Falcon is purchased and brought to the railway alongside Duke. On his first run up the mountain with the older engine, Falcon is reckless and nearly tumbles to his death. Duke however, catches him in time and is deemed a hero.

1904 - The harbour at the Elsbridge and Knapford railway becomes hard to upkeep, and is eventually abandoned. The line is moved up to Tidmouth through the headlands, and even though Tidmouth's a small place, it's harbour is surprisingly larger than the Knapford harbour. But unfortunately, a storm destroys the track.

To prevent this from happening again in the future, another track is created going through Knapford and a tunnel is constructed to let the track go on to Tidmouth

1905 - The tunnel is complete and the Elsbridge and Knapford railway becomes the Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Light Railway. Later on, the Light railway and the Wellsworth and Suddery line fuse to become the Tidmouth, Wellsworth and Suddery Railway.

(Ya'll feeling a bit confused? Good. So am I :,D)

1905 seemed to be the year where multiple changes would occur, as on April, the tracks to Elsebridge would become the Elsbridge branchline. Back to Great Waterton, an unfortunate event occurs where the mines dry up and the people abandon the town to find other jobs. Great Waterton is left to become ruins and the tramway is closed.

1906 - A year later, all the standard guage lines finally fuse together into one big railway, known as the "Northwestern Railway". The Wellsworth and Suddery become the brendam branchline. There is now a plan to create a big station in Knapford that links together the headland line and the mainline together.

1907 - The big station at Knapford is complete, and named "Knapford Station", for obvious reasons. It becomes the railway's top link station. Meanwhile, all the the way in Japan, a rail engineer called Hideo Shima creates a Class D51 2-8-2 called Hiro. Hiro is quite a rarity, he is actually a prototype Class D51 2-8-2 tender engine, he came WAY before any of his brothers and sisters. As a replacement for the retired D50s, Hiro's design was initially a practice design and not yet official, and Hideo Shima and the JR didn't plan on using him as many engines already took up the railway. So a call was made to the Northwestern Railway in Sodor, offering the prototype to take up any freight services or passenger runs.

The offer was, after a lot of persuading, accepted and Hiro was sent Sodor and was loaded off at Brendam Docks, becoming the Island's first ever standard-guage tender engine. Hiro would go on to do passenger runs from Knapford to Vicarstown and many freight runs. Mind you, this all happened near the start of the year.

1908 - Back at Misty Island, an incredible discovery is made – a tunnel. This tunnel however, wasn't normal. It was found that the tunnel linked the small island with Sodor by going right under the ocean bed and out of a tunnel mouth on Sodor that was covered up by years of growing terrain and plants. A very bizarre discovery indeed. The tunnel seemed to be incredibly old as well, sodor historians and geographers theorised that it dated back to the 1600s, where King Godred ruled. The Misty Island tunnel could've been a secret escape passage that allowed kings and queens to escape to safety without being seen by enemies.

The idea was then made to reuse this tunnel as a quicker way to deliver jobi wood to Sodor instead of sending it by boat. A new line was built through the tunnel that would be used to fetch and bring wood from the Bear Valley Railroad. Hiro and Glynn would be first to do this. However, for Hiro, this is the last time he is ever seen before suddenly vanishing the following year.

1910 - Glynn's designer, Richard Topham Hatt becomes the director of the Northwestern Railway.

Remember that "odd community" that I mentioned before? The small crowd of strange conductors had blended into the Sodor population by then, so they were hardly noticed. That was until after a month of becoming director, Richard Hatt is approached by one of them. He was a tall man with elf-like ears and a mustache.

The conductor explained who he and his fellow conductors were, that they came from an unseen railway, a "magic railroad" as a way to put it. He then requests the new director to allow him and his fellow conductors to stay. Reluctantly, Richard agrees to this, and that's how Mr Conductor and his family became involved with Sodor.

1914 - To help with passenger runs and freight services after Hiro's sudden disappearing act, the Northwestern Railway loans a small, elderly dark red tender engine from Barrow-in-Furness named Edward. At the time, Edward was the only tender engine on the Northwestern Railway, and had to do a majority of tasks by himself. But he got help from a couple of the Coffee Pots now and again. He was the top-link express engine and delivered goods trains across the whole railway. With help from the Coffee pot engines, Edward managed to finish the line all by himself. Glynn and two other vertical boiler engines are sent to Knapford to shunt trains as at the time.

A branchline is created during this time, running from Ballahoo to the seaside town of Norramby.

1918 - Edward is purchased by the NWR, and becomes the No.2 of the railway. Glynn, being the only officially bought engine, is still the No.1. Edward is repainted into a NWR royal blue later that year.

1920 - Back to the Mid-Sodor, a new little engine named Stewart is bought and is transferred to the railway via traction engine.

1922 - Several engines from the Mainland are loaned to help out on the railway. A third engine is purchased, a supposed A3 Pacific meant to help out with passenger runs. However, due to poor steaming problems because of an unusually small firebox, he's unable to. The engine's name is Henry, and it turned out he was a squandered design that Sir Nigel Gresley threw away. Despite these issues, the Fat Director kept him out of the kindness of his heart.

But Henry would put that generosity to the test when later that year, he goes into a tunnel due to apparently not wanting to get his livery ruined by the rain. Even long after the rain stops, he refuses to come out like a stubborn big baby. Despite all the efforts, Topham ultimately decides to brick Henry up in the tunnel, remove the tracks and never let him out. Suffice to say, Henry regrets his life decisions.

1923 - The next year rolls by, Edward finds himself retired in terms of Express duties by a new and flashy A3 Pacific from the L.N.E.R called Gordon. Gordon becomes the island's top link express engine, replacing Edward. With all the more modern steam engines coming to the island, poor old Edward is used less and less, eventually left sitting at the back of the sheds. Eventually, a sympathetic crew let him out for some fresh air and he got to pull trains again, along with the express. The Fat director is pleased with Edward, so he awards him with odd jobs to do in Wellsworth. Sometime later, Gordon gets stuck on a hill and Edward has to come and help him up. A few months later, Gordon bursts his safety valve near the Ballahoo tunnels where Henry was walled up in.

Edward comes along to pull the Express for him, but finds himself struggling to do so. The Fat director, who was on the Express decided to try with Henry again. Henry was let out and successfully assisted Edward with pulling the coaches. The three of them became long-time friends after that.

The Peel Godred Electric company constructs a hydro-electric power station in Peel Godred that utilises the three nearby lakes. The only issue was that the bulky equipment they used was too big to fit the line clearances on the Mid-Sodor, so they switched to standard guage lines instead. The company struck a deal with the Northwestern to build a branchline from Kildane up to it. The gradients were steep, so electric engines with currents supplied from the power station would run it. With that, the line is made and a junction is created at Kildane with facilities for the electric engines and a line that stretches up to Kirk Machan. This line takes you from the NW to Culdee Fell. These changes would seal the Mid-Sodor Railway's fate.

1924 - In early January, a 5th engine for the NWR is bought. He is a sleek black Class 28 tender engine from the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, and his name is James. He was bought and assigned to goods trains, but was personally not fond of it. The only problem with James (asides from his obnoxious personality) were his brakes; For some reason, James had wooden brake blocks which made braking a little risky for him as they could catch fire. During the time of James's arrival, Glynn goes missing. After an island wide search, the NWR finds itself left without its No.1.

In the late summer after Glynn's disappearance, and without a station pilot at Knapford to handle the coaches and shunt in the yard, the Fat Director tries to find a replacement. He was initially planning on buying an E2 tank engine in 1916, but other Railway directors had purchased them all. It was until he discovered that a new E2 was very recently built and grabbed at the chance.

Phone calls were made and a week later, an E2 tank engine arrives on Sodor, his name is Thomas.

Almost immediately, Topham and Edward notice something off about Thomas's appearance; Despite being an E2, Thomas was much too small, probably just a tiny bit smaller than a Jinty or a Pug class. E2s were, I kid you not, MASSIVE, just a little taller than a tender engine, whereas Thomas was the opposite. Asides from his size, there were other complications with his design if you compared it with the blueprints.

At first, the Fat director thought he was scammed like he was with Henry, but after a talk with the supposed E2's crew and a look at his blueprints, it turned out that Thomas really WAS an E2. Thomas's build was just delayed due to the war and so had to be postponed, but when his build DID happen, it was rushed. However, the reason for his homunculus appearance is still unknown, as he refuses to say why.

Moving on, Thomas became Knapford's new Station pilot. He was although, newly built and was still trying to find his way around the railway. But luckily, Edward decided to come forth and mentor him through tough times.

1925 - Thomas eventually gets bored of being a station pilot and finds himself yearning for something different. One day he complains to Edward about this and the elderly K2 offers Thomas with taking his goods train to Wellsworth. Since it's his first time, Thomas has some... difficulties with the trucks, but manages them in the end. The Fat Director is there to see him with Edward's train and tells him off, same with Edward.

Thomas's promotion from pilot duties would coincide with the deal struck between the NWR and LMS that year. This deal allowed the NWR to extend their services over into the Mainland and so, a bridge was built over the wide river that separated the island from the Mainland. Sometime later, an incident occurs where James's wooden brake blocks fail and the trucks send him barreling through Wellsworth. Thomas tries to prevent him from crashing out in the farm fields but fails and James derails. Thomas acts quickly and fetches the Breakdown train, he is then considered a Really Useful Engine. As a reward, Thomas gets the Ffarqhuarr branchline and a repaint into the NWR blue like Edward.

He later encounters Glynn, the lost coffee pot engine who was sitting behind thick foliage that hid him rather well. Glynn had caught wind of his bravery and asks Thomas to take his place as No.1. So, by Glynn's request, the little blue tank engine has a number #1 painted on his side-tanks. James arrives back from the works later that year in a splendid new red livery.

Thomas's branchline runs from the Elsebridge station to Ffarqhuarr, the Ffarqhuarr quarry had recently opened, so the Fat Director believed Thomas would be the right engine for the job. In the early days, Thomas does many things on his branchline such as; fishing, leaving his guard behind, getting rescued by Terence on his first snow day on the line and racing Bertie. James pilots at Knapford for a little while before the director allows him to pull passenger trains.

1926 - A year passes, and Knapford still has no station pilot. The big engines start getting sick of shunting their own trucks and coaches, and decide to initiate a strike. They would nevertheless, begin regretting it as the Fat Director would keep them stuck in the sheds. Because of them refusing to do their jobs, Thomas has to come back and help Edward with the extra workload. Luckily, the Fat Director acts accordingly and purchases a small green saddle-tank engine he named Percy.

Percy takes up pilot duties, and the big engines are let out of their berths at Tidmouth once more. The Fat director even lets Thomas and Edward take a couple days off, saying as they had to handle most of the work.

1928 - After a series of accidents and warnings from Duke, the No.2 of the Mid-Sodor, Smudger is broken up and reduced to a generator at the back of the shed. Falcon and Stewart are quite horrified at this change.

1934 - Henry's steaming problems are becoming more and more frequent each week, and the Fat Director gets fed up with trying to fix him. It's until Henry's fireman recommends trying Henry with Welsh coal, and it seems to do the trick.

1935 - The year after, Henry pulls the Flying Kipper – a non-stop fish train to Manchester. However, due to an iced over signal, Henry ends up barreling into a siding where he has a high-speed collision with the back of a goods train. His crew and the guard and crew of the engine pulling the goods train were, by a miracle, not badly injured. Henry, needless to say, WAS badly injured. Henry is then sent to Crewe, where he is overhauled into a new shape and gets a bigger firebox. Henry returns that summer a better and stronger engine, and has had no steaming problems ever since.

1943 - World War II has begun, and over on Sodor, a couple events occur on the Skarloey railway. The railway's two main engines, Skarloey and Rheneas are over 70 years old now, and are starting to show their age. Skarloey unfortunately goes out of commission, and with no money due to wartime to overhaul him, Rheneas is forced to run the line himself.

1945 - Over on the mainland, Wilbert Awdry, a clergyman and priest writes and publishes the first ever Railway Series book that tells the many stories of Henry, Gordon and Edward, also known as "The Three Railway Engines". During this year on Misty Island, the Bear Valley Railroad encounters a sudden bankruptcy and immediately closes down. The company abandons the island so fast that three of their logging engines get left behind; Bash, Dash and Ferdinand, including a couple of its young lumberjacks.

1947 - A couple years after, the Mid-Sodor Railway meets its demise and closes after the mines are flooded. Most of the remaining engines that worked there are sold off, including Falcon and Stewart who are auctioned off to the Aluminum works at Peel Godred, while Duke is left in the sheds, tarped up and abandoned. Smudger is still a generator at this time and remains at the back of the shed, what's left of his body rotting away to time. It's just... haunting to think he's probably still there to this very day.

Later that winter, Thomas intentionally breaks his snow plough one day due to how uncomfortable it feels and as a consequence, ends up crashing into a snow drift later on. Luckily, Terence the Tractor comes by and rescues him, showing that you can never judge a book by its cover.

1948 - All four railways on the mainland join forces and become a national network called British railways, this officially makes the Northwestern Railway the Northwestern region of British Railways. The Fat Director is awarded his baronetcy for his services to the railways and becomes chairman of the Regional Executive, thus gaining the title "Sir" and having his nickname changed to "The Fat Controller". On his branchline, Thomas meets Bertie the Bus and races him to the Ffarqhuarr station.

Clay beds are discovered near Brendam and the Sodor China Clay Pits are formed. Two little Bagnall saddle tank engines called Bill and Ben are brought to Sodor and are sent to work there. They pull the clay trucks from the pits to the Brendam Docks. With Brendam Docks becoming revitalised, the line to it find new use, and so Edward is sent to run it.

Later on, Edward is taking a train of scrap to the new Peel Godred Ironworks, built at Peel Godred. The NWR built a branchline through the Mid-Sodor, north of Abbey and through a valley up to it. On his way there, he meets Trevor the Traction Engine, who's due to be broken up the following week. Edward refuses to let this happen, so he convinces the Vicar of Wellsworth to save him.

1950 - Deep in the bowels of one of Sodor's biggest forests, two young best friends, a boy named Burnett Stone and a girl named Tasha make a remarkable discovery when they find an old, dying driver and his engine at the cliff face of a mountain. This discovery will change how these two children view engines forever..

1951 - Sir Topham Hatt takes his family on holiday to East Anglia, where they meet an elderly J70 steam tram named Toby, and his faithful coach, Henrietta. The family takes a liking to the pair and by the children's request, go for passenger rides along the tramway. Sadly for Toby and Henrietta, they both knew these were the last passenger rides they were ever gonna give...or so they thought.

Later that year, Thomas gets in trouble with a policeman because his wheels aren't covered, so he can't get on the tramway to the quarry. Sir Topham Hatt remembers Toby and writes to his controller, then purchases him and Henrietta. Toby and his coach arrive later, and he becomes the railway's 7th engine. Back on the Skarloey, Rheneas finally reached his limit and his valve gear jams while he is on route with a passenger train. He reaches the station by good luck but is in need of an overhaul. With both of the main engines out of action, two new engines are brought to take over; Stewart and Falcon. But now, the two had been renamed "Peter Sam" and "Sir Handel". The pair had been auctioned off to the Aluminium Works four years prior and had been repurchased and named after the owner and controller of the railway respectively.

That Christmas, a landslide occurs and blocks the tunnel that Mrs Kyndley's cottage is situated near. Mrs Kyndley was sick that day, but after seeing the landslide, she quickly grabbed a red blanket and waved it out of her window, knowing Thomas was coming. She flagged Thomas down and stopped him just in time. After Mrs Kyndley's heroic act, Sir Topham Hatt came and thanked her personally at her cottage.

1952 - The next year rolls around on the Skarloey railway and Rheneas is finally sent to be overhauled, being absent for 9 whole years. On the NWR, Edward is sent away for an overhaul after rescuing a runaway James who had his controls messed with by some foolish boys. While waiting for his turn to go to the works, Edward and Skarloey converse, with Skarloey filling him in on everything that's happened on the SR.

After Sir Handel derails, Skarloey is let out of the shed after years of not running, despite a leaky boiler and warped firebox. He breaks a spring during his first-in-a-long-time passenger run, but gets the passenger train to the next station. The railway is so pleased with him, that they agree to send him for an overhaul. He leaves, leaving Sir Handel and Peter Sam to handle the railway themselves.

That same year, before Edward left for his overhaul, Gordon refused to pull a goods train and ran off the turntable into a ditch. He managed to make up for his mistake though after rescuing a reckless Thomas who fell down a dilapidated mine at Toryreck. That Christmas, the fat controller hosted a Christmas party to thank Mrs Kyndley for her act of heroism last year. Everybody gets a little drunk while being surrounded by a bunch of sentient trains with faces. 1952 was a big year.

1954 - The newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth || travels around the whole of Britain to greet everyone, including Sodor. Gordon is chosen to haul her coaches. Sir Richard Topham Hatt retires, leaving his son, Charles Topham Hatt to inherit the railway.

1955 - On his first year of becoming controller, the Fat Controller's first act is to reopen service at the old Knapford harbour. Work begins immediately that year, and Percy, Thomas and Trevor are enlisted to help with restoration. With Percy not stationing at Knapford, the Fat Controller purchases another engine from the mainland to take his place. The new engine is a Pannier tank from the Great Western region named Montague, but is nicknamed Duck.

After Percy proves to be quite good at the harbour, he is relocated to work at Thomas's branchline, and Duck becomes the new official station pilot. Duck is purchased and becomes the railway's 8th engine, but the Fat Controller graciously lets him keep his Great Western livery and nameplates.

Due to the new construction of the harbour, the map of the Ffarquhar branchline changes; the south harbour junction closes and a new one is opened north of the river. A new line for passenger services is built over the old dryaw line, and so the old one closes, but then it is revitalised for goods services.

Probably everyone who read this all so far;

During the time when Percy is helping to restore the harbour, he meets Harold the Helicopter at the Dryaw Airfield and doesn't take a huge liking to him. Soon enough, the old Knapford harbour is finished and opened for service.

Later that year, the Ffarquhar branchline caught in a heavy downpour and suffers flooding near Elsebridge. Percy is filling in for Thomas at that time, but braves the flood and gets the passengers home.

1956 - At the Knapford harbour, Percy brags to Bill and Ben about the time he braved the flood to get Thomas's passengers home. Bill and Ben were amazed, Henry...not so much. At this time, the foundations of the key had sunken, making the rails slope down. There is a danger sign to warn engines of this, but Percy was too big-headed to believe it, even a warning from Thomas doesn't make him wary. Out of stubbornness and seeing what he can get away with, Percy one day gets some troublesome trucks to push him past the sign, but this doesn't end well as he ends up plunging into the sea. Percy got humbled that day U_U

A month later, a horrid storm beats down on Sodor and destroys a forest situated between Wellsworth and Crosby. Henry is dismayed at the news. To cheer him up, Toby, Terence and Trevor help to clear up and repair the damage.

Meanwhile at Barrow on the mainland, an engine derails, leaving Gordon to step in to take their train to London.

The railway series books are proving to be a massive success, and the Fat controller gets letters from children on the mainland asking if his engines are real. So, he gathers his eight famous engines and they all embark on a trip to Houston station for a rail gala. Several BR engines fill in for them on the railway.

Sir Topham Hatt | passes away in his house, leaving his son, Charles to inherit the baronetcy and become Sir Topham Hatt ||.

1957 - The famous 100mph record-breaker engine, City of Truro visits the railway and has a lovely time with the other engines on their railtour. Gordon himself tries to go 100mph, but to no avail, loses his dome when going over a bridge.

A few months later, an 08 diesel shunter named Diesel (what a beautiful name) is trialed on the railway. Diesel doesn't take a liking to Duck after he plays a trick on him and spreads false rumours around the yard that lead to Duck being sent away to bank trains at Wellsworth.

One day, Duck crashes into a newly opened Barbour shop at Crosby after being chased by runaway trucks. Turns out that all along, Sir Topham Hatt || knew about Diesel's scheme and sent him packing, much to Duck's relief. From then on, Duck was allowed to sleep at Tidmouth once more, the big engines greeted him warmly.

Back on the Skarloey railway, a new maintenance diesel named Rusty is brought to the railway to help mend the old dilapidated tracks. They end up discovering the disused line that goes through the Bluebell Valley.

1958 - A new engine from a factory on the mainland called Duncan joins the Skarloey fleet. He instantly dislikes Rusty. Shortly after, Peter Sam suffers an accident that damages his funnel. Skarloey returns from his overhaul that year, and just in time as a group of BBC producers arrive to broadcast a live documentary about the Skarloey Railway.

Back on the NWR, parts of the railway were starting to show their age and problems began to rise; a few tracks on the Ffarqhuarr branchline had been warped from the heat and Thomas ended up derailing because of it. So, Sir Topham Hatt sends everyone to work at different areas until the issues are fixed. Percy and Duck are sent to work at Brendam Docks and have the unfortunate experience of meeting Devious Diesel, who hasn't changed a bit. Turns out he was given a second chance, but fails once more. A few months prior to this, a circus visited the NWR and one of its elephants ran away and hid in Henry's tunnel.

After the commotion with Diesel, Duck discovers his love for the sea.

1959 - On the mainland, steam is slowly dying and being taken over by diesel, being dubbed "a new era" for British Railways.

Sir Topham Hatt purchases a Caledonian engine from Scotland to help out on the railway as it's growing and needs more handling, but is dumbfounded and utterly confused when two arrive, the twins' names are Donald and Douglas. Sir Topham Hatt had purchased Donald, but Douglas stowed away with him as he knew he would be doomed to become scrap. The Fat Controller finds himself stuck on what to do, so for the time being, he trials both of them.

The twins prove themselves to be useful after saving a derailed Henry on a snowy day. After some persistence from the other engines, Sir Topham Hatt agrees to keep both of them. They become the NWR's 9th and 10th engines respectively.

A few months pass and the Fat Controller decides to build a new station near the old port at Arlesburgh. This ends up resulting in the creation of a new branchline from Tidmouth to Arlesburgh, with plans to stretch it up through the fish town of Harwick and along the west coast. Duck was requested to run it.

1960 - We're starting off with a literal crash into the 60s as Thomas crashes into the stationmaster's house during their breakfast at Ffarqhuarr. Despite the crash mostly not being his fault, he gets scolded by Sir Topham Hatt and sent to the Works to have his buffers mended. In Thomas's absence, a new diesel railcar named Daisy is brought to manage the passenger service. She is selfish and spoilt at first, but gets humbled a month on after Percy endures a bizarre derailment that lands the branchline in quite a predicament. Luckily, Thomas is back from the Works by this time, so it's not all terrible.

On the same year, the mascot of the Bluebell Railway on the mainland, Stepney, is withdrawn from service. Also on the same year, Boco arrives on the island and gets harassed by Bill and Ben. He joins the railway later after Edward suffers an accident that gets his side all ripped up and taken to get repaired, becoming the NWR's second diesel.

The branchline from Tidmouth to Arlesburgh is completed and the village of Harwick celebrates by holding a fun fair. Toby is chosen to be the attraction, but by the time he goes there, plans are changed and he just went up there for nothing.

1961 - Peter Sam's funnel finally breaks one snowy day after it gets hit by a fallen icicle. He gets it replaced by a new, special funnel, a Geisel Ejector. It proves to be a success.

Finally, Rheneas makes a gallant return to the railway after his 9 year overhaul

1962 - Stepney brings a rail tour to Sodor as a big marketing event for the Bluebell Railway. During his time on Sodor, Sir Topham Hatt trials a Class 40 diesel called Derek. Derek ends up breaking down while going down the line to Brendam and Stepney and Duck double-head the train in his place. Stepney departs Sodor the next day.

1963 - Culdee, the namesake of the Culdee Fell Mountain Railway returns after his overhaul in Switzerland and gets to know the new faces brought in to the railway, one of them was called Lord Harry.

Lord Harry would later rescue a climber at the Devil's back, a part of the mountain known for often having bad weather. In return for his heroism, he gets his name changed to Patrick after the climber he rescued.

On the mainland, Alan Peglar rescue Gordon's brother, The Flying Scotsman, from scrap. Sadly, all of Gordon's other siblings aren't lucky.

1964 - On Thomas's branchline, the Ffarqhuarr quarry acquires it's own small diesel shunter named Mavis. She's young and confident, so she believes she can do everything herself and insults toby. But after Diesel gives her bad advice, she eventually gets her just-do and learns to never take advice from Diesel, who was miraculously still on the railway.

On autumn that year, Percy crashes into a lime cart that gives him a ghostly white appearance. He uses this to his advantage to scare Thomas after he states his disbelief of ghosts. During this time, the Norramby branchline is in need of an engine to run it, so Rusty is tasked with finding one.

Rusty stumbles upon Stepney on their way through a scrapyard one night, and helps him escape. After Stepney is rescued, he is purchased by the railway and sent to run the Norramby branchline for a while. Eventually, Stepney gets bored and decides to go visit the west side of Sodor by the Fat Controller's invitation. During his time there, he makes Thomas jealous, double-heads the Express with Duck, escapes from the Ironworks and gets chased down by Caroline. He leaves for the final time after that with a proper send off.

1965 - The Skarloey celebrates its 100th anniversary of being open, with the brand new opening of a loop line around the lake of Skarloey. The current owner of the Skarloey Railway, Sir Robert Norramby, hosts the celebration. Before the opening, a talk with Duck about dukes sends Peter Sam into a crisis, panicking about the fact that his Duke may have gotten scrapped. He learns his mistake but he and Sir Handel start to talk about him frequently.

An incident at Knapford occurs when a beehive is found within the station and a swarm of bees attack the passengers. James gets stung on the nose by one and the swarm latches on to James's boiler. After several attempts, the bees finally let go.

The NWR decides to reopen the Arlesburgh harbour as an addition to Tidmouth, thus extended Duck's branchline.

1966 - A discovery of ballast is made at the old Mid-Sodor mines. Subsequently to this, all of the railway controllers come together to create a miniature guage railway that runs along one of the old track beds of the long-abandoned Mid-Sodor Railway.

1967 - The next year, the Arlesdale Railway officially opens for services and a new controller is hired, he is Mr Fergus Duncan. The engines brought on to run the line are Rex, Mike and Bert. There is also a miniature diesel named Frank, but passengers of the railway rarely see him. Duck meets them while visiting one day.

Two clergymen visit the railway one day and have encounters with them, one of which is Wilbert Awdry, author of the railway series and his friend, Teddy Boston. Awdry decides to write a book about Rex, Mike and Bert, but leaves out Frank which gets him upset and crashes into the back of the shed in retaliation.

Meanwhile, Gordon catches wind of the fate of his siblings on the mainland and enters a severe depression because of it. To cheer him up, Sir Topham Hatt calls Alan Peglar and they arrange a meeting between Gordon and his last surviving brother, the Flying Scotsman. Henry gets jealous of Scotsman's two tenders, but after getting tricked by Percy, learns that one tender is good enough

During the FS's visit, two diesels are trialed on the railway. One of them breaks down and the other gets to stay. The new third diesel is nicknamed Bear.

On Duck's branchline, new sheds are built adjacent to the Arlesdale railway. Douglas has his own adventure when he's delivering a midnight goods train and comes across Oliver, who's marked for scrap. Oliver and his brakevan, Toad are trying to get to Sodor to escape getting scrapped. Douglas decides to help him out and brings him back with him.

Upon meeting him, Sir Topham Hatt purchases Oliver and he becomes the railway's 11th engine, joining the twins and Duck at the Little Western.

1968 - The end of steam traction arrives, and the Island of Sodor becomes the only place in Britain with a steam-powered railway.

1969 - Peter Sam and Sir Handel won't stop talking about Duke, and this gets the two clergymen intrigued and wondering about his whereabouts. They, Mr Fergus Duncan and the duke then band together to find Duke. They search the remains of the Mid-Sodor Railway, and the search reaches an end when Teddy Boston falls through the roof of Duke's old shed and lands on top of the old engine, who turned out to be asleep for 20 whole years and wasn't aware of how much time passed.

He is rescued, restored and brought to the Skarloey Railway where he reunited with Peter Sam and Sir Handel.

1970 - The Arlesdale railway unveils its own newly made steam engine, Jock. Jock was built by the railway itself. Meanwhile, the ever-growing Brendam Docks acquires a new crane named Cranky. When a storm hits the island, Cranky gets knocked over, he's raised, then knocked over again...then raised again.

1971 - A branchline from Kirk Ronan is built up to Kellsthorpe, the branchline has a big canopy station as its terminus that overlooks part of the island. Gordon's brakes failed here and he ended up crashing through the station wall on its opening day, getting the "better view" he wanted. He makes up for it and is rewarded with his own window.

1972 - Signalmen and late night railroaders had begun reporting peculiar sightings of a mysterious female steam engine with a maroon pink livery steaming around during the night, leaving gold dust trails along the tracks she glides along. They say it's like seeing a ghost, and they can even hear her whistle echo throughout the night. Due to the bizarre descriptions of these sightings, the controllers and mayor all pass it off as "foolish folklore" or just a hoax.

After these rumors cleared up, Henry was taking a midnight goods train to Peel Godred where he encountered Old Bailey, the original stationmaster for the Mid-Sodor station at the crossover. The Sodor Preservation society restores the station, and anoints Bailey as its keeper.

Sometime later, the lake adjacent from the station is drained and the old Mid-Sodor tracks are pulled up, making way for tarmac to be paved down to create a road link, but it's not done too well.

1975 - On the Skarloey Railway, Duke is sent for a lengthy overhaul. When he'll be back? No one knows...

At some point, the NWR took charge of the Norramby line from the previous manager, and Sir Topham Hatt gained ownership of Stepney. He allowed Stepney to revisit for a little while by helping out Toby and Mavis at Ffarqhuarr Quarry. After helping out, Stepney takes a wrong turn when returning to his shed and ends up at the Ironworks where he is taken by Arry and Bert, who try to scrap him. Luckily, Sir Topham Hatt rescues him in the nick of time. Later in the year, the Skarloey's owner, Sir Robert Norramby decides to go on a global trip around the world and leaves Sir Topham Hatt in charge of his railway.

1979 - After Gordon breaks down before pulling the Express, Thomas, Duck and Percy are enlisted to triple-head the train.

The China Clay Pits meanwhile suffer a catastrophic avalanche, making everyone evacuate. Bill and Ben act quickly though and rescue everyone before doom struck them fatally. The clay pits end up closing after this and Bill and Ben relocate to Ffarqhuarr Quarry.

One early autumn night, Oliver is temporarily assigned to pulling the mail train, but ends up taking a wrong turn into a abandoned line and crashes into an old shed at Arlesdale end. He is saved later on by the Fat Controller, who takes an interest into the old area and decides to refurbish it for visitors. He acquires the rights and relocates Toby there to help finish construction. The old shed that Oliver crashes into is refurbished as well into a new shed for Toby and Henrietta. The line now belongs to Toby.

1981 - On Toby's line, the Great Dam breaks due to heavy rain and unleashes a flood that nearly kills Toby and his crew. In the warmer months, the dam is fixed and the line is fully complete and open for service with its terminus at Callan on the Little Western.

Sometime later, Toby and the Hatt family venture into the abandoned mining network at the tail end of Thomas's branchline. There, they come across the ruins of Ulfstead Castle and the gold mine. Both are restored and Ulfstead Castle is opened for tourists. During restoration, an old engine from the Mid-Sodor era called Bertram was discovered and was sent to pull tourists around the gold mine after restoration was finished. A connection between Ulfstead and Arlesdale end was built, creating a loop. Arlesdale End became a through-station.

1983 - Thomas and Percy travel up to the Ironworks and come across an old coach dubbed "Old Slow Coach". After a fire breaks out at the worker's hut at Tidmouth Hault, Old Slow Coach is repurposed into a new permanent housing quarters to replace it, and is quite happy. But when Mrs Kyndley's daughter gets married later, she becomes part of the good luck package.

Around the month of August, Sir Topham Hatt decides to reopen the old boulder quarry at the Mid-Sodor. The plans are changed when a seemingly sentient boulder terrorises the little engines and deals significant damage to the site. Sir Topham Hatt then figures that the boulder some sort of warning from God and ultimately decides to abandon the quarry.

1984 - Sir Handel gets into trouble for some unknown reason and Sir Topham Hatt sends him to the Shadow Re– the slate mines as a punishment for an undefinite amount of time. On the same year, a television series based off of the stories from the Railway Series is created by a lady called Britt Allcroft and a man called David Mitton. The series is named "Thomas the Tank engine & Friends" and uses model versions of the engines. The series is narrated by the Beatle himself, Ringo Starr.

1988 - A blue Class 07 diesel-electric shunter purchased from the mainland travels all the way to Sodor to work as a quarry diesel with Mavis and the tank engine twins. He works there for a short while, but longs to be by the sea, and so he is relocated to work as a shunter in the yard at Brendam Docks. His name is Salty.

The Elsbridge is getting weak and is in need of renovation, and so Sir Topham Hatt puts up a weight limit for the bridge. Thomas is too heavy for the bridge and so is relocated to Wellsworth with Edward for the time being, but returns next year.

1989 - The Skarloey gains a new maintenance diesel named Fred to help out Rusty, but going into present-day, no one sees him anymore. On the NWR, the railway gains a new Crane-tank engine named Harvey.

1990 - The National Railway Museum in York invites Thomas to take part in a Rail gala. Thomas leaves the next day in his own power, and Toby, Daisy and Percy take care of the branchline while he's gone.

1992 - Thomas returns from York and Henry is send to Crovan's Gate for an overhaul. He comes back early after a locomotive crisis and isn't fully repainted yet. Later that year, Sir Charles Topham Hatt retires, leaving his son, Bertram to inherit the railway. On his first act as controller, he rescues three engines from being scrapped; Murdoch, Arthur and an elderly, yet youthfully spirited Stirling Single named Emily.

1995 - While on route to Brendam, Thomas breaks down and his crew come across a shed, where inside is an old steam lorry named Elizabeth, after she gets let out, Elizabeth helps Thomas reach Brendam. She was Sir Topham Hatt |'s first ever vehicle, but was eventually left in a shed. The Fat Controller was so pleased with the discovery of his grandfather's old lorry that he paid for her to be restored to full beauty. She now works on the roads close to the narrow guage lines.

50 years have passed by since the first Railway Series book, and a big celebration is held at Tidmouth to celebrate it.

A high-speed train from the mainland carrying Prince Charles arrives at Knapford to celebrate the occasion.

1996 - Utter horror and tragedy strikes the rails as a feud between two drivers named P. T Boomer and Burnett Stone leads to Burnett's wife, Tasha getting killed after she and their steam engine are pushed off of a partially dilapidated viaduct by Boomer's equally malicious Class 46 Warship, Diesel 10. As said, Tasha is tragically killed in the fall, but their steam engine is still clinging to her life. Burnett leaves Sodor the next week to repair his engine and is never heard from after that.

2000s

2000 - The events of my TATMR rewrite occur. Just think of the og TATMR but the American test audience didn't screw it over.

2004 - Sir Topham Hatt || dies peacefully in his sleep, leaving the current Fat Controller to inherit the baronetcy, becoming Sir Bertram Topham Hatt |||.

2005 - (My planned CAE rewrite) The station at Kellsthorpe Road is rebuilt into a bigger station with a bay platform. During construction, Thomas prevents runaway trucks from crashing into it. Above the Kellsthorpe Road, the ground is prepped for the construction of a new airport for holidaymakers and tourists.

The construction sparks a rivalry between steamies and diesels as the construction requires nearly every single engine on the NWR. As the construction begins, a bad storm delays the build and destroys the suspension bridge over the River Hoo (I dunno how to spell it 🥲). It was quickly rebuilt, and mainline services resumed. The storm had also demolished the original Tidmouth Sheds, and so the engines all had to relocate until it was rebuilt.

Thomas stayed at Knapford Sheds with Emily, who had taken a sudden switch in personality during that time (seriously, she became a gODDAMN BI–) and didn't take kindly to him staying there...at first.

Tidmouth Sheds gets rebuilt with an extra berth for Emily, who stays there permanently.

2006 - The expanding Skarloey Railway was becoming too much for Sir Topham Hatt ||| to handle, which makes sense since he was in control of two whole railways. He hired a man called Peregrine Percival, more commonly known as the Thin Controller, to run it.

A bunch of loaned engines from different railways arrive to the island for temporary services on the NWR. These engines are Molly, Dennis, Neville and Mighty Mac. The bridge for the Peel Godred across the mainline falls into disrepair, and during its reconstruction, Neville missed the warning signal and nearly ran off it. Thomas catched him just in time.

A new statue of the main Tidmouth engines (and Toby) is put on display at Abbey Station.

Around June on the Skarloey, Sir Handel makes a return from the slate mines after his extended, and isolated stay.

2007 - Gordon attempted to beat his speed record again, but gave it up to help out Henry. He eventually did break it, and Sir Topham Hatt awarded him with special coaches. Toby's old shed at Arlesdale End was rebuilt with a new roof, and his old roof was made into a little birdhouse up front.

Another engine from the Mid-Sodor called Freddie was found...somewhere, and brought back to former working order. He reunites with Sir Handel, as he and him are old friends.

Meanwhile, a new breakdown crane named Rocky comes to Sodor, and Edward just hates him for some reason . Why did Edward not like him, you may wonder?

I don't know.

More engines are brought to the island like Rosie, who at the time was absolutely obsessed with Thomas. A engine called Whiff is purchased to work at the recycling plant. There was also Billy, but he's in the Shadow Realm now.

2008 - A snow slide blocks the Skarloey Railway and Duncan has to be transported via road by a snub-nosed lorry called Mage, who takes him to the transfer yard, south of the sheds. In early July, Duncan gives Thomas the wrong directions to the wharf to get him lost. Thomas instead ends up finding the ruins of the long abandoned Great Waterton. He brings Sir Topham Hatt to see it, and he is thrilled with Thomas's great discovery.

Reconstruction of the town is made at once, with Thomas in charge. A new, bigger tank engine called Stanley is brought on to fill in for Thomas's branchline duties and ends up staying at the railway.

A big celebration is held later on for Sodor Day at Great Waterton.

During the same year, a new quarry site is made near Daisy Halt. The quarry is dubbed "The Blue Mountain Quarry". A little Irish engine named Luke is picked up from Ireland by a boat setting course for Sodor to work at said quarry. While on the boat, he meets a Cuban engine named Victor who speaks a different language. As the two are being loaded off at Brendam, Cranky accidentally knocks Victor into the ocean while unloading Luke. After a couple months, Victor is sent to the Steamworks at Crovan's Gate and is repaired. He now works there.

2009 - The Duke and duchess of Boxford build a summerhouse in Sodor while their private engine, Spencer helps with reconstruction. Thomas and him race, but the race ends when Thomas gets diverted down an overgrown siding and discovers Hiro. Hiro had been abandoned by his crew due to him breaking down, with the empty promise that they'd be back. Attempts to restore him prove successful and he gets on the next boat to Japan, bidding everyone farewell.

However, he comes back later that year as the railways in Japan had become overrun with speedy bullet trains, and he preferred the slow and steady nature of Sodor more.

2010 - Imagine Misty Island Rescue but it actually makes sense and the characters, including the Logging Locos, have genuine personalities and aren't bad. Oh yeah, and I gave the island the most logical reason for existing as I could.

2011 - Diesel 10 returns to Sodor with a second chance given to him by Sir Topham Hatt. However, he hasn't changed a bit, as he gathers as many diesels as he can to the rundown Dieselworks in Vicarstown to plot his revenge on all the steam engines. Mainly, Diesel 10 plans to kill Thomas himself for helping Lady escape from his grasp all those years ago. Diesel 10 then attempts to try and derail Edward, set Henrietta on fire with Toby watching, attempts and fails at sending a truck full of explosives into Tidmouth Sheds and crushes one of Thomas's side-tanks, causing a leakage.

Diesel 10 then gets pursued by a few of the steamies and invades the Steamworks. After another life-threatening situation, Sir Topham Hatt confronts the warship and punishes him severely, taking away his wheels and his claw. Diesel 10 now sits at the Arlesburgh beach as a beach hut. He's absolutely ruthless.

2012 - Back to the Blue Mountain Quarry, the Skarloey fleet now works at the quarry as it is part of their railway. Paxton, a diesel who was unwillingly forced into helping Diesel 10 during his fiasco, pulls the slate train from the quarry to Brendam. An accident puts him out of commission and Sir Topham Hatt puts Thomas as the temporary slate hauler.

Thomas ends up finding out about Luke and after hearing his sad story, attempts to find the truth. Diesel catches wind about Luke and views him as dangerous, he then tries to rat out Luke with a reluctant Paxton following behind. You know how the rest goes ;)

After the blue mountain situation is resolved, Sir Topham Hatt's rail inspection car, Winston discovers something VERY special; It was Sir Topham Hatt ||'s old birthday carriage that he used to go around in as a boy. It gets refurbished and is pulled by Edward for Sir Topham Hatt's upcoming birthday. Nevertheless, Sir Topham Hatt becomes tearful when he sees it, a rediscovered remnant to remember his father by.

2013 - Sir Robert Norramby returns from his global trip, and along the way, it's discovered that he purchased Stephen, formally known as Stephenson's Rocket from the National Railway Museum. The Earl reveals that he wants to reopen the tourist attraction at Ulfstead Castle and have Stephen be the main feature of the attraction. Before the grand reopening, Stephen ends up getting lost in the mines beneath the castle and ends up discovering King Godred's crown. He is soon rescued and the crown is brought back to the estate, where it is put on display.

A collision between Gordon and Paxton occurs at Knapford and a stone from Paxton's trucks flies out and punctures Gordon's boiler. At first, Gordon ignores it, but then he soon finds himself constantly low on water. Meanwhile, a new dock engine called Porter is brought on to help Salty.

At the Ulfstead Estate Railway, Stephen is tasked with bringing ingredients for the afternoon tea. Spencer makes fun of him, but Stephen ends up with the last laugh.

Henry and Hiro are enlisted to double-head a big goods train from Ffarqhuarr to Tidmouth Harbour. Unfortunately, they struggle along the way due to bad coal. But in the end, they got there eventually.

Two years after the Diesel 10 fiasco, Percy finds that the out-of-commission diesel, Sidney still hasn't been put back into service and proceeds to help him get his new wheels. Sidney gets his new wheels when Christmas rolls around and visits the engines at Tidmouth to thank them personally.

2014 - After years of heavy reconstruction, the Sodor China Clay Pits are finally approved for a grand reopening, and Sir Topham Hatt sends Thomas there as there is maintenance being done on one of the bridges at his branchline. Along the way, Thomas meets a newly purchased oil-burning engine named Timothy, who he met after being pranked by Bill and Ben. He then meets a very enthusiastic steam shovel locomotive named Marion.

After a few days of working at the pits, a storm comes and Timothy warns Thomas of the unstability of the clay cliffs during bad weather. Out of stubbornness, Thomas doesn't listen and he goes down a line that traverses through the cliffs while the storm is at its highest. A landslide occurs and luckily, Bill and Ben swoop in and save him. The rest will be in my rewrite in the future :)

Later that year The Fat Controller purchases Duck's old slip coaches from the Great Western Railway after he talks about them to the other engines.

2015 ‐ The Earl constructs a new dinosaur park at the estate after getting inspired from the dino skeleton in Wellsworth. The dinosaur park can now be seen on one of the estate railway's routes. A little diesel boxcab named Phillip is purchased and brought on to be Knapford's new station pilot after Duck abandoned it years ago. He takes a liking to Gordon, who doesn't share the same sentiments.

He then races the big engine and wins, and doesn't stop talking about it, much to everyone's annoyance. Some months later, he rescues James from a rather nasty fall.

One of Sir Topham Hatt's workers, Albert has a baby who gets named after Thomas after Thomas babysits him.

A new branchline from Harwick to Arlesburgh is being built, and many engines make a return, even Donald and Douglas who came back after a hefty overhaul to help with construction. Thomas is also sent to help as a punishment for a coach mishap and is replaced by a cocky, over-confident big tank engine named Ryan who does his branchline duties. Thomas tries telling Sir Topham Hatt that he had nothing to do with it and that Gordon was teasing him. But no one believes him.

At Harwick, an incident at the site occurs where the ground collapsed and Thomas goes down a cavern (this gives me flashbacks). When he hits the bottom, Thomas discovers a 4000 year old pirate ship. The ship is raised, moored and put at the Arlesburgh harbour as a part of the maritime museum.

Judy and Jerome, the breakdown train that was used to hoist James out of the fields all those years ago are old and are hardly used anymore due to Rocky taking charge in rescues. They are finally relocated to Harwick, where they handle all derailments from there.

2016 - Thomas travels all the way to Vicarstown, where he meets the Flying Scotsman for the first time. Scotsman reveals that he has been invited to a rail gala happening on the mainland, sparking jealousy from Gordon. Several of the sudrain engines are invited to the event, and Gordon streamlines himself in an attempt to become faster than Scotsman. He gets upset about not being recognised as an A3 Pacific which nearly hinders the start of his race against other big engines.

He loses after nearly exploding because of his missing safety valve, and the Flying Scotsman makes fun of him for it since Gordon was claiming he'd win. Pretty cruel thing to do. Gordon now began despising his only brother the more he was ever talked about or mentioned.

Meanwhile, on the Kenya-Uganda Railway in Kenya, a little orange tank engine named Nia abandons her goods train to go hide in an old mine tunnel.

Back on Sodor and right Before Christmas, Marion discovers Glynn, the old Coffee pot engine from the original Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsebridge Light Railway days. He is taken back to the Steamworks for restoration. Sir Topham Hatt comes to visit and Glynn mistakes him for his Sir Topham Hatt, Richard Hatt. The current Topham is is Bertram. After some explanations, Glynn offers to take Sir Topham Hatt to the Christmas eve fair at Ulfstead, in which he gladly complies. The Fat Controller drives Glynn to the estate where he join joins Stephen from now on.

2017 - A new modern gantry crane named Carly arrives on the docks to help Cranky as his age was catching up with him. Also, Big Mickey breaks his silence. Meanwhile, Rosie, a little pink tank engine gets repainted red and relocated to Vicarstown to pilot trains.

James tries to create a world record as the fastest red engine on Sodor, and his brakes end up failing and he crashes into the Tidmouth Sheds. He is taken away for repairs and the others have to find other places to sleep while the sheds are being fixed. Edward decides to permanently move into the Wellsworth sheds as it starts at his branchline. Gordon really hates this change and tries getting him to come back, but to no avail.

Sometime later, Thomas steals James' goods train to Bridlington, but ends up getting lost on the mainland and imprisoned by the Steelworks engines, Frankie and Hurricane, and their boss. James and Percy go to look for him, find him, and save him.

2018 - A yellow rally car named Ace arrives on Sodor to get the next boat to Africa. Thomas meets him on a passenger run, and Ace tries convincing him to go to Africa. Thomas, at first, is unsure. He may have wanted to see the world when he was still new on the railway. After some more persuading and to be honest, flat out pressuring from Ace, Thomas sneaks away from his branchline and gets on a boat to Africa at the Tidmouth harbour. He takes Annie and Clarabelle with him.

His departure to Africa takes a few days and during those days, everyone panics about his whereabouts. Thomas arrives on Africa and follows Ace. But along the way, he's mistook for a goods engine and is forced to pull a goods train to Dar E Salaam. On his 5000 mile journey, he comes across a little tank engine named Nia blocked up in a mine tunnel.

He helps her get to a nearby Steamworks for repair and continues on his way. However, Nia comes back to Thomas, who is struggling up a hill and helps him out as thanks and joins him on his journey. The two go to a few countries while chasing Ace and get into a few mishaps along the way. The two return to Sodor in one piece and a welcome back party is initiated.

A few months pass, Nia stays in Edward's berth by invitation and Gordon isn't happy with it. Gordon only gets more mad about the changes when Henry decides to move to Vicarstown to have his jobs done quicker, and to have time to visit his forest. Gordon lashes out about the changes and takes it out on Sir Topham Hatt and Nia. The sudden changes are messing with Gordon, but everyone dismisses his feelings as him overreacting. Gordon is just forced to suck it up.

2019 - A quick rise in tourists coming to the island puts a bit of pressure on Gordon, tiring him out as schedules are a lot tighter, and so he has to pull the Express much earlier and much more than usual. So, Sir Topham Hatt purchases a Bulleid Light Pacific named Rebecca. Gordon does NOT take kindly to Rebecca, especially when she takes Henry's old berth. Meanwhile, Nia begins to pick up feelings for Henry.

A storm destroys the school in Harwick, and Duck finds an old coach named Dexter, who becomes restored into a new schoolhouse for the kids.

2020 - A few years had passed since the birth of Albert's son, Little Thomas who has come to see Big Thomas. Henry meanwhile, begins hearing about a stray canine nicknamed "The Railway Hound", as the dog is only ever seen walking along or resting beside the tracks. Concerned for the dog's safety, Henry goes looking for it along with Thomas. They eventually find the dog and Little Thomas adopts it.

Many events would follow suit; Emily gains a shiny new brass nameplate on her smokebox and gets her number at last. A technology fair is held at Ulfstead Castle, introducing a new bullet train named Kenji. Kenji stays on Sodor before going back to Japan, and after a rough 10 year stay on Sodor, Hiro leaves for Japan.

In winter, things take a turn for the worse when Nia takes the Flying Kipper when Henry's filling in for another engine. She crashes into a goods train near Kirk Machan due to faulty signals, sliding into a cold ditch along the way. Thankfully, James pulls by with the Judy and Jerome and hoists her back up to safety. She is then sent to the Steamworks for an indefinite long repair.

2021 - Nia returns from the Works in early Spring with a new safety valve and a better firebox, everyone welcomed her return. A month after, Queen Elizabeth || writes a letter to Sir Topham Hatt, inviting him to London for a special reward for his services to the railways. By the specific request of Prince Charles, Edward and Thomas get to come along with their controller. Along the way, the trio encounter many mishaps ànd end up getting dirty.

During the journey, Edward and Thomas have several encounters with Diana, who rudely keeps taking their spots for coal refills and water fills. After she bursts her safety valve, the two help her get to London Station and to their utter shock, Diana turned out to be the Queen's private engine and she was pulling the Queen and his son during the entire trip.

Prince Charles tells Edward and Thomas how he loved to read the books about them as a child and personally rewards them both with medals. Sir Topham Hatt gets a medal too, of course.

Alls well that ends well...

Or is it...?

45 notes · View notes

dreaminginthedeepsouth · 2 months ago

Text

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

September 1, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Sep 02, 2024

Almost one hundred and forty-two years ago, on September 5, 1882, workers in New York City celebrated the first Labor Day holiday with a parade. The parade almost didn’t happen: there was no band, and no one wanted to start marching without music. Once the Jewelers Union of Newark Two showed up with musicians, the rest of the marchers, eventually numbering between 10,000 and 20,000 men and women, fell in behind them to parade through lower Manhattan. At noon, when they reached the end of the route, the march broke up and the participants listened to speeches, drank beer, and had picnics. Other workers joined them.

Their goal was to emphasize the importance of workers in the industrializing economy and to warn politicians that they could not be ignored.

Less than 20 years before, northern men had fought a war to defend a society based on free labor and had, they thought, put in place a government that would support the ability of all hardworking men to rise to prosperity. But for all that the war had seemed to be about defending men against the rise of an oligarchy that intended to reduce all men to a life of either enslavement or wage labor, the war and its aftermath had pushed workers’ rights backward.

The drain of men to the battlefields and the western mines during the war resulted in a shortage of workers that kept unemployment low and wages high. Even when they weren’t, the intense nationalism of the war years tended to silence the voices of labor organizers. “It having been resolved to enlist with Uncle Sam for the war,” one organization declared when the war broke out, “this union stands adjourned until either the Union is safe, or we are whipped.”

Another factor working against the establishment of labor unions during the war was the tendency of employers to claim that striking workers were deliberately undercutting the war effort. They turned to the government to protect production, and in industries like Pennsylvania's anthracite coal fields, government leaders sent soldiers to break budding unions and defend war production.

During the war, government contracting favored those companies that could produce big orders of the mule shoes, rifles, rain slickers, coffee, and all the other products that kept the troops supplied. The owners of the growing factories grew wealthy on government contracts, even as conditions in the busy factories deteriorated. While wages were high during the war, they were often paid in greenbacks, which were backed only by the government’s promise to pay.

While farmers and some entrepreneurs thrived during the war, urban workers and miners had reason to believe that employers had taken advantage of the war to make money off them. After the war, they began to strike for better wages and safer conditions. In August 1866, 60,000 people met as the National Labor Union in Baltimore, Maryland, where they called for an eight-hour workday. Most of those workers calling for organization simply wanted a chance to rise to comfort, but the resolutions developed by the group’s leaders after the convention declared that workers must join unions to reform the abuses of the industrial system.

To many of those who thought the war would create a country where hard work would mean success, the resolutions seemed to fly in the face of that harmony, echoing the southern enslavers by dividing the world into people of wealth and workers, and asking for government intervention, this time on the side of workers. Republicans began to redefine their older, broad concept of workers to mean urban unskilled or semi-skilled wage laborers specifically.

Then in 1867, a misstep by Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio made the party step back from workers. Wade had been a cattle drover and worked on the Erie Canal before studying law and entering politics, and he was a leader among those who saw class activism as the next step in the party’s commitment to free labor. His fiery oratory lifted him to prominence, and in March 1867 the Senate chose him its president pro tempore, in effect making him the nation’s acting vice president in those days before there was a process for replacing a vice president who had stepped into the presidency.

Wade joined a number of senators on a trip to the West, and in Lawrence, Kansas, newspapers reported—possibly incorrectly—that Wade predicted a fight in America between labor and capital. “Property is not equally divided,” the reporter claimed Wade said, “and a more equal distribution of capital must be worked out.” Congress, which Wade now led, had done much for ex-slaves and must now address “the terrible distinction between the man that labors and him that does not.”

Republican newspapers were apoplectic. The New York Times claimed that Wade was a demagogue. Every hard worker could succeed in America, it wrote. “Laborers here can make themselves sharers in the property of the country,—can become capitalists themselves,—just

as nine in ten of all the capitalists in the country have done so before them,—by industry, frugality, and intelligent enterprise.” Trying to get rich by force of law would undermine society.

Congress established an eight-hour day for federal employees in June 1868, but in that year’s election, voters turned Wade, and others like him, out of office. In 1869, Republican president Ulysses S. Grant issued a proclamation saying that the eight-hour workday of "laborers, workmen, and mechanics" would not mean cuts in wages.

Then, in spring 1871, in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War, workers took over the city of Paris and established the Paris Commune. The transatlantic cable had gone into operation in 1866, and American newspapers had featured stories of the European war. Now, hungry for dramatic stories, they plastered details of the Commune on their front pages, describing it as a propertied American’s worst nightmare. They highlighted the murder of priests, the burning of the Tuileries Palace, and the bombing of buildings by crazed women who lobbed burning bottles of newfangled petroleum through cellar windows.

The Communards were a “wild, reckless, irresponsible, murderous mobocracy” who planned to confiscate all property and transfer all money, factories, and land to associations of workmen, American newspapers wrote. In their telling, the Paris Commune brought to life the chaotic world the elite enslavers foresaw when they said it was imperative to keep workers from politics.

Scribner’s Monthly warned in italics: “the interference of ignorant labor with politics is dangerous to society.” Famous reformer Charles Loring Brace looked at the rising numbers of industrial workers and the conditions of city life, and warned Americans, “In the judgment of one who has been familiar with our ‘dangerous classes’ for twenty years, there are just the same explosive social elements beneath the surface of New York as of Paris.”

At the same time, it was also clear that wealthy industrialists were gaining more and more control over both state and local governments. In 1872 the Credit Mobilier scandal broke. This was a complicated affair, and what had actually happened was almost certainly misrepresented, but it seemed to show congressmen taking bribes from railroad barons, and Americans were ready to believe that they were doing so. Then, in July 1877, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad cut wages 20 percent and strikers shut down most of the nation’s railroads, President Rutherford B. Hayes sent U.S. soldiers to the cities immobilized by the strikes. It seemed industrialists had the Army at their beck and call.

By 1882, factories and the fortunes they created had swung the government so far toward men of capital that it seemed there was more room for workingmen to demand their rights. By the 1880s, even the staunchly Republican Chicago Tribune complained about the links between business and government: “Behind every one of half of the portly and well-dressed members of the Senate can be seen the outlines of some corporation interested in getting or preventing legislation,” it wrote. The Senate, Harper’s Weekly noted, was “a club of rich men.”

The workers marching in New York City in the first Labor Day celebration in 1882 carried banners saying: “Labor Built This Republic and Labor Shall Rule it,” “Labor Creates All Wealth,” “No Land Monopoly,” “No Money Monopoly,” “Labor Pays All Taxes,” “The Laborer Must Receive and Enjoy the Full Fruit of His Labor,” ‘Eight Hours for a Legal Day’s Work,” and “The True Remedy is Organization and the Ballot.”

Two years later, workers helped to elect Democrat Grover Cleveland to the White House. A number of Republicans crossed over to support the reformer, afraid that, as he said, “The gulf between employers and the employed is constantly widening, and classes are rapidly forming, one comprising the very rich and powerful, while in another are found the toiling poor…. Corporations, which should be the carefully restrained creatures of the law and the servants of the people, are fast becoming the people's masters.”

In 1888, Cleveland won the popular vote by about 100,000 votes, but his Republican opponent, Benjamin Harrison, won in the Electoral College. Harrison promised that his would be “A BUSINESS MAN’S ADMINISTRATION” and said that “before the close of the present Administration business men will be thoroughly well content with it….”

Businessmen mostly were, but the rest of the country wasn’t. In November 1892 a Democratic landslide put Cleveland back in office, along with the first Democratic Congress since before the Civil War. As soon as the results of the election became apparent, the Republicans declared that the economy would collapse. Harrison’s administration had been “beyond question the best business administration the country has ever seen,” one businessmen’s club insisted, so losing it could only be a calamity. “The Republicans will be passive spectators,” the Chicago Tribune noted. “It will not be their funeral.” People would be thrown out of work, but “[p]erhaps the working classes of the country need such a lesson….”

As investors rushed to take their money out of the U.S. stock market, the economy collapsed a few days before Cleveland took office in early March 1893. Trying to stabilize the economy by enacting the proposals capitalists wanted, Cleveland and the Democratic Congress had to abandon many of the pro-worker policies they had promised, and the Supreme Court struck down the rest (including the income tax).

They could, however, support Labor Day and its indication of workers’ political power. On June 28, 1894, Cleveland signed Congress’s bill making Labor Day a legal holiday. Each year, the first Monday in September would honor the country’s workers.

In Chicago the chair of the House Labor Committee, Lawrence McGann (D-IL), told the crowd gathered for the first official observance: “Let us each Labor day, hold a congress and formulate propositions for the amelioration of the people. Send them to your Representatives with your earnest, intelligent indorsement [sic], and the laws will be changed.”

Happy Labor Day.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Labor Day #American History #Heather Cox Richardson #Letters From An American #Labor Unions

9 notes · View notes