#loretta the utility engine

[feigeroman]

Thomas OCs: Loretta (and a tiny bit about Harriet)

Number: 56 (ex-BR 77066) Class: BR Standard 3MT 2-6-0 Built: 1954 Arrived on Sodor: 1956 (purchased by NWR in 1966) Service (Shed): NWR Utility (Barrow-In-Furness) Livery: NWR Goods Black

Loretta is one of the NWR’s many utility engines, which means she can travel just about anywhere that’s short of an engine, and do just about any sort of job. Being based at Barrow-In-Furness sheds, she mainly works on the eastern side of Sodor, and so doesn’t often see some of our more famous heroes, who mainly work on the western side. Of course, Loretta still sees them sometimes, as she’s one of the primary engines responsible for bringing their supplies of coal from the Mainland.

Loretta can best be described as the Peppermint Patty of the railway, for better or worse. One the one hand, she’s a very commanding, strong-willed tomboy, and a true go-getter. On the other hand, this means she has a tendency to only hear what she wants to hear from others. Oftentimes, once Loretta gets an idea in her smokebox, she’ll ignore any counsel against it from other engines, and follow it through to its logical conclusion. Then when everything goes wrong - which it inevitably does - she’ll pin the blame on everyone who tried to warn her.

Whilst her stubborness and lack of common sense tends to put people off, Loretta does have one especially close friend, who couldn’t be more different from her: her brake van Harriet, who’s very much the Marcie of the pair - the quiet, put-upon subordinate who sees the truth even when it’s completely eluding her mistress. It’s usually Harriet who has to try (and usually fails) to bring Loretta back down to earth, and while they often get into fights as a result, they still think of themselves as two halves of a great team.

For all her faults, though, Loretta is genuinely a nice engine to know, and the other engines know that if nobody else can solve their problems, Loretta's the woman to see. Being based at Barrow, Loretta also keeps tabs on Mainland goings-on, and so is usually the first to hear of developments pertinent to her NWR colleagues.

Loretta’s reports predated her arrival on the NWR, as she spent much of her BR career at Barrow, and so was a regular visitor. She was one of the first engines to report the impending demise of steam, with her graphic accounts of activities on the scrap line striking fear into the hearts of the NWR engines. It’s likely that their initial anti-diesel prejudices were fuelled by Loretta’s tendency to make things sound worse than perhaps they actually were.

Almost immediately after her withdrawal by BR in 1966, Loretta was snapped up by Sir Topham Hatt, and due to her young age required nothing more than new paint and a new number before she could enter NWR service in August of that year. Her impact on the railway was nothing short of explosive, and though her sheer enthusiasm for the job unnerved a lot of her new workmates, they greatly admired her devotion to the cause - eventually!

Trivia

I’m a massive Peanuts fan, so that tends to influence a lot of my creative work in one way or another. Loretta is probably the most prominent example of this, because as you might have worked out, she’s so heavily inspired by Peppermint Patty that it’s almost ridiculous. From her personality, to her quirks - both good and bad - and even her relationship with Harriet is closely modelled on that between Peppermint Patty and Marcie.

I suspect this is why I made her a Standard - it only made sense for such a recently-built engine to have such a youthful spirit. I can’t remember why I specifically made her a 3MT, other than that it was a relatively obscure class, with none surviving into preservation.

Just to indicate how far this connection goes, Loretta is the only OC of mine for whom I have an exact date for when she entered NWR service - August 22nd 1966, which is the day that Peppermint Patty first made her debut in Peanuts.

In any case, this ended up playing into Harriet’s name as well. I’d already envisioned them as a sort of double-act, so I needed something that went with Loretta. To cut a long story short, I went with Harriet because in my head, Loretta & Harriet sounded phonetically similar to Laurel & Hardy, which was the sort of dynamic I was going for.

Just putting this here, because I wasn’t sure where to put it in the main feature: While NWR #1-8 were taking part in the Eight Famous Engines exhibition in 1956, a number of BR engines took over in their absence. I have a headcanon about which BR engine filled in for which NWR engine, and I have it that Loretta filled in for Henry.

[architectnews]

Laurel Heights 1, San Francisco Residence

Laurel Heights 1, San Francisco Building Project, CA Real Estate renovation, Californian Architecture Design Images

Laurel Heights 1 in San Francisco

Jan 5, 2022

Interior Design: Feldman Architecture

Location: San Francisco, northern California, USA

Photos by Paul Dyer

Laurel Heights 1, SF

A Bay Area couple with three young children purchased a unique corner lot on the edge of San Francisco’s Laurel Heights neighborhood with rare views of the Presidio and the Golden Gate Bridge. Having worked with the Feldman Architecture team previously on a home in Potrero Hill, the clients for Laurel Heights 1 presented their vision of a refreshed, unique, modern home, which later evolved to include an added primary suite that takes advantage of corner views, and interiors inspired by their colorful art collection.

The Feldman Architecture team first worked to address an originally awkward entry sequence by distinguishing the home’s orientation – clarifying a modernized front façade facing north with a graceful entry sequence covered by a metal awning. The original lot provided very little outdoor living space; the design focused on inviting in misted views with the use of expansive windows, creating the effect of an airy glass box hovering just above street level.

The original structure lacked privacy from the taller neighboring multifamily unit, and the wedge-shaped side yard often felt disrupted by street noise. The renovation enclosed the side yard with a carefully designed fence that maintains a sense of privacy and mitigates street noise while preserving bridge and ocean views. The paneled wood fence varies in opacity and adds visual interest to the front façade while creatively protecting an expanded entertaining area clad with heated furniture and a hot tub for foggy San Francisco evenings.

The design reshuffled the floor plan on the main level – three kid’s bedrooms and two bathrooms, along with built in storage, occupy the eastern corners. An open sitting room, dining room, and kitchen with newly installed windows face northwest- introducing natural light and giving the home’s public spaces distinctly San Franciscan views.

The materiality is light and natural with drops of color – an indigo kitchen backsplash and seafoam powder room tiles foster a playful vibe. In the dining room, a built in, custom metallic cocktail station glows with inset lighting, and plush green chairs complement bold art from the client’s collection. Pieces from painter Shaina McCoy’s A Family Affair series provide a jewel toned material palette from which our interiors team drew inspiration for furnishings and finishes.

The lightly perched additional story adds a primary bedroom, green roof and foggy bridge and ocean vistas. A lofted home office with streamlined custom casework uses space efficiently and maximizes views from the private workstation. The primary bathroom features a free-standing tub and delicately tiled walls that feel both simple and highly detailed.

This urban renovation provides a transitional take on mixing bold colors with neutrals and utilizes durable materials for an active family looking to take advantage of both a comfortable and modern lifestyle.

Laurel Heights 1 in San Francisco, CA – Building Information

Completion date: 2021

Contractor: Eastwood Development Landscape Design: Steph Kawachi Landscape Design and Loretta Gargan Landscape + Design Structural Engineer: Sheerline Engineering Interior Design: Feldman Architecture Lighting Design: Kim Cladas Lighting Design

Photography: Paul Dyer

Laurel Heights 1, San Francisco images / information received 050122

Location: San Francisco, California, USA

New Architecture in San Francisco

Contemporary San Francisco Architecture

San Francisco Architectural Designs – chronological list

San Francisco Architecture News

San Francisco Architectural Walking Tours by e-architect

Salesforce Tower Office Space Design: Feldman Architecture photograph : Paul Dyer Salesforce Tower Office Space

Peninsula Residence, San Francisco Bay Area, California Design: Richard Beard Architects ; Kelly Hohla Interiors provided interior design photograph : Paul Dyer Peninsula Residence San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco Architecture Offices – architecture firm listings on e-architect

Big Ranch Road Retreat in the Napa Valley Design: WDA (William Duff Architects) photograph © Matthew Millman Photography Napa Valley Barn Renewal

American Architecture

Foster + Partners Architects

Comments / photos for the Laurel Heights 1 San Francisco design by Feldman Architecture page welcome

The post Laurel Heights 1, San Francisco Residence appeared first on e-architect.

[skeletalesbian-blog]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/k87TqGj3I6k" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/>I liked to consume a treat right away when I got house from institution, yet with Dad working outside by the equipment shed, interest obtained the far better of me as well as I figured I can constantly eat a treat later.When I attracted closer to the equipment shed, I saw a green container standing on the engine cowling following to Father's joint and a wad of rags hanging out of his back pocket. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL_gw60RNtOBTs3rJKTrZISGLrGMYhtEE3&feature=youtube_gdata">https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL_gw60RNtOBTs3rJKTrZISGLrGMYhtEE3&feature=youtube_gdata</a> was tremendous fun to rest on the red fender, right following to Daddy, while the wind blew with my hair as well as Needles trotted close to us.Instead of answering my question regarding why he was on the stepladder, Dad ordered the eco-friendly bottle and tossed it in my direction.I got to out with both hands and also caught it up-side-down. In the complying with years on the very first good spring day, he would certainly obtain the four-sixty out to wax it before he began the area work.Every year, Mother as well as Loretta did their springtime cleaning, also, washing wall surfaces as well as windows and curtains in the cooking area, the living area, the shower room and also all 3 bedrooms.From what I might see, Father had more enjoyable than Mama and Loretta.Instead of cleansing the curtainshe utilized the curtains to do his cleansing.<br/><br/><br/><img src="http://www.cambergaragedoors.co.uk/v2/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/golden_oak_insulated_roller.JPG"/><br/>I suched as to eat a treat right away when I got house from school, however with Daddy functioning outside by the device shed, interest obtained the far better of me as well as I figured I could always consume a treat later.When I drew closer to the machine shed, I saw an eco-friendly bottle standing on the engine cowling next to Father's joint and also a wad of rags hanging out of his back pocket. It was incredible enjoyable to rest on the red fender, right next to Papa, while the wind blew with my hair as well as Needles ran next to us.Instead of answering my inquiry concerning why he was on the stepladder, Papa grabbed the green bottle and also tossed it in my direction.I got to out with both hands and captured it up-side-down." Daddy just got done waxing the tractor," I stated." They're not a lot excellent for curtains anymore," Daddy said.My mother sighed. In the following years on the initial great spring day, he would certainly obtain the four-sixty out to wax it prior to he started the field work.Every year, Mom as well as Loretta did their spring cleaning, also, washing wall surfaces and also home windows and also drapes in the kitchen area, the living space, the restroom and all 3 bedrooms.From what I can see, Father had a lot more enjoyable than Mom as well as Loretta.Instead of cleansing the curtainshe used the curtains to do his cleansing.<br/>

Reserve Passage

[feigeroman]

The New NWR Stocklist

As you'll no doubt be aware, about 90% of my Thomas output on this blog concerns my interpretation of the NWR locomotive roster - be it headcanons about our famous heroes, or write-ups on my metric shit-ton of OCs. You may remember I posted a stocklist, which neatly doubled up as a hub for all those headcanons and write-ups. For the benefit of those who haven't already see that post, I'll briefly summarize:

I've always thought that the NWR, as seen in both the RWS and TVS, seemed rather understaffed - only a dozen or so engines are ever seen in the former, with the latter expanding this to about 40 engines. Canonically, though, the NWR is said to have about 80 engines to its name, with the vast majority going undocumented officially.

So I took it upon myself to expand the visible fleet accordingly, deftly mixing elements from the RWS, TVS and my own ideas. Taking a leaf out of the Extended Railway Series, I limited myself to eighty steam engines, and thirty diesels, the names of which are listed under the break.

Now, the main purpose of this new stocklist is to showcase a substantial rethink I've had regarding the numbering sequence. To cut a long story short, I've massively overhauled the sequence so that it bears more relation to the order in which the characters officially joined the NWR - as well as take account of those characters with canon numbers.

As before, characters listed in bold are canon, and all others are my OCs - some have their roots in canon, though, and are also listed in bold, and marked with an asterisk (*). The numbers in brackets indicate the order in which the engines on this list entered NWR service.

STEAM

Thomas The Tank Engine (1)

Edward The Blue Engine (2)

Henry The Green Engine (9)

Gordon The Big Engine (10)

James The Red Engine (11)

Percy The Small Engine (12)

Toby The Tram Engine (23)

Duck The Great Western Engine (26)

Donald The Scottish Twin (32)

Douglas The Scottish Twin (33)

Oliver The Little Western Engine (50)

Barry The Rescue Engine (108) *

Vanguard The Austerity Engine (107) *

Charlie The Fun Engine (82)

Maggie The R.O.D Engine (3)

Murphy The R.O.D Engine (4)

Everett The R.O.D Engine (5)

Nia The Helpful Engine (102)

Warren The R.O.D Engine (7)

Vernon The R.O.D Engine (8)

Reagan The Director's Engine (6)

Rebecca The Happy Engine (103)

Barbara The Mixed-Traffic Engine (13)

Albert The Jubilee Engine (14)

Spike The Wharf Shunter (15)

Wendy The Dock Shunter (16)

Harvey The Crane Engine (66)

Maura The Atlantic Engine (17)

Sarah The Naughty Engine (18) *

Metin The War Department Engine (19)

Temel The War Department Engine (20)

Jesse The Steelworks Engine (21) *

Jason The Night Owl Engine (22)

Evadne The Commuter Engine (24)

Hilda The Commuter Engine (25)

Cathy The New-Build Engine (27)

Rosie The Yankee Tank Engine (77)

Siani The Welsh Engine (28)

Big Bertha The Banking Engine (29)

Grace The Midland Engine (30) *

Abigail The Compound Engine (31)

Heidi The Cambrian Engine (34)

Monique The Goods Engine (35)

Fletcher The Recluse Engine (36)

Roy The Scottish Engine (37)

Errol The Jazzer Engine (39)

Heather The North-British Engine (41)

Lady Margaret The School Engine (42)

Clarence The Calm Engine (43)

Michael The Franco-Crosti Engine (44)

Hiro The Japanese Engine (84)

Rhonda The Welsh Engine (46)

Elspeth The Caley Tank Engine (47)

Roscoe The Cool Engine (48)

Stepney The Bluebell Engine (40)

Loretta The Utility Engine (49)

Saffron The Hippie Engine (51)

Raven The Vicarstown Pilot (54)

Franklin The Really Usual Engine (55)

Jasmine The Suburban Engine (56)

Ashley The Suburban Engine (58)

Shanks The Suburban Engine (59)

Emily The Stirling Engine (68)

Arthur The Obedient Engine (69)

Murdoch The Mighty Engine (70)

Whiff The Rubbish Engine (78)

Victor The Works Shunter (71)

Molly The Shy Engine (74)

Neville The Ugly Duckling Engine (75)

Billy The Silly Engine (79)

Stanley The Silver Engine (80)

Hank The American Engine (81)

Scruff The Rubbish Engine (83)

Belle The Big Tank Engine (85)

Porter The Dock Tank Engine (93)

Callum The Highland Engine (94)

Robyn The Private Engine (96)

Caneri The Colliery Engine (97)

Ryan The Purple Engine (98)

Sonny The Fugitive Engine (105)

DIESEL

Daisy The Diesel Railcar (38)

BoCo The Diseasel (45)

Bear The Hymek Diesel (52)

Gideon The Station Pilot (53)

Sheridan The Railbus (57)

Mungo The Heavy-Freight Diesel (61)

Derek The Paxman Diesel (62)

Salty The Dockyard Diesel (67)

Dennis The Lazy Diesel (76)

Diesel Ten (65)

'Arry The Ironworks Diesel (63)

Bert The Ironworks Diesel (64)

Violet The Multiple Unit (72)

Hyacinth The Multiple Unit (73)

Den The Works Diesel (86)

Dart The Works Diesel (87)

Stafford The Battery-Electric Shunter (92)

Sidney The Australian Diesel (88)

Paxton The Green Diesel (89)

Norman The New-Build Diesel (90)

Argyll The Express Diesel (91)

Chopper The Quiet Diesel (95)

Maxine The Push-Pull Diesel (100)

Philip The Boxcab Diesel (99)

Donna The Heavy-Freight Diesel (101)

Devious Diesel (104)

Tracy The Thunderbird Diesel (60)

Tanner The Postal Shunter (106)

Pip The High-Speed Diesel (109)

Emma The High-Speed Diesel (110)

[feigeroman]

Thomas OCs: Franklin

Number: 59 Class: LNER Thompson B1 4-6-0 Built: 1943 Arrived on Sodor: 1969 Service (Shed): NWR Utility (Knapford) Livery: NWR Local Passenger Green

Franklin is fairly unusual among the engines of the NWR, for the simple reason that - somewhat paradoxically - he’s probably the most normal, sane, down-to-earth engine on the whole of Sodor. Whereas most of the other engines are apt to get into scrapes and mishaps on an alarmingly regular basis, Franklin is more content to keep quietly working in the background - in fact, he actively does his best not to get caught up in any of his colleagues’ antics whatsoever. The closest he gets is occasionally bearing witness to the incidents his fellow engines get caught up in, and almost always passing comment on their strange behaviour.

Franklin, had suitably low-key beginnings, when he was built at Darlington in 1943. This being at the height of the Second World War, he was immediately pressed into service hauling goods trains for the war effort. Most of his work saw him travelling around East Anglia, where the US Air Force had a significant presence during the War. Franklin, initially unnamed, became good friends with one particular group of American airmen, who unofficially christened him after then-President Franklin Roosevelt.

Following the War’s end, Franklin continued working around East Anglia, jumping about from shed to shed over the next few years. By the time Nationalization came in 1948, he’d finally settled down at Parkeston Quay, near to the Port of Harwich. Thus he was frequently to be seen on heavy freight trains serving the port - frequently containing wagons off the train ferry from Zeebrugge - although his main work was fast passenger trains.

Franklin continued his BR career, in his own unassuming way, until Boxing Day 1965, when he was withdrawn from service at Colwick shed - where he’d finished up following another spell of shed-hopping in the years immediately prior. Instead of being cut up, though, he was converted for use as a stationary boiler to heat up coaching stock. Franklin was transferred elsewhere to perform this task, but it is not clear where - possibly Ipswich, given that that was where he was when he was finally withdrawn altogether in 1968.

This could well have been the end of Franklin, had it not been for an unexpected stroke of fortune. Literally weeks later, he was picked up and purchased as part of Sir Topham Hatt’s bulk purchasing scheme of the 1960s. While not the last steam engine to be purchased by the NWR under this scheme, he was definitely one of the last to enter service there, in 1969. Upon his arrival on Sodor, Franklin was allocated to Knapford sheds, and became one of the NWR’s many utility engines. That is, he can be sent almost anywhere that’s short of an engine, to do almost any kind of job. Most of the time, though, Franklin is kept busy on semi-fast passenger and goods trains along the Main Line. Although based at Knapford, he’s also to be found working on the Great Waterton branch on a relatively frequent basis - usually when he needs a bit of peace from the antics of his fellow engines.

Despite his fierce determination to remain the normal one, Franklin’s closest friend is the wild and outgoing Loretta (NWR #56). Actually, calling it a friendship might be pushing the limits of credibility just a little bit. A more accurate description would be that it’s Franklin who holds onto the other end of Loretta’s leash whenever her brake van Harriet is out with another engine, or otherwise unavailable. Franklin knows that Loretta’s difficult enough to deal with when there is someone to reel her in, but he’s fully aware that if she were left to her own devices, she might end up doing something so drastic as to have disastrous consequences.

Trivia

If I’d intended for Loretta to be the Peppermint Patty of my cast of OCs, then Franklin was definitely intended to be the...er, Franklin. He was created shortly after Loretta, and was very much intended to serve as her straight man (I think this was before I’d fully established her relationship with Harriet). I then decided it’d be more fun to expand on this idea, and make him the straight man to virtually everyone else on the NWR. Someone who could look at the madness going on around him, and actually take a moment to ask, “Is nobody else completely weirded out by this?“

The name Franklin, by the way, is indeed inspired by the Peanuts character of the same name, who played the same sort of role in that comic. I initially only intended to use it as a placeholder, but as ever, it just kinda stuck.

One of the preserved B1s, Mayflower, was named after another member of the class, which was in turn named after the famous ship. I think I wanted to keep the American connection, which was what lead me to keep the name Franklin - albeit with a different etymology behind it.

I can’t for the life of me remember why I specifically went with a B1, except maybe that I just liked the look of them. And a lot of them were based in Fife, where I currently live, so perhaps there’s a little geographical bias there. Who knows...