#ttte the Fat Director

[spud-dud]

made a super small topham

he's tiny but also he's posable! You can move his head and arms!!

[ladychandraofthemoone]

S

Troublesome Engines

[sudrian-railways-enthusiast]

How to be a Splendid Red Engine like Me

Based on mean scarlet deceiver’s post  on mentoring relationships in ttte.

I am loving the chaos of  if James were to successfully corrupt Arthur under his wing. Arthur has been hearing from James how degrading and smelly fish trains are for like a full month. “A little Tank Engine like you might not understand this Arthur but-”

“I’m not a little Tank Engine..” 🡠(The First Rebellious words that have ever left Arthur’s mouth)

“...A Tank Engine like you might not understand this Arthur, but back in the early days, the Fat Director made us mainline engines shunt our own trains. 

And that’s the story of why Arthur has dedicated buffer vans between him and the fish vans on his branch line now.

[jayde-jots]

Uni has been kicking my ass, so after kicking it right back a decided to destress with some headcanons and brotherly fluff!

Context- I adore reading fanfics about engines turning human, and I sort of have my own head cannons about the trope.

I think if an engine were to turn human, their human bodies would reflect their physical health before the transformation. Like Scotsman for example, his irl engine self is not in good health at the best of times, and if we're to believe that TTTE universe Scotsman also went to America I don't believe for a second that the guy wouldn't have some PTSD. So mentally and physically he'd not be doing so hot as a human. Then take Gordon, big G has been potentially pulling the express for over 100 years by this point, and still going strong. The fat controllers we know take care of their engines, so more than positively Gordon has been kept in pristine health his whole life. If Gordon were to turn human, I don't doubt he'd be a strapping human with an 8 pack. But then it turns to personal experience.

In the story of this image I've hinted that Gordon has been human for much longer than Scotsman has, and while Gordon did pop out of his engine to human transformation being absolutely ripped in the beginning, I like to think that once the engines discover more of what humanity has to offer they'd indulge more of their personal interests. James for example I imagine would like to model and maybe do drag, or hell, maybe even design clothing! Henry I think would adore gardening and maybe animals, I imagine him volunteering at an animal shelter or the one putting in the most work at a community garden. I think Edward would find pride in his community, he'd adore things that you'd find at the Earl of Sodor's castle, he'd adore history, and the slower crafts of humans like painting and join Henry in some gardening, maybe some cooking to. Thomas I think would find his competitive nature, finding the joy in sports, liking to race people on a track, seeing how far he can hit a baseball, dancing around players in basketball, or just simply working out and liking the burn. And Gordon I imagine finds his interests with food, enjoying the sensation of taste, and also more of what the mainland would have to offer, I think he'd do a little exploring and also find the fun in traveling with other modes of transport. Which leads me to the brotherly fluff! I think that after a while some mainland engines who visit Sodor often would eventually feel the effects of the engine to human transformation. Scotsman would have seen Gordon as a human many times by now, and the two would sit and chat at Vicarstown before Scotsman would have to go back on his return journey. This is over the span of many months and each week Scott sees Gordon he notices his brother gaining a little more in the human part of him that reminds him of a boiler. At first it concerns him, until he's told that's how humans gain weight, and how they become fat. Once that happens he begins to poke fun at Gordon, calling him "big brother" in a new mocking way. Gordon becomes more hurt at that because to him it's far more personal than Scotsman knows, so afterwards he distances himself from his brother for a few weeks that span months until Sir Topham tells Gordon that Scotsman is in hospital after turning human, which leads to now. Gordon catches the next train out closest to the hospital and is very surprised to find Scott looking the polar opposite to him. He's so thin he appears anorexic, and even if Gordon had been in his first body type he would have still towered over Scott if the pair stood up side by side. The doctor had been informing Scotsman and the museum director of what his diagnosis was when Gordon burst into the room! Scott was very happy to see Gordon, bursting into tears and crying into his shoulder when Gordon scooped him up and hugged him close. Scott had ended up being diagnosed with Crohn's disease, type 1 diabetes, along with many more mental health conditions. PTSD, depression, and anxiety, but the most prominent being extreme separation anxiety. Once Gordon showed up it was all or nothing, Scotsman wouldn't leave his arms and refused to even go back to the museum, even not wanting to go back into the hospital bed or a wheelchair unless Gordon was right next to him or the one pushing the chair. The doctor suggested that Scotsman go with Gordon so he could receive treatment without possibly going into a panic attack, Gordon was okay with this as he and the others had managed to secure jobs and cash pooled their money together to afford a house. So that leads to the picture of Gordon and Scott talking as they probably walk out of the hospital together. Enjoy!

[anonymousboxcar]

TTTE Headcanon: Edward the Audiobook Narrator (+ Bill, Ben, and BoCo)

From what I’ve seen of Edward, it seems like he’s fond of telling stories, both about the island’s history and about stuff he’s made up. As a result, I like to think that not only the Thin Clergyman turns to him as a resource for his books.

One company wants to publish an audiobook collection of stories that originated on/surround Sodor’s railways. It’s a deal that’s arranged with the Fat Controller and the NWR board of directors, giving the NWR hefty royalties so long as it gives them exclusive rights to consult their employees — including the engines.

Edward soon becomes one of the most popular engines to consult. Aside from his sheer repertoire of stories, it’s clear he has a knack for narration and voice work. He’s also very happy to share his tales with new audiences.

There’s only one issue. Or rather, two issues disguising themselves as one underneath a shiny, obnoxious yellow trench coat.

Bill and Ben take a great deal of joy in interrupting Edward’s first recording session. They whistle at inopportune moments, commentate on story events like newscasters, and wind up the person holding the tape recorder until they blow their stack.

Edward tells them off each time. When a stern “knock it off” doesn’t work, he says that they’re wasting tapes every time they make a racket, which means more money and time down the drain.

Bill blinks. “You really care about this, don’t you?”

“You know how I like my stories. And some of them were told to me by engines that aren’t with us anymore, nor their railways. I’d like to make sure they live on in that way.”

“Oh.” Ben winces. “Sorry.”

Edward sighs, but smiles. “It’s alright. Just try to be quiet next time, please.”

That’s when a second issue emerges: Bill and Ben find it very difficult to stay quiet. They’re hyperaware of every little sound they make in the next recording attempt. They start to whisper to each other about the sounds, trying to alert each other, only for it to escalate into a furious shouting match.

While the person from the company steps out to take an aspirin, Bill flushes. “We really tried, Edward.”

“I tried. I don’t know what you were doing.”

“You—”

“I think,” Edward says, his brow furrowed, “something else might suit all of us much better.”

When they pick up again, Edward narrates like before. But this time, Bill and Ben supply sound effects. They rattle back and forth over their tracks. They whistle. They provide the raspy groans of ghosts, muttering nonsense words and cackling in equal measure.

Bill and Ben get very enthusiastic about it. Edward grins at each supplement from them. And the person from the company loves it, proclaiming at the end of the session that it lends a certain “charm and realism” to the recordings.

The company greenlights it for future recordings. As far as they’re concerned, it saves them the money and the time of editing in the sounds themselves.

With each new recording, Bill and Ben get better at it. They practice their sound effects in advance — first on their own, then in a “dress rehearsal” with Edward for an audience of BoCo. BoCo gives his feedback, helping to keep everything in line.

For example: “The screams are very atmospheric. But any louder, and the issue of my cab windows shattering might start up again.”

Sometimes BoCo also offers sound effects of his own, ones better suited to his diesel engine and different voice. His mimicry of the Fat Controller is eerily accurate, everyone agrees. It’s all he and Edward can do to keep Bill and Ben from using that for devious purposes.

Once they finish the recordings and the company edits them, the audiobook gets released on cassettes, CDs, etc. It’s a huge hit. Newspaper reviews reveal that Edward, Bill, Ben, and BoCo’s narrations are the favorites with the public and critics.

They all enjoy the experience so much that they continue to record narrations and sound effects for the company, all the way into the age of the Internet and streamed/downloadable audio. It’s fun and a bonding exercise of sorts for them!

[engineer-gunzelpunk]

Alas, it does not get better for young Henry...

This scene kept haunting me and I had to draw it.

Imagine how messed up Henry and The Fat Director’s first interaction was. Like, the first day they lay eyes on each other.

Hatt’s berating him with questions he can’t answer. Who designed him? Where was he built? Is he lying or legitimately unsure? Why isn’t he the engine he wanted?

And he asks all these questions of Henry, still just a baby really, as if Henry can change any of their answers to be the reality Hatt wants them to be.

And he’s certainly asking them in a bellicose, frustrated, almost violent tone.

Henry would probably cry. This is his home? Really?

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

Rheneas and the roller-coaster? (My apologies for inflicting this one on you)

Robin. What the hell did you just make me re-watch.

Heh heh. Actually, in all seriousness, it's imho... not horrible. It is however very bland. Like, I'd gotten through all of Season 7 once but I had no memory of this.

The plot is stupidly unbelievable—railway realism is thrown out the window. Then again it is far more plausible than "Rusty and the Boulder" sooooo...?

The episode simply feels like such a nothingburger than I can't even bring myself to detail all the ways in which it falls flat. Let's just agree that, well, it does. I get the sense it was written with the aim of doing Rheneas's character a long-overdue favor but in the end it's just filler.

Having stipulated, however, that this ep is a low point in season 7... there are actually a couple kudos I want to give it.

Mild kudos:

1) Hey, the "rollercoaster" runaway ride might have been silly and stupid... but it is kinda fun? A little? A pale shadow of the shenanigans of "Boulder," but I can tell the film crew were enjoying themselves. It seems obvious that Mitton wasn't really in charge of this one or, if he was, that he was entirely checked out. No, whoever directed this, you cannot make an interesting action sequence just by filming the whole thing with the camera tilted 90°... it takes a bit more than that.

But. Nevertheless. The detail of the props actually getting wet as they veer by the waterfall is such a nice touch:

This (live water!) ^ is the sort of thing that makes the model series so fun to watch, even when the writing is shit.

2) Is the writing all shit, though?

[Disclaimer: I feel the TVS has already established context/continuity in Season 6 for the NWR/Fat Controller having taken over the narrow-gauge railway and starting to make some drastic changes; we see the engines adjusting to a management style very different from what they experienced in the plots that were based on the books. So I take FC's and Rheneas's exchange in that spirit. He's trying to show a gentler side than "I'm going to shut down your entire line on a whim." Rheneas is especially keen to use this chance to prove himself to a somewhat capricious owner.]

On the one wheel, I sort of hate how this is another in a long line of episodes in this era that continue to baby-fy Rheneas and Skarloey (who are in need of kind, brave, clever Rusty to look after them in a cruel world).

On the other wheel, this particular story—if it is considered strictly on its own, and not in that sad, sorry context—I feel does a plausible job of characterizing Rheneas? Who is not an easy character to work with, since even Rev. Awdry left him quite undeveloped.

I can see people (probably yourself among them?) preferring other interpretations of Rheneas. But honestly... this one is valid. If you need him to have some sort of weakness or flaw to motivate a story, "fears he's not exciting enough to be of interest to a train full of kids" feels legitimate. In RWS, one of his things was very much always seeming to be overshadowed by Skarloey's charisma. He's the quieter and more serious of the pair, and while he gamely gives it a go he's also nervous and not at all comfortable when the Thin Controller puts him on the spot to give a little speech on his birthday.

The "insecurity" motive gets way overused in TVS, of course—but as of Season 7 it wasn't quite overused yet. And, obviously it would be stupid to have Rheneas feel he's not up to most jobs, given that at this point he's got over a hundred years of badassery under his boiler bands. But the specific charge of "this is a very special day for the kiddos; make sure it's memorable for them!"... like okay, I can actually roll with this and easily believe in a Rheneas that's secretly going, Well, fuck. Then why didn't you have literally anyone else do it? I'm not the entertaining one.

*insert cute image of Rheneas licking his thumb and quickly flipping a handbook entitled How To Be Fun*

Sooooo... yeah. It's not a good episode. But I don't actually find it dire. It's within the usual range of Season 7 bland.

(Which I used to think was the worst... until I watched the next few seasons. At least Season 7 bland was still short and sweet, clocking in at under 6 minutes a pop!)

[brhater]

So I have two headcanons for ttte.

First the more realistic one: the S&M and the W&S are run by high and mighty bosses who have pride in their railway and try to make them as flashy and fancy as possible but go bankrupt while at it but in the meantime the the E&K run by the workmen and other not really highborn individuals and a shoestring budget and is successful at it, this also leads to the merger into the NWR.

The seconded is a just for fun Hc: Henry was constructed form stolen plans (often assumed as Gresley plans) but what if the plans where drawn up not by one but three of the best engineers while all three where drunk these thee being the then messers Topham-Hatt, Stanier and Gresley and the reason might have been the end of ww1 and then someone stole the plans not from an office but the Table while the three good (future) sirs are sleeping of their hangover in the pub. From here the story is known the plans get turned into a real engine (Henry) and sold to the NWR where some time after Henry is let out of the tunnel the fat director starts to remember the night and puts together the pieces. This leads to him sweet talking the other two into helping him make Henry better for the next decade which then comes in handy after the kipper incident this leads to his rebuild. This hc is just something fun highly unlikely that came to me as a funny thought but got stuck and I just had to share.

[houseboatisland]

What do you think of James x Thomas?😅❤️💙

I like it a lot!

My personal headcanon is as follows:

1. They became a couple after James’ crash on his first day.

2. Their happiest days together were undoubtedly the ‘20s. James was the engine who most often came to help Thomas on his branchline, which they would thus have to themselves. At first, Edward was the regular engine to be sent up to deputize, but he saw how wonderfully Thomas and James were “getting on” that he kindly stepped aside and let James keep taking the mantle. There was only one shed at Ffharquhar, and 1 and 5 only just managed to fit between the buffers and the doors. As you can imagine, Thomas and James had their first kiss this way. And their second, and their third…

3. Things started going wrong for them as the Main Line engines got more frazzled in their new environment. The move from Vicarstown to Tidmouth caused some homesickness at first, and above all, the tender engines were hopeless without a pilot. Shunting was awkward at their sizes, but more importantly, the engines just didn’t know what they were doing. They grabbed coaches and trucks for their trains as was convenient, which weren’t necessarily the ones they needed. Most exasperatingly, they tended to foul up the next engine’s train when the stock they needed wasn’t there. Vicarstown, which was inexplicably swamped with tank engines at this time, wouldn’t send any over to assist. Hatt's notorious feud with Vicarstown's Stationmaster, Shedmaster, and Yard Foreman, (yes, all at once!) is the most likely reason why.

4. Impressionable, power-seeking James became very high and mighty, and more intent then ever on getting in Gordon’s good graces. Gordon got an idea in his smokebox at this time that Thomas should just… abandon his branchline and “come to his senses” to pilot at Tidmouth, like Thomas was some wayward teenager who ran away and needed to come home. Thomas found that very insulting, and hearing it out of James’ mouth was the worst insult of all, so things just weren’t the same for them from then on out. By the time of the Big Three Strike, they had washed their buffers of their relationship.

5. Have they ever wanted to get back together? They've never said as much aloud. But there have certainly been moments where everyone around them sat on the edges of their rails expecting, (hoping?) it would happen. Season 5's "Make Someone Happy" was one such instance, and Percy still swears on his firebox that he saw them steal a kiss late in the night as the last stalls and rides were being packed up...

[houseboatisland]

Do you ship Molly with anyengine?

I think you should ;)

"Anyengine," I like that :3

Molly, as has been said many times for other reasons, is a complicated engine. I wouldn't necessarily call her aromantic, but she tries to snuff out any potential feelings she has for others out of a lack of confidence. "Why bother?" is her mindset in this regard. Per my headcanon, her self-esteem was blunted in her youth by the constant bullying of her sisters. They resented her as an engine comfortable with the commoners, and thus "common" in their eyes, so how dare a common engine shed with them and also be in reserve for Royal Trains? And that was drilled into her smokebox any time she was within earshot... for years.

Her sense of self-worth has grown by leaps and bounds since arriving on Sodor, and being allowed to blossom individually and separate from her sisters, (who are all now Hella Dead.) Still, her mind always stops abruptly at that invisible set of buffers between her and the idea of a significant other, habitually. There were SOME Sudrians she pondered. She eyed Henry from afar right after her arrival in '38, but then a certain diesel-hydraulic named for a hibernating forest animal came along, and that was that.

Now, if you want to hear some real gossip that'll make you pull a landline onto the bed, twirl the wire, and go "No. Way.," hear this:

Gordon fancied Molly once, but he once again hoisted himself by his own boiler sludge and could never bring himself to approach her after the fact.

Now, our headcanon goes that Molly arrived on Sodor in 1938 as a loan in anticipation of Gordon's upcoming rebuild. She would join him, James and Henry on the Express Rota, learn the ropes, and help cover for him until his return. Molly also came with the added benefit of not minding pulling trucks, and she was chomping at the bit to be transferred anywhere as long as it was away from her sisters. Sir Nigel Gresley hadn't forgotten dear old Gordon, (although his pet ducks ranked far higher,) and while the LNER's Board couldn't be convinced to send another Pacific over, Gresley interviewed all potential transfers personally, and decided Molly, out of dozens of candidates, was the best. No small praise coming from the man who was basically the LNER incarnate.

Her service record was virtually perfect, her discipline log was literally free of entries, and after several calculations, she was the fastest Claud Hamilton based on her accumulated train timings. And she never so much as bumped a teacup saucer all the while. Her sisters were, in a word... f u m i n g. And you know what? Molly smiled back at them, for the first time in one of these situations. She was living her best life in that moment, God friggin bless. It would later turn out to be the last moment she saw any of them, and honestly what a perfect note to end on.

The Fat Director, who had been putting off Gordon's rebuild for five years now, knew that Gordon would in modern terms, go postal if he found a way to convince himself that Molly was here to replace him and not just fill a temporary (temporary!!!) void, so great pains were taken with choreographing it all. But they needn't have. Timid Molly, it turned out, was Most Popular Girl in the Shed from the minute she showed up. The Sudrian engines up to this point had been through nigh twenty years of petty feuds, circular arguments, and enough trauma to warrant a therapist at Crovan's Gate if it were in the budget, so a new face who disliked confrontation as a rule was... everything they could have ever wanted.

*willie rushton voice* Gordon was fyeurrius.

Gordon was by this point worn out and paranoid, and the more worn out he got, the more paranoid he became. Despite everything to the contrary, he was sure the knives were out for him. He was a prototype who broke down increasingly frequently, and this new girl swans in acting humble and instantly being in everyone's good graces. He's humble!!! (He isn't.) The last straw of course was when Molly, accidentally, bested his fastest timing on the express to Barrow, and that was after she had started late. Gordon's Berserk Button was hit, let me tell you.

He was dragged to Crewe believing he'd be scrapped in an enemy territory workshop, cursing Molly's name and frankly making an ass of himself, you could cut through the theatrics with a saw. Like, it was embarrassing. Like, Gordon... dude. This naturally shook Molly to her core, and any new confidence she had just dissipated. The other engines would've written Gordon off then and there if he was around when she experienced this. Molly was their rock, and for a moment, Gordon was almost dispensable.

Then comes the war.

Archivists disagree on why, but for one reason or another, the LNER just... lets the NWR have Molly in the last minute it's still within their power to decide it. If you want my opinion, a dying Sir Nigel who still remembered Molly so fondly decided she should be allowed to stay on Sodor. No records exist, but in all likelihood he got Molly's difficulties with her sisters out of her, and acted on those as well as the praises Hatt sung her in his correspondences during the loan. So Molly becomes a Sudrian engine on paper, and this is later revealed to her in early 1940.

Gordon had by this time come back, and his time being rebuilt coupled with the national mood had sobered him up considerably. There was no time for fighting, that's what the Jerries want us to do, there's a war on, you know! As all the engines came to wear black and be worked to the frames, Gordon made his peace with Molly, who accepted it because again, she hates fighting. If she were a more combative engine, Molly probably would have torched Gordon a second tender for his behavior and wedged his apology in it. Gordon, for his part, was honestly contrite, but his uppity nature, history of rudeness and constant references to the war made this a bit hard to believe. The other engines forgave him in short order too, but not because they wanted to. So, even though Gordon was legitimately sorry for a change, it fell flat some.

The war drags on. Gordon is being put on goods work more and more, because passengers are suddenly second-rate, and all pretenses and class are out the window. Increasingly, he and Molly are double-heading the heaviest and fastest freight trains, like the iron ore and coal bound for the steelworks and shipbuilders in Barrow. These are stressful journeys lacking in light and made under risk of enemy bombardment. But it brought them together, as little as they may have talked.

And Gordon felt differently about Molly, very very different.

She had a knack for picking herself back up in the face of adversity, rising above the fray whenever others fought, something Gordon envies very much this day, she inspired confidence in you when it seemed she had so little, and she was beautiful. For the first time, the only time, Gordon saw a mixed-traffic workhorse covered in soot and grime and drab unlined black paint, and thought she was the most beautiful thing to ever grace two forever parallel silver ribbons of rail diving into a tunnel of night bombers blotting out the bloody moon. (Didn't account for Gordon being a poet, did you?)

The war ends, and there's a new deal for everyone. The welfare state is born, key industries are to be nationalized, Crovan's Gate and by extension the embryonic NW Region become critically powerful as the Attlee Government lets them keep all loaned materiel during the war, at no charge. (Sodor has consistently returned Labour MPs ever since.) The engines are returning to their old colors, and years of neglected maintenance are being seen to.

It's Molly's turn to be repainted. Rather than return to Apple Green and be like her sisters, Molly cuts her own path and chooses a slightly loud but altogether very becoming and gorgeous livery of yellow with red and gold stripes, and white wheel rims. Hatt would've allowed her to choose whatever she wanted, and you'd think this livery was a bit much for him, but no. He was enamored with the color scheme and even mused in his memoirs about making it a new postwar uniform livery. In the same line of course, he admits it would never happen, ("lest a Third World War begin on our railways on the heels of the Second!")

Gordon loved it, although he was incredibly subtle when it came to applauding it. This may have seemed cold, but he was ashamed of his earlier behavior. He had been so rude to Molly, and here she was, reaching new heights of popularity and success without so much as a hiccup. She's Ms. Perfect, and he's soiled his chances of bettering himself in her eyes forever.

It took him years, but Gordon managed to shove it all down... just. He still dreams of it, but he knows in his heart of hearts that they can never be together. Even if Molly truthfully forgave him, on top of her earlier wartime forgiveness made out of necessity and fear of disagreements, he wouldn't believe her. There would be no way, from his point of view, that she could say such and mean it. And why should she? He wouldn't deserve it.

And... Molly becomes the last engine Gordon has romantic feelings for. He's just... done.

Does Gordon ever tell anyone ANY of this? Not a chance. Who knew about it? Nobody KNEW, but Edward had a theory. It's Edward. He knows Gordon like a book. Does Edward ever voice his suspicions, even to Gordon alone and in the strongest confidence? No.

Did Molly know? No. Did she ever wonder? No, not even a little. It's Molly. No one could POSSIBLY go for her, could they? It's unrealistic. So, she'll just stuff that behind her tubeplate and get back to these trucks, that's what she'll do.

And there'll be no more of this nonsense.

[houseboatisland]

Any HC on Molly?

Yeah! Here's a link to a post I made (in a shippy lens) but here's a summary of all the non-shippy stuff:

She's timid because she was bullied by her sisters back in England. They looked down on her for being willing to do goods work.

She was one of several Clauds on the rota for Royal Trains.

She had an excellent service record and was the fastest by time among her class, which made her sisters even more jealous and vicious.

They treated her so badly that she volunteered to go to Sodor when The Fat Director was looking for potential engines. Sir Nigel Gresley recommended her on his own behalf, partially because he had a soft spot for Gordon and the NWR, but also because he knew she needed to get away from her sisters and deserved a chance to be happier somewhere else.

She came to Sodor in 1938 to cover for Gordon on the express when his overhaul/rebuild was to start. When her loan ended, Gresley let the NWR buy her for a hundred pounds rather than ask for her back, which was a fraction of a fraction of her value. He knew the NWR couldn't pay full price, but he couldn't take her new life away from her, and he couldn't just say he gave her away for free if ever asked. The war began, and any planned investigations into the dubious sale were forgotten forever.

Gordon wasn't supposed to know Molly was coming to cover for him, but it got out, and he deluded himself into believing she was there to replace her permanently. So, he treated her terribly.

The other engines sided with Molly rather than Gordon, because she was the first engine on Sodor in like, ever, to not like fighting as a way to pass the time.

Molly broke Gordon's speed record and this of course made him lose it.

Gordon returned from his rebuild, and shortly afterwards the war started. He and Molly reconciled, and they did lots of double-heading goods trains to Barrow. This was hard, dangerous work which put them at risk of attack, and it really helped them put whatever differences they had left aside.

When the war ended, The Fat Director let her choose her own paintjob. She didn't want to be unlined black like during the war, and she didn't want to be LNER Apple Green or GER Royal Blue because they reminded her of her sisters. She chose the livery we're familiar with, of yellow with red stripes and white wheel rims.

The Fat Director, despite what you'd expect, LOVED this livery. He was actually tempted to make it the railway's standard colors when the NWR was to become a BR region, but he gave that idea up immediately knowing most if not all the engines would either (1) want to keep their usual colors or (2) just hate the yellow period.

She does lots of branchline work, and she's one of the few engines Bill and Ben don't play tricks on.

She keeps a pretty low profile voluntarily, which is why despite being on Sodor since the Thirties, she never appears in the RWS and the TVS only featured her briefly. (Many engines on Sodor exist but just aren't well known because they don't consent on the necessary release forms to be portrayed fictionally.) Her and Thomas cutting Gordon off at the junction was the closest the TVS writers wanted to bother with writing about their 1938-39 feud.

The NWR numbering system is... stupid. She's carried multiple numbers since arriving, but since 1995, when the NWR was re-privatized, she has been their No. 13.

[houseboatisland]

Your engine colloquialisms are always so delightful and believable (and I will NEVER be over Arthur chirping "Idle wheels are the devil's playthings!") Do you have anything on how they swear/curse?

*rubs hands devilishly* train swears, eh?

Well, to start off, thanks much! And also, as you can well imagine, Arthur would never, EVER say whatever I type next. If he hears another engine swear, he does the most innocent little gasp. It’s hilarious in person.

Hm, let's see:

"Shunt off!"

An engine's least polite way of saying 'go away.' James and Percy are two of the most likely engines to fling this one.

"Who gives a chuff?" / "I don't give a chuff!" etc.

In regular conversation, engines are far more likely to say "puff" rather than "chuff" to refer to an engine moving along. Why this started isn't known, but the crass nature of "chuff" in this context has sped up the disuse of "chuff" in friendly banter. Think how "jackass" doesn't necessarily mean a terrible person and can instead mean "donkey," but is practically never used to refer to the animal anymore.

Thomas, another one of the more foul-mouthed engines, is known to use this when he's fed up with a topic or, especially in his youth, just couldn't be bothered to keep learning about something.

Coffeepot: "Not just any truck will do for the stone, you know. We use different sizes of trucks based on the weight of the stone, if it's been cut or is on its way to be shaped properly, five-plank wagons for ex-"

Thomas: "Awww, who gives a chuff? Let's just get on with it!"

Coffeepot: *would cover their mouth in shock if they could*

Some other ideas that aren't swears themselves but are related to swearing:

Trucks swear like sailors. Coaches are no better, they just watch themselves more often.

The idea of engines from quarries and factories being more likely to swear isn't exactly true, it actually has its roots in classism by passenger engines.

Edward knows the origins of just about every machine swear to have been invented on Sodor, but you have to be one of the closest engines or humans to him to learn his secrets. He's an engine who swears, usually under his breath, although there are times where even HE can't hold it in. Edward's a good egg, but not a saint.

There have been times engines were punished for using human swears. There's an unwritten rule that human swears apparently are completely unacceptable for use by engines, whereas machine swears are frowned upon but not much more. James said "Oh, shit! Shit! Shiiiiiiiit!" when he soaked The Fat Director's hat. Naturally this didn't make it into the book, and was just another reason that Hatt shut him in the shed and threatened to paint him blue. We know it happened thanks to Edward's recollection and James' Discipline Log. Every engine has one.

[houseboatisland]

oh no they're duplicating

📂 📂

(sorry this became so big i'll have to answer your second emoji in another post aaaaaaaa)

Cranky is a tall, stationary shore crane situated at Tidmouth Docks.

By the time of his arrival in the late Forties, Tidmouth had been Sodor's principal port for decades. It was already well-established and built up with countless warehouses, wet and dry docks, a fishing fleet, and a shipbuilding complex*. Sewing this confused, bustling mass together was the Tidmouth Port Authority's internal railway system weaving its way through sooty alleys and past the doorsteps of pubs and chip shops. It was all chaotic, a lot to learn from the minute he landed, and noisy. But Cranky was determined to bring his new home to order, and if nothing else, make a good reputation for himself with the dockworkers and The Fat Controller.

Cranky had been manufactured in the United States, and shipped disassembled to Sodor as part of postwar aid by America to the United Kingdom. Despite spending so little of his formative years around Americans, Cranky has from the first spoken with an American accent. Built in the state of Pennsylvania per embossing on his original parts, he has inexplicably come to talk comparably to a Brooklynite, for example pronouncing "harbor" as "hawbuh." His voice is also a bit hoarse like a tobacco smoker: This occurs commonly in sentient machines working most of their lives near salt water.

Originally named Cranky because of the loud yet satisfying "clunk-clunk-clunk" of his gears when turning his 'head,' Cranky in his youth was far removed from his current self. He was upbeat, never gave others an attitude, and above all pushed himself relentlessly with his work.

This is where the Cranky we know starts taking shape.

By the late Fifties, nearing ten years of perkiness and willingness to go the extra mile, Cranky felt unnoticed despite all his efforts. He had done everything he was supposed to and more, and yet the recognition he had sought from the beginning had failed to materialize. He began to become crabby. Barring one close call**, he never once stopped working out of bitterness. On the contrary, Cranky worked harder still in a sort of passive-aggressive way to get attention. A consequence of this, which he surely knew, was that his system would wear out faster. Cranky hoped that by being in such a poor condition, sympathy and appreciation would come to him when this was discovered.

By the Seventies, nearing forty years old and watching new cranes be erected close by, Cranky developed a complex about being replaced. As a result, he never spoke with these cranes, despite spending years next to them around the clock. This never happened, but it was a real fear of his at the time, and he only shared it with his operators years later in the strictest confidence.

In the Nineties, the recognition that Cranky had longed for for so long finally presented itself. The Fat Controller, (by now the grandson of the one that had been in charge at Cranky's arrival,) was the first of his lineage to pay Cranky a visit. The two previous Fat Controllers never had. They saw Cranky and the Port Authority's railway as outside their jurisdiction, (and to be fair, as far as managing the NWR goes, they are.) Sir Bertram Topham Hatt II however was even more of a humanist and an appreciator of Shedside Manner than the shining example of his father. He spoke at length with Cranky about his work, his life, his insecurities, his hopes and dreams, and most importantly, explained and apologized for the absence of his father and grandfather.

Touched, Cranky opened up at once. He's since... changed for the better, but he's still not the crane of his infancy. He still makes the occasional remark and has a small chip on his shoulder, but he never pushes himself too hard, and (usually) waits for an excuse to be grouchy with someone, for example an engine being impatient with him for no reason. He's more charmingly cantankerous than legitimately bitter. If you saw him in action, you'd find it cute really.

*The television series incorrectly depicts Brendam Docks as being the Island's most important port, but also downplays its size when it does. The real life Tidmouth Docks has several miles of internal track, and the aforementioned packed urban and industrial backdrop. Brendam Docks in the television series meanwhile is one or two warehouses with three parallel railway lines facing the water, with sleepers rather than rails set into the pavement. It's a point of contention with Tidmouth's dock workers, and Edward has said that if Brendam were as important in the show in real life, Bill and Ben would have burned it down five times by now. Hatt's engines are often on Tidmouth Port Authority metals, but the TPA also have a gaggle of tank engines, a handful of tender engines, and several diesels that belong to them privately. These engines interface with Cranky much more than the Famous Eight etc.

**Cranky is able to be disassembled and reinstalled at a new place of work as needed. However, he finds this extremely stressful after spending his entire life at Tidmouth. A plan to move him to Arlesburgh in the Seventies as that port boomed fell through when he refused to consent and even threatened a work stoppage. So powerful is Cranky's bargaining position as the most important crane in the Island's most important port, that the proposal died immediately.

[houseboatisland]

I'm rather curious for your own takes on Thom Thom~✨💙

Edit credit to @/ComradeOpThomas from Twitter, this is my ideal Thomas!

(Season 5 Thomas is the best Thomas, I don’t make the rules)

I started this hoping for it not to become a whole biography, but it just kept pouring out of me, so here's a very, very long post indeed lol

Thomas is NOT an L.B.S.C.R. E2 Class. He’s actually a unique design born to the North Western Railway in its earliest days… and in remarkably sad circumstances.

When the Railway Executive Committee first took over in August 1914, they were repulsed at the state of the Sudrian railways. Here were several argumentative companies operating in isolation from one another, with geriatric engines and stock, and one of them hadn't even run a train or maintained its permanent way since the start of the century. A key agenda item of the R.E.C.'s was a continuous, efficient railway system to quickly move men and materiel to the Island's eastern coast were Ireland to side with Kaiser Bill against John Bull. The existing standard gauge railways would have to be more or less torn up and rebuilt from scratch, and several new miles of track laid in to make for a single fluid network.

This required, among other things, many new engines. Several came over the Channel as and when could be spared by the Mainland, but as it became increasingly clear that the war would not be over "by Christmas," this wasn't an ideal long-term solution. The R.E.C. was especially upset that it had to put so many of its tender engines onto construction trains when their strength could be better used on other work. Two tank engines off the former Wellsworth and Suddery Railway, No. 1 "Short" and No. 2 "Stumpy" were by now nearing fifty years old, and exhausted mechanically.

The R.E.C., out to keep costs down and use resources to the fullest, ordered the N.W.R. to scrap these two engines and use the best parts of each to create one new engine. Measurements were taken, plans were hastily drawn up, and Short and Stumpy were quietly cut up in January 1915. Several fittings were made new for what odds and ends neither engine could contribute a usable part. The resulting new engine was "Thomas," who was put to work fresh off the shop floor.

Thomas at this point became the N.W.R.’s No. 1 quite by accident. He was the first engine to be built at Crovan’s Gate, and the REC misinterpreted this on his builder’s plates as an intention by the N.W.R. TO make him No. 1. So when Thomas gained his number, the R.E.C. and the N.W.R. both assumed this was deliberate by one another. And it was just too much of a hassle and too unimportant to change, so No. 1 he stayed.

As for his name, Thomas is named after Thomas Reginald Payne, the North Western Railway's first Chief Mechanical Engineer. Payne had made Thomas' construction a reality, from drawing up his blueprints to supervising his piecing together. Payne, who was CME from 1914 to his death in 1951, never forgot this connection to "his" engine, and often wanted to be on the shop floor whenever Thomas was in for repairs.

Thomas’ “infancy” was in a word, harsh. He was working around the clock, surrounded by engines who came and went, and did little if any socializing. Foremen were ordering him about at every turn. His first friend ever was the new N.W.R. No. 2, Edward, the former Wellsworth and Suddery Railway’s No. 5 and only tender engine, who knew his old crewmates were chopped up to make Thomas. Thankfully, Edward knew better than to let Thomas in on this, lest he give him some sort of existential crisis, and he made quick work of making himself a mentor to the little engine.

In these conditions, Thomas’ “cheeky” and anti-authoritarian streak took shape. His whole life thus far had been work and taking lumps from his superiors, most of whom were English and not Sudrian. This morphed into a disrespect for big engines, who wanted him to be their errand boy as construction work began to ebb and focus shifted to running trains. Ever the contrarian, Thomas only doubles down on his disrespect for tender engines when he finds out that that’s “the traditional order of things.” Edward is of course exempt from this attitude, but in his tensest moments Thomas can even lose patience with HIM momentarily.

The war finally ends. January 1919 sees the N.W.R. out to make an identity for itself as peacetime takes hold and Parliament quietly rumbles about Grouping or outright Nationalization. Thomas is the first engine to wear "Hatt Blue with Red Stripes," the company's planned standard livery. This isn't unique to him for long, however, and Thomas' new line of work from hereon is Station Pilot for Vicarstown. Needless to say this is upsetting to him. He's not moving up and down the Island like he was when building the railway. He's still rushed off his wheels. He's expected to be answerable to tender engines as he makes up their trains. Most importantly, he's still having as much difficulty as before to make time to make friends. This new job is in every respect everything Thomas could have wanted to avoid, and there's no telling if he'll ever even get out of it. January 1919 is thus where "Wants to See the World" Thomas begins.

Thomas still gets to see Edward regularly, and he is for a pinch joined by two other tank engines shunting at Vicarstown. They're also ex-Wellsworth and Suddery Railway, Nos. 3 and 4 "Edwin" and "Victor." Thomas befriends Victor, who is a friendly old joker, but dislikes Edwin who has become cranky in his old and as a 2-4-0T has a tendency to slip and not be of much help. They leave him too, in 1922, when The Fat Director relocates them to run other branchlines on the Island. So, 1922 onward, we meet Thomas as the sole pilot, thoroughly busy and thoroughly lonely.

This seems more or less canon, but The Fat Director probably sent Thomas to Wellsworth after his runaway with Edward's trucks in anticipation of giving him the Ffarquhar Branch once he was a matured engine. He didn't give Thomas the line just because he rescued James in fine style, that was really what made his mind up.

Thomas looks kindly enough on Henry as a big engine at this time, he and Edward as mentioned aren't necessarily the kinds of "Big Engines" he dislikes. He'll occasionally give him a tease or two, or lose patience with his health, (something he now deeply regrets years later,) but there's no real malice in it. Think of him as the little brother poking fun at his bigger brother for having one arm in a cast, but altogether still feeling sorry for him and accommodating him how he can. Henry for his part appreciates Thomas, but takes his teasing very seriously considering how sensitive and implicating it is to, you know, his whole existence.

My idea of Thomas' relationship with Gordon is heavily inspired by @/mean-scarlet-deceiver's: Thomas is initially awed by Gordon's arrival and finally confident the N.W.R. can survive, but quickly resents him when he shows his true colors as a "big engine" through and through. I wouldn't even call Gordon and Thomas "friendly" until their alliance at Toryreck Mine. From 1923 all the way up to then, depending on when you place it, they... legitimately dislike each other. There's no affection beneath all the ribbing and jibes, they ACTUALLY disliked each other that whole period of time.

I'm still hashing out my headcanon of 98462 and 87546, (just know that those aren't actually their numbers,) but it's safe to say Thomas hates their guts, and '62 and '46 hate his guts in return as a servant willing to speak up for himself.

Thomas and James were a couple from 1924 to 1933, when they broke up amid the Big Engine Strike. I'd really rather reserve this for a post of its own at a later date.

Thomas and Percy are good friends, but I wouldn't go so far as to call them "best friends" like the TVS has so often hammered in. They clearly come to blows whenever the tension's too much. I like to explain that away as a shift in Thomas' character. With him doing more passenger work as Percy and Toby handle the stone trains, and his increasing fame, Thomas begins looking down on Percy, not long after he transferred to Ffarquhar in 1955 in fact. This might also have to do with unresolved feelings between them both. (Hey, remember that little green engine you kissed once just to try it over twenty years ago? He's your roommate now, probably forever. Play nice!)

[sudrian-railways-enthusiast]

Traintober 2021 Day 28: Fate Comes to Collect

Aka: Every telling of Henry’s Tunnel is unique (Part I)

Earlier that Week, Railway Board Business Meeting:

…well if that is the last topic to address, I’d like to make a motion to conclude the meeting. All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Ay-

The Fat Director: Ehem…Actually gentlemen, I have something.

There was a long pause.

TFD: The Ballahoo Tunnel. As I’m sure you know, the tunnel gauntlet necessitates awkward timetables and imposes an upper limit to the number of services we can run in and out of Vicarstown everyday. I’m sure you can appreciate how this might cause difficulties. Besides it isn’t Wartime any longer, we can afford the upgrade?

…

TFD: …There are also the safety concerns? That gauntlet is an accident waiting to happen, and I don’t know about you, but I want safety to be renowned on my Railway.

-:… Your railway? You may direct the railway, but make no mistake, the NorthWestern is Our railway. You only come to Business Meetings as a formality. Know your station Director.

[You schedule the trains. We finance the trains. You discipline the trains and then we decide the future of the trains. We do this for 40 years, and then we retire comfortably]

The Fat Director silently seethed.

~~~

Later that week:

I won’t spoil my green paint and red stripes for you!

He had never liked these big engines.

Henry hadn’t built up enough steam to take the first morning train, and had sat building pressure all morning; he was only now pulling the midday local because he was the only engine left. Gordon, Edward and James would soon be delayed on their return trip to Vicarstown if Henry didn’t move soon.

Honestly, he couldn’t tell whether Henry had failed again or was if he just being stubborn. He’d been drenched in a cloud of steam, so obviously Henry had plenty of it, but then, Henry did appear particularly fired up at the moment. These big engines are so finicky.

The Fat Director grew more apathetic by the hour. Silly passengers had dithered about Henry but it was no use. The Fat Director had a scheme. Eventually, the signalmen sent for Thomas to come help clear the line, but after an initial try pushing the train, mostly for the benefit of the passengers, he had had Thomas stop; it was no use wearing the poor engine out. Instead, he reached into the inner lining of his top hat (he had had the interior water proofed out of caution) and pulled out some paperwork.

TFD: Oops wrong ones, those are your “legal” documents Thomas. Here you are driver. Have these brought to the Big Station and contact the designer signed on the bottom, tell him I want it double tracked instead of single; there’s been a change of plans.

Recommended Listening: Credit to Nicco’s Trains on SoundCloud

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/7BEWwwaJh9a1kQXt6

Later:

Henry looked on with a mixture of confusion, curiosity, amusement, and dread.

Hey uh, what ya got there??

Random Worker, enjoying a refreshing beverage after having finished re-laying rails: A Smoothie!

Um uh well it’s a Tunnel bore, but did you know a similar bore is going to be used to dig an exploratory tunnel? What do you think that means? I thought that was an interesting change of topic?

Sir, you can’t be serious? It’s been a week, I’ll come out now, this is insanity?

TFD: You’re Staying in the tunnel Henry.

LET ME OUT

You do NoT disrespect my authority. If you keep arguing I’ll have you bricked in, I swear it, you will not be upsetting my arrangements twice!

WHAT ARRANGEMENTS ?!?!

That’s it-

~~~

Further consequences:

With the Main Terminus cut off, the big engines were forced to run trains from Tidmouth to the Works Station, and Edward took goods and Passengers further on down the Ballahoo branch, as well as works trains to Henry’s Tunnel. The city of Ballahoo experienced a brief boon due to this diversion of traffic, which was transferred to horse and cart, and even some of Sodor’s first Busses. Unfortunately, the Tidmouth Sheds wouldn’t start construction for some years, so the engines were forced to take shelter at night in branch line sheds, goods sheds, and on a few occasions, station canopies.

The Next Business Meeting:

…

Also that bit about the Tunnel bore is true, I found schematics for a bore dated the same year as the Tunnel incident

[houseboatisland]

📂

Much has been made of the "Locomotive Crisis" which impacted the North Western Railway immediately following the First World War. The company found itself in an uncomfortable position. The end of hostilities meant that the Government subsidies which had kept it solvent would stop, and that the Mainland engines who helped pull trains "for the duration" would now be sent home. The railway was now pressed for engines of its own as traffic picked up. The Fat Director had the unenviable task of managing the railway, fighting off efforts by Mainland railways to absorb it, and searching for new engines all at once.

Enter Pettigrew.

The conditions surrounding the Locomotive Crisis led to some of the railway's most famous recruits, such as Gordon and Henry, but also several less celebrated examples. Like Gordon and Henry, these obscure engines were obtained cheaply and quickly, and were thus just as likely to "go right" or "go wrong." Shortly after Henry's arrival, as the company was still hopeful they could make him out to be their flagship engine, the Board once again sent The Fat Director to find an engine in England. This time, his mission was to come back with a six-coupled tender engine capable of pulling trucks or coaches. Unable to convince the Board to make Henry the mixed-traffic engine and have him search for a better express engine instead, The Fat Director went grudgingly across the channel on what he thought was a fool's errand.

The Furness Railway almost immediately sent him on his way. They had practically kept Sodor afloat during the war, and they were in no mood to get sucked back in during peacetime. Hatt was insulted, and when his next stop turned out to be the Great Central Railway, he was practically fuming. The Fat Director had already been burned by them while searching for one of their Atlantics, and here were the NWR Board members expecting him to waste money and potentially make a second mistake in the same place all over again.

This time around, however, he was received and accommodated much better. They showed him an engine of theirs who was so new as to still be unpainted and just barely assembled. The engine in question had been planned to be the first in a class of several six-wheeled maid of all work engines, but the GCR had called off the order for the others as the Grouping of 1923 came nearer and nearer. The engine was demonstrated to Hatt, and performed well enough for him to buy him on the spot. With a brand new engine in tow and sold to him at a fire sale price, The Fat Director shoved off for home.

Once on Sodor, the engine was quickly painted up in Hatt Blue with Red Stripes and put to work. The engine quickly became named "Pettigrew," the surname of his first regular driver. In service, Pettigrew was a hard worker, but very, very withdrawn. The reasons why remain unclear. The arrivals of 98462, 87546, City of Sunderland, Gordon and James occurred in quick succession. Pettigrew, soft-spoken and obedient in comparison to this bunch, became further overshadowed, which he didn't mind a bit.

Pettigrew was one of several tender engines to continue working through the Big Three Strike of 1933, and was one of many on the Island who failed to be assigned a number when they were first applied to engines in 1934. That same year, he left the Island for the last time. The North Western Railway was working to raise cash to buy a new engine should Henry be replaced, and Pettigrew was sold to the Andrew Cross Steel Company in Scotland. Details of his life on their internal system are few and far between, but he was most likely broken up at the works' closure in 1960.