Donald and Douglas Sinclair, members of the eponymous Scottish Clan, were born in Springburn, Glasgow, on July 1, 1899, to a railway engineer who worked for the Caledonian Railway at St. Rollox, and the daughter of an older worker there. They were identical and inseparable since birth, with a love for practical jokes, their home country and wit. Often their jokes revolved around switching identities and pretending to be one another.
However, while they gained a reputation for being a pair of jokers, Mr. William Pickersgill, the CME of the Caledonian Railway during its final years, saw potential in them, so took them in as apprentice drivers and engineers. They were very hardworking and took their job seriously and performed well above expectations, even offering to take the high-risk, high-importance trains during the war.
Of course, in 1917, they both turned 18, and thus became eligible for service. However, they had to undergo an exam under the supervision of a General in case of misidentification, and it wasn't until December 1917 that they were finally drafted, due to delays.
Either way, they chose to join the Royal Navy, and joined the crew of HMS King George V in February 1918, but they never saw combat, and in 1919 they left the Navy and returned to work on the Caledonian Railway.
It was at this point they were both assigned as drivers to two Caledonian Railway Class 812 0-6-0 tender engines, numbered 4000 and was love at first sight, and Donald and Douglas handled them beautifully. It was said that the engines only worked properly with either twin, and when the Caledonian Railway was absorbed into the London Midland and Scotland Railway in 1923, Pickersgill made sure to keep them assigned to those two engines. By this time, they had started to show their love for Scotland by wearing scarves with Sinclair Tartan pattern.
In August 1920, the Twins took a two-week holiday to Ireland. What exactly happened or what they did there, nobody really knows for sure, though according to a member of the IRA who later joined the Free State Army, they met Michael Collins and allegedly blew up a Black-and-Tan truck, along with Collins' bike (in their defence, it was filled with guns and could've blown up at any time).
In 1932, the Twins were fired from their occupations due to a need to cut costs, owing to the Great Depression. Donald and Douglas didn't mind though-they were now free to head off to newer pastures.
In 1934, they arrived on the Wild Nor' Wester at Tidmouth Station, looking for work. They found it within a month at the Crovan's Gate Engine Works, fixing engines and often even improving some of the engines-when a Furness Railway K2 entered the Works in 1935, they modified the cab, impressing the General Manager, Bertram Topham Hatt, who promoted them both to head engineers.
Sadly for the Twins, this good impression with Topham Hatt did not save them from severe punishment when they 'accidentally' thought his car was an old piece of junk, took the whole thing apart, and sold the parts to the Army in November 1939, with the paint scraped off.
As a result of this, their wages were halved and they were given two weeks in prison total. Bertram had spoken to Lord Norramby about them, and thus the two were exempt from the Army when they began looking for recruits. They were eligible for the Sodor Home Guard, and they eagerly joined as Corporals, only to find to their horror, their Colonel was Topham Hatt. To this day, they regret dismantling his car.
AN: At last, we learn about two of our recruits-Donald and Douglas Sinclair.
Like Donald and Douglas's BR numbers 57646 and 57647, the numbers for the 812s my Twins drive are fictional.
Also, if you have complaints about the Ireland part, I haven't a clue why I mentioned that.