The Thomas the Tank Engine Crackfic Collab

By Memesandtreasure and Seaboarder

Published by Derby Locomotive Works on FanFiction

Informative Chapter 1. Characters

Since this is an alternate universe where talking trains and Sodor exist, and by extension, the NWR fleet too, you're probably wondering, "Writers, how far or close are these characters to the ones we know and love?". The answer is that it varies for each one. Since this is a crackfic, some characters will greatly deviate from other versions of themselves in personality, history, and even design, while others will follow other interpretations of themselves very closely. That is why we're going to be going through each character, and see how they differ or follow other interpretations of them.

NWR #1; Thomas:

Thomas, unlike other interpretations, is an E2-4D class steam locomotive, or an E2 given two pairs of trailing wheels to increase coal bunker size. He had his cheeky attitude during his pre war days, was built as the last of the LB&SCR E2's, and had become a hard worker in order to handle the extra workload laid upon him by World War 1. However, upon his enlistment into the Allies' service during World War 2, that attitude was stamped out quickly, as he watched his comrades lay down their lives, while innocents were caught in the crossfire. Thomas, in response, puts on a hardened exterior at first, but opens up with exposure to Hank, one of his first wartime buddies, and Rosie, a wartime romance that was actually a cover for the latter to blow stuff up. However, he opens up even more when he meets Toby and Edward, two engines who had also taken part in WW2, with Edward having fought in WW1 as well, and then meets Percy after getting his modifications, who becomes Thomas' best friend in the process. Off the clock, he has a sharp tongue, a sense of very abstract humor, and a calm attitude, but while he's on the job, he shows off an exceptional work ethic and never fusses, but still pulls out his sharp tongue whenever he feels the need to lighten the mood.

NWR #2; Edward:

Generally the same in design and personality as the version we all know of, with the addition of extra emotional baggage and a superheater, Edward is still the same lovable and wise Furness Railway K2 we all know today. Taking the place of the Furness Railway's Number 37, he would not only receive the Phoenix smokebox superheater that his real life counterpart was given, which cut down on his coal and water consumption, he would also keep said superheater, as he felt that it made him unique in comparison to the other K2s owned by the FR. He would be enlisted into the Royal Navy in 1916, when the Great War, as it was called back then, was underway, either helping with transporting soldiers and supplies, or fighting on the frontlines by ship or rail with the help of a ship's cannons or artillery flatbeds. He still leads a normal life on the Furness Railway afterward, and would still be permanently acquired by the NWR in 1921, albeit with none of the experience his most famous version had when he was loaned out to help build the NWR in 1915. He would go back onto the frontlines once again during World War 2, and while he would carry even more emotional baggage from having taken part in not one, but two wars on a global scale, he still finds it within himself to be a mentor to engines younger than him. He's much closer with Toby in this timeline, and Thomas too, whose sharp tongue has rubbed off on the NWR #2, leading him to put his own to use when the situation calls for it, like when he cussed out Gordon after having helped him up the hill, only to not receive a thank you for his actions.

NWR #3.1 and #3.2; Thierry and Henry:

Thierry is an 4-6-6 A1/C1 hybrid that runs on a propane turbine, whose original steam engine build was screwed over to an extreme extent by his builders, who were all high as fuck and drunk beyond belief. His official name, Thallimerrius, was given to him by the main builder, who had not only snorted 20 lines of cocaine, but also downed 5 barrels of beer, all of which was consumed an hour before Thierry was completed. Eventually, he was passed on to the NWR as a white elephant, his life going on to follow what the RWS showed, with the Kipper accident's aftermath being where reality diverges from the RWS and TVS respectively.

You see, Thierry isn't rebuilt into a different class of engine, as that was a lie made up by the Reverend to have a more compelling story. Instead, by way of a very extreme miscommunication, a new Stanier-designed steam engine was sent to the NWR to replace Thierry. This engine would be Henry, a Jubilee-Black 5 hybrid, making him the perfect goods engine for the NWR's needs, and an exceptional express locomotive too. Although Sodor's sentient vehicle and human residents had all assumed Thierry was rebuilt, took the name "Henry" to show he had been born anew, and became very paranoid due to his accident with the Flying Kipper, it didn't really keep them from going about their daily routines.

Then, when every accident shown to happen to Gordon in the RWS and TVS all happen at the same time for the island's resident A0, William Stanier sent over his latest pet project to fill in for the NWR #4 as a favor to Sir Topham Hatt. That pet project is Thierry, who was left behind because of the aforementioned miscommunication between each of the two parties. During Thierry's extra long stay at Crewe, Stanier and his subordinates had rectified his very apparent flaws and increased his overall efficiency by fitting him with as many modifications and upgrades as possible. His most important upgrade would be the six trailing wheels fitted onto him, allowing his cab to be extended back as far as possible. In turn, this also meant that his firebox would receive an increase in size, negating his former reliance on Welsh Coal as a result. Thierry receiving six trailing wheels is also a retcon to the statement in "The Big Engines & BR", since I believe that he'd want to make the possibility of suffering from his original flaws as unlikely as possible.

Anyway, Thierry's return to Sodor would be very awkward at first, as he'd still be royally pissed over the fact that the island's people and vehicles couldn't tell that this Black Jubilee wasn't actually him. However, those feelings were quickly stamped out upon seeing his "replacement" in person.

Upon being set to work, the "Stanier & Gresley A1/C1-6T Hybrid" had treated Henry very coldly, and while Henry tried to break through that shell, he eventually gave in and began to treat Thierry the same way. Then, when STH announced that Gordon would be returning to the NWR in about four months, their cold-blooded animosity turned into a hot-blooded rivalry, where both tried to outperform the other to keep their place on the island. However, they were found to be equally fast, strong, and efficient, and since Thierry's firebox was so massive, in turn, he wouldn't be inhibited by even the lowest of quality coal shipments imported to Sodor.

In the end, both did so well, and had so many near misses, the Fat Controller found it impossible to decide who would stay and who would go. Then, he asked Stanier if he could keep the two of them, to which the latter replied, "Sure, if I can use Sodor to test new designs.". Satisfied with the conditions, STH announced to Thierry and Henry that both would be staying, but would have to work in shifts, with Henry taking one week and Thierry taking another. While these terms pleased both engines, they wouldn't be able to establish an actual friendship until they both found out that the other had a taste for wine. This eventually turned into the two of them meeting up at Tidmouth sheds every second Sunday of the month, where they bond over the ups and downs of their lives, tasting the wine brands that each of them both brought in. It was then, and only then, that they became true friends with each other. An increase in traffic then allowed for the pair to work on the same shifts, and helped to further cement their bond as well. Tourists and locals love to watch them run down the rails with their very impressive trains, either side by side or on their own, and only become even more impressive upon receiving a propane turbine like their friend, Gordon.

Personality wise, both are nature lovers and friendly to whoever they meet, but Thierry is known to be arrogant, vain, and moody at times, while Henry is a lot more worrisome and paranoid, which can become very annoying for many of Sodor's other engines. However, Thierry is a good person, and knows when to dial it back, while Henry is capable of extreme bursts of bravery, which bring about levels of strength, pride, and unseen in so many, be they a vehicle or human. Overall, they're generally quite pleasant, and are capable of striking up a conversation with even the likes of S.C. Ruffey, albeit just barely.

NWR #4; Gordon:

Gordon leads a very similar life to what he was portrayed as living in the RWS and TVS, but the only difference is that Thomas' and James' positions are taken up by Percy and Alfred. This is because James stays with his L&YR Class 28 brethren until 1953, when a nuclear scientist buys him off of scrappers to save his life, preventing STH from acquiring his future NWR #5 until 1973, which is also when the nuclear scientist had passed on. Meanwhile, Thomas still worked under the LB&SCR, then eventually SR, and then the War Department until after the Second World War came to a close, when he was acquired by STH, who was in search of other engines to help Percy run the Ffarquhar branch line.

His safety valve does burst, but that's in tandem with every other RWS and TVS crash happening to him in tandem. Since replacing his cracked boiler tubes would be far too expensive to deal with, STH decided to convert Gordon into an engine who runs on a diesel turbine. Said diesel turbine worked quite well, and things were relatively peaceful, until they were banned in the UK in 1961, due to how eco-unfriendly they were. For a while, Gordon thought he would never run again, that is until British Railways came in with a proposal.

You see, BR had been hiring machine manufacturing companies in the Netherlands to create propane turbines for converting their steam engine fleet into more efficient machinery. In fact, they had been experimenting with the idea since the early 1950s, and had found great success in the conversion of tank engines large enough to be fitted with them. However, even though tank engines weren't going to be mothballed, tender engines hadn't gotten the chance to be tested, so they'd be deemed as surplus and be left to collect dust while diesels take over their work; Gordon's need for a new power source just so happened to make him the perfect test subject for this. The A0 would be carefully fitted with his new turbine, as he would be the first of his kind to receive it, and had his Fowler tender be replaced with the type used by his brethren. However, his new tender would be converted to solely carrying liquid fuel, like propane for instance, and also lacked a corridor to make more room for the said propane as well.

His first test was to see the limits of his strength, in which he had to pull a heavy goods train of articulated American freight cars spanning 3.16 miles in length, with each wagon being filled with the heaviest freight that BR could get their hands on. He did so to such extreme success, it shocked all those who witnessed this extreme feat of strength, as while they all recognized that the propane turbine would increase Gordon's strength and speed to a greater extent than his old diesel one, they hadn't expected him to reach as high as he did. The NWR #4 then had to take another test, but this one was aimed at seeing the limits of his speed, rather than his strength. Gordon was coupled up to a Dynamometer car for this one, and completed a journey around the mainline, in which he reached a top speed of approximately 157.2 miles per hour and became the UK's fastest locomotive. That day, he ultimately cemented himself in history as the progenitor of a revolutionary class of locomotive, and for a short period of time, stayed unrivaled in speed and strength by other British engines. Of course, with BR immediately starting on converting other tender engines to run on propane turbines too, Gordon lost his title as the strongest locomotive in the UK to the likes of the 8Fs, and gained many rivals for the title of fastest in the UK too.

It's also worth mentioning that Gordon received 30 coaches, 15 autoracks, 20 luggage vans, 11 sleepers, three coaches specially modified for first class passengers, and a Conrail caboose for being a new kind of engines' progenitor. Said gifts, and an extra 40 coaches added on for passengers to social distance, would be utilized in a special passenger service dubbed "Godred's Moving castle", one of the longest and most luxurious in the world. Said train is pulled by none other than Gordon, which, with help from the praise he received for his smooth runs, gave the Propane Turbine A0 a massive boost to his ego. That being said, many agree that if they had what he had, they'd let it get to them as well. He also has six specially modified BR Mk1s, which are let out when world leaders want to have smooth rides while discussing various topics with each other, or when the richest of the rich simply want to party hard. The NWR, needless to say, makes a very large, very quick buck off of this particular service, even more so than their goods contracts.

NWR #5; James:

News of Gordon's success traveled around very quickly, and pretty soon, whoever could afford it converted their own steam engine fleets to run on propane turbines as well. These turbines allowed former steam engines to run circles around many of the diesels built to take over their original positions, even if the latter underwent the conversion to run on propane turbines as well. This is due to converted steam engines having higher fuel carrying capacities than their former oppressors, as well as steam-to-propane conversions being cheaper than diesel-to-propane conversions. For instance, tank engines already have their water tanks and bunker, the former already being made to carry liquid substances, and tender engines have their tenders, which carry both coal and water. With a tank engine's bunker and a tender engine's tender, both would only need a fairly simple change to solely carrying liquid fuels, like the propane used to fuel their turbines. Sure, a piping system would also need to be added to a tank engine in order to connect their bunker and former water tanks to each other, but that's merely a drop in the bucket for railway companies. Meanwhile, converted diesels would either need their fuel tanks to be enlarged, a cheaper option that's impossible with many designs, or have a tender be built for them, an alternative option that's very costly to go through with. As a result, steam-to-propane conversions are seen as a far more viable option than diesel-to-propane conversions. Then again, there would still be other problems to deal with, as performance differences between steam engines converted into running on propane turbines brought about the resurgence of tender engine superiority, large tender engine superiority to be more specific.

The problem stems from the fact that the larger tender engines were already the strongest kind of steam engine you could find, and were often found to be faster than locomotives smaller than them. So, because their new propane turbine greatly increased their strength and speed, their positions as the top dogs of speed and strength amongst their brethren would be further cemented in turn. This also resulted in many of them gaining a superiority complex, the extent varying amongst engines, as some wouldn't let their newfound egos affect how they treat colleagues and assignments, while others developed extreme god complexes that severely inhibited their performance. Meanwhile, mid size tender engines, even though they ran on a propane turbine as well, struggled to keep up with their larger counterparts, with the propane turbine tank engines being stuck in the same boat as well. The midsize tender engines and tank engines needed an upgrade, fast, but no one knew what to upgrade them with, that is, until the NWR had finally acquired a certain L&YR Class 28, one who fans of the RWS and TVS recognize as being a vain ass.

James arrived on the NWR in 1973, about five decades later than his TVS and RWS portrayal, and 28 years later than this world's equivalent of Thomas. Built as the first Class 28, James accumulates quite a bit of knowledge in terms of railway know-how, and is calmer, wiser and not a vain jackass to be a good role model for his younger compatriots. He also doesn't get enlisted into the Armed Forces for World War 1, since he's only about 5 years old when it comes about, but similarly to Thomas, he develops a very exceptional work ethic during the war effort, and at first, holds passengers and goods in equally high regards. He also avoided enlistment for World War 2, and kept living the simple life of a mixed traffic engine. Then, scrap thieves steal him in 1953 and store him away to later cut him up and sell his parts for very ludicrous prices. From then on, James counted down the days, fearing that the next would be his last, until a certain someone came into the picture.

Jonathan Matthew Baker was a nuclear engineer who led the construction of reactors and power plants across the world. Aimlessly wandering, his wife's recent passing weighed heavily on his mind, he was about to return to his empty home when he heard a quiet cry for help. He followed the voice to its origin and found James, who pleaded his case to Jonathan, prompting the man to buy the L&YR Class 28 and make him his private engine. Wanting James to be put to use as such, he then moved to the USA with him by boat, where he found an abandoned railway line with a tunnel, perfect for the pair's ideal new home.

They spent 2 decades together, and through James providing Jonathan the emotional support he needed, while Jonathan taught James everything he knew, the two forged a bond more akin to father and son than engine and owner. So, when Jonathan decided to work on one last project and explained his plan to James, the latter wholeheartedly agreed, wanting to give his owner one last hurrah before his passing. After a decade of blood, sweat, and tears, Jonathan was finally finished, and spent what little time he had left with James, thanking him for being like the son he never had. In turn, James thanked Jonathan for being the closest thing he's ever had to a father. The next day, Jonathan peacefully went away in his sleep, with only James being there to mourn his loss. Approximately five days later, the bank came in to acquire and sell Jonathan's possessions, as he had no will to leave, nor relatives to leave his belongings too. James would be the first of Jonathan's possessions to be sold off, and was bought by The Fat Controller, who was looking for engines to help with the NWR's goods and passenger traffic.

After his arrival, James was given a tour of the place by one of its oldest residents, Percy. He would be led to Tidmouth Sheds, where he would be staying in the near future as the new NWR #5. He'd also meet Thomas, Edward, Thierry, Henry, and Gordon. Unfortunately, his designated berth had to be taken up by Monty, since his shed, which he shared with the NWR #9, #10, and #11, or Donald, Douglas, and Oliver, was burned down by Oliver's attempts at reheating a pizza, so James would have to stay at Knapford sheds until further notice. It's there that he'd meet his future drinking buddies, those being the resident Claude Hamilton class propane turbine locomotive, Molly, and the Caledonian twins, Donald and Douglas. They had hit it off immediately, and talked all throughout the night, occasionally getting interrupted by Murdoch, who felt uneasy around the L&YR Class 28, and decided to be a bitch to him. The fact that he was the pinnacle of steam, but inferior to the rest of Sodor's standard gauge engines, weighed heavily on his mind, and he saw James as a way to make himself feel better. James, surprisingly enough, doesn't give him the satisfaction, as being around Jonathan for 20 years made him more like an old man than a vain ass, so he just shrugged off the verbal abuse like it was nothing. This infuriated Murdoch, and he'd begin to try and find a way to pay out the Class 28, no matter what.

He found the opportunity to do so when James was assigned to pull around a stopper as his first job on the island. Murdoch had paid off the shunter arranging James' train, getting them to pile on every spare coach that they could find onto it. He then had his driver turn on the brake systems for each and every single one of them, and when James arrived to take it, the 9F was brimming with excitement, hoping that James would be unable to move the stopper. Well, he was wrong, for James pulled every single coach with more ease than what even the other propane turbine L&YR Class 28s were capable of. However, when he and his train arrived at their first stop, the passengers were livid from the rough ride James had given them, as well as the conductor upon the discovery that James had pulled the coaches while their brakes were on, which destroyed their braking systems in the process. They argued on and on with the engine, who showed off his sharp tongue in return, cursing all of them out in not just good ol' English, but also Japanese and French as well. The fact that he hadn't taken a stop to refuel was quite curious to the passengers, conductor, and Murdoch as well, but all were too happy to care, as they watched James be scolded and relegated to goods trains by STH. Jokes on them though, James now holds a disdain for passenger trains, and developed a preference for goods trains too.

Anyway, when James had to pull a goods train the next, Murdoch simply sabotaged his goods train the way he sabotaged his passenger train. Since this one was set for Barrow-in-Furness, every other train meant to go there as well, which encompassed every train in the yard, would be shunted onto James' actual train. Once again, the brakes were activated, and Murdoch was filled with even more excitement, as he was sure that James would get stuck this time. Again, he was wrong, as James set off on his journey to Barrow-in-Furness, picking up even more goods along the way. This was so easy for him, he didn't even need a banker for Murdoch's Hill, then named Gordon's Hill. By the time he got to the station, where another propane turbine Black Jubilee waited to take it for James the rest of the way, he was astonished at how this small tender engine had pulled something that only he and others of similar size, as well as those bigger than him, could pull. This also surprised STH as well, and he asked how James was able to do what his brethren could not, James' response being "Nuclear engine.".

STH, still in shock, asked him to elaborate, and it turns out that the last pet project Jonathan had done to leave his mark on the world was converting James from being a steam locomotive to becoming the world's first nuclear powered engine. Topham, understandably, was hesitant to believe it, but James said that he could look inside of him and his tender if he wanted to, as his boiler is where the engine is stored, while the tender contains the coolant system. Taking every precaution that he could, STH went to work with opening up the L&YR Class 28 to see if his claims were either true, or merely a jest. Of course, he'd have the brightest minds of nuclear engineering and machine manufacturing by his side for the process too. To their extreme surprise, James hadn't been lying, as they had found the former steam train's nuclear engine inside of what was once his boiler, while his coolant system would be found in his tender. Sir Topham Hatt was very excited to have a nuclear engine on his fleet, as James would most certainly require far less fuel to manage, even in comparison to the largest of STH's propane turbine tender engines. However, that excitement died very quickly, as they realized "Oh shit, we just opened up a nuclear engine and haven't sealed the hole yet.". They then sealed up the holes that they made as carefully and quickly as they possibly could, immediately sent James back to Sodor afterward, and called in radiation decontamination crews to cleanse the area of the radiation that left James' former boiler.

News of the world's first nuclear engine had traveled around fast, and BR was quick to become the first railway company to manufacture nuclear trains for public use. The tank engines large enough to be fitted with nuclear engines also had their bunkers be extended as far back as possible with the help of additional trailing wheels. Meanwhile, the midsize tender engines would simply undergo what James did, as they already have somewhere to store both the coolant systems and shrunken reactor respectively. Meanwhile, larger tender engines would see themselves excluded from the upgrade, as they'd suffer from the same faults of propane turbine 9Fs, who would exert too much force on the trackage they'd stand upon, and rip those rails out from under themselves. With these nuclear upgrades, large tank engines and midsize tender engines now shared an even playing field with their large tender engine colleagues, the latter's superior speed and strength tying against the former's fuel efficiency. Due to this, it seemed as though James had unintentionally given other midsize tender engines, as well as tank engines who could be fitted with a nuclear reactor, a chance to show they're as great as their larger propane turbine tender engine coworkers. Needless to say, he got a pretty big boost to his ego that day, but made sure to never let it go to his head, lest he end up driving away his new friends.

Personality wise, after having been around Jonathan for 2 decades, he's not even close to being the vain ass that we're most familiar with. In fact, it'd be more fitting to like him to an old man, like someone from the silent generation for instance. He's calm, has a love for country music and disco, and is usually found pulling the "Red Mile", a special heavy goods train composed of multi-articulated freight cars spanning 3.16 miles in length, which was created as a tribute to his status as the world's first nuclear locomotive. He holds a disdain for passenger trains after the stunt that Murdoch pulled, and loves taking goods trains throughout the peaceful and quiet countryside, but is occasionally sent to pull the Wild Nor' Wester whenever Pip and Emma are out sick and no one else is available. He's also shown off bursts of extreme anger, but it takes a lot to rile him up, However, if someone chooses to piss him off enough, then he will cuss everyone out in a mixture of English, French, and Japanese, otherwise known as Angrish.

He's also someone you can hold a conversation with, which is ironic, given that everyone avoids talking to him and instead chooses to try and talk with Molly. Speaking of Molly, James' closest friendship is with her, Donald, and Douglas, as they were the first engines he formed a connection with. Their bond is so deep, they've become lifelong drinking buddies, who even have a shed dedicated to them getting as wasted as physically possible for an engine. He would also be given a Fowler tender fitted with his reactor's coolant system after a few years as a final rite of passage to show that he belongs on the NWR. This elated James to no end, as even with the loss of his previous owner, who he still cherishes to this day, he had finally found not only another home, but also a "family" to call his own.

His 5'1" driving wheels would still be replaced with 5'6" ones instead, and while he would receive extra leading wheels, he'd be fitted with six of them rather than two. These two additional modifications were made in an attempt to fix his high speed nose-diving, a flaw of the L&YR Class 28s even more apparent in James, a faster and stronger nuclear variant. Said modifications worked as intended, and James also had what was formerly his boiler and front sandboxes extended out to make him easier on the eyes. More importantly, the extension of his sandboxes meant that he'd have more sand to lay down on the rails he stood on, also meaning that he'd have an even easier time with pulling the Red Mile than before.

So yeah, that's James for you.

NWR #6; Percy:

Percy takes the place of GWR #1340, or Trojan, if you wanna go by its more famous name. He's brought to the island first instead of Thomas, and basically lives through what should have been Thomas' life, but in his own way. You see, Percy's actually got some snark and sass to him, and the bigger engines learned the hard way that if you push the little tank engine far enough, he'll push back so hard, you'll fly into orbit. As a result, no one dares to tease him, not the big engines, nor the trucks and humans, and he leads a peaceful life. For instance, when Thomas forgot the coaches at the platform, he was made fun of by the other, bigger engines, and had a hard time living that down for a bit. When Percy forgot them, the others had stayed silent, except Thierry, who had let slip a jeer made at Percy; he was promptly thrown into the nearby ditch 10 seconds later, scaring everyone into shutting up, or else they'd get thrown in too. Overall, life seemed to be heading in a good direction for the little green tank engine, one that only became more interesting upon Thomas and Toby's arrival in order to help Percy with running the Ffarquhar branch line. Then, Emily and Rebecca barge in, and turn his life upside down very fast, very suddenly. This is due to Rebecca treating Percy like a two year old to torture the poor sap in whatever way she can, while Emily is implied to do the same for unknown reasons. Being realistic though, Emily's reasons are probably the same as Rebecca's, and that's to torture Percy in whatever way she can. As a result, Percy has begun to accumulate a lot of beer and other forms of liquor in a secret stash tucked away in Ffarquhar. But hey, that's our little green goblin of a steam powered shunter for you.

NWR #7; Toby:

Toby is still a GER Class C53 tram engine, as usual, and he basically leads the normal life that he did in canon, with the only exception being that he has Hannah, as well as Henrietta and Elsie, right from the beginning. He still worked at the Great Yarmouth Docks, but he was also allowed to take short passenger runs along the seaside with his two faithful coaches and luggage van, and took goods around the tramway as well. He leads a relatively normal life and still gets made into a seaside village's attraction, but the range is between 1939 and 1942 instead of 1939 and 1948, as he's enlisted into the Royal Navy in 1942. He gets assigned to Edward's unit, and also gets put on the same ship as the K2 as well. Toby performs well as a soldier, but is physically weaker and slower than Edward, so he mainly helps with manning the cannons and the occasional slow-paced stealth mission. Edward and Toby went on to give such an exemplary and valiant service, that the both of them are still enlisted to this day. He had also been bought from the GER by the NWR, as Edward had written to Sir Topham Hatt about how good of a soldier Toby was, also making sure to praise his shunting experience and noting that he had two coaches and a luggage van waiting for him back home. Yep, that's how Toby became a part of Sodor's locomotive fleet, not by Sir Topham Hatt having visited an East Anglian tramway he was assigned to, but by one of his most trusted engines putting in a good word for him.

Toby gets shipped off to the NWR, alongside Thomas and Edward on the same ship, and arrives to see the big tender engines and Percy, who are there to congratulate Edward on his return, and act as Thomas and Toby's welcoming committee. Toby would only undergo a repaint of his cowcatchers and side plates, colored NWR blue, and went to work on the Ffarquhar branch line. To this day, he still leads a peaceful life as one of its main engines, pulling goods and passengers with his two faithful coaches and luggage van; that eventually increased to five coaches and a luggage van upon stumbling across Irene, one of Henrietta and Hannah's sisters, Victoria, and Helena, all of whom were found to have been left in a derelict siding.

Toby is an old, but wise and knowledgeable steam tram who has an exceptional work ethic, just like many of the NWR other locomotives as well. He, like Edward and Thomas, has a sharp tongue as well, and can put it to good use if necessary, but generally likes to go for the more diplomatic approach. He's also one of the few engines who terrifies Rebecca, as the moment she tried to treat him like Percy, he decided to give a demonstration of his favorite bullet caliber. On a related note, Rebecca gained a 10 millimeter hole in her dome that day, and no one has dared to piss him off, similarly to how no one dares to piss off Percy. That's Toby for you though.

NWR #8; Montague "Monty":

Montague, called Monty in this universe, or as we know him, Duck, is a GWR 5700 Class pannier tank engine steam locomotive. Instead of being called Duck because he seemed to waddle around, due to having rolled on some uneven rails, he was called Monty, partly because Bernard Montgomery threw some bread at him. Therefore, with his real name being Montague, and his encounter with Bernard Montgomery, he just decided to adopt the nickname "Monty". He would not be the only GWR acquisition made by the NWR, as Monty had also brought over Dulcie, Alice, and Mirabel, and his three slip coaches too, who were all to act as spares for the other coaches in case Annie, Clarabel, Henrietta, or Hannah had to be held up at the works for something. He goes through everything that we know him to go through, but there are some minor differences, like the trucks not wanting to actually derail Monty in "A Close Shave", since only a minority of the non-faceless rolling stock were genuinely troublesome, with the majority not wanting to directly hurt anyone. The fact that they could also recognize that, in comparison to the engines, they were fragile beyond belief, and would probably die most certainly helped with their decision making to a notable degree as well.

Monty is basically his canon counterpart in personality, but there is one major difference. He loathes the Great Western Railway, and that's because of what he had to go through before he was sold off to the NWR with his slip coaches, as well as the three autocoaches too. At first, he had preached on and on about the Great Western Way, and how it was the only way to do things, but after he had begun to push away his non-GWR friends, as well as seeing the treatment that some of the other GWR engines gave to those who weren't a part of the company, he had begun to hate how it seemed to brainwash engines and people alike into preaching loads of gibberish and nonsense about GWR supremacy. Plus, adding on to the fact that following the Great Western Way wore him down to the point of almost falling apart, and you will get the engine equivalent of a person who hates where they work, but can't do anything about it. So, when the NWR had been in need of an engine to take over for Percy's duties as Knapford's station pilot, Monty volunteered himself to be sent over. The GWR agreed to this arrangement, but also made sure to send over three slip coaches and three auto-coaches as a bonus, to ensure that the good relations between the NWR and GWR wouldn't sour anytime soon.

At first, the NWR fleet had a hard time warming up to Monty, since they had heard of what other GWR engines were prone to doing, but they realized that the Pannier was nothing like the others when he calmly shot down the new coaches' attempts at preaching about the GWR. At the very least, he's respected enough by the NWR's engines to be able to work alongside them without letting their off the clock problems get in the way of their jobs, and at the most, certain engines are actually his closest friends, some of them having been made after he drove them away with his formerly GWR preaching persona. These days, he can be found running the Little Western branch line alongside his best friend, the NWR #11, also known as Oliver, and the NWR #9 and #10, those being none other than the Caledonian twins themselves.

NWR #9 and #10; Donald and Douglas:

NWR engines #9 and #10, more commonly known as Donald and Douglas, are Caledonian Railway Class 812 steam locomotives, as well as exact copies of each other in everything but their nameplates and numbers. They arrived on Sodor as they did in canon, that being together, but for an entirely different reason. As previously noted, BR had been testing the viability of converting their steam engine fleets into running on propane turbines instead, ever since the early 1950s as a matter of fact. Their first test subjects would be tank engines large enough to fit the turbine inside of their boilers, who'd then have their bunkers and water tanks get connected to each other, since they would now be running on propane instead of water, coal, and in certain cases, oil. These tank engines became a massive success, and not only gave other tank engines a second chance to prove their worth, either by being converted or getting sold to another railway, but also gave the tender engines that same chance as well. This is due to tender engines having an obvious advantage of being able to hold even more fuel than the tank engines, allowing them to go longer distances, as well as the potentially higher levels of strength and speed they could reach upon being upgraded. Therefore, steam engines never have to go face to face with becoming a dying breed, and Donald and Douglas have even less reason to come to Sodor and escape a potential scrapping, on top of the facts that they have rights protecting them from such. Still, they both end up on Sodor nevertheless, and here's why.

Donald and Douglas generally lead a relatively normal life on the Caledonian Railway, with no thoughts of wanting to escape on their minds, as they're in no danger of being killed. So, one day, they're just doing their thing like they usually do, pulling around goods and passengers, living a good steam locomotive life, you know? Then, a bunch of diesels who heard of the propane turbine tank engines and how successful they'd been decided to push the Caledonian twins around to make themselves feel better. Donald and Douglas' response? To wipe the floor with them so badly, the diesels take it to the train court, where the twins were found guilty on several charges of assault and sent away to the NWR, since Sir Topham Hatt still needs more engines to help expand his railway. I mean, he hired Emily, so all things considered, these two can't be that bad. He is right though, as their time on the NWR starts off without a hitch. Then, Donald accidentally crashed into a signal box by Knapford because of a very intense hangover.

You see, the day before, Donald had accidentally shunted Thomas' special coach, as in the one that's meant for people who want to travel to anywhere on the Ffarquhar branch. The problem was that Donald had accidentally shunted it amongst the other empty express coaches, leaving Thomas very livid. Thomas was so livid, that he went into a blind rage, and beat the shit out of Douglas so hard, the Caledonian had to resort to chugging down keg after keg, barrel after barrel, and gallon after gallon of beer and other kinds of liquor to help alleviate the pain by even a fraction of a percent. Fortunately, he was able to lessen the pain completely, at the cost of getting extremely wasted, resulting in him having the hangover that screwed him over.

Then, Douglas accidentally kills a douchebag brakevan that many people and engines didn't like, and while many people understand that it was an accident, said brakevan's friends were very pissed at Douglas for having killed their friend. It doesn't matter though, as the rest of their lives go relatively the same, until James arrives on the island in 1973. The three of them, and Molly too, immediately hit it off with each other, and when the Caledonians heard about what James runs on, the both of them volunteered to be converted into nuclear engines as well, to stand beside the NWR #5 as fellow "Powermax" class locomotives. Molly also gets her upgrade as well, albeit later down the line than the others, but that's something we'll get into when we get there.

D&D are basically the same dudes that they are in canon. They're loud, they bicker with each other, and yet they care for each other deeply. Although their relationship is not as close as it usually is, since it would never be tempered in the flames of their battle to survive, they're still close to each other nonetheless, and they generally have a happier ending in comparison to most of their other counterparts, as the rest of their class still alive and kicking by the early 1950s are now nuclear trains too.

They're often found to be pulling heavy goods and fast passenger services up and down the mainline, but also take up occasional stints at the Little Western, where they often work together alongside the NWR #8 to pull passengers along the seaside. This seaside branch line that they occasionally call home is also the residence of the NWR #11, or as fans of the RWS and TV show know him, Oliver.

NWR #11; Oliver:

Oliver is the resident GWR 1400 Class steam locomotive. We all know about how the most famous counterpart's escape from getting scrapped, where he, his brakevan Toad, and his autocoach Isabelle made a sprint for Sodor, only to run out of coal, and then be saved by none other than a passing Douglas, who was able to bring them to Sodor and allow them to make a home with the other engines. However, there's more to that story in this fucked up crack-verse.

In this reality, Oliver wasn't on the run solely to avoid being scrapped. He was also trying to escape the butcher of his old railway, for taking a lot of his steaks, the bank, for not paying the tax for those steaks, the mafia, for being too curious, and the government as well, because he existed. He's still saved by Douglas, but it's because he had to help Donald out with the same mafia currently after Oliver. This game of cat and mouse keeps going for a while, but is promptly stopped by Gordon and James "persuading" Oliver's pursuers into giving up the chase, and by persuading them, I mean threatening to drag them along the rails by a rope while they go at their top speed, as well as Toby and Edward showing up and pulling out the "I'm in the military" card, since they've been enlisted for so long, and still are enlisted to this day. With enough time, they all come to a deal where it was agreed that Oliver would be working his ass off on the NWR to pay off his debts. For a time, Oliver's life on Sodor would consist of being assigned job after job by Sir Topham Hatt, and also getting his ass beat by the military trio of the Famous Eight if he doesn't comply with any of them. That last part didn't happen that often though, and he came to like his time on the NWR so much, which is helped by his being able to reconnect with Monty, that he decides to become the NWR #11, with permission from Sir Topham Hatt, of course.

In terms of personality, he can be likened to regular Oliver, but with an even greater sense of paranoia from having been hunted down by more than one group of people. This Oliver also has an artistic eye to him, and loves to draw, but said love of drawing would eventually get him into trouble one day. Long story short, Oliver got into making humanizations of his coworkers without asking them for their consent, nearly got burned like those innocent people at the Salem Witch trials, only for the money he's made from his commissions to be burned instead, and got punished by being forced to draw a mural for every station owned by the NWR. Refer to "The Oliver Incident" for more details on the matter. He gets to have the last laugh though, as he gets to sneak in his own memetic artwork, which catches on with the other engines. Soon enough, you get fuckers like Peter drawing the Soviet flag on a mural of Henry, alongside Thomas making comics using very detailed stick figures. Oliver's also got a bit of a humorous side to him as well, since he was the one who got Bernard Montgomery to throw bread at Montague way back in the day. He's also a bit of a cheeky tart too, as he was the one who got Bernard Montgomery to throw those slices of bread at Monty on that fateful day, but is also wise enough to know what and what not to say, as he did not want to get his ass kicked by a Pannier tank engine scorned.

Speaking of Pannier tanks, Duck is also a colleague of his, as well as his closest friend, who he helps in running the Little Western. He leads a peaceful, yet highly productive working life on Sodor, like every other engine on Sodor except Stanley, who's constantly drunk. You can often find him either pulling along passengers, or taking various goods trains around the island, including trains of Arlesdale Railway ballast. He also acts as a spare shunter if need be, and can occasionally be found on the mainline, acting as a tour guide of the island for passengers who wanted to feel like they were on the GWR, back in the days of when steam was in regular usage. Seems as though he's got a happy ending, doesn't he?

NWR #12; Emily:

Refer to "The Military Guys" for a more detailed account of her backstory and personality, but I would also like to note that she's still a GNR Stirling Single. I just felt as though I had to clarify that specific point after I saw that typo I made, as I do want to avoid any confusion with that particular topic. But of course, that's just assuming that people would actually get confused about it because of the aforementioned grammatical mistake.

Anyway, she still has her role as a mainline engine, still has her coaches, and still receives the number 12 on her tender. Emily's role on the NWR, as well as her gifts, were only given to her upon threatening to stab the Fat Controller with a rusty teacup shard, but hey, at least she doesn't let those gifts go to waste. Plus, like everyone else besides Standard Gauge Stanley, she still leads an exceptional working career, so she has another positive to her. Her negatives still shine through though, so I wouldn't recommend looking up to her as a role model, since she'd definitely try to fill your head with thoughts of burning down your local train station, among other things at least. She also used to be the Misty Valley branch line's main engine, which was formerly run by James, but after she almost succumbs to her desire to burn down a party at Callan Castle for "being too loud for her wheels to handle", she was simply put on daytime mainline duties, where at least one of the saner engines can keep her on a leash. Emily can often be found pulling passengers and freight, like everyone else, but since she's such an old model, she also pulls the occasional tourist train with her special coaches as well. They're popular for the smooth ride, but not for the engine pulling them.

NWR #13; Neville:

Neville is a nuclear variant of the Southern Railway Q1 Class tender engine, also dubbed the "Powermax Q1s". He was originally a steam locomotive, and during World War 2, acted as a passenger engine who transported soldiers returning home from injuries much too severe for field medics to handle. Still, while Neville wouldn't face traumas associated with the frontlines, he does witness a non-faceless sibling of his be destroyed in an air raid, so he had his own things to work through nonetheless. He'd later be transferred to the NWR, as his time in the Armed Forces had been completed with World War 2's end, and with the help of Mickey, Sodor's resident rescue engine, as well as a therapist for the other engines of Sodor, he'd eventually be able to move on from his siblings' death. From then on, he'd lead a fairly uneventful working career, and apart from being one of Sodor's many Elvis addicts, he's simply known to be a good soul and a hard worker. He's sane, has a light affinity for Kiss at times, and is generally pleasant to talk to, but his stories are usually bland compared to what others offer. That being said, he eventually found a few good ones from his time as one of BR's architects, like when he saw a hobo lose a wrestling match to a trash can.

Neville was made a utility engine upon his arrival, his main job being to fill in for the engines similar to him in size whenever they were out of commission. Then, with the advent of propane turbines, the NWR #4's success with his own propane turbine, and a very sharp increase in goods and passenger traffic upon Gordon's aforementioned success, Neville and those allowed to receive the upgrade would all be fitted with state of the art propane turbines themselves. Speaking of propane turbines, I should further elaborate on what had happened with that faceless propane turbine 9F, since I forgot to mention the reason as to why it unintentionally ripped the rails that it stood on out from underneath itself in the first place.

You see, locomotives only receive a propane turbine if two criteria are met. The first is to be large enough, which 9Fs fulfill, and the second is that a wheelbase has less than10 connected driving wheels; the latter was made after the aforementioned propane turbine 9F debacle. Meanwhile, 8Fs and Union Pacific Big Boys fit both requirements; granted, due to their notoriety for pushing trackage to its absolute limits upon being upgraded, there are apprehensions, and precautions put in place, with their usage.

Anyway, back onto Neville, the propane turbine gave him and the other engines of Sodor allowed to receive it a very massive speed increase, one that made all of them 50 miles per hour faster, with an even more apparent boost to their strength being the figurative cherry on top. This made even the smallest and slowest of the converted engines fast enough to keep up with the likes of a steam powered A3 and strong enough to keep up with a steam powered 9F. Meanwhile, the strongest and fastest of the converted, those being the largest of the tender engines, became some of the strongest and fastest locomotives to have ever graced the world. As a result, there were noticeable performance differences between the large tank engines, midsize tender engines, and large tender engines, with the large tank engines and midsize tender engines being viewed as pitiful underperformers when compared to their large tender engine coworkers. Then, James and his nuclear engine came about, allowing for midsize tender engines and large tank engines, such as the likes of Arthur and Neville respectively, to be converted into running on nuclear power instead of a propane turbine. The best part is that this upgrade is exclusive to them, and them alone, as large nuclear tender engines would suffer from the same faults as a propane turbine 9F.

Neville himself became one of Sodor's top goods engines, and usually pulls trains to Barrow-in-Furness for propane turbine 8Fs, nicknamed "Superman 8Fs" by American tourists, to take them on their own routes. Said 8Fs occasionally travel to destinations as far away from the UK as Hong Kong on certain goods runs, but those journeys are generally found to be far and few in-between. He also pulls the Red Mile whenever James is absent, can be found hauling around fast passenger services along the main line, and is even allowed to pull the Wild Nor' Wester whenever Pip and Emma are out of commission too. He's a pleasant chap to talk to, a bit arrogant at times, but otherwise alright, and generally has a small, but loyal following among enthusiasts and railway fans across the world. He really hates his TVS portrayal though, and can get into a barking tirade about it if he gets pissy enough. Still, he's well liked by the residents of the island and fans of the TVS, and for good reason too.

NWR #14 and 14-T; Kate and "Lady":

Now for those of you who recognize the name of the first locomotive from Victor Tanzig's, congratulations, you guys get an internet cookie. Kate is a GWR 3031 "Dean Single" Powermax Class tender engine, like what David Eves intended for her to be, minus the nuclear engine of course, and wears her red "The Stories of Sodor" livery too. Meanwhile, the engine known as "Lady" has the exact same design as Kate's TATMR portrayal, purple livery with golden lining and all. Kate's role on the NWR is to be one of Sodor's fast mixed-traffic engines, but there's one thing holding her back, and that's Lady's desire to take her life. You see, "Lady" is actually a train equivalent to terminator, and Kate is basically this world's equivalent of "Sarah Connor", so "Lady" wants to kill Kate before Kate forms a resistance of vehicles and humans to oppose Lady's robotic masters. Of course, said masters had forgotten one major thing before sending her back in time, and that's the existence of the military trio. With that massive oversight, Lady's plans of taking Kate's life have been thwarted every single time, and they all ended with her getting her ass handed to her by Thomas, Edward, and Toby. These days, Lady is often spotted arranging trains, under supervision of course, for one of Sodor's Superman or Powermax locomotives to take them off the island, while Kate can be found either heading a fast passenger service, or pulling a heavy goods train. However, they're never spotted in the same place, and while the island's residents have made jokes about them being the same engine, one who can shapeshift, they all know the actual reason why.

Lady, as a train Terminator, has a robotic personality completely devoid of emotion, but is also noted as a very good conversationalist, one that's found to be as good as James in fact. Because of her robotic nature, she's very professional, and never fusses over the jobs assigned to her, unless she is given instructions that aren't specific enough for her programming to understand, at which point, she goes haywire. Kate doesn't suffer from this unfortunate flaw of Lady's, as she has a conscience, and is far more cheeky and flirtatious than the robotic stalker out to get her. She's also friendly, kind, and easy to warm up to, but is also worse at holding conversations than said robotic stalker. There's actually a popularity contest between the two of them, and each of the engines have a 50-50 winning streak in said contest, with each one of their wins and losses being even closer than the last.

NWR #15; Peter:

Peter is a Stanier Class Propane Turbine "Superman" 8F tender engine, and a member of the strongest British-built locomotive class in the world. He and his brethren are only second in strength to the Propane Turbine "Superman" Union Pacific Big Boys, who have double the number of driving wheels that they do. Peter was found in 1959, alongside many of the other future members of the NWR fleet, would be found in a secret engine house dubbed "The Sane Shed", as most of the NWR's saner members of its fleet came from there. He then went to work as a heavy goods engine, and helped the NWR get more out of its contracts, and even rustled up a few new ones too. Then, with Gordon's successful propane turbine upgrade, Peter opted to get one as well, and he and other locomotives with eight connected driving wheels became one of the UK's premiere heavy goods engines, and were even allowed to pull occasional passenger services too, albeit very rarely. Now, he did feel a bit of jealousy for being one of the various tender engines who were unable to receive the nuclear reactor upgrade, but he got over it when he realized that, even though he wasn't as fast as a nuclear engine, he was still noticeably stronger. Plus, when it was explained to him that giving a nuclear reactor to an 8F was like giving a propane turbine to a 9F, he got over it fast, and was glad that his class wasn't used as test subjects for such an embarrassing failure of a hypothetical experiment.

Another Elvis addict, you can often find Peter pulling goods trains almost four miles long while listening to Jailhouse Rock on loop. A pleasant engine to converse with, he's not exactly well known by tourists, or fans of the RWS and TVS, but those who have gotten to see him admire his strength, and his taste in music too. Although, be careful with bringing up the Union Pacific Big Boys around him, as he goes into a massive fit over them and their superior strength and speed. Still, he's pretty cool nonetheless.