The 20th century began with the Mid Sodor Railway purchasing another engine: A Double Fairlie, built at Boston Lodge Works in 1879, named Mighty Mac. It was believed that an engine that can be operated from both ends would be useful when changing directions for return journeys. Because they had mostly been used as shunting engines however, Mighty Mac didn't know how to work as a team, and during their trail run, they rammed into some buffers and derailed. The Manager was so cross that he made them stay in the shed until they agreed to work together. A few days later, they got their chance to prove themselves when some holidaymakers came to see the railway, and the other engines were too busy.
While the MSR had found itself with a moderate prosperity, the same couldn't be said for the Sodor and Mainland Railway. To raise funds to keep the railway running, Clive & Matthew were sold to Bombay, India, while Neil was sold to the Crovan's Gate Mining Company to take slate from the transhipment sidings at Crovan's Gate to Kirk Ronan, leaving Stephen to manage alone.
Whenever Neil needed repairs, a haulage wagon for the Skarloey Railway was used to take the S&M's trains to Kirk Ronan, though trains would take longer because it was standard gauge track. Because of its size, only Skarloey could fit within it as Rheneas' wheelbase was too long for it.
In 1901, the S&M officially declared bankruptcy, and Stephen was placed in the sheds at Kirk Ronan, where Emily was on display. While the company still existed, it became dormant.
With the S&M's closure, a bus company was proposed by the Sudrian Government as people still needed a way to travel across the Island. In 1902, the Sodor Roadways company was established, and proved to be quite a success.
Meanwhile, the Great Wateron Railway had also gone bankrupt as the springs had dried up, and people were flocking to the Skarloey Railway. The town, Sonny, and Dexter were all soon abandoned.
The Wellsworth and Suddery Railway extended south to Brendam, to build a harbour there, replacing the wharf at Suddery.
In 1904, the MSR had acquired a new engine from the Falcon Works in Loughborough, England, named Falcon. He was an 0-4-0ST, with bouncing issues. He was shipped to Arlesbrugh Harbour, and trialed to see if he could handle coaches and trucks. Due to Bertram and Mighty Mac wanting to keep their old numbers, Falcon was given the No.3.
During his first few weeks, Falcon found Duke to be annoying, and would call him names like "Fuss-pot" and "Fuddy-duddy". One day, the Manager arranged for Falcon to double-head with Duke to learn the Mountain Road. Near a workman's cottage on the way, Falcon derailed and nearly fell to his death. With the help of the passengers getting Duke water from the nearby cottage, he heroically pulled Falcon back to safety. The passengers told the Manager about how Duke held on like a "Bulldog", and Falcon had never called Duke names ever since.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mack had retired as controller of the Skarloey Railway, and Mr. Robert Sam took his place.
The harbour at Knapford was starting to become expensive to upkeep for the Knapford and Elsbridge Railway, and in 1905, the Ulfstead Mining Company decided to abandon the harbour in favour of extending north, along the coastline, to the harbour at Tidmouth. With these extensions, horses were no longer deemed appropriate for the haulages of lead minerals, so A.W. Dry had tasked a young engineer to build a light locomotive in their place. This engine was a vertical boiler engine, which would soon gained the nickname "Coffee Pot", built by Bertram Topham Hatt. The extension worked pretty well, until autumn, 1908, when the costal part of the line was damaged by a severe storm. A.W. Dry convinced Sodor's Treasury to give them a loan to cut a tunnel directly to Tidmouth. This operation was overseen by Mr. Bertram Topham Hatt.
2 more Coffee Pots were built for the Railway, with a few upgrades from the first.
In 1909, Sir Handel Brown purchased the Crovan's Gate Mining Company, which made him the new owner of the Skarloey Railway. He immediately decided to close down the copper mine, due to it not making that much profit.
Later that year, Mr. Bertram married Jane Brown, Sir Handel Brown's sister, and the following year they had their first child: Barbara Jane Hatt.
Meanwhile, the tunnel to Tidmouth was complete, and the first train steamed through in July that year. A small station was constructed at Tidmouth with 2 platforms, and the railway was renamed to the Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Light Railway.
In 1912, the Light Railway merged with the W&S to form the Tidmouth, Wellsworth and Suddery Railway, with Crosby becoming the railways middle station, and Mr. Bertram continuing to be the engineer. The tracks to Elsbridge became the Elsbridge branch, and a junction for it was constructed at Knapford.
Due to its poor condition, the first Coffee Pot was scrapped, while the other 2 were only used for the Elsbridge branch, and the W&S engines ran the main line.
In 1914, the TW&S merged with the S&M to become one big railway: The North Western Railway. The tracks of the W&S became the Brendam Branch Line. Albert Regaby, the Lord of Harwick, was appointed Chairman of the Railway, while Mr. Bertram became the Chief Mechanical Engineer.
The Sudrian Government thought it would be best to merge all the railways together for a strategic railway costal defense against possible danger from Ireland.
Neil was withdrawn from service from the Crovan's Gate Mining Company, and was sent to work at the harbour at Kirk Ronan by Mr. Bertram.
In the summer, World War I was declared.
On October 14, Bertram and Jane Hatt had their second child: Charles Topham Hatt II.
Despite the war, work to connect the railways commenced. A single bore tunnel was cut through Ballahoo Ridge, extending the railway to Vicarstown, where it established its Administrative Headquarters and Motor Power Depot in March, 1915. A station with 8 platforms and six-road engine shed were also built there. Mr. Bertram designed a rolling lift bridge, which was built across the Walney Channel, finally connecting the Island of Sodor to the Mainland. It gained the name "The Rolling River Bridge" from the locals. A workshop was also established at Crovan's Gate, near the Skarloey Railway.
Other than the Coffee Pots from the TK&E, and the tank engines of the W&S, the NWR had no engines. Mr. Bertram built one final Coffee Pot: Glynn, who became the NWR's 1st official engine. Not long after, a 4-4-0 K2 locomotive, named Edward, was purchased from the Furness Railway and became the NWR's 2nd engine. Edward was built by Sharp, Stewart and Company at their Atlas Works in Glascow, Scotland in 1896. He worked on the Cubrian Coast Line of the Furness Railway. The Furness found him to be a "shy steamer", and were waiting for an opportunity to get rid of him. Together, Glynn and Edward helped the others with the NWR's construction.
Several other engines were loaned to the NWR over the next few years.
Stations at Maron, Cronk, and Killdane were built. A giant bridge in between Maron and Cronk was also built above a giant gorge, connecting the tracks of the S&M with the TW&S. It was named "The Sodor Suspension Bridge".
The Kirk Ronan Branch Line started to see less profits being made, and the war meant there was less money to work with. The branch was eventually abandoned in favor of moving business to Brendam and Tidmouth. Neil was placed in the shed by the abandoned port.
The following year, the North Western Railway's construction was complete.
The Norramby Branch Line opened, running from Ballahoo to the costal town of Norramby. The Arlesburgh Branch Line opened sometime later, which shared a harbour with the MSR. The line was originally going to extend to Harwick, but those plans were abandoned when they reached Arlesburgh because the threat of Ireland had passed. The new line still saw use as a faster means of transporting goods from the MSR and harbour than boat.
In 1918, a new engine was loaned to the Crovan's Gate Works from the North Eastern Railway: A 2-2-4 X1 tank engine, built in Gateshead, England. During steam tests, one of the workmen joked about the smell of the smoke, and nicknamed him "Whiff". At first, he rolled his eyes whenever people called him that, but he soon got attached to the name. When WW1 officially ended on November 18, he was officially purchased by NWR.
With the town at Tidmouth expanding quickly, it was decided to expand its station to have 6 platforms. It was also believed that the western side of Sodor should have a huge station, like Vicarstown on the eastern side. With the expansion of the station, it was also decided to build a six-berthed shed, with a Turntable.
One night, the following year, Proteus was making his way back to the sheds. He was crossing a bridge, built above a swamp, when his coupling rods came loose. As he was about halfway across the bridge, one of his rods got caught on the side of the bridge, and it swept him aside into the swamp below. Neither Proteus or his crew were ever found. Nobody knew what happened to them, so the MSR searched for days, with no success. Later that year, a statue of Proteus was built to honour him.
With Ireland no longer being a threat, Mr. Bertram arranged for Edward to take him and his son, Charles, around Sodor in a special open-topped carriage for Charles' 5th birthday.
On November 10th, Mr. Mack passed away from heart failure.