[Don't mind me. I'm just a line bump]

The Skarloey Railway

Written by BNSF1995

Proofread and Corrected by Broa Island

The North Western Railway isn't the only railway on Sodor. One of the best-known railways on Sodor (and indeed, the world) is the Skarloey Railway. I already discussed its origins in the first Bible, so I'll divulge the early history of the railway.

It was at first intended that this line, like its predecessors, should be a mineral line only. The valley it served was sparsely populated, and it was thought that perhaps one coach in addition to the set of quarry-men's coaches would suffice for local needs. When, however, during the survey, the long-forgotten lake and hidden hollow of Skarloey was accidentally rediscovered, the Board's thinking underwent a change.

Spas were popular at the period and offered the possibility of a lucrative passenger business. Skarloey's mineral springs and sheltered situation took hold on the minds of some members of the Board, among them Shamus Tebroc who conceived the idea of developing Skarloey as a spa. An hotel and a number of villas were built as a speculation, and the gravity worked incline which had been installed for the conveyance of materials was retained and upgraded for coals, merchandise, and passengers' luggage.

They renamed the line The Skarloey Railway. A set of the then most up-to-date passenger coaches were ordered from Brown, Marshall & Co., and the engines, Nos.1 and 2 were built by Fletcher, Jennings & Co. of Whitehaven, and named Skarloey and Rheneas respectively after the two places to which they hoped to attract people with their publicity campaign. At the time of the Railway's opening, its Controller was Mr. Mack.

For a few years the plan worked, but then, apart from a few keen anglers, and a steady trickle of summer visitors, numbers fell. This, though better than nothing, was far from the profitable venture for which the promoters had hoped.

By 1900 there were-signs too that the veins of copper were beginning to run out; but miners searching for further copper in the foothills came upon good slate. The Company's main interest was in copper, but they had no objection to using slate as a secondary freight. They lost interest, however, when the copper ran out at last, and sold out in 1909 to a Mr. Handel Brown of Cros-ny-Cuirn. Mr. Brown was principal landowner in the valleys, and prospective M.P. for Sodor East.

Slate boomed during the First World War but slumped badly afterwards. Mr. Brown nevertheless kept quarries and railway going for the sake of his tenants. Sir Handel - he was created a Baronet in 1937 - died in 1950, and his son, now Sir Handel II, inherited an estate crippled by death duties. Much as he would have liked to be able to do so, he could not afford to take his father's philanthropic view of the dubious bundle of assets he now held. The Railway's Controller between 1936 and 1951 was Mr. Robert Sam, who stepped down in favor of his son in the latter year.

During the Second World War the old mines had been commandeered for ammunition dumps, and the line was worked to the limit providing slate for blitzed houses and pit props for mines. The borrowed locomotives and stock had now gone, and his own locomotives, rolling stock, and track were shockingly run down. Sir Handel II had however a fine manager in Mr Peter Sam who, backed by his Foreman, Ivo Hugh, believed in the line, and was convinced that it had a future. They persuaded Sir Handel to delay closure for a year. During that year Rheneas, the one serviceable locomotive, was carefully nursed, and carried the whole burden of traffic; but this epic heroism would have availed little had it not been for two discoveries:

(i) In the hills near Rheneas of a new and hitherto untapped bed of slate entirely free from metallic impurities, and thus in demand for many other purposes besides roofing, and

(ii) The discovery among the muniments of Ulfstead Castle in 1953 of a tattered copy of a document hitherto believed lost, The Book of Sir Harald, an epic poem in Sudric about the exploits of Sir Harald Marown, Regent of Sodor (1263-1275), a careful study of which suggested that Skarloey was the "Secret Sanctuary" to which on occasion he retired, and from which time after time he emerged with devastating force to fight invading Scots to a standstill. When "digs" undertaken by the Sodor Archaeological Society found supporting evidence, interest grew and passenger traffic with it.

Falcon and Stuart (formerly Nos. 3 & 4 of the Mid Sodor Railway) were bought in 1952 from the Sodor Aluminium Company. As revenue further increased, Skarloey and Rheneas were rebuilt, the line was gradually re-laid, two other locomotives, Rusty and Duncan, was acquired, and rolling stock rebuilt and added to.

The railway's revival was such that in 1963 it was decided to extend round the lake as a tourist attraction. This was partly funded by the sale of the old slate quarry to the Ministry of Defence in 1960. This loop-line was opened in 1965 at the railway's Centenary and has proved its worth. In 1966, the Railway left private ownership when a Share Issue was floated, and it became a Company.

In 1969, another former Mid Sodor Railway locomotive, Duke was discovered and brought to Crovan's Gate. Now rebuilt, he forms part of the SR locomotive stud, and they are thus in the happy position of having locomotive power to spare. They were thus able to help the Talyllyn Railway out of a difficulty. In 1982 the Talyllyn's No. 3, Sir Haydn, urgently needed repairs, and was likely to be away for some time. Hearing of this Sir Handel Brown at once offered the loan of his No.3 as a replacement. Falcon performed his duties on the Talyllyn for two years to everyone's satisfaction and has now returned to his home shed.

In 1980, the Skarloey Railway Board unanimously approved Roger Sam to succeed his father as the Railway's Controller. In 1989, the Railway constructed a second diesel locomotive, Fred, from the parts of two bought from the National Coal Board. In 1991, Mr. Ivo Hugh retired as Foreman and was succeeded by his son, David Hugh. Five years later, in 1996, the Railway constructed the latest addition to its locomotive fleet, Ivo Hugh, named in honour of the former Foreman.

That above information was transcribed from the Thomas & Friends Wiki, because it's all true. However, there's more to the story. Not mentioned in any of the Awdrys' notes or books but documented by other researchers and fans (and exaggerated by the TV series) are other engines.

Falcon was not the original #3 of the SKR. That title went to Proteus.

Proteus is, to date, the only vertical-boiler engine to have been used on the SKR. He led an uneventful life as the Crovan's Gate shunter until he was traded to the factory Duncan came from. He underwent the Final Firing in 1962 and was subsequently scrapped, a victim of age and deferred maintenance.

Another engine not mentioned by the Awdrys is Kate, and for good reason. She was an extremely rude engine who learned her lesson too late and was sent away after a brief stint as SKR #4 in the 1880s. Arnold was another example of an ill-tempered engine who, too, was sent away after learning his lesson too late. These two were brought up by Hufflepuff Batboy in his Thomas stories on following research of SKR company records.

The Ministry of Defence engines have always been a mystery. The only description the Awdrys got was that they were "beetle-like", leading many to believe they were Simplex tractors much like the one owned by the Ffestiniog Railway. The nature of their work was secretive, though it can be assumed they were used for moving wagons around the ammo dump.

Characters made for the TV series are a mixed bag.

"Fearless" Freddie never worked on the SKR, but Falcon and Stuart did indeed know him due to working at the Peel Godred Aluminium Works with him. The real Freddie is currently on static display at the Vicarstown Railway Museum.

Mighty and Mac were built as Single Fairlies at Boston Lodge for the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway. They never even ran on the NWNGR, being sold to an industrial line in favour of Moel Tryfan and Snowdon Ranger. They eventually found themselves at the Peel Godred Aluminium Works, where both fell victim to accidents. Mighty was withdrawn after crashing into a tunnel and destroying his cab, while Mac's accident was the final nail in the coffin for the troubled project. A group of teenage boys, while playing with illegally acquired rockets, accidentally had one of them tip over and fire straight at Mac's train, killing his driver and fireman, and destroying his rear-end and entire train. Both were sheeted up until being rediscovered in 2003, at which point they were taken to Crovan's Gate Works and had their rear-ends grafted together to form a Double Fairlie. The combined locomotive, Mighty Mac, is now used for heavy goods trains.

Luke never existed. He, like many other characters, were created specifically for merchandising.

From the day he took over as the Thin Controller, Roger Sam had a vision to expand the railway beyond its current bounds. And so, between 1991 and 2006, the SKR saw the construction of two major lines. The first line, known as the Western Line, starts at a junction near Lakeside and travels west all the way to the outskirts of Ulfstead. This line serves Mountain Village, Strawberry Grove, Rumblin Bridge, Elephant Park, and Ulfstead Castle, and is mainly used to serve the major slate mines at Blue Mountain Quarry and the many farms of Sodor's interior. Boulder Quarry also lies in this line, having been built in conjunction with the NWR, abandoned after the infamous boulder incident (research suggests that the boulder was used by King Godred to wipe out invading Normans), and then reopened in 2013 after an elementary school field trip stumbled upon what they described as "weird crystals", which turned out to be anhydrite. Explorations revealed the largest concentration of anhydrite ever found, resulting in the quarry's reopening (after the boulder was moved to the Sodor History Museum in Norramby) and daily anhydrite trains run by both railways.

The other line, known as the Eastern Line, runs east to Vicarstown, starting at a junction just before Tunnel #2. This line is almost exclusively used for goods, though passenger services use it during the summer. This line is unique for featuring one of only two coal mines on Sodor, the other being on the Loop Line near Crosby. This mine features an incline much like the one at the slate mine at Skarloey. The line terminates at the Goods Depot in Vicarstown, where all non-slate goods are interchanged with the NWR.

As a result of these extensions, the original railway to Skarloey and Lakeside was renamed the Central Line.