North West Railway | |
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Vital statistics
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Type | Railway |
Level | Unknown |
Opened | 1914 |
Closed | Unknown |
Location | Island of Sodor |
Inhabitants | Unknown |
The North West Railway (NWR, also known as the North Western Railway) is the main railway on the Island of Sodor. The main line runs from Tidmouth to the mainland. There are many branch lines as well. The current controller of the railway is Emily Helen Hatt, who succeeded Sir Stephen Topham Hatt.
The railway's motto is "Nil unquam simile" which means "There is nothing quite like it".
Bio
The North West Railway was formed in 1914 after the three original railways of Sodor needed money because all three were going bankrupt. It involved the Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Light Railway, Wellsworth and Suddery Railway and Sodor & Mainland Railway.
In 1948, the North West Railway was nationalised and it became the North West Region of British Railways, however it was allowed to keep a degree of independence from the rest of the network, as the term was never really used (this allowed the railway to avoid the effects of the 1955 Modernisation Plan and the Beeching Axe). When the Railway Act of 1993 was signed and British Rail began the process of privatisation, the railway reverted back the North West Railway name.
Unlike the modern rail system on the mainland, the North West Railway is completely responsible for all of its locomotives, rolling stock, track, infrastructure and having no ties to Network Rail or any other franchises. This, however, does not mean that the NWR is completely stuck in the past. All passenger trains are equipped with Wi-Fi, and almost all goods trains convert from vans, trucks and tankers to containers on flatcars at a container yard near Knapford, since small wagonload freight was eliminated from the mainland network in the 1970s for being inefficient.
Railway Lines
- The Main Line
- The Little Western (Also known as the Arlesburgh Branch Line or Duck's Branch Line)
- Thomas' Branch Line (Also known as the Ffarquhar Branch Line)
- Edward's Branch Line (Also known as the Brendam Branch Line)
- Kirk Ronan Branch Line
- Peel Godred Branch Line
- Norramby Branch Line
Constituents of the NWR, circa 1914
- Sodor & Mainland Railway
- Wellsworth & Suddery Railway
- Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Light Railway
Staff
- Sir Topham Hatt I (1914-1954)
- Sir Charles Topham Hatt (1954-1983)
- Robert (Thomas' Driver: 1953-1983; Elsbridge Stationmaster: 1983-present)
- Harry (Thomas' Fireman: Unknown-1983; Thomas' Driver: 1983-present)
- Jeremy Watson (Thomas' Fireman: 1983-present)
- Sir Stephen Topham Hatt (1984- Spring 2009)
- Norman Spencer (Deputy: Spring 2009-2009)
- Emily Helen Hatt (2005-present)
- Other works (Unknown-present)