The Sodor Cold Wars

July 9th, 1972

Well it's been a while since I've written in this, I thought it best to update this journal one last time and explain where everyone is at right now. First off Gordon and Molly have been pulling special excursion trains all over Britain and at times we double head trains with Scotsman! However Gordon still has trouble coping with what had happened on Sodor. BoCo is still in service, however I have no idea where he's at. Salty was sold to work at Eastleigh Works, Duck and Toad are now display pieces at Paddington and occasionally take trains, and Diesel actually pilots at Paddington. The two managed to bury the hatchet and settle their differences. Neville is currently helping with the war, and finally Toby was sent to the Bluebell Railway where he pulls Annie and Clarabel. So far everything's been great, however not everyone got a happy ending. BR decided Edward and Murdoch weren't fit for any form of use, "they could damage the railways image" they said. Topham fought tooth and nail to get Edward and Murdoch preserved, however no one would take them so they've been sitting in a shed near Barrow. We make sure to check on them whenever we're nearby. Anyways on a lighter note, there were some more survivors on Sodor we missed. A few hours after we made it to Barrow, Harold landed beside us. He said he had been hiding at the airfield at Dryaw and once he saw the final set of bombs falling he quickly got our of there. While he was flying he saw George and Bulgy's  remains along the roads. The next survivor came in several days after we left Sodor, that being Whiff. The soldiers stationed at Barrow noticed him rolling up to what used to be the Vicarstown bridge along with a few coaches. They wasted no time and a boat was dispatched to pick him up. He said he had been hiding out at Great Waterton with Stanley and Billy. At some point Stepney and his group attacked Great Waterton and gutted Stanley and Billy. Whiff managed to hide in an old shed and stayed within for days. When the final set of explosions happened, Whiff knew it wasn't safe to leave and stayed for a few more days to be safe. Somehow he managed to make it out with little to no burns whatsoever. He's currently on display at the National Railway Museum. Sodor is still a wasteland and we got confirmation that everyone at Knapford is dead, those being Henry, Dennis, and Rosie. Cranky was also checked on, but he was a goner as a bomb had went off on him. Every engine has mostly been accounted for, except a few. Harvey, Fergus, and the other narrow gauge engines. Harold has been flying over Sodor everyday searching for them and any other poor soul still trapped. I can only hope they're alright, but that's a slim chance. Sir Topham Hatt won't stop searching for them and is trying to convince the military to retrieve the remains of his engines so they can be given a proper send off, but all requests have been denied due to them most likely being filled with radiation. Sodor may be gone, but we won't forget about those we lost. I'm sure we'll meet again with them some day, but we'll just have to wait and see. Well I have to go, our train for London is due so I must be off. This is Keith Wickham signing off for the last time.

-Kieth Wickham, 1972