The Island of Sodor: The New Stories.

Skarloey the Faithful Old Engine (SKR No. 1):

Skarloey is the 1st engine on the SKR. He was named after the lake that the railway reached. His name is Sudric for "Lake in the Woods." He first came to Sodor in 1865 from Whitehaven. In those days Skarloey was a different looking engine. He had no trailing wheels and no cab. He was also very stubborn in those days and refused to pull trucks on his first day. After the manager at the time, Mr. Mack, covered him up with a tarpaulin and left him there for a few days. After this, Skarloey helped complete the line. Rheneas, the 2nd engine, came to the line a few months later. The two did not get along at first. It got worse when Skarloey was sent back to Whitehaven to be overhauled. Skarloey was given trailing wheels and a cab. The coaches made such a fuss about how handsome he looked, that it made him conceited. When Skarloey said that Rheneas should get a cab and be up to date Rheneas responded with some choice words. This caused the two to argue bitterly for weeks. This stopped after Skarloey got caught in a landslide and Rheneas had to rescue him. After this, the two engines worked well together. Rheneas eventually did get a cab when he went to Crovan's Gate instead of going back to Whitehaven. When he came back, he and Skarloey ran the line. Around this time, one of the old trestle bridges was damaged in a storm. Skarloey almost fell off of it, and Rheneas had to save him again. After this, Skarloey refused to cross the bridge again. That is until Rheneas broke down and Skarloey rescued him instead. After this, there was only one other incident in the early days, though not too much is officially known about it. It involved one of the MSR's engines and the Old Iron Bridge. The engines both worked on the line until 1948. Skarloey had become so worn out that he couldn't carry on with work. Rheneas ran the line by himself for a few years until he broke down on a passenger train. He got the train home and was fixed up. Skarloey was left in the open sided shed by the wharf for years. Eventually the owner, Sir Handel Brown, bought two engines from the Sodor Aluminium Works, which were Stuart and Falcon from the old Mid Sodor Railway. They were renamed when they were brought from the Ironworks. Stuart was renamed Peter Sam, after the controller, and Falcon was renamed Sir Handel, after the owner. After the new engines came to the railway, Rheneas was loaded on a well wagon and taken to Whitehaven. Skarloey stayed in the open shed until Sir Handel derailed outside the works station. Skarloey volunteered to pull the train. He broke a spring and struggled to get the train to the works station, but he got it there. After that he was sent to the Works to be repaired. He wasn't away for too long, but two other engines had come to the line in his absence. One was a little diesel named Rusty and the other was an engine named Duncan. Skarloey told Duncan about Rheneas when he stranded his passengers on a viaduct. He also ignited the rivalry between Sir Handel and a steamroller named George. Skarloey is the one of the oldest engines still working on Sodor. He is 157 years old as of 2021.