The Island of Sodor: The New Stories.

Great Waterton Branch Line (Crovan's Gate - Great Waterton)

Background

The Great Waterton branch is a line that used to lead to a coal mine in the base of the mountains near the Skarloey Valley. It used to be its own separate railway called the Great Waterton Light Railway. At first it's only traffic was coal and bricks. Eventually it started carrying passengers to Crovan's Gate. The line was opened in 1891. There was only one engine owned by the company named Solomon. He worked on the line until 1924. By this time services had started to decline since the coal mine closed, so closure was almost inevitable. The line was abandoned along with the town as well. It stayed abandoned for more than 80 years until one fateful day in 2004 when Molly stumbled upon it when trying to find the transfer yards. This led to the restoration of the tracks up to the line as well as the entire town. Molly now takes tourists up to the town almost every day. The line was single tracked in the old days and became double tracked when the line was restored. A new coal mine was also opened.

BALLADWAIL WHARF

Before I mention any of the stations on the line I must mention the wharf at Balladwail. This wharf dates all the way back to The Railroad from 1805. It was closed when the Skarloey Railway was being constructed. It remained closed until the early 2000s when Mr. Roger Sam decided to have another wharf to ship goods other than slate. The line was extended from Cros-Ny-Curin to Balladwail along the same route as The Railroad. Eventually the Great Waterton line was extended down to Balladwail. There is also a junction on the main line to get to the line. Since the standard gauge line is there, there is a transfer yards here. This is what Molly was trying to find in 2004. The standard gauge line runs supplies to the wharf while the narrow gauge one carries regular goods.

CROVAN'S GATE STATION

(See The Main Line part)

WATERTON HAULT STATION

Waterton Hault is the first station on the branch. Like the name suggests, it is a small hault station in between Crovan's Gate and Great Waterton. The only notable thing about this station is that there is a walking trail that leads into the nearby forest. Since there is nothing too notable here, most of the people that get off here go into the forest.

GREAT WATERTON STATION

Great Waterton is the terminus of the branch. It is a town that has existed since the 1890s. It was one of the Island's chief suppliers of coal for almost 30 years. There was also a waterworks that provided water for the town and a brickworks that helped develop the area. This was until the mine closed, and the waterworks burned down in 1923. This crippled the community so much that the town was abandoned. There may have also been a supernatural element to the town's sudden abandonment. There are some reports of there being a demon near the mines. However, there is no evidence that these reports are based in fact. Demon or not, the town was abandoned until Molly found it in 2004. The town was later restored to its former glory. It was a long job, but it was eventually completed in 2008 among heavy fanfare. It's been affectionately called "The Town That Time Forgot" by many people. The TVS crew actually came and made their own story involving the restoration of the town. This idea eventually became the feature length film, The Great Discovery. It glossed over and changed things, but it got the point across. Despite the oversimplification, it's still one of the more high-quality movies the TVS has produced.

MORGAN & SONS COAL MINE (closed)

The Morgan & Sons Coal Company provided coal for the entire east of Sodor. The line to it branches off from the Waterton route, then crosses over a girder bridge to the mine. They had a contract with the nearby S&MR and the SKR to provide them with coal. Business took a hit when the S&MR closed in 1901. It got better when the NWR was formed in 1915. I seem to have omitted an important detail about this line. Solomon was the only engine owned by the GWLR. There was another engine on the line. The engine was a Midland 1F, that was interestingly painted a shade of purple. Her name seems to have escaped me for the moment. Since she was owned by the coal company, she didn't venture down the line often. Eventually she became worn out and was on her last legs. Now here's where things get murky. Rumor has it that right before 1913, a few of the miners made a deal with a sinister force to keep their engine running. Something must have gone wrong, because shortly after Valesbridge was lost, the miners and their engine disappeared. Solomon was forced to take over the coal runs again from that point on. This is what eventually led to the downfall of the line. Unfortunately, the mine started to dry up and was running out of coal. Eventually it closed in 1924. The mine has been the subject of many supernatural conspiracies theories. I am not well versed in the supernatural, so I would advise speaking to someone who is. John has investigated the mine in the past, so maybe talk to him next time you see him. I have a feeling that he might know this suspicious engine from somewhere. I feel as though he may have mentioned her before.

WATERTON COAL MERCHANTS

The Waterton Coal Merchants are a new company made of the remnants of the M&SCC. They discovered a lucrative vein of coal in a different part of the valley. Since they are a small operation they can't afford their own engine, so one of the NWR engines, usually Molly or John, comes to take the trucks to Crovan's Gate. This line has been more fortunate than the previous mine and hasn't had any supernatural dealings so far.

ROLLING RIVER BRIDGE

Northeast of Great Waterton, there is a line that curves west and crosses a ravine. There is a long bridge that crosses it. The locals used to call it Rolling River Bridge. One winter in 1910, it collapsed. There wasn't enough money to rebuild it, on top of the cold conditions, so the area remained cut off. Molly rediscovered, or more accurately, almost fell off the remains of this bridge during the restoration. No one has really considered rebuilding the bridge because, as far as they know, there's nothing on the other side. They think that this bridge wasn't made for any real purpose. They couldn't be more wrong.

VALESBRIDGE (closed)

Just across the ravine and a few miles east is the town of Valesbridge. It was a prosperous town that overlooked the valley. It used to be the terminus of the GWLR. Then one disastrous day in December of 1910, the bridge collapsed and cut the town off from the rest of civilization. Shortly after, a snowstorm hit the island. At first things were fine. However, after the grisly murder of their controversial mayor and food beginning to run low, neighbor turned on neighbor and the town devolved into chaos. A few people may have also tried to summon a sinister force as well. As far as we know, no one was left alive. For the longest time it was believed that the people died in what is now called the Great Blizzard of 1910. The only way we know what happened is because someone actually decided to explore the area. She was sent a journal that detailed almost everything that happened there along with a mysterious letter inviting her to the town. She decided to go and explore to try and find some answers. Concerningly, she went missing shortly afterward. The only thing that could be found was a busted camera she had taken with her. There may be something more sinister afoot in this old forgotten town. We may never know until more information arises, however unlikely.