The Island of Sodor: The New Stories.

Nobility Owned Lines

Background

This is a short list because only two lines really fit this criteria. They aren't industrial lines, but only one really has consistent passenger traffic. The other is just a short line that leads to a summer house. Both are owned by people of the nobility.

BAREIGH FAMILY SUMMER HOUSE

The Bareigh family has a very close relationship with many important people on Sodor. They had a summer house built near Suddery. A temporary line was built to deliver supplies and building material. As the loads got heavier, the line had to become more permanent. After Edward delivered their furniture, the house was done. The family doesn't just use the house for the summer. They also use it whenever they visit the Island. The most frequent user of the house is their daughter Rebecca.

ULFSTEAD MUSEUM RAILWAY

The Norramby family has been involved in railways since the opening days of the MSR. Sir John Arnold Norramby was the first chairman of the railway. Eventually, when he came of age, Sir Edward decided to build an estate south of the town of Ulfstead. Then Sir Edward had the idea to build a small loop of line around the estate. This small loop became the beginning of the UMR. He later built a repair shed on a sighting. Soon he started to buy engines for his railway. He bought two engines in 1938, which were Flora and Molly. A few months later his son Robert was born. Soon Sir Edward was deployed to France when the Second World War broke out. Unfortunately, he didn't make it back and his title was to be passed onto his son when he came of age. Until this happened, Robert travelled the world until 1968, when he came back to claim his title. While he was coming back, he remembered his father's dream to build a railway museum, so he bought two more engines from BR. These engines, Neville and John, were repaired at Crewe and came to Sodor under their own steam. They both helped build the rest of the Museum line with another engine named Ryan, who was bought earlier to maintain the existing track. The trio extended the line to connect with the NWR, while Flora and Molly were restored. The track for the museum was completed and construction on a small rack railway started as well. Sir Robert was just about to acquire a rake of old coaches, when funds started to run short. Sir Robert had to sell all of his engines, excluding Ryan, to the NWR to recover some funds. In exchange, the NWR gave him a large sum of money, along with some of their old coaches they were keeping in storage. Now Sir Robert had his coaches, he started running trains with Ryan in the 70s and trains up and down the rack railway with Godred a few years earlier. This is how it was for a while until Glynn came to the line in 1979. He was later followed by Stephen, Lily, Cate, Stanley, Valerie and Solomon, in that specific order. Most of the engines stay at the museum, with one exception. That exception is Valerie. Since she's the only tender engine, she goes from Ulfstead to Knapford along the Ffarquhar branch on excursion trains.