The Island of Sodor: The New Stories.

The Mid Sodor Railway (1883-1947)

The Mid Sodor Railway was opened in 1883 and was run by many engines. Sir John Norramby was the first chairman. He was affectionately called "Our Duke" by the locals. When the MSR bought its first engine, he was named The Duke. He was a George England engine like on the Ffestiniog Railway, but he had a 2ft 3in wheelbase. Duke worked the line alone for the longest time until a few engines were loaned to work in the mines. Bertram was built from spare parts years later. Ten years after the line opened, they started running passenger services. They ordered coaches that were similar to coaches on the Ffestiniog. The manager of the line bought lots of engines, but a lot of them left after a few weeks. One engine that stayed was Stanley. He was a Baldwin 10-12 D that was bought from wartime surplus. After he arrived, the MSR started to number it's engines. Since he was an American engine on British rails, Stanley had to be regauged. This wasn't done properly and caused him to derail. It also might have been because of his bad attitude. In the summer of 1926, Stanley was withdrawn and turned into a pumping engine behind the Arlesdale Sheds. Three years later, Jenny came to replace him. Stanley made such a fuss that he had to be moved to the mine at Cas-Ny-Hawin. Stanley wasn't the only engine to be replaced. In 1899 the original No. 3 and 4 had an accident that killed them both. Their names were Albert and Proteus. Proteus was the first Hughes Falcon locomotive the MSR bought. One interesting thing about him was a strange headlamp that he always wore. He would swear up and down that there was something magic about it. Albert was less optimistic. He was a lazy engine that hardly ever did his jobs right. This negligence came back to bite him when he became a runaway with a gunpowder train. He crashed into Proteus who was running light from Ulfstead Road. Their crash collapsed part of the Mountain Road. It was only rebuilt in 1901. The railway roster after 1929 went as follows; No. 1 "Duke", No. 2 "Jenny", No. 3 "Falcon", No. 4 "Stuart", No. 5 "Atlas", No. 6 "Bertram", and No. 7 "Freddie". There were also the mine engines which were similar to Atlas but had no tram skirts. The MSR ran problem free until 1936. Some of the mine engines had to be sold off since the section to King Orry's Bridge didn't see much traffic. Unlike the books, the MSR had more than just 7 engines at its height. After the branch line to Peel Godred started running passenger services, the MSR began its steady decline. The railway would have lasted a little longer if it wasn't for the war. The Ministry of Defense took control of the mines and stripped them bare. When the war ended, all the mines had to be closed except at Cas-Ny-Hawin. The railway limped along for another year until the mine flooded after Stanley failed. One year later, the whole railway closed, and the manager had to sell or abandon his engines. Bertram was abandoned at Ulfstead, Atlas was sold to a small company up near Cregwir and Freddie was sold to the SKR. Stuart, Falcon and Jenny were sold to the Aluminium Works. Duke was sheeted up and left at Arlesdale Sheds. The rails were ripped up and the old railway ceased to be. It would be reborn years later as the Arlesdale Railway. The rest of the former MSR engines would eventually find their way to the SKR. Like the S&MR, the legacy of the MSR lives on.