The Island of Sodor: The New Stories.

The Great Waterton Light Railway (1891-1924)

The Great Waterton area has always been a place of interest to many different parties. The railway didn't become a major player in the area until later. It all started when a young businessman and his sons were looking for a place to build a slate mine. The success of the Skarloey Railway inspired them to try their hand in the industry. They didn't find slate, but they did find something just as valuable, coal. That young man was Arnold Morgan, and he was about to become the richest man on Sodor. He started the Morgan and Sons Coal Company in 1871. Miners would extract coal from the mines and take it down to Crovan's Gate by boat. The business was complimented by a waterworks opened by another entrepreneur, one Abe Waterton. A brickworks was opened as well by an unknown businessman. This trio of businesses came together to form a company town to house all of their workers. It started as just a few neighborhoods but grew over the years. As more outsiders came in, they started their own small businesses. The town had been nicknamed "Great Waterton", after the owner of the waterworks. He was a very active member of the community and even had an interest in a leadership role over the town. After a few years, the boats became less effective as the coal became more plentiful. Something had to be done. They approached the nearby S&MR with a deal. They would give the railway a steady supply of coal, in exchange for the materials to build a railway up to the town. The S&MR was becoming more financially unstable, so they quickly agreed. The project was started in 1886 and took 5 years to complete. A hault station was built in the middle of the line so trains could rest before the climb up to Great Waterton. When the railway reached the town, a great celebration was held. Once the railway was in full operation, they ordered an engine from a workshop near Lancashire named Solomon. There were plans to buy more engines, but these fell through. Since the Sodor & Mainland wasn't too busy, one of their engines would be loaned to the line for a while. Mr. Morgan also bought his own engine so Solomon wouldn't be as needed at the mines. Compared to other railways at the time, Great Waterton had the most industry on that side of the island. The coal mine and brickworks kept the railway plenty busy. A passenger service was eventually started in 1892. Since the GWLR didn't have running rights to Kirk Ronan, their goods were usually handed off to the S&MR at Crovan's Gate. Great Waterton had expanded so much, another town was built to give some reprieve. Construction of a bridge began over a valley northeast of the town in 1900. Once that was completed, the quiet town of Valesbridge was established. Many of the town's shops and businesses were secondary locations for the ones in Great Waterton. This boom in business would come to a halt in 1910. A fierce snowstorm would hit the island. The Rolling River Bridge collapsed, effectively cutting Valesbridge off from the outside world. Reports are scarce, but allegedly the town devolved into violence and the townsfolk either starved, froze or killed each other. The few survivors either relocated somewhere else on Sodor or left it entirely. It wasn't seen as economic to rebuild the bridge, so Valesbridge was abandoned. Things got even worse when Deliah, Mr. Morgan's engine, mysteriously vanished in 1914. This was right before the island railways were pushed to the limit during the first World War. Since Solomon was the only engine left, he took over the coal runs. To keep to time, he usually had to haul coal trains behind his passenger trains, as well as all of his other work. Once the railways merged, this presented more competition for the line. Unlike the rest of Sodor's railways, the GWLR decided against merging. Luckily, the NWR decided to help alleviate the pressure. They leased Stan to the line to help with the goods traffic. This still would not save the line from its inevitable fate. Since the closure of Valesbridge, many of the businesses had been declining. The coal mines were drying up, the brickworks company was preparing to move to a new site at Kildane and there weren't enough goods from the town to really justify a dedicated goods service. Worse still, the downturn caused a spike in criminal activity. In 1923, the waterworks were bombed, which led to the deaths of 10 people. This was too much for the people of the town and they left en masse. Since Solomon was still in working order, he was sold to the NWR once the line was closed in 1924. They did this so they could replace Stan. By this point, he was worn out and in desperate need of repairs. Since the NWR couldn't afford to overhaul their pre-grouping engines, they just left him up at Great Waterton. They figured they could come back and scrap him later, along with the rest of the line. This never went through however, so the line stayed abandoned. By the time Solomon was sold off, Great Waterton had mostly faded from the public consciousness. While the line was still intact, the points leading to it were disconnected, allegedly. The line to Balladwail still saw light to moderate use. Since it was sort of among a complicated web of point work, it was a little difficult to verify. Due to this, and an inexperienced signalman, Molly was somehow switched onto this line while trying to get to the old wharf. After venturing further, they found the abandoned town. After a little exploring, they were all set to make the journey home. Their plans were dashed when Molly derailed on a bad section of track outside the hault. It took at least a day for them to be found. Once they were rescued, many plans were set in motion to revive the old town. The line was inspected, then strengthened to support the newly increased traffic. Once the track was re-laid, the restoration could begin in earnest. Since Molly rediscovered the line, she was reassigned to help. Things went well at first. However, after the first year of reconstruction, certain incidents would occur. Most of what happened is depicted in the 2008 film, The Great Discovery, though it was slightly dramatized. Once the line was finally restored, it became a major tourist center. It was just like it was in the old days. The Town That Time Forgot was forgotten no longer!