The Sudrians: The Archive Collection

Aftermath

1933, the year was that no engine likes to talk about that much who was on the North Western. You see, I've only been on this railway for eight years, but it feels like I've known all the engines already. Thomas, the tank engine that helped me on my first day here. Edward, the engine who showed me the basics of pulling passenger trains, wise guy. Henry and Gordon, two blue engines bigger than me. Arrogant engines they are. Eagle, he's similar to me he is. He's got the same modified configuration with a 2-6-0 instead of a 0-6-0, unlike his classmates. Just like me. And the rest, Benjamin, Clive, Neil, Anne, George. All gone. Taken away to the smelters at Suddery.

The board of directors wanted this. They wanted all the older engines that were here before the merger on Sodor to be scrapped. 'Modernise the railway!' They all said. The Fat Controller declined, but they then sold the engine without our controller's permission. Sent away to the scrapyard and cut up. All except Neil, who was preserved and taken away to someplace in England. I didn't know them as well as the others. Thomas was having it rough too.

I don't have any eventful stories to tell you about me and the older engines. But the others did and told me some. When Edward was taught how to shunt trucks by Roger. When Gordon first met George. From when Henry and Anne had their first conversation after the green engine got out of the tunnel, and when Thomas first got his branch line. I'll be telling you these stories in the order I gave you. So let us begin.

1915

Edward was sitting nicely at a water tower, refilling for his next train. When the yard foreman came up.

"What's the matter?" asked Edward's driver.

"Roger has been trapped by broken points!" called the foreman, "Can you go and shunt some trucks for Emily's next train?"

"Sure, I guess," Edward's driver replied, "What's the train?"

"It's a supply train, it is needed at Crosby," informed the foreman.

"Right," said the driver, as the foreman walked away, Edward's driver turned to him. "Come on old boy! We've got shunting to do!"

"Umm... okay then," said Edward, but secretly he was nervous.

Once he got to the yard he saw Roger in a siding with some open wagons, in front of him were workmen, trying to mend the broken points that were against Roger.

The Neilson tank engine saw Edward and smiled warmly. "Hullo," he said, "It's nice to see someone is available to shunt before Emily arrives. She has a tight schedule today so I would go bonkers if her train was ready for her."

"Oh dear," I said sarcastically, "I better hurry up before she slams some wagons into me then!"

Roger chuckled at Edward's joke. "Just get on with it! You need three vans, ten wagons of ballast. Three flatbeds each of rails and sleepers. And that's your train!"

"Right," said Edward, going over the type of trucks needed in his head, "I'll go and find them then."

He then puffed off. He then eventually found the three vans in a siding. He buffered up to them.

"Come on then!" he called to them, "Let's get you to your train."

But the vans were comfortable and didn't want to be moved.