Ffarquhar

Ffarquhar is a fictional town or village on the equally fictional Island of Sodor in the "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends" children's TV series and in "The Railway Series" books on which the TV series was based.

The station at Ffarquhar has one platform and a single passenger track. It is the terminus of the branch line from Knapford and also has a small Locomotive facility to stable the branch's engines - behind the engine sheds a goods-only line (the Quarry Tramway) winds five miles inland connecting the station to the nearby stone quarry at Anopha. This line was originally used by small locomotives, but after an incident involving an over-zealous policeman, is now exclusively used by Toby and Mavis, who are both fitted with cowcatchers and sideplates in accordance with the bylaws of the Tramways Act. One exception to this rule was when Percy brought a stone train down from Anopha, which ended in disaster when he lost control of his trucks.

The line to the quarry originally curved sharply out of the station yard behind what at the time was a single engine shed provided for Thomas. This however was so steep that the smaller engines on the stone trains often ran out of control - hence why Thomas with his better brakes often took the trucks on to Anopha and thus met the aggressive policeman. When Ffarquhar yard was later expanded and space was needed for staff cottages the opportunity was taken to abandon the original alignment and divert the tramway further east, looping round with easier gradients to join the original route.

The passenger line, officially 'The Ffarquhar Branch' but usually known as "Thomas' branch line" runs from Knapford then through Elsbridge and terminates at Ffarquhar. In the books some trains are seen to commence at Tidmouth or "The Big Station" as it is usually known. From Knapford Junction the line runs into the country first through reclaimed marshland. Near the line are fields, and further east towards the River Els are fenlands. From the main intermediate station of Elsbridge the line crosses the river on a fine single-arch viaduct before climbing a side-valley into hillier country, finally burrowing through a long tunnel and running through evergreen plantations to Ffarquhar, located in a crook of the surrounding hills.

Thomas shares the line with Percy, Toby, Daisy and occasionally Mavis, the diesel engine of the Ffarquhar Quarry Company (FQC). Bertie the Bus lives nearby sees Thomas nearly every day - Terence the Tractor works just down the line at the hamlet of Hackenbeck.

The station includes a goods shed, cattle dock, a milk dock, coal staithes and an oil depot. There is also a two-road carriage shed, wharves for the stone traffic and a modest maintenance facility behind the engine sheds.

According to the "research" by the Rev. W. Awdry into the history of Sodor, the Ffarquhar line (or Thomas' branch line) originated as the Tidmouth, Knapford & Elsbridge Railway or Tramway. The North Western Railway (NWR) extended the line to Ffarquhar around 1925 but only due to the discovery and quarrying of the fine stone on Anopha Fell. Mr. Jabez Croarie, owner of the FQC, needed a rail connection for his stone, and in return for the branch extension helped fund the costs of the long Hackenbeck Tunnel and the expensive viaduct at Elsbridge, as well as supplying stone for their construction. Eager for a fine structure such as the viaduct to serve as a showcase for his stones' fine qualities Mr Croarie agreed to these terms.

Since then both the branch and the quarry have prospered - this mutual benefit presumably strengthened the bonds between the FQC and NWR as did the marriage of Mr. Croarie's daughter to Charles Topham Hatt, the second Fat Controller.

Plans soon developed to extend the line further to Ulfstead, a slightly larger town a few miles to the east. Lack of traffic to ofset the cost of construction and an already-existent bus service to Ulfstead led to the abandonment of the plans however. This was the second time a railway to Ulfstead was proposed but never built, the first being a planned branch of the Mid-Sodor-Railway scuppered by lack of funds.

Ffarquhar was introduced in Season 1 of the TV Series but does not appear much in newer series. In Season 5, Thomas pronounces the name of the station as "F'farkwah", incorrectly pronouncing the double-F.

Origins

The name Ffarquhar or Ffarquar, with its Welsh-sounding double-F, actually predates Sodor. The name was originally devised by Rev. W. Awdry and his brother George as the name of a model railway, and is taken from "far away quarry". It is appropriate that this name should find its way to its Sodor location, as the quarry is located at the far end of Thomas' branch.

Ffarquhar was also the name of a popular model railway built by Rev. W. Awdry based upon Thomas' branch line. The layout is preserved at the Talyllyn Railway. On the model the station's name only had one "F", possibly to reflect British Railway's habit of anglicizing Welsh place-names on station signs.