Arlesdale Railway

The Arlesdale Railway, more commonly known as the Small Railway, is a fictional railway on the Island of Sodor from the Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry and Christopher Awdry.

It is a miniature railway based on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway in Cumbria. In the stories, it was originally built to bring waste from the lead mines in the hills to Arlesburgh at the end of Duck's branch line, where it would be distributed to the other railways on Sodor for use as ballast. The line also carries tourists.

The railway's controller is Mr Fergus Duncan, a dedicated man known as the Small Controller. This nickname is a joke, as he is a very tall man.

The Arlesdale Railway made its first appearance in the book Small Railway Engines, and was the main focus of the book Jock the New Engine. It has also made cameo appearances in Oliver the Western Engine, Duke the Lost Engine and Wilbert the Forest Engine. However, to date the railway has not appeared in the TV series.

Route

The line runs from Arlesburgh West (where it meets Duck's branch line) to Arlesdale village, stopping at Arlesburgh Bridge Street, Ffarquhar Road, Marthwaite and Arlesdale Green along the way. It follows part of the route of the old Mid Sodor Railway (aka Duke's old line). At Arlesdale Green it leaves this route and takes a new, southerly course to Arlesdale.

Locomotives

All of the locomotives on the Arlesdale Railway are based on real locomotives at the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway. None of the locomotives in the books are identified by a number.

The three original engines of the Arlesdale Railway – Mike, Rex and Bert –  were brought to Sodor from an unspecified railway in England which closed in 1967. Each is identified by nameplates mounted each side of its smokebox and 'Arlesdale' written on its tender sides.

Rex

Rex is a green engine on the Arlesdale Railway who enjoys nothing more than teasing Mike. He is a hard worker, but sometimes has problems with traction.

After his old line in England closed down in 1967, he, Mike and Bert were brought by Sir Topham Hatt and the 'consortium' that owned the Arlesdale Railway. He and his two companions were placed on mining and tourist traffic. After the railway secured a deal to transport wool to Arlesburgh, Rex was chosen to pull the first train, but after a negligent farmer spilt some wool bales on the rails he was derailed. His train was rescued, but Rex had to remain there until the end of the same day until being lifted out.

Rex is based on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway's "River Esk", built in 1923 in Colchester by Davey, Paxman and Co.

Bert

Bert is smaller but older than Mike and Rex, and is the quietest of the first three Small Railway engines. For a long time he had trouble with steaming, but has been rebuilt with a taller chimney and cab which mean that he no longer suffers from shortness of breath. This modification has not appeared in the book illustrations, but is mentioned in "The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways".

Bert is based on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway's "River Irt", rebuilt from a Heywood locomotive first built for Duffield Bank, Derbyshire, in 1894. He is painted blue with red stripes.

Mike

Mike is a strong engine who prefers goods trains to passengers. His temper matches his paint, and he can often be hot-headed. He is proud of his shrill whistle, which he once lost trying to shoo a cow.

Mike is based on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway's "River Mite", owned by the R&ERPS and built in 1966 by Clarkson's. He is painted red with blue stripes.

Frank

Frank is a diesel with a tendency to be grumpy. He sometimes loses his temper, which once caused him to crash into the back wall of the shed. Despite this, he is a hard worker and is sometimes called upon to rescue engines who have broken down.

Frank is based on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway's "Perkins", which was constructed in 1984 at Ravenglass, a rebuild of a 1929 Muir-Hill tractor. He is light grey with a red stripe.

Jock

Jock is the newest steam engine on the Arlesdale Railway, and also the strongest. He was almost entirely built at the Arlesdale Railway's works. He was mentioned in "The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways", but first really appeared in the eponymous book "Jock the New Engine".

Jock was very cocky when he was first built, but soon learned the value of teamwork. His name comes from the fact that he is painted to resemble the locomotives of the Highland Railway in Scotland – a yellow-green colour with red lining. The name was suggested by Douglas, who remembered the Highland Railway from his youth.

Jock is based on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway's Northern Rock, built at Ravenglass in 1976.

Blister I & Blister II

Blister I and Blister II are small twin diesels that were only mentioned in "The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways". Not much is known about them, apart from the fact they have regular engine troubles and are particularly difficult to start - which is how they got their names. This is based on the trouble experienced with the Muir-Hill Fordson granite tractors that worked at Ravenglass with stone traffic until 1953^{[citation needed]}.

Both are painted black with black and yellow stripes around their faces. Both are based on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway's Lister diesel "Cyril".

Sigrid of Arlesdale

Sigrid of Arlesdale is a diesel locomotive working on the Arlesdale Railway. She has not appeared in the Railway Series, but was mentioned in "The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways". She is painted a two-tone blue livery, and is the only female locomotive character who is not standard gauge.

She has also been seen on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway: her real-life counterpart, Shelagh of Eskdale, has been dressed-up with a face to represent her at Day out with Thomas events, whereas formerly they named her "BoCoBo", after the locomotive's wheel arrangement.

Sigrid of Arlesdale is named after the Sudrian heroine of the same name, who lived in the Dark Ages and helped sack the invading Normans.

Rolling stock

The railway has a number of passenger carriages for tourist traffic. The original coaches, which were a mixture of open (roofless) and "semi-open" (roofed, but doorless) types, were obtained from the same railway in England as the locomotives. The semi-open coaches have since been replaced with closed saloon carriages built at Arlesburgh Works. All the coaches are painted a deep pink colour.

For ballast traffic, the railway has a fleet of smooth-running bogie hopper wagons. These can be unloaded via a chute into waiting (standard gauge) trucks on the Fat Controller's Railway. The hopper wagons and unloading chute are based on similar designs once used on the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway, who have provided much co-operation to the line.

Merchandising

Despite having never appeared in the Thomas and Friends television series, certain Arlesdale Railway characters have nevertheless been included in commercial merchandising lines based on the series. The models have been made the same size as the standard gauge characters in the ranges, and hence are made to a completely different scale.

Commercial models of Arlesdale Railway characters

Model range	Type	Characters
Ertl	die-cast metal	Jock, Frank
Take Along Thomas	plastic	Mike
Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway	wood	Mike, Frank

Sources

• Awdry, Rev. W., Small Railway Engines
• Awdry, Rev. W., Oliver the Western Engine
• Awdry, Rev. W., Duke the Lost Engine
• Awdry, Christopher, Jock the New Engine
• Awdry, Christopher, Wilbert the Forest Engine
• Awdry, Rev. W. and G., The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways
• Awdry, Christopher, Sodor: Reading Between the Lines
• Clutterbuck, Martin, The Real Lives of Thomas the Tank Engine
• Sibley, Brian, The Thomas the Tank Engine Man

External links

• Arlesdale Railway at The Real Lives of Thomas the Tank Engine pages (by Martin Clutterbuck)