#ttte R Class

[redwryvernwrites]

TRAINTOBER DAY 11 - Roundhouse

Scotsman feels lonely in Australia, so a couple of R Class's invite her to their roundhouse.

I’ve mentioned this before but Flying Scotsman is Genderfluid in my AU. So if you're confused as to why Scotsman is female here, this is why.

~~~

“That handsome English engine here yet? I heard he was going to be here tonight,” the Victorian R Class 761 teased the other R Class that sat beside her in their roundhouse. It was surprisingly empty today as the other engines were out doing night runs.

“Sadie he’s not that pretty!�� The R Class 707, City of Melbourne, scoffed and her sister leered at her, deeply amused by her denial.

“And I suppose that was someone else gushing about him to that J Class hmm?” Sadie teased and 707 turned as red as her paint.

“Shut up Summer!” She shrieked but Sadie just laughed at her.

Her peels of laughter echoed around the empty roundhouse as the loud chuffing of another engine started to ricochet off of the walls. 

Summer began to quiver nervously, but stopped when a familiar tender started to back into the sheds.

“Hey Jodie, how’s it going?” Summer greeted the smaller J Class engine as she gave a yawn and started to settle in for the night.

“Oh you know, so so,” Jodie tiredly responded.

“So have you met the English engine yet? Mr famous Flying Scotsman?” Sadie probed and Jodie looked at the bigger R Class.

“I have, but ‘he’ is currently a ‘she’ and she’s very nice!” Jodie corrected and Summer looked surprised.

“Oh, I was hoping to-” She began but her sister quickly interjected.

“Flirt with her?” She teased and Jodie giggled as Summer threw her a glare.

“I was hoping to invite her back to the roundhouse,” Summer clarified. “But I figured she might feel a bit weird surrounded by females. I heard they're mostly male over there."

“Yeah nah, I don’t think that bothers her all that much,” Jodie pointed out. “From what I gathered she’s a proper ‘lady-like’ engine. You know, all hoity-toity and class. I offered her a berth here but she didn’t take me up on the offer because she thought it might be rude.”

“Oh, those fucking uptight snobbish engines!” Sadie huffed annoyed.

“I don’t think she was trying to be a snob,” Jodie pointed out. “I think she’s just being polite. She’s in a foreign country after all.”

Sadie and Summer looked at each other before starting to build up some steam. Jodie looked confused.

“Where are you going?” The J Class called as the two of them began to roll out of the roundhouse.

“Picking up a rude cunt!” Sadie shouted back to which Jodie just sighed in response.

R Class’s could be such a hassle sometimes.

~~~

They found the foreign green Pacific sitting in a lonely shed near one of the working freight yards, the smell of diesel fuel and the sharp crackle of electricity stun in the air. She was sitting there with her eyes closed a peaceful look up her face.

“Oi you!” A loud voice jolted her out of her sleep and she gasped, looking around wildly before she noticed a large red and black engine hauling tender towards her at speed. Behind her, a similar-looking engine was chasing the first.

“Sadie, please! This isn’t going to help!” The one lagging behind called to her but it was no use as Scotsman found herself, practically nose to nose with a large engine with German smoke deflectors.

“You think you’re better than us Ms. perfectly famous huh?” The engine in her face, Sadie, demanded angrily.

“Most certainly not!” Flying Scotsman put on her best smile to try and placate the engine before her. “I simply do not wish to intrude on your business.”

“Intrude?” The R Class not in her face questioned. “You’re not intruding! We’d love to share a roundhouse with you Flying Scotsman! It would be an honour! If anything you're being a right prick by refusing our hospitality!"

“Oh, right well, of course! I meant no offence by turning down that lovely J Class’s invitation!” Scotsman admitted flustered. “I will happily accept her invitation if you both insist!”

“It's not just that," the other R Class 707 put in. "You look lonely out here by yourself. It reflects badly on us if you're not accommodated."

Scotsman looked at her buffers for a second before looking back up at the two R Class's before her. 

"I am a long way from home," she admitted. "And, I miss my friends, my family. I needed a small moment to myself, away from everything."

"Well if you need space-" 707 started to say but was quickly talked over by 761.

"Then you can make friends here!" 761 exclaimed. "I'm Sadie and this is my sister, Summer."

"Sadie and Summer, what marvellous names!" Scotsman praised. "I'm the Flying Scotsman but everyone here seems to call me Scottie."

"Scottie!" Summer cheered. "Well even if you need space, don't be afraid to come back to our roundhouse. These diesels will keep up all night if you stay here!"

Scotsman smiled at the two R Class's gratefully. 

"I do have quite a run tomorrow, I'd like some sleep," she conceded and the R Class's cheered. 

"So you'll come back with us?"

"Of course! Of course!" Scotsman beamed, her grin wide. "Please, lead the way!"

"Hooray, it's a girls night!" Sadie squealed delighted before moving so that Scotsman could be coupled to her.

~~~

“Sooo do you have a girlfriend, boyfriend, someone to share a berth with?” Sadie bluntly asked as Flying Scotsman settled herself between the 2 R Class’s.

“Sadie!” Summer was flabbergasted at her sister but their visitor just laughed in good humour.

“No, no, it’s quite alright,” she cheerfully assured Summer. "No, I'm not seeing anyone."

"Oh well then-" Summer squeaked but she was abruptly cut off by Scotsman. 

"I'm not looking for anyone either," she clarified and Summer's face fell. 

"Oh."

"It's okay Ms Summer, I'm sure a beautiful engine such as yourself will find someone out there!" Scotsman assured Summer and the R Class blushed a deep red. 

"Our girl Summer here likes them famous," Jodie revealed. "She has a super big crush on 3801 too."

"No, I don't! Shut up, Jo!" Summer hissed at the J Class who just laughed at her. 

Summer rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Scotsman who watched them with a goofy grin on her face. 

"What about you Scottie? Got any crushes back home?" Summer asked her and now it was Scotsman's turn to become bright red. 

"Well I uh…" she mumbled to herself and Jodie stopped laughing and turned her full attention to the English engine. 

"Oh go on, who is it?" Jodie urged. "Your secrets will never leave this roundhouse."

"Ah well it's quite embarrassing really, you see they're not from the same railway as I," Scotsman spluttered incredibly nervous and flustered. 

"Not from the same railway? Who cares?" Sadie flippantly cried. 

"Ah well, it's a bit taboo over in the UK to have a relationship with an engine of a different railway or the same gender or… a lot of things really," Scotsman exclaimed looking downtrodden. 

"That's stupid," Jodie scoffed and Scotsman sighed. "But tell us who it is, maybe it'll take it off your mind."

Scotsman looked unsure for a long time but then smiled.

She was halfway across the world and it was unlikely her secrets would find their way back to the UK.

The City of Truro.

"It's Pendennis Castle!" She exclaimed and instantly cursed herself. 

"Oh, the other UK engine here in Australia! How lucky!" Summer gasped but Sadie snorted in response. 

"Not lucky, more like planned," she mused. "We ask for Mallard, get Scotsman and somehow her honey boo is also here in Australia? Hmmm? Really now?"

"Ha ha you got me," Scotsman laughed awkwardly. "What a cheeky little scamp am I!

"I think it's romantic! Leave Scottie alone!" Summer hissed at her sister. 

As the conversation wore on she regretted more and more for accepting the engine's invitation to their roundhouse. 

Oh, why had she lied? Why couldn't she have just said Truro? 

The Australian Tour was about to get a lot more interesting for her.

~~~

Scotsman accepts all pronouns being genderfluid. It's my take on why a lot of rail fans call the engine her/she but also he/him and they/them. 

They're usually seen as male in Young Iron but can and will change if they feel like it but will always appreciate it if you need to ask.  

Video footage of R Class’s 761 and 707 escorting Flying Scotsman out of the city of Melbourne to head west on their tour.

[daisywithnomakeup]

Found these chilling in my drafts and I cannot for the life of me remember the context 😭

[ladychandraofthemoone]

Some old narrow gauge Nia doodles I’ve done over the past month, Nia’s livery was inspired by 🌺mrterrier673🌺 on Twitter

Saw some edits of Nia with glasses and I fell in love we need more engines with accessories

Some pannier shaped siblings, they met pre-msr days (they didn’t come in the same time)but were very happy to reunite with one another in the msr then in the Skarloey Railway 😊☺️

Their sibling friendship/relationship is like alastor and Rosie or Mary and jack, Nia didn’t care about Stanley’s “jinx” and defended him whenever he got bullied, she’s one of the very few folks who can make Stanley genuinely happy and do things like singing much to his colleagues surprise (also livery inspiration for one another♥️❤️🧡💜💛🖤)

[clancy14guy]

Reggie the R Class Engine (My TTTE AU)

Important express engine Reggie thinks he's Aussie's legend to beat off Serena, in fact, he is quite proud but rather grumpy/pompous like how Gordon is, and like Gordon, Reggie also prefers passengers over freight trucks, but the other engines (Especially Johnny and Sophie) keep telling him that he's a big showoff

[whumpster-fire]

Headcanons about RWS/TTTE characters' idea of geographic identity, inspired by an earlier thread about engines identifying with their class vs railway vs works location vs country or state.

Thomas I think sees himself as a Sudrian engine through and through. Whatever interesting circumstances brought him to the NWR by accident, they happened very early in his life, and the best I can tell it seems like he's a weird experimental E2 with a shortened wheelbase or something? So possibly he was always intended to be shipped off somewhere else for the war effort. Instead he found himself on a railway full of leased engines and ones inherited from the railways merged into the NWR.

Edward was built in Scotland, but if you asked him I think he'd say he was a Furness Railway engine, and he supposed English if it came down to it - not necessarily out of any stigma against being Scottish but because of a sense that his home was more important than his birthplace. However looking at the roster of F.R. Engines... jeez, there's a lot of Sharp, Stewart, and Co. and North British Locomotive Company engines. Makes me think maybe the F.R. had more Scottish influence than Edward ever realized because he went from Glasgow to a railway full of other Glasgow-built engines from the same works as him. He's an engine of the NWR now, but Edward had to watch his railway slowly die to grouping from right next door, and he certainly considers the few other surviving Furness engines family.

Henry, like Thomas, uhh... doesn't feel much connection to his roots. He was a one-off, and given that whoever built him was using stolen Gresley plans but due to some combination of being built from drawings that weren't built by Gresley for a reason and his builders changing things to make it less obvious that they ripped off Gresley without knowing what they were doing, they messed him up. I imagine there was some... secrecy around his construction and he was not really socialized with other engines at whatever sketchy shop built him or on any railway, until they managed to offload him to some desperate sucker in a top hat who'd take any cheap engine.

However, Henry then ended up around Gordon, who's a proud Gresley Doncaster Engine, and probably a bunch of the early-NWR loaners had siblings they were built alongside back on their home lines. Pre-rebuild I imagine he felt like he was missing out on that sense of belonging and missed being a proper brother to Gordon. So aside from physically being healed by his Crewe rebuild, I think Henry really liked having a proper "Works Family," and would have stayed in touch with them. Sadly I'm not sure who among those are still around - it looks like while a bunch of Black 5s were preserved the only Crewe one not built in the 1940s was No. 5000, who was built in March 1935 and would probably have been out the door very shortly after Henry arrived.

Gordon is the one out of the first six NWR engines who feels the strongest connection with his Works. Gordon takes his "family name" and heritage quite seriously, not just out of gloryhound tendencies but because he was a prototype who was never given a proper number on his railway and essentially used for testing, but he was there for a couple years and got to interact with his siblings before going to Sodor.

James on the other hand, despite having like a decade-long career on the LY&R and then a couple years on the LMS, really doesn't feel connected to it or the Works that built him. James was an experimental prototype like Henry, Gordon, and Thomas, that was offloaded to the NWR for cheap, but James is a deeply insecure and status-conscious engine, and even if I think he was in denial that his design was deemed unsuccessful and the LMS didn't want him for a long, long time, he subconsciously knew. He's an engine who really wanted individuality but was treated like a bog-standard goods engine. Then he got a rebuild that made him "special" and "improved," but instead of being treated like that he was painted black (i.e. the cheapest paint color and the one that dirt doesn't show up on so you don't have to clean an engine as often) and given wooden brake blocks. Honestly the more I think about his pre-Sodor history the more I'm convinced that so much of what's wrong with James is trauma-related. He's desperate to be one of the "important" engines and to be valued and cared about, and I'm suspicious that it's in large part because he was not worth maintaining properly to his previous owners.

And the thing is, James is an engine who reacts to any slight against his ego with defensiveness and anger. I think out of anyone in the main NWR fleet James would feel resentment towards his old railway and builders, and if pressed say they didn't deserve to have his name associated with them.

Percy is the weird little industrial franken-engine who was sold and modified and rebuilt so many times that he doesn't know what he is anymore. I think before Sodor he didn't really have enough of a connection with anywhere to think of it as "home," and he had friends at his various old workplaces but no real family until he came to Sodor.

Then I think there's kind of a cultural divide, where in one way or another most of the early-NWR engines acquired pre-nationalization other than perhaps Edward think of themselves kind of like adopted children - whether they were given up at "birth" like Thomas or Henry, at an early age like Gordon, bounced around like Percy or were tossed aside like James. But post-nationalization they started getting steam engines who'd had much longer careers and had a home railway, and felt more like immigrants or refugees from somewhere else.

Toby I think still identifies with the tramway and harbor where he used to work with his siblings, and out of anyone on the NWR he might be most likely to refer to himself as English.

Duck is, of course, Great Western. He at the very least, even if this isn't universal GWR Culture, believes Railway is more important than Works or Country to an engine's identity, and would strongly discourage making distinctions between the many batches of 5700-Class engines based on whether they were built at Swindon or somewhere else. He became even more of a GWR Patriot after Nationalization, and in his mind if he resents anyone it's the British Rail "outsiders" who took over and messed up his perfectly good railway.

Donald and Douglas are, of course, Scottish. Not Caledonian Railway, even though that was their origin, Scottish. Which kinda makes sense because even if they originated on the Caledonian Railway and were part of it for over a decade, most of their 50-year pre-Sodor lives were spent Post-Grouping on the LMS, and then on the Scottish Region of British Rail.

Oliver is also Great Western, but I agree with others who've said he seems less attached to that identity than Duck, possibly due in part to another decade of being on BR and being officially withdrawn and marked for scrap. Like, he enjoys having the Little Western, but if Duck wasn't on the NWR or he'd escaped to some other heritage line where he was the sole ex-GWR engine I think he might have just gone "I'm part of your railway now."

But what about the diesels? Uhh... I think post-Nationalization because classes of engines were built in multiple locations and sent all over BR, and many classes were big, there was much less regional or railway or even in some cases class identity. Engines from smaller classes might consider all their classmates siblings, but larger classes such as the Class 08s might not. I don't know if Diesel or Mavis would consider a Class 08 or Class 04 built in a different batch at a different works to be family.

...and then there's America, and uhh, I think locational/cultural/regional identity in the US would be at just as much of a clusterfuck for American locomotives as for humans.

[transfem-edward]

Like 99% of my ttte engine hc/humie ages r like..adults

And then u have the China clay twins, timothy and Philip where I went "Ah yes, children"

[For clarification]

The twins and timothy are 17 [mentally speaking]

And Philip is 14, he's a lil guy

Idk for sure why I see timothy as a younger guy but ig it just matches the twins better. Bill and Ben both just give me class clown vibes

[daisywithnomakeup]

Australian weather report with Taggerty

Not trusting him to do this again lol

Audio:

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A post shared by Mitch Dale (@moneymitchau)

[daisywithnomakeup]

H220 Heavy Harry and R704 Taggerty-Thornton fight (wip)

Was gonna leave it as a sketch, but should I finish it? 👀

[daisywithnomakeup]

Taggerty gets a makeover

He's not happy about this odd coat of paint Also, birthday countdown: 3 days

Inspired by this pic of R761

[daisywithnomakeup]

I have too much free time on my hands lol

[daisywithnomakeup]

Leave Scotsman alone, Taggerty...

Given the chance, Taggerty would most definitely try to start an argument with any famous loco he meets.

[daisywithnomakeup]

Funky combo with the New R and Belgian R Class.

Ok, now this is a long-shot, but I have opened up comms on Ko-Fi

$1 fully shaded headshot commissions

[daisywithnomakeup]

The King, the Soldier and the Lead

Alt title: M.King, Heavy Harry and Taggerty-Thornton. Even Harry finds the little Peckett's attitude more annoying than Taggerty's.

[daisywithnomakeup]

Taggerty stuff

1st drawing: I've seen people draw their loco ocs as these funky monsters, so I thought I'd give it a try with big ol' Taggerty. To say he's displeased would be an understatement. 2nd drawing: "Smile for the camera, Taggerty" "But- my lamp! My lamp's shadow is in the way!" Stfu Taggerty and deal with it 😭💀

OG photo I took back in 2022

[ladychandraofthemoone]

Finally after an 1000 years I’ve finished this: Bear’s got scary guard privileges in his best friend . Someone’s got get whooped by Rebecca “Imma throw hands” Eastleigh Seong.

In a totally unrelated incident: Local tender LMS Ivatt Class found dead 💀 ☠️ in Sodor. But an apology letter was delivered a few hours later.

Rebecca’s design was inspired by shachizaki on Twitter.

[daisywithnomakeup]

Exactly 73 years ago, festival loco R704 entered service.

I thought I'd draw ma big boy Taggerty since he's claimed the number of R704 :3

Big smug bastard who thinks the world revolves around him cuz he was displayed at the Festival of Britain.

~A message from Taggerty~

G'day fellow rail enthusiasts,

I have decided to host a little get-together to celebrate one of my many greatest achievements in the history of the world. While I don't necessarily like being in the presence of such that are not as...refined as me, it will be a joyous occasion of beer and champagne.

From the best bloke around,

Taggerty-Thornton 🚂

P.S. Don't let that Heavy Harry bastard in. He'll drink all the VB.