#ttte fan fic

[dragons-and-magic]

What made you ship all of them, lol?

Especially Sonny x Rebecca?💙💛

HOOOOOO BOY. This is gonna be a long one! Lol! Honestly, most of the reasons is just liked them. I saw some fan work of them and they just clicked with me. I don't know. I'm not very complicated when it comes to shipping.😅 But I'm super excited to talk about my ships, so I'll try to give some more thoughts on them than that. Let's get into it!

Sonny x Rebecca: I will admit, I didn't ship these two at first. But, after I saw some fan content of them, I was hooked. I think they would have really good dynamic. We all know it's implied that Sonny has had a very rough and frankly traumatizing life. I feel like Rebecca could be good for him. Her joyful and sweet personality might just be what he needs to heal. Plus, they give me sun and moon vibes.🌚🌞 (P.S. I almost forgot. Watching Gordon take in the fact that his daughter figure/apprentice is now dating this "thieving rapscallion" would be absolutely hilarious.)

Thomas x Ashima: I've been shipping these two for years! I mean, look at the the way they look at each other and talked about each other in a few scenes! And how Thomas really wanted her to stay with him longer? Saving each other in the competition?? Or that one BWBA episode where he fantasized saving her like action hero??? That's so frickin cute!

Another thing! Thomas is used to having to prove he's worthy for all sorts of things. Ashima thinks he's already worthy. She literally looked at him and said, you don't need to change. You're perfect being yourself and I like it.😭💖 I personally feel like they're soulmates! And make a really good team! I really wish they had done more with them in show. I was hopeful when they announced they would be putting her in more episodes. But alas, nothing really happened.

Frankie x Hurricane: I love me a good villain couple, m'kay? Also, the tragedy??? Think about it, since they're working on the mainland, they don't know about steamies and diesels finally getting along. (We do know that things are the mainland didn't change as quickly.) So picture this. Back then, when the mainland engines found out that steamie and diesel had fallen in love, all hell broke loose! So, the poor ostracized couple left to escape the hostility, and went where they could never find them. A big steelworks, in the middle of nowhere... Anyways, they would totally be an awesome Disney level villain couple. I know it.

Emily x Connor: This one has what I call "I take a tiny moment and blow it up into a huge thing!" Lol. Basically, in one episode, Connor very subtly flirted with Emily and I found it interesting. It may or may not have been intentional, but either way I thought that it could be really cute. They give me knight and princess vibes. Also, I love Caitlin and Emily's relationship. (Healthy female friendships! My beloved!) Having her as a wingman (wingwoman???) for Emily and Connor sounds all too adorable. Although admittedly, this ship is definitely not my favorite on the list. I used to like it more when I was younger. Recently I got into Douglas x Emily, which has way more hints than this ship. And that one is slowly creeping up higher on the list. So we'll just have to see with one comes out on top.

Edward x Boco: SUCH A CUTE COUPLE! I didn't ship these two at all, until start reading fic's for them and saw the fanart. Then I realized these two might as well be married! Just two nice old guys, raising three rambunctious children together.🥰 Also, it seems nice that Edward finally has someone tough enough to help him wrangle in the twins when he's feeling worn out. And their personalities fit really nicely together too. Somebody put it better then me, right here. But yeah, these two are adorable! Easily one of my top favorite ttte ships!

Belle x Flynn: Honestly, I have no reason to ship these two, other than I just think it would be cute. No canon event inspired it. No fanart. Nothing. It just popped into my head one day and I decided to roll with it. Lol. I think it would be fun to see.

Daisy x Ryan: I'm not to sure what to say about these two either. Other than they give me vintage movie vibes. (Maybe it's Daisy. She reminds me of a few female movie stars from the old days of Hollywood.) And as a vintage movie fan, I really like that! Also, it's worth mentioning she literally flirted with him in one episode. That was a surprise! It was convince him to do some jobs for her, but whatever. Lol. Also Ryan was almost completely oblivious to it. My poor Gold Retriever Boy. It didn't fully compute. 🤣🤣🤣 Still, I think it could possibly work. Especially in the later seasons.

James x Nia: YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THIS ONE IS MY FAVORITE RARE PAIR!🤩 I've talked about it so much now! But, here's a few more thoughts on them! They actually have a few traits in common. They're both playful, fiery, and outgoing characters. And they both seem to be very loyal as well. Oh, did I mention that their matching color scheme is perfect. And I feel like Nia would help James loosen up a bit and get even more adventurous. So while definitely a rare pair, I think they're neat and should be explored more!❤️🧡

Toby x Henrietta: If Thomas and Ashima are soulmates, Toby and Henrietta are champion soulmates! They're such a husband and wife duo. I loved every episode they had together. The way they talked to other and how much they disliked being separated? Adorable!!!😍🧡🧡 Sometimes they remind me of my own parents.😂 Whoever came up with the idea to finally give Henrietta a voice and an actual face? I salute you. You were a true genius. Now I can hear their realistic husband/wife banter in it's full glory. Lol.

Well, that's my thoughts. I'm not very good at romance anything, so I hope this will suffice.😅 Thanks for the ask!

[theflyingkipper]

!!! IMPORTANT !!!

ffnet has been declining for years, and eventually it'll be offline and a lot of fanfiction will be lost.

Big fandoms can have their work saved by countless fans, but ttteblr is very small and the larger ttte fandom outside here may not be as helpful. Please download, archive, or just copy and paste your favorite fics into a google doc so they're not lost.

[striderl]

He cared ... and he still cares

Inspired by the Young Iron AU from @tornadoyoungiron. Sending my love to your fics here ❤❤❤

Some people think Gordon is younger because Scotsman calls him “little brother”. I know the dialogue between the two brothers can be misleading to some new TTTE fans, but Gordon is actually older than the Flying Scotsman, because he is a LNER class A1 Pacific and Scotsman is a LNER class A3 Pacific.

Here is the story of the Doncaster brothers in my AU.

The beginning of the two brothers isn’t trouble free. Gordon was a prototype built beside LNER class A1/1 Great Northern and constantly being harassed and threatened to be scrapped by younger siblings, due to prototypes are considered “defective”. As time went on, he acknowledged that taking the matter to his fists and buffers was the only way to deal with his brattish younger siblings, he knew that he could rely on no one but himself.

When Scotsman was built, Gordon saw the fact that Scotsman is being looked down on by the other siblings as well. Before Scotman had made his name by becoming the first official steam locomotive to reach a speed of 100 mph, Gordon had taken care of Scotty and changed his way of doing things – from using violence to solve his own problems … to solving both of their problems. Eventually that proved to be effective ... for some reason.

As time elapsed,  Scotsman became more and more famous, Gordon still loved him with all his heart and cherished his achievements, but at the same time he can’t help feeling jealous and pitying himself for not achieving anything like Scotsman did. After Scotsman got the Flying Scotsman Express service he had a major esteem boost and flaunted about it in front of Gordon. Little did he know that it was rubbing salt in the wound because Gordon had been neglected by their designer for years and never been put into service on the mainland. It was the final straw that broke Gordon’s defence against his unsatisfaction of Scotsman’s pride and they had an argument because of it. After the unhappy incident, they did not talk to each other for a week, until Sir Nigel Gresley informed Scotsman one day that Gordon was purchased by the North Western Railway, and before he went away, he left Scotsman an apology note for snapping at him. Knowing this, Scotsman regretted that he never apologized or said goodbye to Gordon, but he was too late.

The two brothers did not meet each other again until the day that Gordon heard the tragic news that all his siblings had been scrapped on the mainland. Despite never liked some of his siblings, he felt sympathetic for them, since they had looked up to him at one point. Scotsman visited Gordon to give him a bit of comfort and of course, apologized for the fight they had years ago (...and you know the rest *wink wink*)

Welp, not everything can be sorted out in one day. Some toxic elements in their relationship still last … you know, Brothers will be Brothers.

I will explain how my AU works later when I have the time to do so.

[meanscarletdeceiver]

I know you are a fan of FutureRust and It’ s A Splendid Life. I think that AU is great. It makes me wonder how the timeline works if Thomas is never made? Or Edward, Henry, Gordon etc 

What do you think? 

Ooooooohhh. Hmmmmmm.

Okay, first of all, for those who haven't read Splendid Life (shame!) or just need a recap [SPOILERS]: in this fanfic James gets to observe what the NWR would have been like if he'd never been built, and the answer is [AGAIN! SPOILERS! THERE IS NO TURNING BACK AFTER THIS!] the railway failed to expand, faces inevitable bankruptcy, and everyone's miserable.

For what it's worth, I think the logic of A Splendid Life is excellent if FC1 couldn't have bought James or a mechanically similar engine at a knock-down price. However, I do think that realistically FC1 could have found "another James" throughout all the decommissioning the LMS was doing in the '20s and '30s. They would probably have been a little less robust than James but he could have certainly gotten a good mixed-traffic engine for scrap prices. I do think the NWR might have been poorer and not in a position to come out of WWII swinging, and yes I don't think FC1 would have picked up Percy in particular because he wouldn't have been looking at the exact time Percy was on the market, but then that's true of quite a few canon characters that FC1 does buy in Splendid Life anyway.

So, not to ruin the story, but as I think through this I'd argue James's absence has less impact than the absence of many of the others. He'd be, like, middle-of-the-pack in terms of essentialness. This is in no way a knock on Splendid Life; it's still one of my favorite ttte fics.

[END OF SPOILERS]

Let me take the rest of the engines in a different order. Kinda going from easiest to hardest to write about. For "etc." I will throw in Percy and Toby, the other two FC1 engines.

Gordon: I think it's very simple—without Gordon in the timeline, the NWR likely goes bankrupt before we even get to the Depression. That doesn't mean rail on Sodor disappears but I think the system would be absorbed by the LMS. Topham Hatt I might have been kept on as a director and manager but he wouldn't be able to run things in his own way. LMS engines would largely take over the network and the other tender engines would have been scrapped by WWII. Percy and Toby never come to Sodor. Thomas probably lasts the longest, on a Sodor railway that looks quite different. He might have still been promoted to branch line but that would have to be before the LMS takeover. It's also possible that without the revenue from Gordon's services the extension of the Ffarquhar line is not completed and so an engine isn't needed to run it.

Toby: If Toby didn't exist, Thomas might have been fitted with cowcatchers and sideplates and never heard the end of it from most of the other engines. Alternatively (despite what FC1 says offhand when he's on the spot and discouraged), FC1 might have simply acquired a different tank engine. One possibility is outfitting Percy with the kit and replacing him as Tidmouth station pilot earlier (possibly even with Duck! a long shot, but the NWR was nationalised by then...)

Percy: If Percy hadn't been made, I think FC1 simply buys another cheap secondhand industrial engine (but it's unlikely he happens to buy one with Percy's spunk and pluck so that changes the dynamic of the main cast in some ways). I think it's unlikely that FC1 simply would have never found another candidate but it would be very interesting if he couldn't. In that improbable scenario, I don't think FC1 manages to completely break the Strike Trio's action. I think he'd have to continue appeasing them in some sort of ways. At the same time, the issue is never completely resolved one way or another—it just festers. I think FC1 would rely heavily on Edward taking up residence at Tidmouth instead of Wellsworth but operations suffer accordingly and I still don't think Edward could be station pilot full time since he's also basically the rescue engine and banker at this time... This all would honestly set the railway on a fairly toxic path, with the big engines continuing to be unhappy with the ad-hoc situation at Tidmouth, continuing to have power struggles with FC1, and probably continuing with their mean-girls bullshit until there is full-out enmity between them and Edward + Thomas.

Realistically, I think there's plenty of middle ground between canon, where FC1 resolves the situation so quickly, and an AU where he never gets things in order. But I do think if "Trouble in the Sheds" had dragged on for any length of time that the dynamic among the fleet would have been very different and therefore the cast of the Railway Series books is different—if the Thin Clergyman is charmed enough to write it at all.

Edward: On the one hand, I doubt Edward's non-existence leaves a unique hole in the early workforce the way that the others' would—if there hadn't been an Edward I think the NWR would have simply begged, borrowed, or stolen some other Furness engine of similar vintage, maybe a little older, maybe a little less willing, but I think they'd have muddled along in a similar way... in the short term. In the long term, though, I believe Edward's absence would be very telling. In many ways he's really the heart of the (NWR) cast and his influence on the others is subtle but significant. Not in that the cast would be any more foolhardy, the railway would have its same chequered safety record—I really don't think Edward's frequent advice of "be careful!" really helped the others to learn sense any faster... but I do think it's more he influenced the whole joint to be a kinder, warmer, more forgiving sort of place than it would have otherwise been. Without Edward there is no counter to the early-years dynamic of Every Engine For Himself, Zero-Sum Competition. FC1 would have still sent away the worst influences and battered some morals or whatever into the others but, I think, at a slower rate, and the change is all imposed from the top... without Edward there I don't think the fleet becomes a family. It's also quite possible that it never crosses FC1's mind to consider Thomas to run the Ffarquhar branch so There's That.

Thomas: In contrast, Thomas's coming to the island is such a mysterious fluke that there's no "it would have just been another engine." I think this is another situation where the NWR would be missing something vital—certainly its greatest claim to fame, in the long run!—but they wouldn't know it, you know? They wouldn't know what they were missing. In a Jamesless world FC1 might sometimes wistfully say to himself that it would be nice if he had a some real pizzazz and panache on his fleet, and in an world without Edward I think FC1 would be wishing that he could've somehow socialized the engines a bit better, so they were all a little more chill. But Thomas, man. He was a gift from the gods. He was a strike of blessed lightning. Everything about Sodor's vibe would be a little worse without Thomas and they wouldn't even know it. How sad is that?

Okay, getting down to brass tacks. I don't think his impact on the workforce would be so obvious. I think even in their poorest and earliest days the NWR could have scrounged up another shunter somehow and until he was vacuum-fitted and rebuilt Thomas wasn't good for much else, and without Thomas they would have just fit up another of their tank engines for the Ffarquhar line—it might have even been cheaper. I think the community along the Ffarquhar line wouldn't have been so attached to the railway without Thomas's charisma but again, the NWR probably wouldn't notice that. I do wonder if Charles Hatt would have married into the Ffarquhar Quarry owner's family without Thomas's stellar relationship-building to highlight that area of the island or not.

The Thin Clergyman still becomes a friend of the NWR and writes a Railway Series that is a thing for a while, but it doesn't really take off the same way without Thomas and the series probably ends sooner. I do think in this timeline the RWS has enough of a cultural impact that there is still some merch, maybe even a TV series, but I don't think it becomes a franchise in the same way as now; it's more of a trend-setter. I think it would inspire other book/TV series and that one of them would probably eclipse the RWS and become the "Thomas the Tank Engine"-equivalent brand name in-universe.

All this said, it is fascinating how the events of the series really don't hang all that much on Thomas at all. He's so very on the sidelines for most of the "golden era" of the RWS. I don't think the railway would have failed or struggled without him, though I think the Ffarquhar line itself wouldn't be as busy or important.

One big change is that I think, without Thomas, Gordon remains at least 50% more insufferable throughout his whole life. There's something about that cheeky tank engine that humbled him some. I know he puts Thomas in his place in "Thomas and Gordon," but—nevertheless!—Gordon met his match when he was condemned to put up with Thomas the Tank Engine mouthing off to him every day for years on end.

Henry: If Henry is never built? Hmm... how much changes?

I think things do change but he's the hardest to quantify. As far as the fortunes of the railway, honestly in the pre-RWS days they are probably better off. FC1 can spend the money he spent buying Henry on another engine, one that may not be as theoretically powerful but one that is more reliable. No need for Welsh coal, no need for a Flying Kipper rebuild. But I think the railway suffers as far as never really being pushed to develop a higher code of loyalty or understanding. This would be most notable in Gordon and FC1 (and, as they are both huge influences on the railway has a whole, these would make for some big ripple effects).

Without Henry, I think Gordon's character development might not get off the ground until much later. I think it still would have eventually grown up just because he was born with the soul of an elder statesengine, but in this timeline the seeds for his change aren't planted so early so he just remains Insufferable Unapproachable Bigshot for a few decades longer.

As for FC1, I think Henry is probably the catalyst of his character development—I do think the others played into it too but I think Henry had the single biggest impact on us going from the good-for-little-but-plot-device-and-comic-relief person we meet of "The Sad Story of Henry" to The Fat Controller. Before Henry, FC1 was an arrogant and inflexible man. Clever, and enterprising, and his stubbornness was probably key to his career thus far... and I doubt he was devoid of some nicer sentiments... but he is not yet the man he becomes. Getting swindled by Henry's builder was a humbling moment for him. Henry also gave him a dramatic illustration of the limits of just trying to get people (well, engines, but I don't doubt this lesson spilled over to people) to do things by force and authority and shouting. He probably regretted escalating things at once but found himself in a bind and had to learn the hard way that you should not make threats if you don't really want to follow through with them! Henry's pervasive mechanical issues probably also taught FC1 greater patience and understanding, and Henry's triumphant turn-around would have ensured that FC1 committed himself going forward to rather high ideals.

I think FC1 tried so hard to eke a "win" from the Henry situation at least in part for his own ego/reputation—if he gave up on Henry, he had to admit utter defeat in the matter of buying him. But I think by the end of the whole thing FC1 had become a different person. In short, without a Henry I/Henry II saga, I don't think we have a man so committed to saving his engines even in the face of nationalisation (and Edward rattling about like crazy at 55—a perfectly reasonable age to withdraw an engine from service), or a successor who assisted in Henry's triumph of a rebuild and who goes on to defy BR's modernisation plan completely.

Therefore, without Henry, the NWR still survives.

But also? It isn't really our NWR.

(It's probably fully dieselised. And D7101, while not rude to their faces, always considered that steam engines were kinda clapped-out.)

ALL THAT SAID... while writing this I came up with another AU involving Henry. But in this one he proves to be a perfectly reasonable, decently reliable engine who can handle the Express on his own from the beginning. This means he kinda isn't really Henry any more, but. It's hilarious. Because Gordon arrives too. You thought the NWR was boisterous enough with one haughty egoistical Pacific racing along the main line and struggling to live up to their own boasting? Try two of themmmmmmm! And they loathe each other!!!!

(I'm actually dying... it takes Sodor the Unnecessarily Extra Island and makes it 94% MORE EXTRA)

[anonymousboxcar]

Hi! This is my blog for rambling about vehicles (trains, cars, boats, etc.) and media with sentient vehicles. You can find reblogs, headcanons, and occasional fics.

I'm the author of two anonymous works on AO3 for The Railway Series, "For The (Living) Record" and "To The Surface." I have a new account there, anonymous_boxcar, to post the rest of my RWS / TTTE derivative works!

A general warning: While I may discuss children's media on this blog, I'm an adult who may also discuss heavy themes or events in said media or fan interpretations/derivative works. I'll tag necessary content warnings and/or put such content under "read more." Please let me know if I haven't tagged or formatted something correctly; I'll fix it ASAP. There will also be adult language featured all throughout this blog, either used by myself or others.

Some tags for navigation:

ttte: Anything to do with Thomas the Tank Engine or the RWS.

trains: Real life trains and railways.

cars: Real life cars.

boats: Real life ships and boats.

my oc: My original characters.

my fic: Any fic of my own creation.

my headcanon: My own headcanons.

from the inbox :): Asks or submissions that I’ve answered.

I'll continue to develop my tagging system as I go along. I'll do my best to give it some rhyme and reason!

Thanks for reading this long introduction, and have a great day and/or night!

[samcat71470558]

so yeah, I write fan fics :0

[nerdtronica]

HELLO TTTE AND TMBG FANS I HAD AN AMAZING IDEA

A FIC WHERE IT'S TATMR BUT THE JOHNS ARE IN IT AS MR CONDUCTOR'S FRIENDS AND THEY HELP THOMAS ON HIS ADVENTURE

[artdehagfisher]

TTTE Angst Fic Human!AU

Overview: Edward has passed away and on the day of his burial, his friends feel the weight of his absence.

The Next Stop by hagfisher

James was to leave early that day, and as he left to go to his car, his shoulders sagged and he trudged along. His shoes were scuffed on the concrete. Edward would get on his case about keeping shoes polished, to walk carefully and not drag one's feet. A smile formed on James' face and he sat back in his car. The one employee who was so vain about his looks had scuffed shoes. That was something Edward and Gordon would comment on.

He drove, mind in a stupor, to the small chapel reminiscent of Sodor's history. It was an older building, painted white but the colors were fading. As James pulled into the small parking lot, he looked to the side and took a deep breath in and held it. He knew that he couldn't breathe out, that if he did the inevitable would happen.

By why prolong it?

James moved to breathe out and he tried to compress these feelings inside of his chest, imagining a stack of weights to crush away emotions that rose up tall. And the conductor's breath came out as a wavering sob as he choked to keep it back.

He had thrown his head back and sat in his car, trying to stifle his crying but it all just broke through. James emitted a cry that seemed more like a scream, turning his throat raw. His hands flew to his head as he grabbed at his hair, yanking at the strands as he tried to feel something else other than this weight.

The weight rose up from an emptiness. How could emptiness feel so, so heavy? Rocks upon rocks stacked on his heart. But he couldn't keep crying.

Edward had specifically asked for two fellow workers: James and Thomas. They, with other friends of Edward, were to have the honor of pallbearer.

The other employees? The heritage railway wasn't going to run by itself so they remained behind to work.

Another car pulled up besides James' and he saw the figure begin to pound fists on the steering wheel. The car honked as the wheel was struck. Another voice could be heard, swearing loud as it too was trying to hold up an impossible weight.

Thomas sat in his own car, hitting the steering wheel and swearing. It's not becoming of a heritage railway worker to throw a tantrum. The warm voice reminding him to watch himself came as a memory. But this made Thomas's screaming even louder.

Two cars were side by side in the parking lot, one driver thrusting his head back as he cried and pulled at his hair. The other one was hunched over and beating the inside of his car, his swearing as loud as his own pain.

-----

Back at the railroad, the day went on as usual. The passengers noticed that the crew didn't seem nearly as excited as before. And one of the engineers seemed to be absent. Edward's absence came as an abyss that drained the railway of its usual joy.

Percy was assigned as a fireman with Gordon as engineer. They were to ride on the old #2 locomotive. The original idea was to have Thomas drive that locomotive, but Edward had specifically requested that James and Thomas be pallbearers.

And who would refuse such an honor?

Gordon couldn't focus very well, and he didn't even bicker with the younger fireman. They sat in steady silence before a voice came in on the radio.

"Conductor Emily to the #2 locomotive, we're buttoned up."

The train made its way out of the station and went on the normal tour route. It went up Gordon's hill and through Henry's tunnel. And it crawled along, the engineer keeping the locomotive at a low speed. He wanted to make this trip last.After all, the #2 engine was going to be retired after that day.

-----

James and Thomas, towards the end of the funeral service, stood up to get ready for their jobs. Others joined them, and with great care they lifted the light blue casket and began the procession out of the chapel.

And as they stepped out of the chapel and began the walk to the awaiting hearse, they could hear it.Train horns and whistles could be heard from every angle on Sodor as all traffic stopped and the world froze for one minute.

For one minute the only sound was that of every active locomotive blaring either horn or whistle, to pay tributes to one of the early workers on the heritage railroad. To be respectful of a talented engineer who had gone above and beyond during his career.

During that drive to the cemetery, the funerary procession drove steady on the road, with tracks adjacent. And on the tracks, the #2 locomotive kept a slow speed so the train and procession moved forward together for some time. The procession turned a corner and in the back of the hearse's tinted window was the reflection of a blue engine. That would be the final time where Edward was close to his beloved historical locomotive.

the end 

[pileoftrashsstuff]

He protecc

[princeluckybug13]

Rod,have you found any new fans of TTTE or read any of his fics?

I’ve met many, many new people recently! They’ve been so lovely, and it’s exciting to see peeps here. I’ve read more than I can even begin to list here lmao (tho i def still need to catch up on a lot on ff.net lmao)

[meanscarletdeceiver]

tttetwt backup #3

my ideal Stepney. halfbaked was so big-brained for this series.

there's just no way to do Salty wrong! more Salty content at all times, please and thank

the bad ending 😢

okay, so it's not ttte, but this is too awesome to lose.

what great composition/perspective for this. tremendous work OP <3

TIME FOR TINY FUCKEN ENGINES 🥳🥳🥳

it's a shame OP pulled the quoted tweet. it was video of a railcar in black and white (i think it was Japanese?) exploding (due to being fired upon, but you couldn't really see that part, just the explosion). which, dark. but also, for Daisy fans, the QT was funny as hell.

obviously

got to rec WhiteShellMermaid—who is STILL carrying on fics in the Donald without Douglas AU! @galinneall-dearg, look what ye have wrought

so, so based 😍 someone give them my number 😍😍

the video at this link was dope af

i would like to be remembered in this fandom as someone who loyally flogged others' content at every available opportunity

then he abandoned it. to offend me, personally 🥺

(j/k)

oh shit (also, see the reply they got)

would make a good livery for an OC

weird normie reactions to TTTE continue apace, even in the All Engines Go age

i'm blueee, i'm blueee, bo-bah-do-bah-do-bah-doop (sax wails)

so you're telling us that TVS characters are largely interchangeable ciphers? gosh, i never guessed

❗FC2 HAS A SWAGGER STICK ❗

🔥BECAUSE OF COURSE HE DOES🔥

[meanscarletdeceiver]

Gordon in the station scene at the beginning of “Edward’s Exploit” serves up some strong deja vu with his “Whistles and Sneezes” vibes assholery. 

This time my analysis is slightly calmer (perhaps because Gordon’s victim du jour hasn’t just had a long and traumatic arc that makes me feel incredibly overprotective). 

Gordon is an interesting one. Apart from these two instances, I wouldn’t call him cruel. Pompous, self-important twit, yes, and when he thinks he’s been pushed too far (he does have a long fuse) he pushes back hard (taking Thomas along on the express—but he was provoked often before deciding that it was time to put an end to things). And he doesn’t take anything he considers betrayal sitting down, for sure (Edward breaking the shunting strike, Duck supposedly telling tales to the trucks). 

However, his retributions are measured and deliberate (never rushes to strike back in anger; he retreats and strategizes), and, once things are settled, he seems to regard these spats as truly buried, which is a fine quality. 

And, in the main, on an average day, he’s full of bluff good sportsmanship, the occasional bout of thunderous good spirits, and a lazy benevolence.  

But then, in these two episodes, we just get these absolutely crushing comments coming from apparent nowhere. 

What gives? Any logic?

Well, he deploys these missiles of awfulness only at Henry and Edward, his two oldest companions (“The three engines are now great friends.”) There is a kind of messed-up compliment here. Pranks and ribbing all around—but he holds back his worst from the "little” engines. (Edward has notably been upgraded from “little” to “dear” well prior to the above lil heartwarming infuriating scene.)

Also, in both these instances, he’s been confronted, in one way or another, with thoughts of his friends’ mortality. Starting to seem to me like he just can’t handle that, so he comes up with “helpful” gems like the above. 

[meanscarletdeceiver]

I found the courage to post the final chapter and now I can move on to getting ready to share the next emotionally draining project! (Yay?) 

[meanscarletdeceiver]

(x)

[meanscarletdeceiver]

The Quick Lil Seagull Post: Part I (Overview of the Furness Railway 1/2 — The Ram$den Years)

@shinygoku suggested some while ago that I write up a post on the “various Seagulls” as sort of helpful background for fic writers.

I said I didn’t know enough.

… But in the end I wrote it anyway.

And then some. When I tried to write "a quick lil reference post" on the Seagulls, I wound up expanding it to cover all the Furness passenger engines. Then I figured people would also need some background on the railway itself. (Plus, I’m going to wind up adding some stand-alone posts on some of the non-passenger classes! Just my favorites. I definitely in no way will wind up with a series that covers every engine that ever ran on Furness metals... Right?)

However, I really need to disclaim, very loudly, that this is just me, “the person on tumblr who has read up on the most K2 breadcrumb trails, sharing their notes with the class.” Not “me, the expert,” coz I’m not. I still have most of my learning ahead of me (I hope!), and there *will* be errors in this summary of what I’ve got so far. My target audience is not train geeks but more TTTE fans looking for creative inspiration/guiderails.

So with that said, let’s start with some fun notes on the Furness:

The F.R. was a rather small railway whose territory hugged the coast and skirted the lakes of southern Cumbria and northern Lancashire counties.

Its 60-plus-mile-main line ran from Carnforth up to Whitehaven. But the heart and soul of the railway was Barrow. Yes, that Barrow. The port directly across the channel from the Island of Sodor Walney Island.

The Company began to transport “red hematite” iron ore mined from throughout the district of Furness to Barrow... which in 1846 was just a small hamlet on the seaside that had no idea of the amount of industrialisation that was about to hit it.

Red hematite ore was only in moderate demand—until the Bessemer process revolutionized steelworking, and also made the tricky-to-work red hematite more useful than ever before. Demand for the stuff skyrocketed overnight!

Apocryphal (but some contemporaries clearly believed it to be true): The Indian Red livery of the F.R. engines was a nod to the “red hematite” ore on which the railway had been founded.

From its origins as an isolated wagonway run by four little 0-4-0 tender engines in 1846, it grew over the next near-80 years to a modern, diversified railway 130-engines strong, with junctions and through trains with the L.N.W.R. and the Midland Railway. If its territory was small, and if it shared the M.R.'s "small engine policy" (mostly), it was nevertheless a thoroughly modern railway known for its “smart management” when it was absorbed into the L.M.S.R. at grouping.

This history can really be divided into two eras. The first approximately 50 years (right up to the 1900s) were the “mineral era.” This was decidedly before it was a first-class railway. During this era, the point was to ship red hematite and make bank! Period! When No. 3 (the now-preserved National Railway Museum engine known as “Old Copper-Nob”) hauled a directors’ special in 1848, it was for a bunch of rich industrialists to rejoice in a year of amazing dividends... and to congratulate each other for how few non-excursion passenger trains they had thus far managed to get away with running.

I’m sure the locals were thrilled.

Anyway, the F.R. in the 1800s—in this first era—was dominated by a man named Sir James Ramsden.

I’ve read a few of the more railhistory-minded TTTE fans claiming he is a very Sir Topham Hatt I figure. Decide for yourself:

James Ramsden had been an engineer with Bury, the famous locomotive builders, when he got the position as first Locomotive Superintendent of the new F.R.

In six years he had advanced to company secretary. He then spent just shy of 30 years as managing director.

Critics observed that the other directors were just figureheads who deferred to Ramsden on everything, making the railway a one-man show.

While managing the F.R., he also served six successive terms as Mayor of Barrow.

Somewhere during those terms, he was Sir'd.

While handling his Mayor and Knight and Railway Robber Baron roles, he was also managing director of Barrow Hematite Steel Company.

And a few other companies.

Not to mention managing director of the Barrow Shipbuilding Company. Which he founded.

So yeah. I don’t see the resemblance. Sir Topham was a slacker compared to this guy. Busy, busy, busy!

Speaking of a lack of resemblance(?)… he looked like this:

(Sidenote: Circa 1900, Barrow Shipbuilding Company underwent a change in ownership and became Vickers. Yes, Vickers as in one-half of the later Metropolitan-Vickers, who built such great ships. And such dubious diesel-electric type two railway engines. Yes, laugh at those ringlets and sideburns if you will, but we have him to thank for BoCo. Goddammit.)

What’s the point here? Well, Ramsden dominated the first era of the Furness, and withstood all critics and challengers… of which there were more than a few.

Mostly, he was criticized for investing millions of pounds over the course of his tenure into Barrow Docks. Y'know. New and ever-expanding docks in what was by then basically Ramsdentown. This was actually a sound investment for the F.R.—but malcontents observed that this was coming at the expense of, well. the entire rest of the network.

“We have priceless natural beauty spots that mass industrialization and unchecked mining are going to destroyyy!” “The only town in the whole district that gets decent service is *spits* Barrow!” You know, yadda, yadda. Buncha whiners.

Okay, but, seriously really are a remarkable amount of documented complaints about the F.R.’s anemic passenger service in this time. The timetables were, to put it kindly, unambitious. Nor were they often kept! One irate correspondent noted to a local newspaper that, when his train was late (as it so often was), he might be able to get to his destination faster by walking.

Let me offer a rare historical portrait that gives the discerning reader a glimpse into how much Ramsden probably cared:

However! The red hematite market could not favor the English forever! As the 1800s went on, the damned Germans and Spanish started to flood the market with cheaper stuff. (Whomp, whomp.) And every time there was a downturn in the hematite trade, mines and steelworks in the Furness district would shut down, while the railway’s finances would suffer.

In the 1890s, the F.R. began a transition to its second, “modern” era, where it set out to reinvent itself as a full-service railway. This meant, like, transporting people to places they wanted to go, in a timely fashion. Or something.

More seriously, it meant marketing the Lake District as a tourist spot—which worked so well that it remains one to this day—as well as upgrading its stock—which worked so well that we got big-ass Seagulls and gorgeous blue-and-cream corridor bogie coaches out of the deal!

Even Ramsden was slowly glancing in this direction... but it probably helped speed the change along when ill health finally did what no man had ever accomplished, and in 1895 forced him to freakin retire his control-freak ass already.

… but before we move on to the second era I first have to tell you some more Hatt-ian tidbits about this old bastard. I hafta.

He had one son. Ramsden Jr. became Superintendent of the Line in 1896, the year directly after his father retired—lest we think that, like, non-Ramsden people can run this place unsupervised. (Later he became a Furness and an L.M.S. director too. Granted, as far as I am aware, none of his progeny went into railway management.)

Ramsden the Elder seems to have started the Furness tradition of selling off their locos to smaller railways and industry. This is why we still have two of our three preserved Furness locos today—Nos. 20 and 25 escaped the L.M.S. enscrappening because they were safely employed at the steelworks! That’s nice and all, but at the time critics would sceptically enquire as to why he was selling locos still in good condition *cough* to companies he was also the managing director of (Barrow Hemelite Co., mostly). Ramsden would say that it was better for the F.R. to sell them while they could still command a good price, thank you so very much—and I’ll leave you to decide whether that convinces you or not.

Anyway, quite a number of Furness engines from this first era continued after their railway withdrawal date, and since they were often working for companies that were basically also the Ramsden personal brand I imagine there was a very “still family” feeling. No more than the distance between Mavis and Toby.

The F.R. got Alfred Aslett, who had a wonderful track record turning around the Cambrian Railway, as Ramsden’s… er, not-replacement.

For Ramsden, you see, was sooo larger-than-life in the annals of the Furness district that the railway made up a new job title for Aslett… rather than commit the sacrilege of ever naming another “managing director.”

*dartboard meme* I’ve had enough of this dude.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Next Time: Overview of the Furness Railway 2/2 — All Set with Aslett! (Wait, What Do You Mean We Are Going to War and Then You're Going to Amalgamate Our Railway with the Bloody Midlanders?!)

[meanscarletdeceiver]

Galloping sausage, no! ;)

Posting this so as to try and avoid any Confusion — @sodorgazette is promoting the use of this is ttte as a secondary tag for ttte:

images

research

info

opinions

analysis

and any fan content (art, fic, memes) featuring the engines as engines

Hopefully, in future, it will make everyone's sort of "general" content easier to find!

(The alternative is for everyone to consistently add a secondary tag to their ttte posts if they are humanization, AUs, role-plays, or OCs? Which, mind you, would be nice... but this seems like the way to make life simpler for everyone—)