#ttte loaned engines

[sudriantraveler]

Vicarstown 1923

Happy 78th anniversary to The Railway Series!

I figured it's only right to mark the occasion with something, so here's a story I just wrote.

Vicarstown 1923

“PEEP PEEP! WAKE UP LAZY BONES! It’s time you all did some hard work, like me!”

Groans and curses emerged from the sheds in response to this.

“Ugh, really Thomas” yawned a big blue engine, “It’s far too early for this”.

“I thought on a proper railway, work started bright and early Gordon” replied Thomas.

“On a proper railway, little tank engines like you don’t go around pestering the big important engines” huffed Gordon.

“HAH” laughed a big red engine, “for once we agree on something Gordon”.

Gordon grunted and looked away, scowling at the red engine's remark.

“Anyway” the red engine continued, looking back at Thomas, “Why don’t you run along and get my coaches ready”.

“Actually, It’s a goods train for you today,” replied Thomas, and he gave a cheeky grin.

“WHAT!”

“It’s Fat Director’s orders” continued Thomas, trying to cut off the red engine’s tirade before it could begin.

Then he chuckled, “Or perhaps you’re just not capable enough for the job. Maybe Emily could…”

“THAT SPINDLY OLD…”

“Who ye callin spindly?!” barked the emerald single in question. “I’m more than capable of takin the train. At least unlike ye, I can handle a bit of real work!”

“OH Please!” the red engine cut it, “it’s a miracle you and those clapped out things you call coaches even make it to Norramby each day”.

“Why ye F-”

“That’s enough!” said a voice from the far corner of the shed.

Everyone stopped to look at who had spoken up.

In the shadows at the back of the shed was a little blue engine. His paint was worn and dirty, and a cobweb trailed down from his funnel. He looked like he hadn’t been out in a long time.

Apart from Thomas and Emily, the other engines were all bigger than him, and he seemed to shrink even further back under their gaze.

“Er… What I meant to say is… Thank you for the wake up call Thomas. But our crews haven’t even arrived yet. Once they do, we’ll all set off to work”.

“Well… Most of us will Edward,” teased another one of the big engines. “The driver won’t choose you again. He wants big strong engines like us!”

“Leave Edward alone!” shouted Thomas, “He’s just as useful as all of you lot put together!”

At this, laughter erupted from the rest of the sheds.

Edward winced, and Thomas went red in the face.

“Really” chuckled the big engine.

“YES REALLY, 98462!” shouted Thomas.

His safety valve lifted, and he didn’t care what he said next.

“In fact… Edwards got a train to take now!... It’s er… It’s the first train of the day too… It’s very important!”

More laughter was the response to this, and Thomas’s face went pale as he realized what he had said.

“OH, OH THAT’S RICH” guffawed 98462. “You’re a horrible liar Thomas. We all know the first train of the day is my job”.

“er… well… Technically it’s Henry’s job…”

“Oh yes, the failed pacific” 98462 laughed again, “Who, need I remind you, is currently rotting away in the tunnel”.

“Good riddance” huffed another engine.

“Yes indeed 87546” remarked 98462. “A waste of space and nothing more. At least Edward here keeps the spiders off of us”.

Edward blushed with embarrassment, as right on cue another web was being woven between his wheels.

“Now… Now you listen here” called Thomas, trying to rally back against the big engines.

“It’s alright” said Edward quietly, “I think it’s time you went back to the yard”.

“Yes” added 87546, “Go back and play in the sidings little mite, and leave us big engines alone!”

Thomas tried to ignore him.

“If I’m going, then you’re coming to Edward,” he said. “You’re getting out of that shed, I promise”.

Edward gave a sad smile, “I think it’s time you got back to your work. I don't think the Fat Director will be all too pleased to hear you’ve been wasting your time hanging around here”.

Thomas wanted to say more, but by now he was feeling rather small under the mocking eyes of the big engines.

Reluctantly, he began backing away from the sheds towards the yard. As he did, he could see tears forming in Edwards eyes.

Then, rounding a bend, Thomas saw two people walking down the path towards the shed. It was a driver and fireman, the first crew arriving to start the day.

Thomas suddenly had an idea.

“Um… Excuse me Mr Driver, Sir” he called.

The driver stopped, “Yes Thomas?”

“Which engine will you be taking out today?”

“Well, I believe we’ve got 98462”.

Thomas’ heart sank.

Then he said “Well… I mean… you don’t have to take 98462 do you? Er… So long as an engine is taking the first train I’m sure the Fat Director wouldn’t mind. He’s got much more important things to worry about”.

The driver sighed, “Where are you going with this Thomas? This better not be another one of your tricks”.

“It's not a trick, honest! It’s just… There’s another engine, far more deserving of going out today than 98462. He’s… smaller than the rest, but he’s very hard working, a-and really useful too! If you just give him a chance I’m sure he’ll…”

“Alright, that’s enough” soothed the driver. “You’re talking about Edward, right?”

Thomas grew more hopeful. “Y-Yes Sir!” He said.

“Well…”

“I say we go for it” It was the fireman who had spoken up.

“That 98462 is a coal hog anyway” he continued “I’d happily take another engine over him”.

The driver sighed. Then he smiled. “Alright Thomas… We’ll take a look”.

“Oh thank-you-thank-you-thank-you-”

“But no promises” he added, trying to rein in the bubbling tank engine. “In any case, I think it’s time you got back to work. The yard would certainly be a mess without you.

“In fact,” he added, “I think just yesterday evening, one of the other engines managed to bump the coupling off of one of the coaches”.

“Oh what the… Those brutes don’t know the first thing about shunting” fumed Thomas.

“It better not have been Annie or Clarabel. Those old girls are far too kind to deserve to be bumped around like that”. And he hurried off to see if there was any other mess he had been left to sort out.

The driver and fireman turned, and resumed their walk towards the sheds.

They arrived to find the sheds in uproar, with mocking laughter and curses filling the air.

The engines soon stopped however, when they noticed the driver glaring at them.

He said nothing, as he and the fireman walked right past the big engines, and into the back of the sheds.

Edward stood there looking cold and miserable, with tear drops dripping down onto his buffer beam.

“Hello” said the driver gently, “Why are you sad?”

Then…

“Would you like to come out today?”

[leatherbootlace]

What do you think of the Loaned Engines?

i think awdry was a coward for not using them as actual characters.

the fandom had a strange obsession with making them into absolute monsters that just felt like edginess for the sake of edginess. it’s basic, it’s boring, and it’s just not that interesting. i feel nothing seeing 98462/Alfred “Wanting To Blow Up The Railway Because He’s Evil”.

personally, i enjoy when they're no worse than gordon during the early years because then it says something about gordon and the state of the fat controller’s railway. during the locomotive crisis, engines could be rude and vulgar to one another and the fat director could do nothing about it - they needed the motive power just to stay afloat.

but once that crisis has been averted?

everyone’s on thin fucking ice except gordon. in the early days, only gordon can seriously pull the express. the railway needs him. so the moment someone gets caught with their coupling in the coaling pit, they’re gone. with the fat director in charge, he won’t tolerate bullying like that on his railway. and that fact turns the loaned engines into a pack of rabid animals trying to undermine one another to come out on top.

with takes like that you can do something with the characters that doesn't condemn them to a boring end like death. you can do something with them after they leave sodor. let them survive into preservation. give them their own bout of character growth. send them back to sodor to see how much things have and haven’t changed.

TL;DR, Everyone makes the Loaned Engines out to be the end-all be-all of villainy on Sodor when they really should just be petty bullies.

[themidlandengine]

The other engine…

[anonymousboxcar]

TTTE AU: Cockade the Actor

Recently, I’ve been playing around with an au!Diesel 10 that fits into a more RWS-type world. Known as D810, or Cockade, he isn’t villainous or bigoted against steam engines. This is in part because he noticed a growing disdain for diesel-hydraulics such as him, thus realizing he wasn’t in too dissimilar of a boat.

Where most of his class didn’t survive, Cockade did. He was a warm, affable engine who endeared himself to many people. He was also something many of his siblings weren’t: a minor celebrity.

Ever since a background appearance in a local commercial, Cockade wanted to be an actor. He pushed to appear in more commercials, instructional tapes, and TV episodes B.R. used to drum up good PR. These amounted to only several seconds of screen time apiece, but he loved it. He loved becoming a character, embodying part of a story. He thought it could help him work toward the silver screen.

And eagle-eyed rail fans recognized him in all his roles. He developed a small following that advocated on his behalf, working to get him — and at his urging, as many of his siblings as possible — preserved.

He never lost his passion for acting, nor his dream of a “big break.” So when the producers of a project called Thomas & The Magic Railroad came knocking, he all but threw himself at them.

His heritage railway loaned him out to the producers, who gave him his character’s — Diesel 10’s — livery and excavator claw. His enthusiasm and flair for dramatics proved infectious on set. He had only one serious hiccup: he tried method acting.

He didn’t mean any harm by it. He only wanted to try out a new technique; he wanted his first ever film performance to be his best and most convincing. But for all his good intentions, acting like his villainous character 24/7 got on everyone’s nerves.

Thomas, playing himself in the film, got fed up. “Do you want to ‘method act’ some bent buffers, too? I can help you with that.”

Cockade stared at him. “What?”

“The script calls for it, doesn’t it?”

“But that’s — oh. Ohhh.”

It was the wake-up call Cockade needed. Embarrassed, he apologized for his behavior and saved his acting for the cameras.

While still somewhat miffed at first, Thomas softened after Cockade helped him through some stage fright without any judgement. Cockade respected Thomas’ tenacity and sense of responsibility in turn. The two had a similar sense of humor, making each other laugh between takes and teasing the others.

He and Thomas also became close to Sarah, a recent custom-built engine cast as Lady. She gave as good as she got with their teasing, while also becoming interested in the technical aspects of film production and writing. Her perspective on something in the script was always fresh and helpful (even if it was critical).

The engines playing Splatter and Dodge — who didn’t have names of their own, and liked their characters’ names enough to adopt them — came out of their shells at everyone’s encouragement. They loved to ad-lib scenes with Cockade, and they contemplated going into improv comedy once their work was done with TATMR.

A good time was had by all. Cockade felt very satisfied with himself and the overall production, delighting in having so many new friends and connections in show business.

And then the film bombed at the box office.

These days, Cockade says it was a valuable lesson: there’s a lot of moving parts to a film production, and nothing can be perfect. You can only do your best with the part you have. What matters is that you had fun and you gained more experience.

It took him some time to absorb this lesson, though. He wondered if he could’ve done something more, if he could’ve helped. He feared this was the end of his career.

“I’ve been working towards this my entire life,” he said late one night. “I had plan, a vision, of my career. This was my chance at the big time. And now that I’ve had a taste of it, it’s all up in smoke.”

Sarah nudged him. “You read the books, yeah? Look at how many times Mr. Number One over there messed up. He’s still doing alright.”

Thomas only rolled his eyes a little. “My foul-ups did me a world of good, actually. I wouldn’t be famous if those stories didn’t get out.”

“Besides, so what if that’s it for your career or whatever?” Splatter asked. “You’ve been at the bottom.”

“S’not so bad down there. You’ll have us, for one,” Dodge said, grinning. “And if you went up that incline before, you can do it again.”

“…I can,” Cockade said after a pause. “Thanks to all of you.”

In the end, lots of people still liked his performance as Diesel 10. At his request, his heritage railway put him back into D10’s livery for “Day Out With Thomas” events. He auditioned and got to act in other, smaller productions. While typecast as a villain for some time, he considered that a small price to keep doing what he loved.

He still visits Sodor every now and then, both as himself and as Diesel 10. Thomas is always happy to see him. They often chat about how Sarah’s doing as a railway consultant in television writing. Other times, they listen together to Splatter & Dodge’s latest improv comedy podcast released online.

Cockade’s big break didn’t go as he imagined it, but that’s alright. He doesn’t need the glitz and glamour of Hollywood anymore to have a fulfilling career. To him, the fulfillment comes from the wonderful people he meets along the way.

“And failure is never forever,” he tells people, smiling. “It’s always an opportunity — if you let it be one.”

[christopheroshea]

So what’s the craziest tidbit about your TTTE headcanon timelines?

Mine was ‘Rusty Saves the Day’, along with most of the Hit era Skarloey and Rheneas episodes, taking place during 1952, Rusty being loaned to the SKR and their work lead to them being officially bought for the railway years later.

Peter Sam, named Stuart at the time was also on loan during the events of ‘Skarloey Storms Through’ and ‘Rheneas and the Dinosaur’ and Skarloey meeting Duncan in ‘Wharf and Peace’ and Mighty Mac in ‘Rheneas and the Dinosaur’ was because Skarloey was going on the stretch of line covered by the MSR as was the norm as seen in ‘Gallant Old Engine’ and ‘Grandpuff’ in TV canon.

[putuponpercy]

Content warning for engine abuse

So a while back I had an idea for a ttte story where there was this Railway on the Main Land that requests to loan an engine from Sodor for a time. I haven’t decided which engine it would be, but it was one that the Fat Controller believed to have felt underappreciated at the time - for now let’s just call them “X”. 

Everyone who worked on this railway was incredibly kind and made X feel more than at home. Oddly enough, all the other engines working on there were faceless, which did concern X at first, but it also meant there was more of an excited buzz whenever X was in the human worker’s presence. By the time the loan period came to an end, the engine was sad to go back, having genuinely enjoyed working for them.

That is until several months later when that very same railway requests to loan another engine. The moment X catches wind of this, they practically beg the Fat Controller to let them be the one to go again, claiming that they already know the ins and outs of working there. Once again, the workers were very welcoming, overjoyed to see X return. And again when the time came for X to return home they were saddened at the thought of leaving. However, on X’s last day there, the controller of this railway makes a proposition.

He wanted to purchase X from the North Western Railway.

Obviously it was a big decision to make, Sodor had been their home for many, many years. He gave X some time to think it over. When X did return home, life on the North Western just didn’t seem as fulfilling as before. People weren’t as excited to see them as they were on the other railway. Whatever work X did in the yard wasn’t enough either, the human workers there showing almost no appreciation for X’s help. And an argument with fellow engines at the sheds during the night sealed the deal for X. Papers were signed, money was handed over, and a send off was arranged for the departing engine, although it was bittersweet given the aforementioned argument was still fresh in everyone’s mind. 

Off this engine went to the Main Land, excited to turn over a new leaf. Upon X’s arrival at their new railway, something immediately seemed off, the controller barely acknowledged their presence and promptly put X to work. The warm, friendly human workers suddenly seemed cold and uncaring, snapping at X for the smallest mistake. All except for the engine’s new driver who preferred to silently get on with their work and turning a blind eye to the insults his colleagues sent his engine’s way.

It took about 4 days before X had had enough and refused to work any longer and when the controller arrived on the scene, X threatened to return to their old railway if things didn’t change. The controller just laughed and waved the paperwork that proved X belonged to him in their face. Even if X tried to return, the controller had legal ownership of them. He gave X an hour to decide if they were going to continue working or continue striking, the latter of which they would be severely punished for.

X was too stubborn.

60 minutes passed and the controller returned. Much to the engine’s confusion, the human clambered up into their cab. With a flip of the engine’s override, the man took full control of X and drove them both to the railway’s workshop. X began to panic, wondering if this was it. Why did they ever choose to leave Sodor? A couple of compliments and special treatment, was that really all it took for them to leave their old life behind? Sure things on Sodor weren’t always peachy, but they had friends, a job they loved, a caring driver and a controller who would absolutely not stand for any of this.

X’s worry lessened at the sight of paint cans being retrieved. A new livery? Surely that alone couldn’t have been the “sever punishment”. X was correct, as its eyes landed on something large and made of steel being lifted by a crane. A false smokebox, as the controller happily provided. If X did not want to comply with free will, then they will be treated as a faceless engine and made to look the part with the dummy smokebox completely engulfing the engine’s face. X begged and pleaded, saying that they would be good, they would comply. But it was too late, their voice unable to penetrate their new prison.

X didn’t see the sun again for a very long time.

-

Close to a year later Henry was out pulling the Kipper when something collided with the back of his train. A couple trucks were damaged but Henry and his driver were otherwise unarmed. His driver and guard went to inspect the situation. There shouldn't have been any other trains on this line at that time.

And yet, there on its side lay a faceless engine.

[transsexualunderground]

ttte ocs i've barely talked about on tumblr yet

tiffany lancaster, aka ms. controller. the controller of the uhr. she worked the rails during wartime just due to a need for extra labor, missed it a shitton, got an engine who came with a free coach (forsythia and nicolas), loaned them out to the skarloey sometimes, and ended up leading the ulfstead heritage railway project.

titus lancaster. tiffany's uncle and the guy who commissioned wesley's existence. he's very much so dead before we get to see much of him but he deserves a tag so i'm talking about him here.

snake. a miner's coach that sycorax often takes around.

lady prudence/lady chastity - the uhr's fourth engine, with two different nameplates. she complains for a while about how improper this railway is (she's been around since the 1870s), but she eventually gets somewhat used to it and becomes a bit of a heckler archetype, counter-joking to forsythia and nicolas, who are more than honored to have

the uhr truck collective. a large group of trucks and other goods rolling stock such as tankers and gunpowder wagons that have allied themselves with forsythia and nicolas. they all have silly names

elias - a loaned engine to early sodor who left then only ever returned in 2022. he somehow survived that long. he really likes eels and once kept them in his tender before an accident. but he got some modifications once he returned to sodor and now he keeps eels again. he's very invested in the conservation of the european eel specifically, because it's endangered and it's, like, the only eel he's ever seen in person. he knows a lot about the care and keeping of eels, a lot more than you'd expect an engine to.

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

Why the hell is Thomas, supposedly a LB&SCR engine, on Sodor?

That's a long trek! Plus, E2s are way bigger than Thomas is portrayed in every iteration of canon!

The second thing can be explained away as "major rebuild" (I suppose—it's still weird), but the first is a pretty big strain on belief.

Here are some of the options:

Thomas was being sent to the front but his ship called at Tidmouth and his crew just rolled him right off into the docks. The NWR was in a state of half-built chaos and desperately needed engines, so no one questioned too hard what tf Thomas and his crew were doing hanging 'round so long as they were making themselves useful.

Young Thomas stowed away on a long-distance train out of his home depot wanting to see the world and/or show up whatever engines were currently teasing him. He managed to finagle odd jobs in the chaos of war preparation until he wound up on Sodor.

STH is plain lying about Thomas being an E2. It's an amazing bit of cheek. I'm thinking in this case Thomas is something close and handy, maybe a Johnson 2411 class or a contractor engine, and when his owners tracked him down to Vicarstown FC1 just bald-facedly claimed that this was an LB&SCR engine that had been sent to them for war service, sorry about your lost engine, if you have any posters we're happy to put them up. They were infuriated but Thomas had already been modded so much that they couldn't prove his identity.

Bonus to that: STH made it legal with the LB&SCR, who knew there were shenanigans afoot but who just shrugged and accepted his five hundred pounds or whatever for an engine they knew very well they hadn't lost.

Variant: There is also the @tethrendevez explanation!

For the "lying to his owners" theory I did not propose the obvious alt of Thomas as a Furness G5, if only because I can't see even FC1 having the chutzpah to try gaslighting his next-door neighbors. But consider: Thomas was a G5, but in 1960 he was embiggened in the post-breakfast rebuild. FC2 decided to have him rebuilt to look like a somewhat plausible LB&SCR E2... so that they could request that BR send one or two of these soon-to-be-withdrawn engines to them gratis for Thomas's "spare parts." The beaten, frightened engines arrived to find their mysterious long-lost brother was... just some northern sidetank rando winking at them and saying that he hoped they didn't mind being rushed off their wheels at their new assignments!

The North Western was one of the odd railways that were then air-braked, so when the Admiralty decided they needed to be loaned locomotives they sent some engines from railways like the LB&SCR that would be compatible with their stock.

Bonus to the above: Annie, Clarabel, and probably similar coaches were also donated during this time, being themselves air-fitted.

Thanks to @joezworld for helping spark this post.

[mmprviolet]

I noticed Thomas YouTube always uses Alfred as a villain while fanfics use Diesel 10 🤔

[juniaships]

It's not a Thomas the Tank engine fan video without Alfred the Loaned B12

[sudriantraveler]

Indignity

So I've been thinking about what I said in a reblog of this post about the Loaned Engines by @leatherbootlace, and now that finals are done I've finally had the time to turn it into a story. I hope you like it.

************************************************************************

“I WON’T DO IT!”

“Come on!” Said the driver, exhausted, “It’s just a few extra post vans!”

“On the back of MY Premier Express Service!” Shouted the big red engine. “I won’t do it!”

A few platforms over, Thomas was arranging the coaches for a local stopping train. “YOU THERE, COMMON TANK ENGINE” bellowed the red engine, “Leave that Commoner Local and relieve me of these UGLY VANS!”

“The only ugly part of that train is YOU, you red brute!” Replied Thomas. “Those vans need to get to Tidmouth… Your train’s going to Tidmouth… There isn’t room in the schedule for them to be sent as a special… And any moaning you have about pulling mixed trains you can Shove em Down Your Funnel!”

“HOW DARE YOU!!!” Shrieked the red engine, “I won’t be insulted by a Common Tank Engine, and I WON’T HAVE MY IMAGE REDUCED TO THAT OF A MIXED TRAFFIC ENGINE!!!”

In a siding at the other end of the yard, Gordon was resting… or at least, he was trying to. But the shouting emanating from the station; of engines, passengers, and station staff, was far too much to ignore. He opened one eye sleepily… then closed it again… then winced as yet another round of bellows assaulted him from the station!

At last, with a tired sigh and much hissing of steam, Gordon rolled out of the siding and began backing towards the station and the unending argument.

The red engine was now railing against the stationmaster, telling him just what he could do with “Fat Director’s Orders”, when he saw Gordon backing down in front of him, and stopping a few yards from his buffers.

“What on Earth are you doing you Blue Buffoon?! Get out of my way!”

“I don’t see why it matters seeing as though you clearly aren’t going anywhere anytime soon” puffed Gordon. “In any case you’re disturbing my rest and holding up your passengers! Either take the train as it is, or Clear Off and let me pull it instead!”

“I will do neither such thing!” Replied the red engine sharply.

“Well what other option is there?” Gordon hissed.

“Someone remove those post vans from my express, and I’ll take the train no problem… In fact, why don’t you pull them Gordon? I’m sure it would be easy for a Gresley Monstrosity such as yourself!”

A tense silence fell across the station. The rails seemed to shake as Gordon seethed. But he quickly composed himself, and said quietly “very well”.

The red engine closed his eyes snootily. He was just about to make another smug remark when he was interrupted by a sudden BUMP! He opened his eyes to see that Gordon had fully backed down in front of him, and was now being coupled on!

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” He snapped.

“If you won’t pull the train as it is, and you won’t move out of the way” replied Gordon “then I’ll just pull you, the express, and the post vans… myself”.

“You… YOU CAN’T!!!”

“We’ll see…”

The red engine looked around frantically, trying to find someone else to object to the big blue engine's plan! But all he saw was Thomas quietly rolling away to find some more coaches, with a cheeky grin on his face.

The Guard blew her whistle and waved her green flag. Gordon replied with a loud “Poop Poop”, and with much puffing and snorting of smoke and steam dragged the long train and the fuming red engine out of the station!

The red engine seethed and shouted! He clamped his brakes hard on, trying to hold the train back! But Gordon just dug his wheels into the rails and kept going. He Slipped and Snorted, and despite the protesting squeal of the red engine's brakes, kept accelerating the train Faster and Faster! By the time they reached the tunnel they were at line speed, and the red engine’s brakes were glowing hot! Groaning in pain, the red engine finally released his brakes… but he still didn’t help, no matter how much his driver jostled his regulator or threw his reverser, trying to get something out of his engine!

At every station, passengers and porters watched in awe as the unusual train roared through! Thick clouds of smoke poured from Gordon’s funnel, while barely a wisp of steam emerged from the red engines cylinders. Neither engine said a word, as Gordon put all his effort into dragging the long train and the sulking red engine at a terrific speed!

At last, Tidmouth Station came into view, and with one last dramatic hiss of steam, Gordon drew the train to a stop at the platform. He tried not to show it, but he was by now rather out of puff. The red engine however, was too stunned to say anything, and no sooner had the coaches been taken away had he seethed hurriedly away to the sheds. Gordon rolled breathlessly to the turntable, and having been turned around, had a long long drink at the water tower. 

He took the express back to Vicarstown by himself, leaving the big red engine sulking alone in the sheds. Gordon didn’t say a word to him as he left. He figured the Fat Director would be saying plenty soon enough.

[leatherbootlace]

James was happy to find the shed empty when they finished shunting. The yard had been very busy, and the red engine felt rushed off their wheels.

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t stay empty for long…

“My, my, Johnny,” laughed Charlotte as she reversed next to James. “Do you recognize who this is?”

“Surely,” he puffed loudly, “it’s not that drab little goods engine who set their brakes on fire.”

“I don’t know,” The atlantic sighed, “Seems all this one can do is shunt. Though I suppose, with such unsightly paintwork, I’d shunt too if it kept the passengers from seeing me!”

[leatherbootlace]

Is it possible that in the future, you can share your headcanons on some of the mainland and loaned engines?

this has all been on the backburner for waaaaay too long help

JONATHAN (87546) the Blunt Engine - Cis-Masculine (He/Him)

Jonathan is the utmost example of dedication to a fault. Put to service at a time of strife, he proved himself a strong, reliable engine during what was arguably one of the worst times to be one. He’s a tough cookie who stands no-nonsense from other, more talkative engines, which can make him quite blunt at times. Though he may carry some untouched baggage from his early years, he’s keen to prove himself a reliable asset to the Fat Director, by any means necessary.

ANTOINETTE / TONI (98462) the Rude Engine - Bigender (She/Her/He/Him)

Absolutely one of the slickest engines to ever work on the Fat Controller’s Railway, Antoinette (or Toni as she prefers to be called) believes herself to be above the likes of her own kin, and carries a general air of superiority wherever he travels. Personally, she never quite fit in with the North Eastern Railway’s views on what’s best for engines, and was quick to find work elsewhere when given the opportunity. He now seeks to become the premiere express engine she rightfully deserves to be on the Fat Controller’s Railway, even if it means having to play second-fiddle to the likes of Gordon… for now…

ROBINSON the Fast Engine - Agender (They/Them/It/Its)

One of the more experienced of the engines brought in during the formative years, Robinson was known for one thing and one thing only - speed. Robinson can’t stand the thought of being idle and wasting precious time, and often works their hardest to beat the clock and run their trains early. Unfortunately, this means it tends to be particularly reckless when it comes to the finer details of things - something quite hard to explain to them considering they talk a mile a minute to where barely anyone can understand it at times.

LILLIE the Atlantic Engine - Cis-Feminine (She/Her/Per/Pers)

After Henry proved to be disappointing to the Board of Directors, Sir Topham Hatt’s plans to acquire a Robinson Atlantic were met post-haste. Lillie, however, is not the Atlantic Topham would have chosen if given the chance. Uppity, snobbish, and carrying a taste for the more refined luxuries of life on the Mainland, she believes per every whim and desire should be catered to - even going so far as to acquire her own personalized livery. Per is quite content with her lot in life as a regular passenger engine, so long as per needs are met at a moment’s notice.

Original Sprites by Princess-Muffins, Cj-The-Creator, WyattLoughrie, MaxtheModellingDude, Diamond-Jubilee, RedEngineStudioNo5 & DemonOfNowhere.

Any & All Modifications made by Myself, LeatherBootlace.

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

“Never trust domeless engines! They’re not respectable!”

... especially if they’re bloody Great Western! 

I’ve seen some references to these events in TTTE fic that I’ve never understood before. For anyone else who didn’t know, meet the domeless G.W.R. “Castle” engines: 

All the glorious “in your face, Gresley” p’wnship below is copied directly from the Wikipedia article. 

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“When introduced they were heralded as Britain's most powerful express passenger locomotive, being some 10% more powerful than the Stars. The first, No. 4073 Caerphilly Castle, made its debut at Paddington station on 23 August 1923. The choice of 4082 as Windsor Castle proved fortuitous as this locomotive was used to haul the royal train when King George V and Queen Mary visited Swindon Works in 1924, and much publicity was gained when the king was invited to drive the engine back from the works to the station before the return journey, with the Queen and several high-ranking GWR officers also on the footplate.[7]

During 1924, 4073 Caerphilly Castle was exhibited at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, alongside Sir Nigel Gresley's Flying Scotsman. The Great Western declared their engine to be more powerful than its bigger LNER rival, and in terms of tractive effort alone they were entitled to do so. As a result of this, GWR General Manager Sir Felix Pole proposed to LNER Southern Area General Manager Alexander Wilson that a trial of the two types should take place via an exchange arrangement.[9] The resulting trials commenced in April 1925 with 4079 Pendennis Castle representing the GWR on the Great Northern main line and 4474 Victor Wild representing the LNER on Great Western tracks. On the first morning Pendennis Castle was to work a 480-ton train from King's Cross to Doncaster, and LNER officials fully expected the smaller, lighter engine to encounter problems climbing Holloway Bank. However, railway writer Cecil J. Allen records that the GWR locomotive made a faster start from King's Cross to Finsbury Park than any LNER Pacific he had recorded up to that time,[9] and over the trial Pendennis Castle kept well within the scheduled time and used less coal, considerably denting LNER pride. For the LNER, Victor Wild was compared on the Cornish Riviera Express to 4074 Caldicot Castle and although it kept to time the longer wheelbase of the Pacific proved unsuited to the many curves on the route. Again the GWR took the honours with Caldicot Castle burning less fuel and always ahead of time, this being illustrated on the last 2 days of the trial by gaining 15 minutes on the schedule in both directions.[9]

In 1926, number 5000 Launceston Castle was loaned to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway where it ran trials between London and Carlisle. The locomotive fulfilled the LMS requirements so well that the latter first requested the GWR to build a batch of Castles for use on the West Coast Main Line, and, failing that, a full set of construction drawings. Both proposals were rejected by the GWR Board of Directors. The LMS eventually succeeded in gaining access to the design by recruiting William Stanier, the GWR's Works Manager at their main Swindon railway works to become the new Chief Mechanical Engineer for the LMS.[10]”