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The North Western Railway is the main railway company featured in The Railway Series books by The Rev. W. Awdry and the TV series Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends . Although the company's name has never been specifically stated in either the books or on television it was mentioned as such in tie-in books such as "Island of Sodor, Its History, People and Railways" by the Rev Awdry and also on some maps that were drawn to accompany the Railway Series. The railway is situated on the fictional Island Of Sodor and is usually refferred to as the Fat Controller 's Railway after the nickname of its chief executive or chairman Sir Topham Hatt. ''For a list of Engines supposedly belonging to the NWR see The Railway Series article.'' HISTORY According to "research" by the Rev Awdry the railway company was formed in 1914 from a government-sponsored merger of the two Standard Gauge rail companies that existed on Sodor these were -
The three railways were extended and brought into one system as a means of coastal defence and were connected to the British mainland by a Shertzer Lift Rolling Bridge designed by Topham Hatt. The bridge runs from Vicarstown to Barrow-in-Furness . The main line runs from Barrow to Tidmouth. Parts of the former Sodor & Mainland and Wellsworth & Suddery railways became Branch Lines . The fomer TK&E was extended in 1925 up the Els valley to Ffarquhar but was orgionally supossed to go to the town of Ulfstead which is situated almost in the centre of the island. Another branch line was built going north from Tidmouth along the coast orginally intending to get to Harwick but instead ended up only going as far as Arlesburgh where it met the Narrow Gauge Mid-Sodor Railway . This branch effectively closed in the 1940s but was re-opened in 1966 and became known as ''"The Little Western"'' after its use of ex- Great Western Railway engines and rolling stock. A further branch was bulit from Kildane to the aluminium works at Peel Godred. This line uses electric traction and meets the Culdee Fell Mountain Railway at Kirk Machan. The company first had its headquarters at Vicarstown but were moved along with the main engine sheds to Tidmouth in 1926. The main repair works for the railway are at Crovan's Gate close to the interchange station with the Skarloey Railway . The North Western Railway has had running rights into Barrow Central Station since the agreement with the London, Midland And Scottish Railway in 1925. Until the construction of the Jubilee Road Bridge in 1977, the NWR had rights of car-ferry and worked an intensive and profitable service. British Rail had running powers over the Bridge to operate the joint NWR/BR suburban service from Barrow to Norramby. On through or express trains engines from the NWR are detached at Barrow and "Other Railway" engines take over. Since 1925 the NWR has also had its own loco shed, turntable and servicing facility here. There is also a joint goods yard for exchange traffic. When the railways in the United Kingdom were Nationalised Sodor was affected too with the North Western Railway becoming the North Western Region of British Railways however the railway was allowed to keep a large degree of independence from the rest of the network; this is how come steam traction was preserved on the railway. The other railways on the island were not affected by the nationalisation. Since Privatisation the railway has again become the North Western Railway Company and unlike most post-privatisation train companies is responsible for the running of the freight and passenger operations and for the maintenance of the track and infrastructure of the railway. On some promotional items to tie-in with the Railway Series books dating from the 1970s the NWR is called ''"Sodor Rail"'' and uses a logo similar to the famous British Rail one now used by the organisation National Rail . SOURCES |
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