The Island's Swansong

XIII - The Secrets of Sodor

Jigsaw puzzles are unique. Beautiful in single pieces, and together in a larger picture.

All I'd found in the Records Office were more pieces. Metal filing cabinets lined rooms, each meticulously labelled and stored in conditions that minimised rust, damp and decay. Had I not opened the doors, the rooms would likely have remained sealed, immaculate, for decades to come. None of the rooms were locked. There was nothing of inherent value. Only archived documents and files, most now redundant given Sodor's sorry state.

I tracked down the cabinet's linking to the railway and the Island's economy, given almost everything I'd heard so far pointed to an economic disaster. Finding this section on the top floor, I started searching files dated to during the later years of the railway's history, when the Railway Series was still being written and published. But curiosity began to lead my hand.

A folder named 'Beeching Outcomes' caught my eye. The famous Beeching cuts were never mentioned in the two Sodor history books I'd found on the mainland, rare gems that only ever had one circulation in print. The documents were rather verbose, but filled in a major question about the railway's history. What stopped Dr Beeching's axe coming down here?

To summarise, Charles Topham Hatt II, backed by the Ulfstead Estate and various public opinion representatives, argued a successful case against the cuts proposed by Beeching on the 'NWRBR' as it was referred to. 'No one on Sodor likes being called the 'North Western Region of British Railways'; it is viewed as derogatory among the workers on the railway,' Sir Charles Hatt stated in one meeting, as recorded in the minutes. Given Sodor retained a massive amount of independence and profitability following Nationalisation in 1948, the Sudrian 'rebels' successfully convinced Beeching that closing any of the Island's lines would be impossible. Somehow, always, industry, exports and local economies would be 'disrupted in irreparable ways. Forcing such ills on the Island would be in contempt of the independence and trust placed in a railway system that has yet to falter.' Beeching conceded, saving the likes of the Brendam, Norramby and Arlesdale lines.

Engrossed, I packed those papers away and opted for a folder closer to the front of the draw, labelled '1985-1995'. Thumbing through some of the papers within, a 1987 news article caught my eye, my pupils hooking on a name I'd already heard that day.

Dalby Jnr.

The headline rang like a triumphant battle cry.

'SODOR REFUSES PROPOSALS BY MECHANICAL MAVERICK'

It corroborated everything Caroline said. Dalby Jnr. had indeed proposed to Sir Topham Hatt a plan to embrace new material science breakthroughs on the railway. He was batted down by angry enthusiasts, especially as the Island's charm had begun taking off with the arrival of a television show, then airing its third series. Tourism had begun to see a boost in the summer months, with visitors travelling by rail and ship from the mainland. 'To jeopardise this economic growth with materials untested in steam locomotives is not our idea of worthwhile investment,' claimed an anonymous engine driver, 'Tourists want authenticity.'

Flicking through further, another document confirmed the establishment of the railway as a private entity, the 'North Western Railway Company'. I slipped the folder down, picking up one that was much closer to the period for which I knew things were going wrong: '2005-2015'.

Another damning 2008 headline grabbed my retinas.

'NWRC CRITICISED FOR PLAYING DOWN CLIMATE THREAT'

The contents chilled me in that box of a room, the air around me beginning to feel like a fridge. Things that were forewarned had passed. Sea levels had risen, as I'd seen near Kirk Ronan. The article detailed a report slamming Sodor's reliance on coal and diesel, as well as the poor prospects of alternative fuels. Academics proposed an all-electric railway, with strong investment in renewables. Wind turbines in the hills, wave energy devices off the coast...