Knapford

Knapford is a small town on the River Els estuary, south of Tidmouth, of which it is a dormitory. Knapford serves as the junction for the Ffarquhar Branch Line, as such, its station is called Knapford Junction. In the television series, Knapford is home to the main station on Sodor.

The Railway Series
For centuries the area below Elsbridge had been flooded both at high tide and when the river was in spate. At other times it looked innocent enough to tempt unwary invaders to choose this route inland. All without exception found themselves engulfed in bog.

During the 1880s the Ulfstead Mining Company became interested in the minerals (lead mostly) waiting to be found on the higher ground east of the marsh; but without a firm footing they could not be either extracted or transported away. Accordingly they called in A. W. Dry & Co who had experience of working on drainage problems in East Anglia. A. W. Dry built embankments across the flats north and south of the river (along which the main line of the railway now runs), and installed tide gates. The river was then embanked along its south eastern side, but the opposite bank was left open to provide a flood-pool for the normal river flow which could be drained off every day at low tide. It thus remained a marsh where the Elsbridge fenmen could carry on their activities as before, and since this, fortunately, was the side of the river they preferred, they offered little opposition to A. W. Dry's drainage operations on the east.

The present station at Knapford is the third on the site, and dates from 1956 when Sir Charles Topham Hatt disturbed by the congestion at Tidmouth, launched his Knapford Harbour Development Scheme. There are now two stations at Knapford - Junction and Harbour. Knapford has been useful as a supplementary harbour, but its exposed position has not enabled it to provide the best answer to Sir Topham Hatt’s problem. That was why in 1966 he went north to see what could be done at Arlesburgh.

The town of Knapford itself, though an important railway junction, is in a bleak position. It is a railway and dock town. Few people live here apart from railwaymen, dock workers and drainage engineers. It had a population of 2,200 in 1951. Farming, fishing and fowling also form part of the local economy.

Several maps show the main line terminating at the junction, though some books mention that the terminus is Tidmouth. What's more, Knapford appears to be larger than Tidmouth, whereas the Rev. W. Awdry stated in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways that it is smaller than Tidmouth.

Thomas & Friends
Knapford is the "Big Station" in the television series. It has a large canopy. The station has six tracks total, four being through tracks and two being terminal tracks. Knapford has a refreshment kiosk, the Engine Drivers locker room, M.C. BUNN, Sir Topham Hatt's Office and a bookstall. At one point, the bookstall was temporarily replaced by a toy shop. In Tale of the Brave, the station is given a new track layout and signal gantries were added above the lines.

In P.A. Problems, Sir Topham Hatt decided to upgrade the public announcement system with a new one called the TX-1000, but this caused problems as the sound quality was bad. He decided to switch it back afterwards.

Knapford High Street is located here.

Appearances
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Television Series

 * Season 1 - Thomas and Gordon, Edward, Gordon and Henry, Thomas' Train, Thomas and the Trucks, Thomas and the Breakdown Train, James and the Coaches, Troublesome Trucks, James and the Express, Thomas, Terence and the Snow, Trouble in the Shed, Percy Runs Away, Coal, The Flying Kipper (deleted scene), Whistles and Sneezes, Off the Rails, Down the Mine and Thomas' Christmas Party (deleted scene)
 * Season 2 - Old Iron, Percy and the Signal, Duck Takes Charge, Wrong Road and Edward's Exploit
 * Season 3 - Time for Trouble, Gordon and the Famous Visitor, Thomas Gets Bumped, Thomas, Percy and the Dragon, The Trouble with Mud, No Joke for James, Thomas, Percy and the Post Train and Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure (mentioned)
 * Season 4 - Thomas and Stepney and Paint Pots and Queens
 * Season 6 - It's Only Snow, Twin Trouble, Middle Engine, Percy's Chocolate Crunch, Thomas, Percy and the Squeak, Thomas the Jet Engine and Edward the Very Useful Engine
 * Season 7 - Emily's New Coaches, Best Dressed Engine, Gordon and Spencer and Three Cheers for Thomas
 * Season 8 - Thomas and the Tuba, Henry and the Wishing Tree, Thomas Saves the Day, Percy's Big Mistake, Emily's New Route, Thomas and the Firework Display, Gordon Takes Charge, Spic and Span, Edward the Great, Squeak, Rattle and Roll, Thomas Gets it Right, As Good as Gordon, Fish and Percy and the Magic Carpet
 * Season 9 - Percy and the Oil Painting, Molly's Special Special, Thomas and the Toy Shop, Respect for Gordon, Thomas and the Birthday Picnic, Thomas and the New Engine, Toby Feels Left Out, Thomas' Day Off, Saving Edward and Keeping Up with James
 * Season 10 - The Green Controller, It's Good to be Gordon, Toby's New Shed, Thomas and the Shooting Star, Emily and the Special Coaches, Thomas and the Colours and James the Second Best
 * Season 11 - Dream On (deleted scene; mentioned), Smoke and Mirrors, Toby's Triumph and Thomas in Trouble
 * Season 12 - Thomas and the Billboard, Rosie's Funfair Special, Heave Ho Thomas!, Tram Trouble and Gordon Takes a Shortcut
 * Season 13 - The Lion of Sodor, Double Trouble, Slippy Sodor, Play Time (mentioned), Percy's Parcel, Toby's New Whistle (mentioned), A Blooming Mess, Thomas and the Runaway Kite, The Biggest Present of All, Snow Tracks and Hiro Helps Out
 * Season 14 - James in the Dark, Pingy Pongy Pick Up, Charlie and Eddie, Toby and the Whistling Woods, Pop Goes Thomas, Being Percy, Merry Winter Wish, Thomas and the Snowman Party, Thomas' Crazy Day, Thomas and Scruff, O the Indignity, Jitters and Japes and Henry's Magic Box
 * Season 15 - Gordon and Ferdinand, Toby and Bash, Edward the Hero, Happy Hiro, Henry's Happy Coal, Stuck on You, Big Belle, Percy the Snowman, Tree Trouble and Fiery Flynn
 * Season 16 - Express Coming Through, Percy and the Monster of Brendam, Ho Ho Snowman, Flash Bang Wallop!, Thomas and the Sounds of Sodor, Salty's Surprise, Sodor Surprise Day, Emily's Winter Party Special (mentioned), Whiff's Wish, Welcome Stafford, Don't Bother Victor! (mentioned) and Happy Birthday Sir!
 * Season 17 - Kevin's Cranky Friend, Scruff's Makeover, Gordon Runs Dry, Calm Down Caitlin, Henry's Hero, Not Now, Charlie!, The Lost Puff, The Thomas Way, The Missing Christmas Decorations, The Smelly Kipper, No More Mr. Nice Engine and Thomas' Shortcut
 * Season 18 - Old Reliable Edward, Disappearing Diesels, Signals Crossed, Duck in the Water, Duck and the Slip Coaches, Thomas and the Emergency Cable, Missing Gator, Spencer's VIP, Long Lost Friend, Last Train for Christmas, Duncan the Humbug, The Perfect Gift and Samson at Your Service
 * Season 19 - Who's Geoffrey?, The Truth About Toby, Lost Property, Henry Spots Trouble, Toad and the Whale, Very Important Sheep, Salty All At Sea, Diesel's Ghostly Christmas, Slow Stephen, Two Wheels Good, The Little Engine Who Raced Ahead, Philip to the Rescue, Thomas the Babysitter, The Other Side of the Mountain, No Help At All, Goodbye Fat Controller and Wild Water Rescue
 * Season 20 - Sidney Sings, Toby's New Friend, Henry Gets the Express, Diesel and the Ducklings, Ryan and Daisy, Pouty James, The Way She Does It, Love Me Tender, The Railcar and the Coaches, All in Vain, Buckled Tracks and Bumpy Trucks, Three Steam Engines Gruff, Engine of the Future, Hugo and the Airship, The Missing Breakdown Train, The Christmas Coffeepot and Over the Hill
 * Season 21 - A Most Singular Engine, Dowager Hatt's Busy Day, P.A. Problems, Hasty Hannah, Cranky at the End of the Line, Unscheduled Stops, Philip's Number, The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor, A Shed for Edward, Terence Breaks the Ice, Confused Coaches and The Big Freeze

Specials:
 * Thomas and the Magic Railroad
 * Calling All Engines! (stock footage)
 * The Great Discovery (music video)
 * Hero of the Rails
 * Misty Island Rescue (mentioned)
 * Day of the Diesels
 * Blue Mountain Mystery
 * King of the Railway
 * Tale of the Brave
 * The Adventure Begins
 * Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure
 * The Great Race
 * Journey Beyond Sodor

The station will appear in either the twenty-second season or Big World! Big Adventures! The Movie. }}

Trivia

 * The name is derived from the parish of Knapwell, where the Rev. W. Awdry was vicar.
 * Knapford has been seen in every season except the fifth (where it was replaced with Kirk Ronan), and every special except The Great Discovery and Misty Island Rescue, although it was mentioned in said special.
 * Knapford and its station has had numerous modifications throughout the years:
 * Season 2:
 * The harbour seen in the background vanished.
 * Thomas and the Magic Railroad:
 * The town beside Knapford was missing and replaced with trees.
 * Season 6:
 * The town beside Knapford returns.
 * Season 17:
 * A duplicate of the bookstall seen behind tracks 3 and 4 has been placed in the car park, making it impossible for a normal-sized car to enter one of the parking spaces.
 * The luggage weight also overlaps part of the car park lines.
 * Season 18:
 * The tracks into Knapford station gain crossovers, and gantries similar to those seen in the first four seasons were added.
 * These redesigns were aided in part by SiF users Simon Martin and Sean O'Connor.
 * The tracks leading out from Platforms 3 and 4 also end at sets of buffers.
 * The Adventure Begins:
 * The station gained a small shunting yard close by, complete with a coal hopper and several sheds and sidings. The station also gains signal gantries and crossovers at the back of it.
 * In The Great Race, a station announcement revealed that a bus service leaves from the front of the station every ten minutes to go to Knapford High Street.

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway (normal, "Sights and Sounds", and Talking versions)
 * Motor Road and Rail (discontinued outside Asia)
 * TrackMaster (discontinued)
 * Take Along (discontinued)
 * Take-n-Play
 * Collectible Railway
 * Adventures
 * LEGO (discontinued)
 * Bachmann
 * Capsule Plarail
 * Pocket Fantasy (discontinued)
 * Thomas Town
 * Thomas Engine Collection Series (with The Breakdown Train; discontinued)
 * Departing Now (discontinued)
 * Thomas Town (discontinued)
 * Choro-Q (as transforming destination)
 * Motorized Railway

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