Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice

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This article is about Ruth from the Railway Series. You may be looking for the television series character.

Agnes
Ruth
Lucy
Jemima
Beatrice
Background Information
First appearance	Four Little Engines (RWS)
Last appearance	New Little Engine (RWS)
Creator(s)	Rev. W. Awdry
Overview
Name	Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice
Nicknames	Cattle Trucks (by Sir Handel)
Gender	Females
Country	Island of Sodor England (formerly)
Affiliation	Skarloey Railway Skarloey Rheneas Sir Handel Peter Sam Duncan
Technical Details
Basis	Talyllyn Railway coaches Nos. 1 - 5
Gauge	2'3" (686 mm, narrow gauge)
Vehicle	Rolling stock
Type	Coaches (Agnes, Ruth, Lucy and Jemima) Guard's van (Beatrice)
Wheels	4 each
Designer(s)	Brown, Marshalls and Co. Ltd. (Agnes, Ruth, Jemima and Beatrice) Lancaster Wagon Co. (Lucy)
Builder(s)	Britannia Works
Year built	1865
Arrived on Sodor	1865
Number	SR 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
Railway	Skarloey Railway
Owner(s)	The Owner (RWS)

Agnes, Ruth, Lucy and Jemima are the oldest coaches on the Skarloey Railway, whilst Beatrice is their guard's van.

Biography

The Railway Series

The coaches have been part of the Skarloey Railway since the beginning of its history. When Skarloey took them out for the first time as part of the directors' train, Agnes was very suspicious and warned the other coaches to "be on their guard". She warned Skarloey that they would keep a sharp eye on him, but after Skarloey began to bounce when Mr Mack shut his regulator too quickly, they thought he bumped them on purpose and bumped him back, causing Mr Mack to fall into a set of bushes. He was so cross that he rode in Beatrice for the rest of the journey. However, when Skarloey was given a pair of trailing wheels and a cab, the coaches, even Agnes, could not help but feel impressed by it.

When the railway was facing hard times, the coaches were sometimes so full that passengers had to travel in Beatrice and third-class passengers were allowed to travel in Agnes, to the latter's ire, on occasions, particularly on Market Days.

In 1952, when Sir Handel and Peter Sam came to the Skarloey Railway, they immediately began to dislike Sir Handel for calling them "cattle trucks", so they decided to seek revenge by holding him back on the hill. When Peter Sam had to take the coaches out, they preferred him over Sir Handel, given his good nature, despite a small incident where they told him that he left the Refreshment Lady behind after Henry jokingly threatened to leave their passengers behind. They still held a grudge against Sir Handel when he had to take them out for Market Day and when Sir Handel had to stop for sheep that strayed onto the line, the coaches thought he bumped them on purpose and derailed him by bumping him onto a set of points. Skarloey was the only engine left and he scolded the coaches severely for their bad behaviour and warned them not to play tricks on him. They were left feeling ashamed of themselves. Since then, especially after Skarloey went away to be mended, they never play tricks on Sir Handel that involve derailing him and they all got along with him. Despite this, they can still be awkward on occasions and act in a way that only Skarloey and Rheneas know how to handle.

Early in the summer of 1982, the railway had so many visitors that there was not enough room in the four coaches to carry all the passengers, so some had to travel in Beatrice. When they reached Rheneas, the guard had to check the passengers' tickets, which made Sir Handel impatient. When the guard had finished and blown his whistle, he tried to climb into Beatrice but some passengers blocked the entrance and Sir Handel set off without him. Beatrice tried to stop but was unable to on her own, but a passenger had pressed a buzzer inside her which sounded an alarm in Sir Handel's cab, which alerted his crew to the problem and made them stop Sir Handel and pick up the guard.

Personalities

The coaches like all the engines, Sir Handel least of all for referring to them as "cattle trucks". They were also mistrustful of Skarloey at first for being bouncy. On the contrary, they took to Peter Sam right away, and he even called them his 'dears' whenever he took them out.

Agnes is a deep-voiced and proud first-class carriage who looks down on the others, who are third-class. Agnes appears to be the leader of the five. All four coaches look down on Beatrice and claim that she "smells of fish and cheese". Beatrice is, however, very useful. She has a ticket booth and an emergency buzzer and sometimes even carries passengers when the coaches are full. Jemima is somewhat deaf.

The coaches are genuinely nice and quiet like many other coaches but can be rude and pushy if an engine does not treat them properly. They can occasionally be silly and awkward and play tricks on the engines by pushing them down a hill without thinking about what they are doing, something that Sir Handel and Duncan struggle with. However, Skarloey and Rheneas, given their many years of experience, always know when to be stern with them when they misbehave and put them in their place.

Technical Details

Basis

Agnes, Ruth, Lucy and Jemima are based on the Talyllyn Railway's first four coaches, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 while Beatrice is based on the Talyllyn Railway's first guard's van, No. 5. Rolling stock Nos. 1, 2, 3 and No. 5 were built by Brown, Marshalls and Co. Ltd. in 1866, while No. 4 (also known as "Lulu") was built by the Lancaster Wagon Co. in 1867 and is to a different design.

Agnes is based on the first-class No. 1, while Ruth and Jemima are No. 2 and No. 3 respectively, with Beatrice being guard's van No. 5 and Lucy being No. 4. Although Agnes is misidentified as Coach No. 4 in Sodor: Reading Between the Lines, Wilbert Awdry's own writings state that Lucy is Coach No. 4, which is confirmed by her arriving later than Agnes, Ruth and Jemima in Bucking Bronco.

Agnes, Ruth and Jemima's basis

Lucy's basis

Beatrice's basis

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Livery

Agnes, Ruth, Lucy and Jemima are painted blue with cream window surrounds. Their company's name, Skarloey Railway, is painted under their windows in dark blue (only appears in Four Little Engines), and their numbers 1 (Agnes), 2 (Ruth) and 3 (Lucy and Jemima) are painted on their doors in gold, indicating each coach's class. Beatrice is painted entirely blue.

Appearances

The Railway Series Four Little Engines - Skarloey Remembers, Sir Handel, Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady and Old Faithful The Eight Famous Engines - Double Header (Beatrice only, cameo) The Little Old Engine - Home at Last (Beatrice appears; does not speak), Rock 'n' Roll (do not speak) and Little Old Twins (do not speak) Gallant Old Engine - Special Funnel (cameo), Passengers and Polish (do not speak) and Gallant Old Engine (Beatrice appears; does not speak) Mountain Engines - Mountain Engine (mentioned) Very Old Engines - Bucking Bronco, Stick-in-the-Mud (do not speak) and Duck and Dukes (do not speak) Great Little Engines - Patience is a Virtue (do not speak), Peter Sam and the Prickly Problem (cameo) and Pop-Special (do not speak) Companion volumes 1970 - Twelve Happy Engines (one makes a cameo) 1972 - The Railway Series: Surprise Packet (do not speak) 1976 - Famous Engines 1979 - Annual 1980 - Annual 1987 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (mentioned) 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines (mentioned) 2007 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection (do not speak)

Books 1993 - Colouring Book (one makes a cameo) 1996 - Bumper Colouring Book (cameo) 2003 - Skarloey 2004 - Sir Handel and Duncan 2005 - Peter Sam and Diesel (poster cameos) 2006 - Rheneas (two make cameos) 2011 - Diesel the Mean Engine (poster cameos), Duncan the Stubborn Engine, Peter Sam the Friendly Engine, Rheneas the Brave Engine (two make cameos), Sir Handel the Wise Old Engine and Skarloey the Strong Engine 2015 - Sir Handel Learns a Lesson Magazines They have appeared in the 2004 De Agostini magazine, Issue 42: By the River. Annual Stories 1985 - Whistle Trouble (one makes a cameo) Documentaries 2005 - Hashire! The "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends" Steam Locomotive is Alive! (cameo) These coaches never appeared in the television series, however other coaches which share their basis do appear.

Trivia

• In the fourth illustration of "Old Faithful", Skarloey is shown pulling five coaches instead of the usual four.
• Their models built by the Rev W. Awdry are now on display at a Narrow Gauge Museum in Tywyn, Wales.
• The coaches were featured on the 1986 single cover of Oh L'amour, a song by English synthpop duo Erasure. They were incorrectly painted dark green with cream windows and Beatrice was portrayed as a coach rather than a guard's van.
• In the early drafts of the history of the Skarloey Railway, Sir Handel Brown (then named Smith) was said to have five daughters, Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Hilda and Beatrice. Their names would be used for the Skarloey Railway Coaches, with the exception of Jemima who took the place of Hilda.
• Ruth shares her name with Hilary Fortnam's granddaughter. Fortnam was the youngest daughter of The Railway Series creator Wilbert Awdry.

References

Skarloey Railway

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* RWS only | ** T&F only