Narrow Gauge Rails in Sodor is a 1972 lecture written by the Rev W. Awdry. The lecture details the histories of the Skarloey, Mid Sodor, Culdee Fell and Arlesdale Railways up to that point.
Revelations[]
- Two War Department Diesels were leased to the Skarloey Railway to supplement Skarloey and Rheneas during the Second World War.
- Prior to the history of Sodor being finalized, King Orry's Bridge was named Crovan's Bridge.
- The Arlesdale Railway built exactly 10 of their hopper wagons.
- Prior to being named and their concepts being finalised:
- Frank - like his basis, Perkins, between 1933 and 1984 - was to have a steam outline shape and be painted green.
- Sigrid of Arlesdale was to have an entirely different basis, the B-B diesel-hydraulic engine Royal Anchor.
- Prior to the railway's history being finalized, the Culdee Fell Railway opened in 1896, the same year as the Snowdon Mountain Railway.
- In 1952-53, the Skarloey Railway bought most of the Mid Sodor Railway's flat-bottomed rail that was still useable from the section between Cas-ny-Hawin and King Orry's Bridge.
Trivia[]
- The Talyllyn Railway is currently in ownership of Awdry's original lecture notes, which are preserved in the Awdry Study at Tywyn Wharf's Narrow Gauge Railway Museum.
- On 24th December 2021, a re-reading of the lecture by Tim Dunn was released via YouTube.