The Other Railway
In the children's books The Railway Series, by the Rev. W. Awdry, The Other Railway refers to British Railways, the UK nationalised rail organisation that existed from 1948 until 1997. Several of the characters in the books have visited the Other Railway or used it to travel from place to place. Many of the Fat Controller's engines came from the Other Railway originally. There have been several visitors from the Other Railway.
Although the fictional North Western Railway or Fat Controller's Railway was part of the nationalised railway network it kept most of its operating independence from British Railways on the mainland, and escaped the Beeching cuts in the 1960s. The NWR and the Other Railway meet at Barrow-in-Furness and the fictional Island of Sodor is connected to the mainland by a rolling lift bridge between Barrow and Vicarstown.
Locomotives
The locomotives that have been featured in The Railway Series are detailed below, although others have been seen in various illustrations.The Foreign Engine/The Big City Engine
The Foreign Engine, also known as The Big City Engine, appears in the story 'Gordon Goes Foreign' in The Eight Famous Engines in which he debates with Gordon and Duck over the name of the terminus station in London. Gordon claims the station is King's Cross, Duck claims it is Paddington and the Foreign Engine claims it is Euston.The Foreign Engine is a former London Midland and Scottish Railway locomotive used mainly on the Euston–Glasgow route. He is portrayed in the standard British Railways express passenger locomotive livery of lined green.
The locomotive is not named in his one appearance. The name "The Foreign Engine" is derived from the fact that in the Railway Series, engines not from the Island of Sodor are described as "foreign". The name "The Big City Engine" was applied by Learning Curve when they produced the character for their range of wooden toys.
Diesel
Little Diesel the English Electric/Class 08 was the first diesel engine to arrive on the Island of Sodor. He visited on a trial from The Other Railway in the book Duck and the Diesel Engine. He is painted in all-over plain black livery.Diesel is the Railway Series' first real villain. He was supposed to help Duck with his shunting, but after humiliating himself in front of the trucks, he spread such mean-spirited rumours about Duck to the other engines that the Fat Controller was compelled to send him away, though Duck being sent away was part of a plan by the Fat Controller, who never trusted Diesel.
Diesel made a brief return in the one-off story Thomas and the Evil Diesel, where he showed that perhaps he did have a good streak buried somewhere deep inside. One of Diesel's brothers appeared in one of the illustrations for Thomas and the Great Railway Show helping to shunt Thomas onto a lorry.
The Diesel/Diesel 261/Class 40
The Big Diesel/Diesel 261/Diesel 4711/Class 40 came to Sodor to help out whilst Stepney was on the railway. He did not make a good impression on his arrival, as he told the engines that they should be scrapped and replaced by diesels like him. He soon got his comeuppance when he accidentally sucked a Railway Inspector’s bowler hat into his air intake during a maintenance check, causing him to break down as soon as he started moving towards the train he was supposed to take. He left soon afterwards, saying goodbye to no-one. He also had a cameo appearance in the television series episode "Rusty to the Rescue".His Railway Series number is entirely fictional and does not correspond to the numbering sequences used for any class of diesel locomotive on British Railways. The television series used the number D261, which would have been correct for a Class 40. It is said that his real number was D261 in The Railway Series also.
He made his one and only appearance in Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine. In that story, he was referred to as Diesel, but the television series revised his name to "Class 40" to avoid confusion with an earlier character by it.
D199/"Spamcan"
D199/"Spamcan"/"Old Reliable" is a Diesel engine who only appeared in the book Enterprising Engines.He visited Sodor on a trial with D7101 and talked about taking over the railway. He and Bear argued, and the other engines took an instant dislike to D199. One afternoon, Henry the Green Engine found D199 moaning near a signal box because he had engine trouble and the signalman called him "Spamcan". Henry rescued both the engine and his train, and D199 was soon sent away in disgrace by the Fat Controller. D199 was returned to the British Rail allocations department in London. D199 is based on a British Rail Class 46 diesel-electric locomotive. The number D199 is fictionial, but would've been real if another six were built as they went from D138 to D193.
Although he does not appear in the television series, D199 also appears in the magazine story Diesel Day!, which was published on 16 May 2001.
D7101/Bear
Old Stuck-Up
Whistler Old Stuck-Up is a class 40 diesel who once visited the island. He possibly arrived in 1981 or under, if he's the same diesel as 40125. When he arrived after being shown around by BoCo, he was disgusted to see steam engines in the shed and showed his disdain by calling them "Dirty, Smoky, Slow Things," and causing trouble. In return, the steam engines gave him his unflattering nickname. In the end, as Henry put it, "Old Stuck-Up came unstuck" when he slipped on a patch of oil left by BoCo and Bear and crashed through the back wall of the engine shed. He was sent home soon after having a stern talking to by the Fat Controller, never to disturb the steam engines again. Unlike most diesels in the Railway Series, Old Stuck-Up's number wasn't fictional. The real 40125 was built in December 1960 as D325 and was the first member of the class built with "split" headcode boxes. It was withdrawn from service in May 1981 and scrapped at Swindon Works in December 1983.Old Stuck-Up only appeared in one story, "Old Stuck-Up", in the book James and the Diesel Engines.
The "Works Diesel"
The "Works Diesel" is an unnamed character who once rescued James after a breakdown, and single-handedly changed James' opinion on diesels. He is a friendly sort who lives at Crovan's Gate and works odd jobs around the railway. His first appearance was in James and the Diesel Engines, with his next confirmed one in Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree as the engine who collected the tree from The Other Railway. He also makes a cameo in Henry and the Express, at Barrow. At first it was unclear if they were one and the same, but Christopher Awdry revealed that the diesel seen in all three books is the "Works Diesel".He is loaned from British Rail. It is suggested in James and the Diesel Engines that he is one of a number of new diesels on the railway.
The "Works Diesel" is a reader-applied name; he carries no identifying number and is unnamed throughout the stories.
Pip and Emma
On television
In the television series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, "the Other Railway" is a term used for the railway lines serving the Sodor Ironworks and the China Clay Quarry. It was here that Rusty the Diesel rescued Stepney from being broken up for scrap, as did Douglas with Oliver the Western Engine. It is described as "a faraway part of the Island where only the diesels work". These days, 'Arry and Bert, the ironworks diesels, work around there. Its scrapyard has been seen in seasons 6-7 known as the Smelters Yard.Merchandising
Despite having never appeared in the Thomas & Friends television series, the characters Bear and the Big City Engine have nevertheless been included in commercial merchandising lines based on the series, alongside other Railway characters. In the case of the Big City Engine, the character was not known by this name until Learning Curve released the model in their wooden railway range.| Model range | Type | Characters |
| Ertl | die-cast metal | Diesel, The Diesel, D199, Bear/D7101 |
| Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway | wood | Diesel, The Diesel, D199, The Big City Engine |
| Hornby | electric OO gauge models | Diesel, The Diesel, Bear/D7101 |
| Bachmann | electric HO gauge models | Diesel |
| Take Along | die-cast | Diesel, D199 |
| Take 'n' Play | die-cast | Diesel, D199, The Diesel, The Big City Engine |