The Raji-Verse: Wellsworth & Suddery Railway (W&S)

History of the Wellsworth & Suddery Railway

Seeing the success of the Ballohoo & Kirk Ronan Railway on the eastern side of the island, the towns of Wellsworth and Suddery came together in 1876 to form a new railway line between the two towns, as well as plans to link up the towns on the rest of the peninsula. Construction would begin in June of the same year, and would finish by October 1879. For this, the railway bought two Manning Wardle Q Class 0-6-0 tank engines to help build and later run the line. No. 1 was named Walter, while No. 2 was named Winnie. The two would get on with their work, happily (or grumpily in Walter's case) work on the line during these early years.

Due to complications with debris from the Suddery Castle in the bay creating a bar which blocked shipping, and the cost of dredging the harbor becoming higher and higher, the Wellsworth & Suddery decided to enact upon expanding the railway to Brendam in hopes of building a much better harbor at the seaside village, while also establishing a logging company between Suddery and Brendam, all being completed around 1885. In order to run this expansion much more efficiently, four more engines were brought on to meet the demand. No. 3 and No. 4 would be two Manning Wardle L Class 0-6-0 tank engines similar to the previous two engines. Their names were Billy and Charlie respectively and get along rather nicely with their other siblings. The fifth engine brought in to work the logging camp, No. 5, was a engine brought over from the United States named Ferdinand, and was a Shay Locomotive Class C B-B-B. With a quick regauge from a 3 foot 6-inch gauge to the standard gauge, this odd engine was set to work on the newly formed Lower Suddery Logging Co, and was said to be a joyful engine, and got well on with his British colleagues.

In 1887, an express service between Wellsworth and Brendam was proposed, as a shipping company proposed a boat train service for a ferry service to the Isle of Man, which the W&S happily agreed to, bringing in the W&S' sixth engine. This engine was a London and South Western Railway Class T3 4-4-0 named Horwich and proved to be a rather snobbish engine upon first impression but was later found to be a cover for a rather insecure self-esteem. After a few dozen runs with the express, as well as support from his fellow colleagues, Horwich would prove to be just the ticket for the W&S and its services.

All these good things would be shattered in May 1901, when No. 3 Billy fell into the ocean while trying to collect trucks from the old Suddery Harbor when the pier gave way under his weight. Billy was presumed lost when search efforts in the waters couldn't find him. His twin, Charlie, was devastated by the news and was heartbroken by this. That was until No.3 was discovered all the way down in Brendam when they were dredging the docks, revealing the engine buried in the silt. Somehow, the No. 3 tank engine wound up in the harbor after being swept away from Suddery by the current. He was immediately sent back to his builder at Manning Wardle & Co for a restoration and overhaul and was put back into service as soon as he was shipped back. Aside from a bridge collapse previously in 1889 due to floodwaters, this is the only other major incident to occur on the railway.

It was said that surveyors have poked around the foothills of Brendam, which had revealed clay beds, although it was seemingly never followed up on.

The railway did well for the next few years, continuing to serve the towns along the Brendam peninsula, until an event in 1907 would shatter this, along with the rest of the island. On the 28th of May, a terrible collision would happen over on the nearby Elsbridge, Tidmouth, and Knapford Railway, nearly devastating the companies reputation and career. For a while, the W&S had thoughts of working with the ET&K to form a connected railway to the nearby town of Cronk to make one big rail network, but with the rapidly failing of that particular railway, the W&S decided to outright buy the railway and merge it with their own in 1909. This didn't matter as much when the government forced the three railways to merge and become the North Western Railway in 1911.

And that's the history of the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway! Not much that's different compared to the history of the canon railway, but it's something. Also, I've finally come up with a way to write out the NWR history. First, i'll start with a history of the railway between 1911, and the beginning of WWII, and then write about the other two narrow gauge railways on the island, though they'll be in parts like the NWR history as they're obviously loaded with tons of lore. Until then, see ya!