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The Wild Nor' Wester, also known simply as the Express, is an express passenger train. The duty of pulling the train was originally given to Gordon, but after his retirement, it was later passed down to Pip and Emma.
History
The Express was created to provide an express passenger service from London to Sodor. In 1925, following an agreement with the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), locomotive exchanges were moved from Vicarstown to Barrow-in-Furness.
During 1959, a special coach was added to the express that would be detached at Tidmouth for passengers travelling on the Ffarquhar Branch Line.
By 2011, as too much time was being wasted on changing engines at Barrow, Sir Stephen Topham Hatt III purchased Pip and Emma to run the service.
Stops
The Express stops at the following stations:
- St. Pancras
- Barrow-in-Furness
- Vicarstown (formerly)
- Crovan's Gate
- Tidmouth
Rolling Stock
A variety of engines have pulled the Express. Before Pip and Emma took over, Gordon mainly pulled the express, through Henry, James, and Bear would sometimes do it. When Class 40 failed, Stepney and Duck took his place, the latter later helping Thomas and Percy when Henry was ill. Edward also helped Henry pull the express when Gordon burst his safety valve.
Locomotives
Coaches
Appearances
Trivia
- On Wilbert Awdry's Tidmouth - Knapford layout, the Express consisted of four corridor coaches: three in the Great Western Railway chocolate and cream livery and one in the LMS maroon livery.
- These coaches were also shared with the Sudrian, with one side of the consist being painted in the livery of the Express and the other in the livery of the Sudrian.
- The Express is loosely named after the North Western Railway.
- In The Railway Series version of Bowled Out, the Express is stated to consist of fifteen coaches. This number, however, is not always consistent.
- In The Missing Coach, it is stated the Express returns daily to Tidmouth at 3:30 in the afternoon.
- The route of the Wild Nor' Wester after Barrow-in-Furness is not specified, however in Gordon Goes Foreign, the Wild Nor' Wester terminates at St. Pancras. Additionally, The Island of Sodor: It's People, History, and Railways mentions that the North Western Railway borrowed engines and rolling stock from the Midland Railway. From this it can be concluded that the Wild Nor' Wester takes a path through Leeds southward along the Midland Railway, rather than down the West Coast Main Line into Euston.
| Locomotives | Steam | Henry | Gordon | James | Donald and Douglas |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | BoCo | Bear | The Works Diesel | Pip and Emma | |
| Former | Edward | |
| Rolling Stock | Passenger | Orange-Brown Corridor Coaches | Orange-Brown Non-Corridor Coaches | Red Express Coaches |
| Former | The Spiteful Brake Van | |
| Trains | Passenger | The Wild Nor' Wester | The Sudrian | The Limited | The Barrow-Tidmouth Semi-Fast | The Main Line Push-Pull |
| Goods | The Flying Kipper | The Morning Milk | The Midnight Goods | |
| Infrastructure | Stations | Tidmouth | Knapford | Crosby | Wellsworth | Maron | Cronk | Killdane | Kellsthorpe Road | Crovan's Gate | Vicarstown | Barrow-in-Furness |
| Sheds | Tidmouth Sheds | Vicarstown Sheds | |
| Tunnels and Bridges | Tidmouth Tunnel | Knapford Harbour Bridges | Crosby Tunnel | The Viaduct | Balladrine Bridge | Ballahoo Bridge | Henry's Tunnel | Vicarstown Bridge |