Vicarstown, often misspelt Vickerstown, is a small town on the eastern side of Sodor.
History
The monkish chronicler, Arnold of Cronk, recorded that when in 1150 Cronk Abbey was founded as a daughter house of Furness Abbey, the Abbot of Furness asked for a grant of land on which his Agent or Vicar could build a residence. King Ogmund, suspecting that this might lead to English infiltration, would only grant him land for a house here; hence the place’s name. A town eventually sprung up around the Vicar's house.
The North Western Railway built their main Motive Power Depot and Administrative Headquarters here in 1915, but after a 1925 agreement with the LMS Railway to allow NWR trains to travel across the bridge to Barrow-in-Furness there was no further use required. A smaller replacement station and shed was built for the engines operating the car ferry service in 1927/8, and the turntable was taken up and installed at Barrow, while the headquarters moved to the other end of the main line at Tidmouth.
It has appeared in the Railway Series books Thomas the Tank Engine, Gordon the High-Speed Engine and Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines.
In the television series, Vicarstown was mentioned semi-regularly since the seventeenth season. The town and station finally appeared in the television series for the first time in The Great Race and the station is situated on a viaduct. There appears to be a electric tramway running along the roads underneath the viaduct. A cathedral is also located in the town, near the station. Vicarstown Sheds are a roundhouse with a turntable at the front and five berths for the engines. The Vicarstown Goods Depot, Dieselworks, Rolling Bridge and a Viaduct are also located here.
Trivia
- In The Railway Series, Thomas worked at this station as a pilot engine before working on his branch line (alternatively, Thomas worked as a pilot at Knapford in the television series).
- The name comes from the Reverend W. Awdry's time as an Anglican priest, and on maps of Sodor it replaces the real Vickerstown, a suburb of Barrow situated on the Isle of Walney.
- In The Great Race, many of the houses and or buildings seem to be duplicated from other towns.
Merchandise
Gallery
Merchandise Gallery
