The North Western Main Line travels from Barrow-in-Furness westward to Tidmouth via Sodor's southern coast. It is approximately 87 miles long.
Route[]
Starting from Barrow-in-Furness on the Mainland, the Main Line crosses over the rolling lift bridge across the Walney Channel and calls at Vicarstown before passing through Henry's Tunnel.
After passing the junction to the Norramby Branch Line and crossing the River Hoo, the line calls at Crovan's Gate, home to the Works and the transfer station for the Skarloey Railway.
The line then crosses the old tracks of "The Railroad" and Ben Glas (RWS) via two bridges. After this, it continues south-west through the cutting where Henry was rescued from a snowdrift by Donald and Douglas and past the spot where James' train brakes were mended with bootlaces to Kellsthorpe Road, which is the junction station for the branch line to Kirk Ronan. The line continues westward before turning north-west, passing the stretch of line where Toby ran out of water and over the bridge spanning the Hawin Russagh where Henry and Gordon encountered a stray cow before reaching Killdane, the junction to the Peel Godred Branch Line.
Cronk is next, and once leaving the station, trains cross a viaduct, and then arrive at Maron. Trains then descend Gordon's Hill and pass Suddery Junction, where trains enroute to Brendam leave the Main Line, before reaching Wellsworth, the junction station for Edward's Branch Line.
Leaving Wellsworth, the line passes cow fields, where James had an accident on his first day with some runaway trucks and where half of Edward's cattle train was broken by some cows. Trains then arrive at Crosby, where Duck once crashed into a barbershop, propelled by the runaway goods train.
After leaving Crosby, trains later pass through a mile-long tunnel and then stop at Knapford, the junction to Thomas' Branch Line. Passing through another tunnel, the main line terminates at Tidmouth, home to the headquarters of the North Western Railway and the main line sheds. The station is also the junction to Duck's Branch Line, which travels up the western coast to Arlesburgh West.
Operations[]
The main line carries several kinds of freight, including ballast, lead, zinc, silver, slate, bauxite, produce, building stones, milk and fish, including the Tidmouth Kipper, which is considered a delicacy. Tourism is a major part of the passenger traffic during the summer season, as Sodor has many beautiful lakes, mountains, and other beautiful scenery. The main passenger traffic is commuting, which consists of stopping trains while others consist of push-pull services and semi-fast services - many of which terminate at Cronk whilst semi-fast trains terminate at Barrow and Tidmouth, - or the railway's non-stop express trains, "The Wild Nor' Wester" and "The Sudrian" which go directly from Barrow to Tidmouth and vice-versa.
Locomotives[]
(Note: this list does not include shunters and station pilots for stations such as Tidmouth and Vicarstown or maintenance of way equipment such as the Sodor Chain Load Undercut)
Current[]
Occasion[]
Former[]
Rolling Stock[]
(Note: this list does not include maintenance of way equipment such as the Breakdown Train)
Current[]
Former[]
| 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 |