Sorry for how long I took to answer this ask! I was on holidays in Far North Queensland to be with family - and yes, I am adding a picture cause *Cane Trains!*

To answer your question, I would say unfortunately not. The only preserved line along the old Furness Railway is the The Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway, which is a heritage railway built along a former branchline of the Furness Railway - however there is a problem with connecting it to the Furness mainline and the NWR.

It's called the A590, which uses part of the trackbed of the former branchline between Haverthwaite and Plumpton Junction.

The A590 sort of blocks all plans to extend the heritage railway to rejoin the mainline, an issue which came up when they were first purchasing the line in the 1960s. Unfortunately, the road makes it rather difficult to rebuild the line and connect the two - however, it is likely that the NWR would have trains that run to the nearest mainline station (Ulverston) and would advertise taking a trip down on a shuttle bus. Might be a nice retirement option for Bertie!

Thank you for your ask!

Goodness, that's going way back!

Mid Sodor Engines is one of those fics that is stuck waiting for me to find time to write the instalment in the series that precedes it - and you're partly right! It will have Tim and Jim in it, but no Albert. Albert's got plenty of fics about him, and I'd like to do something different.

Mid Sodor Engines probably would also have a Stuart and Falcon story, and of course Duke would be there too. But until then, you'll just have to wait and see!

Karmagisa Fanfic

Yeah, I'm back - and with a Karma/Nagisa fic (the link is here). Wow, it's been a while. Hopefully I manage to finish something else before Christmas!

Go give it a read!

Thank you for your ask!

So, in the story "Construction" from Neil the Boxy Engine, I mentioned that Matthew was initially bought by the Sodor China Clay Works, before being shipped 'to some nation in the Tropics'. That nation was actually Venezuela - Matthew arrived in 1947 and worked in Venezuela until some time in the 1980s, when political uprest led to his destruction and scrapping.

As for the other pre-NWR engines? Well, many of them were scrapped during World War II for their scrap metal, which was needed for the war effort (this was done under Sir Topham Hatt I's nose, and he was pretty furious when he found out, but was unable to do anything.) However, some had more interesting lives:

TK&ER Coffee Pot 3 was sent to Belgium in WWI as a shunter to supply the trenches of the Western Front. He was quite successful in this, and became famous after he helped save a town from a German attack in 1917. For his bravery, he was given the name Lennart and after the war, he was preserved. He is currently at the Musée du chemin de fer à vapeur, Treignes in Belgium.

W&S Manning Wardel 1 worked on Sodor until WWII, when he was sold to the Iraq State Railways and loaded onto a ship bound for the Middle Eastern Nation. Unfortunately, the ship was torpedoed while traversing the Mediterranean Sea and the engine was lost at sea. His sibling, W&S Manning Wardel 2 was shipped to Northern Queensland in 1931 during the Great Depression, having been sold to Queensland Railways. They were converted to 3ft 6in gauge in Cairns, and worked as a shunter around Northern Queensland until the 1950s, when they were converted to a stationary boiler and later scrapped.

Finally, there was W&S Number 4. Number 4 was an LB&SCR E4 class (hence the similarities to the E2 class) and was purchased new in 1898. The engine was quiet, and a hard worker, and worked well on the line until the Viaduct between Maron and Cronk was constructed. They began to act... different, more contemplative than quiet. It's unknown what happened to cause the accident (and subsequent death) of W&S 4 - however, one cold Autumn evening, the engine plunged into the ravine with a passenger train. They were destroyed upon impact.

I know that might be a bit more of an answer than you were expecting, but your question really got me thinking! Thank you again!

Congratulations! Ao3 is one of the best bastions for modern fanfic, and the number of absolutely incredible fics you'll now have access to now you have an account is beyond anything!

Are you keeping American Mogul for your username, cause it's a good username!

Unfortunately not, but a great guess! No, I've made enough appearances in the series already (though I might drop myself in now cause of this ask XD)

Good ask!

I don't think their name has popped up, but their company has a lot - after all, Sodor wouldn't be half as safe without what they've installed on the NWR!

I must say, time is running out XD

My suggestion is to look for the railway I keep mentioning that isn't on Sodor (or the UK)

These guesses are getting closer, but still not quite! It's not Richard Hatt, nor the female military officer.

Oh, and don't think that I didn't notice your little 'slip up' XD

Is this peak fanfiction author? To have your OC shipped with a canon character? I think it might be, but then again I'm not sure. That's a question only the fanfiction gods can answer.

I haven't watched that series yet - I'll have to go check it out! (Is that the one that looks a bit like Simon A.C. Martin's British Railway Stories?). As for your guess, sorry - but it's not an inspection car.

I'd also love to know who said that the special guest was an engine. I was pretty vague about our mystery guest (who is now on Sodor!). It'll be interesting to see what people come up with before I upload Chapter 4 tomorrow!

Good guess, but unfortunately not! I'll admit, I'm surprised he's your first guess - of all the engines, people and vehicles that have snuck into the series, I did not peg Thorkell as the one people remembered best.

The ERS has a New Instalment:

This makes Part 53 of this surprisingly long fic series, as well as one of those fics that I hope will intrigue people! If you're up for it, the link is here, so you can go and read it on Ao3.

And this time round, there's a very special guest star - if anyone guesses who it is before I release Chapter 4, I will open up my askbox to prompts for a week - which means you can drop fic ideas and I will write them!

That feels like something dangerous to offer, but I have already done it. Good luck!

It's Been A While, But I Wrote a Saiki K Fic:

What it says on the tin - I wrote a oneshot Saiki K fic, and it's up on Ao3 now! Go read it here. It's Saiki Kusuo x Saiko Metori, because that is the ship I seem to gravitate towards with this fandom (despite really liking Aren x Kaidou...)

Sorry it took me a hot minute to answer (I got sick) - but let's dive in!

Ok - Catherine and Culdee are the very definition of an adorable old married couple, perhaps even moreso than Toby and Henrietta. They *need* each other - and Catherine gets jealous when Culdee takes the Truck out. Likewise, while some of the engines just take whichever coach out, Culdee has specifically requested Catherine be taken off the rotation roster (especially after the Lord Harry era). They are absolutely adorable together, but they can have a... possessive streak.

It comes from the codependency.

(They legit need each other... to survive Culdee Fell.)

At the opposite end of the adorable old married couple is Toby and Henrietta. These two actually recently made history when they became the first two (to steal the term) non-faceless vehicles to marry. Ever. Previous to this, there had been a lot of legal battles and red tape and a whole heap of "they can't marry, they're machines" which the pair fought through... since the 1920's. (Culdee and Catherine legit married the next day, and are still jealous that Toby and Henrietta got hitched first).

Furthermore, Henrietta and Toby adopted Mavis in the early 70s the moment she stopped actively ignoring their advice. It is entirely thanks to Henrietta that Mavis asked Daisy out.

(Toby continues to enjoy watching his wife verbally beat other men into dust.)

Speaking of, Mavis and Daisy really are the very essence of disaster lesbians. There is no understating how ridiculous this pair can be - see the fact that Mavis spent nearly a full decade with her jaw hitting her bufferbeam every time Daisy entered the yards. And to make matters worse, Daisy had no clue! She thought (wrongly) that Mavis had a thing for Toby... which she vehemently objected to because - and I quote - "Toby is too old for such a powerful, commanding woman." Somehow, Daisy also missed the part where she liked said 'powerful, commanding woman'. Cue Daisy trying to flirt with a very uncomfortable BoCo every time he visited the junction while Mavis tried to get her driver to send... 'messages' to BoCo.

The only engine who enjoyed this absolute anime-plotline of a romance was Toby, who revels in chaos.

(Annie is pretending not to listen in on this gossip - but she's totally listening in on these two disasters.)

From disasters to functional beings - Duncan and Rusty continue to hold the title of 'most functional Sodor couple'. And for good reason! After Duncan got over his preconceptions about diesels, he was very blunt about his new feelings for the little diesel. And remember, Duncan is a mix of rock-star, factory worker and punk. So he manages to seem wild and abrasive to everyone who hasn't seen how devoted he is to his little diesel.

Rusty, being cool and calm and petty, loves to rub their relationship in Rheneas' face - because Rheneas can't do the same thing Duncan did and ask Duke out. Because Rusty is petty, let's not be mistaken - that little diesel was happy to let Duncan just sit off the rails because he was rude. Rusty is kind and helpful - but will also sit back and let you suffer from some Sodor Karma.

(This is why I say Duncan confessed - Rusty is gazing off into the sunset, but Duncan only has eyes for Rusty.)

Speaking of poor Rheneas - I've already given him a full post dedicated to the wild ride that was his courting of Duke - but I managed to miss the small detail of Duke adopting Spencer (see ERS for details). And that leads to a whole new realm of disaster for this poor engine. He gets Peter Sam on side, he gets Sir Handel to begrudgingly admit he's... decent enough... for his Granpuff - heck, he even manages to get Skarloey to stop laughing for long enough to wish him luck! He even manages to get some good advice on asking Duke out from Rusty and Duncan! And then.... AND THEN...

Spencer grabs Duke and whisks him away. Away? Away away - to the Boxford Estate. Spencer is not a 'good' engine, and he literally resorts to kidnapping Duke like the old engine is suddenly Rapunzel (Duke has feelings about this). In response, Rheneas had to get out 'The Truck' and make his way across the Island to save Duke... who had already hitched a ride out of there with Edward and was having tea and biscuits while laughing about their respective prospective red disaster boyfriends.

(Genderbent Elizabeth and Thomas enjoy watching Rheneas watch Duke get mended...)

I think that's all from me for now - no Percy x Diesel 10 shenanigans this time, but if someone asks for them, I will bring them. Until then, I'm going to take a heap of antibiotics and try to sleep off this illness some more.

Ok - let's give some answers! (Do these count as answers?)

Thank you!

Arry is getting a Fic

ERS Fic 52 - Iron 'Arry the Churlish Engine is now being uploaded to Ao3! You can use the link here, and I hope you enjoy reading!

And yes, I'm just as surprised as you are that the churlish little diesel did enough worth of note that it was worth writing a fic about it.