Marianne the Midland Railway 156

Here's the first new character I made for a series that I'll be working on in January 2013 called "North Western Engines, Long Ago". This is Marianne, no. 158A.

Now for some information about Marianne:

Bio: No. 158A was built at Derby Works in 1866 for the Midland Railway, one of Britain's oldest steam locomotives preserved alongside NER no. 66 "Aerolite". She was rebuilt by Samuel W. Johnson sometime between 1873 and 1903, during this period she was given a name, Marianne, after a workman's wife.

In 1915, Mr. Topham Hatt I (the Fat Director) needed engines from the Midland Railway to help the construction of the mainline from Tidmouth to Vicarstown, and Marianne was chosen along with six other engines (Bridget, Samantha, Alexandra, Geoff, Phillip, and Simon). During her time on the North Western Railway, Marianne gotten into some rivalry with Alexandra the 1000 Class, the latter who believed herself to be the best of the railway, only to have karma haunt Alexandra, who ended up crashing into a siding.

With the arrival of engines like Henry, 98462 and 87546, Marianne and the other Midland engines were no longer required, given a farewell in late 1921. Marianne was one of the twenty-one locomotives of her class to become part of the newly-formed London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923, and she and her brothers and sisters were given the humblest of roles. Her class was recognized for being significant by the LMS, and wanted to preserve her brother Matthew (no. 156), but poor Matthew was condemned for scrap in 1932, leaving Marianne brokenhearted.

But it wasn't the end of the line for Marianne; in 1947, just before British Railways was formed, she was spared from scrap and preserved. The details of her life between 1947 and 2011 are murky, but Marianne is currently a static exhibit at the Midland Railway - Butterley in Derbyshire, yet is property of the National Railway Museum where Thomas visited in 1990.

Personality: Marianne is a very kind motherly figure to the other engines, but she can get a bit impatient with them on occasion. Marianne is somewhat of a mother figure to Thomas, scolding him when the latter misbehaves, but Marianne always thinks of Thomas and Edward as the engines she is the closest to. After her brother Matthew's scrapping in 1932, Marianne became a more remorseful engine, wishing he had been given a second chance at preservation.

Thomas and Friends (C) Hit Entertainment and Mattel
The Railway Series (C) The Awdry Family
Sprite and OC (C) myself