Ffarquhar

Ffarquhar is a fictional town or village on the equally fictional Island of Sodor in the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends children's TV series and in The Railway Series books on which the TV series was based.

The station at Ffarquhar has one platform and a single passenger track, as well as a goods-only line connecting the station to the nearby stone quarry at Anopha. This line was originally used by small locomotives, but after an incident involving an over-zealous policeman, is now exclusively used by Toby and Mavis, who are both fitted with cowcatchers and sideplates in accordance with the bylaws of the Tramways Act. One exception to this rule was when Percy brought a stone train down from Anopha, which ended in disaster when he lost control of his trucks.

The passenger line, usually known as "Thomas' branch line" runs from Knapford then through Elsbridge and terminates at Ffarquhar. In the books some trains are seen to commence at Tidmouth or "The Big Station" as it is usually known. The line runs past fields and goes into the countryside, through a tunnel and over a viaduct with a river next to it.

Thomas shares the line with Percy the Small Engine, Toby the Tram Engine, Daisy the Diesel Rail-Car and Mavis the Quarry Diesel. Bertie the Bus lives in the town and sees Thomas nearly every day and Terence the Tractor works nearby.

According to the "research" by the Rev W. Awdry into the history of Sodor, the Ffarquhar line (or Thomas' branch line) originated as the Tidmouth, Knapford & Elsbridge Railway or Tramway. The North Western Railway extended the line to Ffarquhar around 1925 but originally planned to build it as far as Ulfstead, a slightly larger town a few miles to the east.

Ffarquhar was introduced in Season 1 of the TV Series but does not appear much in newer series. In Season 5, Thomas pronounces the name of the station as "F'farkwah", incorrectly pronouncing the double-F.

Origins

The town of Ffarquhar or Ffarquar, with its Welsh-sounding double-F, actually predates Sodor. The name was originally devised by Rev. W. Awdry and his brother George as the name of a model railway, and is taken from "far away quarry". It is appropriate that this name should find its way to its Sodor location, as the quarry is located at the far end of Thomas' branch.

Ffarquhar was also the name of a popular model railway built by Rev. W. Awdry based upon Thomas' branch line. The layout is preserved at the Talyllyn Railway.