Samuel

Samuel is a fowler tender engine

Bio
Built at Derby in 1908, Simon was one of the final engines of his class to be built for the Midland Railway, although he didn’t get to see out a full decade before being loaned to the North Western Railway to assist with the War Effort. His strength and youth found him at home with the main line goods trains, although his mood swings caused him to have some difficulties settling in. Following the cessation of war Simon was asked by Sir Topham Hatt to stay back and continue assisting with the goods work and, although there was some reluctance from the Midland Railway, a deal was soon struck.

Throughout his time on the Main Line Simon never received much spotlight, nor did he pursue it; remaining happy to carry out his secondary goods trains with little fuss. This is ironically reflected in how he was the engine who tried to push Henry out of his Tunnel when eh stuck inside it, but was depicted in illustrations as being James and the engine is believed to be Eagle! However, he did receive some attention during his assistance with the early stages of the newly-formed Peel Godred branch line, in which he aided construction. He completed work on secondary goods trains effectively for many years, although this work began to dry up following the arrival of several goods diesels.

By the 1970's Simon found himself completely superseded, and the Fat Controller ordered his transfer to the Kirk Ronan branch where he received a cold welcome from the branch line’s main occupant, Alex. However, he quickly established a rapport with the dockyard shunter Gwen, which only served to make his and Alex's early relationship all the more rocky. After some time Simon, however, was able to win Alex over and the two engines have gone on to run the line together for many years – although not without the occasional incident, including having to fend off a group of overzealous environmentalists, bouts of bickering, and working together to rescue a failed Squaddie.

Personality
Simon was brought to Sodor in halfway through World War I to relieve the pressure the conflict had on the railways. Some have speculated that this coming to the NWR might be part of his attitude - Simon is bipolar, often taking as much as an hour to go from cheerfully upbeat to notably glum or irritated. Little can helps this other than having a good day, but he has done his best to limit his times of annoyance or frustration with the help of Gwen and his crew. Simon originally run on the Main Line for around fifty years, but when he was made redundant with his strength and other engines superseding him, he was transferred to Kirk Ronan, where he has managed the lines goods traffic splendidly since.

Trivia

 * Samuel wear same as Mike's face.