Mid Sodor Railway

The Mid Sodor Railway was an old narrow gauge railway. It was opened in 1880 and closed down in 1947. After that, in 1966/7, the trackbed was rebuilt into the Arlesdale Railway.

History
The line was officially opened in 1880. The tourist traffic was great, but the real money maker was in the railway's mines. Steamer boats often stopped at Arlesburgh twice daily in the summer, but could stop twice weekly in the winter, as there weren't many holiday makers in the winter. But in 1923, passenger traffic began decreasing, and the mines all began closing. Hoping to make more money and keep the railway going, they tried selling some of the engines and coaches, but the railway continued into its hard times. When Cas-ny-Hawin mine flooded, the railway was completely closed down in January 1947. Falcon and Stuart were sold to the Sodor Aluminum Company to help with the extension project, before being sold to the Skarloey Railway.

Duke was kept in his shed after the railway and remained their for years until being rediscovered in 1969. Bertram was also left in the mine until being rediscovered in 1998. In 1966/7, the Arlesdale Railway was built over the old trackbed of the railway so it could mine the ballast from the old mines to the North Western Railway.

Locations
The main terminus of the railway was Arlesburgh Bridge Street. Only harbour trains went to the station at Arlesburgh West. The line then continued to a junction at Ffarquhar Road that either continued down the main line or went down to Bertram's Old Mine, which was owned by the Sodor Gold Co. It then went through Ffarquhar Road and to a junction that led to a granite quarry. It then passed through Marthwaite, Arlesdale Green, and to another junction. One line went down to Arlesdale and ended at  an old mine.

The other line continued past Duke's Old Village, through the Old Station, Cas-ny-Hawin, across the Mountain Road to Ulfstead Road, past Elm Farm, and through Ballamoddey, Valesbridge before terminating at King Orry's Bridge.

Engines
The first four engines were Duke, Stanley, Smudger and Bertram. Duke and Bertram were well behaved, but Stanley and Smudger were reckless and often caused trouble. the controller had had enough, so he turned Stanley into a pumping engine for Arlesdale Works, and was later moved to Cas-ny-Hawin Mine. Smudger was also turned into a generator for the sheds. As a result of this, Bertram became the new No. 2 and two new engines called Falcon and Stuart became the new No's 3 and 4. The railway then purchased Albert, Jim, Freddie, Tim, Jerry, Atlas, Alfred, John and Jennings (all of them were then sold once the railway closed down), so Freddie was found.