Ffarquhar

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

The station at Ffarquhar has one platform and a single passenger track. It is the terminus of the branch line from Knapford and also has a small locomotive facility to stable the branch's engines. Behind the engine sheds, a goods-only line (the Quarry Tramway) winds five miles inland, connecting the station to the nearby stone quarry at Anopha. This line was originally used by small locomotives, but after an incident involving an overzealous policeman, it 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 line to the quarry originally curved sharply out of the station yard behind what at the time was a single engine shed provided for Thomas. This however was so steep that the smaller engines on the stone trains often ran out of control — hence why Thomas with his better brakes often took the trucks on to Anopha and thus met the aggressive policeman. When Ffarquhar yard was later expanded and space was needed for staff cottages the opportunity was taken to abandon the original alignment and divert the tramway further east, looping round with easier gradients to join the original route.

The passenger line, officially The Ffarquhar Branch but 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 ("The Big Station"). From Knapford Junction the line runs into the country first through reclaimed marshland. Near the line are fields, and further east towards the River Els are fenlands. From the main intermediate station of Elsbridge the line crosses the river on a fine single-arch viaduct before climbing a side-valley into hillier country, finally burrowing through a long tunnel and running through evergreen plantations to Ffarquhar, located in a crook of the surrounding hills.

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