Rex

Rex was an A1 class "Terrier" who worked for the Wellsworth & Suddery Railway (W&S) from 1873 to 1913.

Biography
Bert was built at Brighton Works in July 1873 following the twinning of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) as a batch of five A class "Terriers" built for the W&S that year and arrived at Brendam a month later. His first duties was for suburban passenger work before the beginning of full W&S express services under the D2 class 0-4-2s under construction.

In the 1890s, as a way of gaining publicity across Sodor and the rest of the UK, Rex and Bert were painted into different colours. Rex gained a green livery which he didn't like.

Following the arrival of Goliath in December 1913, Rex was withdrawn from service and scrapped at Crovan's Gate Works later that same month.

Livery
Rex is painted in the standard Wellsworth & Suddery Railway Maroon livery.

From 1895 to 1900, Rex was painted in a green version of the Wellsworth & Suddery livery.

Basis
Rex is based off the LB&SCR A1, commonly nicknamed "Terriers". They were introduced in 1872 and designed by William Stroudley, who based the design on the "Lochgrom" tanks he designed for the Highland Railway (HR) in 1869. They were designed for suburban trains in London and named after suburbs, most which they never got to visit. Originally, they were fitted with a "donkey pump" which worked off the motion but was later replaced by steam injectors for safety reasons. 50 were built at Brighton Works from 1872 to 1880 and were slowly replaced by more modern Billinton designs and 17 were reboilered to become the A1X class while the others were either sold or scrapped.

Trivia
Rex's name and unusual livery in the 1890s was reused on a locomotive for the 15-inch gauge Arlesdale Railway.

Despite his exact build date being unknown other than his build month, Rex's age can be calculated as follows:


 * In Rivalry (set in 1894), Rex was 20-21 years old.
 * In Fast Goods (set in November 1902), Rex was 29 years old.
 * In Brighton Baltic (set in December 1913), the same story he was scrapped, Rex was 40 years old.