Worthington

Worthington is a A1/A1X "Terrier" that was owned by the Wellsworth & Suddery Railway (W&S) from 1873 to the formation of the North Western Railway (NWR) in 1915. At 111 years old, he was the last Terrier in service anywhere outside of preservation.

Biography
Worthington was built at Brighton Works in July 1873 after the twinning of the W&S and the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LBSCR) in May that year. Until the arrival of Adam, Worthington carried the railway's lowest number. In 1911, Worthington was reboilered to extend his service life into A1X specifications (LBSCR version) at Crovan's Gate Works and emerged in a different form to his original shape as built in 1873.

In 1934, Worthington was withdrawn by the NWR but was sold into industrial ownership by Ryhope Colliery where he would work as a shunter. He was passed into National Coal Board (NCB) ownership in 1946 and served until 1984, when he was withdrawn due to a broken valve. By that time, he was the longest serving Terrier after a service life of 111 years of operations. Worthington was brought back to Sodor in 1986 by the Sudrian Preservation Society (SPS) and taken to Crovan's Gate. Reunited with Gwen, who was the last W&S tender locomotive in service, Worthington was shunted in for restoration into operational condition but by his request, he would keep his NCB Ryhope Colliery colours.

Livery
During his W&S days, Worthington is painted in the standard Wellsworth & Suddery Railway Maroon livery.

During his time at Ryhope Colliery, Worthington is painted in NCB Lined Blue.

During his final years working at Bickershaw Colliery, Worthington is painted in NCB Lined Red with brass nameplates and wasp stripes on his bufferbeams.

Basis
Worthington is based off the LB&SCR A1 and A1X, both commonly nicknamed "Terriers". The A1s 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. The 17 A1X class were reboilered versions of the A1 "Terriers" with new superheated boilers and a redesigned front end. The Terriers were kept on small branch line like the Hayling Island line, which would be the cause of their long life. A few became celebrities such as Stepney and Fenchurch and further withdrawals of the class beginning in the 1940s after WWII but the last one wasn't retired until 1963, thanks to the Hayling Island line's weak wooden trestle bridge that linked the island with the UK mainland. In both forms, 10 have been preserved with one being in the United States and another converted back to A1 from A1X (No. 672 'Fenchurch') in 2001.

Trivia
Worthington was the only W&S Terrier to be converted to A1X specifications.

Until his return to Sodor in 1986, Worthington was believed scrapped by Gwen.

After 111 years of service, Worthington is the longest serving Terrier in history.

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


 * In Rivalry (set in 1894), Worthington was 20-21 years old.
 * In German Spy (set in August 1915), Worthington was 42 years old.
 * In Fast Goods (set in November 1902), Worthington was 29 years old.
 * In Coal Terrier (set in Winter 1964 and briefly in December 1983), Worthington is 91 and 110 years old while was 113 years old when telling the story.
 * In Brighton Baltic (set in December 1913), Worthington was 40 years old.

Worthington was the only member of his class to operate in industrial service. No real A1X was ever used on industrial railways.


 * This could be a reference to the various withdrawn main shunting locomotives sold into industrial service.

It is revealed that while working at Bickershaw Colliery in the 1970s, Worthington was struggling to handle the "merry-go-round" hoppers since he could haul only four while the Hunslet Austerities he worked with handled larger loads.