Horrors of the Rails 3: Great Waterton - T&F/RWS Audio Production 

So I've gotten a few questions regarding the Great Discovery and where it fits with this story. This story is an alternative take on Great Waterton that is set in the RWS Canon. Therefore, TGD doesn't happen. That's the basic answer, now here's the longer one: When I write my stories, I tend to have them set in the RWS, with a few exceptions like 'Left Behind'. As much as I love the TVS, it doesn't really have a well established timeline, at least past the classic seasons. There isn't really much continuity between certain details, locations and how characters act. Examples: The look of the Skarloey Railway from S5 onwards Steam engines regularly working on the mainland in JBS James being rough with coaches in Pouty James, despite learning not to back in S1 I know there are people who don't care about this sort of thing and to be fair, S1-7 doesn't really have a flawless continuity either, but past S8, it starts to become a mess to try and figure out. The RWS series on the other hand has a very strong continuity, not just in the books, but outside of them as well, with most events having actual dates behind them. So when it comes to TVS related things, if I have them in the RWS canon, I have plenty of freedom to do what I want with them and not be tied down to a more confusing continuity.

You know you've written an impressive horror story when you can suddenly turn a beautiful photo from "Henry's Forest" into something super sinister

*Now THIS is the story i've been waiting to hear ever since the trailer came out. It definitely did not disappoint, so many questions. Why was there a mechanical monster engine, how did it eat people, how has no one found this place, did anyone question the missing people after it closed down? So many answers that'll probably never get answered.* *Another great story from you!*

>main character: _escapes the ghost_ >me: _checks timestamp_ >we're just over halfway into the video >thisaintover.jpg

Hope my boy Neil wasn't scrapped. He is the lone survivor of the S&M.

Well Narrow Gauge, The story you have made about great Waterton, that was very spooky to listen.

Here´s my theory: In 1901 the Sodor and Mainland railway was already facing bankruptcy. In 1892 a new railway company had been established on Sodor using more modern engines so the boxing engines knew that their days were over. At this time there were three engines who worked on the mainline: Clive No1, Neil No2 and Mathew No3 but there was also a forth who ran the Great Waterton branch. His name has been stripped from the records and according to old documents he never existed. This is all down to how that engine met his fate and this story will tell you why. It was early one evening in October, 1901. A small saddle tank engine was getting ready to pull his last train of the day. He arranged two clerestory coaches and was just bringing them to the platform when a loud hissing noise suddenly came from his boiler. His crew got out from his cab and several workmen went over to see what was wrong. After an examination was conducted the crew´s findings were grim: ´you´ve got a leak in ye boiler´ the driver told the engine. ´Now how´a we gonna take the train?´ They then noticed a small engine over by the water tower. A box tank, number 4. The crew shrugged ´Its worth a shot´ they said and went over to the engine. He seemed very bemused when he was informed of the other engine´s situation although he immediately agreed when asked to pull the train and after the other engine was moved into a siding Number 4 was coupled to the train. He then ran the coaches up to the platform and waited for the passengers to embark. The passengers were surprised to see a box tank but non thought much of it once they were on the train. They knew he wouldn´t be as fast as the saddle tank but at least he was an engine. Only one man went to question the crew. He was dressed in a black suit with a top hat and a cane and the crew recognized him to the local undertaker. They told him the other engine was out of action and after a little argument the crew informed the man he´d get his half his fare back the the inconvenience. This at least satisfied the man and he walked back and climbed into the coach. The guard blew his whistle and the train was away. From his siding the saddle tank engine watched the box tank pull the train away. He suddenly was struck by a cold breeze and he looked back at the train he swore there was something about it that didn´t seem right. No 4 made reasonable progress and he hurried down the line at his top speed, 15mph. But as they turned a corner heading for the points to the Great Waterton branch both the driver and the fireman noticed they were picking up speed. This couldn´t be possible however as they were already at top speed, they told the engine about it and requested he slowed down but No 4 ignored them and the crew realized he was going even faster, the driver desperately applied the brakes but nothing happened, he applied the emergency brakes and still nothing happened. As they turned onto the branch line both crewmembers lost their balance and fell out of the cab, the train continued on and as its puffing noises disappeared into the distance they heard a final shrill whistle and then silence. Obviously both crewmembers were very confused and a little scared by what just happened. They decided to go back along the track and find help. Fortunately not long after they found the mainline a puffing noise from another locomotive could be heard and a large tank engine pulling a goods train soon came round the corner. The two men waved it down and went to the cab. The two men there were very confused to see No 4´s crew out on the mainline without an engine but after hearing the story they and the engine laughed and told them not to be stupid, they must have imagined the whole thing and the train would have already come to a standstill further down the line. They eventually decided to uncouple the trucks and driver the tank engine down the Great Waterton line in search of the train. They did so and after telling the guard to wait with the trucks they set off down the branch. By then No 4´s crews had decided they must have imagined it and were feeling rather silly but that soon changed when they arrived at Great Waterton station and the train was still not found. The disappearance of No 4, his train and all those on board caused a great deal of confusion and worry all over Sodor with people everywhere trying to figure out what had happened. A group of people set out the look through every inch of the forest surrounding the branch theorizing the obvious, the train must of derailed but by nightfall a heavy rail was falling upon them and with no signs of the train they returned home. The next morning the residents of Great Waterton were given a shock as in the middle of the village green as dry as the ground beneath them was wet sat two coaches, the ones from No 4´s train. They were taken away for inspection but it was enough for the residents who packed their bags and left. The town was declared abandoned the next day with it´s station also closing down. A few days later the town´s original council sent some surveyors from York in England to determine how the town should be demolished. They sent them to the village and in the meantime brought in the crew whom had been the last to see No 4 before his disappearance. They and the directors of the S and M believed that the whole disappearance was a cover up for some sort of operation by a secret organization. Whilst the crew where denying it the surveyors returned to the courtroom complaining that the town had not been cleared. The council were confused and asked what they meant and the surveyors told them that whilst they had been examining the town a group of people has come up to them one of whom had even had the nerve to order them to leave Great Waterton. When the council asked what he had looked like the surveyors described him as ´a tall man in a black suit with a top hat and a cane.´ The crew in the box immediately recognized the man as the undertaker who had questioned them and who was now one of the missing people from the train. They told them this and the council, the directors and the especially the surveyors were all astonished. They all hurried over to Great Waterton but no people were to be seen. They were getting back on the train that had brought them there when one of the directors spotted a strange green box behind a large wall. He told one of the surveyors to go and have a look at it and was just getting sat down with the other men when a high pitched scream was heard. They all looked out of the windows and saw both the surveyor and the green box were now gone. Needless to say they got out of there as fast as they could and nether returned to Great Waterton again. It was decided later that month that the town would not would not be taken down and in the last few months before the S and M´s closure it was agreed that the true story of Great Waterton was to be erased along with the history engine that had led to it happening.

Amazing story! This is what I put together: so I the S&M was closed and the engines were scrapped, as told in the story, people went missing. Most likely the ghost of one of scrapped engines wanted revenge. Then you get the idea

Very interesting story. The mystery behind Great Waterton's closure has always intrigued me.

The water runs dry and the ice cracks in.

Wow. Now that, is what I would call a good POV ghost story! Hearing how an engine chasing that said person sent me chills down my back. Still, it's a great, but spookiest story to hear.

By Far The Creepiest One So Far, Great Job Man! Its Nice To See A History To Great Waterton, And Why It Was Closed. When I Heard About The "Box Tank Engines" I Thought About Neil.

3:42 October 12th... that just so happens to be my birthday! Anyway, this was a really creepy and intriguing story. It raises so many more questions than it answers. Although what does seem clear is that one of the scrapped S&M box tanks (either Neil or one of the other two) wanted revenge on this town for some unknown reason...

I can’t wait what Narrow Gauge has in store for Halloween.

This is amazing! Especially because it’s almost Halloween.

Great story. One of the many possible mysteries of Sodor and hiding them away and letting nature take them back.

Something tells me Thomas is gonna be sued for claim-jumping on someone else's discovery. XD Also, I think this dude is gonna need at least another dude, two chicks and a dog as back-up after that little expedition. Maybe even a panel van for transport. LOL Meanwhile, good story. Not enough images to give me the creeps, much less a jump scare, but still interesting to give a good ear.

2 more scary tales to go. In the trailer it said there’d be 6 tales, we’ve have 4 so now.

This is something that belongs in a museum of horrors, you did wonderful making this as realistic as possible, especially when we’re talking about a monster. This is the Golden Year of your Horrific content to be honest here and I can’t wait to see what you bring out next- weather it’s spooky, funny, or happy

The town that time forgot.. took a whole new meaning

Theres nothing to spooky than your stories!

Joe... This was marvelous! Best background story ever for great Waterton!! I love these

Just got the notification, Already excited.

That was really chilling.

I really love horror of the rails ur writing skils r amazing hope i can voice in one of them some day

You my good sir are so underrated! I’m gonna try and draw the man, the engine, and maybe more. This was chilling, sensational, and inspiring to me and I bet a lot of others. Maybe I’ll try and create some ghost stories in the future.

By far my favorit i watched it 5 times i like the setting and story and everything.

I love your storys

Impressive work Joe!!

You've done it again, Joe. This was the perfect balance of dark and mysterious we needed. Well done.

This is probably my favorite story here. It is so eerie

Every single one of your stories this year have been top tier

As a kid episode's like, "Duncan get's spooked," and, "haunted Henry," made me cower under the sheets. As an adult, you give me the heebie jeebies..... ....Bravo.....?

Love the silent hill music at the end

I love how this story goes from being very happy to suddenly very sinister, suspenseful and terrifying. You nailed it again with scariness. Well Done!!!!!

AMAZING STORY MAAN. This is such a great story. I love it when people take stuff from sodor and make it more scary. Great job cant wait for the next story.

Now I'm excited for the final installment of HotR3!

One of the best you’ve ever written Joe, great stuff. I’d love to adapt in trainz or even live action one day. Awesome stuff. Can’t wait to see the rest of the stories for this year man :)

Clive neil and Matthew were s&m engines during this time.. but.. what if there was another or the souls of those three merged to make something with only one thing in its mind: revenge.

this would make for epic bodcasts

This makes me curious, yet not want to approach Great Waterton at all. I can picture SeaSwine drawing the engine from this story for some reason. Great job as always Narrow Gauge!

im subscribing after hearing this

I love this , hope we get a sequel someday

This. This was amazing. The stories before this were good, but not spectacular compared to previous ones like Maura-Liath or the Caledonian Twins. This, though... this is my favourite HOTR, no competition.

This a different take from the usual adaptions from the original "Spills & Chills" I love it. First it features a setting instead Thomas and his friends.

11:22 Sir Topham Hatt the first 13:26 the evil box engine, who do we mean? Niel, Clive, or No 3. Also these Boxy engines are nice not evil?

Amazing work as always.

Narrow Gauge, you've officially gone from spooky to spookier. If I may ask, are all of this year's HOTR taking place on Sodor?

Damn this story gave me the creeps! Well Narrow Gauge, It's safe to say I have been hooked on HOTR - a series that by name "horror" I would have avoided because of the psychological connotations, but it's proven to have a far more classy and general appeal. I think what makes HOTR work is that they are proper slow chilling stories well written and not laden with cheap jump-scares + your soft but ominous tones in your narration. Plus some of the music from video games has been brilliant! And before you ask, my good friend 84FStudios recommended me this series and told me about his involvement some time ago. Broken Wings was flipping epic! This whole way of writing chilling fan fiction has inspired me to write one of my own! Really sets the imagination into gear. I look forward to more HOTR in the future, well done man :)

Interestingly good

i really enjoy these horror stories, they always catch my eyes, because there is something about these stories i like. (it's because i used to watch Thomas and friends when i was younger, even though i'm 16)

the seqaul is about what REALLY happend when thomas found great waterton, great story mate very spooky indeed

Im so glad I found this

Another fantastic story narrow-gauge keep up the great work

My Man This Is So Spoopy And I lOVE it! , Not Only That This Is Interesting But It Gave Me Chills!

This is a great story alongside the tale of the bad engine and the truth of being scrapped well done mate

I love that you used music from call of duty black ops and world at war in your videos.

Got say man I LOVE THIS STORY KEEP UP THE TRULY AMAZING WORK

You did an awesome job Narrow Gauge. I have ideas each for "Horror of the Rails IV - The American Ghost Trains": 1. The Haunted Train - Based on Hey Arnold's "The Haunted Train" 2. The Abraham Lincoln Funeral Ghost Train 3. The St. Louis Light 4. The Atchison Ghost Train 5. The San Antonio Ghost Track You could use an American-Accent telling these stories each.

Out of all your horror stories, my top 3 are 3, Six Lovely Tenders 2, Caledonian Twins 1, Great Waterton

An absolute masterpiece as always

This Hass to be incorporated into trainz one day.

This was kinda fun, I enjoy abandon places like this, as Mother Nature reclaims her property =)

This story is chilling and amazing. This story inspired me to create my story (Inspired by this but it takes place somewhere in Japan.)

😨😱Gosh, I never would’ve thought this would’ve sounded more dark than in the great discovery

*Definitely* sounds like "Jerusalem's Lot" by Stephen King!

I’ve been looking forward to this one!

i wanted to hear about this one. cant wait to see the next

“Welcome back to Dipper’s guide to the unexplained. Anomaly #56: Great Waterton

Great job dude loved the story

amazing job like always, now I'll wait for somebody to recreate it on Trainz

This gave me litarle chill's

Well done mate!

Maybe that was the engine from the tender ether that engine and people found peace and moved on.

WOW... I had a feeling the "mechanical beast" would be a steam engine, but I never thought it would've been one of the S&M's box tanks. But who? I don't think it's Neil, he was a kind engine and I highly doubt he'd want to harm anyone. Could it have been one of his two brothers that worked with him? Maybe there was another box tank besides them. If so, it was probably meant to be the station pilot for Great Waterton which would explain why it was there. But then why would this engine consume the people of the town, and how would it even be able to if it's a steam engine? Speaking of the townspeople, if only a certain number of people went missing at Great Waterton, why did many more people appear as ghosts? Did this engine somehow manage to kill the entire population living there? So many questions that will most likely remain answered only in theory and speculation. Any type of story that leaves you questions like this one is an excellent story. You outdid yourself with this one and I can't wait to see what you have in mind for the last two stories of this third Horrors of the Rails series.

I love it, this really scared me

Awesome scary story to all of us. ^_^

The first few minutes, can all be summed up with "Hi, I am an Urban explorer, which is to say, I enjoy exploring abandoned places around sodor."

That is so spooky and disgusting. Great job.

Great Waterton, before The Great Discovery

This is amazing and scary.

WElCoME sTAnLeY

Best one yet

I wonder if a visual video will be made of this that would be amazing

I guess this takes place in an alternate universe where Thomas never stumbled upon this abandoned town.

This is spooky, but If you made into motion would you do a shot Where Thomas find this place.

I enjoyed that different timeline

amazing

Pretty scary.

Great Waterton is haunted by Clive Neil and Matthew?

I wonder why thomas or everyone else didn’t see that Engine or people.

That was the spookiest theory of Great Waterton's strange and sudden abandonment, in terms of a rws canon. Did you base the story off something from real life or was it inspired by another person's work?

*insert unoriginal comment about being second here*

I really want to know how long ago this takes place before The Great Discovery.

There needs to be a part 2

This is terrifying

SCARY

I gotta say narrow gauge you did a great story is it ok if I adapt it for source filmmaker as well as the truth about scrap

S&M's No. 4: Mason the Box Tank.

That.........was actual pretty scary, and perhaps a tad disturbing