Prototype
Sir Handel is based on the locomotive Sir Haydn which works at the Talyllyn Railway in Gwynedd, Wales. This locomotive was built by Henry Hughes & Co at the Falcon Works in Loughborough in 1878, one of three identical locomotives for the 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) gauge Corris Railway in Merionethshire. Nos. 1 and 2 were scrapped in 1930 and No.3 worked until the Corris Railway closed in 1948, hauling the last train on 20 August that year. After three years covered by a tarpaulin at Machynlleth Station No. 3 was purchased (and named) by the nearby Talyllyn Railway in 1951. The original cab was replaced in the 1960s, and this change can be seen in the TV version of Sir Handel. Sir Haydn the real locomotive is named after Sir Henry Haydn Jones former owner of the Talyllyn Railway and the person upon whom the owner of the Skarloey railway is based. The Corris Railway is currently building a new locomotive to the same design.
In the 1980s, the Talyllyn Railway repainted Sir Haydn to represent Sir Handel. Christopher Awdry wrote this into the 1985 book Great Little Engines, explaining that Sir Handel was visiting the line to help out. An incident in which Sir Haydn ran into a tree branch and was given a bandage and eyepatch was turned into a story in the book, with almost no alteration from the real event.
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Famous quotes containing the word prototype:
“The Ancient Mariner seizes the guest at the wedding feast and will not let go until he has told all his story: the prototype of the bore.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)