Well after a very exciting day I’m worn out but am in a very good mood! Let’s just say, I may or may not have visited three engines who are in this series. Also known as Stella, Martha, and Patchy at the Little River Railroad. I saw and rode behind the triple header! Very exciting stuff! First time I’ve seen more than one steam engine on a train! And one of them was my favorites! Although to be fair I loved all three, but I was really happy to see Stella (NKP 765) again, saw her a month or so back but before that I hadn’t seen her in 14 or so years, so that was very nice! Generally speaking, a good time was had by me, and it did give me some story ideas for the series!
That though is not the point of this little update! The point is introducing a character I’ve come to adore within the the few weeks or so that he’s been a character! This character was not a product of my own mind! Nor one that actually exists or did as an engine within the series! It’s sorta, inspired by some existing engines from an builder that’s now gone, and could’ve in theory existed. He falls into the same category of Buddy and Ernie, real classes made by a real builder, but the character specifically is not based on one of the engines actually produced, just a fictional member of the class so to speak.
This engine is a Sandley Light Locomotive and Equipment Works engine! He’s a 4-4-2, which is a very common wheel arrangement that they made in real life. I can think of two examples off the top of my head are both at the Riverside and Great Northern Railroad, at the Wisconsin Dells, both of which based on C&NW D class Atlantics. The engine in the series, the fictional one in theory is sort of a sister engine to the other two. Just built many years later, roughly at the end of 2008 or the beginning of 2009, likely the latter. And I know that Sandley the company was out of business by then, but this is Somewhereica where I bend the rules of reality as I please. And if that means keeping the park engine builder in business than so be it.
Things to note. In the series Sandley built engines have a few personalities and characteristics in common. It’s a builder’s intent thing, which pretty well means they’re built and designed to act those ways. In short, they’re all designed to be stupid, happy, chatty, sweet, and curious. They’re meant to be good with visitors to the parks they’re built for, especially any visiting kids. So oftentimes, Sandley built engines are popular with people who don’t have to operate or deal with them on a regular basis for the most part. Figures, but they bring in the extra revenue of people buying tickets to ride behind the spunky little engines so it’s a price many places are willing to pay. A fair enough trade so to speak.
The same cannot be said for Wagner and Sons Co built engines. They were built much earlier, long before it was sorta discovered that park engines should get a different builder’s intent than the mainline engines. The Wagner engines were built with more mainline, heavy hauling, long distance, and revenue intents. And due to the engines not taking part in the work they were built for, well, let me put it to you like this. It’s like putting a dog meant for herding sheep over long distances into the roll of a purse dog. They’re miserable. The Wagner built engines often aren’t the highest quality in appearance, or at least the accurate to the revenue service counterparts. And on top of that because of the loud obnoxious kids and limited runs they’re not happy. Often resulting in jaded, silent, and rather mean engines who keep to themselves more than anything.
Well, due to some dated Wagners engines gifted to the IBRM and Henry Johnson back in the late 70s or sometime in the 80s (namely the two Stet and Query engines #1 and #3 and Kiddieland engines at the Hesston Steam Museum), Henry needed some new equipment. He’d earned the four engine’s trust, and bonded with them as well as one can with a Wagner. But Henry needed some extra motive power since well, all four of the old engines needed some extensive work.
Henry then rented two Sandleys from the R&GN since he heard that they were good plus his only experiences with other Sandleys. Namely Goose, aka the #242 that is a 2-4-2 at Hesston, or the “James R. Donnelley.” As is printed on her cab. And the town of Iron Bridge’s own park engine. That being a hudson streamlined in the same style as the Commodore Vanderbilt on the New York Central. That engine was aptly named “The Commodore Vanderbaby.” And was a very even tempered, sweet, gentle, and quiet Sandley of rather average intelligence. And Henry thought Sandleys would be a good fit if they acted that way, and they usually don’t, Vanderbaby is an outlier. Which leads into him leasing the two from the R&GN and then receiving the one he bought.
The one he bought was another 4-4-2 based on a C&NW D class as explained, Henry numbered and painted him up more Pennsy, even using the number 460, obvious reference eh? It was a he Id that wasn’t clear, and he was the worst Sandley built to date. Extremely stupid, yappy, friendly, curious, and adorable. Problem was that culminated into him being the probably the annoying locomotive to date. This includes the infamous very childish and goofy Roscoe (N&W 475). Due to the Sandley’s inability to be sold, popularity with guests, generally happy disposition, and tendency to derail, wreck, and screw up without even realizing, he was named rather cruelly. The volunteers named him “Stoidi Knurd” often just Stoidi for short. Why the odd name? It’s “drunk idiots” backwards. Stoidi is kept at the museum and generally is just a well loved nuisance.
Me and a friend who ISN’T one of my co-writers came up with him. I fell in love with the concept immediately but I got mixed reviews on whether or not to add it to the series. I put it to a poll in a server I’m in, and he won the vote! My co-writer Speedy wasn’t even sure about the little rascal at first! But he won and now he, his initial plot line, plus follow ups including a display signal wall and a wig-wag crossing gate are canon to the series! I love the little guy and I hope you will too!
Without further ado here’s the two drawings I made for him! The first is the propaganda image I drew up within an hour or two to try and sway people to vote for Stoidi. And the second I drew recently as a response to the overwhelming love for the little idiot and the things me and my friends say about him! I hope you all end up loving Stoidi as much as we do! (By the way, Stoidi is 15” gauge, yes I know the Wagners are 14” gauge, it’s a dual gauge miniature gauge line at the IBRM, when I say Henry pulled out all the stops I mean it). I also know I messed up Henry’s proportions in comparison to Stoidi in the first photo, I wasn’t trying very hard, I just wanted a propaganda image, and it worked! So enjoy!