Dec 24, 2023
I regret nothing.
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I regret nothing.
Meeting with a friend.
More photos I took with my recent impulse purchase.
Hey kids.
Remember that one long, nonsensical post about my 100% original E2 oc, Eric?
Yeah... y-you can, just, forget all of... that.
I've decided to scrap basically all of his backstory for two main reasons. Firstly, I was never really happy with it. It seemed a bit...ludicrous for the Thomas & Friends universe. The other, more prominent reason is because I came across...
This!
The North Staffordshire Railway experimental 4 cylinder 0-6-0T.
This engine is honestly perfect for Eric.
For one, it's livery (deep red with gold highlights) is nearly exactly the same as Eric.
Its design, story, even its mechanical issues were also remarkably similar to what I originally wanted.
IT WAS MEANT TO BE!!!!!
As far as his new "lore", I haven't worked out the specific details yet. The general story is as follows:
Eric (No. 23) was built in 1922 as an experimental, 4 cylinder, 0-6-0 tank engine. The rest of of his story is more or less the same as reality (as said in the video):
He worked briefly on the N.S.R., was rebuilt as a tender engine by the L.M.S., and was withdrawn in 1928.
This is where the story differs. A number of enthusiasts and ex-N.S.R. workers found out about Eric's imminent scraping.
Together, they pooled their money and convinced the higher-ups to sell them Eric...
...'s front half.
Unfortunately, they weren't able to buy his tender, leaving him effectively inoperable. Nevertheless, said workers did their best to restore/find a buyer for Eric...
...for all of 10 months or so. The stock market crash of 1929 force all work on Eric's situation to cease. Eventually, Eric was put in the back of a storage shed and was left the there for over 2 years.
Fortunately, in the early 1930s, a certain rotund gentleman took interest in his case.
None other than The Fat Director himself (or would it be The Fat Controller? Not sure what his title would be at this point in the timeline but whatever.)
Mr. Hatt brought Eric to Sodor and had him restored to his tank engine form. He also collaborated with the former N.S.R. engineers who originally built Eric to figure out ways to fix Eric's mechanical issues.
Extra water tanks were added to improve fuel efficiency. As for his problems building up steam, they found the Welch coal did just the trick. He was also repainted in his original N.S.R. livery.
His issues weren't completely fix, he was still known to be a bit finicky, but he was a lot less temperamental than in the past.
Once his rebuild was complete, the Fat Con-rector let him stay on Sodor on trial, after which, he was purchased to run a newly built branch line by a Mr. Angers for the Albinus Wainwright Railway (or A.W.R.).
Of course his story doesn't end there, buuuuuuut this is all i can be bothered write. This took way longer to do than I care to admit. I am way happier with this iteration and I hope y'all agree.
Bonus:
I was considering actually drawing a face but I do not have the time to dedicate to making it look good. So I slapped an emoji on and called it a day.