History NightmareFuel / TheRailwaySeries

* The opening of 'Duck and Dukes' leaves a lot of nightmare fuel. When Duck and Peter Sam are talking about the Duke of Sodor being scrapped, Peter Sam's facial expression isn't just saying 'Oh no, the birthday celebration is going to be ruined', it looks like he is guilty for something. Five books later when we learn about his and Sir Handel's past (as Stuart and Falcon) with Duke (Named after the Duke of Sodor), we realize that isn't just a throwaway gag and Peter Sam and Sir Handel could have lost one of their closest friends for good, had they not spoken up about him.

* Donald and Douglas' backstory was pretty horrifying. They were twin engines. Sir Topham Hatt arranged to import ''one'' of them to Sodor, but, unwilling to be parted, they both came down and [[TwinSwitch pretended to be each other]] until the railway staff caught on. Sir Topham Hatt decided to see which one of them was more useful, then send the other one back, most likely to be scrapped. They had that hanging over their heads for ''two or three episodes'' before he decided to keep them both. The incident with Donald threatening the Spiteful Brakevan after it bullied Douglas, for instance, seem heroic until one realizes that [[FriendOrIdolDecision he's fully aware of what Hatt intended to do]] and must know that [[HeroicSacrifice if he saves his brother,]] [[SadisticChoice he's going to be the one that gets scrapped. ]] [[AngstWhatAngst It's a miracle]] neither of them [[HeroicBSOD went insane.]]

* In the story, ''Bluebells of England'', from the book ''Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine'', Percy tells Douglas about the suffering of steam engines on the Other Railway getting ''scrapped'' as they're [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness no longer useful]]. The [[https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/Stepney_the_%22Bluebell%22_Engine/Gallery?file=BluebellsofEnglandRS2.png second illustration]] in the book really drives home the point of how morbid the experience is, showing two engines in the foreground from the Other Railway on cold, damp, and dark sidings, waiting for their fate from a blow torch with horrified expressions on their faces, while in the background, one has already lost its face, ''with a gaping hole remaining''.

* In the story, ''Bluebells of England'', from the book ''Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine'', Percy tells Douglas about the suffering of steam engines on the Other Railway getting ''scrapped'' due to being [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness no longer useful]]. The [[https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/Stepney_the_%22Bluebell%22_Engine/Gallery?file=BluebellsofEnglandRS2.png second illustration]] in the book really drives home the point of how morbid the experience is, showing two engines in the foreground from the Other Railway on cold, damp, and dark sidings, waiting for their fate from a blow torch with horrified expressions on their faces, while in the background, one has already lost its face, ''with a gaping hole remaining''.

* In the story ''Bluebells of England'', Douglas explains to Percy why they had to escape to the Island. Complete with a painting of faithful steam engines, facing the cutting torch, whilst all alone in a cold, damp and dark siding and literally staring death in the face is awful! In the background, you can see 'dead' steam engines, men cutting them up and cranes ripping them apart.

* A bit of meta nightmare fuel, the entirety of Sodor is filled with engines, coaches, and trucks that are not only alive but ''sapient''. Many of the incidents in the books are things that might be done on a normal railway but amplified by the railway stock's attitudes. Best exemplified in "A Close Shave" where the guard on the back of the freight train whistling for dear life to alert Duck is the ''best'' he can do to defend Duck against a rampaging runaway train filled with vindictive trucks.
** And even the ''coaches'' are in on this too; a coach should not be able to move, but a set of them are able to bump Sir Handel to the point he ''derails''. With so many incidents like this on the line, it's a wonder the passengers aren't more concerned for their safety.

* The audiobooks narrated by Willie Rushton begin and end with the sound of a steam engine chuffing and whistling or the whirring and honking of a diesel. However, some stories have different intros and outros depending on the context of the story. "Ghost Train" does away with the locomotive sounds and instead gives us the sounds of howling and wind blowing. An owl hooting is also audible throughout the story. It adds so much ambience to an already unsettling story.

* Where the engines' faces are is on their smokebox doors... and although the series doesn't often mention it there is at least ''one'' mention of Henry's smokebox door being opened up. So yes... if the doors behave anything like their real life counterparts the faces can ''hinge'' to reveal their smokebox interior. Played for laughs by fans such as in a You Tube video by The Unlucky Tug, but still very unsettling.[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwK6P-ZeshQ]]

** Like nearly everything in the Railway Series, its happened in real life as well. The Thomas replica owned by the Strasburg Railroad in the US (made from the heavily modified BEDT 15 locomotive) is one of the few Thomas replicas made from an actual steam locomotive, and well... it needs its smokebox door opened to clean out the ash regularly. Cue the absurdity of behind the scenes photos showing Thomas's face hinged open for cleaning.
[[https://twitter.com/edstrainz/status/1147594458604670976]]

** Like nearly everything in the Railway Series, its happened in real life as well. The Thomas replica owned by the Strasburg Railroad in the US (made from the heavily modified BEDT 15 locomotive) is one of the few Thomas replicas made from an actual steam locomotive, and well... it needs its smokebox door opened to clean out the ash regularly. Cue the absurdity of behind the scenes photos showing Thomas's face hinged open for cleaning.[[https://twitter.com/edstrainz/status/1147594458604670976]]

** Like nearly everything in the Railway Series, its happened in real life as well. The Thomas replica owned by the Strasburg Railroad in the US (made from the heavily modified BEDT 16 locomotive) is one of the few Thomas replicas made from an actual steam locomotive, and well... it needs its smokebox door opened to clean out the ash regularly. Cue the absurdity of behind the scenes photos showing Thomas's face hinged open for cleaning.[[https://twitter.com/edstrainz/status/1147594458604670976]]

* Where the engines' faces are is on their smokebox doors... and although the series doesn't often mention it there is at least ''one'' mention of Henry's smokebox door being opened up. So yes... if the doors behave anything like their real life counterparts the faces can ''hinge'' to reveal their smokebox interior. Played for laughs by fans such as in a YouTube video by The Unlucky Tug, but still very unsettling.[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwK6P-ZeshQ]]

** It gets worse though. Toby's smokebox doors on his real life basis split ''in two'' on a hinge, meaning if Toby's smokebox opens like the real thing does his face has to ''split in half'' to open them.

* Plenty of clickbait articles have focused on how terrifying it was that Henry was placed into a tunnel and bricked up. But at most Henry couldn't have been in the tunnel for more than a few months, and even then he isn't totally alone as the stories make it clear that he still talks to the other engines passing him in the opposite tunnel. Ignored by those clickbait articles is Duke's time in his shed which is nearly ''two decades'' alone... and most of that buried under a landslide. Not to mention what remains of Stanley as well, which as far as we know is still there at the MSR engine shed...

* Plenty of clickbait articles have focused on how terrifying it was that Henry was placed into a tunnel and bricked up. But at most Henry couldn't have been in the tunnel for more than a few months, and even then he isn't totally alone as the stories make it clear that he still talks to the other engines passing him in the opposite tunnel. Ignored by those clickbait articles is Duke's time in his shed which is nearly ''two decades'' alone... and most of that buried under a landslide.

** TruthInTelevision, Falcon's accident is based on an incident on the real life Ffestiniog Railway where a double headed train where the lead engine Linda derailed off the tracks and Prince (Duke's basis) had to work to pull Linda back onto the rails while Linda was dangling over a slope on a hillside. Again the classic Railway Series in a nutshell, if it happened in the books it ''probably'' happened in real life as well!

** It's even worse when you realize that this is essentially a train equivalent to a ''compound fracture''! If Edward was a human instead of a train, he would be ''bleeding''! No wonder the TV version had his breakdown [[{{Disneyfication}} toned down]], so as not to damage the model.

* The final illustration of "Toad Stands By" is a seemingly happy karmic ending with Oliver and the Fat Controller chatting....with S.C. Ruffey dismantled and in several pieces next to them, with his disembodied face glaring right up in fright as a claw readies to finish him off....

* A bit of meta nightmare fuel, the entirety of Sodor is filled with engines, coaches, and trucks that are not only alive but ''sapient''. Many of the incidents in the books are things that might be done on a normal railway but amplified by the railway stock's attitudes. Best exemplified in "Dirty Work" where the guard on the back of the freight train whistling for dear life to alert Duck is the ''best'' he can do to defend Duck against a rampaging runaway train filled with vindictive trucks.

** And even the ''coaches'' are in on this too; a coach should not be able to move, but a set of them are able to bump Sir Handel to the point he ''derails''. With so many incidents like this on the line, it's a wonder the passengers aren't more concerned for their safety.

* A bit of meta nightmare fuel, the entirety of Sodor is filled with engines, coaches, and trucks that are not only alive but ''sapient''. Many of the incidents in the books are things that might be done on a normal railway but amplified by the railway stock's attitudes. Best exemplified in "Dirty Work" where the guard on the back of the freight train whistling for dear life to alert Duck is the ''best'' he can do to defend Duck against a rampaging runaway train filled with vindictive trucks.

* Let's not forget how dangerous the Mid Sodor Railway could be, particularly the heights of the Mountain Road, with Falcon derailing and coming close to falling off the edge.

Although it is a children's book series, being a very grounded and realistic series about railways, the series can be filled with plenty of very dark and outright terrifying moments. Especially for train lovers.