Sir Handel

Sir Handel, named after the Skarloey Railway's first owner, Sir Handel Brown I - but previously Falcon, after the works where he was made - is a narrow-gauge tank engine.

Falcon was built at Falcon Works in Loughborough, England for the Mid Sodor Railway as an 0-4-0ST, causing him to bounce until he was rebuilt with a rear pony truck.

When the Mid Sodor Railway closed in 1947, he and Stuart were sold to the aluminium works at Peel Godred for an expansion project. They were sheeted at the project's close for almost a year, then both were purchased for a total of fifty pounds by the Skarloey Railway and renamed Sir Handel and Peter Sam respectively.

Sir Handel did not cope well with the worn track on the railway and would often derail - sometimes deliberately. He was given a pair of special wheels with broad tyres to cure this problem, dubbed "steamroller wheels" by the other engines.

In 1983, Sir Handel visited the Talyllyn Railway to help while Talyllyn was being mended. Sir Handel had plenty of adventures there, like pulling a wedding train and having to wear an eyepatch after colliding with a tree at Nant Gwernol.

When Peter Sam was brought back from the Talyllyn Railway early during a visit in 1995 Sir Handel became jealous and as a protest deliberately knocked out his firebars. He was sent to the shed and began to fear that he would never come out after weeks went by and no one came to see him. When The Thin Controller came in one day Sir Handel confessed and asked for a second chance. Sir Handel got his firebars later that day - no one bothered to tell him that they had only just arrived.

He is presently on loan to the Talyllyn Railway.