Sir Topham Hat

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Sir Topham Hatt is a stout gentleman who lives on Sodor. He was the previous controller of the North Western Region of British Railways. He is nicknamed, "The Fat Controller" due to his stout build. Sir Topham first appeared as a railway inspector from London, who eventually became Sodor's controller in 1946. Given his reception, he is quite famous throughout Britain and a considerate gentleman. He is either a Baronet or a Knight Bachelor. He drives a blue car. He retired in 1966 and was replaced by Ronald Watson.

Biography

Sir Topham Hatt was born in 1894 somewhere in England. Very little is known about his early life, but sometime before the First World War, he joined the started working as a railwayman, first a fettler then a fireman.

When the First World War broke out, he served on the Western Front. In 1917, when he became a Lieutenant, he gained a partner in Stanley, who was built in Baldwin Locomotive Works in Pennsylvania in the United States and had received his first firing in France. After holding off the Germans at Mont Sebire, in spite of his heroism, his mental health deteriorated so much that he had to be sent back to England. He was then sent to Sodor, at a mental hospital at Carldon. The doctor there, Wesley Anderson, had him get injected with various chemicals, which instead of erasing his memories of the war, almost all of what he remembered before the war disappeared.

This experience would turn out to be a blessing in disguise when he woke up at a better hospital on the Mainland, and after two years of recovering, he had a massive meal at a nearby café and after filling up, he realised he couldn't pay because he had no money. The understanding waitress paid the meal for him, and for compensation, they would marry.

Sometime after his recovery, he became a Stationmaster, and then a manager to an under performing region of the LNER. Head Office instructed him to turn things around as quickly as possible, and he did so by cutting down the number of facilities, services and jobs. This approach would later be modeled by Dr. Beeching when he made his cuts in the 60s. He also put forward policies and increased efficiency across networks.

In 1933, he became Chairman of the Railway Board. Constant issues with Sodor prompted him to visit the Island in 1938, and after an eventful inspection, he included that both the LNER and LMS would continue operating on Sodor, as they had demonstrated on working together, which was vital with the current situation in Europe, where another war seemed to be on the horizon. In 1939, this proved to be true and he ordered the railways to start their militarisation. He served his country throughout the war, leading the newspapers to give him the nickname, "The Churchill of Trains". He also kept his position after the war.

While he was in favor of nationalising the railways at first, he began getting doubts about the idea, and after the drama that unfolded from the leaked proposal of British Railways, he visited Sodor per a request from Mr. Zorro's wife, in 1946. Mr. Zorro had been dealing with lung cancer, which forced him to step down and for Basil Corbett to be acting controller. Mr. Zorro convinced him to run for controller of Sodor as he had a better chance of getting the job than Corbett or Freeman, and The Railway Series has already dubbed him Sodor's controller. Sir Topham won the race for controller and after returning to London to announce his resignation, he moved to Sodor.

Sir Topham began his career as new controller by giving Vicarstown a big redevelopment project to compliment the place becoming Sodor's capital city. After the redevelopment was completed the following year, he announced a reshuffle to streamline operations on Sodor. The results of the reshuffle were that: Thomas, Percy, and Toby (and later Whiff) would work on the Ffarquhar Branch; Edward and Eric would work on the Brendam Branch with Douglas, Diesel, and Adam; On the Main Line, Henry and Peter, were assigned to goods work, Gordon and Reginald were assigned passenger duties, James and Donald were assigned mixed-traffic duties. Peckett and Samantha were also assigned to be the shunters at Vicarstown and Knapford respectively. Despite some setbacks at first, the engines settled into their duties well.

In 1958, BR trialed some of their prototype diesels on Sodor. Joshua was assigned to the Main Line for a month-long trial, causing Donald to be permanently relocated to the Brendam Branch following Adam passing away from metal fatigue. BoCo was also trialed on the Main Line, but after constantly breaking down, was also reassigned after Joshua's trial ended.

In 1962, he saw the Lucky Lamp for the first time over forty years, and seeing it brought back the traumatic memories from the Carldon Hospital, as he had lost it on the way there. His wife persuaded him to see a psychiatrist, named Dr. Simmons. After a couple of sessions with him, he worked up the courage to go there himself and talk with Dr. Anderson, and put his traumatic past to rest.

In 1966, he announced to all the engines that he would retire, and a new controller, Ronald Watson took his place. He would occasionally meet with Watson giving him advise on how to run the railway.

In 1967, he was seen attending Sir Handel Brown's funeral after he passed away from a heart attack.

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Persona

Sir Topham Hatt is a strict, yet fair person who is well respected by the engines, and is often addressed formally as, Sir. He does not tolerate bullying or laziness and can be strict and serious when the engines cross or disobey him.

He is also shown to have a keen interest in food such as buffets.

Attire

Sir Topham has appeared in a morning coat, yellow waistcoat, white shirt, black tie, grey trousers, and a black top hat.

Trivia

Sir Topham is based off The Railway Series character of the same name. According to Wilbert Awdry, there are three generations of the Hatt family: Sir Topham Hatt I, Sir Charles Topham Hatt II, and Sir Stephen Topham Hatt III. It is unknown whether they will all appear in The Stories of Sodor.
- In the Sodor Short, Marc, Percy cheekily addressed Sir Topham as Charlie, suggesting the Fat Controller who appeared was Sir Charles Topham Hatt II (the second Sir Topham) or Charles Nicholas Hatt (younger son of Sir Stephen Topham Hatt Bt). If he was Charles Nicholas, his elder brother Richard must be deceased in order for him to be titled Sir.
In the Railway Series, Sir Topham is a Baronet (a title which gives him and his heirs male lawfully begotten of the body, the style Sir as a prefix to their name and the post nominal letters Bt). However, in the television series, Thomas & Friends it is never clarified whether he is a Baronet or has received a Knighthood (which only give the holder the right of the prefix, Sir, to their name and the post nominal letters of Kt). It is not yet known whether Victor will ever specify the honor bestowed on Sir Topham.
- As stated in Books, Awdry wrote that Sir Topham was always in charge of the railway, because he's more well known, as opposed to Mr. Star for the Nor'easters, and Mr. Zorro for the Midis.
- In the UK dub of the television series, he's referred to as The Fat Controller, while the U.S. dub only refers to him as Sir Topham Hatt due to societal norms in the United States.
As a Baronet or Knight Bachelor, his wife is entitled to style herself, Lady Hatt and his mother (if widowed) the Dowager Lady Hatt on application to the sovereign.
Sir Topham Hatt appears inside his car, even when he is outside it, as observed by Percy in the Sodor Short, Marc. The Fat Controller told him this was how it was designed, and that he has no control over it.
- He is also the only human character to have more than one expression, as several other human characters only have one expression making it difficult to tell how they are feeling.