Richard Robert Norramby

Richard Robert Norramby is the current Earl of Sodor.

The Railway Series
Richard Robert Norramby was born in 1940 to Robert Charles Norramby, "Duke" of Sodor and succeeded to the title as a minor in 1943, when his father was killed in action in North Africa during the Second World War. He was seven years old when the Mid Sodor Railway closed in January 1947 and was thus unaware that the "Dukes" were presented with an engine named in their honour, specifically known as Duke.

As he was unaware, he did not claim the engine during the railway's closure and Duke was locked in a shed for twenty-two years. He opened the Skarloey Railway Loop Line at Lakeside in 1965, at the age of twenty-five. He drove Skarloey around the Loop and then gave a speech to the assembled crowd and engines. Due to a misunderstood conversation with Duck, Peter Sam mistakenly believed he had been scrapped; Richard assured the engine he was real and well.

Also in 1965, he was forced to sell his Mansion on the Estate, life there having become impossible and moved into a comfortable house on the outskirts of Ulfstead. Ulfstead Castle was offered to the Sodor Island Trust, while the castle muniments, which included such treasures as the Sigrid Saga and the Book of Sir Harald, were placed on loan to the Island Records Office at Suddery.

In 1969, he was informed of Duke by the Owner, and he told Fergus Duncan, who arranged a search party to find the engine. Duke was found while Richard was at the age of twenty-nine. He visited Duke before he was removed from his shed; Duke insisted on being cleaned beforehand. He shared the costs of Duke's restoration with the Fat Controller and Sir Handel Lloyd Brown.

Appearances
Railway Series=

The Railway Series

 * Very Old Engines - Duck and Dukes
 * Duke the Lost Engine - Granpuff, Bulldog and Sleeping Beauty

Companion Volumes

 * 1987 - The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways
 * 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection
 * 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines

Trivia

 * Richard Robert Norramby opened the Skarloey Railway loop line when he was twenty-five years old.
 * Richard Robert Norramby is commonly referred to as the Duke of Sodor due to the Earls involvement in the Duchy of Lancaster, which lacks a Duke.