Calles Cavern

Calles Cavern is a large cavern between Arlesburgh West and Harwick where Captain Calles hid his pirate ship.

History

Use in the 16th Century

The cavern must have been open to the Irish Sea back in the 16th century, as according to one of Salty's tales, Captain Calles was able to "sail" into the cavern. The cavern was used by the pirate to hide his pirate ship when the merchant ships and the navy tried to track him down. Captain Calles never retrieved his ship; yet there was also the possibility that the navy did not call off the search until Captain Calles' death. The cove entrance collapsed at one point, causing the pirate ship to stay there undisturbed for over 400 years.

Discovery

During the construction of the Harwick Branch Line, the cavern caused the track bed to crumble and sink, forcing the workmen to divert the track.

Later, when Thomas started helping with the construction, he did not notice the danger signs and went over the collapsing ground. The ground caved in to a deep, dark underground tunnel, and Thomas fell truck after truck until eventually terminating in the cavern where the pirate ship stood. Rocky was called to lift Thomas back up to the tracks, and also lifted out the pirate ship later that evening, to everyone's amazement.

Two nights later, Thomas met the pirate Sailor John and his railboat Skiff, who had been searching for the entrance into that cavern for years. Thomas lowered John in, who unbelievably found the treasure map which should have blown overboard.

The following day, sparks from Ryan's funnel caused by bad coal ignited some trucks of dynamite, and Thomas shunted them into the cavern in a series of quick manoeuvres. The crates in the first truck fell into the cavern and exploded, with the cavern seemingly collapsing.

Appearances

Trivia

• The cavern was likely inspired by a line from The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways which mentions the coast north of Arlesburgh (the terminus for Duck's Branch Line in The Railway Series being honeycombed with caves used by smugglers up until the mid-19th century. This also served as inspiration for the Pirate Caves of Sodor in the 1993 magazine story Duck and the Pirates!
• The set for Calles Cavern was later reused for the Lead Mines in the twenty-third series episode Deep Trouble.

Gallery

Thomas & Friends

CGI Series