Lawrence

Lawrence is an old-fashioned, impatient locomotive. He is based out of Raleigh.

Bio
Lawrence is a member of the K-6a class of dual-purpose Pacific locomotives. This class was built preceding the First World War. They were unique for their wheel arrangement in a dual-purpose locomotive, but they proved too small to handle rapidly increasing train lengths. This meant they were relegated to secondary roles. This, similarly to Murphy, explains Lawrence's world-weariness and grumpy nature. He was initially assigned to the area around Charlotte, then on the Wilson branch line where he continues to work.

Lawrence has had two tenders. His first tender is Irving, while his second is June.

Persona
Lawrence is an easily agitated locomotive who dislikes doing things any way except the way he knows best. He is good friends with Murphy, and they enjoy deprecating other locomotives, especially larger locomotives whom they feel have replaced them unfairly. Murphy also has a particular disdain for cars, especially tank cars, due to an accident he had in 1929. This is exploited by some other locomotives, notably Clifford.

Basis
Lawrence is a class K-6a Pacific locomotive. This class was built for handling both freight and passenger trains to save money where normally two locomotives would have to be assigned, but were unsuccessful because of the rapidly increasing train lengths of the era. Like most of his class, he was relegated to branch line service because of his modest axle loading and versatility.