Virginia Hartford

Virginia Elizabeth Pike Hartford is the mother of Katy and the wife of Lucas, as well as his right hand woman and second in command.

Biography
Virginia was born in 1956 in Bath Green Park, Somerset, England. Like Lucas, she too has railway blood in her family. Her father was an engine driver for the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway and her grandfather (on her mother's side) was the shed-master of Bristol. As a child, her house was near the S&DJR mainline and whenever her father passed by her house, he would give a whistle to her. She sometimes went down to the engine depot and take a look at the engines based there. She was very fond of the S&DJR 7F 2-8-0s. When the S&DJR closed down in March 1966, she and her family moved up north where her father drove an LMS Black 5 4-6-0.

After the end of BR steam on August 11th, 1968, he became the shed-master of Manchester shed. In 1973, Virginia graduated early from high school and moved to the USA to enroll in the University of Tennessee. That's when she met her future husband Lucas who recently came back from the Vietnam War. They later married after their College graduation in 1977 and honeymooned at in Sheldon, North Carolina. In 1978, Virginia gave birth to her first child, Lucy, then Katy and Keith in 1980 (although Keith went missing after being abducted in 1984). Then to Joseph and Brittney in 1987. Then Andy in 1995. She and Lucas adopted Ling from China in March 1995 and finally on January 4th, 1996, she gave birth to her final child, Thurgood.

Virginia is Lucas' seceretary and second-in-command.

Personality
Virginia is a loving mother and understanding wife who speaks with a clear British accent with her usual catchphrase "Bleedin' 'eck!".

Trivia

 * Virginia gave birth to Katy and Keith in Barney's backseat.
 * According to the author, her earrings are actually fish hooks, Lucas knows this because he was the one who gave them to her. Fortunately, for now, she doesn't know this.