In his iconic top hat and morning suit, the Fat Controller looks rather old-fashioned and formal. However, until at least the late 1950s it was customary for railway officials in Britain to be so dressed – for Sir Topham Hatt to be dressed any other way would be far more unusual. He was responsible for the line's policy of retaining steam locomotives long after they had been abolished on the rest of British Railways, and while Dr Beeching was closing down branch lines on the Mainland, Charles was reopening them on Sodor.

Kang S, Akerblad P, Kiviranta R, Gupta RK, Shingo K, et al. (2012) Regulation of early adipose commitment by Zfp521. PLoS Biol 10: e100143 The Fat Controller, whose real name is Sir Topham Hatt, is a fictional character in The Railway Series books written by Reverend W. Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. In the first two books in the series ( The Three Railway Engines and Thomas the Tank Engine) he is known as The Fat Director, and as of the third book ( James the Red Engine) he becomes The Fat Controller, as the railway has been nationalised. Sir Topham Hatt's full name is revealed in the foreword to the 1951 book Henry the Green Engine. Sir Topham Hatt married Lady Hatt and is the grandfather of Stephen and Bridget Hatt. He has a twin brother, Sir Lowham Hatt and his mother is Dowager Hatt. In the Railway Series, Stephen ultimately took the railway over and is the current Fat Controller. In the television series, he has always remained a child. Due to different societal norms, the Fat Controller is always referred to by his real name, "Sir Topham Hatt" in the US.Virtue S, Vidal-Puig A (2008) It's not how fat you are, it's what you do with it that counts. PLoS Biol 6: e237 The Fat Controller's name was revealed to be Bertram by Alicia Botti, the famous opera singer, in "Play Time", and by his mother Dowager Hatt in "Percy's Parcel", "Jitters and Japes", "Edward the Hero" and "Stop that Bus!". Mode of dress

He came to Sodor in 1901 and joined A.W. Dry and Company, a firm of drainage engineers, at Tidmouth. On their recommendation, he became an engineer to the Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Light Railway in 1910, the Tidmouth, Wellsworth and Suddery in 1912 and the North Western Railway upon its formation in 1914. On the North Western Railway, he rose to be General Manager in 1923, Managing Director in 1936 and upon Nationalisation in 1948, he was created a baronet on his appointment as Chairman of the Regional Executive. She is the only household member to originate in the TV series, never having appeared in the Railway Series books. Grandchildren: Stephen and BridgetThe character is first seen in "The Sad Story of Henry" in the first book in the Railway Series, The Three Railway Engines. When Henry refused to leave a tunnel, the story says that "A fat director, who was on the train, told the guard to get a rope". The character is referred to as The Fat Controller from the third book, James the Red Engine, for the remainder of the Railway Series, due to the nationalisation of British Railways. The name Sir Topham Hatt is first mentioned in the foreword to Henry the Green Engine and also appears on his luggage trunk in the same book in the story "Percy and the Trousers". The first use of the name Sir Topham Hatt in the TV series comes in the episode 'The Sad Story of Henry' when the narrator ( Ringo Starr in both UK version and the first US version and George Carlin in the second US version) introduces him to the audience. In fact, the basic idea is for the controller to send out the command objects to this processor so that it will then resolve or find the associated handler according to the contract (the command handler interface) and would eventually ask the handler to take care of the request from that point on.