While much of his past is not known, Sir Topham Hatt was mentioned to be born into money and took his name to heart, becoming a known figure to the public as a capitalist by wearing a top hat all the time as seen during one of the footages. In the 1970's, Sodor Island was increasingly under the supervision of British Rail, who appointed Sir Hatt as the railway's new controller. He had received negative reactions from the islanders due to banning steam engine volunteers, firing most rail employees and shutting down the branch lines and smaller stations. However, when Sir Topham Hatt heard about the Sodor Experiment, he staged a hostile take over of Sodor Research and bought a controlling share. As a result, work began on bio-fusion experiments. People who were able to afford it would be turned into locomotives and other vehicles, but most of these experiments ended up failing and getting either getting injured or killed.