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Clive Spong is an English illustrator of The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry. He illustrated the books written by Christopher Awdry published since 1983.
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Clive Spong is an English illustrator of The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry. He illustrated the books written by Christopher Awdry published since 1983.
Spong is a graduate of Leicester College of Art, like John T. Kenney and Clarence Reginald Dalby, who were among the earlier illustrators of the Railway Series books. He remained the illustrator throughout the run of Christopher Awdry's 14 books, illustrating more titles in the series than any other artist.
Spong was one of the first illustrators to break Wilbert's golden rule about engines having no faces outside of Sodor – he did this in book 32 of the series, Toby, Trucks and Trouble – depicting Toby and his brother with faces whilst outside Sodor; in book 35, Thomas and the Great Railway Show – depicting National Collection engines such as Mallard, Duchess of Hamilton, Green Arrow and Iron Duke (complete with a mustache) with faces; and in book 38, Wilbert the Forest Engine – depicting Sixteen with a face when on his railway outside of Sodor. He also illustrated pop-up books including Henry and the Elephant from Troublesome Engines. [1]
Spong illustrated pop-up books and the spin-offs, Thomas's Christmas Party, Thomas and the Evil Diesel, Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree, and also The Rev. W. Awdry's extended rewrite of Thomas Comes to Breakfast. Some of his character illustrations were used to depict characters in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways
Clive Spong did the illustrations for the My Thomas Story Library book BoCo, along with Jerry Smith. This is the only non-Railway Series book he worked on.
Wilbert Vere Awdry was an English Anglican minister, railway enthusiast, and children's author. He was best known for creating Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas and several other characters he created appeared in his Railway Series.
Christopher Vere Awdry is an English author. He is best known for his contributions to The Railway Series of books featuring Thomas the Tank Engine, which was started by his father, Wilbert Awdry (1911–1997). He has also produced children's books based on a number of other railways, as well as non-fiction articles and books on heritage railways. He was born at Devizes, the family moving to Kings Norton, Birmingham when he was aged 5 months. Awdry was educated at Worksop College, a public school in North Nottinghamshire.
The Fat Controller, whose real name is Sir Topham Hatt, is a fictional character in The Railway Series books written by the Reverend W. Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. In the first two books in the series he is known as The Fat Director, and as of the third book 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.
James is a fictional anthropomorphic red tender locomotive from The Railway Series children's books by the Reverend Awdry and the TV series adaptation Thomas & Friends. He is a mixed-traffic engine, which means he is just as capable of pulling coaches as trucks. He has a 2-6-0 ("Mogul") wheel arrangement and is engine number 5 on the North Western Railway, The Fat Controller's railway on the Island of Sodor.
The Railway Series is a set of British books about a railway, called the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in 1945. Twenty-six were written by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry, the final one in 1972. Sixteen more were written by his son, Christopher Awdry, between 1983 and 2011. The series features many anthropomorphic vehicles, including Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas became the most popular character in the series and was the titular character of the television series Thomas & Friends from 1984 to 2021. Characters and stories from the books formed the basis of the children's television series.
Toby is a fictional anthropomorphic brown tram engine in The Railway Series by the Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry and his son, Christopher; he also appears in the television series adaptation Thomas & Friends. Toby, a tram engine with cowcatchers and sideplates, carries the North Western Railway running number seven and works on the same Ffarquhar Branch Line as Thomas the Tank Engine.
The Island of Sodor is a fictional island featured as the setting for The Railway Series books by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry, begun in 1945, and for the popular Thomas & Friends television series since 1984. It is depicted as being located in the Irish Sea, between the Isle of Man and the English mainland near Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, with the real-life Walney Island depicted as part of Sodor.
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends is a children's television series about the engines and other characters working on the railways of the Island of Sodor, and is based on The Railway Series books written by the Reverend W. Awdry.
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends is a children's television series about the engines and other characters working on the railways of the Island of Sodor, and is based on The Railway Series books written by the Reverend W. Awdry. It was produced by Clearwater Features Ltd. for Britt Allcroft (Thomas) Ltd. and Central Independent Television.
The GER Class C53 was a class of twelve 0-6-0T steam tram locomotives designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. They passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at the grouping, and received the LNER classification J70.
The Railway Stories are a series of audio adaptations of The Railway Series books by the Rev. W Awdry and his son Christopher.
Peter Edwards and Gunvor Edwards were two Swedish-English impressionistic artists who illustrated several of The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry from 1963 to 1972. Gunvor died at the age of eighty on 23 April 2014 after a battle with dementia, and Peter died at the age of eighty-three on 3 April 2017 from cancer.
John Theodore Eardley Kenney (1911–1972) was an English illustrator who worked on a number of Reverend Wilbert Awdry's The Railway Series books from 1957 to 1962.
Clarence Reginald Dalby (1904–1983), born in Leicester, England, was the third illustrator of The Railway Series by W.V. Awdry and a Royal Air Force intelligence officer during the Second World War.
Merchandise for the Thomas & Friends franchise has been produced to capitalize on the success of the television series Thomas & Friends. Whilst merchandise was produced alongside due to the popularity of the first of The Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry since 1945, and the original broadcast of the television series in 1984 in the United Kingdom, large numbers of manufacturers have sought to produce Thomas-branded items after the television series was broadcast in the United States and Japan.
Thomas the Tank Engine is an anthropomorphised fictional tank locomotive in the British Railway Series books by Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher, published from 1945. He became the most popular and famous character in the series, and is the titular protagonist in the accompanying television adaptation series Thomas & Friends and its reboot Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go.
Thomas & Friends is a media franchise created by Rev. W. Awdry and Britt Allcroft. The franchise revolves around a railway, called the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. The current title character of the franchise is Thomas the Tank Engine, an anthropomorphised steam locomotive, who works with other engines, including Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby and many others. The franchise began with stories told from Wilbert Awdry to his son. In 1984, it was turned into a television series, which spawned a reboot series, titled Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go.
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