The Railway Series is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. Twenty-six books were written by Awdry, the final one being written in October 1972. Sixteen more were written by his son, Christopher Awdry, between September 1983 and July 2011. The series features many anthropomorphic vehicles, including Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas became the most popular and famous character in the series and the titular character of the television series Thomas & Friends from 1984 to 2021. The children's television series originated as adaptations of these stories.
Nearly all of The Railway Series stories were based on real-life events. As a lifelong railway enthusiast, Awdry was keen that his stories should be as realistic as possible. The engine characters were mostly based upon real classes of locomotive, and some of the railways themselves were based upon real lines in the British Isles.
Audio adaptations of The Railway Series have been recorded at various times under the title The Railway Stories.
Origins
The stories began in 1942, when Christopher Awdry, at the age of two, had measles and was confined to a darkened room. His father told him stories and rhymes to cheer him up. One of Christopher's favourite rhymes was:[1]
Early in the morning, Down at the station, All the little engines Standing in a row.
Along comes the driver, Pulls the little lever Puff, puff! Chuff, chuff! Off we go!
The origins of this rhyme are unknown, but research by Brian Sibley suggests that it originated at some point prior to the First World War.[1] The words, with some slight alterations, were later set to music by Lee Ricks and Slim Gaillard in 1948, and released by Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra as a single entitled "Down by the Station". Wilbert Awdry's answers to Christopher's questions about the rhyme led to the creation of a short story, "Edward's Day Out", featuring Edward the Blue Engine, an old engine who is allowed out of the shed for a day. Another story about Edward followed, this time featuring Gordon the Big Engine, named after a child living on the same road who Christopher considered rather bossy.[2]
A third story had its origins in a limerick of which Christopher was fond,[3] and which Awdry used to introduce The Sad Story of Henry:[4]
Once, an engine attached to a train Was afraid of a few drops of rain It went into a tunnel, And squeaked through its funnel And never came out again.
A page from Nonsense Nonsense! (1902) which contains the rhyme.
As with the previous rhyme, the origins of this are uncertain, but Awdry received a letter telling him that a similar poem had appeared in a book of children's rhymes, published in 1902:[3]
Once an engine when fixed to a train Was alarmed at a few drops of rain, So went "puff" from its funnel Then fled to a tunnel, And would not come out again.
This story introduced the popular characters Henry the Green Engine and the Fat Director. Encouraged by his wife Margaret, Awdry submitted the three stories to publishing firm Edmund Ward in Leicester in 1943. The head of the children's books division requested a fourth story to bring the three engines together and redeem Henry, who had been bricked up in a tunnel in the previous story. Although Wilbert had not intended that the three engines live on the same railway, he complied with the request in the story Edward, Gordon and Henry. The four stories were published by Edmund Ward in 1945 as a single volume, The Three Railway Engines, illustrated by William Middleton.
Christmas 1942 saw the genesis of the character that grew to become the most famous fictional locomotive in the world. Awdry constructed a toy tank engine for Christopher, which gained the name Thomas. Stories about Thomas were requested by Christopher, and 1946 saw the publication of Thomas the Tank Engine. This was illustrated by Reginald Payne, whom Wilbert felt to be a great improvement over Middleton. Like its predecessor, this book was a success and Awdry was asked to write stories about James, a character who first appeared in Thomas and the Breakdown Train, the final story in Thomas the Tank Engine. The book James the Red Engine appeared in 1948, the year in which the railways in Britain were nationalised, and from this point onwards the Fat Director was known by his familiar title of the Fat Controller.
James the Red Engine was notable as the first book to be illustrated by C. Reginald Dalby, perhaps the most famous of the Railway Series artists, and certainly the most controversial due to the criticism later aimed at him by Awdry. [citation needed] Dalby illustrated every volume up to Percy the Small Engine (1956), and also produced new illustrations for The Three Railway Engines and made changes to those of Thomas the Tank Engine.
In making the stories as real as possible, Awdry took a lot of inspiration from a number of sources in his extensive library and found the Railway Gazette's "Scrapheap" column particularly useful as a source of unusual railway incidents that were recreated for The Railway Series characters.
Awdry continued working on The Railway Series until 1972, when Tramway Engines (book 26 in the series) was published. However, he had been finding it increasingly difficult to come up with ideas for new stories. After this, he felt that "the well had run dry" and so decided that the time had come to retire. He wrote no further Railway Series volumes, but later wrote a spin-off story (Thomas's Christmas Party) for the television series, and expanded versions of some of his earlier stories, as well as writing The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways. In addition, he wrote a number of short stories and articles for Thomas the Tank Engine Annuals.[5]
Christopher Awdry was a keen railway enthusiast like his father. On a visit to the Nene Valley Railway he was inspired to write his first story Triple Header based on a railwayman's account of a locomotive running out of steam short of its destination. In the story, Thomas, Percy and Duck take on Gordon's Express but find it more than they can handle. Christopher wrote three further stories, Stop Thief!, Mind That Bike and Fish and showed them to his father, who encouraged Christopher to submit them for publication. At the time, work on the television adaptation was underway, and Kaye and Ward were keen to revive The Railway Series. The book Really Useful Engines was published in 1983. Wilbert had considered this title for his own 27th volume before abandoning the project.[citation needed]
The success of the television series led to tensions between Christopher and the publishers. Thomas was the central character of the television series and the publishers wanted stories focused on Thomas. Christopher produced Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines that had one story about Thomas, while Thomas Comes Home did not feature Thomas until the last page.
The series' 40th volume, New Little Engine, was published in 1996. Egmont Publishing who had taken over from Kay and Ward, did not publish further Railway Series books and allowed the existing back catalogue to go out of print. There was a selected print run in 2004 of the original 26 books, but in 2005, the sixtieth anniversary of Wilbert's first book, the Awdry family were disappointed that not all of the stories were available in their original format.[7]
In 2005 Christopher published Sodor: Reading Between the Lines under his own imprint Sodor Enterprises. This book expanded the fictional world of Sodor. He published several more books, mostly set on real railways in Britain. In 2006, Egmont started to re-publish Wilbert's books in their original format. The fourteen books written by Christopher were re-released in August 2007. On 3 September 2007, Christopher published the 41st book in the series, Thomas and Victoria, illustrated by Clive Spong. The book addresses issues relating to the railway preservation movement.
In July 2011, Egmont released the 42nd book in the series: Thomas and his Friends. The final story ended with the words "The End".[5]
Christopher Awdry said that he had other material, which he hoped would be published. He narrated new stories about the narrow-gauge engines on "Duncan Days" at the Talyllyn Railway in Wales.[citation needed]
Illustrators
The Railway Series is perhaps as highly regarded for its illustrations as for its writing, which in the immediate post-Second World War era were seen as uniquely vivid and colourful. Indeed, some critics (notably Miles Kington) have claimed that the quality of the illustrations outshines that of the writing.
The first edition of The Three Railway Engines was illustrated by the artist William Middleton, with whom Awdry was deeply dissatisfied. The second artist to work on the series was Reginald Payne, who illustrated Thomas the Tank Engine in a far more realistic style. Despite an early disagreement as to how Thomas should look, Awdry was ultimately pleased with the pictures produced.
Payne later suffered a nervous breakdown and proved impossible to contact to illustrate James the Red Engine, so C. Reginald Dalby was hired. Dalby also illustrated the next eight books in the series. The Three Railway Engines was reprinted with Dalby's artwork replacing William Middleton's and Dalby also touched up Payne's artwork in the second book. Dalby's work on the series proved popular with readers, but not with the author, who repeatedly clashed with him over issues of accuracy and consistency. Dalby resigned from the series in 1956, following an argument over the portrayal of Percy the Small Engine in the book of the same name.[8] Awdry had built a model of Percy as a reference for the artist but Dalby did not make use of it. Despite the tempestuous relationship with Awdry, Dalby is probably the best remembered of the series' artists.
With The Eight Famous Engines (1957), John T. Kenney took over the illustration of the series. His style was less colourful but more realistic than Dalby's. Kenney made use of Awdry's model engines as a reference. As a result of his commitment to realism and technical accuracy, he enjoyed a far more comfortable working relationship with Awdry, which lasted until Gallant Old Engine (1962), when Kenney's eyesight began to deteriorate.
The artist initially chosen to replace him was the Swedish artist Gunvor Edwards. She began illustrating Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine, but felt unsuited to the work. She was assisted for that volume by her husband Peter, who effectively took over from then on. Both artists retained credit for the work, and the "Edwards era" lasted until Wilbert Awdry's last volume, Tramway Engines. The style used in these volumes was still essentially realistic but had something of an impressionistic feel.
When Christopher Awdry took over as author of the series in 1983, the publisher was keen to find an illustrator who would provide work that had the gem-like appeal of Dalby's pictures, but also had the realism of Kenney and Edwards' artwork. The artist chosen was Clive Spong. He illustrated all of Christopher Awdry's books, a greater number than any other artist working on The Railway Series. He also produced illustrations for a number of spin-off stories written by the Awdrys, and his artwork was used in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways.
The Rev. W. Awdry received numerous letters from young fans asking questions about the engines and their railway, as well as letters concerning inconsistencies within the stories. In an effort to answer these, he began to develop a specific setting for the books. On a visit to the Isle of Man, he discovered that the bishop there is known as the Bishop of Sodor and Man. The "Sodor" part of the title comes from the Sudreys, but Awdry decided that a fictional island between the Isle of Man and England by that name would be an ideal setting for his stories.
The Awdrys both wrote about Sodor as if it were a real place that they visited, and that the stories were obtained first-hand. This was often "documented" in the foreword to each book. In some of W. Awdry's later books he appeared as the Thin Clergyman and was described as a writer, though his name and connections to the series were never made explicit. He was invariably accompanied by the Fat Clergyman, based on the Rev. Teddy Boston,[9] who was a fellow railway enthusiast and close friend. The two Clergymen were portrayed as railway enthusiasts, and were responsible for annoying the Small Engines and discovering Duke the Lost Engine. They were often figures of fun, liable to be splashed with water or to fall through a roof.
Awdry also appeared in a number of illustrations, usually as a joke on the part of the illustrator. In one illustration by John T. Kenney in Duck and the Diesel Engine he appears with a figure who bears a strong resemblance to C. Reginald Dalby, which Brian Sibley has suggested might be a dig at Dalby's inaccurate rendition of the character of Duck. A vicar appears in Edward the Blue Engine and other volumes as the owner of Trevor the Traction Engine. This may be a reference to Teddy Boston, who had himself saved a traction engine from scrap[citation needed].
Dalby illustrated the entire Awdry family – Wilbert, Margaret, Christopher, Veronica and Hilary – watching Percy pass through a station ("Percy runs away" in Troublesome Engines (p53)).[10] This was Christopher Awdry's only appearance in an illustration, but he often described meetings with the engines in the book forewords, usually with some degree of humour.
Other people associated with The Railway Series were also referenced. In Dalby's books, he made allusions to himself twice on store signs (Seen in Off the Rails and Saved from Scrap) and a reference to E.T.L. Marriott, who edited The Railway Series, in Percy Takes the Plunge on a "Ship Chandlers" company sign. Peter Edwards also notes that he based Gordon's face on Eric Marriot's[citation needed].
The Fat Controller (originally The Fat Director in the earliest books which pre-dated the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948) was a fictional character, although Christopher Awdry has conceded that his doctor at the time may have provided an 'unconscious contribution' for his father.[11] The Thin Controller, in charge of the narrow-gauge engines in the books was based on Mr Edward Thomas, the manager of the Talyllyn Railway in its last years before enthusiasts took it over in 1951.[citation needed]
A number of the stories are based on articles which appeared in railway enthusiast publications of the period. The monthly Railway Magazine was a long-running enthusiasts' companion and the origins of several stories can be recognised. The railway books written by C. Hamilton Ellis, were another source.[11]
Preservation movement
Awdry used the books to promote steam railways in the United Kingdom. The Skarloey Railway was based on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales, where he volunteered. The Skarloey books often included a promotion for the Talyllyn Railway, either in the stories themselves, or in a footnote or the foreword. Some of the illustrations in the books depict recognisable locations on the Talyllyn Railway.
From the 1980s onwards, the Talyllyn Railway occasionally repainted one of their locomotives to resemble its Skarloey Railway "twin". As well as paint schemes and names taken from the books' artwork, these locomotives are fitted with fibreglass "faces". These characters' appearances have been written into The Railway Series by Christopher Awdry in the form of visits by the fictional engines to the Talyllyn Railway.
From Duck and the Diesel Engine onwards, a number of real engines and railways were explicitly featured. Flying Scotsman, City of Truro, Stepney and Wilbert were all real locomotives that appeared in The Railway Series, the latter two having books dedicated to them: Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine and CHristopher Awdry's Wilbert the Forest Engine. Wilbert's appearance was of particular significance as the locomotive was named in tribute to Wilbert Awdry who was the president of the Dean Forest Railway at the time.
Satirical magazine Private Eye produced a book called Thomas the Privatised Tank Engine, written in the style of The Railway Series. The stories were strongly critical of private railway companies and the Government of John Major, and covered subjects such as the Channel Tunnel, London Underground, transport of radioactive waste and the perceived dangerous state of the railways.
Andrew Lloyd Webber wanted to produce a musical television series based on The Railway Series, but Awdry refused to give him the control he wanted. Lloyd Webber would go on to compose the 1984 musical Starlight Express, and create The Really Useful Group, a name inspired by the catchphrase "Really Useful Engines".
There have been three adaptations of the series produced. The first was an unsuccessful pilot in 1953, which was filmed live and had a number of technical errors. Around three decades later came the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends series, which premiered in 1984 and concluded in 2021. This was followed by Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go!, a spin-off of the previous series which uses 2D animation and a more cartoonish style.
1 2 Awdry, Christopher (2005). Sodor: Reading Between the Lines. Sodor Enterprises. ISBN978-0954966515.
Related Research Articles
Thomas & Friends is a British children's television series that aired for 24 series and 584 episodes from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021. Based on The Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher, the series was developed for television by Britt Allcroft. The series follows the adventures of Thomas, an anthropomorphised blue steam locomotive on the fictional North Western Railway on the Island of Sodor with his friends Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby and others who are engines of The Fat Controller.
Wilbert Vere Awdry, often credited as Rev. W. Awdry, was an English Anglican minister, railway enthusiast, and children's author. He is best remembered as the creator of Thomas the Tank Engine and several other characters who 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 late father, Wilbert Awdry (1911–1997). He 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 five months. Awdry was educated at Worksop College, a public school in North Nottinghamshire.
The Fat Controller 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 he is known as The Fat Director, and as of the third book he becomes The Fat Controller, as the railway has been nationalised. In the foreword to the 1951 book Henry the Green Engine, his real name is revealed to be Sir Topham Hatt.
James the Red Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic tender locomotive from The Railway Series children's books by the Reverend Awdry and the TV series adaptation Thomas & Friends. James is the number 5 engine on the North Western Railway, the Fat Controller's railway on the Island of Sodor.
Toby the Tram Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic tram engine who debuted in The Railway Series by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher. He is best known for his appearance in the television series adaptation Thomas & Friends, and would later appear briefly its reboot, Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go. Toby has cowcatchers and sideplates, and is the North Western Railway's number 7. He works on the Ffarquhar Branch Line alongside Thomas the Tank Engine.
The Island of Sodor is a fictional island that is the setting for The Railway Series books by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. It is also the setting of the Thomas & Friends television series, though it is significantly different from the island in the books. Sodor lies in the Irish Sea between Cumbria and the Isle of Man.
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.
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.
The Railway Stories are a series of audio adaptations of The Railway Series books by the Rev. W Awdry and his son Christopher.
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.
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 80 on 23 April 2014 from dementia, and Peter died at the age of 83 on 3 April 2017 from cancer.
John Theodore Eardley Kenney (1911–1972) was an English illustrator who worked on several of Reverend Wilbert Awdry's The Railway Series books from 1957 to 1962.
Clarence Reginald Dalby, 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.
Edwin Richard Boston, known as Teddy Boston, was a Church of England clergyman and author. He built a narrow gauge railway in the grounds of his Rectory at Cadeby, Leicestershire, and was immortalised as the "Fat Clergyman" in The Railway Series children's books by the Rev. W. Awdry.
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 character in the series, and is the titular protagonist in the accompanying television series adaptation Thomas & Friends and its reboot Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go.
Thomas & Friends is a children's media franchise created by Britt Allcroft and currently owned by Mattel. The franchise revolves around an ensemble cast of anthropomorphic steam locomotives and other vehicles, including the titular protagonist Thomas the Tank Engine, who work on the Island of Sodor.
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