The Railway Series - 75 Years of Sodor and Thomas the Tank Engine


Three Railway Engines

"ONCE upon a time there was a little engine called Edward."

Those are the words from the first sentence of the first book. The Three Railway Engines was published on the 12th May 1945, just over 75 years ago. Written by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry for his young son Christopher, the Three Railway Engines focuses on the story of Edward, Henry and Gordon.
Cover for the 1945 edition of 'The Three Railway Engines, illustrated by William Middleton,
Courtesy of ttte.fandom.com

Originally illustrated by William Middleton, the book was published just days after victory was declared in Europe. But the stories themselves date back to around 1942. They originate from a time when Wilbert's son, Christopher, was ill. Wilbert would tell stories of an engine named Edward. As the stories were re-told, Christopher would pick up on changes, requiring his father to start writing down the stories. The stories of Edward, Gordon and Henry were born.



Original painted illustration on paper by C. Reginald Dalby, courtesy of ttte.fandom.com

 


Thomas the Tank Engine
 
"“Having told stories about engines, we had to have models of them too. During the war years materials were hard to get, but I managed to make, out of odds and ends of wood, a push-along model of Edward with coaches and trucks to match. I never got far as making Henry or Gordon, but I did make a tank-engine which we called Thomas. Once we made Thomas, I had no peace until there were stories about him too!” - Rev. Wilbert Awdry, 1961

 The series titular character did not appear until the second book "Thomas the Tank Engine" in 1946. The little blue engine, with his "six small wheels, short stumpy funnel, short stumpy boiler and short stumpy dome."
Book 2 also had a new illustrator, Reginald Payne, who defined the iconic cover and design for the little blue tank engine. Payne's illustrations were later modified by C. Reginald Dalby.


Source Material

Rev. Wilbert Awdry based incidents at the North Western Railway (NWR) on incidents he was told or read about in periodicals. An example of this is Thomas' plunge down the mine, which was based on a real incident at Lindal Ore Depot, where locomotive 115, a Furness Railway D1 class, fell into a hole that opened up beneath it. No one was injured and the hole was eventually filled in, but the locomotive is still buried deep underground.

There is also the following case where a passenger's bootlace was used to fix the vacuum pipe on a passenger train.


It just goes to show that the original books were not so far-fetched after all.


As well as the various books and magazines he read, Wilbert Awdry was also a volunteer at the Talyllyn and for a time lived in the vicarage at Emneth, near to the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway. The tramway provided the basis for the book Tramway Engines in 1972.

The Talyllyn, which he was a volunteer at, provided the basis for the Skarloey railway. Awdry was in fact a volunteer on the Talyllyn in the early days of preservation. He appeared in the short film "Railway with a Heart of Gold" by the filmmaker Carson "Kit" Davidson. The derailing of No.6 Sir Haydn was in fact unplanned. Caused by the poor state of the track, the rails had widened causing the locomotive to jump the rails. The film is over-exposed when the train crashes.



Rev W Awdry appears at 5m20s

Rev W Awdry wrote 26 books in the main series, with Tramway Engines being the final volume in 1972.


Along cometh the son

Christopher took over the reins, and in 1983 published his first volume, Really Useful Engines. He came to write 16 books overall. Christopher would come to write the final book in 2011, called Thomas and his Friends. No further books have been written in the Railway Series, bringing an end to a 66 year journey.

Christopher Awdry inherited his father's love of trains, and was the recipient of the original bedtime stories told by Wilbert. Christopher, like his father, also writes railway safety literature for schools. Christopher was invited by his father to start writing his own stories. Christopher had been contributing articles to Steam Railway magazine. Christopher has two children of his own, Richard and Verity.



Artwork

To go with the stories, a number of artists have worked on the Railway Series. Excluding the sketches made by the Rev Awdry, the first artist commissioned to illustrate the series was William Middleton.
Middleton's artwork caused issues for the future. He had drawn incorrect wheel arrangements on the locomotives. Middleton's illustrations are simpler and more 'toy' like, against how Awdry felt the characters should be portrayed. The Three Railway Engines would be re-drawn later by C. Reginald Dalby from the 8th edition onwards.

C. Reginald Dalby's (left) artwork compared to William Middleton's (Right)

William Middleton is alleged to have not believed the books will go far and did not put any effort into his illustrations. As can be seen above, the look is very different to the later artwork, with Dalby's being more technically accurate. Some inconsistencies were carried across to the new style.

Reginald Payne took over from William Middleton and is responsible for one of the most iconic images from Thomas the Tank Engine. Payne's work is much cleaner and brighter that Middleton's. Payne was invited to return for James the Red Engine, but Payne was unable to resume his role due to a nervous breakdown,

1995-2015 Cover of Thomas the Tank Engine

C. Reginald Dalby came on board for book 3. Dalby's work pushed for a more technically accurate image and is core to the modern image of Thomas and the other locomotives. Dalby re-illustrated The Three Railway Engines and modified Reginald Payne's artwork from Thomas the Tank Engine. Dalby continued until book 11, Percy the Small Engine.

Percy the Small Engine

Book 11 was to be Dalby's final book. Rev W Awdry said that Percy looked like "a green caterpillar with red stripes". Offended, Dalby refused to illustrate any more.
John T. Kenney illustrated the The Eight Famous Engines, which saw our engines heading over to the mainland and meeting with some of their British Railways counterparts.

 Illustration from The Eight Famous Engines (1957)


Kenney's time on the Railway series came to an end with Gallant Old Engine.

Peter and Gunvor Edwards Illustrated Stepney the Bluebell Engine in 1963. Their style was very different to their predecessors. Their time covers the period in which British Railways were decommissioning and scrapping their steam fleet, with the final days of steam on the mainline in 1968.


Image from Stepney the Bluebell Engine (1963)

Their art style depicted the grime of the era and the running down of the railways in contrast to the bright work of the previous books. Peter and Gunvor Edwards continued to illustrate the Railway Series until the Rev W Awdry's final book, Tramway Engines. Drawing a close to the Edwards' work, and Wilbert's authorship of the series.

Clive Spong was to become the final artist in the railway series. Christopher Awdry's books had come in at a time where the preservation movement had settled in and the dirt and grime of the end of steam era had gone. Clive Spong illustrated the series under Christopher Awdry's tenure, bringing back the bright look of the earlier artists and making Sodor and much cleaner place.

Spong would go on to illustrate the final volume, Thomas and his Friends, in 2011.

Final image from book 42, Thomas and his Friends


The TV Series

Multiple attempts at televising the Railway Series were made. In 1953 the BBC attempted to adapt The Sad Story of Henry using OO gauge models. The episode was a disaster. With it being the early days of television, lots of shows were live. Some points had not been set and the model of Henry derailed. To which a hand reached in to place Henry back on the rails.

No recording of the episode was made and is considered a lost episode.

Decades past and another attempt was made. In 1973 Andrew Lloyd Webber attempted to make a musical version of the books:-

"Come take a ride with the eight famous engines
Famous and Faithful and driven by steam
Each one is run by the branch line Controller
Each part of his scheme
The Fat Controllerʼs team..."

Manipulated artwork from the 1973 Pilot - Lost Media Archive


Finished in 1976, the American market that the musical had been targeted at was disinterested. Also the agreement required that control over the Railway Series would come under the control of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Evita had become a huge stage hit by the time it was completed.

Andrew Lloyd Webber started his company, The Really Useful Group, taking the phrase from the Railway Series. He went on to create Starlight Express which is heavily influenced by the books.

In 1970 the series was covered in the British children's TV show Jackanory, where books were being read by celebrities.

Then in 1983, Britt Allcroft, David Mitton and Robert D. Cardona produced the first pilot of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. The 1983 pilot was never broadcast, but a full series was commissioned for broadcast in 1984. On the 9th October 1984, the series premiered on ITV in the UK, with a double episode of Thomas and Gordon and Edward and Gordon.

The Beatles Drummer, Ringo Starr, was taken on to narrate the series. Britt Allcroft felt he had a relatable voice for the audience. Ringo did not take the offer at first, but upon reading the books he finally accepted. Ringo would go onto narrate both series 1 and 2, before being taken over by Michael Angelis in series 3.
Still from the series 3 episode Henry's Forest

Series 3 would cause controversy. With the exception of Thomas' Christmas Party, all of the episodes produced were based on stories from the book. Series 3 contained the first original story in the main series, Henry's Forest. This upset the Reverend Awdry, as a railway would not have trees so close to the line. Also, stopping in section without alerting the signalman breaks rule 55, which a driver would never do.

Series 4 came along in 1995. Many of the stories were drawn from the books focused on the Skarloey Railway. Starting off with the tale of the Mid-Sodor, the rescue of Stuart and Falcon and the loss and discovery of Duke, from the book Duke the Lost Engine. Series 4 was to be the final series that was based on the books.

From series 5 onwards the series has gone from being model based to partially CGI, and are now fully computer animated. More characters have been introduced and much of the literary roots have gone from the characters.


Being inducted into the National Collection

 In 1991, the Railway Series books were added to the National Collection. As part of the induction, Christopher Awdry wrote Thomas and the Great Railway Show. This volume covers Thomas' trip to the National Railway Museum at York.

Thomas and the Great Railway Show cover art


Thomas travels to York and gets to meet other locomotives from the national collection, including Rocket, Mallard, Green Arrow and Duchess of Hamilton. The railway series is now part of the NRM library.


The 'Real' Thomas

The Nene Valley Railway has a very unique engine, as it's the only 'official' Thomas. Hudswell Clark 0-6-0T No 1800 was named 'Thomas' by the staff at the British Sugar Corporation, where 1800 spent its working life.
 
Hudswell Clark 1800 'THOMAS'

Preserved at the Nene Valley Railway, the locomotive was named THOMAS on the 21st June 1971. A plaque is affixed to the cab sides of the engine commemorating the occasion.



The Future?

 There is a future for the little blue E2 and his friends. The TV series has long departed from its roots, introducing many new characters and adventures outside of Sodor. Accompanying the series are new toys and books. Thomas can be seen at many heritage railways on their "Day out with Thomas" events. Some locomotives have been re-appropriated to represent characters from the series. If the series continues to adapt while being respectful of its roots, then Thomas could easily see through the next 75 years.

So to the Awdry family, Britt Allcroft, the illustrators and everyone involved, thank you!


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