The Railway Series
 |
Map showing the railways on the fictional Island of Sodor (click to enlarge). |
The Railway Series is a set of story books about a
fictional
railway system located on the fictional
Island of Sodor and the
engines that lived on it. There are 40 books in the series, published between 1945 and 1996. Twenty-six were written by
Rev. W. Awdry, up to 1972. From 1983 a further 14 were written by his son,
Christopher Awdry. Fourteen of the books remain in print.
The books are perhaps most recently better known as the basis of the children's
television series
Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.
The stories began in 1942. When Christopher Awdry had measles, his father would tell him stories and rhymes. One of Christopher's favourite rhymes was,
Early in the morning,Down at the station,All the little enginesStanding in a row.Along comes the driver,Pulls a little leverPuff puff, chuff chuff,Off we go!The precise origins of this rhyme are unknown. Wilbert Awdry's answers to Christopher's questions about the rhyme led to the creation of a short story, 'Edward's Day Out'. This told the story of
Edward the Blue Engine, an old engine who is allowed out of the shed for a day. Another story about Edward followed, which this time also featured a character called
Gordon the Big Engine, named after a rather bossy child who lived on the same road as Christopher.
A third story, 'The Sad Story of Henry', had its origins in a
limerick:
Once an engine attached to a trainWas afraid of a few drops of rain.It went into a tunnelAnd squeaked through its funnelAnd never came out again.As with the previous rhyme, the origins of this are unknown, but research by
Brian Sibley suggests that it originated at some point prior to the
First World War. This story introduced the popular characters
Henry the Green Engine and the
Fat Director. Encouraged by Margaret, his wife, Wilbert submitted the three stories to Edmund Ward for publication 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 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 locomotive in the world. Wilbert 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. (The foreword from this book is used at the beginning of current seasons of
Thomas & Friends), 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 Wilbert 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. 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.
Successive books would introduce such popular characters as
Annie and Clarabel,
Percy the Small Engine and
Toby the Tram Engine.
Rev. W. 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, and 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 for the television series
Thomas' Christmas Party and expanded versions of some of his earlier stories, as well as
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.
Christopher Awdry, for whom the stories were first devised, took over almost by accident. He was a keen railway enthusiast like his father, and it was on a visit to the
Nene Valley Railway that he received the inspiration for his first story. A railwayman's account of a locomotive running out of steam short of its destination became 'Triple Header', a story in which
Thomas,
Percy and
Duck take on
Gordon's Express but find it more than they can handle. Christopher devised three other stories, 'Stop Thief!', 'Mind That Bike' and 'Fish'.
He showed them to his father, who suggested that he submit them for publication, with his blessing. At the time, work on the
television adaptation was underway, and so Kaye and Ward (then publishers of the series) were willing to revive the Railway Series. The book
Really Useful Engines was published in 1983. By coincidence, Rev. W. Awdry had considered this as a title for his own 27th volume before abandoning the project.
Thirteen more books followed, including the series' 50th anniversary volume,
Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines. A number of stories were also written for the television series, most notably
More About Thomas the Tank Engine, the Railway Series' 30th volume.
However, Christopher Awdry found himself increasingly coming into conflict with his publishers, which ironically arose through the success of the television series. The television series had made Thomas its central character, and therefore the most well-known of the engines. Consequently, the publishers were increasingly demanding stories that would focus on Thomas at the expense of other characters. As a compromise, volumes appeared that were named after Thomas but did not actually focus upon him.
Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines featured only one story about Thomas and
Thomas Comes Home did not feature Thomas until the last page.
The series' 40th and (at the time of writing) final volume,
New Little Engine, appeared in 1996. The then publisher,
Egmont Fleetway, expressed no further interest in publishing new Railway Series books and allowed most of the existing back catalogue to go out of print. Christopher Awdry is currently engaged in negotiations with the publisher, but so far without success.
Despite this setback, in 2005 his own publishing company, Sodor Enterprises, published a book entitled
Sodor: Reading Between the Lines. This was a largely factual volume about the Railway Series, but expanded the fictional world of Sodor up to the present day. With this company he also wrote several railway-based children's books, most of which were set on real railways in
Britain. He continues to promote the original stories and to participate in Railway Series-related events.
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, an accusation that fans have been quick to deny.
The first edition of
The Three Railway Engines was illustrated by the artist William Middleton, with whom Wilbert 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 proved impossible to contact to illustrate
James the Red Engine, and so C. Reginald Dalby was hired. His work on the series proved popular with readers, but not so 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. Despite the tempestuous relationship with Awdry, he is probably the best remembered of the series' artists.
The series was taken over from
The Eight Famous Engines (1957) by John T. Kenney, whose style was less colourful but more realistic than Dalby's. As a result of his commitment to realism, he enjoyed a far more comfortable working relationship with Awdry, which lasted until
Gallant Old Engine (1962), when his eyesight began to fail him.
The artist initially chosen to replace him was the
Swedish-born 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 impressionist feel.
When Christopher Awdry took the series over in 1983, the publisher was keen to find an illustrator who would provide work that was appealing and colourful like Dalby's pictures, but also realistic like the Kenney and Edwards volumes. 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.
Nearly all the stories in the Railway Series were based upon real-life events. As a life-long railway enthusiast, Wilbert was keen that his stories should be as realistic as possible. He took 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. The engine characters were almost all based upon real classes of locomotive, and some of the railways themselves were directly based upon real lines in the British Isles.
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, Wilbert began to develop a specific setting for the books. On a visit to the
Isle of Man, he discovered that the
bishop of that island is known as the
Bishop of Sodor and Man. The "Sodor" part of the title comes from the
Sudreys, but Wilbert decided that a
fictional island between the Isle of Man and
England by that name would be an ideal setting for his stories.
In partnership with his brother George (the librarian of the
National Liberal Club), he gradually devised Sodor's history, geography, language, industries and even geology. Their full researches was published in the book
The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways in 1987.
Developments on
British Railways were often mirrored, satirised and even attacked in the Railway Series. The book
Troublesome Engines (1950), for example, dealt with industrial disputes on British Railways. As the series went on, comparisons with the real railways of Britain became more explicit, with engines and locations of British Railways (always known as "
The Other Railway") making appearances in major or cameo roles.
The most obvious theme relating to British Railways was the decline of steam locomotion and its replacement with diesels. The first real instance of this was in the book
Duck and the Diesel Engine (1958) in which an unpleasant
diesel shunter arrives, causes trouble and is sent away. The 1963 volume
Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine explained that steam engines were actually being scrapped to make way for these diesels, and again featured a diesel getting his comeuppance. The book
Enterprising Engines was published in 1968, the year when steam finally disappeared from British Railways, and was the most aggressive towards dieselisation and
Dr Beeching's
modernisation plan. It features yet another arrogant diesel who is sent away, a visit by the real Flying Scotsman locomotive and a steam engine, Oliver, making a daring escape to Sodor.
Thereafter, the books were less critical towards BR. Indeed, by the time of Christopher Awdry's 1984 book
James and the Diesel Engines, the series was acknowledging that diesels could, in fact, be useful.
With the series' popularity and Rev. W. Awdry's interest in railways, it was perhaps inevitable that he would use the books to promote steam railways in the UK. The first instance of this was the creation of the
Skarloey Railway, a railway on Sodor that closely resembled the
Talyllyn Railway in
Wales, of which Rev. W. Awdry was a member. Books focusing on this railway would inevitably include a promotion for the Talyllyn Railway, either in the stories themselves, in a footnote or in the foreword.
From the 1980s onwards, this association was carried further, with the Awdrys permitting the Talyllyn Railway to repaint one of their engines in the guise of its Sodor "twin". The first engine to receive this treatment was their No. 3, Sir Haydn, which was repainted to resemble the character Sir Handel. The second was No. 4, Edward Thomas, which became Peter Sam. In 2006 No. 6, Douglas runs in the guise of Duncan. These characters' appearances have been written into the Railway Series' continuity by Christopher Awdry.
Two other railways on Sodor are directly based on real railways. The
Culdee Fell Railway (usually known as the Mountain Railway) is based on the
Snowdon Mountain Railway, also in Wales. The Small Railway, more correctly known as the Arlesdale Railway, is based on the
Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway in
Cumbria. Some other lines on Sodor are heavily inspired by real lines. For example, Duke's railway (the Mid Sodor Railway) acknowledges the
Ffestiniog Railway and
Corris Railway and Duck's branch line (aka the Little Western) bears a resemblance to the
South Devon Railway.
From
Duck and the Diesel Engine onwards, a number of real engines and railways were explicitly featured. The characters of
Flying Scotsman,
City of Truro,
Stepney and
Wilbert were all real locomotives that made significant appearances in the Railway Series, the latter two having entire volumes dedicated to them,
Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine and
Wilbert the Forest Engine. Wilbert's appearance was of particular significance. The locomotive in question was named in tribute to Rev. W. Awdry, the president of the
Dean Forest Railway at the time. Christopher Awdry wrote
Wilbert the Forest Engine in gratitude.
Thomas and the Great Railway Show (1991) featured a visit by
Thomas to the
National Railway Museum in York, along with appearances by several of the real locomotives living there. At the end of this book, Thomas is made an honorary member of the National Collection. This was mirrored by the real life inclusion of the Railway Series in the National Railway Museum's extensive library of railway books in recognition of their influence on railway preservation.
Rev. W. Awdry and Christopher Awdry both wrote about Sodor as if it were a real place that they visited, and that the stories were obtained first-hand from the engines and Controllers. This was most commonly done in the foreword to each book. However, in some of Rev. W. Awdry's later books, he made appearances as an actual character. The character was known as "the Thin Clergyman" and was described as a writer, though his real name and connections to the series were never made explicit.
He was invariably accompanied by the Fat Clergyman, the Reverend "Teddy" Boston, 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.
Rev. W. 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.
The series has featured numerous characters, both railway-based and otherwise. Some of the more notable ones are:
*
Thomas the Tank Engine*
Edward the Blue Engine*
Henry the Green Engine*
Gordon the Big Engine*
James the Red Engine*
Percy the Small Engine*
Toby the Tram Engine*
Duck the Great Western Engine*
Donald and Douglas the Scottish twins
*
Oliver the Great Western Engine*
Daisy the Diesel Rail-Car*
BoCo the Diesel Engine*
Mavis the Quarry Diesel*
Bill and Ben the Tank Engine Twins*
Annie and Clarabel, Thomas' coaches
*
The Fat ControllerFor other characters, see:
*
Railway Engines*
Minor Characters*
Unfeatured CharactersThe following table lists the titles of all 40 books in The Railway Series.
Books 01 - 26 were written by
Rev. W. Awdry.
Books 27 - 40 were written by
Christopher Awdry.
Books in The Railway Series| Vol. | Title | Year | First Appearance by Characters: |
| Books written by Rev. W. Awdry |
| - align="center" | 1 | The Three Railway Engines | 1945 | Edward*, Gordon*, Henry* (pre-rebuild), Fat Director*|- align="center"|2 | Thomas the Tank Engine | 1946 | Thomas*, James*|- align="center"|3 | James the Red Engine | 1948 | Fat Controller* (his title after Nationalisation)|- align="center"|4 | Tank Engine Thomas Again | 1949 | Annie and Clarabel*, Terence the Tractor*, Bertie the Bus*|- align="center"|5 | Troublesome Engines | 1950 | Percy*|- align="center"|6 | Henry the Green Engine | 1951 | Henry (Mk 2)* (post-rebuild)|- align="center"|7 | Toby the Tram Engine | 1952 | Toby*, Henrietta the Coach'|- align="center"|8 | Gordon the Big Engine | 1953 |- align="center"|9 | Edward the Blue Engine | 1954 | Trevor the Traction Engine*|- align="center"|10 | Four Little Engines | 1955 | Skarloey*, Rheneas*, Sir Handel*, Peter Sam*, Thin Controller'
Carriages': Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima, Beatrice, Mrs Last'|- align="center"|11 ¦¦ Percy the Small Engine | 1956 | Duck*, Harold the Helicopter*|- align="center"|12 | The Eight Famous Engines | 1957 | Jinty and Pug'|- align="center"|13 | Duck and the Diesel Engine | 1958 | City of Truro', Diesel'|- align="center"|14 | The Little Old Engine | 1959 | Rusty the diesel', Duncan '
Carriages': Cora, Ada, Jane, Mabel, Gertrude, Millicent|- align="center"|15 ¦¦ The Twin Engines | 1960 | Donald and Douglas*, Spiteful Brake Van|- align="center"|16 | Branch Line Engines | 1961 | Daisy the Diesel Rail-Car'|- align="center"|17 | Gallant Old Engine | 1962 | George the Steamroller', Nancy the Guard's Daughter'|- align="center"|18 | Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine | 1963 | Stepney', Caroline the car', The Diesel/D4711'|- align="center"|19 | Mountain Engines | 1964 | Culdee', Ernest', Wilfred', Godred', Lord Harry',Alaric', Eric', Catherine (coach)', The Truck,
Lord Harry Barrane, Mr. Walter Richards|- align="center"|20 ¦¦ Very Old Engines | 1965 | Neil' |
|21| Main Line Engines | 1966 | BoCo', Bill and Ben'|- align="center"|22 | Small Railway Engines | 1967 | Mike', Rex', Bert'The Small Controller (Mr. Fergus Duncan)|- align="center"|23 ¦¦ Enterprising Engines | 1968 | Flying Scotsman', D199 (Spamcan)', Bear'Oliver #, Toad',Coaches: Isabel, Alice, Mirabel, Dulcie|- align="center"|24 ¦¦ Oliver the Western Engine | 1969 | S.C.Ruffey #, Fred Pelhay', Bulgy #|- align="center"|25 | Duke the Lost Engine | 1970 | Duke the Lost Engine #, Falcon', Stuart', Stanley'|- align="center"|26 | Tramway Engines | 1972 | Mavis # |
| Books written by Christopher Awdry |
| 27 | Really Useful Engines | 1983 |- align="center"|28 | James and the Diesel Engines | 1984 | Old Stuck-up', The Works Diesel'|- align="center"|29 | Great Little Engines | 1985 |- align="center"|30 | More About Thomas the Tank Engine | 1986 |- align="center"|31 | Gordon the High-Speed Engine | 1987 | Pip & Emma', 31 120', D10751'|- align="center"|32 | Toby, Trucks and Trouble | 1988 | Royal Clauds, The Old Engine', Bulstrode#|- align="center"|33 | Thomas and the Twins | 1989 |- align="center"|34 | Jock the New Engine | 1990 | Arlesdale Railway engines': Frank, Jock |
|35| Thomas and the Great Railway Show | 1991 | Engines at the National Railway Museum'|- align="center"|36 | Thomas Comes Home | 1992 |- align="center"|37 | Henry and the Express | 1993 |- align="center"|38 | Wilbert the Forest Engine | 1994 | Wilbert', Sixteen'|- align="center"|39 | The Fat Controller's Engines | 1995 | ????? |
|40| New Little Engine | 1996 | Fred', Kathy & Lizzie (cleaners), Ivo Hugh'|}
Character links in the above table are intended to point ONLY to the article/sub-article describing the character from the POV of The Railway Series. These links should be updated when such character descriptions are created.
Key:
* - 'major character' article: covers both TV and book aspects (intentionally)
* ' - correct 'Railway Series' link
* # - no article entry specifically for the Railway Series -side of character.
- needs to be updated in accordance with .
* Other links are yet to be determined'' | A map of the fictional Island of Sodor showing the Railway system (click to enlarge). |
According to "research" conducted by Rev. W Awdry, a government-sponsored amalgamation of the standard gauge railways in the Island occurred in 1914 to build a strategic railway for coastal defence called the North Western Railway. The railways concerned were:
*The Sodor & Mainland Railway (1853-1901) which ran from Ballahoo to Kirkronan
*The Tidmouth, Knapford & Elsbridge Railway (1883-1914) from Tidmouth to Elsbridge (the railway was known as the Knapford & Elsbridge Railway until 1908 when line extended to Tidmouth)
*The Wellsworth & Suddery Railway (1870-1914), which ran from Crosby to Brendam, with extension from Crosby to Knapford in 1912 to amalgamate with Tidmouth, Knapford & Elsbridge.
The North Western Railway has had running rights into Barrow Central Station since the agreement with the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1925. There is a Schertzer Rolling Lift Bridge of 120ft span and double track over the Walney Channel, designed by Mr Topham Hatt and erected in 1915. The NWR built its headquarters at Vicarstown in 1915, but the administrative offices were relocated to Tidmouth in 1926. Until the construction of the Jubilee Road Bridge in 1977, the NWR had rights for a car-ferry and worked an intensive and profitable service. British Rail had running powers over the Bridge to operate the joint NWR/BR suburban service from Barrow to Norramby.
On through or express trains, engines from the NWR are detached at Barrow and "Other Railway" engines take over. Since 1925 the NWR has also had its own loco shed, turntable and servicing facility here. There is also a joint goods yard for exchange traffic.
When the railways in the United Kingdom were nationalised the North Western Railway became the North Western Region of British Railways. It was allowed to keep a large degree of independence from the rest of the network, which is how come steam traction was preserved. The other railways on the island were not affected by the nationalisation. Since privatisation the railway has again become the North Western Railway Company and unlike most post-privatisation train companies is responsible for the running of the freight and passenger operations and for the maintenance of the track and infrastructure of the railway.The Railway StoriesThe Railway Stories were a series of audio adaptations of The Railway Series by Rev. W Awdry, made in the 1970s. Originally they were released on albums by Decca record label, and were later released on audio cassettes. The first eight ("The Three Railway Engines" through to "Gordon the Big Engine") were narrated by Johnny Morris. He was later replaced by Willie Rushton, who narrated "Edward the Blue Engine" through to "Tramway Engines."
A new Railway Stories recording was released on CD by BBC Audiobooks in March 2006. It contained adaptations of the first three Railway Series books, and was narrated by Michael Angelis.*List of books and stories in The Railway Series (61 Kb, in Portable Document Format)
*The Real Lives of Thomas the Tank Engine
*[1]
*[2]
*[3]
*[4]
*[5]
*[6]
*[7]
*[8]
*[9]
*[10]
*[11]
*[12]
|
