Thomas The Tank Engine: The Classic Library

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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. There are several references to guest characters from previous volumes. City of Truro and Flying Scotsman are both mentioned twice. The events of this book take place in 1926. However according to The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways, Percy was appointed station pilot at Tidmouth, as shown on pp 42–43 of this book, in 1949, meaning the events of this book presumably take place around that year. [2] Furthermore, it should also be noted that the same work date for Henry's accident and re-build to a new appearance - first seen in the following book - is 1935. [3] It can be assumed that this is a mistake.

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. All of the vehicles in The Railway Series were based on prototypical engines; Thomas's basis is the LB&SCR E2 class. [3] Thomas first appeared in 1946 in the second book in the series, Thomas the Tank Engine, and was the focus of the four short stories contained within. In The Railway Series and early episodes of Thomas & Friends, Thomas's best friends are Percy and Toby, though he is also close friends with Edward. Later episodes of Thomas & Friends have Thomas in a trio with James and Percy, and Percy is known as his best friend.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. From 1979 to 1980 the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends annuals were written by Rev. W. Awdry, and from 1985 to 1996 by Christopher Awdry. They included several stories and articles about the characters. In some cases, these stories expanded upon earlier Railway Series books and in others they were entirely new. One, 'The Strawberry Special' in the 1985 Annual, was later rewritten and used in Thomas Comes Home as 'Toby's Megatrain'. This is the first book to centre on a real engine, and was intended to promote the Bluebell Railway. Other Bluebell engines besides Stepney are referred to and appear in the pictures for "Stepney's Special". These included Bluebell, Primrose and Captain Baxter. "Adams" and "Cromford" were names applied by Awdry to the Bluebell Railway's Adams Radial Tank and North London Railway tank engine respectively.

James and the Red Balloon and Other Thomas the Tank Engine Stories [ edit ] Stories and episodes [ edit ] 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 [2] and its reboot Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go.The story "Triple Header" was the first to be written, and was based upon an incident related to Christopher Awdry at the Nene Valley Railway. The real engine involved was a blue 0-6-0 tank engine called Thomas, which was named by Wilbert Awdry and is now permanently disguised as its Railway Series namesake. Awdry often said that this was his least favourite book, as it had been written in a hurry to meet a deadline rather than purely from inspiration. [1] The other 3 stories in the book are all based directly on L. T. C. Rolt's book Railway Adventure which describes the first 2 years of operation of the Talyllyn Railway by enthusiasts. [ citation needed] I bought Thomas in 1948 when I was writing Tank Engine Thomas Again, and wanted to start modelling once more after a lapse of some twenty years. Thomas was one of Stewart Reidpath's standard models with a heavy, cast white metal body, and was fitted with his "Essar" chassis and motor. Stewart Reidpath is now dead, and his motors, let alone spare parts for them, have been unobtainable for years; but Thomas still keeps going! He is, as you might expect from his age, a temperamental old gentleman, and has to be driven very carefully indeed. 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".

In The Adventure Begins which is a retelling of Thomas's early days on Sodor, he is a bluish-green colour when he first arrives on Sodor, his tanks are lettered "LBSC" (for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway) with the number 70 on his bunker. The 70 is a reference to 2015 being the 70th anniversary for The Railway Series, while the LB&SCR E2 class were actually numbered from 100–109. The real life LBSC no. 70 is an A1 class. This book was inspired by the 100th anniversary of the locomotives Talyllyn and Dolgoch, Skarloey and Rheneas' real life "twins". The first three stories are based on events from the early history of the Talyllyn Railway and one of the characters, Mr. Bobbie, is actually a real life engineer from the company that built the engines. The foreword is actually written to the author's wife, Margaret Awdry. However, Margaret is referred to as M.

By 1981, Allcroft had secured the finances to produce the show. She started to assemble the crew, including producer and director David Mitton, the founder of Clearwater Features Ltd.; crew member Steve Asquith; American-born producer Robert D. Cardona; and composers and songwriters Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell.

This book features a number of cameo appearances by Neil, an engine from the Sodor & Mainland Railway. The first series (1984) used stories from the first eight books, along with one specially written by the Rev. W. Awdry, Thomas's Christmas Party. The second series (1986) used stories from Book No.9 ( Edward the Blue Engine) to Book No.30 ( More About Thomas the Tank Engine). The latter book was unusual, as it was written specifically by Christopher Awdry to be adapted by the show. At that time, it was a contractual obligation that the series could only adapt stories that appeared in print. The series also used a story from a Thomas Annual, "Thomas and Trevor", and a specially written stand-alone story, Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree. One episode (" The Missing Coach") was in the process of being filmed, but was cancelled mid-way through filming as Allcroft decided it was too confusing for young viewers. The production team went on to use "Better Late Than Never" instead. [13] The story "Gordon Goes Foreign" from the Railway Series book The Eight Famous Engines was also planned to be adapted but was scrapped due to budgetary limitations. Wilbert Awdry was born at Ampfield vicarage near Romsey, Hampshire, on 15 June 1911. His father was Vere Awdry (1854–1928), the Anglican vicar of Ampfield, and his mother was Lucy Awdry (née Bury; 1884–1965). Vere was the son of judge Sir John Wither Awdry and brother of bishop William Awdry. Wilbert was derived from William and Herbert, names of his father's two brothers. His younger brother, George, was born on 10 August 1916 and died on 27 October 1994. [1] [2] All three of Awdry's older half-siblings from his father's first two marriages died young, the youngest being killed in World War I. At Ampfield as a toddler he saw his father construct a handmade 40-yard (37m), 2.5-inch-gauge (64mm) model railway. [3] In 1917, the family moved to Box, in Wiltshire, moving again within Box in 1919 and in 1920, the third house being "Journey's End" (renamed from "Lorne Villa"), which remained the family home until August 1928. [4] [5]Sibley, Brian (2015). The Thomas the Tank Engine Man: The Life of Reverend W. Awdry (2nded.). Lion Books. ISBN 978-0-7459-7027-1. Gordon, Olivia (28 January 2014). "Kids' Book Club: Thomas The Tank Engine". Huffington Post . Retrieved 24 July 2021.