The Thin Clergyman (RWS)

The Thin Clergyman is an English Anglican clergyman, railway enthusiast, and children's author. He is a fictionalised version of Wilbert Awdry, the author of The Railway Series.

Biography
The Thin Clergyman and his friend, the Fat Clergyman, once went to the Arlesdale Railway to take photographs of the engines for his upcoming book, Small Railway Engines. One of the engines, Bert, liked the clergymen at first but became uncomfortable when they continued squinting into their cameras without saying hello to him. The clergymen hopped back into their car and raced through a puddle, splashing Bert in the face with muddy water. Although the clergymen had meant no harm, Bert was still cross with them and managed to pay the Fat Clergyman out by splashing him with water from the overhead trees, though he got in trouble for this. The clergymen went to apologise to Bert and cleaned him up, telling him that they would feature him and the other small engines in a book. In 1967, Small Railway Engines was published.

In 1969, the Thin Clergyman had heard the story of Duke from the Small Controller, and he, the Fat Clergyman and the Small Controller made plans to recover Duke and send him to the Skarloey Railway to be restored. Every morning they went on Bert's train and searched through the hills of Arlesdale, but they did not find anything. Their search finally ended when the Fat Clergyman fell through the roof of the buried engine shed and landed on top of Duke, who had been sleeping the whole time.

In 1997, the Thin Clergyman passed away. In 2011, to celebrate his 100th birthday, Sir Stephen Topham Hatt III made plans to unveil a bust made in his likeness at Tidmouth station. Although plans for the celebration were nearly delayed due to the collapse of Henry's Tunnel, the problem was soon rectified, and the party went ahead, with Prince Charles even attending to unveil the bust.

Personality
Though not much is known about the Thin Clergyman, he is shown to be a kind and caring man who loved engines and writing books on them, as well as organising some railway shows of his layout for the children.

Appearances
The Railway Series={{Scroll box|

The Railway Series

 * Troublesome Engines - Percy Runs Away
 * Duck and the Diesel Engine - Domeless Engines
 * Small Railway Engines - Tit for Tat
 * Duke the Lost Engine - Sleeping Beauty
 * Great Little Engines - Sir Handel Comes Home
 * Jock the New Engine - We Need Another Engine
 * Thomas and his Friends - Centenary

Companion volumes
}}
 * 1970 - Twelve Happy Engines
 * 1995 - The Thomas the Tank Engine Man
 * 1996 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection
 * 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines
 * 2007 - Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection

Trivia

 * When the Thin and Fat Clergymen visited the Arlesdale Railway, they drove a maroon car with the number plate "O40 BMC".
 * He was briefly the publicity manager for the North Western Railway.