Barry

Barry, named after Barry Island, the home of the scrapyard in South Wales where he was rescued, was a potential character for The Railway Series. He was to first appear in the book Barry the Rescue Engine, which was initially thought to be the thirtieth or thirty-third volume of the series. Ultimately, the book ended up being cancelled.

It has since been revealed by Christopher Awdry that the book had been created in the 1980s, and the engine similar to Wilbert was a completely different engine altogether.

Basis
According to the History of the Railway Series page on the Sodor Island Fansite, Barry would have been based on a BR Standard Class 2. Barry is logically a 2MT 2-6-0 rather than a 2MT 2-6-2T, as none of the tank engines were sent to the Barry Island Scrapyards. They were physically the smallest of the BR standard classes; 65 were built.

Three engines of this class survive, all of which were saved from the Woodham Brothers Scrapyard in Barry, South Wales. A fourth is undergoing conversion to tank engine form on the Bluebell Railway.

Livery
While little is currently known about Barry's appearance, he would have originally been painted British Railways black with red and white lining.

Appearances
Railway Series=

The Railway Series

 * Barry the Rescue Engine

Companion Volumes

 * 1995 - The Thomas the Tank Engine Man
 * 2005 - Sodor: Reading Between the Lines

Trivia

 * According to Chapter 15 of The Thomas the Tank Engine Man entitled "Really Useful Engines", Christopher Awdry explains that he submitted the outline for Barry, but the response from the young fans was that they wanted Thomas and his friends, not any more new engines. So he quoted: "But, I haven't altogether given up; you could say Barry is dead but not yet buried!"
 * Additionally, it has also been suggested that the publishers demanded to have more Thomas centric books. This was likely compounded by the fact that, at the time, Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends based on the books was running strong and had catapulted Thomas into the spotlight.

Barry Barry בארי Barry Барри 巴里