Thomas and Friends Writers' Bible

The Thomas and Friends Writers' Bible was written in 2003 as a guide for writers on the show. The guide was initially written by Phil Fehrle and later reworked by Abi Grant for the eighth series. The guide features summaries for each character, short descriptions of various notable locations on Sodor and a style guide for writing episodes.

It is highly likely that further iterations of the writers' bible exist, however the 2003 writers' bible is currently the only one to have been shown publicly.

Trivia

 * The guide makes several statements about the characters' ages:
 * Toby is said to be the oldest engine of the main-cast, whilst Gordon is one of the oldest (in terms of real life built dates, Emily is the oldest, while in terms of pervious portrayals, Edward is one of the oldest).
 * Emily is stated to be roughly Thomas' age, but slightly older, and also older than Percy (in terms of real life built dates, she is two-four decades older than Thomas).
 * It is said that BoCo is the oldest diesel on Sodor (in terms of real life built dates, Diesel is older).
 * Mavis is stated to be older than Bill and Ben, though in terms of Real Life and Railway Series dates, It’s the other way around.
 * Sir Handel is stated to be older than Rusty, Rheneas, and Skarloey. This is true for Rusty, however, in terms of real life and Railway Series built dates, Skarloey and Rheneas are actually older.
 * Duke is said to be the oldest of the narrow gauge engines. This was also mentioned in the 1995 Official Website (in The Railway Series, Skarloey and Rheneas are actually the oldest).
 * It is revealed that Spencer was originally going to have blue detailing.
 * It is mentioned that Salty has worked at docks all across the world, likely a callback to his mention of working in Bimini in the sixth series episode Salty's Secret.
 * The existence of Sir Handel Brown I in Thomas & Friends is confirmed.
 * It is said that the bigger engines have respect for Duck because he is Great Western.
 * It is said that Bill and Ben have a dislike for diesels, except for Mavis, BoCo and a "reluctant admiration" of Salty. Most likely also a reference to Salty's Secret.
 * Derek is referred to as "The Paxman" rather than by his final name.
 * It is said that Terence works frequently with Toby, although this is never seen in Thomas & Friends.
 * It is said that Knapford Harbour was once the main dockyard on Sodor, but was long ago eclipsed by Brendam Docks. Knapford Harbour is now only used for minor goods exports and imports.
 * The guide reveals the placement of several locations which were previously unknown:
 * Stepney's Branch Line is said to begin at Crovan's Gate.
 * The Coal Mines are said to be located between Elsbridge and Toby's Branch Line.
 * Maithwaite is said to be "near the mountains".
 * Henry is said to frequently believe he has seen ghosts on the branch lines near Wellsworth.
 * It is revealed that Godred the Impaler (a presumed Sudrian king) once lived in the Castle at Castle Loch Causeway, which gave him a good overview of the Black Loch region. His ghost is believed to haunt the area to this day, and whenever engines have an accident in this region, they blame it on him.
 * Sir Topham Hatt is described as being a traditionalist, who would rather repair and preserve than replace. Lady Hatt will often get on his case about modernising their home.
 * Harvey's true home is stated to be the Sodor Water Works, something that would later be referenced in every DVD Character Gallery that features him.
 * Fergus is stated to have a cough from working at the cement works, something that would later be referenced in every Character Gallery that features him. It is also said that he is suspicious of diesels, whom he considers "new fangled".
 * Sir Topham Hatt is revealed to have 52 Hats, one for every week of the year, something that would later be referenced in the 2018 Character Encyclopedia Book and has also been stated in magazine profiles of him.
 * According to this guide, Edward was meant to have Percy's role in James Gets a New Coat and James was originally collecting trucks from the slate quarry.
 * BoCo is said to be Mavis' mentor, most likely referring to how Mavis works with and keeps Bill and Ben in order from the sixth series onwards. He is also said to frequently work with Mavis, Bill and Ben in the quarries.
 * Rusty is referred to as being female, this being the first time his gender was referred to until the ninth series (early dubs in the US of which would claim that he was female).

Goofs

 * It is incorrectly stated that James is the only red engine on Sodor in his character summary.
 * Henry's character summary incorrectly states that he still needs special coal, an issue which was previously fixed in the first series episode The Flying Kipper. This would later become a recurring problem in episodes produced under HIT Entertainment before being rectified in the 2013 special King of the Railway.
 * Both Henry and Gordon's character summaries incorrectly state that they are identical shapes.
 * It is incorrectly stated that Stepney does not take passenger trains.
 * Donald is incorrectly said to have helped save Oliver and Toad with Douglas.
 * Oliver and Toad's character section incorrectly states that Toad carries a porter as well as his guard.
 * Mavis is said to be from the "Ffarquhar Iron Works" (Misspelled as Pfarquahar).
 * Arthur is incorrectly said to be the same size as James, when he is actually smaller.
 * Duke is incorrectly stated to be the only narrow gauge engine with a tender, when Bertram also had a tender.
 * Additionally, Bertram is omitted from the list of narrow gauge engines entirely.
 * Strangely, Diesel is given two different write-ups in the characters section, Diesel and Devious Diesel.
 * It is stated that there are only two stations after Gordon's Hill (Maron and Crovan's Gate), despite Cronk being introduced the year prior to the guide's creation.
 * Dryaw is misspelled as Dryad, and Brendam as Brendham.
 * Lakeside is referred to as Lakeland.