The Eight Famous Engines

"We are glad to see you. Those others did their best, but they don't know our ways. Nothing anywhere can compare with our Fat Controller's engines."

- The crowds cheering the engines home

The Eight Famous Engines is the twelfth book of The Railway Series.

Foreword
Dear Friends, The Fat Controller's engines are now quite famous. They have been on the radio and had many other adventures. But he had another plan, too, for his engines and this book will tell you what it was. The Author

Percy Takes the Plunge
At Barrow-in-Furness, Percy is telling some tank engines about the time he braved bad weather, and Henry calls Percy silly for his egotism. Percy leaves for Knapford and he sees a board which says "Danger". Thomas tells him to obey it, because he went past danger once and fell down a mine, but Percy is curious and persuades the trucks to push him past the sign. They do so, but push him too far and cause Percy to fall into the sea. After being scolded by the Fat Controller, Percy is "fished out" and sent to the Works.

Gordon Goes Foreign
Gordon and Duck argue with a foreign engine over the name of London's big station. Gordon wishes to go to London to prove that the station is King's Cross, but is not allowed to pass Barrow. One day, when the engine taking the Express to London derails, Gordon jumps at the chance and receives a warm welcome upon reaching London. However, Gordon is upset when he returns, having learned that the station is St. Pancras.

Double Header
Gordon is exhausted after his trip to London, so James does his work while he rests. When Toby visits him on his way to the Works, James brags to him about his importance. When Toby later tries to get a drink at Killdane, the signalman, who is new to the line, tells him he has to clear the line, forcing Toby to struggle on to Kellsthorpe Road. However, Toby's tanks have been nearly empty to begin with and he soon runs out of water. The fireman goes back down the line and asks James to push Toby to the Works. When they arrive at the station, some boys think Toby has been helping James, who, furious, disappears in a cloud of steam.

The Fat Controller's Engines
Thomas arrives at Knapford to see some foreign engines arrive and Percy and Toby tell him the Fat Controller has something planned. At Tidmouth, the Fat Controller tells the engines they are going to England. The next day, Thomas is showing Jinty, one of the foreign engines, around the yard while he boasts about his race. In an attempt to reenact the race, Thomas runs into some buffers and damages his front. He is repaired just in time for the trip and the engines are adored by their English spectators.

Percy Takes the Plunge

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Percy
 * Percy's Friends
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * Sir Charles Topham Hatt II

Gordon Goes Foreign

 * Gordon
 * James
 * Duck
 * Big City Engine
 * Sir Charles Topham Hatt II
 * The Derailed Engine
 * Other Foreign Engines

Double Header

 * James
 * Toby
 * The New Signalman
 * The Little Boys
 * Beatrice
 * Gordon
 * Henrietta
 * Sir Charles Topham Hatt II

The Fat Controller's Engines

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Duck
 * Sir Charles Topham Hatt II
 * Annie and Clarabel
 * Jinty and Pug
 * Jinty and Pug's Companions
 * Henrietta
 * Bertie

Percy Takes the Plunge

 * Island of Sodor
 * Knapford Harbour
 * Knapford Harbour Bridges
 * Dryaw Airfield
 * Ffarquhar
 * Ffarquhar Yards
 * The Lead Mines
 * The Mainland
 * Barrow-in-Furness

Gordon Goes Foreign

 * Island of Sodor
 * Tidmouth
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Sir Topham Hatt's Office
 * The Mainland
 * Barrow-in-Furness
 * London
 * King's Cross
 * Euston
 * Paddington
 * St. Pancras

Double Header

 * Killdane
 * Crovan's Gate
 * Crovan's Gate Works
 * Kellsthorpe Road
 * London

The Fat Controller's Engines

 * Island of Sodor
 * Knapford
 * Ffarquhar
 * Tidmouth
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * Hackenbeck Tunnel
 * The Mainland
 * AB Rovin Ltd
 * London
 * The Big Airy Shed

Trivia

 * This book's working title was The Fat Controller's Engines, but this title was instead used for the fourth story.
 * Wilbert Awdry considered making this the final book of The Railway Series.
 * The republished edition of this book was called Eight Famous Engines. The word "the" was restored to the title in the book's 2015 edition.
 * This was the first book of The Railway Series to be illustrated by John T. Kenney.
 * Gordon Goes Foreign was planned to be adapted for the second series of the television series, but it was cut from production due to filming expenses. This was revealed to SiF by art director Robert Gauld-Galliers. Henry's Gauge 1 model would have been used for the Big City Engine, with added smoke deflectors and a new face mask. Despite not being adapted as an episode, the events of Gordon Goes Foreign were mentioned in the twenty-fourth series episode, Thomas and the Royal Engine, which celebrated the franchise's 75th anniversary.
 * An illustration from Percy Takes the Plunge was released as a Royal Mail stamp in 2011 to mark the Reverend Awdry's Centenary.
 * Duck gained sandboxes on his running board.
 * This is the only book in The Railway series to feature a tanker with a face.
 * In the sixth illustration of Gordon Goes Foreign, the composition of the terraced houses for workers and the running railway is similar to Over London-by Rail drawn by Gustave Doré.
 * Loraine Marshall recreated some of the illustrations of Gordon Goes Foreign and The Fat Controller's Engines for a Thomas' YouTube World Tour segment.
 * Percy Takes the Plunge is based on a real event that occurred at Burnham-on-Sea, where a contractor's locomotive ran off the end of a jetty.
 * Double Header is based on an event where an LNER J70 (Toby's basis) had to be moved to the ex-GER works in Stratford for overhaul after the engine had been stranded without water.
 * The book takes place in 1956.
 * Double Header is the only story not to feature any engines from the Mainland.
 * Double Header includes the first, but by no means last, depiction of a firearm in the franchise.
 * This is the final Railway Series book narrated by John Gielgud.

Goofs

 * In the Final illustration of Percy takes the Plunge, Percy' s lamp has moved from his left lamp iron to his middle one.
 * In Gordon Goes Foreign:
 * In Loraine Marshall's recreation of the first illustration, Duck is depicted as a 2-6-0PT instead of an 0-6-0PT.
 * In the second illustration, the lettering on Duck's tank is missing.
 * In the fifth illustration, Gordon is depicted as a 4-6-0 instead of a 4-6-2.
 * In the sixth illustration, Gordon's stripes on his firebox are missing and he has five stripes on his boiler.
 * In The Fat Controller's Engines:
 * In the second illustration, Pug and Jinty both appear to be faceless.
 * Percy and Toby were placed on flatbeds and coupled behind Edward for the journey to England, but the second to last illustration shows them coupled behind James.
 * In the last illustration, Percy's red stripes on his cylinders are missing, Gordon's cylinder linings are yellow and James' cab roof is white.
 * Throughout the book, Duck is depicted as a GWR 64xx class rather than a GWR 57xx class as his basis.