Pre-Cut Model Engine Books

Pre-Cut Model Engine Books was the first toy merchandise released alongside The Railway Series. They were full-colour printed cardboard kits that could be cut out, folded and glued together to make fairly realistic models.

The range was originally released in 1957 and the kits were illustrated by C. Reginald Dalby.

A 12-page "Thomas The Tank Engine Press out model book" was released in 1987 by The Reverend W. Awdry and Ken Stott.

The range was re-released in 1994, and the characters were illustrated by Ken Stott. Each book came with accessories, track and a station. It also included two stories written by Christopher Awdry: A retelling of Bulstrode, and an original story set during Thomas and the Twins called Thomas's Surprise Journey.

Original 1957 Products

 * Thomas with Annie
 * Percy with Clarabel
 * Gordon
 * James

Re-released 1994 products

 * Thomas
 * Percy
 * James
 * Toby
 * Annie
 * Clarabel
 * Bertie
 * Harold

Trivia

 * When the range was originally released in 1957, the backs of the books said 'More models are being prepared'. However, no more were released in the original range.
 * The 1957 engines all had their names written on the models, despite not being illustrated with nameplates in the Railway Series. Thomas and Gordon's names were written on their splashers, James' was written on his smokebox and Percy's was written on the side of his tank, as would later be the case with the Meccano Percy.
 * The 1994 James has red wheels and yellow lining.