The Railway Series

The Railway Series is a series of books about the railways of the Island of Sodor. The books were created by the Rev. W. Awdry, who wrote the first stories in 1942. He wrote twenty-six books from 1945 to 1972. A further sixteen books were written by his son Christopher Awdry. The final book in the series, Thomas and his Friends, was published in 2011.

The series formed the basis for Thomas & Friends, with many of its books and stories being adapted for television.

Origins
When Wilbert Awdry was a child, he was always interested in railways, much like his father. He liked to watch trains on the Great Western Railway. To him, the noise of the locomotives' exhaust almost sounded like dialogue - for example, the larger engine having trouble climbing the hills would appear to be saying, "I can't do it, I can't do it" and the smaller engine helping them would sound like it was saying, "I will do it! I will do it! I will do it!"

In 1942, Wilbert's son Christopher had measles and was confined to bed. To prevent their son getting bored, Wilbert and his wife Margaret Awdry told him stories and nursery rhymes. Most of them eventually lost their entertainment value, but one that continually appealed to Christopher was the rhyme "Down by the Station". Wilbert subsequently drew a picture of several engines standing in a row based on the rhyme and for fun gave them faces with various expressions. One sad-looking engine appealed to Christopher, as it shared his mood and he asked what his name was. Wilbert replied with the first to come to his head: Edward. Through a series of questions and answers, the story of Edward's Day Out was created. Eventually, Christopher began asking for more stories and Awdry obliged him with "Edward and Gordon" and "The Sad Story of Henry", the latter being inspired by another rhyme he was fond of. Christopher would constantly ask for the stories to be retold, even after he recovered and to ensure consistency between tellings, Wilbert wrote them down on the back of old church circulars.

Margaret Awdry also liked the stories and told her husband to get them published, as she felt they were better than most children's books in circulation. Awdry was reluctant, but Margaret persisted and mentioned the stories in a letter to Wilbert's mother, Lucy, who replied that she knew the author Michael Barsley and asked that the stories be sent to her so she could forward them to him. At Margaret's insistence, Wilbert did so. Barsley's attempts to find a publisher were unsuccessful, so he showed the stories to his agent, Edith Ray Gregorson, who liked them and agreed to pursue the matter further. Her attempts to find a publisher were initially no more successful, as most were suffering paper shortages due to the Second World War, but in September 1943, Edmund Ward agreed to publish them, though refused to commit to a publication date, to Wilbert's annoyance. In October, Ward wrote to say that the stories would be published as one book entitled The Three Railway Engines, but that he required rough sketches for his illustrator to base his pictures on and a fourth story to finish off the book. While Awdry was annoyed at the requests, since Ward had already rejected his drawings, he agreed and wrote "Edward, Gordon and Henry". While it was hoped this would speed up publication, the book was not published until 12 May, 1945. The book was an immediate commercial success, quickly selling out its initial print run of 22,500 copies and going through two more by the end of the year. Awdry, while happy to see his book in print, was disappointed in the illustrations by William Middleton.

Continuation
Previously in 1942, after the stories were written, Wilbert made Christopher a wooden model of Edward. However, Christopher apparently wanted a model of Gordon; but this could not be done. Instead, Awdry made a model of a tank engine from odds and ends, painted it blue and gave it to Christopher as a Christmas present. Christopher christened the model engine Thomas. After the publication of The Three Railway Engines in 1945, Christopher would then request stories about Thomas and these stories would be published as Awdry's second and most famous book, Thomas the Tank Engine in 1946.

After Thomas the Tank Engine, Awdry was finished with writing any more books. However, due to popular demand, Awdry pressed onward. By the time Awdry stopped writing in 1972, The Railway Series numbered twenty-six books.

Conclusion
Christopher subsequently added sixteen more books to the series, including the later two posthumous releases. The last book Thomas and his Friends was published in 2011 to commemorate Wilbert's century, particularity in the last story Centenary.

Publishers
The Railway Series was published by Edmund Ward from The Three Railway Engines in 1945 to Main Line Engines in 1966. Edmund Ward merged with Nicholas Kaye to become Kaye & Ward in 1952, but it was Small Railway Engines in 1967 that began using the new imprint. Kaye & Ward was acquired by William Heinemann in 1984, but the imprint was used up to Toby, Trucks and Trouble in 1988. Heinemann was acquired by Reed Children's Books in 1987, but an edition was published in 1989 by Guild Publishing, "by arrangement with William Heinemann Ltd.", and the Heinemann imprint itself was used from Thomas and the Twins in 1989 to New Little Engine in 1996.

On 25 April, 1998, Reed International sold their children's books division to Egmont UK and the copyright of The Railway Series to The Britt Allcroft Company for £13.5 million. As a result, Christopher Awdry was unable to publish The Railway Series without the permission of the copyright holder, and the series were suspended. In the same year, in spite of Christopher's opposition, Egmont published new format versions of fourteen books from The Railway Series, which were discontinued and scrapped due to negative feedback. It was reverted to the original state in 2004.

Christopher still wanted to write stories for children, so he founded Sodor Enterprises in 2001 with his wife, Diana Awdry. He offered the publisher the reprints of The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways, and he offered to buy the copyright of this book, but these were denied. As a result, he wrote a new information book and published it in May 2005 as Sodor: Reading Between the Lines to celebrate the 60th anniversary of The Railway Series.

Then, Thomas and Victoria, which was intended to be published in 1997, was published by Egmont in 2007. In 2011, Thomas and his Friends was published, and the series reached its conclusion with this being the final book.

Legacy
Since the publication of the last volume, while it was still being overshadowed by its TV show counterpart, the Railway Series' legacy continued to grow to this day with digital media titles of the first four books on Apple's Books app for a limited time, as well as being read aloud by Mr. Perkins (played by the late Ben Forster) and Mr. Evans (played by Mark Moraghan) respectively on DVD, YouTube and digital platforms. In addition, Sony Creative Products Inc. released a set of commemorative DVDs featuring some original book stories and their respective television adaptation for Japanese viewers.

The current republication of Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection was released to bookstores to commemorate the franchise's 75th anniversary in 2019, and some new audiobook CDs are slated for their November 2022 release.

Rev. W. Awdry
These volumes were later compiled into Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection. The Complete Collection compilations were released by various publishers in different years and countries, all containing the same 26 volumes. The Reverend W. Awdry planned to call his twenty-seventh volume Really Useful Engines, but he never got to use it following his retirement. Christopher Awdry's first publication used this title for the official twenty-seventh volume of the series.

Christopher Awdry
Volumes 27-41 were compiled into ''Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection. ''
 * Another book of The Railway Series titled Barry the Rescue Engine was to be written by Christopher Awdry in the 1980s, but it was cancelled.
 * Christopher Awdry had other material, which he hoped would be published. He read new stories about the narrow gauge engines at the Talyllyn Railway's Duncan Days events; however, these stories were never published.

Annuals
From 1979 to 1980, annuals were written by the Rev. W. Awdry and from 1985 to 1996 by Christopher Awdry. In some cases, these stories expanded upon earlier books of The Railway Series. In others, they were entirely new and some stories were later rewritten and used as stories of The Railway Series.

Pop-Up Books
Several Pop-Up books were released based on various stories of The Railway Series, all from previous books.


 * 1) The Flying Kipper and Henry the Green Engine
 * 2) Bertie the Bus and Thomas the Tank Engine
 * 3) Thomas the Tank Engine and the Tractor
 * 4) Henry the Green Engine and the Elephant
 * 5) Henry the Green Engine Gets Out
 * 6) James the Red Engine and the Troublesome Trucks
 * 7) Thomas the Tank Engine Goes Fishing
 * 8) Percy the Small Engine Takes the Plunge
 * 9) James the Red Engine and the Signal
 * 10) Percy the Small Engine and the Scarf
 * 11) Thomas the Tank Engine Catches a Thief
 * 12) Thomas the Tank Engine and the Scrambled Eggs

Mini/Board/Sticker books
There have been several books published related to The Railway Series, which were written by the Awdrys. These books were illustrated by Ken Stott, Tony Wells and Edgar Hodges.

Companion Volumes
These books mainly feature the Island of Sodor, dealing with its history, geography and industry in far greater depth than could ever be discussed in The Railway Series stories themselves. However, The Thomas the Tank Engine Man is a biography of the Rev. W. Awdry and is considered a companion to the series.


 * 1) Railway Map of the Island of Sodor
 * 2) Twelve Happy Engines
 * 3) The Railway Series: Surprise Packet
 * 4) The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways
 * 5) The Thomas the Tank Engine Man
 * 6) Sodor: Reading Between the Lines
 * 7) Thomas the Tank Engine (Est. 1945): Style Guide

Bad Days for Thomas
Main Article: Bad Days for Thomas

A series of books written to highlight rail safety. They were written partially due to Christopher Awdry's frustration at not being able to include a proper rail safety story in Thomas and the Great Railway Show.

Storytime Segments
In this series of segments, Mr. Perkins and later Mr. Evans read The Railway Series stories. Each story is rewritten by Andrew Brenner and reillustrated by Loraine Marshall.


 * 1) The Flying Kipper -
 * 2) Trucks! -
 * 3) Thomas and Gordon -
 * 4) Pop Goes the Diesel -
 * 5) Thomas and the Breakdown Train -
 * 6) A Scarf for Percy -
 * 7) Thomas Goes Fishing -
 * 8) Edward and Gordon -
 * 9) Toby's Tightrope -
 * 10) Gordon Goes Foreign -
 * 11) Thomas' Train - (Railway Mischief'' DVD; UK/IRL/AUS only/Tales on the Rails DVD; US only}}
 * 12) Henry and the Elephant -
 * 13) Thomas Comes to Breakfast -
 * 14) Thomas in Trouble -
 * 15) Ghost Train -
 * 16) Thomas and Bertie -
 * 17) Percy and Harold -
 * 18) Thomas, Terence and the Snow -
 * 19) Sir Topham Hatt's Engines -
 * 20) Trouble in the Shed -
 * 21) Thomas and the Guard -

Lectures
In addition to writing the books, the Rev W. Awdry also wrote a series of lectures which went into further detail on the history and lore of various aspects of the Island of Sodor within the universe of The Railway Series. Many of these lectures featured information which is not recorded in any of the books.


 * Narrow Gauge Rails in Sodor
 * Railways of Sodor

Trivia

 * Nearly all of The Railway Series stories were based upon real-life events. As a life-long railway enthusiast, Wilbert Awdry was keen that his stories should be as realistic as possible. The engine characters were almost all based upon real classes of locomotives, and some of the railways themselves were directly based upon real lines in the British Isles.
 * Awdry drew from railway literature for some of his stories, such as C. Hamilton Ellis' The Trains We Loved and L. T. C. Rolt's Railway Adventure.
 * According to The Thomas the Tank Engine Man, Awdry had no intention of writing more Railway Series books after 'Thomas the Tank Engine', but after hearing about letters sent saying from fans of the books, he was convinced to continue writing the series.
 * C. Reginald Dalby drew the advertisement for Railway Series books in the illustrations.
 * In the fourth illustration of Thomas and the Guard, advertisements for James the Red Engine and "All About Thomas the Famous Tank Engine" are visible.
 * In the fifth illustration of Coal, advertisements for The Three Railway Engines and James the Red Engine are visible.
 * In the third illustration of Percy and the Trousers, an advertisement for Troublesome Engines is visible on the blue double-decker bus.
 * The dust jacket for the books published in 1965 - 1967 contained an advertisement for "Percy the Small Engine, brought to life by Meccano".
 * Prior to Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends being produced by Britt Allcroft in 1984, there were two attempts to adapt the Railway Series books to the television, both of which were cancelled.
 * The Sad Story of Henry produced by the BBC in 1953. Because this episode failed, the BBC cancelled the planned subsequent episodes.
 * Thomas the Tank Engine planned by Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1973. A pilot episode was produced but cancelled by 1977 for various reasons.
 * The first large-scale celebration of an anniversary of the Railway Series was the Thomas the Tank Engine 45th Birthday at the National Railway Museum in 1990.
 * The books written by Wilbert Awdry were the most widely available. Christopher's books were commonly rare to find and expensive to purchase.
 * There were often translation errors in the Korean version.
 * The Jung Ang Educational Foundation Inc. South Korean version transcribed “Thomas” as "토머스” (tomeoseu). However, Adongmoonhak's South Korean version got the transcription correct, as "토마스" (tomaseu).
 * In the Korean versions of the books, they translated the "Small" word as "작은"(Jak-eun) and the "Little" word as "꼬마"(kkoma) for distinction in South Korea.
 * When correctly translated the German name for the Railway Series (Wilbert Awdrys sprechende Eisenbahnen) translates to Wilbert Awdry's Speaking Railway.
 * 1947 and 1971 were the only years to not have a book published during Wilbert Awdry's time with the series.

Japan
From 1965 to 1967, Shuyū Shimizu lived in England with his family as a lecturer and international student at the Japanese Studies of Oriental Institute at the University of Oxford. One day he found The Railway Series books at an Oxford bookstore, purchased it for his son and they loved it. For seven years from April 1972, Shimizu taught English at Keio Yochisha at the request of his acquaintance Saburō Kuwabara. During this time they decided to translate The Railway Series. The Japanese translation rights were granted by Kaye & Ward through Charles E. Tuttle Co., a literary agent company. The Rev. W. Awdry was delighted to publish in Japan and sent a message to Japanese readers. This message was published in the foreword message of The Three Railway Engines and the front flaps of 26 books. The series was translated as "汽車のえほん" (meaning "Steam locomotive picture books").

On 10th November 1973, Poplar Publishing published the first three books and by November 1974, the first fifteen books were published. The remaining eleven books were published between August 1980 and February 1981. The Japanese version of The Railway Series was translated by Kuwabara Saburou and Shimizu Shuyu. The railway technical terms of these books were supervised by Motō Kuroiwa, the owner of the Keisei Electric Railway. These original versions were discontinued around 2001. The books by Christoper Awdry, however, have yet to be translated into Japanese.

From March 2005 to January 2006, the first fifteen books were published to commemorate the 60th anniversary of The Railway Series. There have been "updates" such as expanding the size of the book, having the same character name as the television series and correcting old-fashioned phrases. After the first fifteen publications, the remaining eleven books were scheduled to be published, but they were cancelled. On 10th December 2010, the 26 books were published as new mini versions to commemorate the 65th anniversary of The Railway Series. On 20th July 2013, Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection was published to commemorate the 40th anniversary of The Railway Series in Japan. On 3rd December 2020, the 26 books were published as new versions to commemorate the 75th anniversary of The Railway Series.

When Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends began broadcasting in Japan on 4th October 1990, the Railway Series became even more popular. In 1992, 2005-06, 2013-15 and 2020-21, exhibitions of original artwork of The Railway Series, many sketches by Wilbert Awdry and the original television series models were held in Japan.

Germany
In Germany, only the first two books were ever translated and published one book called "Wilbert Awdry's Sprechende Eisenbahnen: Thomas die Tenderlok und andere Eisenbahngeschichten", meaning "Wilbert Awdry's talking railways: Thomas the tank engine and other railway stories". It should be noted that the spelling "Wilbert Awdry's Sprechende Eisenbahnen" is incorrect as the apostrophe after a name is not used in German grammar. Furthermore, the word "Sprechende" (talking) should not be spelled with a capital s, as for every adjective in German grammar.

The book was published in 1981 by the Otto Maier Verlag Ravensburg and it was translated by Josef Guggenmos. It has long been discontinued.

Most of the stories' titles were translated rather literal with The Sad Story of Henry being a noticable exception as it was called "Von Henry, dem es schlecht erging" (Of Henry, who fared badly).

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends was not translated until 1996 and used completely different dialogues, phrases and titles.

Switzerland
The Globi Verlag AG translated at least the first four books into Swiss-German in 1987.

The series was known as "Die lustigen Dampflok-Bücher" which roughly translates to "The funny steam engine books". The Three Railway Engines was translated as "Drei Dampfloks werden Freunde" (Three steam engines become friends), Thomas the Tank Engine was translated as "Thomas die Dampflok" (Thomas the steam engine), James the Red Engine became "James mit dem roten Kleid" (James with the red dress) and Tank Engine Thomas Again was "Neues von Thomas der Dampflok" (New stuff from Thomas the steam engine).

The back of "Drei Dampfloks werden Freunde" incorrectly states that the first book was published in 1943 and Edward's name uses the German-speaking spelling "Eduard".