The Railway Series

In 1943, Wilbert Awdry told stories about steam locomotives on the fictional Island of Sodor to his son, Christopher Awdry, who was sick with measles and confined to his bed at two years old. The stories were told to him numerous times, prompting Wilbert to write them down while Christopher noted any mistakes and inconsistencies. Wilbert's wife, Margaret, encouraged him to send the stories to publishing firms, many of whom rejected him. In September, Edmund Ward Ltd agreed to publish the stories for a fee of £25. The series' first book, The Three Railway Engines, was published in 1945; the book's release was delayed by paper shortages.^[1][2]

Wilbert went on to write 25 Railway Series books in total. The second book introduced Thomas the Tank Engine, who was based on a wooden toy Wilbert had made for Christopher as a Christmas present.^[2] Wilbert based some of his stories on his time volunteering at the Talyllyn Railway in the 1950s, beginning with Four Little Engines in 1955.^[3] Wilbert's final book was published in 1972, with Christopher writing 14 more with his father's blessing eleven years later.^[1]

Christopher's son Richard Awdry, would appear at the Talyllyn Railway in 2025 to perform a Sodor history lecture alongside Tim Dunn.^[4] Christopher Awdry would return to the series for a revised 20th anniversary edition of Sodor: Reading Between the Lines later in 2025. Christopher would note in the book that he nor Richard had been approached to continue the series at any point since 2011's Thomas and His Friends and noted Richard's successful career as a musician (as guitarist of the Post-metal band Final Coil), as reasons the series would be unlikely to continue.^[5][6]

The Railway Series is perhaps as highly regarded for its illustrations as for its writing, which in the immediate post-Second World War era were seen as uniquely vivid and colourful. Indeed, some critics (notably Miles Kington) have claimed that the quality of the illustrations outshines that of the writing.^{[citation needed]}

The first edition of The Three Railway Engines was illustrated by the artist William Middleton, with whom Awdry was deeply dissatisfied. The second artist to work on the series was Reginald Payne, who illustrated Thomas the Tank Engine in a far more realistic style. Despite an early disagreement as to how Thomas should look, Awdry was ultimately pleased with the pictures produced.^{[citation needed]}

Payne later suffered a nervous breakdown and proved impossible to contact to illustrate James the Red Engine, so C. Reginald Dalby was hired. Dalby also illustrated the next eight books in the series. The Three Railway Engines was reprinted with Dalby's artwork replacing William Middleton's and Dalby also touched up Payne's artwork in the second book in 1949 and 1950, respectively. Dalby's work on the series proved popular with readers, but not with the author, who repeatedly clashed with him over issues of accuracy and consistency. Dalby resigned from the series in 1956, following an argument over the portrayal of Percy the Small Engine in the book of the same name.^[7] Awdry had built a model of Percy as a reference for the artist, but Dalby did not make use of it. Despite the tempestuous relationship with Awdry, Dalby is probably the best remembered of the series' artists.^{[citation needed]}

With The Eight Famous Engines (1957), John T. Kenney took over the illustration of the series. His style was less colourful but more realistic than Dalby's. Kenney made use of Awdry's model engines as a reference. As a result of his commitment to realism and technical accuracy, he enjoyed a far more comfortable working relationship with Awdry, which lasted until Gallant Old Engine (1962), when Kenney's eyesight began to deteriorate.^{[citation needed]}

The artist initially chosen to replace him was the Swedish artist Gunvor Edwards. She began illustrating Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine, but felt unsuited to the work. She was assisted for that volume by her husband Peter, who effectively took over from then on. Both artists retained credit for the work, and the "Edwards era" lasted until Wilbert Awdry's last volume, Tramway Engines. The style used in these volumes was still essentially realistic but had something of an impressionistic feel.^{[citation needed]}

When Christopher took over as author of the series in 1983, the publisher was keen to find an illustrator who would provide work that had the gem-like appeal of Dalby's pictures, but also had the realism of Kenney and Edwards' artwork. The artist chosen was Clive Spong. He illustrated all of Christopher Awdry's books, a greater number than any other artist working on The Railway Series. He also produced illustrations for a number of spin-off stories written by the Awdrys, and his artwork was used in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways.^{[citation needed]}

The Awdrys both wrote about Sodor as if it were a real place that they visited, and that the stories were obtained first-hand. This was often "documented" in the foreword to each book. In some of W. Awdry's later books he appeared as the Thin Clergyman and was described as a writer, though his name and connections to the series were never made explicit. He was invariably accompanied by the Fat Clergyman, based on Teddy Boston,^[8] who was a fellow railway enthusiast and close friend. The two Clergymen were portrayed as railway enthusiasts, and were responsible for annoying the Small Engines and discovering Duke the Lost Engine. They were often figures of fun, liable to be splashed with water or to fall through a roof.^{[citation needed]}

Awdry also appeared in a number of illustrations, usually as a joke on the part of the illustrator. In one illustration by John T. Kenney in Duck and the Diesel Engine he appears with a figure who bears a strong resemblance to C. Reginald Dalby, which Brian Sibley has suggested might be a dig at Dalby's inaccurate rendition of the character of Duck. A vicar appears in Edward the Blue Engine and other volumes as the owner of Trevor the Traction Engine. This may be a reference to Teddy Boston, who had himself saved a traction engine from scrap.^{[citation needed]}

Dalby illustrated the entire Awdry family – Wilbert, Margaret, Christopher, Veronica and Hilary – watching Percy pass through a station ("Percy runs away" in Troublesome Engines (p53)).^[9] This was Christopher Awdry's only appearance in an illustration, but he often described meetings with the engines in the book forewords, usually with some degree of humour.

Other people associated with The Railway Series were also referenced. In Dalby's books, he made allusions to himself twice on store signs (Seen in Off the Rails and Saved from Scrap) and a reference to E.T.L. Marriott, who edited The Railway Series, in Percy Takes the Plunge on a "Ship Chandlers" company sign. Peter Edwards also notes that he based Gordon's face on Eric Marriot's.^{[citation needed]}.

The Fat Controller (originally The Fat Director in the earliest books which pre-dated the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948) was a fictional character, although Christopher Awdry has conceded that his doctor at the time may have provided an 'unconscious contribution' for his father.^[10] The Thin Controller, in charge of the narrow-gauge engines in the books was based on Mr Edward Thomas, the manager of the Talyllyn Railway in its last years before enthusiasts took it over in 1951.^{[citation needed]}

A number of the stories are based on articles which appeared in railway enthusiast publications of the period. The monthly Railway Magazine was a long-running enthusiasts' companion and the origins of several stories can be recognised. The railway books written by C. Hamilton Ellis, were another source.^[10]

Awdry used the books to promote steam railways in the United Kingdom. The Skarloey Railway was based on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales, where he volunteered. The Skarloey books often included a promotion for the Talyllyn Railway, either in the stories themselves, or in a footnote or the foreword. Some of the illustrations in the books depict recognisable locations on the Talyllyn Railway.

From the 1980s onwards, the Talyllyn Railway occasionally repainted one of their locomotives to resemble its Skarloey Railway "twin". As well as paint schemes and names taken from the books' artwork, these locomotives are fitted with fibreglass "faces". These characters' appearances have been written into The Railway Series by Christopher Awdry in the form of visits by the fictional engines to the Talyllyn Railway.

Two other railways on Sodor are based on real railways: The Culdee Fell Railway is based on the Snowdon Mountain Railway and the Arlesdale Railway is based on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway in Cumbria.

From Duck and the Diesel Engine onwards, a number of real engines and railways were explicitly featured. Flying Scotsman, City of Truro, Stepney and Wilbert were all real locomotives that appeared in The Railway Series, the latter two having books dedicated to them: Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine and Christopher Awdry's Wilbert the Forest Engine. Wilbert's appearance was of particular significance as the locomotive was named in tribute to Wilbert Awdry who was the president of the Dean Forest Railway at the time.

In Thomas and the Great Railway Show, Thomas visited the National Railway Museum in York, and several of the museum's locomotives are featured including Mallard, Duchess of Hamilton, Stephenson's Rocket, Iron Duke and Green Arrow. At the end of this book, Thomas is made an honorary member of the National Collection.

The following table lists the titles of all 42 books in The Railway Series.