The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry and Christopher Awdry

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RDMorrell
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The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry and Christopher Awdry

Post by RDMorrell »

Does anyone collect the Railway Series books by Rev. W. Awdry and the continuations by his son Christopher? This is of course the series that gave the world Thomas the Tank Engine. What's more, these are exciting times for Railway Series fans, as all the books by Christopher Awdry are being reprinted this month. And early next month, two new Railway Series books will be published. The first will be an omnibus edition (Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection) that collects all the RS books by Christopher Awdry in a single volume. The other is a brand-new, never-before-published book called Thomas and Victoria, which will be the first new Thomas book since 1996, as well as the 15th by Christopher Awdry and the 41st in the Railway Series overall. We have Egmont Books to thank for these new releases.

I was first introduced to the Railway Series by hearing some of the stories being read on the radio in the 1970s. I remember the narrator did the engine noises rather well! :) But for some reason, I never ended up getting any of the RS books as a child. My interest in the series was rekindled by the Thomas the Tank Engine TV series (amazing model work in that!), and finally, in the early part of the present decade, I bought a rather splendid hardback omnibus published by Heinemann that collected all 26 of the original Railway Series books together in a single volume. (I think it was simply called Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection.) So next month I am definitely planning to buy the new Christopher Awdry omnibus along with Thomas and Victoria! :D

Back when I bought the omnibus of Rev. W. Awdry's books and read it, I was struck at how much technical detail they contained. They're supposedly aimed at fairly young children, and the stories are generally quite straightforward, but some of the technical descriptions are quite impressive at times! The good reverend certainly knew his trains and obviously had a pretty intimate knowledge of their workings. His son Christopher is also a rail enthusiast, so I suppose his books must have a fair few technical details too, and I look forward to reading them next month and seeing how they compare with the originals.

I haven't actually collected much other Thomas paraphernalia. Even though I collect diecast metal toys, I have never collected the Thomas Ertl toys (I'm more into 1/64 scale toys, and the Thomas toys are somewhat bigger and bulkier than that). But I do occasionally get the Thomas calendar, and I have a Thomas picture puzzle (never opened, but makes a nice enough wall decoration) and three Thomas PVC figurines (of Thomas himself, the Fat Controller and one of the lady coaches - no idea whether it's Annie or Claribel though).

But when it comes to Thomas and friends, my main interest is the books, so if you've read them, what do you think of them, and do you prefer the originals by the Rev. W. Awdry or the newer ones by Christopher, and how does Christopher generally compare with the efforts of his old man?
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Re: The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry and Christopher Awdry

Post by Susie »

I was a fan of Thomas, I used to get some books of Thomas in the post.
I will not watch the video or DVD, as I had to watch it over and over and over again, when babysitting my cousins. In fact I never want to see it again!
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Re: The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry and Christopher Awdry

Post by Almas »

Oooooh! I'm afraid I haven't read the books, Rowan but they sound rather interesting. I will keep my eyes open for them, sure about that! :D

*going to Google for more info*
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Re: The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry and Christopher Awdry

Post by Viv of Ginger Pop »

I am bracing myself for getting to like Thomas!

The nephew is now 2 1/2, and my best friend John is a railway buff, so only yesterday it crossed my mind to get them a joint Christmas present of a Thomas the Tank Engine Hornby train layout.

(Once on a walk with John we heard a train whistle, and he said "it's 15.15 - thats the train at Harman's Cross!" Some people can tell the time by the sun or stars - John just knows the Swanage railway timetable!)

The Swanage Railway has two Thomas weeks a year, and the train comes in by lorry. It can be quite strange driving along and seeing a train coming towards you!

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Re: The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry and Christopher Awdry

Post by Mollybob »

I haven't read them for years, but used to enjoy them as a child.
I think I will have to get hold of some copies as we are expecting a boy and my husband is also a bit of a railway buff, so I think he'll enjoy reading them to the baby :D
I seem to remember hearing that the Thomas books have also been subjected to PC censorship and the Fat Controller now has a new name. Is this true? If so I'll go for some older copies on ebay.
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Re: The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry and Christopher Awdry

Post by Moonraker »

Image for an interesting piece on Sir Topham.
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Re: The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry and Christopher Awdry

Post by Jen-Jen »

I love this series of books. I've only got a few myself - but I'm glad to hear about the new edition.

I have always been a bit of a train buff - my dad is really into HO Scale Model trains - and he passed that interest on to me. As a toddler my favourite show was Thomas The Tank Engine - and today I still visit all of the model railway exhibitions that I can.
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The Railway Series (Thomas the Tank Engine)

Post by ledzep93 »

Merged with an older thread.

Hi guys :)

I suddenly thought of searching for Wilbert Awdry's Thomas books, and lo and behold, they don't seem to be here! Like most kids of my generation, I came across Thomas through the original TV series (The first two with Ringo Starr's narration are my fav.) and later progressed onto the books.
Thomas came to me before Enid, so I guess he holds a stronger place in my heart than Enid ever will (sorry guys! :lol: ) Anywho, I just figured I'd give a shout-out to this lovely series of stories, did anyone else grow up reading/watching Thomas? :)
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Re: The Railway Series (Thomas the Tank Engine)

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

I used to watch the programme with my grandkids, and read them the books, but those books passed me by as a child.

8)
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Re: The Railway Series (Thomas the Tank Engine)

Post by Katharine »

My son used to enjoy the TV programmes, and over the course of several years we bought him the entire series of little books. He also had a few ladybird books as well.

I used to quite like the TV programmes, and read him the occasional book, but I'm sorry to say, never got around to reading them all to him. I hope he managed to read them to himself eventually. He had quite a few VHS tapes, and got the Thomas annual for several years too. At the moment they are all in loft, awaiting a day when hopefully he'll be able to share them with a son of his own.
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Re: The Railway Series (Thomas the Tank Engine)

Post by Carlotta King »

I had some small thin hardcover storybooks in the 80s when I was a child, can't remember the exact titles but I'm pretty sure one of them involved one of the trains getting stuck in a tunnel :-)
I remember really loving reading them though, they were very well-thumbed! I think my parents still have them in their loft, they kept everything I had as a child hehe!

Edit: Just remembered Gordon Off The Rails was one that I had!
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Re: The Railway Series (Thomas the Tank Engine)

Post by Ming »

I had no idea Thomas the Tank Engine was a book! My first introduction to the character was in a coloring game on Sega! I must see if I can find the book somewhere.
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Re: The Railway Series (Thomas the Tank Engine)

Post by ledzep93 »

Yes you should Ming! And be warned, there's about 30 books from the original series, good luck hunting! :D
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Re: The Railway Series (Thomas the Tank Engine)

Post by Moonraker »

Ming wrote:I had no idea Thomas the Tank Engine was a book!
I bet there are thousands who have no idea that the Famous Five stories were originally books....
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Re: The Railway Series (Thomas the Tank Engine)

Post by Stephen »

I remember those small books prior to the television series. I'm not too familiar with the individual stories, but I certainly loved those detailed, glossy pictures inside. Does anyone remember that fantastic frontispiece in the books showing several trains and the surrounding countryside all in a green tint?

When the television series did come out, I was slightly surprised that Thomas the Tank Engine had assumed the title role, when he was merely one of several locomotives. I wasn't that fond of it (I was 11 in 1984 so if anything was probably a bit old for it), but looking back it was very cleverly done. Ringo Starr seemed just so ubiquitously right for it. And the theme tune has to be one of the catchiest ever!

Also, I genuinely laughed out loud as an adult watching one scene in my brother's video where Gordon's own stupidity gets him derailed, and some schoolboys start singing at him...

"Silly old Gordon fell in a ditch
Fell in a ditch
Fell in a ditch
Silly old Gordon fell in a ditch
All on a Monday morning!"
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