From: pierson@ggone.enet.dec.com (Dave Pierson)
Subject: Re: Thomas and Friends
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: 16 DEC 92 10:00:47    

In article <1992Dec15.202939.21939@meadow.uucp>, nzr20@meadow.uucp
(Nicholas Russon) writes, in part:


>My son (age 22 months) is addicted to Shining Time Station/Thomas 
>the Tank Engine and Friends. At his age, he's not too worried about 
>such details as scale or historical accuracy. Just in case he ever
>gets around to asking about British railways and the relationship
>between his current favourite engine (James the Red Engine, or as he
>is known to Victor "Jaym") and reality, I'd like to be able to say 
>something halfway intelligent about it ("...of course, son, James 
>is based on an LNER mixed traffic engine from the early 1900s..."). 
>I'm sure that some magazine has probably done an article on the 
>prototypes (or lack thereof) for the various characters in the series.

>I've had to be in the same room with the VCR for the last year, and I'm
>curious about which engines the Rev. Awdry was modelling his creations
>on, and I hope someone has already found this information. There was an 
>article in Model Railroader several months ago, but I don't recall it 
>answering my question. Can any of the British railfans help me out on 
>this?

>I don't need a lot of information, but knowing which railway designed
>and built similar engines during approximately what time period would be
>more than satisfactory.

	Wellll, for anyone who missed it in rec.models.railroad, its baaaaack.
	Written by Ian Gunn.  We run Thomas (& duck) on the Digital RR Club
	modular layout & questions arise, so Ian wrote this...
===================================cut here===================================

Thomas the Tank Engine is fifty years old.  The stories were first created by an
Anglican clergyman, the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, as a way of entertaining his
young son Christopher as he recovered, in isolation, from scarlet fever.
Christopher demanded that he be told the stories again and again and, in the
way of small children, corrected his father whenever inconsistencies crept
into the retold stories.  In self defense the Rev. Awdry wrote the first stories
down on available scraps of paper.  To add to the story telling, the Rev. Awdry
drew simple pictures of steam locomotives on the paper along with the stories. 
A head on view being the easiest to draw, he drew a row of locomotives standing
in an engine shed with a human face and expression on each locomotive's
smokebox door. 

"Why is this engine sad, Daddy?", asked Christopher, pointing at an unhappy 
faced locomotive.  "Because he's old and tired and he hasn't been out in a long
time.", replied his father.  "What's his name, Daddy?" 

"Edward" was the first name that came into the Rev. Awdry's mind.  This was the
genesis of "Edward's Day Out", the first in almost a hundred simple moral tales
about the exploits and adventures of a group of railway engines given
human personalities.

Mrs Awdry believed that these children's stories had some merit and so pestered
her husband to "do something about them".  Through a distant cousin a small
publisher, Edmund Ward, was found who was interested in these railway stories.
The connection was made so suddenly that the Rev. Awdry had to send the
stories as they were written on scraps of paper as the original manuscript.
Nevertheless in 1945 the first of the Railway Series of books "The Three
Railway Engines" appeared.  This was a book, small enough for children's
hands, containing three stories, "Edward's Day Out" being the first.  The
book was laid out with the text on the left hand page and a full page
illustration of an incident in the story on the right.  

Thomas the Tank Engine did not appear until the second book was published a
year later in 1946 and more books followed at yearly intervals.  The
illustrator for the first dozen or so books was C. Reginald Dalby, who
established the basic appearance of each locomotive character from the Rev.
Awdry's sketches and by looking at real steam engines in use in Britain at that
time.  Thus an obscure 0-6-0T Class E2 shunting engine built in the Victorian
era for the  London, Brighton and South Coast Railway became the model for
Thomas, now known to millions of children worldwide.  Gordon can be seen to be
based on a Gresley A3 Pacific from the London and North Eastern Railway; Flying
Scotsman being the most famous real locomotive of this class.

As the stories developed, the location and other features of fictional railway
system emerged.  Many stories were based on actual happenings on British
Railways and its predecessors.  A railway locomotive did disappear down a mine
shaft on the Furness Railway and get spun on a turntable by the wind: Midland
Railway.  More than one of the Reverend Awdry's clerical colleagues were just
as fascinated as he with steam powered machinery.  The Rev. Terry Boston was a
well known collector of steamrollers and became the inspiration for the vicar
who saves Trevor the Traction Engine from the scrap heap.  More locomotive
characters appeared, learning to deal with the troublesome trucks and to become
"really useful engines" as they pulled their trains over the railway system
presided over by the stern but kindly Fat Controller: Sir Topham Hatt.  The now
famous engines all went to London and the Queen came to visit the railway.  By
the time British Railways retired its last steam locomotive, the Rev. Awdry had
firmly established the Island of Sodor as the location of his railway, happily
unaffected by the modernization on the mainland.

After twenty six books, the Rev. Awdry laid down his pen, only to have it taken
up by his son Christopher, who is now continuing to write stories for his son. 
Ten more books of the Railway Series have now appeared so far under
Christopher's name.  Perhaps, in his turn, the Rev.  Awdry's grandson will
continue the tradition! During the 1960's the Rev. Awdry built a model of
Thomas's branch line and exhibited it at various model railway shows throughout
England.  It wasn't until 1984 that a whole new generation of children were
introduced to Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends when the first of the T.V.
series of that name was made.  Gauge 1 models based on Marklin mechanisms were
used in the making of the T.V. shows in a studio not far from Clapham Junction,
Britain's busiest railway station.  In response to the rekindled interest in
Thomas, a British Model Railway Manufacturer, Hornby Railways, introduced a
number of OO gauge models of the locomotives in the Railway Series.  The back
[bottom...  dwp]of this sheet has information on where you can obtain these
models. 

Neither guarantees nor endorsements of any kind  are implied by the following
information about these really useful engines.  DIGITAL Railroad Club has no
connection with any of the companies,  dealers or shops mentioned. 

[deleted, since this isn't rec.models.railroad....  dwp]

thanks
dave pierson			|the facts, as accurately as i can manage,
Digital Equipment Corporation	|the opinions, my own.
40 Old Bolton Rd		|I am the NRA.
Stow, Mass 01775 USA		pierson@msd26.enet.dec.com
"He has read everything, and, to his credit, written nothing."  A J Raffles