List of books in The Railway Series

The Railway Series is a British series of children's books written by both the Rev. W. Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry.
The first 26 books in the series were written by the Rev. W. Awdry.
This is the first book in the series, and introduces Edward, Henry, Gordon and the Fat Director (then later became the Fat Controller; also known as Sir Topham Hatt).
Thomas is a tank engine who works at the big station, fetching coaches for the big engines and longs for greater things beyond the station yard. Unfortunately, his efforts go wrong. However, after showing that he can be a useful engine following James' accident with some trucks, he is rewarded with his own branch line and two faithful coaches named Annie and Clarabel.
James has recently been repainted red and given the proper brakes for his wheels and is eager to show off. Unfortunately, he is rather careless and gets into a lot of trouble (in James and the Bootlace, James is grumpy after being threatened with blue paint and having to fetch his own coaches), but by making some troublesome trucks behave and by pulling the Express very well, he proves himself later.
This book concerns the further adventures of Thomas on his branch line, with the bigger engines relegated to cameo appearances. Thomas leaves his guard (or railway conductor) behind by mistake, accidentally goes fishing because of a broken water column and some water from a bucket, gets stuck in the snow and is freed by Terence and has a race with Bertie.
The big engines are missing Thomas. Since he left to run his branch line, they feel overworked, and some embarrassing incidents for all three of them lead them to go on strike. The Fat Controller addresses the problem by bringing in a new tank engine to do the shunting.
Henry has been having a lot of problems. He cannot steam properly, and so is often ill. The Fat Controller tries to solve the problem with expensive Welsh coal. When Henry has an accident, the Fat Controller decides to solve the problems once and for all by sending Henry to Crewe Works. Henry returns with a new shape and a much better outlook on life and enjoys a number of adventures with the other engines.
Thomas is having trouble with the police by traveling to Ffarquhar Quarry without cowcatchers and side-plates to cover his wheels. The Fat Controller realizes that there is a solution. While on holiday with his wife and two grandchildren, he met Toby, a tram engine, who together with his coach Henrietta, has been having problems of his own with his railway in East Anglia closing down.
Gordon has an accident by means of being lazy and careless, and so is taken off passenger duties. He helps the other engines out when they get into trouble and is eventually judged to be sensible enough to pull the Royal Train.
Edward is the oldest and wisest engine on Sodor. He is also kind and sensible. In the book, Edward is long overdue for an overhaul. However, he shows that he is far from useless and can teach the bigger engines a thing or two.
Rheneas is away being overhauled, and the Skarloey Railway has recently acquired two new engines: Sir Handel and Peter Sam. Peter Sam is naïve but well-meaning, but Sir Handel is rude and arrogant. Skarloey shows Sir Handel how to do things when he rescues the pompous engine's train.
Percy loves playing jokes, which sometimes gets him into trouble with the bigger engines, so the Fat Controller obtains a new engine, nicknamed "Duck", to do shunting work and sends Percy to work with Thomas and Toby on their branch line. He meets Harold the Helicopter and saves the day during a flood.
The Fat Controller's eight engines have become famous through their appearances in books and on the radio. While the engines enjoy a number of adventures and misadventures, the Fat Controller arranges for them to go to London.
Duck has settled in well on Sodor, so much so that the other engines are getting a little tired of his know-it-all attitude and new-found pride on the Great Western Railway following a visit from the City of Truro. They are pleased when a smooth-talking diesel – simply known as Diesel – visits to help out. When Duck shows him up, Diesel vows revenge, and starts spreading malicious lies about Duck (forcing him to be sent away). Luckily, the Fat Controller has a plan to clear Duck's name.
This book continues the adventures of the Skarloey Railway. Skarloey returns from being overhauled to discover that there are two new engines on the railway. Rusty is a diesel engine who is friendly and helpful, but Duncan is a steam engine who is stubborn, careless, and rude. Sir Handel is still his old self. A television crew comes to film a documentary on the railway, and Skarloey starts telling them about the Talyllyn Railway.
The Fat Controller orders one engine from Scotland to help out with the goods work but is surprised when two engines arrive instead. To confuse matters further, the engines claim not to know their British Railways numbers 57646 and 57647, or which of them should have been sent. The engines are Donald and Douglas and are twins. As whichever one of them is sent back to Scotland will be scrapped, they are determined to stay. Despite some misadventures, the other engines convince the Fat Controller to keep both of them.
Thomas has an accident by trashing the Stationmaster's breakfast and has to be sent to the Works. The Fat Controller orders a diesel railcar named Daisy to help out in his absence. Daisy is rather vain, neurotic, and convinced she knows it all, and decides that she is only going to do the work she wants. After a stern talking to and an accident by Percy, she is allowed to stay, with the encouragement of Toby. At the end of the book, Thomas comes back repaired.
After his accident with slate trucks, Peter Sam loses his old funnel and gets a new one to improve his steaming. Sir Handel has been given new wheels but soon gets into a fight with a rude steamroller named George. Duncan is jealous and feels overworked. Skarloey is shocked at this and tells the others about the time when Rheneas saved the railway, eventually changing Duncan's attitude. At the end of the book, Rheneas returns from his overhaul.
Percy is depressed to learn that steam engines on the Other Railway are being scrapped to make way for new diesels, and so he and Douglas are glad when he hears that the Bluebell Railway has saved a number of them. Stepney, from the Bluebell Railway, comes to visit and soon makes friends with the engines, even teaching a boastful visiting diesel a lesson or two.
The Skarloey Railway engines meet Culdee, a strange-looking engine who climbs a mountain. He tells them all about his railway, and the tragic story of Godred, before returning home. At home, he meets the reckless Lord Harry, who causes trouble through his risk-taking, but when a climber runs into trouble, Lord Harry has an opportunity to redeem himself.
The year was 1965, and Skarloey and Rheneas are getting ready to celebrate their 100th birthday. Skarloey tells Nancy and other friends the story of his early life on the Skarloey Railway. The engines enjoy a wonderful centenary party.
The Main Line engines had more adventures on the Fat Controller's Railway. The narrator introduces readers to Bill and Ben the tank engine twins, and a new diesel named BoCo arrives. Gordon and James both run into trouble, but Edward surprises everyone by getting a train home despite breaking down.
The Fat Controller has been using a special new kind of ballast, which Donald and Douglas say it is brought by "verra wee engines". Duck is intrigued and goes to see what the fuss is about. He discovers a miniature railway with three small engines named Mike, Rex and Bert. The focus then shifts to the small engines themselves, and some of the adventures they have.
Gordon is sad to learn that steam has ended on the Other Railway, and more so when he hears his siblings of the LNER Gresley Classes A1 and A3 have almost all been scrapped. To cheer him up, the Fat Controller brings his only surviving brother, the Flying Scotsman to Sodor. Henry is jealous because of Flying Scotsman's two tenders and is shown up by Duck but comes to the rescue of two failed diesels despite failing himself. Meanwhile, Douglas saves a tank engine named Oliver and his rolling stock (Isabel and Toad) accomplices from scrap. The Fat Controller announces that Oliver can stay, along with diesel engine D7101 (named Bear), and that he is reopening a branch line for Duck and Oliver. Furthermore, he announces that he will never replace his steam engines.
Life was exciting on the Little Western. Duck and Donald play practical jokes on each other with a duck. Oliver, attempting to look important, loses the respect of trucks after an accident, but regains it with the help of Toad. Finally, a lying bus named Bulgy is put in his place after trying to steal the railway's passengers.
Duke was a dignified but affectionate old engine who ran on the Mid Sodor Railway with Falcon and Stuart, who are better known nowadays as Sir Handel and Peter Sam. Despite his age, Duke was useful and well-loved by the people who visited his line but when the line closed, nobody wanted to buy him, and he was left behind in the engine shed whilst Falcon and Stuart were sold on. Over the following years, his shed was buried by a landslide and he was forgotten except by his old engine colleagues. The Fat Clergyman, the Thin Clergyman and the Small Controller led an expedition to find him, and eventually he is rescued and sent to live on the Skarloey Railway with his old friends.
This book focuses on Thomas' branch line. Percy plays a trick on Thomas, but later runs into trouble himself. Meanwhile, the Fat Controller has hired Mavis, a diesel engine working for the Ffarquhar Quarry Company, to help out while Thomas is absent, but Mavis is very headstrong and thinks Toby is an old fusspot. She pays no attention to his advice and causes a great deal of trouble, but eventually comes to Toby's rescue when his heavy load pushes him across a crumbling bridge.
Christopher Awdry, the Rev. W. Awdry's son, had some background in writing when he took over writing the Railway Series books, having written a number of articles for Steam Railway magazine. He was inspired to write some Railway Series stories by a visit to the Nene Valley Railway, with encouragement from his father. The publishers were eager for new books, as the television adaptation was in production at the time, and Christopher Awdry became the new Railway Series author.
All of his books were illustrated by Clive Spong, an illustrator who, it was felt, could combine technical accuracy with the appealing, colourful style exemplified by C. Reginald Dalby.
Christopher Awdry wrote his first book in 1983, and 13 further books followed between 1984 and 1996. No books were published between 1996 and 2007; book 40: New Little Engine, and the original books from The Railway Series went out-of-print. This was a source of friction between the Awdry family and the publishers. However, in February 2007, unofficial reports from the publishers, Egmont, suggested that there were plans to put the whole series back into print, in the original format, and that a new Christopher Awdry book (called Thomas and Victoria) was expected to be published later in 2007. This book, number 41 in the series, was published in September 2007, being the first Railway Series book to be published in 11 years. Number 42 in the series, called Thomas and his Friends, was published in June 2011.
In addition, the sixteen original Christopher Awdry books have been put together into a large, "bumper" edition, in a vein similar to the master collection of Wilbert Awdry's stories.
This book unusually does not focus on any one area of the Fat Controller's Railway. Thomas helps arrest a car thief. Percy is able to help out a friend – by accident. Duck, acting as a helper for Henry, has an accident with the Flying Kipper due to a lamp falling off. Finally, all three tank engines get together to pull the Express when Gordon is ill.
James is one of the only engines who still does not trust diesels, which is not helped by the visit of a pompous diesel engine. He has a number of misadventures, but after a breakdown it is a diesel who helps him out, and he realises that diesel engines are not so bad after all.
Duke has been mended and the Thin Controller sends Sir Handel to the Talyllyn Railway to help out while Talyllyn is being mended. While he is away, brambles and hot weather cause problems for the Skarloey Railway engines to solve. Sir Handel returns and tells them all about his adventures.
This is the 3rd book to be named after Thomas. Thomas and Percy have an argument and fallout. Both Bertie and Harold the Helicopter make appearances as Harold has to help Thomas from a runaway, and Thomas helps Bertie after he breaks down. Finally, Percy rescues Thomas after an accident along the branch line.
Gordon is jealous when Donald tells him about High Speed Trains on the Other Railway. He tries to copy them, but ends up slipping helplessly on the rails. He is then blamed for ruining wedding clothes with his smoke, and is well and truly in disgrace. But he manages to get the Express home after his firebars collapsed, and the Fat Controller forgives him. He also apologises – it transpires the spoiled wedding clothes were not Gordon's fault. He is then allowed to take a special train to Carlisle and a High Speed Train named Pip & Emma arrives to assist while he is away. At last, Gordon is allowed to show how fast he is.
The engines who work at Ffarquhar quarry have a number of adventures. Mavis has an accident, and so Toby and Percy have to help out more than usual. Toby remembers an event from the days before he came to the Fat Controller's Railway. The trucks manage to do a good turn when they accidentally put in his place a disagreeable barge named Bulstrode. Terence does the shunting for Percy and boasts about it, while adding that steam engines ploughed fields and ran on roads in the past. To add to that, on the day Mavis is due back from the Works, Toby has an accident at the crossing and briefly runs on the road like Trevor.
Repair work on Thomas's branch line means that he is sent to help on Edward's, which means he has to work with Bill and Ben (SCC 1 and 2) at the china clay pits. Although the twins tease him at first, he soon earns their respect.
The Small Railway is short of power, and the Small Controller decides that what they need is another engine. The Railway's own workshops build a strong new engine called Jock, who at first thinks himself superior to the others, but the new engine eventually learns the value of teamwork, and all is forgiven.
Thomas is excited because the National Railway Museum at York have invited him to visit. He makes many new friends among the engines of the National Collection and has a few adventures along the way. He saves a train when he spots a landslide, and is made an honorary member of the National Collection.
While Thomas is away at the National Railway Museum, his branch is left in the care of Percy, Toby and Daisy. Daisy finds herself battling a snowstorm, Percy causes the bridge at Hackenbeck to collapse, and Toby takes more trucks than he can handle. On the day Thomas is due to come home, George leaves his cones at Dryaw Crossing, allowing one to stop Daisy. Everything is worked out when Thomas comes home.
Henry is due for an overhaul. Other engines help with his duties while he is away (for example, James hauls The Flying Kipper), but when there is no engine to take the Express, Henry is called back early and proves once again that he is a "Really Useful Engine".
Donald and Douglas are overworked. The Fat Controller arranges to borrow an engine called Wilbert from the Dean Forest Railway in Gloucestershire to help out. He tells Thomas and Toby the story of Sixteen, has his tank filled with milk rather than water and pulls a truck using wire.
It is 50 years since the first Railway Series books were published, and the Fat Controller plans to celebrate this occasion with a party. Unfortunately, things do not go entirely smoothly in the run-up to the celebration. Gordon has an accident with some birds, Edward loses a wheel, Thomas is derailed by some rabbits and a spider's web shorts out the electrics in the signal box at Knapford Junction. But everything works out well in the end, and Pip and Emma bring a Royal Personage to enjoy the day with the Fat Controller's Engines.
The Skarloey Railway needs another engine. The Thin Controller announces that a new one will be built. In the meantime, Peter Sam is sent to visit the Talyllyn Railway. The engine is finally completed, and the railway's engineer, Mr Hugh, is to unveil the name. He is surprised to discover that the engine has been named Ivo Hugh – after himself!
Toby and Henrietta are overcrowded carrying the workmen from the Quarry and a close call at a level crossing shows how desperate the situation is – an extra carriage is needed urgently. Thomas finds the perfect solution when he meets Victoria – an old carriage. While Victoria is being renovated, she tells Edward a tale from the old days on the Furness Railway. Meanwhile, Daisy discovers that she does not like eels very much when a whole boxful of eels escape on to the platform! Once finished, Victoria is taken over to Knapford Junction and joins Toby and Henrietta as Sodor's Vintage Train.
The Fat Controller welcomes back Pip and Emma to help on his Railway. Thomas is delighted; Gordon is worried that his time as an express engine is over. But every engine has its day! Thomas makes an important rescue, Gordon proves himself a hero, and all the engines celebrate a very important event.
There have been several Railway Series-related books published which were written by the Awdrys, but which are not actually part of the Railway Series proper. Nevertheless, they complement the original books and are considered canon.
From 1979 to 1980 the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends annuals were written by Rev. W. Awdry, and from 1985 to 1996 by Christopher Awdry. They included several stories and articles about the characters. In some cases, these stories expanded upon earlier Railway Series books and in others they were entirely new. One, 'The Strawberry Special' in the 1985 Annual, was later rewritten and used in Thomas Comes Home as 'Toby's Megatrain'.
A number of new characters were introduced in the annuals. Perhaps the most notable was Algy the Bus, a friend of Bertie's. Also, Henry's Driver's name is revealed to be Ted in one of the later annuals.
A one-off story written especially for the television series – the only Rev. W. Awdry-authored story to be so written. The engines hold a special Christmas celebration for Mrs Kyndley.
An expanded version of the first story from Branch Line Engines, which also summarises the remainder of that book.
This story was also written for the television series and was used in the 2nd series. Thomas the Tank Engine is sent to fetch a Christmas tree, but runs into a snowdrift. It is up to Donald and Douglas to save the day for him.
When Percy has to go to the Works for repairs, Diesel returns to Sodor and, as expected, causes trouble for the engines by destroying the oldest truck in Ffarqhuar Yards, but two days later, Thomas has an accident when Daisy drips her oil on the track and Clarabel's back wheels come off the tracks at the special points at Dryaw, so Diesel comes to the rescue. It seems that even Diesel has some good in him somewhere.
Gordon falls into a ditch, and, after teasing him about it, Thomas falls down a mine.
A hurricane hits Sodor, causing chaos for the engines.
A pair of books written to highlight rail safety using characters from the Railway Series. They were written partially due to Christopher Awdry's frustration at not being able to include a proper rail safety story in his 1991 Railway Series book Thomas and the Great Railway Show ("published 10 years before").
Bad Days for Thomas and His Friends stories
More Bad Days for Thomas and His Friends stories
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This is a book about 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. Most of the background information on the places, people, railways and engines in the Railway Series comes from this book.
The book came about as a result of Rev. W. Awdry's desire to create a credible and consistent world for his stories. This began with maps of Sodor, and was then expanded upon. Rev. W. Awdry and his brother George (who was the librarian of the National Liberal Club) worked out details of Sodor, producing between them a comprehensive set of notes. These notes were compiled and published in this book.
A biography of Rev. W. Awdry and companion to the series. Although it is not officially a Railway Series publication, it includes a great deal of background information on the series from the Awdrys that is not available elsewhere. Although it is not canon as such, therefore, it contains a lot of information that is.
This book is a companion volume to the Railway Series, providing comprehensive biographies of the characters within the books and exploring the origins of the stories. Like The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways, it included aspects of the fictional universe that were never featured in the Railway Series stories. It described the fictional developments on the railway since 1996.