The Fat Controller
Sir Topham Hatt, also known as The Fat Controller, is a fictional character in "The Railway Series" books written by the Reverend W. Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. In the first two books in the series ("The Three Railway Engines" and "Thomas the Tank Engine") he is known as The Fat Director, and as of the third book ("James the Red Engine") he becomes The Fat Controller, as the railway has been nationalised. Sir Topham Hatt's full name is revealed in the foreword to the 1951 book "Henry the Green Engine".