Talk:List of books in The Railway Series

message: I've just remembered (and seen on Amazon) the Ladybird books that were published as a spin-off from the TV series. I 'believe' these are the original books, albeit containing stills from the TV series, and rebranded (book one is Edward, Gordon and Henry .
There seem to be many other books etc available: should they be placed in merchandising articles? Mdcollins1984 11:28, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ladybird books 

message: I have found the Cover art for Thomas and Victoria . Felt I should let people know - Bladez636 3:12, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Thomas and Victoria Cover Art

message: The relevant guideline is WP:LISTN.
Google books gives over 1,000 hits for "The Railway Series"  but most of these are various editions of the books themselves. There are plenty of references to these books as a series there too, but many of them are based on Wikipedia, which raises some issues.
Google Scholar does better,  83 results with a significant number relevant.
Any suggestions as to more relevant searches? But even on these I think we have a case for removing the notability tag. Andrewa (talk) 21:30, 4 November 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Notability

message: Interested in any further comments, particularly from User:Yodin. But in that there has been no reasonable objection, I still propose to remove the tags, leaving only the refimprove. Andrewa (talk) 21:44, 5 November 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Removing the tags

message: ===Primary sources===
As observed above, much of this article as it was is clearly based on primary sources.
It is particularly important that we add references to these, for two reasons:
* Unsourced material may be removed.
* The fictional universe of Sodor is not entirely consistent. It's important that we identify exactly which version is being described.
Watch this space! Andrewa (talk) 18:20, 6 November 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  References needed 

message: As observed above, much of this article as it was is clearly based on primary sources.
It is particularly important that we add references to these, for two reasons:
* Unsourced material may be removed.
* The fictional universe of Sodor is not entirely consistent. It's important that we identify exactly which version is being described.
Watch this space! Andrewa (talk) 18:20, 6 November 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Primary sources

message: In the notes section for Thomas and the Great Railway Show it states that "Clive Spong broke a major rule in this volume. All the engines at the National Railway Museum, except Rocket, are illustrated with faces. The Rev. W. Awdry had insisted that engines should not have faces, unless on Sodor." Now I think I have read before, possibly in Brian Sibley's biography of the Rev. Awdry, that Awdry did indeed not want engines to be depicted with faces outwith Sodor. However this "rule" had been broken several times before this by Spong and earlier artists including in books by the Rev. Awdry. As early as 1952's Toby the Tram Engine, we see Toby with a face on a railway in England. In The Eight Famous Engines the Sodor engines are seen with faces on the mainland at the end of the book, though whether Awdry intended the "rule" to be applied to his fictional creations when they were not on Sodor is debatable. More significantly in 1963's Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine there is a scene of Stepney - like the engines in Thomas and the Great Railway Show a case of a real-life engines appearing in the books with a face - coming to Sodor passing through a station with diesels who have faces and another  (famous) scene with faced steam engines being scrapped. In the context of the book, these scenes must take place on the UK mainland rather than sodor. At least two Christopher Awdry books illustrated by Spong had broken the "rule"  prior to this book - Gordon the High Speed Engine - where engines are seen at Barrow with faces - and very prominently in Toby, Trucks and Trouble with the flashback scenes set on the LNER featuring several engines with faces. Thus it is unfair to highlight the breach in the supposed rule in the book and I would suggest that this claim is removed. Dunarc (talk) 20:49, 11 November 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: I have also thought of another couple of exceptions, including a very early one. In 1950's Troublesome Engines when Percy is purchased the workshop he is bought from (which presumably was not on Sodor) features him and other engines with faces. Enterprising Engines features scenes of Diesels with faces on the mainland in the scene depicting Oliver in hiding. Thus it is pretty clear that by the time of Thomas and the Great Railway Show, the "rule" had been broken several times by the illustrators of the Railway Series, including Reginald Dalby and Peter Edwards, and so Clive Spong's decision to show faced engines hear was not novel, and therefore I really do not think it is justifiable to include this claim. Dunarc (talk) 15:28, 12 December 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Thomas and the Great Railway Show - Clive Spong "rule" break claim 

message: Is there any source for the 1930s date claim made here? The fact that Sir Topham Hatt is referred to as The Fat Controller in the book, would seem to suggest that it is dated after the creation of British Railways, placing it after 1948. Dunarc (talk) 20:55, 11 November 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: I am changing this as I have fished out my copy of The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways and the Awdry brothers state that Percy came to Tidmouth in 1949, meaning the events of the book must take place in that year. Dunarc (talk) 21:43, 18 November 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Troublesome Engines - date 

message: Under Toby the Tram Engine it states "Old Stuck-Up which takes place in 1976". However the entry for James and the Diesel Engines dates it to having "possibly taken place before the real 40125 was withdrawn from service in May 1981 and scrapped in December 1983" and later in the same entry claims 1983. I think this needs standardised. Unless there is any evidence for the 1976 date I think the 1983 date is a safer bet. Dunarc (talk) 20:43, 11 February 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Old Stuck-Up date 

message: There was also a good-sized fold-out companion map published some time before the Rev stopped writing the books; I had a copy as a small Mr Larrington. Mr Larrington (talk) 01:12, 27 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Map