Thomas The Tank Engine

Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional steam locomotive in The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry and his son, Christopher. He became the most popular character in the series, and the accompanying television spin-off series, Thomas and Friends.

Thomas is a tank engine, painted blue with red lining, and displays the running number one. All of the locomotives in The Railway Series were based on prototypical engines; Thomas the Tank Engine has origins in the E2 Class designed by Lawson Billinton in 1913.

Thomas first appeared in 1946 in the second book in the series, Thomas the Tank Engine, and was the focus of the four short stories contained within.

In 1979, the British writer/producer Britt Allcroft came across the books, mortgaged her house and used her savings to bring the stories to life as Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (later simplified to Thomas and Friends). The programme became an award-winning hit around the world, with a vast range of spin-off commercial products.

Thomas the Tank Engine wasn’t originally based on a prototype, the initial stories were an accompaniment to the toy made for Christopher. After Awdry’s wife encouraged him to publish the stories, the publisher of the second book in The Railway Series, Thomas the Tank Engine, hired an illustrator named Reginald Payne. Awdry selected a real locomotive for Payne to work from to create authenticity; a Billinton designed 0-6-0 E2 Class of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. This may have been chosen simply because Awdry had a photograph to hand. Thomas the Tank Engine is one of half a dozen locomotives fitted with an extension to the front of the water tanks for working at Southampton Docks.

One detail of the illustration bothered Awdry. This was the fact that the front end of his footplate featured a downward slope, which meant that his front and back buffers were at different levels. This was an illustrator’s mistake that was perpetuated in subsequent books. The accident, in “Thomas Comes to Breakfast” was partly devised as a means of correcting this.

Unfortunately, despite creating the visual image of such an iconic character, Payne did not receive any credit for his work, and it is only since the publication of Brian Sibley’s The Thomas the Tank Engine Man that he has started to receive major recognition. It had often been erroneously assumed that C. Reginald Dalby, responsible for illustrating books 3–11 and repainting the illustrations of book 1, was the character’s creator.

Thomas the Tank Engine arrived on Sodor in 1915, when The Fat Director bought the locomotive for a nominal sum to be a pilot engine at Vicarstown. After rescuing James in Thomas and the Breakdown Train, he became a “Really Useful Engine” and was rewarded being put in charge of the Ffarquhar branchline. Although Thomas is seen today on various heritage railways, the last of the E2 Class was scrapped in 1950.

Below are listed the main characters, but new ones emerge with each new story.

Thomas The Tank Engine characters

Engines

Thomas · Edward · Henry · Gordon · James · Percy · Toby · Duck · Donald and Douglas · Emily

Narrow gauge engines

Skarloey · Rheneas · Sir Handel · Peter Sam · Rusty · Duncan

Other characters

The Fat Controller · Annie and Clarabel · Bertie · Harold · Terence · Trevor

Railways

North Western · Skarloey · Arlesdale · Culdee Fell · Mid Sodor · Sodor & Mainland · The Other Railway

Places

The Island of Sodor · Locations in The Railway Series · Locations in Thomas and Friends

Click here to go to Thomas The Tank Engine Games