Thomas and his Friends

"My parents read stories about your Railway to me as a child. There will never be anything like it anywhere."

- The Prince

Thomas and His Friends is the forty-second book in the Railway Series.

Foreword
Dear Friends, The Awdry family is delighted to be able to mark the centenary of the Thin Clergyman's birth with the publication of this book. The Fat Controller wanted to celebrate the occasion too, and quickly made his own plans. What were they? Turn the pages to find out... The Author

Thomas and the Swan
Thomas rescues a swan from a bridge, and Pip and Emma make a welcome return.

Buffer Bashing
Donald and Douglas cause trouble by smashing into the buffers.

Gordon’s Fire Service
Gordon proves a hero on the scene of a fire.

Centenary
The engines prepare to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the Thin Clergyman, but must work quickly to make sure the celebration happens after an important tunnel collapses. Afterwords, a bust of the Thin Clergyman is unveiled at Tidmouth by a Prince who was read the Railway Series when he was a child.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Douglas
 * Pip and Emma
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * The Prince
 * Donald (does not speak)
 * Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)
 * Edward (cameo)
 * Duck (cameo)
 * Daisy (cameo)
 * BoCo (cameo)
 * A Peel Godred Engine (mentioned)
 * The Thin Clergyman (mentioned)

Trivia

 * The book is dedicated to Wilbert Awdry and has the inscription, before the foreword, "In memory of the Rev. W. Awdry (1911 - 1997), without whom none of Thomas' adventures would have been told".
 * The prototype cover used an illustration from Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines.
 * As an April Fool's prank, SiF announced that they were being allowed to reveal the new character which will appear in this book and implied that it was a character created in their "Extended Railway Series". Many fans believed this to be true, though some were suspicious.
 * Originally scheduled for release on July 4th, 2011, the book was pushed back until the 6th.