Classic Thomas The Tank Engine Stories is a book that has five Railway Series stories within it.
Introduction[]
In the filing cabinet in my study there is a large bundle of letters. They are all the letters which boys and girls, and grown-ups too, have sent me ever since the first of my little books was published. It always amazes me to think that when my son Christopher caught measles, and we made up our first story, we were starting a series of books which boys and girls would like so much. It began quite simply. We had a little rhyme:
Early in the morning, down at the station,
All the little engines standing in a row.
Along comes the driver, turns a little handle.
Puff, Puff, Chuff, Chuff, off we go.
"What was the engine's name, Daddy?" asked Christopher.
"Edward," I told him. It was the first name that came into my head.
"Why was he sad, Daddy?"
"Because he was old, and hadn't been out for a long time."
And so, with Christopher asking questions, and me thinking up answers, we made up the story which became the first story in the series about an engine called Edward.
I made Christopher a wooden push-along model of Edward and a wooden tank-engine which he called Thomas, and before long we had to have stories about Thomas the Tank Engine, too.
There are now thirty five books in the Railway Series, and boys and girls still like them even though no steam engines are left on British Rail, and you have to go to preserved lines like Bluebell, the Severn Valley, or the Talyllyn Railway to see them.
Many millions of Thomas the Tank Engine books have been sold, and in this special edition, several of the original Railway Series books appear together. I think this is a splendid idea. I hope you will like it.
The Rev. W. Awdry
Stories[]
- Gordon the Big Engine
- Edward the Blue Engine
- James the Red Engine
- Henry the Green Engine
- The Three Railway Engines
Trivia[]
- A railway map of Sodor is included on the last page of the book.
- The book was reprinted in 1993.
Goofs[]
- The stories within the book are in the wrong order.