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The Eight Famous Engines

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“We are glad to see you. Those others did their best, but they don't know our ways. Nothing anywhere can compare with our Fat Controller's engines.”
― The crowds cheering the engines home

The Eight Famous Engines is the twelfth book of The Railway Series.

Foreword

Dear Friends,
The Fat Controller's engines are now quite famous. They have been on the radio and had many other adventures. But he had another plan, too, for his engines and this book will tell you what it was.
The Author

Stories

Percy Takes the Plunge

At Barrow-in-Furness, Percy is telling some tank engines about the time he braved bad weather, and Henry calls Percy silly for his egotism. Percy leaves for Knapford and he sees a board which says "Danger". Thomas tells him to obey it, because he went past danger once and fell down a mine, but Percy is curious and persuades the trucks to push him past the sign. They do so, but push him too far and cause Percy to fall into the sea. After being scolded by the Fat Controller, Percy is "fished out" and sent to the Works.

Gordon Goes Foreign

Gordon and Duck argue with a foreign engine over the name of London's big station. Gordon wishes to go to London to prove that the station is King's Cross, but is not allowed to pass Barrow. One day, when the engine taking the Express to London derails, Gordon jumps at the chance and receives a warm welcome upon reaching London. However, Gordon is upset when he returns, having learned that the station is St. Pancras.

Double Header

Gordon is exhausted after his trip to London, so James does his work while he rests. When Toby visits him on his way to the Works, James brags to him about his importance. When Toby later tries to get a drink at Killdane, the signalman, who is new to the line, tells him he has to clear the line, forcing Toby to struggle on to Kellsthorpe Road. However, Toby's tanks have been nearly empty to begin with and he soon runs out of water. The fireman goes back down the line and asks James to push Toby to the Works. When they arrive at the station, some boys think Toby has been helping James, who, furious, disappears in a cloud of steam.

The Fat Controller's Engines

Thomas arrives at Knapford to see some foreign engines arrive and Percy and Toby tell him the Fat Controller has something planned. At Tidmouth, the Fat Controller tells the engines they are going to England. The next day, Thomas is showing Jinty, one of the foreign engines, around the yard while he boasts about his race. In an attempt to reenact the race, Thomas runs into some buffers and damages his front. He is repaired just in time for the trip and the engines are adored by their English spectators.

Characters

Full Book

Characters Introduced

Percy Takes the Plunge

Gordon Goes Foreign

Double Header

The Fat Controller's Engines

Locations

Full Book

Percy Takes the Plunge

Gordon Goes Foreign

Double Header

The Fat Controller's Engines

Trivia

  • This book's working title was The Fat Controller's Engines, but this title was instead used for the fourth story.
  • Wilbert Awdry considered making this the final book of The Railway Series.
  • The 2011 edition of this book was called Eight Famous Engines. The word "the" was restored to the title in the book's 2015 edition.
  • This was the first book of The Railway Series to be illustrated by John T. Kenney.
  • Gordon Goes Foreign was planned to be adapted for the second series of the television series[1], but it was cut from production due to filming expenses. This was revealed to SiF by art director Robert Gauld-Galliers.[2] Henry's Gauge 1 model would have been used for the Big City Engine, with added smoke deflectors and a new face mask.[3] Despite not being adapted as an episode, the events of Gordon Goes Foreign were mentioned in the twenty-fourth series episode, Thomas and the Royal Engine, which celebrated the franchise's 75th anniversary.
  • An illustration from Percy Takes the Plunge was released as a Royal Mail stamp in 2011 to mark the Reverend Awdry's Centenary.
  • Duck gained sandboxes on his running board.
  • This is the only book in The Railway Series to feature a tanker with a face.
  • In the sixth illustration of Gordon Goes Foreign, the composition of the terraced houses for workers and the running railway is similar to Over London-by Rail drawn by Gustave Doré.
  • Loraine Marshall recreated some of the illustrations of Gordon Goes Foreign and The Fat Controller's Engines for a Thomas' YouTube World Tour segment.
  • Percy Takes the Plunge is based on a real event that occurred at Burnham-on-Sea, where a contractor's locomotive ran off the end of a jetty.
  • Double Header is based on an event where an LNER J70 (Toby's basis) had to be moved to the ex-GER works in Stratford for overhaul after the engine had been stranded without water.
  • The book takes place in 1956.
  • Double Header is the only story not to feature any engines from the Mainland.
  • Double Header includes the first, but by no means last, depiction of a firearm in the franchise.
  • This is the final Railway Series book narrated by John Gielgud.

Goofs

  • In the final illustration of Percy Takes the Plunge, Percy's lamp has moved from his left lamp iron to his middle one.
  • In Gordon Goes Foreign:
    • In Loraine Marshall's recreation of the first illustration, Duck is depicted as a 2-6-0PT instead of an 0-6-0PT.
    • In the second illustration, the lettering on Duck's tank is missing.
    • In the fifth illustration, Gordon is depicted as a 4-6-0 instead of a 4-6-2.
    • In the sixth illustration, Gordon's stripes on his firebox are missing and he has five stripes on his boiler.
  • In The Fat Controller's Engines:
    • In the second illustration, Pug and Jinty both appear to be faceless. Additionally, Knapford's platofrm appears out of nowhere, as it was not seen in the previous illustration.
    • Percy and Toby are said to be placed on flatbeds and coupled behind Edward for the journey to England, but the second to last illustration shows them coupled behind James.
    • In the last illustration, Percy's red stripes on his cylinders are missing, Gordon is both missing his steam pipes and his cylinder linings are yellow and James' cab roof is white.
  • Throughout the book, Duck is depicted as a GWR 64xx class rather than a GWR 57xx class as his basis.

In Other Languages

Language Title
Chinese Mandarin 八个著名的小火车
Japanese 八だいの機関車 (1974-2004)
8だいの機関車 (2005-present)
Korean 여덟 대의 유명한 기관차들

References

  1. ↑ Twitter post by TomsProps
  2. ↑ Robert Gauld-Galliers's interview with SiF
  3. ↑ Twitter post by Sir Christoph Kipper[dead link]


Writers Wilbert Awdry | Christopher Awdry | George Awdry | Brian Sibley
Illustrators William Middleton | Reginald Payne | C. Reginald Dalby | John T. Kenney | Gunvor and Peter Edwards | Clive Spong | Stephen Lings
Publishers Edmund Ward | Kaye & Ward | William Heinemann | Egmont Publishing | Random House Books
Narrators Wilbert Awdry | Johnny Morris | Willie Rushton | Ted Robbins | John Gielgud | Andrew Sachs | Michael Angelis
Characters Railway Series characters | Railway Series-exclusive characters | Awdry-created characters
Other The Sad Story of Henry (1953) | The Railway Stories | Eric Marriott
Books W.A. The Three Railway Engines | Thomas the Tank Engine | James the Red Engine | Tank Engine Thomas Again | Troublesome Engines | Henry the Green Engine | Toby the Tram Engine | Gordon the Big Engine | Edward the Blue Engine | Four Little Engines | Percy the Small Engine | The Eight Famous Engines | Duck and the Diesel Engine | The Little Old Engine | The Twin Engines | Branch Line Engines | Gallant Old Engine | Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine | Mountain Engines | Very Old Engines | Main Line Engines | Small Railway Engines | Enterprising Engines | Oliver the Western Engine | Duke the Lost Engine | Tramway Engines
C.A. Really Useful Engines | James and the Diesel Engines | Great Little Engines | More About Thomas the Tank Engine | Gordon the High-Speed Engine | Toby, Trucks and Trouble | Thomas and the Twins | Jock the New Engine | Thomas and the Great Railway Show | Thomas Comes Home | Henry and the Express | Wilbert the Forest Engine | Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines | New Little Engine | Thomas and Victoria | Thomas and his Friends | Barry the Rescue Engine
Other Thomas's Christmas Party | Thomas Comes to Breakfast | Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree | Thomas and the Evil Diesel | Thomas and Gordon Off the Rails | Thomas and the Hurricane | Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection | Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection | Annuals | Mini Books | Pop-up Books
Companion Twelve Happy Engines | The Railway Series: Surprise Packet | Railway Map of the Island of Sodor | The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways | The Thomas the Tank Engine Man | Sodor: Reading Between the Lines
Lectures Narrow Gauge Rails in Sodor | Railways of Sodor
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