Thomas and Friends - The Railway Stories - Reverend W. Awdry - Audio Book CD
Brand New : 1 CD
An audio reading of three of the original Thomas books, written by the Rev W Awdry, including: 'Three Railway Engines', 'Thomas the Tank Engine' and 'James the Red Engine'. These books formed the basis of the TV series. -
Read by Michael Angelis, this audio also contains 'Thomas the Tank Engine' songs.Duration: Approx. 1 hour.
About The Thomas the Tank Engine stories
The stories began in 1942, when two-year-old Christopher Awdry had caught measles and was confined to a darkened room. His father would tell him stories and rhymes to cheer him up. One of Christopher's favourite rhymes was:
Early in the morning,
Down at the station,
All the little engines
Standing in a row.
Along comes the driver,
Pulls the little lever
Puff, puff! Chuff, chuff!
Off we go!
The precise origins of this rhyme are unknown, but research by Brian Sibley suggests that it originated at some point prior to the First World War. Wilbert Awdry's answers to Christopher's questions about the rhyme led to the creation of a short story, 'Edward's Day Out'. This told the story of Edward the Blue Engine, an old engine who is allowed out of the shed for a day. Another story about Edward followed, which this time also featured a character called Gordon the Big Engine, named after a rather bossy child who lived on the same road as Christopher.
A third story had its origins in a limerick of which Christopher was fond, and which Awdry used to introduce 'The Sad Story of Henry':
Once, an engine attached to a train
Was afraid of a few drops of rain
It went into a tunnel,
And squeaked through its funnel
And never came out again.
As with the previous rhyme, the origins of this are uncertain, but Wilbert received a letter telling him that a similar poem had appeared in a book of children's rhymes, published in 1902:
Once an engine when fixed to a train
Was alarmed at a few drops of rain,
So went 'puff' from its funnel
Then fled to a tunnel,
And would not come out again.
This story introduced the popular characters Henry the Green Engine and the Fat Director. Encouraged by Margaret, his wife, Wilbert submitted the three stories to Edmund Ward for publication in 1943. The head of the children's books division requested a fourth story to bring the three engines together and redeem Henry, who had been bricked up in a tunnel in the previous story. Although Wilbert had not intended that the three engines live on the same railway, he complied with the request in the story 'Edward, Gordon and Henry'. The four stories were published in 1945 as a single volume, The Three Railway Engines, illustrated by William Middleton.
Christmas 1942 saw the genesis of the character that grew to become the most famous locomotive in the world. Wilbert constructed a toy tank engine for Christopher, which gained the name Thomas. Stories about Thomas were requested by Christopher, and 1946 saw the publication of Thomas the Tank Engine. (The foreword from this book is used at the beginning of current seasons of Thomas & Friends), This was illustrated by Reginald Payne, whom Wilbert felt to be a great improvement over Middleton. Like its predecessor, this book was a success and Wilbert was asked to write stories about James, a character who first appeared in 'Thomas and the Breakdown Train', the final story in Thomas the Tank Engine. The book James the Red Engine appeared in 1948, the year in which the railways in Britain were nationalised, and from this point onwards the Fat Director was known by his familiar title of the Fat Controller. James the Red Engine was notable as the first book to be illustrated by C. Reginald Dalby, perhaps the most famous of the Railway Series artists, and certainly the most controversial. Dalby illustrated every volume up to Percy the Small Engine (1956), and also produced new illustrations for The Three Railway Engines and made changes to those of Thomas the Tank Engine. Successive books would introduce such popular characters as Annie and Clarabel, Percy the Small Engine and Toby the Tram Engine. In making the stories as real as possible, Awdry took a lot of inspiration from a number of sources in his extensive library, and found the Railway Gazette's 'Scrapheap' column particularly useful as a source of unusual railway incidents that were recreated for the Railway Series characters.
Rev. Awdry continued working on the Railway Series until 1972, when Tramway Engines (book 26 in the series) was published. However, he had been finding it increasingly difficult to come up with ideas for new stories, and after this he felt that "the well had run dry" and so decided that the time had come to retire. He wrote no further Railway Series volumes, but later wrote a spin-off story for the television series Thomas' Christmas Party and expanded versions of some of his earlier stories, as well as The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways. In addition, he wrote a number of short stories and articles for Thomas the Tank Engine Annuals.
About the Author Reverend W. Awdry
Wilbert Vere Awdry, OBE, (15 June 1911 – 21 March 1997), better known as the Reverend W. Awdry, was a clergyman, railway enthusiast and children's author. He is best known as the author of The Railway Series of books in which the character Thomas the Tank Engine originated. Reverend W Awdry was born in Romsey, Hampshire in 1911. The son of a clergyman, he was educated at Dauntseys School, West Lavington, Wiltshire; St Peter's Hall, Oxford (BA, 1932), and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He was ordained into the Anglican priesthood in 1936. In 1938 he married Margaret Wale, and two years later took a curacy in St. Nicholas' Church, Kings Norton, Birmingham where he lived until 1946. He subsequently moved to Cambridgeshire, serving as Rector of Elsworth with Knapwell, 1946-53, and Vicar of Emneth, 1953-65. He retired from full-time ministry in 1965, and moved to Stroud, Gloucestershire.
The characters that would make Awdry famous, and the first stories featuring them, were invented in 1943 to amuse his son Christopher during a bout of measles. After Awdry wrote The Three Railway Engines, Christopher wanted a model of Gordon; however, that was too difficult. Instead, Awdry made a model of a tank engine from odds and ends and painted it blue. Christopher christened the model engine Thomas. Then Christopher requested stories about Thomas and these duly followed and were published in the famous book Thomas the Tank Engine, released in 1946. The first book (The Three Railway Engines) was published in 1945, and by the time Awdry stopped writing in 1972, The Railway Series numbered 26 books. Christopher subsequently added further books to the series.
Awdry's enthusiasm for railways did not stop at his publications. He was involved in railway preservation, and built model railways, which he took to exhibitions around the country. Awdry wrote other books besides those of The Railway Series, both fiction and non-fiction. The story Belinda the Beetle was about a red car (it became a Volkswagen Beetle only in the illustrations to the paperback editions). Wilbert Awdry was awarded an OBE in the 1996 New Year’s Honours List, but by that time his health had deteriorated and he was unable to travel to London. He died peacefully in Stroud, Gloucestershire, on 21 March 1997, at the age of 85. He is interred at Gloucester Crematorium. A biography entitled The Thomas the Tank Engine Man was written by Brian Sibley and published in 1995. |
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