14 September: Thomas the Tank Engine

Today is the anniversary of the first publication of Thomas the Tank Engine. 10 things you might not know about the character:

1. Thomas was created by Rev Wilbert Awdry as part of a series of stories he told his son Christopher when he was ill with measles. Awdry made a model of Thomas as a Christmas present for Christopher that year.

2. Thomas is described in the books as follows: “He had six small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler and a short stumpy dome. He was a fussy little engine, always pulling coaches about. He was cheeky, too.” The stories are usually about Thomas getting into trouble, usually by being over-eager to do things best left to bigger and more sensible engines.

3. Awdry wrote 27 books before he retired in 1972, whereupon Christopher, now an adult, took over and wrote even more. Harold the Helicopter and fast trains Pip and Emma were new characters added by him.

4. Neither Rev Awdry nor Christopher ever thought Thomas was the star of the books. In fact, he didn’t appear in the first book at all. That book was all about Edward, Gordon, and Henry. Thomas arrived in book two, with James the Red Engine.

5. Here’s one for train nerds. The engines are all based on real ones. Thomas is based on Billington E2-Class 0-6-0T locomotives. Gordon was based on a Gresley A3 Pacific from the London and North Eastern Railway. Percy was patterned after an old Avonside locomotive. Donald and Douglas are based on members of the 812 Caledonian class of 1899.

6. Thomas’ top speed is estimated to be between 30 and 40 miles per hour.

7. The Fat Controller was originally the Fat Director. He became known as The Fat Controller in Britain in 1948 when railways were nationalised. In the US he’s called Sir Topham Hatt because they don’t like the nickname “fat” over there.

8. The “NW” on Thomas’s side was intended to stand for “No Where”, but as the Railway Series developed it became the North Western Railway. He has the number 1 because it’s the easiest to draw.

9. Thomas was the only fictional character included in The Independent on Sunday's 2009 "Happy List", alongside 98 real people and a therapy dog for making Britain a better and happier place.

10. When Rev. Awdry became famous, newspapers nicknamed him The Puff Puff Parson. Awdry once said of trains and the church: “Both are firmly convinced that they are the best means of getting man to his ultimate destination.”

Character birthday

Susannah Grant, teacher and former girlfriend of Peter Mayfield (Ultra Grav). She appears in Running in the Family.

Running in the Family

An alien craft approaches Earth. The alien on board is a fugitive, fleeing from an arranged marriage to freedom on our world. She befriends James, a genetics student, and shares her knowledge about the future of the human race with him. 

A science experiment gone wrong gifts James with superhuman abilities; but they come at a price, leading him to mentor others like himself. He founds a group of amateur heroes called the Freedom League.

The Freedom League suffers a string of losses and tragedies; it seems doomed to failure; but one of its members, Peter Mayfield, has vowed to form a group of his own. He is determined to keep his vow, despite having lost Rosemary, the one person he wanted by his side to help him.

Lizzie Hopkins is a talented young athlete and dancer. Peter sees her in action and guesses her exceptional abilities are far more than they seem. He offers to train and mentor Lizzie - but her mother is violently opposed to his suggestion.

As soon as she is old enough, Lizzie takes matters into her own hands; she seeks out Peter and his group for herself. She soon makes a discovery which shakes her world at its very foundations. Her search for the truth will resolve many unanswered questions, but it will also stir up old heartbreaks dating back to the Freedom League's early days.

Available from:

Amazon Paperback;   Amazon Kindle