99-815: The Island of Sodor is a fictional island that is the setting for The Railway Series books by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry (and his son Christopher ). It is also the setting of the Thomas & Friends television series, though it is significantly different from the island in the books. Sodor lies in the Irish Sea between Cumbria and the Isle of Man . Awdry wanted a consistent set of locations for The Railway Series . He wanted them to be in Great Britain , but sufficiently isolated from British Railways to allow him to write
198-564: A Java virtual machine . A program in Java, so long as it does not use system-specific functionality, will maintain interoperability with all systems that have a Java virtual machine available. Applications will maintain compatibility because, while the implementation is different, the underlying language interfaces are the same. Software interoperability is achieved through five interrelated ways: Each of these has an important role in reducing variability in intercommunication software and enhancing
297-500: 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 Awdry received a letter telling him that a similar poem had appeared in
396-518: A rack railway and a 15-inch gauge railway. The first several stories concerned standard-gauge engines. Stories set around the narrow gauge railways soon followed. The standard-gauge railway system consists of a mainline and several branch lines. They are linked to and interoperable with each other and with the mainland system, so that the standard-gauge engines can visit locations in Britain under their own power. In Gordon Goes Foreign , several of
495-444: A system of systems approach to water and flood control is necessary. In this context, interoperability is important to facilitate system-of-systems thinking, and is defined as: "the ability of any water management system to redirect water and make use of other system(s) to maintain or enhance its performance function during water exceedance events." By assessing the complex properties of urban infrastructure systems, particularly
594-622: 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 his wife Margaret, Awdry submitted the three stories to publishing firm Edmund Ward in Leicester in 1943. The head of
693-516: A book titled: The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways (republished with some minor modifications by Christopher Awdry in 1992 under the title Sodor: Reading Between the Lines ). The fictional native language of Sodor is "Sudric" or "Sudrian", a Goidelic language similar to Manx . Many of the place names are based on Manx words, but often conforming to English word order, e.g. Killdane, which comes from "Keeill-y-Deighan" (Church of
792-500: A common information exchange reference model. The content of the information exchange requests are unambiguously defined: what is sent is the same as what is understood. Cross-domain interoperability involves multiple social, organizational, political, legal entities working together for a common interest or information exchange. Interoperability implies exchanges between a range of products, or similar products from several different vendors, or even between past and future revisions of
891-604: A common understanding of the end goal to be achieved. Interoperability tends to be regarded as an issue for experts and its implications for daily living are sometimes underrated. The European Union Microsoft competition case shows how interoperability concerns important questions of power relationships. In 2004, the European Commission found that Microsoft had abused its market power by deliberately restricting interoperability between Windows work group servers and non-Microsoft work group servers. By doing so, Microsoft
990-428: A consequence of a lack of attention to standardization during the design of a program. Indeed, interoperability is not taken for granted in the non-standards-based portion of the computing world. According to ISO/IEC 2382-01, Information Technology Vocabulary, Fundamental Terms , interoperability is defined as follows: "The capability to communicate, execute programs, or transfer data among various functional units in
1089-561: A few parameters. For passenger rail service, different railway platform height and width clearance standards may also affect interoperability. North American freight and intercity passenger railroads are highly interoperable, but systems in Europe, Asia, Africa, Central and South America, and Australia are much less so. The parameter most difficult to overcome (at reasonable cost) is incompatibility of gauge, though variable gauge axle systems are increasingly used. In telecommunications ,
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#17327798988441188-598: A manner that requires the user to have little or no knowledge of the unique characteristics of those units". Standards-developing organizations provide open public software specifications to facilitate interoperability; examples include the Oasis-Open organization and buildingSMART (formerly the International Alliance for Interoperability). Another example of a neutral party is the RFC documents from
1287-464: A more apt definition is captured in the term business process interoperability . Interoperability can have important economic consequences; for example, research has estimated the cost of inadequate interoperability in the US capital facilities industry to be $ 15.8 billion a year. If competitors' products are not interoperable (due to causes such as patents , trade secrets or coordination failures ),
1386-623: A number of illustrations, usually as a joke on the part of the illustrator. In one illustration by John T. Kenney in Duck and the Diesel Engine he appears with a figure who bears a strong resemblance to C. Reginald Dalby, which Brian Sibley has suggested might be a dig at Dalby's inaccurate rendition of the character of Duck. A vicar appears in Edward the Blue Engine and other volumes as
1485-553: A number of short stories and articles for Thomas the Tank Engine Annuals . Anthropomorphisation of locomotives has a literary tradition extending back at least as far as the writings of Rudyard Kipling in his 1897 story " .007 ". Christopher Awdry was a keen railway enthusiast like his father. On a visit to the Nene Valley Railway he was inspired to write his first story Triple Header based on
1584-415: A particular product in contravention of any applicable standards, or if any effective standards were not present at the time of that product's introduction. The vendor behind that product can then choose to ignore any forthcoming standards and not co-operate in any standardization process at all, using its near-monopoly to insist that its product sets the de facto standard by its very market dominance. This
1683-408: A railwayman's account of a locomotive running out of steam short of its destination. In the story, Thomas, Percy and Duck take on Gordon's Express but find it more than they can handle. Christopher wrote three further stories, Stop Thief! , Mind That Bike and Fish and showed them to his father, who encouraged Christopher to submit them for publication. At the time, work on the television adaptation
1782-576: A single entitled " Down by the Station ". Wilbert Awdry's answers to Christopher's questions about the rhyme led to the creation of a short story, "Edward's Day Out", featuring Edward the Blue Engine , an old engine who is allowed out of the shed for a day. Another story about Edward followed, this time featuring Gordon the Big Engine , named after a child living on the same road who Christopher considered rather bossy. A third story had its origins in
1881-1086: A spin-off of the previous series which uses 2D animation and a more cartoonish style. Interoperability#Railways Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader definition takes into account social, political, and organizational factors that impact system-to-system performance. Types of interoperability include syntactic interoperability , where two systems can communicate with each other, and cross-domain interoperability , where multiple organizations work together and exchange information. If two or more systems use common data formats and communication protocols then they are capable of communicating with each other and they exhibit syntactic interoperability . XML and SQL are examples of common data formats and protocols. Low-level data formats also contribute to syntactic interoperability, ensuring that alphabetical characters are stored in
1980-402: A stake in the development that discusses and debate the technical and economic merits, demerits and feasibility of a proposed common protocol. After the doubts and reservations of all members are addressed, the resulting common document is endorsed as a common standard . This document may be subsequently released to the public, and henceforth becomes an open standard . It is usually published and
2079-569: A statewide data sharing network. The Commonwealth of Virginia is one of the leading states in the United States in improving interoperability. The Interoperability Coordinator leverages a regional structure to better allocate grant funding around the Commonwealth so that all areas have an opportunity to improve communications interoperability. Virginia's strategic plan for communications is updated yearly to include new initiatives for
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#17327798988442178-428: Is not equivalent to an open standard, because: Speaking from an e-government perspective, interoperability refers to the collaboration ability of cross-border services for citizens, businesses and public administrations. Exchanging data can be a challenge due to language barriers, different specifications of formats, varieties of categorizations and other hindrances. If data is interpreted differently, collaboration
2277-759: Is Culdee Fell, which was modelled on Snowdon : the ridge of Devil's Back copies the Clogwyn ridge on Snowdon. The summit is reached by the Culdee Fell Railway, which is based on the Snowdon Mountain Railway in Wales. The capital and administrative centre of Sodor is the city of Suddery; Tidmouth is the largest town on the island. One of the more famous settlements on Sodor is Ffarquhar, the terminus of Thomas's branch line. The railways of Sodor include standard and narrow gauge railways,
2376-955: Is a subset of software interoperability. In the early days, the focus of interoperability was to integrate web applications with other web applications. Over time, open-system containers were developed to create a virtual desktop environment in which these applications could be registered and then communicate with each other using simple publish–subscribe patterns . Rudimentary UI capabilities were also supported allowing windows to be grouped with other windows. Today, desktop interoperability has evolved into full-service platforms which include container support, basic exchange between web and web, but also native support for other application types and advanced window management. The very latest interop platforms also include application services such as universal search, notifications, user permissions and preferences, 3rd party application connectors and language adapters for in-house applications. Search interoperability refers to
2475-441: Is an element of coalition willingness to work together over the long term to achieve and maintain shared interests against common threats. Interoperability at the operational and tactical levels is where strategic interoperability and technological interoperability come together to help allies shape the environment, manage crises, and win wars. The benefits of interoperability at the operational and tactical levels generally derive from
2574-422: Is available freely or at a nominal cost to any and all comers, with no further encumbrances . Various vendors and individuals (even those who were not part of the original group) can use the standards document to make products that implement the common protocol defined in the standard and are thus interoperable by design , with no specific liability or advantage for customers for choosing one product over another on
2673-470: Is limited, takes longer and is inefficient. For instance, if a citizen of country A wants to purchase land in country B, the person will be asked to submit the proper address data. Address data in both countries include full name details, street name and number as well as a postal code . The order of the address details might vary. In the same language, it is not an obstacle to order the provided address data; but across language barriers, it becomes difficult. If
2772-407: Is not a problem if the product's implementation is open and minimally encumbered, but it may well be both closed and heavily encumbered (e.g. by patent claims). Because of the network effect , achieving interoperability with such a product is both critical for any other vendor if it wishes to remain relevant in the market, and difficult to accomplish because of lack of cooperation on equal terms with
2871-609: Is sent away for repairs in Skarloey Remembers and returns in Gallant Old Engine . Each of the narrow-gauge railways links to the standard-gauge system at an interchange station : The Railway Series The Railway Series is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor . There are 42 books in the series,
2970-526: Is usually shown as much larger than the Isle of Man. The island is roughly diamond -shaped, 62 miles (100 km) wide east to west and 51 miles (82 km) long north to south. Its north-west coast is separated from the Isle of Man by a strait called the Sudrian Sea (Faarkey-y-Sudragh), four miles (6 km) wide. In the north-east, it overrides and replaces the real Walney Island . Its highest mountain
3069-477: The Channel Tunnel , London Underground , transport of radioactive waste and the perceived dangerous state of the railways. Andrew Lloyd Webber wanted to produce a musical television series based on The Railway Series , but Awdry refused to give him the control he wanted. Lloyd Webber would go on to compose the 1984 musical Starlight Express , and create The Really Useful Group , a name inspired by
Sodor (fictional island) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3168-478: The European Commission , after commissioning two impact assessment studies and a technology analysis study, proposed the implementation of a standardization – for iterations of USB-C – of phone charger products, which may increase interoperability along with convergence and convenience for consumers while decreasing resource needs, redundancy and electronic waste . Desktop interoperability
3267-578: The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The Open Service for Lifecycle Collaboration community is working on finding a common standard in order that software tools can share and exchange data e.g. bugs, tasks, requirements etc. The final goal is to agree on an open standard for interoperability of open source application lifecycle management tools. Java is an example of an interoperable programming language that allows for programs to be written once and run anywhere with
3366-680: The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway in Cumbria . From Duck and the Diesel Engine onwards, a number of real engines and railways were explicitly featured. Flying Scotsman , City of Truro , Stepney and Wilbert were all real locomotives that appeared in The Railway Series , the latter two having books dedicated to them: Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine and CHristopher Awdry's Wilbert the Forest Engine . Wilbert's appearance
3465-603: The Talyllyn Railway in Wales, where he volunteered. The Skarloey books often included a promotion for the Talyllyn Railway, either in the stories themselves, or in a footnote or the foreword. Some of the illustrations in the books depict recognisable locations on the Talyllyn Railway. From the 1980s onwards, the Talyllyn Railway occasionally repainted one of their locomotives to resemble its Skarloey Railway "twin". As well as paint schemes and names taken from
3564-638: The bishop there is known as the Bishop of Sodor and Man . The "Sodor" part of the title comes from the Sudreys , but Awdry decided that a fictional island between the Isle of Man and England by that name would be an ideal setting for his stories. In partnership with his brother George (the librarian of the National Liberal Club ), he gradually devised Sodor's history, geography, language, industries and even geology. The results were published in
3663-410: The 41st book in the series, Thomas and Victoria , illustrated by Clive Spong . The book addresses issues relating to the railway preservation movement . In July 2011, Egmont released the 42nd book in the series: Thomas and his Friends . The final story ended with the words "The End". Christopher Awdry said that he had other material, which he hoped would be published. He narrated new stories about
3762-525: The Awdrys, and his artwork was used in The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways . The Rev. W. Awdry received numerous letters from young fans asking questions about the engines and their railway, as well as letters concerning inconsistencies within the stories. In an effort to answer these, he began to develop a specific setting for the books. On a visit to the Isle of Man , he discovered that
3861-1077: The Commonwealth ;– all projects and efforts are tied to this plan, which is aligned with the National Emergency Communications Plan, authored by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Emergency Communications. The State of Washington seeks to enhance interoperability statewide. The State Interoperability Executive Committee (SIEC), established by the legislature in 2003, works to assist emergency responder agencies (police, fire, sheriff, medical, hazmat, etc.) at all levels of government (city, county, state, tribal, federal) to define interoperability for their local region. Washington recognizes that collaborating on system design and development for wireless radio systems enables emergency responder agencies to efficiently provide additional services, increase interoperability, and reduce long-term costs. This work saves
3960-516: The Devil), and the hills, called Knock and Cronk. The names of some of the "historical" characters – used in the background but not appearing in the stories – were taken from locations on the Isle of Man, such as Sir Crosby Marown ( Crosby is a village in the parish of Marown) and Harold Regaby (Regaby is a tiny hamlet on the parish boundary between Andreas and Bride ). Below are some words and phrases, and place-names translated into English : Sodor
4059-681: The European Research Cluster on the Internet of Things (IERC) and IoT Semantic Interoperability Best Practices; four kinds of interoperability are distinguished: syntactical interoperability, technical interoperability, semantic interoperability, and organizational interoperability. In the United States, the General Services Administration Component Organization and Registration Environment (CORE.GOV) initiative provided
Sodor (fictional island) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4158-711: The International Alliance for Interoperability started in 1994, and was renamed buildingSMART in 2005. In Europe, the European Commission and its IDABC program issue the European Interoperability Framework . IDABC was succeeded by the Interoperability Solutions for European Public Administrations (ISA) program. They also initiated the Semantic Interoperability Centre Europe (SEMIC.EU). A European Land Information Service (EULIS)
4257-570: The OIC with agencies in several locations, including Silicon Valley . This program will use case studies to identify the best practices and challenges associated with linking CAD systems across jurisdictional boundaries. These lessons will create the tools and resources public safety agencies can use to build interoperable CAD systems and communicate across local, state, and federal boundaries. Governance entities can increase interoperability through their legislative and executive powers. For instance, in 2021
4356-593: 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 due to the criticism later aimed at him by Awdry. 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
4455-436: The Red Engine , so C. Reginald Dalby was hired. Dalby also illustrated the next eight books in the series. The Three Railway Engines was reprinted with Dalby's artwork replacing William Middleton's and Dalby also touched up Payne's artwork in the second book. Dalby's work on the series proved popular with readers, but not with the author, who repeatedly clashed with him over issues of accuracy and consistency. Dalby resigned from
4554-542: The Tank Engine , The Railway Series ' 30th volume. The success of the television series led to tensions between Christopher and the publishers. Thomas was the central character of the television series and the publishers wanted stories focused on Thomas. Christopher produced Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines that had one story about Thomas, while Thomas Comes Home did not feature Thomas until
4653-680: 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. Awdry continued working on The Railway Series until 1972, when Tramway Engines (book 26 in
4752-565: The US, the lack of interoperability in the public safety realm become evident during the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center structures. Further evidence of a lack of interoperability surfaced when agencies tackled the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina . In contrast to the overall national picture, some states, including Utah, have already made great strides forward. The Utah Highway Patrol and other departments in Utah have created
4851-654: The ability of two or more information collections to be searched by a single query. Specifically related to web-based search, the challenge of interoperability stems from the fact designers of web resources typically have little or no need to concern themselves with exchanging information with other web resources. Federated Search technology, which does not place format requirements on the data owner, has emerged as one solution to search interoperability challenges. In addition, standards, such as Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting , Resource Description Framework , and SPARQL , have emerged that also help address
4950-449: The ability to take a medical device out of its box and easily make it work with one's other devices – has attracted great attention from both healthcare providers and industry. Increasingly, medical devices like incubators and imaging systems feature software that integrates at the point of care and with electronic systems, such as electronic medical records. At the 2016 Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) meeting, experts in
5049-407: The basis of standardized features. The vendors' products compete on the quality of their implementation, user interface, ease of use, performance, price, and a host of other factors, while keeping the customer's data intact and transferable even if he chooses to switch to another competing product for business reasons. Post facto interoperability may be the result of the absolute market dominance of
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#17327798988445148-501: The book The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways in 1987. The Awdrys both wrote about Sodor as if it were a real place that they visited, and that the stories were obtained first-hand. This was often "documented" in the foreword to each book. In some of W. Awdry's later books he appeared as the Thin Clergyman and was described as a writer, though his name and connections to the series were never made explicit. He
5247-473: The books' artwork, these locomotives are fitted with fibreglass "faces". These characters' appearances have been written into The Railway Series by Christopher Awdry in the form of visits by the fictional engines to the Talyllyn Railway. Two other railways on Sodor are based on real railways: The Culdee Fell Railway is based on the Snowdon Mountain Railway and the Arlesdale Railway is based on
5346-399: The catchphrase "Really Useful Engines". There have been three adaptations of the series produced. The first was an unsuccessful pilot in 1953, which was filmed live and had a number of technical errors. Around three decades later came the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends series, which premiered in 1984 and concluded in 2021. This was followed by Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go! ,
5445-481: 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 by Edmund Ward in 1945 as a single volume, The Three Railway Engines , illustrated by William Middleton. Christmas 1942 saw
5544-519: The earliest books which pre-dated the nationalisation of Britain's railways in 1948) was a fictional character, although Christopher Awdry has conceded that his doctor at the time may have provided an 'unconscious contribution' for his father. The Thin Controller, in charge of the narrow-gauge engines in the books was based on Mr Edward Thomas, the manager of the Talyllyn Railway in its last years before enthusiasts took it over in 1951. A number of
5643-641: The end of this book, Thomas is made an honorary member of the National Collection. The following table lists the titles of all 42 books in The Railway Series . Satirical magazine Private Eye produced a book called Thomas the Privatised Tank Engine , written in the style of The Railway Series . The stories were strongly critical of private railway companies and the Government of John Major , and covered subjects such as
5742-734: The engines in the book forewords, usually with some degree of humour. Other people associated with The Railway Series were also referenced. In Dalby's books, he made allusions to himself twice on store signs (Seen in Off the Rails and Saved from Scrap ) and a reference to E.T.L. Marriott, who edited The Railway Series , in Percy Takes the Plunge on a "Ship Chandlers" company sign. Peter Edwards also notes that he based Gordon's face on Eric Marriot's . The Fat Controller (originally The Fat Director in
5841-718: The engines recount working in London when they were younger, and later in the same story, Gordon pulls the Wild Nor’ Wester to London. In the story The Fat Controller's Engines , eight of the famous engines visit London. There are three narrow-gauge railways: the Skarloey Railway, the rack-and-pinion Culdee Fell Mountain Railway, and the Arlesdale Railway. On the west side of the island, the 15 in ( 381 mm ) gauge Arlesdale Railway runs from Arlesdale West along
5940-403: The exchange of information between agencies. Agencies' information systems such as computer-aided dispatch systems and records management systems functioned largely in isolation, in so-called information islands . Agencies tried to bridge this isolation with inefficient, stop-gap methods while large agencies began implementing limited interoperable systems. These approaches were inadequate and, in
6039-521: The execution of assigned missions and tasks. Additionally NATO defines interoperability more generally as the ability to act together coherently, effectively and efficiently to achieve Allied tactical, operational and strategic objectives. At the strategic level, interoperability is an enabler for coalition building. It facilitates meaningful contributions by coalition partners. At this level, interoperability issues center on harmonizing world views, strategies, doctrines, and force structures. Interoperability
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#17327798988446138-552: The field like Angela N. Johnson with GE Healthcare and Jeff Shuren of the United States Food and Drug Administration provided practical seminars on how companies developing new medical devices, and hospitals installing them, can work more effectively to align interoperable software systems. Railways have greater or lesser interoperability depending on conforming to standards of gauge , couplings , brakes , signalling , loading gauge , and structure gauge to mention
6237-503: The first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry . Twenty-six books were written by Awdry, the final one being written in October 1972. Sixteen more were written by his son, Christopher Awdry , between September 1983 and July 2011. The series features many anthropomorphic vehicles, including Thomas the Tank Engine . Thomas became the most popular and famous character in the series and
6336-430: The genesis of the character that grew to become the most famous fictional locomotive in the world. Awdry 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 . This was illustrated by Reginald Payne, whom Wilbert felt to be a great improvement over Middleton. Like its predecessor, this book
6435-432: The interchangeability of force elements and units. Technological interoperability reflects the interfaces between organizations and systems. It focuses on communications and computers but also involves the technical capabilities of systems and the resulting mission compatibility between the systems and data of coalition partners. At the technological level, the benefits of interoperability come primarily from their impacts at
6534-461: The interoperability between the drainage systems and other urban systems (e.g. infrastructure such as transport), it could be possible to expand the capacity of the overall system to manage flood water towards achieving improved urban flood resilience. Force interoperability is defined in NATO as the ability of the forces of two or more nations to train, exercise and operate effectively together in
6633-453: The issue of search interoperability related to web resources. Such standards also address broader topics of interoperability, such as allowing data mining. With respect to software , the term interoperability is used to describe the capability of different programs to exchange data via a common set of exchange formats, to read and write the same file formats , and to use the same communication protocols . The lack of interoperability can be
6732-439: The language uses a different writing system it is almost impossible if no translation tools are available. Interoperability is used by researchers in the context of urban flood risk management . Cities and urban areas worldwide are expanding, which creates complex spaces with many interactions between the environment, infrastructure and people. To address this complexity and manage water in urban areas appropriately,
6831-483: The last page. The series' 40th volume, New Little Engine , was published in 1996. Egmont Publishing who had taken over from Kay and Ward, did not publish further Railway Series books and allowed the existing back catalogue to go out of print. There was a selected print run in 2004 of the original 26 books, but in 2005, the sixtieth anniversary of Wilbert's first book, the Awdry family were disappointed that not all of
6930-585: The lives of emergency personnel and the citizens they serve. The U.S. government is making an effort to overcome the nation's lack of public safety interoperability. The Department of Homeland Security's Office for Interoperability and Compatibility (OIC) is pursuing the SAFECOM and CADIP and Project 25 programs, which are designed to help agencies as they integrate their CAD and other IT systems. The OIC launched CADIP in August 2007. This project will partner
7029-545: 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 origins of this rhyme are unknown, but research by Brian Sibley suggests that it originated at some point prior to the First World War . The words, with some slight alterations, were later set to music by Lee Ricks and Slim Gaillard in 1948, and released by Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra as
7128-497: The narrow-gauge engines on "Duncan Days" at the Talyllyn Railway in Wales . The Railway Series is perhaps as highly regarded for its illustrations as for its writing, which in the immediate post-Second World War era were seen as uniquely vivid and colourful. Indeed, some critics (notably Miles Kington ) have claimed that the quality of the illustrations outshines that of the writing. The first edition of The Three Railway Engines
7227-446: The operational and tactical levels in terms of enhancing flexibility. Because first responders need to be able to communicate during wide-scale emergencies, interoperability is an important issue for law enforcement , fire fighting , emergency medical services , and other public health and safety departments. It has been a major area of investment and research over the last 12 years. Widely disparate and incompatible hardware impedes
7326-430: The original vendor, who may well see the new vendor as a potential competitor and threat. The newer implementations often rely on clean-room reverse engineering in the absence of technical data to achieve interoperability. The original vendors may provide such technical data to others, often in the name of encouraging competition , but such data is invariably encumbered, and may be of limited use. Availability of such data
7425-565: The owner of Trevor the Traction Engine. This may be a reference to Teddy Boston, who had himself saved a traction engine from scrap . Dalby illustrated the entire Awdry family – Wilbert, Margaret, Christopher, Veronica and Hilary – watching Percy pass through a station ("Percy runs away" in Troublesome Engines (p53)). This was Christopher Awdry's only appearance in an illustration, but he often described meetings with
7524-441: The product and, in the appropriate case, once for the patent-protected program the product uses. Interoperability is often more of an organizational issue. Interoperability can have a significant impact on the organizations concerned, raising issues of ownership (do people want to share their data? or are they dealing with information silos ?), labor relations (are people prepared to undergo training?) and usability. In this context,
7623-490: The railways themselves were based upon real lines in the British Isles. Audio adaptations of The Railway Series have been recorded at various times under the title The Railway Stories . The stories began in 1942, when Christopher Awdry, at the age of two, had measles and was confined to a darkened room. His father told him stories and rhymes to cheer him up. One of Christopher's favourite rhymes was: Early in
7722-486: The result may well be monopoly or market failure . For this reason, it may be prudent for user communities or governments to take steps to encourage interoperability in various situations. At least 30 international bodies and countries have implemented eGovernment -based interoperability framework initiatives called e-GIF while in the US there is the NIEM initiative. The need for plug-and-play interoperability –
7821-417: The same ASCII or a Unicode format in all the communicating systems. Beyond the ability of two or more computer systems to exchange information, semantic interoperability is the ability to automatically interpret the information exchanged meaningfully and accurately in order to produce useful results as defined by the end users of both systems. To achieve semantic interoperability, both sides must refer to
7920-449: The same product. Interoperability may be developed post-facto , as a special measure between two products, while excluding the rest, by using open standards . When a vendor is forced to adapt its system to a dominant system that is not based on open standards, it is compatibility , not interoperability. Open standards rely on a broadly consultative and inclusive group including representatives from vendors, academics and others holding
8019-418: The series in 1956, following an argument over the portrayal of Percy the Small Engine in the book of the same name. Awdry had built a model of Percy as a reference for the artist but Dalby did not make use of it. Despite the tempestuous relationship with Awdry, Dalby is probably the best remembered of the series' artists. With The Eight Famous Engines (1957), John T. Kenney took over the illustration of
8118-430: The series in 1983, the publisher was keen to find an illustrator who would provide work that had the gem-like appeal of Dalby's pictures, but also had the realism of Kenney and Edwards' artwork. The artist chosen was Clive Spong . He illustrated all of Christopher Awdry's books, a greater number than any other artist working on The Railway Series . He also produced illustrations for a number of spin-off stories written by
8217-508: The series) was published. However, he had been finding it increasingly difficult to come up with ideas for new stories. 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 ( Thomas's Christmas Party ) for the television series, and expanded versions of some of his earlier stories, as well as writing The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways . In addition, he wrote
8316-402: The series. His style was less colourful but more realistic than Dalby's. Kenney made use of Awdry's model engines as a reference. As a result of his commitment to realism and technical accuracy, he enjoyed a far more comfortable working relationship with Awdry, which lasted until Gallant Old Engine (1962), when Kenney's eyesight began to deteriorate. The artist initially chosen to replace him
8415-469: The stories are based on articles which appeared in railway enthusiast publications of the period. The monthly Railway Magazine was a long-running enthusiasts' companion and the origins of several stories can be recognised. The railway books written by C. Hamilton Ellis , were another source. Awdry used the books to promote steam railways in the United Kingdom. The Skarloey Railway was based on
8514-724: The stories he wanted. He was inspired during a 1950 visit to the Isle of Man , which forms the Diocese of Sodor and Man . Awdry, a Church of England cleric, noted that while there was an Isle of Man, there was no island of Sodor. He decided to create a fictional island of "Sodor" as the setting for his books. Sodor would be between England and the Isle of Man, isolated from the British railway system, but somewhere that readers could easily imagine. Awdry and his younger brother George worked out Sodor's history, geography, industry and language ("Sudric"). Inspiration came from various sources. Dryaw
8613-483: The stories were available in their original format. In 2005 Christopher published Sodor: Reading Between the Lines under his own imprint Sodor Enterprises. This book expanded the fictional world of Sodor. He published several more books, mostly set on real railways in Britain. In 2006, Egmont started to re-publish Wilbert's books in their original format. The fourteen books written by Christopher were re-released in August 2007. On 3 September 2007, Christopher published
8712-407: The term can be defined as: In two-way radio , interoperability is composed of three dimensions: Many organizations are dedicated to interoperability. Some concentrate on eGovernment, eBusiness or data exchange in general. Internationally, Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium facilitates global interoperability across borders, language and technical barriers. In the built environment,
8811-433: The titular character of the television series Thomas & Friends from 1984 to 2021. The children's television series originated as adaptations of these stories. Nearly all of The Railway Series stories were based on real-life events. As a lifelong railway enthusiast, Awdry was keen that his stories should be as realistic as possible. The engine characters were mostly based upon real classes of locomotive, and some of
8910-517: The trackbed of the abandoned Mid-Sodor Railway. In the center of the island, the Culdee Fell Mountain Railway runs west from Kirk Machan to the summit of Culdee Fell. On the eastern side of the island, the Skarloey Railway runs northwest from Crovan's Gate up the valley to its namesake, Skarloey Lake. Rolling stock is moved to and from the narrow-gauge railways on flatbed wagons on the standard-gauge system; for example, Rheneas
9009-645: Was a success and Awdry 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
9108-702: Was able to protect its dominant market position for work group server operating systems, the heart of corporate IT networks. Microsoft was ordered to disclose complete and accurate interface documentation, which could enable rival vendors to compete on an equal footing ( the interoperability remedy ). Interoperability has also surfaced in the software patent debate in the European Parliament (June–July 2005). Critics claim that because patents on techniques required for interoperability are kept under RAND (reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing) conditions, customers will have to pay license fees twice: once for
9207-654: Was an anagram of Awdry. Elsbridge was named after Wilbert's parish of Elsworth in Cambridgeshire . Some place-names were Sudric equivalents or near-equivalents of those in the real world (for instance, Skarloey was a rough Sudric equivalent of the Welsh Talyllyn : logh and llyn mean "lake" in Manx and Welsh respectively). They created more details of Sodor than would ever be used in The Railway Series stories. Their abridged notes were published in 1987 in
9306-531: Was established in 2006, as a consortium of European National Land Registers. The aim of the service is to establish a single portal through which customers are provided with access to information about individual properties, about land and property registration services, and about the associated legal environment. The European Interoperability Framework (EIF) considered four kinds of interoperability: legal interoperability, organizational interoperability, semantic interoperability, and technical interoperability. In
9405-435: Was illustrated by the artist William Middleton, with whom Awdry was deeply dissatisfied. The second artist to work on the series was Reginald Payne, who illustrated Thomas the Tank Engine in a far more realistic style. Despite an early disagreement as to how Thomas should look, Awdry was ultimately pleased with the pictures produced. Payne later suffered a nervous breakdown and proved impossible to contact to illustrate James
9504-590: Was invariably accompanied by the Fat Clergyman , based on the Rev. Teddy Boston , who was a fellow railway enthusiast and close friend. The two Clergymen were portrayed as railway enthusiasts , and were responsible for annoying the Small Engines and discovering Duke the Lost Engine. They were often figures of fun, liable to be splashed with water or to fall through a roof. Awdry also appeared in
9603-673: Was of particular significance as the locomotive was named in tribute to Wilbert Awdry who was the president of the Dean Forest Railway at the time. In Thomas and the Great Railway Show (1991) Thomas visited the National Railway Museum in York, and several of the museum's locomotives are featured including Mallard , Duchess of Hamilton , Stephenson's Rocket , Iron Duke and Green Arrow . At
9702-563: Was the Swedish artist Gunvor Edwards. She began illustrating Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine , but felt unsuited to the work. She was assisted for that volume by her husband Peter, who effectively took over from then on. Both artists retained credit for the work, and the "Edwards era" lasted until Wilbert Awdry's last volume, Tramway Engines . The style used in these volumes was still essentially realistic but had something of an impressionistic feel. When Christopher Awdry took over as author of
9801-425: Was underway, and Kaye and Ward were keen to revive The Railway Series . The book Really Useful Engines was published in 1983. Wilbert had considered this title for his own 27th volume before abandoning the project. Christopher wrote another thirteen books, including the 50th anniversary volume Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines . He also wrote stories for the television series, notably More About Thomas
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