146-718: 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, 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
292-408: A crank on a driving axle. Steam locomotives have been phased out in most parts of the world for economical and safety reasons, although many are preserved in working order by heritage railways . Electric locomotives draw power from a stationary source via an overhead wire or third rail . Some also or instead use a battery . In locomotives that are powered by high-voltage alternating current ,
438-586: A dining car . Some lines also provide over-night services with sleeping cars . Some long-haul trains have been given a specific name . Regional trains are medium distance trains that connect cities with outlying, surrounding areas, or provide a regional service, making more stops and having lower speeds. Commuter trains serve suburbs of urban areas, providing a daily commuting service. Airport rail links provide quick access from city centres to airports . High-speed rail are special inter-city trains that operate at much higher speeds than conventional railways,
584-519: A documentary on the railway, and Skarloey starts telling them about the Talyllyn Railway. The Fat Controller orders one engine from Scotland to help out with the goods work but is surprised when two engines arrive instead. To confuse matters further, the engines claim not to know their British Railways numbers 57646 and 57647, or which of them should have been sent. The engines are Donald and Douglas and are twins. As whichever one of them
730-731: A fourth rail system in 1890 on the City and South London Railway , now part of the London Underground Northern line . This was the first major railway to use electric traction . The world's first deep-level electric railway, it runs from the City of London , under the River Thames , to Stockwell in south London. The first practical AC electric locomotive was designed by Charles Brown , then working for Oerlikon , Zürich. In 1891, Brown had demonstrated long-distance power transmission, using three-phase AC , between
876-542: A funicular railway at the Hohensalzburg Fortress in Austria. The line originally used wooden rails and a hemp haulage rope and was operated by human or animal power, through a treadwheel . The line is still operational, although in updated form and is possibly the oldest operational railway. Wagonways (or tramways ) using wooden rails, hauled by horses, started appearing in the 1550s to facilitate
1022-492: A hydro-electric plant at Lauffen am Neckar and Frankfurt am Main West, a distance of 280 km (170 mi). Using experience he had gained while working for Jean Heilmann on steam–electric locomotive designs, Brown observed that three-phase motors had a higher power-to-weight ratio than DC motors and, because of the absence of a commutator , were simpler to manufacture and maintain. However, they were much larger than
1168-498: 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
1314-431: A steam engine that provides adhesion. Coal , petroleum , or wood is burned in a firebox , boiling water in the boiler to create pressurized steam. The steam travels through the smokebox before leaving via the chimney or smoke stack. In the process, it powers a piston that transmits power directly through a connecting rod (US: main rod) and a crankpin (US: wristpin) on the driving wheel (US main driver) or to
1460-469: A transformer in the locomotive converts the high-voltage low-current power to low-voltage high current used in the traction motors that power the wheels. Modern locomotives may use three-phase AC induction motors or direct current motors. Under certain conditions, electric locomotives are the most powerful traction. They are also the cheapest to run and provide less noise and no local air pollution. However, they require high capital investments both for
1606-621: 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
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#17327649293051752-624: A climber runs into trouble, Lord Harry has an opportunity to redeem himself. The year was 1965, and Skarloey and Rheneas are getting ready to celebrate their 100th birthday. Skarloey tells Nancy and other friends the story of his early life on the Skarloey Railway. The engines enjoy a wonderful centenary party. The Main Line engines had more adventures on the Fat Controller's Railway. The narrator introduces readers to Bill and Ben
1898-550: A diesel locomotive from the company in 1909. The world's first diesel-powered locomotive was operated in the summer of 1912 on the Winterthur–Romanshorn railway in Switzerland, but was not a commercial success. The locomotive weight was 95 tonnes and the power was 883 kW with a maximum speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). Small numbers of prototype diesel locomotives were produced in a number of countries through
2044-478: A double track plateway, erroneously sometimes cited as world's first public railway, in south London. William Jessop had earlier used a form of all-iron edge rail and flanged wheels successfully for an extension to the Charnwood Forest Canal at Nanpantan , Loughborough, Leicestershire in 1789. In 1790, Jessop and his partner Outram began to manufacture edge rails. Jessop became a partner in
2190-677: A great deal of trouble, but eventually comes to Toby's rescue when his heavy load pushes him across a crumbling bridge. Christopher Awdry , the Rev. W. Awdry's son, had some background in writing when he took over writing the Railway Series books, having written a number of articles for Steam Railway magazine. He was inspired to write some Railway Series stories by a visit to the Nene Valley Railway , with encouragement from his father. The publishers were eager for new books, as
2336-437: A large turning radius in its design. While high-speed rail is most often designed for passenger travel, some high-speed systems also offer freight service. Since 1980, rail transport has changed dramatically, but a number of heritage railways continue to operate as part of living history to preserve and maintain old railway lines for services of tourist trains. A train is a connected series of rail vehicles that move along
2482-498: A larger locomotive named Galvani , exhibited at the Royal Scottish Society of Arts Exhibition in 1841. The seven-ton vehicle had two direct-drive reluctance motors , with fixed electromagnets acting on iron bars attached to a wooden cylinder on each axle, and simple commutators . It hauled a load of six tons at four miles per hour (6 kilometers per hour) for a distance of one and a half miles (2.4 kilometres). It
2628-423: A locomotive. This involves one or more powered vehicles being located at the front of the train, providing sufficient tractive force to haul the weight of the full train. This arrangement remains dominant for freight trains and is often used for passenger trains. A push–pull train has the end passenger car equipped with a driver's cab so that the engine driver can remotely control the locomotive. This allows one of
2774-528: A new engine, nicknamed "Duck", to do shunting work and sends Percy to work with Thomas and Toby on their branch line. He meets Harold the Helicopter and saves the day during a flood. The Fat Controller's eight engines have become famous through their appearances in books and on the radio . While the engines enjoy a number of adventures and misadventures, the Fat Controller arranges for them to go to London . Duck has settled in well on Sodor, so much so that
2920-572: A number of adventures with the other engines. Thomas is having trouble with the police by traveling to Ffarquhar Quarry without cowcatchers and side-plates to cover his wheels. The Fat Controller realizes that there is a solution. While on holiday with his wife and two grandchildren, he met Toby , a tram engine, who together with his coach Henrietta, has been having problems of his own with his railway in East Anglia closing down. Gordon has an accident by means of being lazy and careless, and so
3066-623: 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
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#17327649293053212-481: 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
3358-518: A number of them. Stepney , from the Bluebell Railway, comes to visit and soon makes friends with the engines, even teaching a boastful visiting diesel a lesson or two. The Skarloey Railway engines meet Culdee, a strange-looking engine who climbs a mountain . He tells them all about his railway, and the tragic story of Godred, before returning home. At home, he meets the reckless Lord Harry, who causes trouble through his risk-taking, but when
3504-477: A number of trains per hour (tph). Passenger trains can usually be into two types of operation, intercity railway and intracity transit. Whereas intercity railway involve higher speeds, longer routes, and lower frequency (usually scheduled), intracity transit involves lower speeds, shorter routes, and higher frequency (especially during peak hours). Intercity trains are long-haul trains that operate with few stops between cities. Trains typically have amenities such as
3650-676: A piece of circular rail track in Bloomsbury , London, the Catch Me Who Can , but never got beyond the experimental stage with railway locomotives, not least because his engines were too heavy for the cast-iron plateway track then in use. The first commercially successful steam locomotive was Matthew Murray 's rack locomotive Salamanca built for the Middleton Railway in Leeds in 1812. This twin-cylinder locomotive
3796-465: A pivotal role in the development and widespread adoption of the steam locomotive. His designs considerably improved on the work of the earlier pioneers. He built the locomotive Blücher , also a successful flanged -wheel adhesion locomotive. In 1825 he built the locomotive Locomotion for the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the northeast of England, which became the first public steam railway in
3942-613: A pompous diesel engine. He has a number of misadventures, but after a breakdown it is a diesel who helps him out, and he realises that diesel engines are not so bad after all. Duke has been mended and the Thin Controller sends Sir Handel to the Talyllyn Railway to help out while Talyllyn is being mended. While he is away, brambles and hot weather cause problems for the Skarloey Railway engines to solve. Sir Handel returns and tells them all about his adventures. This
4088-408: 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
4234-439: A revival in recent decades due to road congestion and rising fuel prices, as well as governments investing in rail as a means of reducing CO 2 emissions . Smooth, durable road surfaces have been made for wheeled vehicles since prehistoric times. In some cases, they were narrow and in pairs to support only the wheels. That is, they were wagonways or tracks. Some had grooves or flanges or other mechanical means to keep
4380-575: 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
4526-739: A single lever to control both engine and generator in a coordinated fashion, and was the prototype for all diesel–electric locomotive control systems. In 1914, world's first functional diesel–electric railcars were produced for the Königlich-Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen ( Royal Saxon State Railways ) by Waggonfabrik Rastatt with electric equipment from Brown, Boveri & Cie and diesel engines from Swiss Sulzer AG . They were classified as DET 1 and DET 2 ( de.wiki ). The first regular used diesel–electric locomotives were switcher (shunter) locomotives . General Electric produced several small switching locomotives in
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4672-420: A snowstorm, Percy causes the bridge at Hackenbeck to collapse, and Toby takes more trucks than he can handle. On the day Thomas is due to come home, George leaves his cones at Dryaw Crossing, allowing one to stop Daisy. Everything is worked out when Thomas comes home. Henry is due for an overhaul. Other engines help with his duties while he is away (for example, James hauls The Flying Kipper ), but when there
4818-689: A spin-off of the previous series which uses 2D animation and a more cartoonish style. Railway Rail transport (also known as train transport ) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks , which usually consist of two parallel steel rails . Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport , next to road transport . It is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potentially high speed . Rolling stock on rails generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer trains . Power
4964-407: A standard. Following SNCF's successful trials, 50 Hz, now also called industrial frequency was adopted as standard for main-lines across the world. Earliest recorded examples of an internal combustion engine for railway use included a prototype designed by William Dent Priestman . Sir William Thomson examined it in 1888 and described it as a "Priestman oil engine mounted upon a truck which
5110-632: A terminus about one-half mile (800 m) away. A funicular railway was also made at Broseley in Shropshire some time before 1604. This carried coal for James Clifford from his mines down to the River Severn to be loaded onto barges and carried to riverside towns. The Wollaton Wagonway , completed in 1604 by Huntingdon Beaumont , has sometimes erroneously been cited as the earliest British railway. It ran from Strelley to Wollaton near Nottingham . The Middleton Railway in Leeds , which
5256-623: A useful engine following James ' accident with some trucks, he is rewarded with his own branch line and two faithful coaches named Annie and Clarabel. James has recently been repainted red and given the proper brakes for his wheels and is eager to show off. Unfortunately, he is rather careless and gets into a lot of trouble (in James and the Bootlace , James is grumpy after being threatened with blue paint and having to fetch his own coaches), but by making some troublesome trucks behave and by pulling
5402-408: A wheel. This was a large stationary engine , powering cotton mills and a variety of machinery; the state of boiler technology necessitated the use of low-pressure steam acting upon a vacuum in the cylinder, which required a separate condenser and an air pump . Nevertheless, as the construction of boilers improved, Watt investigated the use of high-pressure steam acting directly upon a piston, raising
5548-434: Is 50 years since the first Railway Series books were published, and the Fat Controller plans to celebrate this occasion with a party. Unfortunately, things do not go entirely smoothly in the run-up to the celebration. Gordon has an accident with some birds, Edward loses a wheel, Thomas is derailed by some rabbits and a spider's web shorts out the electrics in the signal box at Knapford Junction. But everything works out well in
5694-410: Is a single, self-powered car, and may be electrically propelled or powered by a diesel engine . Multiple units have a driver's cab at each end of the unit, and were developed following the ability to build electric motors and other engines small enough to fit under the coach. There are only a few freight multiple units, most of which are high-speed post trains. Steam locomotives are locomotives with
5840-466: Is away being overhauled, and the Skarloey Railway has recently acquired two new engines: Sir Handel and Peter Sam. Peter Sam is naïve but well-meaning, but Sir Handel is rude and arrogant. Skarloey shows Sir Handel how to do things when he rescues the pompous engine's train. Percy loves playing jokes, which sometimes gets him into trouble with the bigger engines, so the Fat Controller obtains
5986-425: Is away. At last, Gordon is allowed to show how fast he is. The engines who work at Ffarquhar quarry have a number of adventures. Mavis has an accident, and so Toby and Percy have to help out more than usual. Toby remembers an event from the days before he came to the Fat Controller's Railway. The trucks manage to do a good turn when they accidentally put in his place a disagreeable barge named Bulstrode. Terence does
The Railway Series - Misplaced Pages Continue
6132-399: Is dominant. Electro-diesel locomotives are built to run as diesel–electric on unelectrified sections and as electric locomotives on electrified sections. Alternative methods of motive power include magnetic levitation , horse-drawn, cable , gravity, pneumatics and gas turbine . A passenger train stops at stations where passengers may embark and disembark. The oversight of the train is
6278-662: Is excited because the National Railway Museum at York have invited him to visit. He makes many new friends among the engines of the National Collection and has a few adventures along the way. He saves a train when he spots a landslide, and is made an honorary member of the National Collection. While Thomas is away at the National Railway Museum, his branch is left in the care of Percy, Toby and Daisy. Daisy finds herself battling
6424-556: Is jealous and feels overworked. Skarloey is shocked at this and tells the others about the time when Rheneas saved the railway, eventually changing Duncan's attitude. At the end of the book, Rheneas returns from his overhaul. Percy is depressed to learn that steam engines on the Other Railway are being scrapped to make way for new diesels, and so he and Douglas are glad when he hears that the Bluebell Railway has saved
6570-605: Is no engine to take the Express, Henry is called back early and proves once again that he is a "Really Useful Engine". Donald and Douglas are overworked. The Fat Controller arranges to borrow an engine called Wilbert from the Dean Forest Railway in Gloucestershire to help out. He tells Thomas and Toby the story of Sixteen , has his tank filled with milk rather than water and pulls a truck using wire. It
6716-428: Is only going to do the work she wants. After a stern talking to and an accident by Percy, she is allowed to stay, with the encouragement of Toby. At the end of the book, Thomas comes back repaired. After his accident with slate trucks, Peter Sam loses his old funnel and gets a new one to improve his steaming. Sir Handel has been given new wheels but soon gets into a fight with a rude steamroller named George. Duncan
6862-514: Is rescued and sent to live on the Skarloey Railway with his old friends. This book focuses on Thomas' branch line. Percy plays a trick on Thomas, but later runs into trouble himself. Meanwhile, the Fat Controller has hired Mavis, a diesel engine working for the Ffarquhar Quarry Company, to help out while Thomas is absent, but Mavis is very headstrong and thinks Toby is an old fusspot. She pays no attention to his advice and causes
7008-557: Is sent back to Scotland will be scrapped , they are determined to stay. Despite some misadventures, the other engines convince the Fat Controller to keep both of them. Thomas has an accident by trashing the Stationmaster's breakfast and has to be sent to the Works. The Fat Controller orders a diesel railcar named Daisy to help out in his absence. Daisy is rather vain, neurotic, and convinced she knows it all, and decides that she
7154-441: Is shown up by Duck but comes to the rescue of two failed diesels despite failing himself. Meanwhile, Douglas saves a tank engine named Oliver and his rolling stock (Isabel and Toad) accomplices from scrap. The Fat Controller announces that Oliver can stay, along with diesel engine D7101 (named Bear), and that he is reopening a branch line for Duck and Oliver. Furthermore, he announces that he will never replace his steam engines. Life
7300-460: Is taken off passenger duties. He helps the other engines out when they get into trouble and is eventually judged to be sensible enough to pull the Royal Train . Edward is the oldest and wisest engine on Sodor. He is also kind and sensible. In the book, Edward is long overdue for an overhaul. However, he shows that he is far from useless and can teach the bigger engines a thing or two. Rheneas
7446-455: Is the 3rd book to be named after Thomas. Thomas and Percy have an argument and fallout. Both Bertie and Harold the Helicopter make appearances as Harold has to help Thomas from a runaway, and Thomas helps Bertie after he breaks down. Finally, Percy rescues Thomas after an accident along the branch line. Gordon is jealous when Donald tells him about High Speed Trains on the Other Railway . He tries to copy them, but ends up slipping helplessly on
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#17327649293057592-408: Is usually provided by diesel or electrical locomotives . While railway transport is capital-intensive and less flexible than road transport, it can carry heavy loads of passengers and cargo with greater energy efficiency and safety. Precursors of railways driven by human or animal power have existed since antiquity, but modern rail transport began with the invention of the steam locomotive in
7738-556: Is worked on a temporary line of rails to show the adaptation of a petroleum engine for locomotive purposes." In 1894, a 20 hp (15 kW) two axle machine built by Priestman Brothers was used on the Hull Docks . In 1906, Rudolf Diesel , Adolf Klose and the steam and diesel engine manufacturer Gebrüder Sulzer founded Diesel-Sulzer-Klose GmbH to manufacture diesel-powered locomotives. Sulzer had been manufacturing diesel engines since 1898. The Prussian State Railways ordered
7884-477: 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
8030-680: 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
8176-522: 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
8322-692: The United Kingdom at the beginning of the 19th century. The first passenger railway, the Stockton and Darlington Railway , opened in 1825. The quick spread of railways throughout Europe and North America, following the 1830 opening of the first intercity connection in England, was a key component of the Industrial Revolution . The adoption of rail transport lowered shipping costs compared to water transport, leading to "national markets" in which prices varied less from city to city. In
8468-615: The United Kingdom , South Korea , Scandinavia, Belgium and the Netherlands. The construction of many of these lines has resulted in the dramatic decline of short-haul flights and automotive traffic between connected cities, such as the London–Paris–Brussels corridor, Madrid–Barcelona, Milan–Rome–Naples, as well as many other major lines. High-speed trains normally operate on standard gauge tracks of continuously welded rail on grade-separated right-of-way that incorporates
8614-689: 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
8760-477: The china clay pits. Although the twins tease him at first, he soon earns their respect. The Small Railway is short of power, and the Small Controller decides that what they need is another engine. The Railway's own workshops build a strong new engine called Jock, who at first thinks himself superior to the others, but the new engine eventually learns the value of teamwork, and all is forgiven. Thomas
8906-414: The overhead lines and the supporting infrastructure, as well as the generating station that is needed to produce electricity. Accordingly, electric traction is used on urban systems, lines with high traffic and for high-speed rail. Diesel locomotives use a diesel engine as the prime mover . The energy transmission may be either diesel–electric , diesel-mechanical or diesel–hydraulic but diesel–electric
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#17327649293059052-458: The puddling process in 1784. In 1783 Cort also patented the rolling process , which was 15 times faster at consolidating and shaping iron than hammering. These processes greatly lowered the cost of producing iron and rails. The next important development in iron production was hot blast developed by James Beaumont Neilson (patented 1828), which considerably reduced the amount of coke (fuel) or charcoal needed to produce pig iron. Wrought iron
9198-418: The rotary phase converter , enabling electric locomotives to use three-phase motors whilst supplied via a single overhead wire, carrying the simple industrial frequency (50 Hz) single phase AC of the high-voltage national networks. An important contribution to the wider adoption of AC traction came from SNCF of France after World War II. The company conducted trials at AC 50 Hz, and established it as
9344-496: The television adaptation was in production at the time, and Christopher Awdry became the new Railway Series author. All of his books were illustrated by Clive Spong , an illustrator who, it was felt, could combine technical accuracy with the appealing, colourful style exemplified by C. Reginald Dalby . Christopher Awdry wrote his first book in 1983, and 13 further books followed between 1984 and 1996. No books were published between 1996 and 2007; book 40: New Little Engine , and
9490-540: The 1880s, railway electrification began with tramways and rapid transit systems. Starting in the 1940s, steam locomotives were replaced by diesel locomotives . The first high-speed railway system was introduced in Japan in 1964, and high-speed rail lines now connect many cities in Europe , East Asia , and the eastern United States . Following some decline due to competition from cars and airplanes, rail transport has had
9636-521: The 1930s (the famous " 44-tonner " switcher was introduced in 1940) Westinghouse Electric and Baldwin collaborated to build switching locomotives starting in 1929. In 1929, the Canadian National Railways became the first North American railway to use diesels in mainline service with two units, 9000 and 9001, from Westinghouse. Although steam and diesel services reaching speeds up to 200 km/h (120 mph) were started before
9782-508: The 1960s in Europe, they were not very successful. The first electrified high-speed rail Tōkaidō Shinkansen was introduced in 1964 between Tokyo and Osaka in Japan. Since then high-speed rail transport, functioning at speeds up to and above 300 km/h (190 mph), has been built in Japan, Spain, France , Germany, Italy, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan (Republic of China),
9928-464: The 40 km Burgdorf–Thun line , Switzerland. Italian railways were the first in the world to introduce electric traction for the entire length of a main line rather than a short section. The 106 km Valtellina line was opened on 4 September 1902, designed by Kandó and a team from the Ganz works. The electrical system was three-phase at 3 kV 15 Hz. In 1918, Kandó invented and developed
10074-409: 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
10220-575: 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
10366-530: The Butterley Company in 1790. The first public edgeway (thus also first public railway) built was Lake Lock Rail Road in 1796. Although the primary purpose of the line was to carry coal, it also carried passengers. These two systems of constructing iron railways, the "L" plate-rail and the smooth edge-rail, continued to exist side by side until well into the early 19th century. The flanged wheel and edge-rail eventually proved its superiority and became
10512-514: The DC motors of the time and could not be mounted in underfloor bogies : they could only be carried within locomotive bodies. In 1894, Hungarian engineer Kálmán Kandó developed a new type 3-phase asynchronous electric drive motors and generators for electric locomotives. Kandó's early 1894 designs were first applied in a short three-phase AC tramway in Évian-les-Bains (France), which was constructed between 1896 and 1898. In 1896, Oerlikon installed
10658-619: The Express very well, he proves himself later. This book concerns the further adventures of Thomas on his branch line, with the bigger engines relegated to cameo appearances. Thomas leaves his guard (or railway conductor) behind by mistake, accidentally goes fishing because of a broken water column and some water from a bucket, gets stuck in the snow and is freed by Terence and has a race with Bertie. The big engines are missing Thomas. Since he left to run his branch line, they feel overworked, and some embarrassing incidents for all three of them lead them to go on strike . The Fat Controller addresses
10804-399: The Fat Controller has a plan to clear Duck's name. This book continues the adventures of the Skarloey Railway. Skarloey returns from being overhauled to discover that there are two new engines on the railway. Rusty is a diesel engine who is friendly and helpful, but Duncan is a steam engine who is stubborn, careless, and rude. Sir Handel is still his old self. A television crew comes to film
10950-469: The Fat Controller's Railway. Thomas helps arrest a car thief. Percy is able to help out a friend – by accident. Duck, acting as a helper for Henry, has an accident with the Flying Kipper due to a lamp falling off. Finally, all three tank engines get together to pull the Express when Gordon is ill. James is one of the only engines who still does not trust diesels , which is not helped by the visit of
11096-465: The Furness Railway. Meanwhile, Daisy discovers that she does not like eels very much when a whole boxful of eels escape on to the platform! Once finished, Victoria is taken over to Knapford Junction and joins Toby and Henrietta as Sodor's Vintage Train. The Fat Controller welcomes back Pip and Emma to help on his Railway. Thomas is delighted; Gordon is worried that his time as an express engine
11242-529: 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
11388-436: 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
11534-478: 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
11680-680: 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
11826-521: The Tank Engine . Thomas became the most popular and famous character in the series and 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
11972-501: 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
12118-549: 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
12264-450: 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! ,
12410-481: 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
12556-430: The duty of a guard/train manager/conductor . Passenger trains are part of public transport and often make up the stem of the service, with buses feeding to stations. Passenger trains provide long-distance intercity travel, daily commuter trips, or local urban transit services, operating with a diversity of vehicles, operating speeds, right-of-way requirements, and service frequency. Service frequencies are often expressed as
12702-517: 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
12848-402: The end of the 19th century, because they were cleaner compared to steam-driven trams which caused smoke in city streets. In 1784 James Watt , a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, patented a design for a steam locomotive . Watt had improved the steam engine of Thomas Newcomen , hitherto used to pump water out of mines, and developed a reciprocating engine in 1769 capable of powering
12994-471: The end of the 19th century, improving the quality of steel and further reducing costs. Thus steel completely replaced the use of iron in rails, becoming standard for all railways. The first passenger horsecar or tram , Swansea and Mumbles Railway , was opened between Swansea and Mumbles in Wales in 1807. Horses remained the preferable mode for tram transport even after the arrival of steam engines until
13140-570: 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
13286-402: The end, and Pip and Emma bring a Royal Personage to enjoy the day with the Fat Controller's Engines. The Skarloey Railway needs another engine. The Thin Controller announces that a new one will be built. In the meantime, Peter Sam is sent to visit the Talyllyn Railway . The engine is finally completed, and the railway's engineer, Mr Hugh, is to unveil the name. He is surprised to discover that
13432-527: The engine by one power stroke. The transmission system employed a large flywheel to even out the action of the piston rod. On 21 February 1804, the world's first steam-powered railway journey took place when Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales . Trevithick later demonstrated a locomotive operating upon
13578-459: The engine has been named Ivo Hugh – after himself! Toby and Henrietta are overcrowded carrying the workmen from the Quarry and a close call at a level crossing shows how desperate the situation is – an extra carriage is needed urgently. Thomas finds the perfect solution when he meets Victoria – an old carriage. While Victoria is being renovated, she tells Edward a tale from the old days on
13724-733: 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
13870-475: The era of great expansion of railways that began in the late 1860s. Steel rails lasted several times longer than iron. Steel rails made heavier locomotives possible, allowing for longer trains and improving the productivity of railroads. The Bessemer process introduced nitrogen into the steel, which caused the steel to become brittle with age. The open hearth furnace began to replace the Bessemer process near
14016-522: The first commercial example of the system on the Lugano Tramway . Each 30-tonne locomotive had two 110 kW (150 hp) motors run by three-phase 750 V 40 Hz fed from double overhead lines. Three-phase motors run at a constant speed and provide regenerative braking , and are well suited to steeply graded routes, and the first main-line three-phase locomotives were supplied by Brown (by then in partnership with Walter Boveri ) in 1899 on
14162-430: 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
14308-488: The highest possible radius. All these features are dramatically different from freight operations, thus justifying exclusive high-speed rail lines if it is economically feasible. List of Railway Series Books#Thomas the Tank Engine The Railway Series is a British series of children's books written by both the Rev. W. Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry . The first 26 books in
14454-483: 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
14600-1230: The limit being regarded at 200 to 350 kilometres per hour (120 to 220 mph). High-speed trains are used mostly for long-haul service and most systems are in Western Europe and East Asia. Magnetic levitation trains such as the Shanghai maglev train use under-riding magnets which attract themselves upward towards the underside of a guideway and this line has achieved somewhat higher peak speeds in day-to-day operation than conventional high-speed railways, although only over short distances. Due to their heightened speeds, route alignments for high-speed rail tend to have broader curves than conventional railways, but may have steeper grades that are more easily climbed by trains with large kinetic energy. High kinetic energy translates to higher horsepower-to-ton ratios (e.g. 20 horsepower per short ton or 16 kilowatts per tonne); this allows trains to accelerate and maintain higher speeds and negotiate steep grades as momentum builds up and recovered in downgrades (reducing cut and fill and tunnelling requirements). Since lateral forces act on curves, curvatures are designed with
14746-429: The locomotive-hauled train's drawbacks to be removed, since the locomotive need not be moved to the front of the train each time the train changes direction. A railroad car is a vehicle used for the haulage of either passengers or freight. A multiple unit has powered wheels throughout the whole train. These are used for rapid transit and tram systems, as well as many both short- and long-haul passenger trains. A railcar
14892-569: The main portion of the B&;O to the new line to New York through a series of tunnels around the edges of Baltimore's downtown. Electricity quickly became the power supply of choice for subways, abetted by the Sprague's invention of multiple-unit train control in 1897. By the early 1900s most street railways were electrified. The London Underground , the world's oldest underground railway, opened in 1863, and it began operating electric services using
15038-433: The mid-1920s. The Soviet Union operated three experimental units of different designs since late 1925, though only one of them (the E el-2 ) proved technically viable. A significant breakthrough occurred in 1914, when Hermann Lemp , a General Electric electrical engineer, developed and patented a reliable direct current electrical control system (subsequent improvements were also patented by Lemp). Lemp's design used
15184-544: 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
15330-445: 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
15476-412: The noise they made on the tracks. There are many references to their use in central Europe in the 16th century. Such a transport system was later used by German miners at Caldbeck , Cumbria , England, perhaps from the 1560s. A wagonway was built at Prescot , near Liverpool , sometime around 1600, possibly as early as 1594. Owned by Philip Layton, the line carried coal from a pit near Prescot Hall to
15622-503: The original books from The Railway Series went out-of-print. This was a source of friction between the Awdry family and the publishers. However, in February 2007, unofficial reports from the publishers, Egmont, suggested that there were plans to put the whole series back into print, in the original format, and that a new Christopher Awdry book (called Thomas and Victoria ) was expected to be published later in 2007. This book, number 41 in
15768-474: The other engines are getting a little tired of his know-it-all attitude and new-found pride on the Great Western Railway following a visit from the City of Truro . They are pleased when a smooth-talking diesel – simply known as Diesel – visits to help out. When Duck shows him up, Diesel vows revenge, and starts spreading malicious lies about Duck (forcing him to be sent away). Luckily,
15914-563: 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
16060-525: The possibility of a smaller engine that might be used to power a vehicle. Following his patent, Watt's employee William Murdoch produced a working model of a self-propelled steam carriage in that year. The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive was built in the United Kingdom in 1804 by Richard Trevithick , a British engineer born in Cornwall . This used high-pressure steam to drive
16206-436: The problem by bringing in a new tank engine to do the shunting. Henry has been having a lot of problems. He cannot steam properly, and so is often ill. The Fat Controller tries to solve the problem with expensive Welsh coal . When Henry has an accident, the Fat Controller decides to solve the problems once and for all by sending Henry to Crewe Works . Henry returns with a new shape and a much better outlook on life and enjoys
16352-431: The rails. He is then blamed for ruining wedding clothes with his smoke, and is well and truly in disgrace. But he manages to get the Express home after his firebars collapsed, and the Fat Controller forgives him. He also apologises – it transpires the spoiled wedding clothes were not Gordon's fault. He is then allowed to take a special train to Carlisle and a High Speed Train named Pip & Emma arrives to assist while he
16498-489: 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
16644-417: 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
16790-430: 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
16936-503: The series were written by the Rev. W. Awdry . This is the first book in the series, and introduces Edward, Henry, Gordon and the Fat Director (then later became the Fat Controller; also known as Sir Topham Hatt). Thomas is a tank engine who works at the big station, fetching coaches for the big engines and longs for greater things beyond the station yard. Unfortunately, his efforts go wrong. However, after showing that he can be
17082-508: 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
17228-548: The series, was published in September 2007, being the first Railway Series book to be published in 11 years. Number 42 in the series, called Thomas and his Friends , was published in June 2011. In addition, the sixteen original Christopher Awdry books have been put together into a large, "bumper" edition, in a vein similar to the master collection of Wilbert Awdry's stories. This book unusually does not focus on any one area of
17374-402: 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
17520-410: The shunting for Percy and boasts about it, while adding that steam engines ploughed fields and ran on roads in the past. To add to that, on the day Mavis is due back from the Works, Toby has an accident at the crossing and briefly runs on the road like Trevor. Repair work on Thomas 's branch line means that he is sent to help on Edward's , which means he has to work with Bill and Ben (SCC 1 and 2) at
17666-549: The small engines themselves, and some of the adventures they have. Gordon is sad to learn that steam has ended on the Other Railway, and more so when he hears his siblings of the LNER Gresley Classes A1 and A3 have almost all been scrapped. To cheer him up, the Fat Controller brings his only surviving brother, the Flying Scotsman to Sodor. Henry is jealous because of Flying Scotsman's two tenders and
17812-441: The standard for railways. Cast iron used in rails proved unsatisfactory because it was brittle and broke under heavy loads. The wrought iron invented by John Birkinshaw in 1820 replaced cast iron. Wrought iron, usually simply referred to as "iron", was a ductile material that could undergo considerable deformation before breaking, making it more suitable for iron rails. But iron was expensive to produce until Henry Cort patented
17958-404: 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
18104-642: 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
18250-476: The tank engine twins, and a new diesel named BoCo arrives. Gordon and James both run into trouble, but Edward surprises everyone by getting a train home despite breaking down. The Fat Controller has been using a special new kind of ballast, which Donald and Douglas say is brought by "verra wee engines". Duck is intrigued and goes to see what the fuss is about. He discovers a miniature railway with three small engines named Mike, Rex and Bert. The focus then shifts to
18396-475: The time, was Liverpool and Manchester Railway , built in 1830. Steam power continued to be the dominant power system in railways around the world for more than a century. The first known electric locomotive was built in 1837 by chemist Robert Davidson of Aberdeen in Scotland, and it was powered by galvanic cells (batteries). Thus it was also the earliest battery-electric locomotive. Davidson later built
18542-543: The track. Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate locomotive or from individual motors in self-propelled multiple units. Most trains carry a revenue load, although non-revenue cars exist for the railway's own use, such as for maintenance-of-way purposes. The engine driver (engineer in North America) controls the locomotive or other power cars, although people movers and some rapid transits are under automatic control. Traditionally, trains are pulled using
18688-471: The transport of ore tubs to and from mines and soon became popular in Europe. Such an operation was illustrated in Germany in 1556 by Georgius Agricola in his work De re metallica . This line used "Hund" carts with unflanged wheels running on wooden planks and a vertical pin on the truck fitting into the gap between the planks to keep it going the right way. The miners called the wagons Hunde ("dogs") from
18834-629: The wheels on track. For example, evidence indicates that a 6 to 8.5 km long Diolkos paved trackway transported boats across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece from around 600 BC. The Diolkos was in use for over 650 years, until at least the 1st century AD. Paved trackways were also later built in Roman Egypt . In 1515, Cardinal Matthäus Lang wrote a description of the Reisszug ,
18980-622: The world in 1825, although it used both horse power and steam power on different runs. In 1829, he built the locomotive Rocket , which entered in and won the Rainhill Trials . This success led to Stephenson establishing his company as the pre-eminent builder of steam locomotives for railways in Great Britain and Ireland, the United States, and much of Europe. The first public railway which used only steam locomotives, all
19126-512: Was a soft material that contained slag or dross . The softness and dross tended to make iron rails distort and delaminate and they lasted less than 10 years. Sometimes they lasted as little as one year under high traffic. All these developments in the production of iron eventually led to the replacement of composite wood/iron rails with superior all-iron rails. The introduction of the Bessemer process , enabling steel to be made inexpensively, led to
19272-584: 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
19418-602: Was accomplished by the distribution of weight between a number of wheels. Puffing Billy is now on display in the Science Museum in London, and is the oldest locomotive in existence. In 1814, George Stephenson , inspired by the early locomotives of Trevithick, Murray and Hedley, persuaded the manager of the Killingworth colliery where he worked to allow him to build a steam-powered machine. Stephenson played
19564-514: Was built by Siemens. The tram ran on 180 volts DC, which was supplied by running rails. In 1891 the track was equipped with an overhead wire and the line was extended to Berlin-Lichterfelde West station . The Volk's Electric Railway opened in 1883 in Brighton , England. The railway is still operational, thus making it the oldest operational electric railway in the world. Also in 1883, Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram opened near Vienna in Austria. It
19710-706: Was built in 1758, later became the world's oldest operational railway (other than funiculars), albeit now in an upgraded form. In 1764, the first railway in the Americas was built in Lewiston, New York . In the late 1760s, the Coalbrookdale Company began to fix plates of cast iron to the upper surface of the wooden rails. This allowed a variation of gauge to be used. At first only balloon loops could be used for turning, but later, movable points were taken into use that allowed for switching. A system
19856-646: Was exciting on the Little Western. Duck and Donald play practical jokes on each other with a duck. Oliver, attempting to look important, loses the respect of trucks after an accident, but regains it with the help of Toad. Finally, a lying bus named Bulgy is put in his place after trying to steal the railway's passengers. Duke was a dignified but affectionate old engine who ran on the Mid Sodor Railway with Falcon and Stuart, who are better known nowadays as Sir Handel and Peter Sam. Despite his age, Duke
20002-435: 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
20148-548: Was introduced in which unflanged wheels ran on L-shaped metal plates, which came to be known as plateways . John Curr , a Sheffield colliery manager, invented this flanged rail in 1787, though the exact date of this is disputed. The plate rail was taken up by Benjamin Outram for wagonways serving his canals, manufacturing them at his Butterley ironworks . In 1803, William Jessop opened the Surrey Iron Railway ,
20294-589: 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
20440-489: Was light enough to not break the edge-rails track and solved the problem of adhesion by a cog-wheel using teeth cast on the side of one of the rails. Thus it was also the first rack railway . This was followed in 1813 by the locomotive Puffing Billy built by Christopher Blackett and William Hedley for the Wylam Colliery Railway, the first successful locomotive running by adhesion only. This
20586-528: 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
20732-705: Was tested on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in September of the following year, but the limited power from batteries prevented its general use. It was destroyed by railway workers, who saw it as a threat to their job security. By the middle of the nineteenth century most european countries had military uses for railways. Werner von Siemens demonstrated an electric railway in 1879 in Berlin. The world's first electric tram line, Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway , opened in Lichterfelde near Berlin , Germany, in 1881. It
20878-563: 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
21024-636: Was the first tram line in the world in regular service powered from an overhead line. Five years later, in the U.S. electric trolleys were pioneered in 1888 on the Richmond Union Passenger Railway , using equipment designed by Frank J. Sprague . The first use of electrification on a main line was on a four-mile section of the Baltimore Belt Line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1895 connecting
21170-424: 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
21316-490: Was useful and well-loved by the people who visited his line but when the line closed, nobody wanted to buy him, and he was left behind in the engine shed whilst Falcon and Stuart were sold on. Over the following years, his shed was buried by a landslide and he was forgotten except by his old engine colleagues. The Fat Clergyman, the Thin Clergyman and the Small Controller led an expedition to find him, and eventually he
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