Thomas often sees his young friends standing by the stream fishing. It looks like so much fun that Thomas wants to go fishing too. One day, he runs out of steam and his driver fills his boiler from the stream. And soon, Thomas’ boiler is what the driver is fishing in! In the early 1940s, a loving father crafted a small, blue, wooden engine for his son, Christopher. The stories that this father, the Reverend W Awdry, made up to accompany this wonderful toy were first published in 1945.
Author
Wilbert Vere Awdry, OBE, better known as the Rev. W. Awdry, was an English clergyman, railway enthusiast and children's author, and creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, who starred in Awdry's acclaimed Railway Series. The characters that would make Awdry famous, and the first stories featuring them, were invented in 1943 to amuse his son Christopher during a bout of measles. The first book (The Three Railway Engines) was published in 1945, and by the time Awdry stopped writing in 1972, The Railway Series numbered 26 books. Christopher subsequently added further books to the series.
