Thomas the Tank Engine

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  • Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional locomotive from The Railway Series books. He is also the main character in a long-running television series and has spawned an entire line of train toys and merchandise, from Legos to party supplies.

    In May 2009, an Australian nonprofit group unveiled a new video game starring Thomas the Tank Engine, meant to aid in the therapy of autistic children. According to the organization, Autism Spectrum Australia, the game helps autistic children to recognize facial expressions by using Thomas' face as a visual guide. The Thomas the Tank Engine Emotions Game is available on the group's website.CNN.com: Thomas the Tank Engine on mission to help autistic kids (May 26, 2009)

  • How Thomas Came to Life

    In 1917 Wilbert Awdry, later to become Reverend W. Awdry creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, was growing up a boy in the village of Box in Wiltshire, England. Wilbert Awdry would lie awake at night listening to the steam engines on the nearby railway tracks. As he listened to the trains struggling up the two mile incline it sounded like the trains were talking to each other.


    It was years later in 1940 when Wilbert’s son Christopher was confined to bed with the measles that the first of the characters came to life. The adventures of Edward, Gordon, and Henry were told over and over to entertain his sick son. As the stories became more detailed Awdry finally wrote them down but had no intentions of ever having them published.


    It was at the insistence of his wife Margaret that he finally offered the scribbled notes of paper to a publisher. His first book “Three Railway Engines” was published by Edmund Ward. “Thomas the Tank Engine” was published a year later after Rev. Awdry made his son Christopher a wooden train engine that was later Christened Thomas. Rev. Wilbert Awdry wrote a new book every year until his twenty sixth and final story, “Tramway Engines” which came out in 1972.

  • Thomas the Tank Engine Narrators

    1. Ringo Starr
    2. Michael Angelis
    3. George Carlin
    4. Alec Baldwin
    5. Michael Brandon
    6. Pierce Brosnan

  • Thomas's Friends

    1. Edward
    2. Gordon
    3. Henry
    4. Percy
    5. Toby
    6. Duck

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