The Railway Series is a series of children's books on which Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends is based.
The first books were written by the Reverend W. Awdry as a way to cheer up his son Christopher, who was ill with measles at age 3. The original series had twenty-six books, since expanded to forty-one by Christopher. After a 10 year hiatus, a new book was published in 2007.
In 2012, the first four books were released in digital format for Apple products in the UK.
Books[]
Rev. W. Awdry[]
- The Three Railway Engines
- Thomas The Tank Engine
- James The Red Engine
- Tank Engine Thomas Again
- Troublesome Engines
- Henry The Green Engine
- Toby The Tram Engine
- Gordon The Big Engine
- Edward The Blue Engine
- Four Little Engines
- Percy The Small Engine
- The Eight Famous Engines
- Duck And The Diesel Engine
- The Little Old Engine
- The Twin Engines
- Branch Line Engines
- Gallant Old Engine
- Stepney The "Bluebell" Engine
- Mountain Engines
- Very Old Engines
- Main Line Engines
- Small Railway Engines
- Enterprising Engines
- Oliver The Western Engine
- Duke The Lost Engine
- Tramway Engines
These volumes were later compiled into Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection
Christopher Awdry[]
- Really Useful Engines
- James And The Diesel Engines
- Great Little Engines
- More About Thomas The Tank Engine
- Gordon The High-Speed Engine
- Toby, Trucks, And Trouble
- Thomas And The Twins
- Jock The New Engine
- Thomas And The Great Railway Show
- Thomas Comes Home
- Henry And The Express
- Wilbert The Forest Engine
- Thomas And The Fat Controller's Engines
- The New Little Engine
- Thomas And Victoria
These volumes were later compiled into Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection
Other Books[]
- Thomas' Christmas Party (Rev. Awdry)
- Thomas And The Missing Christmas Tree (C. Awdry)
- Thomas And The Naughty Diesel/Thomas And The Evil Diesel (C. Awdry)
- Thomas And The Hurricane (C. Awdry)
Mr. Perkins's Storytime[]
In this series of segments, Mr. Perkins reads the Railway Series stories. Each story is rewritten by Andrew Brenner and illustrated by Loraine Marshall.
- The Flying Kipper - Santa's Little Engine DVD
- Trucks! - The Thomas Way DVD
- Thomas & Gordon - Spills and Thrills DVD
- Pop Goes The Diesel - Trouble on the Tracks DVD