The Railway Series (1945-2011) is a series of British books by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry (Books 1-26) and Christopher Awdry (Books 27-42).
Unless otherwise stated on this page, the technical notes come from actual notes laid out by Wilbert Awdry when he was developing the characters and setting for his stories; these notes are cited in his publication The Island of Sodor: Its People, History, and Railways.[1]
The North Western Railway (NWR) is the main standard gauge rail network on the Island of Sodor. The railway's motto is "Nil Unquam Simile", which is Latin for "There's nothing quite like it". From nationalisation on January 1, 1948 until it privatised, the railway was the North Western Region of British Railways (BR). From 1925 onwards, it is managed by three Fat Controllers.
“Please tell everyone that whatever happens elsewhere, Steam will still be at work here. We shall be glad to welcome all who want to see and travel behind, real engines.”
Thomas is a small blue 0-6-0T ex-London, Brighton and South Coast Railway E2 class engine, and is the railway's #1 engine. Thomas first arrived on Sodor soon after he was built in 1915, and he initially worked as the station pilot at Vicarstown. After helping to rescue James from a nasty accident, Thomas was permanently assigned to the Ffarquhar Branch Line and with two faithful coaches, Annie and Clarabel.
Edward is a blue 4-4-0 ex-Furness Railway K2 class mixed-traffic engine, and is the railway's #2 engine. He was the first character created by the Rev. W. Awdry. With BoCo, Edward runs the Brendam Branch Line. Sometimes, the big engines would tease Edward of being old-fashioned, slow, and unreliable. In the story Edward's Exploit, during one rainy evening, Edward was taking a passenger train full of enthusiasts home to Tidmouth, when his sanding gear failed. On a steep hill, his crack-pin snapped, damaging his wheel splashers and forcing his driver and fireman to remove his side rods. However, Edward was able to pull his heavy train back very late, but with triumph. BoCo looked after the branch line while Edward was sent to the Works for repairs. After this, all the engines came to respect him.