7:36: I think the collective hallucination thing might've been enforced by the fact that "The Adventure Begins" gave James the role of the Engine who pushed Henry, as James started out as black in the beginning but became red by the end of the movie. Ironically, they could've put James in that spot it in the model series version of "The Sad Story of Henry", but instead chose Thomas, who wasn't suppose to be there at all.
Thomas and the tunnel mouse refers to rev's layout of sodor in his attic. The layout had trouble with engines coming off the rails in the tunnel that loops back around and the rev was confused as to why. So he ran his Thomas through the tunnel at full speed and out first came a mouse and then Thomas. It's in his biography, good read if you get the chance.
And Henry's buff buff buffers refers to a story the reverend wrote for a kid who was confused about why henry has gordon's buffers. He's all high and mighty and parades around with them. Then smashes them at some point. Also in his biography
About Mike being green, in the story “Ballast” Rex said to Mike: ‘Consider my feelings. When were both green. Passengers kept calling me Mike!’ So it’s canon that he was green.
I believe the joke is actually meant to be a reference more towards the basis’s of the characters from the rave glass and eskdale, river mite was actually built of the chassis of river esk’s tender, seeing as it had a poultney steam tender. But I’m not too sure, however it would explain a little about the wink that is mentioned in the same part of the book
Some things I just want to point out: 1. The Two Henry's idea is actually canon according to The Island Of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways 2. Rex says in Ballast: "When we were both green, passengers kept calling me Mike!" which is a reference to the fact that River Mite was built from River Esk's steam tender 3. According to Awdry and the RWS narrations done by William Rushton, Ffarquhar is pronounced "Far-ker" 4. There have been confirmed to be 4 Sir Topham Hatt's. Sir Topham Hatt I (Three Railway Engines - Four Little Engines), Charles Topham Hatt (Percy the Small Engine - Really Useful Engines), Stephen Topham Hatt (James and the Diesel Engines - Thomas and his Friends), and Richard Topham Hatt, who likely took over after the last book 5. There are multiple puns in the last two stories of Stepney the Bluebell Engine. Train Stops Play and Bowled Out are both puns on real cricket terms, Rain Stops Play and Bowled Out. Stepney is mentioned to bark excitedly, a pun on his classes name (Terriers), and a truck in Train Stops Play is seen to have "Return" written on the side, a pun on another cricket term. 6. The boys that messed with James' controls were basically spanked by their fathers 7. Rule 55 is a railway rule stating that locomotives cannot stop on an open line unless the signalman is informed 8. At one point, a mouse took up residence in a tunnel on Awdry's Ffarquhar Layout, and he had to ram Thomas into it at full speed to get it to leave 9. The spiritual significance of the workshop engines is a reference to the fact that they first showed that there were railways and engines outside Sodor in the books 10. In the very first illustration, a man seeming to be a vicar and a man in a beige coat and black hat can be seen looking at Duck, with the vicar gesturing to him. There's a theory that these two people were meant to be Awdry and Dalby, with Awdry showing Dalby how to draw Duck as he incorrectly drew him as a 64xx instead of a 57xx in Percy the Small Engine 11. It's mentioned in the Island Of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways, that on the Ffarquhar Branch there was a pub called The Toby Jug. After Toby got rid of the policeman mentioned in Thomas in Trouble, the man that owned the pub renamed it to The Toby, and painted over the pub's sign of a jug to a sign of Toby 12. Awdry was actually the guard on the train that inspired Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady. He signalled away the train before the Refreshment Lady was on board 13. In Tank Engine Thomas Again, Henry is shown in one illustration with square buffers. Awdry mentioned that, when the NWR's main sheds and station became located at Tidmouth, Henry crashed into the terminus platforms and had to be fitted with Gordon's spare buffers 14. Neither red engines have names, but originally there was only meant to be one. When Dalby redrew the illustrations of The Three Railway Engines, he drew James as the engine pushing Henry out of the tunnel, albeit with a red dome. Awdry used this red dome as an excuse to say there was a second red engine, when in reality there was only one, hence the "collective hallucination" 15. Henry was originally planned to be based on a C1 Atlantic, hence him being drawn that way, but William Middleton, Reginald Payne and C. Reginald Dalby all drew him incorrectly as a 4-6-2 16. The original title for Oliver the Western Engine was Little Western Engines, but the publishers forced Awdry to change it 17. Toby is brought to Sodor specifically because it was illegal for Thomas to go up the line to the quarry as he didn't have cowcatchers or sideplates. This law was later found to be outdated and have already been removed, but since Awdry never states this in the books, Percy is assumed to be illegally travelling down the quarry line Hope this clears some things up!
In one of Christopher's books, it is mentioned that Percy cannot go up the tramway. "We all remember what happened to Thomas." (Or something like that).
@@charlessapp1835 * This is countered in the IOS book though, and Chris' books have multiple other areas that go against pre-established canon, so I'd take that with a grain of salt
Couple notes here The two Henrys theory is actually alluded to in the IoS book Rex mentions Mike being green before in Ballast Rule 55 basically just means an engine can't stop in the middle of the line without telling the signalman The Toby Jug is a pub in Ffarquhar which was renamed in Toby's honour after he dealt with the policeman who had been a bit of a menace in the town as well as to the railway Awdry *was* the guard who left the Refreshment Lady behind. His own mother-in-law, too
Actually, "Little Western Engines" was the original title for "Oliver the western engine" but publishers insisted he change it. Awdry mentioned it in the foreword of that same book.
@@henrytheriverengine8234 Even though said character only had a leading role in two of those stories, a smaller role in another, and didn't do anything in one.
6:44 That is referring to the first illustration in Domeless Engines, in which Awdry can be seen showing Dalby what Duck actually looked like, as he had illustrated him incorrectly in Duck Takes Charge. 9:44 That was the original name for Oliver the Western Engine, but the publishers made Awdry change the books name, as he says in the foreword. Overall, a great and interesting video, and I am looking forward to Part 2.
Thomas and the Tunnel Mouse is a tale that Awdry told some time back, which I remember reading. I'll try to recreate it here as best I can. So Awdry was talking with someone about the development of his model railroad, and noted that because he had been on a speaking tour about the series, he hadn't run his home layout much. Deciding to give it a go, he hooked Thomas up to a few wagons and started running him around the layout. At one point Thomas entered a tunnel from one end, and stopped. Awdry pulled him gingerly back out, and thinking that Thomas had just caught on something, he sent him through the tunnel again. Seconds later, a mouse came running out of the tunnel, right as Thomas emerged from the other side. Awdry noted that Thomas had rather unceremoniously evicted the mouse from its new burrow.
Ffarquhar is a combination of Faraway-Quarry so those pronouncing it with a c/k sound are wrong. Thomas and the tunnel mouse refers to Awdry's model of Thomas on his first large layout in one of the outbuildings when he was rector at Elsworth. The incident was recalled in The Thomas The Tank Engine Man: "The tunnel between Tidmouth and Knapford, which was constructed from a wooden frame covered in old pipe-lagging, was the cause of an entertaining incident. Wilbert had gone into the railway room to do some runningn one evening and, as he had not used the line for some time, sent Thomas on a test run. When the engine entered the tunnel Wilbert heard 'a sort of scrabbling noise' and when it emerged from the other side it was followed by a mouse, which looked round and then shot back into the tunnel. 'Next time through,' Wilbert recalls, 'Thomas and the mouse had a dead heat at the opposite tunnel mouth - Thomas rocked and nearly came off the rails, but had the best of it.' Once again the mouse retreated into the tunnel but, when Thomas next passed through, the mouse did not appear. However, when Thomas reached Knapford, he was reversed and - given full regulator - thundered intot he tunnel. 'This time the mouse did not wait; it shot from the opposite entrance, streaked along the track, dived into the dock, lept three feet six inches from the baseboard to the floor and was never seen again!'" Edmund Ward was the editor for the Railway series, "Kaye and Ward" was one of the publishers of the RWS (now absorbed into Egmont) Percy being able to go up the tramway is odd because Toby was brought to Sodor because open wheeled engines (like Thomas) are banned from travelling on tramways without cowcatchers and sideplates, Percy was sent up there illegally and broke the law by going up there.
The one about Percy and the quarry line is referring to how it’s confusing how Percy gets to legally go on the quarry line without cow catchers and side plates. Thomas wasnt allowed and that’s why the policeman stoped him. Then that’s way toby was bought. Not to long after that Percy goes on the quarry line. But he doesn’t have cowcatchers or side rods. So why isn’t he getting stoped too?
@@Lightbolt95 but why would they even *need* toby if percy could already run it? I suppose its because of a work load or somthing but your point makes sense to me
@@thesocialistlion2904 The thing is is that when Toby came to Sodor Percy was still shunting at knapford because he hadn’t been transferred to Ffarquhar yet
@@Lightbolt95 Ah right, I guess just transferring Percy would have been cheaper but then again this was Toby so Toppahm would have wanted to get him anyways
Regarding the books skipping WW2, there is one story that is told from that point, being the gallant old engine story that skarloey tells, I think there might be more but I am unsure from the top of my head
The reason for the time skip during World War II is that there were a handful of stories that were adopted from real life events during World War II that were placed during other times such as when Henry wouldn’t come out of the tunnel that was modeled after a story from World War II when I train hid in a tunnel during the baro blitz. The reason why these events were put at different times in history was to avoid World War II due to the fact the Thomas and friends was a children’s book
True but at the same time that was in one of the later books and those are generally considered more mature as Audrey was well aware that the kids that grew up with the original stories would grow up overtime so he’s slowly mature the stories and their themes
5:42 'Thomas and the tunnel mouse' was in a book I owned about Awdry's life and one day when he set up his Ffarquar branch that hadn't been used in a while, Thomas went into the tunnel, stopped, there was a whirring noise, and a mouse ran out of the other end. That's all I know lol
10:52 In a previous story, Thomas gets stopped for running illegaly on the tramway due to uncovered wheels, this section is asking the question on why Percy traversed public roads to reach Farquhar Quarry
The reason why it doesn't make sense is that we're talking about The Railway Series not TV series where they just swap out the smokebox in The Railway Series they made Henry overall taller and bigger notice The Old shape Henry has Wheel arches and new shape Henry has none because he's taller and increase his speed from 75 to 90
Arnold Ridley (Private Godfrey in Dad's Army) wrote a play called 'The Ghost Train', of which at least two films were made. One of these (starring Arthur Askey) is still shown on TV occasionally.
In 'The Thomas the Tank engine Man' there's mention that Awdry got a letter from a child asking why Henry had Gordon's buffers, and not wanting to say "The artist got it wrong", Wilbert wrote back saying Henry had damaged his buffers and the only spares available being Gordon's.
The London Station parallel universes probably refers to how each engine in Gordon goes foreign says that London station is a different place. Gordon says Kings Cross, The visitor says Euston and Duck says Paddington. The explanation for this is the fact for each railway, it had its own terminus at London station. For the LNER it was Kings Cross, for the LMS it was Euston, and for the GWR it was Paddington, thus giving the reason why each engine thought differently. Gordon is an LNER A1, the visitor was likely an LMS Patriot, and Duck is an GWR 57xx class.
This is great, I'm learning a lot stuff that I didn't know before! Also, Edmund Ward was actually the publishing house that published the Railway Series books.
It turns out the law about cowcatchers that the policeman fined Thomas for, had been long since outdated. And after he tried enforcing other outdated laws, the constable had been relocated. Therefore when Percy traveled to the quarry 9 years later, he technically wasn't in violation. In Book 32 however, in the '80s (while the previous two were in '51 and '60), after Mavis gets damaged, TFC tells Percy he'll have to do extra work while Toby works at the quarry in her place, bringing up the law suggesting it's still in place.
6:55 Awdry and Dalby appear in the very first illustration of Domeless Engines and to give you a hit, look for the vicar standing next to a man in a brown suit. The illustration itself is a joke as Dalby drew Duck incorrectly as a 64XX in the book 'Percy the Small Engine' with John T. Kenney correctly fixing him as what Awdry saw Duck, a 57XX. Also, the so-called "loop line" in the story 'James get the Express' is clearly visible on Awdry's map. It's the line that runs through Ballahoo and forms a loop or secondary mainline between Crovan's Gate and Vicarstown (remember, the "big station" in the RWS books is Vicarstown, not Knapford)
fun fact: Awdry was the guard on the train who forgot the refreshment lady Edit: 8:24 henry was originally meant to by a 4-4-2 by Awdry but the illustrators messed up and made him a 4-6-2
12:05 there are actually multiple "main" stations in London, I recall there are 12 railway termini in London, King's Cross, ST Pancreas, Euston, London Waterloo(technically not a main station but it's still listed), London Bridge, Paddington, Liverpool Street, London Victoria, Charing Cross, Fenchurch Street, Cannon Street, and Marylebone. There were many others, but they either closed down or are no longer classified as main stations. The reason they argue over it is because Gordon when he was "young and green" worked out of kings cross, duck was station pilot at Paddington before arriving on sodor, and the big city engine was a Midland railway engine, and their main station in London for the current west Coast line is Euston, all three of which are completely different stations in different parts of London,. ST Pancreas is used as an alternate terminus for the Midland main line
The book Oliver the western engine was meant to called little Western or something along those lines. Due to the editor interference it was changed, as the four stories work around the line the Duck, Oliver, Donald & Douglas
Rule 55 is in reference to Series 3's 'Henry's Forest' when (if I vaguely recall from memory) Henry's driver said that they could just stop and stay in the forest. Which in real life would be a sackable offence (I think) because it's the engine's crew to go ahead and tell the signal man that there is an engine stopped up the line somewhere, and therefore he (the signal man) can divert oncoming trains around the stopped engine, and also telegraph further along the line to other signals of what was going on. In short Rule 55 is a reference to when the TV series stopped following the book and likewise (I think) the real world basis and rules that Awdry was following/using in his writing. Also 'Henry's Forest' was a rather political episode and (to my guess) was written with the environmental message foremost and not real world railway practice. TLDR: Rule 55 is a reference among (some, not all) fans to when the TV series stopped being run like a real life railway/following the books and took a turn towards railway fantasy. The railway rulebook was put in the dust bin.
The stepney pun refers to the story where class40 fails and duck and stepney infront it says “with stepney barking excitedly infront” which refers to stepney being a terrier class locomotive
9:56 I don't know y but bills face (or maybe its ben at the very front but I don't know and I cant remember) always reminded me of a skeletons character face in this illustration for some reason?
11:25 after some research, this is what I found. "It's partly a joke. A loop line was mentioned in a Railway Series story and was then never mentioned again. It was never put on the Railway Series map either."
The one with the mouse one is probably how awdry had troubles with train derailing on the loop tunnel of his Ffarquhar layout , so he had his Thomas model run through it at full speed, out came a mouse and then Thomas came out
Erm, actually, ‘Little Western Engines’ is the name originally given to the RWS book ‘Oliver the Western Engine’ - only the publishers wanted Awdry to add an engine’s name into the title, as they felt it would sell more (typically!). Also, ‘buff-buff-buffers’ does apply to that illustration. Wilbert made an entire story about Henry and Gordon damaging their buffers over it, to make an excuse (or rather in-universe explanation) for Dalby’s illustration error to a young reader in a letter.
A loop line isn't a balloon loop, which is what you've been looking for. In reality, a loop line is a parallel line with connecting points at both ends. So what they meant was, the train engine would've come off the train, run round using the loop/main depending on which it stopped in (most likely train into the loop then run round on the main) then come back to the station. Run round again to get onto the front, just as you see in the illustration.
Perhaps the one about the Workshop Engines is referring to how, in the The Fat Controller Story Library Book, there is an engine beside Percy in the workshop who looks a lot like Wilbert the Forest Engine, but we can't see his face so it might not be. If it is, that's a great reference to Wilbert and also means Percy and Wilbert must have been both built by the same workshop.
4:00 the walloping is pretty dark actually. in the dictonary, the "walloping" means "a beating" as a noun. So this might reference the abuse of what the 2 kids had by making james, a runaway.
I feel like wha5 they mean by the 2 henry theory is that they basically replaced every part on the old henry where the final product had nothing from the original other than his sentience
Awdry and Dalby are in the first illustration of Domeless Engine where Awdry is pointing at Duck to tell Dalby this is what Duck is supposed to look like because Dalby had originally illustrated Duck Wrong.
I know this has been mentioned by The Unlucky Tug but Awdry actually wanted Henry to be an Atlantic and did the Henry rebuild and everything to try to make it somewhat make sense, he has a video where he goes over this that he just uploaded
In Middleton's illustrations, the red engine pushing Henry was a pacific, that seen on the first page. When Dalby redrew this book, the engine in the first picture looked to be a pacific, yet the one pushing Henry was drawn as James (with kids pointing out the continuity error, and Awdry denying this to be James). I think the 'collective theory' is a debate as to whether or not there were two red engines before James. If the shed and tunnel engines were the same like in Middleton's illustrations
Awdry and Dolby were in an illustration with Duck. Awdry just hired a new Illustrator and he drew in an easter egg of Awdry showing Dolby this is how to illustrate Duck. Dolby got his proportions wrong. I believe I know this from The Unlucky Tugs Duck sodor finest.
Allow me to give an shed some light on the tunnel mouse. In "The Thomas the Tank Engine Man" book, it's stated a mouse messed with Awdry's Thomas model when it went through the tunnel on the set. The mouse stayed in the tunnel until it eventually decided to attack the model. The model made it out of the tunnel as the mouse attacked it. The mouse then escaped, and was never seen again.
5:43 I want to say this which is that it says Thomas and the tunnel mouth which is probably in reference to how there have been multiple times where Thomas has almost been buried alive in front of That tunnel Like for instance when missis kindly tried to stop Thomas before he hit the landslide or when Thomas went to go save missis kindly in the Christmas special or when he crashes into a snow drift in Thomas and Terrence just to name a few
The reason it says "Awdry left the Refreshment Lady behind" is because Wilbert was the guard on that train, working as a volunteer, and he let the train leave before she got on board.
Percy able to go along the tram line in branch line engines= remember percys predicament when he went to collect tobys trucks at the quarry at the end of Thomas’ branch line while Toby took daisys milk truck
I would assume that Thomas and the tunnel mouse is a railway series book that Could of been in production but never got to for some reason. The story would probably B. about Thomas going into a tunnel and finding a mouse it's pretty self explanatory but I don't know the whole thing but that's what I would think
In the first page of domless engine you can see a man showing a person to duck the two man and wilbert awdry and clarence dalbey which means awdry showing dalbey what duck actually look like.
fun fact : awdry oringinally wanted Henry to be a c1 atlantic but because his illustrators keep making Henry a 4-6-0 and then a 4-6-2 pacific ,awdry original story for Henry is for him to be ill and then later sent away never to return
The percy on the tramway one is due to the law stating only engines with cowcatchers and side plates (Like toby and mavis) can go down that part of the line
Theory: The Ghost Train television programme is about Timothy The Ghost Engine *What? It’s a way of writing in a fan character without “actually” writing them in. It works.*
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