The Railway Series was a set of story books about a fictional railway located on the fictional Island of Sodor and the engines that lived on it. There were 40 books in the series. 26 written by Wilbert Vere Awdry, a further 14 by his son Christopher Awdry.

The stories had their origin in 1942. When Christopher had measles, his father created the character Thomas the Tank Engine to entertain him. Soon, Christopher was telling his friends about them. Due to the increasing popularity, a book was published, known as the Three Railway Engines, which featured Edward the Blue Engine, Henry the Green Engine and Gordon the Big Engine. Further books were published introducing newer characters. The books were divided into four short stories, of around 10-16 pages each, accompanied with a colour picture of the scene in the story.

The books were very successful. The characters in the books would receive even more fame when they were adapted into the television series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, which were based on the stories, although many of the later series ignored the books in favour of different, often conflicting stories.

External links

• List of books in The Railway Series