To celebrate, here are 75 facts about the lovable locomotive. 1. Thomas was created by Rev Wilbert Awdry when his son Christopher was suffering from measles and asked him for stories. 2.

For generations Thomas the Tank Engine has chugged into the hearts of children worldwide. Now a hidden gem from the past emerges to mark a special milestone.

Thomas started out as a character in a series of books dating back to the 1940s by Rev. Wilbert Awdry, an English Anglican minister and train enthusiast. Awdry's The Railway Series revolved around ...

A letter from the book’s creator Reverend Wilbert Awdry says the BBC used a model railway to bring characters in The Sad Story of Henry to life – but live on air one train derailed and a crew ...

Reverend Wilbert Awdry was inspired to write The Railway Series books after hearing trains as he lay in his childhood bed in Wiltshire. Rev Awdry later created Thomas to entertain his young son ...

Everyone here at Mattel continues to feel a tremendous amount of responsibility for the franchise. To this day Thomas & ...

Handmade by his father, the Rev Wilbert Awdry, the blue-painted train incorporated a sawn-off broomstick for the boiler, a tube of metal for the chimney and flattened-out carpet pins for wheels.

The TV producer was behind bringing the beloved children's series to life in the 1970s after securing the rights to adapt Reverend Wilbert Awdry’s Railway Series. In 1984, the series aired as ...

The producer brought the beloved children's series to TV screens after securing the rights to adapt Reverend Wilbert Awdry’s Railway Series books. The series aired as Thomas the Tank Engine ...

A never-before-seen pilot of Thomas & Friends, featuring the iconic narration of The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, has been released to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the tank engine franchise. The ...