The Railway Series

[WOOTANG]

I'll be honest, I was thinking I'd leave this thread alone, but the ongoing interest in Thomas and friends may just be, (if it isn't already), one of the major factors in keeping our hobby going for future generations.

The only individual story I really remember, is the one where Henry won't come out of the tunnel!

Long live Thomas!

also the idea of thomas it gets kids liking railways so they may grow up to be engineers

[LNER Fan 60008]

The fact Awdry was an avid railway enthusiast helped, I think. Technical accuracy and realism were two things he stuck to nicely. It is unfortunate the TV series departed from this, and as a result you got self propelled engines with overgrown claws sticking out of their roofs.

[Mickey]

Deleted

[WOOTANG]

while i was at the NRM today i got chatting to a guy while sat in a LSWR tri-comp (50 points to who ever tells what one is) which is sat behind the NRM's M7

while we were talking the locomotive had a history was left coupled behind the train it was pushing and the locomotive was pulled by the express engine (THOMAS & GORDON)

[60800]

blackout
yours im struggling to think of anything else you can remember
the only 1 that springs to mind is (THOMAS, PERCY AND THE DRAGON)

I think it may have been a halloween special. I remember there were bats.

[LNER Fan 60008]

The only "Halloween" episode I remember seeing is "Percy's Ghostly Trick", although this didn't have any bats in it.

[WOOTANG]

you also had (HAUNTED HENRY) but again that didnt have bats

[LNER Fan 60008]

I recall having a few of the hardback books back in the late 1960s (the colour pictures were always good to look at) but by the late 1980s the whole Thomas the tank engine thing had gone into overdrive with alarm clocks, bags, games etc etc...

Personally i always preferred IVOR THE ENGINE.

Awdry never cashed out the series on his own, that "achievement" belongs to Britt Allcroft. I would be inclined to say the cashing out really did kill off the "original" Thomas. The later TV seasons done by Allcroft (later HiT, and now some other company) without any influence from the Railway Series admittedly were not too good IMHO.

Ivor is a great series, too.

[GateGhost]

They've been good to Duck, when he appears.

[WOOTANG]

best episodes with duck were:
Pop goes the diesel
dirty work
a close shave

[LNER Fan 60008]

I listened to some of Chris Awdry's stories not long ago. They were pretty good but very technically oriented. Still better than what the TV series turned into.

[WOOTANG]

i think this is my favorite episode

there is a few more choices
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA3zjKWQ ... AE4B3DEC99

[owd sweedy]

Not sure I would agree with the widely held belief that Thomas is the saviour of our hobby it seems to me to be wishful thinking. I say this because I just don't see the evidence for it. Thomas has been around on TV in the UK and North America, since 1984, (28 years ago), and was backed up by a huge "trash and trinkets" after sales market. It must have been watched since then by literally millions of children over the years. Well if they were 5, 6 or 7 back then, they would now be in their early 30's, so where are they? Where are the hundreds of thousands of new modellers that Thomas is supposed to inspire? How come there isn't a Model Railway shop in every High street to accommodate this amazing new demand ??
If anything, I think that the "Thomas industry" and all that is associated with it, does railway modelling more harm than good. In the minds of the non modelling general public (and especially the media), it just nails our hobby firmly to the nursery floor. Reinforcing the widely held stereotype that we are little more than overgrown children still playing with our Choo Choo's.
There's no denying Thomas is a great children's story (and toys), but children grow up and find more exciting and sophisticated ways to occupy their spare time (X-Box, computers, social media etc). I'm not sure that railway modelling can compete.

This is just my opinion, and if you don't like it, I have others
Cheers,
Owd Sweedy

[Rlangham]

I'm not sure Thomas and railway modelling go hand in hand exactly - must be plenty of railway enthusiasts who have no interest in railway modelling and perhaps vice-versa with modellers.

From what i've seen, there has been quite a resurgence of interest in railways and railway modelling here in the UK in recent years to a point where it's not quite as embarrasing for fairly young people to talk about it and do it - programmes like James May's Toy Stories, Great British Railway Journeys etc etc have done a lot to help I think

[2002EarlMarischal]

Not sure I would agree with the widely held belief that Thomas is the saviour of our hobby it seems to me to be wishful thinking.

I think the point is that without the "Thomas Experience", some young families would not even attend heritage railway events, and that "seed of interest" would not be planted in some young minds. The heritage railway sector makes a lot of money out of Thomas events that it might not otherwise generate.

If Thomas leads to a small percentage of future enthusiasts in full size or modelling, even if they are embarassed to mention it, then our hobby has benefited.