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Overthinking Thomas the Tank Engine: What Actually Is Thomas?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ส.ค. 2023
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I've always held that the Reverend Awdry is what would happen if J.R.R. Tolkien was into trains rather than linguistics
One does not simply _steam_ into Mordor.
There And Back Again, a Tank Engine's Tale
One coach to rule them all…
The charge at Gondor but with tank engines versus the express engines
@@emjackson2289Once upon a time in a shed, there lived a tank engine.
Quote of the Day: “You don’t mess with Gordon. You just don’t.”
Wise words indeed, as he is arguably the main character of the books too 😉 .
(He's the only engine whom we see the whole life story of, albeit via both Awdry's)
thank you for noticing 😀
Unless you're Thomas, then you make it your life's gole.
ask the Combine
"Gordon is a moron!" 🙂
In the 1980s I had the privilege of working with a lady who, in her childhood, had the even greater privilege of playing at Awdry's rectory with the original Thomas toys!
I love applying logic to children’s stuff. It’s fun
🥈
What logic can you apply to the Tweenies, Fun Song Factory or the gameshow Get Your Own Back?
Gordon was definitely an LNER Gresley Pacific... I recall there was even a story involving Gordon encountering the Flying Scotsman and banging on about how the Doncaster way is the best way!
@@hakc97againNot much indeed 😂
@@hakc97againthe first one at least can be fascinating to analyse for its choice of songs, celebrity pastiches, technology, messaging, and more which are definitely Of Their Time in ways the original audiences probably didn’t pay much attention to
Amazing work! I love the idea of Rev W Awdry being dedicated to realism in a series about sentient trains with faces.
I drive past the old vicarage in Ampfield where Rev. Awdrey grew up - the current owners have a little Thomas on the sign on the gate. If you ever find yourself down in Hampshire and are driving between Winchester and Romsey, keep a look out for it!
I hope they've paid Britt Alcroft!
Here in Kings Norton, where the first books were written, the station footbridge is decorated with pictures from the books.
How nice to see a Thomas video that actually acknowledges the books. Almost all the ones I've seen to date (I was brought up with Thomas!) pretty much ignore the books, taking the first TV series as the origin. One in particular that was supposed to identify Thomas's prototype never mentioned the books at all. The great appeal of the Thomas books was that Rev had a deep understanding of railway practice and procedure - James's crash due to wooden brake blocks was also based on a real accident - the stories revolved around consequences of rule braking, almost always actual rules, perhaps somewhat buried in the narrative sometimes though.
Somehow I doubt any real engines refused to come out of a tunnel and were bricked in. ;)
@@zork999I fear you are being too literal.
@@zork999 I'm fairly certain some of the trains I drive would do that if they were sentient. The one I was working Saturday night definitely didn't like the rain!
Rule "braking" seems a strangely apposite typo.
Awdry had a rule that every occurrence in his stories had to have happened on a railway somewhere at some time, a rule which he rigidly stuck to, albeit sometimes buried in the narrative as you say.
The TV Series tended not to do that once they stopped adapting the books: I don’t want to imagine what Awdry would think of Thomas and the Jet Engine.
Well, this was an unexpected surprise. Thomas being a Great Eastern tank is a good AU idea. The J69s do fit the profile quite nicely, being compact tank engines that were painted blue and used for station pilot duties, commuter trains and branch line work. When I visited last year's Warley model railway exhibition, I saw Awdry's Ffarquhar layout and in operation was the Jinty Thomas. I suppose Awdry predicted preserved railways painting Jinties up as Thomas! Hmm, I wonder what other Thomas-related topics you're thinking about covering.
When I was a young boy, (in the 1960's), I got taken by my family to a model railway exhibition in Bristol. On one of the stalls was a layout with a recorded voice telling a story and the various trains moving about in synch. There was an old man who I think was operating the trains. At the time my father told be to look at this man as he had written a lot of story books about trains. As I got older it was explained to me that this was The Rev Awdry. I wasn't really aware of this stuff until our own kids were little, by which time it was a very popular TV series.
As a kid who was virtually taught to read by the Railway Stories, it was a very star-struck 10 year old, who saw the man himself, eating his sandwiches at one of the great railway shows at Central Hall in London. I was too shy to say hello, but I nervously smiled and waved, only to get a grin and a wave in return. Good enough for me.
:)
I will not be complaining if more videos here are railway series themed
Same. Tis a fun topic to explore, especially while seated with a cup of tea after a difficult day.
This channel is delightfully British. As a long time anglophile, I appreciate it very much, especially since, in the last few years, not much delight seems to be coming out of good old Blighty itself.
Nostalgia seems to be all we have left.
UK has had more than it’s share of Troublesome Trucks over the past few years.
In recent years it's more of an emphasis on the BLIGHT part of Blighty.
@@Deepthought-42 - 'Troublesome Trucks'? - ha, Leyland's L60 tank engines weren't much cop either! (sorry : )
@@jerribee1Yes But its not like the nostalgia we used to get.
I didn’t think you’d actually bother making a Thomas video, so I’m grateful you did. The series is fictional but has a good deal of realism.
Thomas is visually based on a E2 for definite (which I believe Payne saw at London Victoria giving him the idea for the character) but his job in the first book is a bit like a Great Eastern Buckjumper, to the point where he has the same accidents that happened in real life Liverpool Street.
After seeing various references to ‘Thomas and Friends’, I’m happy to see this video. It was such a delightful show to watch growing up.
However, I doubt that the people making it now have ever heard of a steam engine, let alone seen one. Sodor, which has grown to about the size of Texas, has magical tracks that allow trains of any gauge to run on them, as well as curves of non specific radii to allow huge American streamliners to run on branchline tracks. Oh, and don't forget the dodgy bloke who got around Sodor with a sail dinghy mounted on a flat wagon. Yes, really. There was a peculiar grinding sound overlying each episode - it was the Reverend Awdry spinning in his grave.
As someone who grew up with Thomas the Tank Engine, this video has been delightful to watch.
Never really considered Thomas to be based (storywise anything) on the J69's, but makes sense.
Great video Jago 👍
Enjoyed this one. If you did decide to do more videos in this style, concentrating on the real engines behind the characters, I think they’d be popular! 🙂
Yeah, a series similar to the one that GWR studios began before he abandoned his channel would be pretty cool.
The first books that I ever read to myself ,with help from my father
Thankyou Jago you have proven yourself to be a really useful youtuber without causing any confusion or delay.
Jago, the fact you treat the story of Thomas with the same level of seriousness as real life trains and lines is heartwarming
Please consider this a request to do more
I think I was born with an interest in the railways, but watching the TV series adaption by Britt Allcroft & David Mitton growing up really helped cement it in my head for life. Have always appreciated how the Reverend was dedicated to realism regardless of the whole 'sentinent machines with faces' thing, more so now as my interest has evolved as I've grown up. Happy to see you tackle this subject head-on Jago.
And yes, I'd like to see similar videos to this one on the other main characters (Edward, Henry, Gordon & Percy in particular) going forward, plus those less popular aspects of the series you mention. :)
Percy’s basis would be an interesting one given he’s one of only a few characters whose real-life counterpart is not concretely known.
Many suggest the GWR Trojan No. 1340 (which appears at the start of this video), but afaik that’s not confirmed by any sources.
Percy definitely seems to fit the “type of engine” theme that Jago mentions as he’s essentially a generic 0-4-0 industrial engine with no firm basis originally (only in Chris’s books is he identified as a saddle tank).
His stories were also parables in railway form with moral lessons. I can't remember which engine it was now, I think it was Oliver, where in order to escape the scrapyard, he and his coach and brake van hide in blocked up sidings in railway cuttings sometimes for months on end, with diesels prowling around outside, with friendly signalmen helping them escape . The significance of this story escaped me at the time, until I re-read it about 40 years later. Suddenly I realised the real life events it was taken from and what it was analogous to, and the true meaning of it hit me really hard.
Yes it was Oliver
The Nene Valley Railway was just up the road from where i lived in the 1980's & Christopher w Awdry also lived not to far from there, he signed a couple of Railway series books for me when i was a Toddler :), Thomas still runs occasionally, The Nene Valley also was a filming location for James Bond.. not a bad day out if you're in this neck of the woods :)
It was also used in "The Secret Army" TV series.
The Thomas was named by Awdry and falls outside other licencing agreements, I think it is ex British Sugar Corporation.
Jack could do a video on the Nene Valley’s involvement in the Bond series if he hasn’t already. Octopussy and Goldeneye are really fun films and have some great train scenes.
Do you still have the books?
Rev. W. Awdry's parish was at Elsworth and later at Emneth in Cambridgeshire, so it was entirely logical that he was especially knowledgable about Great Eastern locos and lore. And some of the fictional locos were based on real ones. Toby the Tram Engine, frinstance, was based on a Wisbech and Upwell Tramway J70 - quite local to Awdry then, and he certainly took his son to see the line. Toby's origins in eastern England are mentioned in one of the Awdry stories. And I'm sure many a 10 year old can tell you all about the secret identities of the 'Great Little Engines' from Wales.
Something and nothing but I'd like share... I almost saw Awdry demonstrating his layout at a model show in the early 70s. There was such a press of grown-ups gathered around the layout that my 11 years old self couldn't see through all the crowd. Then, all of a sudden, the crowd cleared and there was the layout, sans locos and sans Awdry. So close...
I too saw the good Reverend at an exhibition, at Westminster Central Hall in the 60's. At this point he was relaxing after a running session and I was the only person there apart from him. I desperately wanted to talk to him but I got tongue tied and could only ask him in a weak voice for the time! He replied with a flourish of his watch and boomed the requested information....which I've now forgotten.
I'm not trying to better your story, but I actually did meet Awdry, at a model railway exhibition, about 1960. He was just finishing a session with his layout, and going for a cuppa. I held the door open for him, and he beamed down (he was over six ft.) beatifically and said 'thank you young man'. He looked thin and gaunt, unlike my family - we're round and fat. One more thing to note: he spent most of his parish minstry in Great Eastern territory.
@@MrDavil43 Thank you' it could have been the same show I was at. I wasn't sure of the date, it was late sixties /early seventies. I'm glad you got to speak to him.
@@hectorthorverton4920 Thank you, a lovely story.
I absolutely love deep dives into Thomas lore and this is one of the best I've seen. You're right that I'd never considered a more GER origin for Thomas, but you do make a compelling argument.
If you do continue this series, and I dearly hope you do, there's a wealth of topics to go for. The most obvious is a similar deep dive on Percy, the one engine even the Rev. Awdry never nailed down an origin for. One topic that's always fascinated me though is how Sodor in its early years became sort of the "Island of Misfit Engines", full of oddities and prototypes of varying degrees of success. Of course we know that was the Reverend's justification for the early lack of forethought compounded by artist errors. But it's always interesting to hear another take on the question.
The out of control turntable story was also based on a real incident, where one kept revolving in high wind on (IIRC) the Settle and Carlisle.
Yes, at Hawes Junction / Garsdale. Over 1000 feet up at the junction of 3 valleys so the winds can be quite interesting!
I still like what some people on twitter and deviantart have suggested which is that Thomas is a Furness Railway G5. Looks almost exactly like how Thomas was illustrated, particularly in the later books (except for the lack of extended tanks), plus the Furness was close to the NWR geographically (and I like to presume had close business ties too). Now Thomas doesn't have to come all the way from Brighton but instead is just across the Walney Channel.
Yeah, the J69s do have a similar look to how Thomas was usually illustrated (with the short length and small wheels). There were a few that ran on the old Kelvedon and Tollesbury branch line that also pulled the old Wisbech and Upwell tram coaches 7 and 8.
Lovely video. My favourite artist has to be John T. Kenney. Very precise, and wonderful at faces - the smirking slimy diesel in 'Duck and the Diesel' or the unpleasant brakevan from 'The Twin Engines', for example. Kenney retired as he was sadly losing his eyesight. The illustrations by Gunvor and Peter Edwards, are lovely, but, I find, suffused with an odd melancholy, especially one page from 'Stepney The Bluebell Engine', which shows a steam engine graveyard (obviously Barry Island), with two rusting engines, both looking very worried - the backgound one moreso, as there's a bloke with a hot torch next to it, about to start work.
I remember reading this as a small kid at primary school, and this picture making me cry.
Stupid, isn't it?
Awdry's books were probably becoming more melancholy at the time as well, as he was lamenting the decline of steam.
That particular illustration was apparently based on one that Peter Edwards had done for a Graham Greene novel, which featured a chase on a railway siding.
It’s probably the darkest the books ever got, but you have to praise Awdry for presenting such an unsanitised version of events in children’s literature.
Yes, there’s suffering, but engines like Stepney can escape.
I remember being quite scared as a child by the realistic look of agony on Rheneas' face trying to pull his train on only one cylinder. That was in Gallant Old Engine which appears to be the last book illustrated by John Kenney. So I would agree both about the realistic looking engines and the expressive faces. On a happier note I remember Duck's face being lathered in revenge when he had slid into a barber's shop.
Reading around, apparently the "real life" Thomas engines used on heritage lines (under the marketing banner "Days Out With Thomas", licensed by Mattel) are a mixture of repainted originals, modified originals and custom builds, so are also a variety of different models.
Here in New South Wales, the Thomas at some of our Day Out With Thomas events can just be whatever blue tank engine they have available.
The NSW Rail Museum has a Z.18 (formerly 1803) which plays Thomas. It’s an 0-6-0 tank which looks sort of similar to an E2 or a J69. I’d happily buy it as an Australian Thomas.
1803’s not steamable nowadays, but it can be pulled around. The shuttle rides are either provided by 2705 or 3526 as Donald or previously 3642 as Henry.
The Zig Zag Railway used one of their 4-6-4 DD17 tanks to play Thomas (suitably attired, though at least one was painted blue anyway), whilst BB18 No. 1072 (4-6-2) plays Douglas and C.17 No. 934 plays James. Not really similar to the actual prototypes, but…
Do children care if the characters look identical? As a 7-yr-old visiting such an event at the ZZR, the answer was no. If it’s a blue tank engine with a face and a 1 on the side, it’s Thomas.
I clicked as soon as I saw the title.
Same 😂
@@thomasfsc1306me too
Hi Jago.
Nene Valley Railway - Hudswell Clarke No 1600 an 0-6-0. At the time the book was written, the loco was British Sugar Peterborough Works Fleet No1. Painted blue, red lining .The Drivers name, as written on the tank, was Thomas.
The association was - Rev. Awdry was vicar of Botolph Parish, Petreborough - across the road was BSC Peterborough offices, and he would have heard the locos working whilst preparing his services.
Thomas was formally named such, by The Rev.Wilbur Awdry, to publicise his books.
Another engine at the BSC works was Fleet No6, drivers name Percy.
Toby was Wisbech and Upwell Railway - tramway loco - with skirts .
For some 20 year,s until moving away, I travelled many miles on that loco footplate, at a maximum of 15mph (railway line speed is 25), plus others. I also appeared as an extra on 'Octopussy'and 'Goldeneye', painted scenery (runner wagon/stage) for, and was loco crew on the Queen video 'Breakout', 'Latter Days of Patton', and a number of episodes of Casualty.
Anything that attracts children (of all ages) to railways, is good for our various hobbies - railway, / model railway (and model engineering in general), / promoting useful discussions.
I can only agree honestly. The buckjumpers are pretty much the real Thomas, like you said they were small 0-6-0 tanks that were mostly painted blue in their lives and did station pilot duties mostly, to me that just solves the whole Thomas's basis debate. I can still think of Thomas when I go into Bressingham for some volunteering and see N° 87 there in the shed :)
Yes, please more Thomas lore! The video about names in the Underground system got me thinking about Thomas, so this video was right on time for me. Thank you!
Having been a child of the 1970s, I remember these books very well. My birthday and Christmas being only 2 weeks apart, amongst the usual socks and stuff were at least 2 of Rev. W. Awdry's books. I was always overjoyed when I got them and would read them before opening any other gifts. In fact, those are most of my memories of Christmas and birthdays throughout the 1970s.
I'm chuffed (groan) to hear that Annie and Clarabell got a mention too! ☺
Wonderful, Mr. Hazzard, simply wonderful!! You muted the idea of this video some months ago and I recall saying, "Yes, please!" in the comments at the time. So, now, it's a "thank you"!
Some of my son's favourite books. I built a 2 foot long wooden model of Thomas for my son, many years ago. Thank you for reviving the memories.
Great video, as usual! The Rev Awdry was the vicar at Emneth, Norfolk, 1953 - 1965, close to the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway. Small J70 steam tram locomotives were used prior to being replaced by diesels from 1952. Toby the Tram Engine, which first appeared in the seventh of the Railway series of books, was based on the J70s. The Wisbech and Upwell Tramway, running at the side of the road for part of its route would perhaps be an interesting subject for a future video! Thanks again for your very interesting videos
The Jazz trains where also Air Braked too, allowing even quicker turn around time.
Audrey also was the vicar of Emneth in Norfolk, near Wisbech when
the tank engine book was published. This is squire in Great Eastern territory and is where he also got the inspiration for Toby from the nearby Wisbech, Upwell Tramway.
1:23 A person who features objects from the railways that’s considered obscure? Feels familiar.
Rev Awdry was the Jago Hazzard of his day!
A Really Useful Video.
Perhaps more about the railways of Sodor would be welcomed.
I, sadly, had a deprived childhood in that I never received any Thomas books .
Nor did Ringo Starr (the first narrator), who described not having the books in extremely similar terms: “I was one of the few who was deprived of them”.
Last year I moved to a small village near the small town of upwell, i recently found out there was a tramway which served Wisbech to upwell many years ago and the rolling stock was the inspiration for Toby!
Love the videos, great work, thanks for keeping them coming.
Brilliant Video. My Eldest Daughter (when younger) absolutely loved Thomas stories, had a train set, all books. We even took grandchildren to see Thomas Near Colchester.
Nice video man. The topic of Thomas's basis has always fascinated me. Especially when it comes to takes on the character that aren't an E2. Don't get me wrong, I think the E2 class is fine but the reported issues of fuel and water capacity always bugged me with how he seemed un-equipped for the jobs he was given. I'm particularly fond of the idea of his rebuild having been a possible opportunity to turn him into a much bigger tank engine with an added trailing truck and extended bunker making him a pseudo E4 or the like. The J50's have also found a soft spot in my heart as a basis because of the original toy but honestly, after watching this video, I like the J59 even better than any of the aforementioned prototypes. It just feels right for the character. Thanks for sharing this man! If you ever make more content like this, I'd be interested to see it. I've also found some of your other videos to be quite enjoyable as well. Keep up the good work!
A very interesting idea about Thomas being a GER S56 "Buckjumper." I personally think that could be a bit of a stretch for Thomas but I still like the idea of Thomas having more origins on the pre-LNER railways. Accurascale is releasing OO scale models of the Buckjumpers soon. This video has me now giving serious consideration on buying one now.
Very interesting video, sorry to be a snotty enthusiast but the preserved Buckjumper J69 was not the Liverpool St pilot. This is actually a common myth as the engine is painted GER Blue. 68619 is the Liverpool St. pilot, and has history being painted Apple Green & GER Blue with the BR crest. It also had a nickname called “Blue Angel” however the engine has been famously stated as to have been an terrible steamer. But the preserved example is 68633 but finding information on its just is somewhat harder.
I was told No.87 was the Liverpool Street pilot and the last to be withdrawn. Guess I’ll have to check my history.
@@joshslater2426 68633 may have been one of the pilots many but it’s not the Blue J69 68619 as many think. But I’d like to do more on it now 🙂
This is an excellent video, you must be chuffed.
I remember the rather sad TOPs "myth" that no one talked much about when marshalling parcel vans, driver went too far back and pushed the end van into the couplers of a MLV then the whole lot wended its way down towards Plymouth where said MLV was unhooked and shoved into a siding and a wrangle between regions began over it before some time later it was dumped at Reading. I never knew if it was real or urban myth but then I remember Motorail which often made huge mistakes like sending whole car flat loads to Penzance instead of Scotland, indeed my own poor father they took his car off at Stirling whilst we waited in Inverness for it and it took three days to get it there and no, he couldn't just jump on a train and fetch it and drive it up, it had to be properly unloaded or else. The Motorails were a miserable journey made worse in height of summer and the guard had turned on the heating to full winter and was quite unpleasant. We stopped using it when they took of PT discount for staff that coincided with another cock up as we waited in Fort William for our car and got told it was in Inverness so this time my dad just jumped next train and went and got it after getting his signalling manager to blast the ears out of the loadmaster's.
I suspect it was a real incident.
There were more than a few occasions when locos ended up stranded across Regional borders because a driver had taken it without realising that he didn't actually sign them (some old steam hands never quite got the hang of actually having to be passed out on each type of loco separately) then when he got off it nobody else would move it - and he wasn't allowed to take it back because he didn't sign it...
Based on my own experience as a guard back in the 1980s I suspect heating being on wasn't so much a case of the guard having turned it on as nobody being able to turn it *off*!
I did once get reported for daring to turn the heating on at 04:00 on a chilly morning because it was June and the Rule Book said heating had to be turned off from May to October. Nowadays everything's airconditioned so all you can do is reset it and hope it starts working. :-/
My main problem with Thomas being a LB&SCR Class E2 locomotive is the shear size of the E2s. My childhood memory of Thomas is of a small 0-6-0, short in length with his wheels close together, and yes with the front buffer beam practically dragging on the ground. The E2s are absolutely massive machines, heck they're around the same size as the Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0STs, and having worked along side them on the K&ESR in my youth, I can tell you they ain't small machines.
I have a Hornby Nellie body that's sitting on a cut-down Dapol Terrier chassis and that feels more of the right size for Thomas, for me at least. Really must get around to actually fixing the two together at some point...
Lovely whimsical watching that was. Thanks Jago. And, @10:25, yeah, 60YO and I'm still looking for the pig.
Excellent video - regards Thomas lore I’d be interested in your take on the viability of the Sodor operation with such a variety of engines on a small island I’m wondering what the population was meant to be? More Singapore than the Isle of Wight?? 😀👍
Sodor basically filled the gap between Barrow In Furness (where original Locos did through running) and the Isle of Man. Its a pretty good 50 route miles from the West of Sodor to the East via the Coast route. Population though seems low , with Vickerstown near Barrow) arguably the most populated with say about a third the population of Barrow.
The railways of The Railway Series were based on the 1930s railway companies in Britain. Even *they* didn't really know if they were viable, and at the district level equivalent to the size of Sodor, nobody worried about it in the slightest; it was head office's problem. Nor did they worry about the lack of standardisation or indeed anything else: they just carried on in exactly the same way as they had carried on for the past hundred years. Sodor is the bucolic Britain as everyone wanted to pretend it was: idyllic countryside, a bit of industry in small towns and none of the coal-burning dark satanic mills or sweatshops of the smog-ridden big cities. Viability isn't anywhere on the radar of that fantasy!
From a modern perspective, no, of course the Sodor operation isn't viable, and nor is the whole isle of Sodor. But who cares when you can play with talking trains? ;)
@@atraindriver A Light railway and skyscrapers with barges in the docks ?
Great video Jago! Loved this idea and I remember you mentioning it in a older video! Really enjoyed this one!
Yeah, its an interesting one. Many people will die on the hill that he's "meant to be" an E2 Class, even though most illustrations and the TV models are generally thought to look more like the Jinty. Though personally, I always thought he looked more like the SECR P Class. I guess the best answer is probably just that he's whichever 0-6-0 you prefer to think of him as.
This is the video a lot of us have been waiting for...and we were not disappointed! So how about some more "Thomas" related videos, Jago? PS ..thanks for the video of the run out of Victoria and showing Battersea Power Station station station etc...almost makes me homesick!
I believe the lore says Thomas had an accident so was given a flat rear running plate and taller rear bufferbeam, but Thomas also has 5'3 wheels hence the splasher non-standard for E1s, which the modified Hornby E1 replicates.
An aside,the person for whom the Jazz Services on the GER,got started was a Mr. Thornton,later knighted,if I remember the tale,correctly! He later went to the Canadian National! The New York connection was his original playground was the Long Island Railroad! Anyway,my small contribution,thank you Jago!! Thank you 😇 😊!!
Lovely video indeed! I love watching and listening to your offerings. This one is singularly delightful and good fun. All of my children loved Thomas and friends on PBS and I grew to love them also. Thank you for doing this one. I smiled all the way through.🙂 Cheers!👍❤️
I was wondering what you would call your supporters this time, and I was not only not disappointed, this really made me smile. Keep being cool, Jago!
There may be more to your J69 is Thomas-ish than you think, Jago. I had a relative who, after the end of WWII, started work with LNER at Stratford. His logbook states that J69 no. 53 (I think; hard to read 70yo writing) was known as Blue - painted a light blue colour which made it's way up to Lowestoft & Gt Yarmouth on the regional Ipswich - Coastal route. My mother; who lived by the line in a gatekeepers cottage remembers seeing a "sky-blue Puffing-Billy" around 1950ish too. Apparently there was a pink-purple J69 too...
Blue pigments could be quite unstable.
This video is gonna get numbers lol
You never cease to amaze me firstly with how much I did,nt know I did,nt know about railways in general but also by how much of that knowledge I actually did want to know without knowing it .
The photograph at the 5 minute 17sec mark is Harrigay West, which is between Hornsey and Finsburk Park, happy days train spotting there in 1959.
The J50s were sheded at Hornsey shed 34B.
I like this video it would be nice to see a few more on fictional trains and there real life inspirations, like the mugen train from demon slayer or the hogwarts express
Victoria from the Northwest Frontier movie
Oh, does this bring back memories of the late 80s and early 90s when my son was just a youngster. How he loved watching Thomas on TV. I even bought him a few Lionel Thomas the Tank Engine train sets. Thanks for the memories.
Love videos like this and the ones where you try to make sense of fictional tube stations
You should definitely do more on incidents in the Thomas stories that were inspired by real events, such as James spinning out of control on the turntable or Henry's accident with The Flying Kipper
You've done it now. Eagerly awaiting the videos about Gordon the big engine, James the red engine, Toby the tram engine, etc. etc. Thank you for a wonderful video. You are a really useful TH-camr.
Interesting explanation about Thomas. I actually have no idea if the show is still running.
Classic decent Thomas ended years ago…eventually Mattel bought the rights and ruined it.
Mattel recently rebooted it into “All Engines Go” which abandons the later CGI animation (which I maintain still looked decent) for a 2D style that resembles Peppa Pig.
The model filming was swapped for CGI in Season 13 (2009), whereupon the show continued until Season 24 in 2021. Whilst All Engines Go (…) was thought to he Season 25, it later emerged that it was a seperate entity. Which was good as AEG is completely divorced from what came before.
My first exposure to these stories was the 7" Delysé records, where Johnny Morris reads the stories. I've still got a couple of them somewhere.
Same here, but we had a few of the Railway series books as well. The key thing with Johnny Morris was that he narated rather than read the books, gave the engines appropriate voices and brought them to life. I now read the books to my granddaughters with the characters created by Johnny Morris. Compared with the later Britt Alcroft version, Johnny's had better pictures!
I loved those Johnny Morris narrations. I can still hear him as Terence the Tractor, going "pigada-pogada pigada-pogada"!
My mother overheard me watching this and for once took an interest in what I was watching. We really enjoyed your video. You should make more on Thomas and the Railway series, maybe even on identification of all the other engines, for example Toby.
When they finally name the overground lines I fully support naming the Enfield line the Jazz Line!
I always loved the original books' drawing that bookended the editions when I was a kid, in sixties. It was a yellow stained ink drawing of trains in a station. I can't find those editions anywhere.... probably snapped up by collectors. 😟
As a small child in the sixties, I once saw a rusty tank engine, close up, in St Pancras Station. Amazing, but terrifying for me at the time, because I was quite small for my age at the time.
One question though what kind of engine, was Ivor The Engine? 😁
I think I still have some with the endpapers etc.
@@highpath4776 Lucky you.
@@julianaylor4351 Old Me !
This is a better headcanon than my one, so I'll be keeping it in mind! That's why you need a proper train enthusiast for these things.
Here are some videos that dive into the history of the first two illustrator and how they came to illustrate The Railway Series
William Middleton - th-cam.com/video/4lP-YlGbWoM/w-d-xo.html
Reginald Payne - th-cam.com/video/zLPuLbCymx4/w-d-xo.html
Poor Payne died relatively young, and shortly before that, couldn't continue illustrating after TTTE due to suffering a nervous breakdown (most likely triggered by his time serving in the war)
I was _certain_ it would be "You are the useful engine to my island railway"
Note that the Rev Awdry named an engine on the Nene Valley Railway Thomas.
It is the Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T engine No. 1800.
Excellent video, aa always.
Just glad that Sodor was far enough north, to be off the radar to a certain Charles Tyson Xerxes, or the tales maybe would have had MUCH different directions, ethics and endings. Lol.
I am not so sure , reading some of the created back history of the lines. The Furness Railway was promoted by the Duke of Buccoleth (?) paralleling Duke in the Sodor series for example
Ah yes, Charles Tyson Xerxes, known for his obsessive pursuit of unifying all the underground railways of the ancient Peloponnese, over the dead body of King Leonidas of Sparta and his 299 friends. :)
@@ZGryphon That's the chappie. Lol
@@highpath4776 Oh right. So there might be some 'track' record, literally. Lol.
That was brilliant, loved it.
Definitely an opportunity for you to do a video on troublesome trucks.
Greetings Jago, firstly can I say I really enjoy your videos, I find myself listening to a playlist of your videos while drawing or something, Mainly about the railways as I have a huge interest in railway history and of course I'm a huge fan of Thomas the tank engine and really enjoyed your take on him if I have some modelling talent in me I would make a Thomas based on your video ^^ I hope you do more Thomas based videos! I find it really interesting and you have a good story telling narration XD
This is awesome. When you asked why nobdoy asked Thomas how he got to the Isle of Sodor it made me laugh out loud and wake my daughter up.
"You are the Annie to my Clarabel"
We definitely need an older bloke like you to dig into the lore of Thomas
This is a great video covering the genealogy of Thomas The Tank Engine. Something toy could cover when heritage railways like the GCR has a Thomas day.
As a sixty year old Awdry reader I thoroughly enjoyed this Jago diversion. More please. Toby makes a good tale. What type of engine is Percy? Is Duck a GWR class 57## ?
Percy's basis is a can of worms. Awdry got into multiple arguments with illustrators over their portrayals and to my knowledge he didn't specify which class was the basis.
Like with Thomas, there are several different saddle tank designs which are close, but nothing exact. I think the popular choice is the RS&H locomotive Ajax, based at the Chatham Dockyard.
I know very little about Thomas the tank engine but it was so interesting to learn something about tank engines.
My theory about NWR No. 1 'Thomas' is that, like No. 2 'Edward', it was initially on loan from the neighbouring Furness Railway across the Walney Channel from Sodor in Barrow, being an FR G5 060-tank engine, which bears stunning resemblance to the illustrations, barring lack of extended sidetanks or dipped runningboard.
Perhaps the side tanks were added following No. 1's purchase by the director of the North Western, or upon their transfer to the Ffarquahar branchline. Perhaps it was the presence of the extended sidetanks which granted the G5 the passing resemblance of an E2 that made Dalby depict the character Thomas as such, dipped running board and all, a fictitious issue that would be retconned through Thomas crashing into the stationmaster's house.
There is another model tank engine (southern?) in metal by Budgie - had British Railways in a Green livery and no name in Red (LT implied). Designed as a push along they could be motorised and used on 3 rail dublo or trix systems
"The Forest of Boland Light Railway " (pp 1955) by BB is also highly recommended.
As a side note, I like your shot going over the Grosvenor Bridge at the end. Despite it apparently being the busiest railway bridge in the world, I have never been over it myself. Interesting to see what the separate individual spans look like from above.
Thank you as always.
My childhood hero explained. With more conversation fodder for those impromptu debates around the model rail group.
The second I saw Liverpool Street I IMMEDIATELY knew where you were going with this. The first two incidents were definitely familiar, but I did not know about the last two despite knowing their... "adaptations" like the back of my hand. Crews really refined an intensive steam commuter service, but that intensity also comes with quite a bit of risks
Here in the US. I know of Thomas the Tank Engine thanks to the PBS kids show, Shining Time Station. Fond memories of that tv show.
opening a video on Railway Series prototypes with a shot of Trojan was a subtle touch. I see what you did there
Your videos are always interesting, but this one was pure delight!
Ever since my eyes fell on one of the early little books in a well-known bookstore, as a child, I have loved these stories. I still like trains - modern (incuding the London tube) and heritage lines - so any more links between fact and fiction would be greatly appreciated. And, yes, there were a lot more engines than Thomas. One of my daughters loved James the red engine.
Jago does Thomas - I wondered how long you were going to take to get on to it, the series is more than a little iconic. And yeah, I'm of that vintage that to me, Thomas needs to come with a Ringo voiceover, sad really *hums theme tune in my head*...
To be honest, if you raise the boiler of J69 up a bit, change the tank to the LBSC E2 extened style, and add in a side window to the cap, it's pretty spot on to what Thomas would look like. (If anyone out there has the photoshop skills to make this happend, good luck!)
Excellent! More like this please!
If you want more of this type of thing, you probably aware of a channel called the unlucky tug. Or is it you want laddo here to go more into this type of thing
@@petebennett3733 I think Chris Green has done a few on poss prototypes and similar
I have been into Thomas and Friends since childhood. I have a book of the original stories which my grandmother bought for me as a child, which I still have to this day. And on the series, Ringo Starr's narration cannot be beat...
Interesting Insights. Personally, since Sir Topham Hatt was always looking for deals on new locos, he may have been assembled from spares at Brighton Works, and sent on his way to Sodor!
As always, a great video.
The exceptional nerdity, coupled with attempting to find logic where there is none, is why I'm here, congratulations on a video very well made 👏👏👏
Can I put a bid in for the backstory of the locomotive of the Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited please? And explain how all people involved with said railway speak with broad South Wales accents, despite being based in the top left-hand corner of Wales, which is famously NOT South Wales.