This book concerns the further adventures of Thomas on his branch line, with the bigger engines relegated to cameo appearances. Awdry often said that this was his least favourite book, as it had been written in a hurry to meet a deadline rather than purely from inspiration.This was the first volume to be illustrated by C.This is because, like most railways in Great Britain, this railway had just been nationalised and was now part of British Railways. The Fat 'Director' is renamed the Fat "Controller" in this book.Unfortunately, he is rather careless, and gets into a lot of trouble (in James and the Bootlace, James is grumpy after being threatened with blue paint and having to fetch his own coaches), but by making some troublesome trucks behave and by pulling the Express very well, he proves himself later. James has recently been repainted bright red and given the proper brakes for his wheels, and is eager to show off. This was the first book to include a foreword, a feature that would appear in every subsequent book in the Series.One noticeable change was the fifth illustration of Thomas and Gordon, where Thomas pulls the coaches in backwards when originally painted he was pulling them in forwards. The original artist was actually Reginald Payne Dalby simply made some further touches to the illustrations in 1950. Reginald Dalby is often erroneously identified as the illustrator. He is also established as the sole director of the railway, rather than one of several. The Fat Controller makes his return in this book, and is changed from a pompous figure of fun to a more fatherly character.The big station is not identified but it is most likely Vicarstown.First appearances of Thomas, James, and Thomas's coaches Annie and Clarabel (who are not named yet until on the fourth issue "Tank Engine Thomas Again", also mentioned in the first chapter "Thomas and the Guard").However, after showing that he can be a useful engine following James' accident with some trucks, he is rewarded with his own branch line and his two coaches named Annie and Clarabel. Thomas is a tank engine who works at a big train station, fetching coaches for the big engines and longs for greater things beyond the station yard. Illustrated by Reginald Payne, later modified by C. Reginald Dalby made new illustrations to replace Middleton's illustrations (but not just replacing) but as Dalby's own illustration versions, and it is this version that remains in print. However, Awdry was unhappy with the toy-like depictions of his characters and several errors in the artwork. The stories were originally illustrated by William Middleton. Edward, Gordon and Henry was written at the insistence of the publishers, Edmund Ward & Co, to bring the three characters together and to create a happy ending.
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