Thomas is a tank engine. In fiction he lives on the Island of Sodor, off the coast of the
Isle of Man in the UK, but in non-fiction the last LBSCR E2 class that Thomas is based on
was scrapped in the 60s, so it’s probably for the better that he isn’t real because that wouldn’t be
an easy conversation. And yet, here is Thomas in our world, and here, and here, and here.
And wherever you find Thomas, you’ll find Thomas fans young and old, prancing around waving their
misleading guard’s flags and precariously balancing their models on the footplate
of locos. After nearly 75 years since Rev Awdry first introduced the famous engines to the world,
have those who grew up with The Railway Series and Thomas the Tank Engine made an impact on the
railways of today? Who knows, I didn’t ask anyone, but stay around and I’ll natter on about what I
think and I’d like to get the conversation going about what you think in the comments.
In railway preservation there’s often a prejudice that Thomas fans aren’t
as serious as those who have always appreciated locomotives as machines first, not as characters.
It’s a fair comment because often the interest comes from a generational legacy,
a hobby passed down from grandparents and parents,
whereas for others it comes from watching some smiling toy-looking characters on the TV.
Knowledge of the mechanics and history of the real things isn’t necessarily going to be appealing.
I also grew up watching Thunderbirds, but I don’t have any of the courage or skill needed
to become a firefighter or paramedic to help people. Please don’t have an emergency near me.
You do learn general knowledge about how railways operate from the stories. Any Thomas fan can tell
you the difference between standard and narrow gauge, the importance of brake vans or the role of
a signaller, but that alone isn’t enough practical knowledge to last them more than 10 minutes in
an actual signal-box. If the show is anything to go by they’ll just fall asleep against the wall.
Hands-on jobs like efficiently managing a firebox may be a little unfamiliar compared
to how sugar-coated the roles appear on-screen. You can’t just chuck a few chunks of coal in,
it’s a little more complicated than that. Having said that, the stories don’t ignore
the multitude of roles involved in running a railway. Awdry wasn’t a passive author writing
about a subject for the sake of an interesting read, he was an active volunteer himself and
wrote the books from his own love for railways. The passion is clear in the detailing of how
Sodor’s railways operate and whilst he doesn’t explicitly suggest his readers should volunteer,
I’d argue that it is made very clear that behind every engine is a crew to maintain it. One gripe
is that The Railway Series plays on the idea that steam engines have human-like qualities, but the
humans themselves are always established drivers or stationmasters and the long journey to get to
that point isn’t mentioned. I’ve had people ask me how this works, because it’s easy to presume that
if you want to be a driver you just apply to be one, and you get assigned one engine to work with,
like Thomas’ driver Bob. In reality, progressing to a driver means starting at the bottom as a loco
cleaner and going through years of training. For some companies a driver may be associated
with one particular loco, but mostly they’d be assigned to whatever loco was required that day.
Personally, I don’t think any of this matters as it can all be taught
by experienced and patient volunteers who have been through the process themselves.
Heritage railways certainly need and welcome more volunteers, but whether new members are
committed to learn is down to how much they want to help and how interested they are. This is where
Awdry’s personal passion for railways is vital because it’s directly passed on through his work.
It gets regular children and adults interested in trains in a very true-to-life way.
Sometimes this will just remain a passing interest, but for others it’ll stay with
them long enough to make them want to help out with the real thing and just maybe see
them through until they’re as experienced as those who didn’t grow up with Thomas at all.
Being set in the real world certainly helps as I don’t think this life-long interest
would be as easy to gain from Chuggington or All Engines Go where railway safety,
physics or realism really don’t matter. They’re just too different to the real thing, they may as
well not be called trains at all. Thomas at least shows trains acting like trains and although it’s
glorified it leaves enough imagination for a child to want to work with similar engines themselves.
That’s getting people actively involved in railways, but what about impacting the
railways themselves? In several of the books Awdry directly ruins the childhood illusion
by encouraging readers to visit the places that his books are based on. Skarloey is not real,
but a not-alive version of him is. It’s difficult to say how many people became aware of preserved
railways and visited them because of the stories, but I have an aunt who knows of Thomas but had no
idea that there were still working steam engines in the world. If that’s anything to go by,
either Thomas’ worldwide fame can be useful for publicising heritage schemes or it’s failing to
do so, I don’t know. Most of us weren’t around to see steam in commercial use, we’ve only ever known
diesels and electrics, so having a representative such as Thomas may just help to make people
discovery that steam is very much alive. Either way, if you visit any station gift shop you’ll
almost certainly find a healthy stock of Thomas products. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve
heard a parent point saying “look, there’s Henry” to any engine that’s green. Then there’s the Day
Out With Thomas events for the privileged railways that can afford the over-controlled licencing from
Mattel. You never see a quiet Day Out With Thomas because families visit time and time again to
marvel at the engines with big friendly faces. It transforms what can be an uninviting enthusiasts’
museum into a fantasy land come to life. It’s the difference between visiting a National Trust
castle and going to the Disneyland castle. I don’t think there’s a more magical way to
spark a passion in real trains than being invited into the cab and getting to pull the whistle.
Luring in the crowds through real recreations of Thomas is a winner, but big gala weekends do the
same thing, so what else? Well, I do think the personification of tank engines as Thomas does
wonders for preservation directly. For instance, in the 70s Stepney was all in bits awaiting
overhaul whilst the bigger engines took priority. As it was by then a character in The Railway
Series, someone painted a face on the smokebox door and it wasn’t long before the letters came
in wishing Stepney to “get well soon.” This led to an appeal that saw Stepney steam again and
he is now synonymous wearing Stroudley’s Improved Engine green. Due to its face of fame, it’s easily
the Bluebell’s most known loco and even has its own fan club for youngsters. Like Wilbert on the
Dean Forrest Railway or River Esk, Irt and Mite on the Ravenglass and Eskdale people will pay a visit
from all over the world just to see them. I can confirm this, I’ve been there with them.
Another example is the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales. For years an envelope was left on the
tables of carriages written by the poorly loco Welsh Pony, asking for donations for it to be
restored. I have no doubt that anthropomorphising a small, named engine like Welsh Pony was a
catalyst in raising funds. At the time of recording the railway has now got envelopes
with a message by Prince. Not that Prince, obviously, it might be a little too late.
It’s subjective to say whether Thomas fans contributing physically to railways
are beneficial or not. Personally I know quite a few who will without a doubt go far because they
don’t let what they’ve been taught through the stories limit what they are learning in person.
There is a constant need for the next generation of volunteers to learn how to keep the wheels
turning, and ultimately it’s not just practical roles that achieve that. It’s indisputable that
Awdry’s characters have attracted countless numbers of visitors to heritage railways,
even if they do have to put up with creepy fibreglass faces and screaming children
from time to time. If it helps to pay for the future of preservation then I think it’s better
to recreate the characters from Thomas than from franchises with a less direct railway connection.
But who cares what I think, what do you think? Are you a Thomas fan or know someone who is
that works or volunteers out in the world of railways? Could they be suitable to carry on
the torch from the current preservationists, or does Thomas just detract from the vision
that is dreamed of by preserved railways? Share your thoughts in the comments.
If you didn’t really know that you could volunteer on working pieces of history, then maybe pop down
to your local heritage railway and ask about what you could do. It’s a hugely rewarding hobby
and even for the most shy is well worth it for the people you meet and experiences you have.