As a result, Christopher Awdry was unable to publish The Railway Series without the permission of the copyright holder, and the series were suspended. On 25 April, 1998, Reed International sold their children's books division to Egmont UK and the copyright of The Railway Series to The Britt Allcroft Company for £13.5 million. Heinemann was acquired by Reed Children's Books in 1987, but the Heinemann imprint was used from Thomas and the Twins in 1989 to New Little Engine in 1996. Kaye & Ward was acquired by William Heinemann in 1984, but the imprint was used up to Toby, Trucks and Trouble in 1988. Edmund Ward merged with Nicholas Kaye to become Kaye & Ward in 1952, but it was Small Railway Engines in 1967 that began using the new imprint. The Railway Series was published by Edmund Ward from The Three Railway Engines in 1945 to Main Line Engines in 1966. The last book Thomas and his Friends was published in 2011 to commemorate Wilbert's century, particularity in the last story Centenary. By the time Awdry stopped writing in 1972, The Railway Series numbered twenty-six books.Ĭhristopher subsequently added sixteen more books to the series, including the later two posthumous releases.
However, due to popular demand, Awdry pressed onward. Christopher would then request stories about Thomas and these stories would be published as Awdry's second and most famous book, Thomas the Tank Engine.Īfter Thomas the Tank Engine, Awdry was finished with writing any more books. Christopher christened the model engine Thomas. Instead, Awdry made a model of a tank engine from odds and ends, painted it blue and gave it to Christopher as a Christmas present. Awdry, while happy to see his book in print, was disappointed in the illustrations by William Middleton.Īfter the publication of the book, Christopher wanted a model of Gordon but this could not be done. The book was an immediate commercial success, quickly selling out its initial print run of 22,500 copies and going through two more by the end of the year. While it was hoped this would speed up publication, the book was not published until 12 May, 1945. While Awdry was annoyed at the requests, since Ward had already rejected his drawings, he agreed and wrote "Edward, Gordon and Henry". In October, Ward wrote to say that the stories would be published as one book entitled The Three Railway Engines, but that he required rough sketches for his illustrator to base his pictures on and a fourth story to finish off the book.
Her attempts to find a publisher were initially no more successful, as most were suffering paper shortages due to the Second World War, but in September 1943, Edmund Ward agreed to publish them, though refused to commit to a publication date, to Wilbert's annoyance. Barsley's attempts to find a publisher were unsuccessful, so he showed the stories to his agent, Edith Ray Gregorson, who liked them and agreed to pursue the matter further. At Margaret's insistence, Wilbert did so. Awdry was reluctant, but Margaret persisted and mentioned the stories in a letter to Wilbert's mother, Lucy, who replied that she knew the author Michael Barsley and asked that the stories be sent to her so she could forward them to him. Margaret Awdry also liked the stories and told her husband to get them published, as she felt they were better than most children's books in circulation. Christopher would constantly ask for the stories to be retold, even after he recovered and to ensure consistency between tellings, Wilbert wrote them down on the back of old church circulars. Eventually, Christopher began asking for more stories and Awdry obliged him with "Edward and Gordon" and "The Sad Story of Henry", the latter being inspired by another rhyme he was fond of. Through a series of questions and answers, the story of Edward's Day Out was created. Wilbert replied with the first to come to his head: Edward. One sad-looking engine appealed to Christopher, as it shared his mood and he asked what his name was. Wilbert subsequently drew a picture of several engines standing in a row based on the rhyme and for fun gave them faces with various expressions. Most of them eventually lost their entertainment value, but one that continually appealed to Christopher was the rhyme " Down by the Station". To prevent their son getting bored, Wilbert and his wife Margaret Awdry told him stories and nursery rhymes. In 1942, Wilbert Awdry's son Christopher had measles and was confined to bed.
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