Future of the Railway Series

I always liked the idea behind the Peel Godred Electric Railway. Having it being mentioned in the "Thomas and Friends" book by Henry was very appealing, and even one of their engines passing Gordon in "Gordon's Fire Service!"

It would have been really nice to read stories that could have been made of the characters from that particular railway system, and its history. I still could understand a danger of an idea like that being redundant or repetitive, like parallels between the stories of the narrow gauge lines and that of the older classic stories. I'm sure it could have opened up an opportunity for some original concepts and ideas to write for an idea like the electric line to unfold in a book, including how some of the characters from the main line might have interacted with them.

Trust me, I have friends who work with electric locomotives and there are PLENTY of ideas and inspiration for stories.

@ SwitchMonkey, That's pretty cool! One thing I loved about the Railway Series was the inclusion of incidents and events inspired by real-life scenarios.

Imagine the experience for one of the main line steam engines having to travel under catenary wires for the first time to deliver a special, or even one of the electric locomotives braking down and it needed to be taken to the works by a steam engine... I'd love to see that unfold in a episode for the CGI series!

@Vision Scale: I think that's something everyone appreciates about the series. Many parents, however, don't know this is the case!

SkarloeyRailway wrote:@Vision Scale: I think that's something everyone appreciates about the series. Many parents, however, don't know this is the case!

My family was discussing this the other day. I was sharing my RWS Complete Collection book (and telling everyone about certain spoilers ) and I reminded everyone how Dad used to say "that couldn't happen in real life! Someone would've been hurt; or killed!" to just about every major (Awdry-written) crash in the TV series. It's kinda funny now that I know that those accidents were inspired by real events.

SkarloeyRailway wrote:
Christopher is done, according to one of his representatives. Someone from SiF spoke to this person at (I think) the Tale of the Brave premiere.

Richard on the other hand... I don't think he'll ever write for the series. He's never expressed an interest and he's got a career as a musician I believe.

I think it was Melad Morishi (Creator of the Roll Along Thomas blog) as he said he talked to Awdry's agent at the TOTB premiere. I remember reading about it, yeah.

Surprising that Richard is a musician! Never knew that. I thought he was a railway worker or something . Although, If you think about it, C.Awdry was working for the Inland Revenue at the time and he never expressed an interest in writing for Thomas until he decided to give it a try. So what's to stop Richard taking up the reins later like his father did?

zem2point0 wrote:

SkarloeyRailway wrote:@Vision Scale: I think that's something everyone appreciates about the series. Many parents, however, don't know this is the case!

My family was discussing this the other day. I was sharing my RWS Complete Collection book (and telling everyone about certain spoilers ) and I reminded everyone how Dad used to say "that couldn't happen in real life! Someone would've been hurt; or killed!" to just about every major (Awdry-written) crash in the TV series. It's kinda funny now that I know that those accidents were inspired by real events.

That's funny! It can feel like that for some readers, or someone looking into it from the outside, who might read too much into it, or even worse, take it out of context for that matter! But there are some very sweet moments of humor in the books. You feel that when you see the chemistry between the characters play out over the course of the stories, and going even deeper, the craft of writing them is so pure and genuine. Put together, not only do I believe that humor was achieved in a way that made sense, if there is anyone who could show something goofy or funny that is accurate to real-life scenarios on the railway, it's the Rev. W. Awdry, being a railway man himself!

I think we can never really escape the truth behind human limitations. Whether I'm making one of my scratch-built scale models, or watching one of the newer episodes from the Thomas show to see that they're staying true to the vision of the reverend, I think about that a lot. All you can do is the very best you possibly can in everything you do. That's pure honesty, and I know from experience as an artist that when you accept that, greatness can come out of you more naturally, without even trying! Our example being writing or producing the art behind the Thomas show or the original books. That's why I feel the studio is getting better and better as they're linking the Legacy behind the Railway Series more into their newer material.

No kidding, it's pretty awesome!

Y'know what I think? Why does the RWS have to be written be an Awdry? With there blessing, I think it'd be cool to see some of SiF's Extended railway series books become official. Of course, there would be a huge number of roadblocks, but who knows...

I totally disagree with you there. I think that the tredition of having the series in the family is so strong, it'd be very very weird to have it written by someone else. Let's leave that to the TVS.

Okay then. I sorta see what you mean. It HAS happened with other book series, but I can see the want to keep it in family.

What if it was by a family friend, like a descendant of the Rev. Teddy Boston?

That could be interesting, but I'd still like it to be kept in the family.

As far as I can remember on my trip to the Beer Heights Light Railway one time in July 2011, Christopher confirmed that Thomas & His Friends is the last book he had ever wrote so far.

I'm perfectly content with where the RWS leaves off. I feel that the publishers "MORE TAMAS!" mentality was still present as both revival books focus on Thomas primarily, the struggle Christopher had when it first ended in the mid-90's.

If anything though, I do hope that Chris decides to release "Barry the Rescue Engine" at some point as a RWS Missing Volume.

whyofbladez wrote:I'm perfectly content with where the RWS leaves off. I feel that the publishers "MORE TAMAS!" mentality was still present as both revival books focus on Thomas primarily, the struggle Christopher had when it first ended in the mid-90's.

If anything though, I do hope that Chris decides to release "Barry the Rescue Engine" at some point as a RWS Missing Volume.

Interestingly enough, Christopher wanted to keep writing after New Little Engine, but his publishers decided it wasn't marketable enough. He barely managed to get them to publish Thomas and Victoria and Thomas and His Friends, from what I understand. It'd be interesting to hear his personal thoughts on it.

Don't lose all hope. The Adventure Begins is a retelling of the First few story's, and were cleverly adapted. The Fan-site said that is the special does well a follow up is possible. And Who knows maybe they are formulating a series of specials retelling the Railway Series!

The TV Series has definitely had a 'for the older fans' mentality in recent years. I agree that if TAB sells well, Egmont might see that the Railway Series is still marketable and could revive it.

Even if Christopher Awdry isn't writing anymore, he must have books like Barry the Rescue Engine that Egmont originally rejected.

JRCS wrote:Even if Christopher Awdry isn't writing anymore, he must have books like Barry the Rescue Engine that Egmont originally rejected.

From what I understand, he's stated that he has three whole RWS books that were unpublished, Barry the Rescue Engine being the most famous.

I'd love to see these works released at some point!

NEWS: The first look on the updated edition of Brian Sibley's The Thomas the Tank Engine Man can be found here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thomas-Tank-Engine-Man-Reverend/dp/0745970273/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426785483&sr=1-1&keywords=awdry …

I've created a new thread for that news!

If the railway series does get picked up again in the future, that would be wonderful news to say the least.

If it doesn't, at least till now, it has had a fantastic run, and the stories that do exist are great

I agree that it has had a good run, but the thing is that I was only part of that run for the last book. So it feels over before it began. It is like watching a TV Show for the first time, but then discovering it is the last episode of the Season.

I hope he DOES do a new book/books, but he ending it rather well.

SkarloeyRailway wrote: Interestingly enough, Christopher wanted to keep writing after New Little Engine, but his publishers decided it wasn't marketable enough. He barely managed to get them to publish Thomas and Victoria and Thomas and His Friends, from what I understand. It'd be interesting to hear his personal thoughts on it.

That is a good point. Christopher had it in his heart to write more stories. I agree that the only way we know if the RWS will continue or not is getting Christopher's perspective, and what he wants to see for the future of both the RWS books and the Thomas franchise.

Vision Scale Modeler wrote:That is a good point. Christopher had it in his heart to write more stories. I agree that the only way we know if the RWS will continue or not is getting Christopher's perspective, and what he wants to see for the future of both the RWS books and the Thomas franchise.

On of his agents at the TOTB premier said he's officially retired. It's on the Roll Along Blog someplace for proof.