Awdry's Railway Series Wiki
Register
Advertisement
EightFamousEngines

Eight Famous Engines is the twelfth book of the Railway Series.

Foreword[]

Dear Friends,

Sir Topham Hatt's engines are now quite famous. They have been on the wireless radio and had many other adventures.

But he had another plan, too, for his engines, and this book will tell you what it was.

The Author

Stories[]

Percy Takes The Plunge[]

Percy is at the Other Railway interchange, enrapturing some tank engines about the time he braved bad weather when Henry arrives. He insists the tank engines to go away, and calls Percy silly. Percy responds by cheeking Henry about the time he stayed in a tunnel and runs off to Knapford, where he sees a board saying "Danger". Thomas tells him about the time he passed a "Danger" board, but Percy can't tell a difference and persuades the trucks to push him. They do so, but it's more than Percy wanted and he falls into the sea. After a scolding from the Fat Controller, he is "fished out" and sent to the Works.

Gordon Goes Foreign[]

When a foreign engine visits, an argument ensues between him, Gordon, and Duck over the name of London's big station. Gordon feels it is his matter to find out, but isn't allowed to pass Barrow. However, when the engine due to take the Express to London derails, Gordon jumps at the chance to take the train. The next day the Fat Controller reads in the paper that Gordon received a hero's welcome, even halting a football match as he went past! However, when he returns, Gordon is upset, having discovered that the name of the station he arrived at was St. Pancras!

Double Header[]

Gordon is exhausted from his trip to London, so James does his work, and when he sees Toby on his way to the Works, James brags to him about the importance of having the express, which Toby dismisses. When Toby later tries to get a drink, the signalman, who is new to the line, tells him he has to clear the line, and Toby struggles on. However, Toby's tank was nearly empty to begin with, and he soon runs out of water. The fireman goes back and asks James to push Toby to the Works. When they get there, some boys think Toby was helping James, who, furious, disappears in a cloud of steam.

The Fat Controller's Engines[]

Thomas arrives at Knapford to see some foreign engines arrive, and his driver tells him the Fat Controller has something planned. At Tidmouth, the Fat Controller tells his engines they are going to the mainland of England for a grand exhibition! The next day, Thomas is showing one of the foreign engines, Jinty, around when he brags of his race, and dents his front when he runs into some buffers. Luckily, he is repaired in time for the trip.

Characters[]

Trivia[]

  • This book's working title was "The Fat Controller's Engines".
  • The Reverend W. Awdry considered making this the final book in the Railway Series, but was persuaded otherwise by his publishers.
  • The republished version of this book is called Eight Famous Engines.
  • This was the first book to be illustrated by John T. Kenney.
  • Though the mainland engines that came to take the places of Thomas and the others in the final story are not all specified, it is very likely they would have been chosen to match the capabilities of their respective Sodor counterparts, and were LMS engines.
  • Gordon Goes Foreign is the first Railway Series story not to be adapted into a television series episode. It was later revealed to SiF by art director Bob-Gauld Galliers that the story was indeed planned to be filmed, but was cut for being too high in budget.

Goofs[]

  • In the fourth illustration of "Double Header", Toby has purple sideplates.
  • In the second illustration of "The Fat Controller's Engines", Jinty and Pug appear to be faceless. Also, Pug has round buffers when all the engines of his class had square buffers.
  • Percy and Toby were placed on flatbeds and coupled behind Edward for the journey to England, but the second to last illustration shows them coupled behind James.
  • In the third illustration of the "The Fat Controller's Engines", James has a red roof.
  • In the second illustration of "Gordon Goes Foreign", the lettering on Duck's tank is missing.
Advertisement