Thomas the Train: Anniversary of a Legend


For those of us who grew up hearing the stories and reading the books, Thomas the Train is a living legend. On 2005, Thomas and, of course, his friends celebrated their sixtieth birthday. Back in 1945, in England, the Anglican reverend Wilbert Awdry started the Railway Series by writing the first book. From that moment on, an entire generation of children has learned to love the beautiful adventures lived by Thomas the Train and his group of human-faced friends.

When he was a little boy in Box, Wiltshire, in his father's vicarage (his father was also a clergyman), Wilbert Awdry dedicated his nights listening to the sounds made by the trains of the Great Western Railway running along the main line. This main line went between Paddington to Bristol, and passed near Vere Awdry's (Wilbert