RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted July 4, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 4, 2011 Nice to see this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13872542 Seems to be reasonably written too, for once Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corax67 Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 That is a lovely article, thanks for the link. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Metr0Land Posted July 4, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 4, 2011 I think the Isle of Man was one of the places he holidayed in his youth? If you go to the IoM I recall one of the churches in Douglas showing on the board outside that it belongs to the Bishopric of Man and Sodor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted July 4, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 4, 2011 I think the Isle of Man was one of the places he holidayed in his youth? If you go to the IoM I recall one of the churches in Douglas showing on the board outside that it belongs to the Bishopric of Man and Sodor. Actually The Diocese of Sodor and Man - with a very long history of course. There is some interesting stuff here about the likely derivation of the word 'Sodor' but I suspect an no longer entirely clear group of 'south islands' would have suited the Revd Awdry's purpose quite well http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/parishes/diocese/diocese.htm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivercider Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 I don't have the book 'The Island of Sodor: It's people history and railways' published in 1987 by WV and his brother George, but there is a wealth of info on Sodor in 'The Thomas the Tank Engine Man' by Brian Sibley 1995. It looks like the first map he drew was to illustrate the race between Thomas and Bertie, he then decided to map the whole of the Island, partly to make sure there were no continuity errors in his stories as his young readers would quickly spot if something was out of place. cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
number6 Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 I've had this map of Sodor for many years. But it never really fitted a map of the island I had in my head when I was a kid. On the back cover it has a credit: Designed by Peter Edwards. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted July 4, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 4, 2011 I also still have a copy of the map in my bookcase.... Having seen a few of the computer generated TV series recently it appears there is a tunnel access to another island called Misty Island inhabited by US style logging locos - no sign of that on my map! I'm sure Christopher Awdrey's stories still bear some resemblance to "real" railway operations - unlike the TV shows. I was interested to see the cover of the new book on the Egmont publishing site - it appears the Fat Controller has an IC125 set now! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class29returns Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Between England and the IOM then,how did they manage to get a Scottish castle then? An earlier invasion of Celt,s Pict,s and Class 26,s ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed-farms Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 it appears the Fat Controller has an IC125 set now! Pip and Emma, first appeared in book 31 - Gordon the High Speed engine. Think they have appeared in another book too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 I thought it was an extremely well written article, and referred to preservationists like the Talyllyn. Either someone had done their homework, or an enthusiast had written it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JohnR Posted July 4, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 4, 2011 Can you still get the traditional railway series books? All that seem to be available these days are the cheap stories based ont he tv series with loads of unrealistic engines and unbelievable stories. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torn-on-the-platform Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Pip and Emma also appeared in No.39. The front cover of the new book is very similar to that of No.39! In fact, the engines are all in the same positions! *As far as I remember, Pip and Emma are visitors rather than permanent members of the fleet Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicester Thumper Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 I'm 18 and I firmly remember the reruns of all episodes upto about series 7, I have always held an interest in Thomas and sodor. the New CGI business has blown everything out of proportion, especially all the detail and links to real life that the Reverend Wilbert put into the series. It is a real shame. anyway I already knew that sodor was supposed to be placed between barrow and the Isle of man the map is in one of my big thomas books with all the old stories in it... just about, it is interesting and one can only imagine what it would be like if everything sodor was real, including the engines. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted July 4, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 4, 2011 Can you still get the traditional railway series books? All that seem to be available these days are the cheap stories based ont he tv series with loads of unrealistic engines and unbelievable stories. Yes if you look about you can but you might need to by a treasury style book. We bought one of these last year. These were the original stories. I don't know if the newer stories are available like this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted July 4, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 4, 2011 Christopher Awdry's collected stories were published as Thomas the Tank Engine: The New Collection. It's out of print and I found a copy in TKMaxx a few years ago, which suggests the publisher's stock was cleared out cheap. A quick google shows it very hard to find, but a US site (QBD) claims to have it. Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.A.C Martin Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Just a quick plug - one site I'm very proud to be associated with is my friend Ryan Hagan's Sodor Island Fansite. There's interviews with the crewmembers from Clearwater Studios who worked on the Thomas series, interviews from the current incumbents (Nitrogen Studios), a huge amount of behind the scenes information and photographs, and lots of up to date news and views from the "fandom". Currently Ryan and the rest of the team (including Martin Clutterbuck & Jim Gratton's superb The Real Lives of Thomas the Tank Engine) are trying to plug The Railway Series, Book 42 - it's the newest in the series, and commemorates the 100th anniversary of Wilbert Awdry in a very special way in one of the stories. I myself have ordered a few copies to give out to younger members of my extended family. It's such a shame the books which started them all don't get quite the exposure in terms of advertising that the "modern" take on Thomas does, but every little counts, and hopefully book 42 will be a roaring success - as it deserves to be, given the nature of the 100th anniversary of Wilbert Vere Awdry this year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Pip and Emma also appeared in No.39. The front cover of the new book is very similar to that of No.39! In fact, the engines are all in the same positions! *As far as I remember, Pip and Emma are visitors rather than permanent members of the fleet I'm waiting for the update where Pip and Emma are used by a customer orientated open access operator on the reinstated Sodor-London route, but unfortunately their ticket prices are undercut by a company on the "big railway" and their service becomes unviable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 I'm waiting for the update where Pip and Emma are used by a customer orientated open access operator on the reinstated Sodor-London route, but unfortunately their ticket prices are undercut by a company on the "big railway" and their service becomes unviable. Perhaps you're thinking of "Thomas, The Privatised Tank Engine" by Incledon Clark (foreword by Ian Hislop), published 1994. Complete with the Grey Controller, who bore [no pun intended] a strong resemblance to John Major. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazza 50 015 Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Does anyone know the name or whereabouts of the model railway that was used for filming the Thomas kids program? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.A.C Martin Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Does anyone know the name or whereabouts of the model railway that was used for filming the Thomas kids program? No one "model railway" existed. It was a series of sets which were built, dismantled, and rebuilt as and when they required on the Shepperton studios set. There's a permanent exhibition of many of the buildings and models used in the series at Drayton Manor, but that's about it I am afraid. If you go to my friend Ryan's site, The Sodor Island Fansite, you will be able to find out more about how they filmed the series right up to date with the latest CGI specials and episodes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted July 9, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 9, 2011 Back in the 60's when the Model Railway Club held their exhibition at the Central Hall Westminster I remember the Rev. Awdry himself displaying his own 'Island of Sodor' layout one year. However I am unable to remember whether or not it featured 'Thomas the Tank Engine'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.A.C Martin Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Back in the 60's when the Model Railway Club held their exhibition at the Central Hall Westminster I remember the Rev. Awdry himself displaying his own 'Island of Sodor' layout one year. However I am unable to remember whether or not it featured 'Thomas the Tank Engine'. It depends which one you are talking about. The Tidmouth - Knapford layout, or the various Ffarquhar incarnations. Thomas certainly did feature several times on all of the Reverend's layouts, bar his narrow gauge Mid Sodor Railway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Back in the 60's when the Model Railway Club held their exhibition at the Central Hall Westminster I remember the Rev. Awdry himself displaying his own 'Island of Sodor' layout one year. However I am unable to remember whether or not it featured 'Thomas the Tank Engine'. Yes, indeed. IIRC it was in the early 'seventies - 1972 or 1973 perhaps. The name "Ffarquhar" also seems to ring a bell. Somewhere I have an exhibition catalogue (if I can find it). Like you, I have very little recollection other than of a very old Vicar (except he was in his early sixties), a smallish layout and quite a deep crowd in front of it - and that long before his stories were adapted for TV. Not having been brought up on Thomas (and friends), I probably wasn't that interested - I was far more into serious prototype modelling in those (teenage) days! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted July 10, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 10, 2011 The name 'Ffarquhar' also rings a bell. It was most certainly in the mid to late 60's for me as I used to work in London and I only had to use my season ticket to reach the venue at no extra cost. (After 1970 I worked outside of central London.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptic Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Thomas & Friends made the 'Big Time', ok,.. but,.. whatever happened to Sammy the Shunter..??. Time for a seperate thread...maybe ?. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.