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Fact vs. Fiction: Volume One
Written by BNSF1995
Proofread, Corrected and Compiled by Broa Island
The Railway Series books, and Thomas & Friends TV series are adored the world over. However, most of the stories and episodes are either historically inaccurate or completely fabricated either for plot convenience and/or to sell toys. In this chapter, we will detail each story and episode to uncover the truth behind them. Because of this chapter's subject matter, it will occasionally be updated with more information. With time, this might actually be the longest chapter in 'Thomas the Tank Engine: The Lost Stories'!
But, without further ado, let's begin. For Volume One, we shall be discussing the first twenty-six books of The Railway Series.
The Three Railway Engines
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Edward's Day Out/Edward Helps Out
Fiction: Edward is left in the sheds because he's old and weak, but the driver and fireman sympathize with him and take him out, leaving the bigger engines mad at being left behind.
Fact: After the main line was completed in 1916, Edward was declared surplus to requirements and mothballed. He re-entered traffic a year later after the Vicarstown Bridge was opened and goods traffic flooded the railway.
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Edward and Gordon
Fiction: Gordon is bragging about pulling the express, but when Edward is shunting Gordon comes past with a long goods train. Gordon deliberately stalls at a hill and Edward comes as a "banker".
Fact: It was Geoffrey who pulled that train, not Gordon, and his racing ahead without thanking Edward and later refusing to thank him got him sent back to the Great Central Railway.
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The Sad Story of Henry/Come Out, Henry!
Fiction: Henry stopped in a tunnel because he thought the rain would spoil his paint.
Fact: Henry was actually having mechanical issues that day, and he stopped in the Ballahoo Ridge Tunnel and feigned vanity to cover up his shortcomings.
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Edward, Gordon, and Henry/Henry to the Rescue
Fiction: Gordon is pulling the Express when he bursts his safety valve outside Henry's Tunnel. Edward tries to pull the train but cannot. The Fat Director lets Henry out of the tunnel so that he and Edward can pull the train.
Fact: Of the four stories in the book, this one followed reality the closest.
Thomas the Tank Engine
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Thomas and Gordon/Thomas Gets Tricked
Fiction: Thomas is a little blue tank engine who acts as the station pilot and takes pleasure in surprising Gordon. Gordon, furious, wonders how to pay Thomas out. Next day, Thomas is late and forgets to get uncoupled after shunting Gordon's coaches. Gordon takes Thomas on a wild high-speed journey across Sodor. Thomas later resolves to never tease Gordon again.
Fact: Like most of the book, this story took a real-life incident and skewed the facts. There was an incident where Colin was dragged along by the express, but it was Yang at the head of the train, not Gordon, and it was a complete accident that Yang spent days profusely apologizing for. Thomas was never the Knapford station pilot, having worked the Ffarquhar Branch Line since he arrived in 1916.
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Thomas' Train/A Big Day for Thomas
Fiction: Henry is ill, and Thomas is the only one available to take his train. Thomas, impatient, leaves too early and only stops when a signalman points out he is missing his coaches. Thomas goes back and is able to take the train that time but is teased by the others for a long time afterwards.
Fact: Another story where a real-life incident had its facts skewed. It was actually Adam who pulled that fateful train, and it was an error on the part of the shunter, not Adam. Following the incident, stricter coupling checks were implemented.
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Thomas and the Trucks/Trouble for Thomas
Fiction: Thomas wants to see the world, but no one takes notice until Edward offers him to pull his train the next day. Thomas is excited but careless and the trucks push him down Gordon's Hill. Thomas manages to stop in time and the Fat Director tells him to start shunting trucks at Wellsworth.
Fact: This story was a complete fabrication. Nothing said in it ever happened.
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Thomas and the Breakdown Train/Thomas Saves the Day
Fiction: Thomas is shunting when some trucks push James across the Island and into a field. Thomas comes to his rescue with the Breakdown Train and is rewarded with two coaches and his own branch line.
Fact: Kate was the one who brought the breakdown train, not Thomas. And as mentioned above, Thomas had his branch line upon his arrival.
James the Red Engine
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James and the Top-Hat
Fiction: James has recovered from his accident and now has a new coat of red paint. He starts learning how to pull passenger trains with Edward. At the platform, he accidentally showers water over the Fat Controller's new top-hat and then, afraid of the consequences, starts off suddenly. During the run, he almost forgets to drop off his passengers and to top everything off he disturbs an old lady with his hiccups after hearing about the time Edward had to help Gordon up the hill. That night, James is scared of what the Fat Controller will say.
Fact: This story follows reality pretty closely. The only difference is that Sir Topham Hatt's top hat wasn't new, but a spare.
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James and the Bootlace/James Learns a Lesson
Fiction: James is grumpy after being threatened by blue paint and having to fetch his own coaches. It takes the biscuit when no one comes near him at the platform and James is so determined to pay everyone out that he does not take care with his coaches and causes a leak in the brake-pipe. The crew determines that they need newspaper and leather bootlaces to fix it until they get home and after a great amount of persuasion, a man named Jeremiah Jobling hands his bootlaces over and the train manages to get home.
Fact: Sir Topham Hatt wasn't angry at James because it was a spare top hat he was planning to get rid of anyway. In addition, the bootlace incident wasn't the result of James roughly handling the coaches, but deferred maintenance, something Sir Topham Hatt took responsibility for.
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Troublesome Trucks/Foolish Freight Cars
Fiction: James is shut up for several days for his bad behaviour, but when the Fat Controller comes to see him, James apologises and is let out to take a goods train. The trucks play tricks on James and break away on Gordon's Hill, but James tries again and with some support from Edward, gets the train to Killdane. The Fat Controller is pleased and allows James to keep his red paint.
Fact: This story is an amalgam of various instances of breakaways on Gordon's Hill caused by the scattershot nature of goods wagons in the UK post-grouping, as actual non-faceless trucks aren't troublesome. Awdry created this story to suit the narrative of the book.
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James and the Express/A Proud Day for James
Fiction: Gordon brags that he knows the right line by "instinct" but is proven wrong when he is switched off the Main Line onto the loop. The Fat Controller asks James to take the Express and after a successful run and the promise of being allowed to take the Express, James returns to see Gordon shunting. The two become friends and Gordon refrains from teasing James about the bootlace incident.
Fact: It was actually Ruby who took the train. Ever since Gordon had come to Sodor, she and the other express engines (Yang, Emily, and Adam) had been relegated to other duties (stopping services for Adam and Emily, mixed-traffic services for Ruby and Yang), and she wanted to pull the express again, but kept it to herself. After Gordon's incident on the Loop Line (which didn't appear on Awdry's maps of Sodor and therefore was poorly defined until Sam Wilkinson's map in 2014), Ruby was put at the head, and had a happy afternoon. After the incident, Sir Topham Hatt began rotating engines on the express, these being Gordon, Henry, James, Emily, Ruby, and Yang.
Tank Engine Thomas Again
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Thomas and the Guard/Thomas and the Conductor
Fiction: Henry is late at the junction and Thomas is being impatient. As the guard goes to his van he trips on an umbrella and by the time he gets up, Thomas is long gone. Annie and Clarabel try to convince Thomas to stop, but he pays no attention until they reach a signal. The guard does not come to tell them what the matter is, but they soon find out why - he is not on the train. Luckily, he runs up a few minutes later and climbs aboard.
Fact: This incident actually occurred on the mainline, and involved a stopper pulled by Adam.
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Thomas Goes Fishing
Fiction: Thomas often sees people fishing in the river and wants to go fishing too. He gets his chance when he discovers the water tower at Elsbridge is out of order and Thomas' crew fill him up with river-water. However, Thomas experiences pains and an inspector soon discovers some fish in Thomas' tank. They fish them out and have a supper of fish and chips and the Fat Controller tells Thomas to never fish again - Thomas heartily agrees.
Fact: Most of this story is true, but Thomas never desired to go fishing, and it was his fireman's idea.
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Thomas, Terrence, and the Snow/Terence the Tractor
Fiction: Thomas meets Terence the tractor and makes fun of his caterpillar tracks. When winter comes, Thomas treats his snowplough awfully and it has to be repaired. They cannot fix it in time for his first train and Thomas, over-confident, recklessly charges at a snowdrift outside the tunnel and sticks there. He cannot get out, so a bus comes to take his passengers home and Terence pulls him and Annie and Clarabel out. Thomas apologises to Terence and returns home.
Fact: So much of this story was made up. Thomas never made fun of Terence's tracks, he never complained about his snowplough or damaged it, and never treated snow as "silly soft stuff". He takes snow as seriously as he does every other aspect of railway life (that is to say, seriously). The incident where he stuck in a snowdrift was because of a bad forecast.
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Thomas and Bertie/Thomas and Bertie's Great Race
Fiction: Bertie, the bus from the previous story, teases Thomas about being slow, so they decide to have a race. Thomas gains the lead at a level crossing, but Bertie then gets in front after Thomas has to stop to collect passengers and only stops to rub it in. Thomas gains the lead again after Bertie stops for a traffic light and although Bertie creeps in front, Thomas, with a burst of speed, rushes into Hackenbeck in style. Bertie congratulates him when he comes in and the two become friends.
Fact: Bertie tried challenging Thomas to a race, but Thomas scoffed at the notion of racing at dangerous speeds. Regardless, Bertie tried beating Thomas to Ffarquhar and ultimately lost, but Thomas didn't even notice Bertie was going ahead with the race and chewed him out for putting his passengers in danger just to prove the supposed superiority of buses, as did Bertie's owner when he heard the news.
Troublesome Engines
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Henry and the Elephant
Fiction: With Thomas gone to run his Branch Line, the bigger engines are left to fetch their own coaches, much to their disapproval. A circus comes to town, and shunting the special trucks helps cheer up Gordon and Henry, at least until James is chosen to pull the circus' train. Later, Henry is called out to clear a blockage in a tunnel on the main line, but when he goes in, the block pushes him back out! It turns out to be an elephant missing from the circus. The workmen calm the elephant by feeding it some sandwiches, cake, and lots of water, but Henry surprises it by letting off steam and gets sprayed with water. Eventually the elephant is led away, but Henry continues to grumble over being made to look silly.
Fact: Aside from the tidbit about Thomas, this story followed reality pretty closely. The TV series writers even included a bit that wasn't in the books, but did happen in real-life, namely the "So you've heard the news?" exchange, except it was actually Ruby who said this, not Percy, as the latter wasn't on Sodor yet. The tender engines having to shunt their trains was due to the previous board of directors having sold all of the tank engines except for Thomas, Kate, Glynn, and Neil (the former three stayed on Sodor, while Neil went to a steel mill in Glasgow and is now part of the Vicarstown Railway Museum as its primary demonstration engine).
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Tenders and Turntables
Fiction: Gordon is in a bad mood and when he goes to be turned around for his next train he unbalances the turntable and has to take the train backwards, leading to passengers laughing at him. Thomas and James tease him too, but later, James is spun around by the wind on the turntable, making him dizzy. The big engines, with their recent embarrassments combined with their anger over having to fetch their own coaches, have had enough and make a plan.
Fact: Again, this story follows reality pretty closely.
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Trouble in the Shed
Fiction: The big engines refuse to get their coaches and so Edward is brought in to shunt for them. However, poor Edward is met with hostility and so the Fat Controller buys a saddle-tank engine, which he christens Percy. The big engines still refuse to shunt and fetch their coaches, so the Fat Controller shuts them up in the sheds and brings Thomas to work with Edward on the main line while Percy runs Thomas' Branch Line.
Fact: SOOOOOO much had to be omitted from this story. As there were more tender engines on Sodor besides Gordon, Henry, James, and Edward, the strike eventually devolved into civil war, the nadir being James shoving Ruby off the rails at the yard at Maron while she was shunting (and calling her something so unspeakable I can't repeat it here without getting in trouble), then t-boning Thomas at Knapford while he was departing with Annie and Clarabel just because he refused to shunt James' coaches, seriously injuring his crew and also injuring some of the passengers, as well as causing delays on the mainline. Gordon and Henry were involved in similar incidents with Alec and Johnny that day, but these were minor derailments compared to the severe disruption James caused. Not only were Gordon and Henry shocking that James physically bullied Ruby (they had agreed not to get physical with the female engines), they were even more shocked that he would use such language, at which point all three got an earful from Yang. All this happened while Sir Topham Hatt was off the island at a used engine dealership, where he purchased Percy and a pair of Southern Railway SL multiple units for the then-under construction Peel Godred Branch Line. Upon his return, Sir Topham Hatt took immediate action, and Gordon, James and Henry were shunted for the full 30-days for assault and battery, having to be locally confined due to overcrowding at Rail Gate. During their sentence, Thomas and Edward worked local and limited-stop passenger services on the mainline, Ruby and Yang handled express services, Percy worked the Ffarquhar Branch Line, Kate and the Red Engines were assigned to handle the most bountiful harvest on Sodor since 1909, and Glynn remained on the Ulfstead Branch Line. As you can see, Awdry had to gloss over a lot of reality.
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Percy Runs Away
Fiction: After several days in the sheds for being naughty, the big engines finally see sense and agree to get their coaches ready, so the Fat Controller lets Thomas, Edward and Percy play on the branch line. Thomas takes Annie and Clarabel for a run and Edward takes some trucks to the quarry, leaving Percy alone. He strays onto the points, and Gordon scares him when he rushes into the junction. Percy flees, and eventually, exhausted, runs in a sandbank. Gordon later commends him for preventing an accident and Percy becomes the brand-new station pilot at Tidmouth.
Fact: This story is a complete fabrication, as the actual aftermath of the "civil war" wouldn't pass muster with Egmont. For one, Gordon and Henry were given parole after 17 days for good behaviour but were limited solely to goods work. James served the full 30 days, then was limited to maintenance duties and helping to build the Peel Godred Branch Line (he ultimately didn't mind the latter, as it gave him the chance to see a part of Sodor no other engine on the railway had seen before). None of them would resume their regular duties until 1935. The aftermath was glossed over because of how tense the atmosphere on the railway was, culminating in Ruby cussing James out for what he did to her.
Henry the Green Engine
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Coal/Henry's Special Coal
Fiction: Henry is feeling ill and is having trouble making steam. The Fat Controller fears that he will have to be replaced if they cannot find a cure. Henry's fireman tells the Fat Controller that Henry's firebox is too small and cannot make enough steam. The Fat Controller arranges for some Welsh coal to be brought for Henry and as soon as he begins using it, Henry feels better.
Fact: This was brought on by budget cuts stemming from the Great Depression. The board had elected to cut costs by importing lower-grade coal. The other engines could cope, but Henry, who had been built using stolen plans for a rejected Gresley design, had a firebox that was too small and couldn't make enough heat using such coal. The Welsh Coal was meant to be a temporary solution (as it was very expensive due to the supply effectively being controlled by the Great Western Railway) while the board looked for a replacement, in this case an LNER Class C2 named Klondike. None of the engines liked him because he was rude, condescending, even sexist, believing female engines should be used for shunting and nothing else, a sort of "stay in the kitchen" mentality.
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The Flying Kipper
Fiction: Fishing boats often dock at Tidmouth and send their fish to be sold on a train dubbed The Flying Kipper. It is Henry's turn to take it. Henry makes good time, but an incorrect signal caused by snow forcing it down and frozen points set him on collision course with a goods train. After the crash, Henry is sent away to the works at Crewe and comes back better than ever before, rebuilt in a fresh new shape and no longer needing Welsh coal.
Fact: In truth, Klondike had tricked the signalman into setting the points for his siding, seeking to get rid of Henry and become the new #3. Klondike's crew was killed in the crash, while Henry's driver and fireman jumped clear, their fall cushioned by the snow. Amusingly, the concept of sabotage and fatalities was depicted in the infamous YouTube video Shed 17, only in that instance, Sir Topham Hatt had sabotaged the points because Henry knew too much about Shed 17, Henry's crew froze to death in the snow, and the train consisted of oil tankers and occurred in the winter of 1983 instead of 1935. It is true that Henry was sent to Crewe for a rebuild, the specifics of which are still hotly debated to this very day. As for Klondike, he ran his mouth off while trying to lord over Ruby, and was sent back to the LNER in disgrace, where he was given the Final Firing and scrapped as a form of execution for murdering his crew and trying to murder Henry.
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Gordon's Whistle
Fiction: Gordon is jealous that Henry got rebuilt and complains that Henry whistles too much. The next day when Henry meets Edward at his station, Gordon jams his whistle and keeps emitting a loud whine. After several catastrophes caused by the endless whistling, Gordon leaves his train and two fitters knock his whistle valve into place, but Henry does not forget the incident and teases Gordon.
Fact: This story is entirely accurate to real-life, down to air raid sirens going off and the fire brigade being called, as nobody knew if the island was under attack.
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Percy and the Trousers/A Scarf for Percy
Fiction: One cold morning, Percy complains that he wants a scarf, even when Henry tells him engines do not need scarfs. When he goes to shunt some coaches, he approaches the platform so quietly that he runs over a trolley, scattering luggage everywhere. The Fat Controller, furious, seizes his top-hat off Percy's lamp-iron and sends Percy away with a pair of his trousers coiled around his funnel. Now Percy does not like scarfs.
Fact: This story was based on an incident that happened pre-merger. It was Colin who tried playing a trick on the coaches just after the TK&E-W&S merger, as one of the non-faceless coaches had made an insensitive comment towards him. Sir Topham Hatt was not on the platform at the time, and Colin didn't get a pair of trousers wound around his funnel due to its shortness.
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Henry's Sneeze
Fiction: Henry is enjoying himself in the countryside when some silly boys drop stones on him from a bridge, breaking the coaches' windows and injuring the fireman on the head. His crew concoct a plan to get revenge and on the return run they block his smokebox so that Henry sprays smoke and ashes at the boys. Although Henry has never sneezed again, there have been no more boys with stones.
Fact: Some boys did indeed drop stones on a train, but it was Yang pulling the Limited instead of Henry pulling an undefined passenger service. Passengers were indeed injured in the incident, and at the next station, the police were called, who set up a sting operation the next time a passenger train passed, in this case a stopper pulled by Henry. The titular sneeze was a complete accident on Henry's part, and the boys were caught and dealt with, covered in soot, of course.
Toby the Tram Engine
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Toby and the Stout Gentleman/Toby the Tram Engine
Fiction: Toby is a tram engine who works a tramway with a coach named Henrietta. One day, a stout gentleman and his grandchildren notice Toby. Although Toby is offended when Bridget, the stout gentleman's granddaughter, calls him "electric", he cheers up after giving them a ride and the stout gentleman thanks Toby. The family comes for a fortnight, then leave. Months pass, and Toby's tramway closes down. But, next morning, Toby is woken with a surprise when his crew receive a letter from the stout gentleman.
Fact: The actual story is more mundane. Toby, along with Henrietta and Elsie (who was intentionally omitted because Awdry didn't want another Annie and Clarabel) were allocated to the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway. When passenger began to dwindle and was eventually withdrawn at the behest of BR in 1951, Toby found himself surplus, and was about to be transferred to the docks at Great Yarmouth while Henrietta was to be converted into a hen-house, and Elsie refitted for goods service. Instead, Toby was reallocated to Ffarquhar in the North Western Region, thanks to a stout gentleman he had met.
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Thomas in Trouble/Thomas Breaks the Rules
Fiction: Thomas is bringing some trucks down from the quarry when he surprises a policeman, who tells him he is breaking the law by going across a public road without cowcatchers and side-plates. Thomas is upset, and the Fat Controller has to leave his breakfast to talk to the policeman, who tells him he cannot change the law. A comment by Thomas makes the Fat Controller remember his holiday, and a certain tram engine. A few days later, Toby arrives to help at the quarry, and after he scares the policeman he and Thomas become friends.
Fact: The policeman was, in fact, overzealous in ticketing Thomas. The law he was trying to enforce had been repealed several years prior by the Ministry of Transport, but the policeman didn't care; he wanted to impress his sergeant by being the first person on Sodor to ticket a non-faceless vehicle. Needless to say, the sergeant wasn't amused, and the policeman was later transferred when he started ticketing parked cars due to enforcing a law that the Ffarquhar Town Council had repealed months back stating that cars can't be parked on city streets on Sunday. The book said Thomas was jealous of Toby at first before he scared the policeman, but in truth, Thomas welcomed Toby with open arms, as his arrival allowed him to focus 100% on passenger workings.
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Dirty Objects/James in a Mess
Fiction: James makes fun of Toby and Henrietta for having shabby paint. When Toby makes a snide comment about bootlaces, James huffs off to get a "slow goods" train. He bumps the trucks so badly they are determined to pay him back. As he goes over Gordon's Hill, the trucks push him down into two tar tankers standing in the yard and Toby and Percy come to his aid. The Fat Controller congratulates Toby and Percy for their work and promises Toby and Henrietta a new coat of paint.
Fact: This incident did happen, but James was at no fault, and neither were the trucks, since his entire train was made up of faceless wagons. In truth, it was a brake failure that caused it (James was about to go straight to the works, but the yardmaster told him to take a goods train on the way, stating he would tell Sir Topham Hatt he was shirking his duties otherwise). Feeling pressured, James took the train, and lo and behold, his brakes failed at the top of Gordon's Hill, and he smashed into parked tank wagons belonging to B. Roth Tar Distillers. His driver and fireman, sadly, did not survive the crash, as James had leaped off the rails (something the TV series staff was able to recreate), and the sudden stop had caused his crew to suffer head trauma; the guard was uninjured. After the crash, James went to the works for cleaning and repairs, and the yardmaster was fired and arrested for involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment.
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Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas
Fiction: Mrs. Kyndley is an old lady who lives in a cottage near the line. Although she waves to Thomas every day as he passes, she falls ill and no longer has the energy to wave. One rainy December morning, Thomas makes his way up to Ffarquhar when a dressing-gown waving from Mrs. Kyndley's window stops him. While the driver and a doctor go to see what the matter is, the fireman discovers that the gown was used to warn them about a landslide. The next day, Thomas, Toby, Henrietta, Annie, Clarabel and the Fat Controller go to the cottage to thank her. The Fat Controller offers her tickets to Bournemouth, where she recovers from her illness.
Fact: The events of this story are entirely factual.
Gordon the Big Engine
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Off the Rails/Gordon Takes a Dip
Fiction: Gordon is grumpy after being told to take a goods train and his fire is slow, so Edward takes him to the turntable. Gordon attempts to "jam" the table, but instead breaks through a fence and slides into a ditch. Edward takes the special instead and Gordon is left in the ditch until nightfall when Henry and James finally pull him out.
Fact: Most of this story was embellished. Gordon did indeed slide into a ditch, but it was because a backfiring car had startled him, not an attempt to stop the table moving to get out of pulling a special goods train. Also, the ditch was depicted as a small creek in the book, while the TV series accurately depicted it as a muddy hole; this hole had been there since an incident in 1865 in which one of the Sodor and Mainland's box tanks, #4 Sampson exploded, taking #5 Mary with him, rendering #3 Matthew a mute until 1904, and crippling Sir Richard Silas Cantebury, as well as killing 19 men. The hole was left as a visible reminder of the costs of ignoring safety procedures and common sense. As a result, Gordon was not blamed.
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Leaves/The Trouble with Mud/Trouble with Mud
Fiction: After a long tedious wash-down following his derailment in the ditch, Gordon is forbidden from pulling coaches and told to shunt trucks until he behaves, and he begins to order the trucks about. Later, he tries to warn James that the hill is slippery from leaves. James simply laughs, but soon regrets it when the coaches drag him down the hill. Gordon takes pity and helps James up again.
Fact: First of all, Gordon was never relegated to goods duties following the incident, though Sir Topham Hatt did lightly tease Gordon for getting startled by a car backfiring. Second, this story is an amalgam of various incidents involving engines slipping on leaves on Gordon's Hill over the years.
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Down the Mine
Fiction: Thomas teases Gordon for falling into a ditch and carries on even after Annie and Clarabel rebuke him. Thomas then goes to the Lead Mines to shunt trucks. Thomas concocts a plan to go past a "danger" board and falls through a weak spot in the ground. Gordon, who laughs when he finds out, comes to the rescue and on the way home, the two form an alliance.
Fact: Thomas was indeed shunting at the Toryreck Lead Mines that day, but he never tried going past the "danger" board out of cheekiness. Instead, some boys had moved the board as a prank, but didn't actually think there were any weak spots in the ground. As a result, Thomas wasn't blamed, and the boys got in serious trouble with both their parents and the police. Finally, since the rails on the Ffarquhar Branch Line were laid lighter than on the mainline, there was no way Gordon could have pulled Thomas out. Instead, it was Ruby who did so.
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Paints Pots and Queens/Thomas Meets the Queen
Fiction: Elizabeth II is coming to Sodor and Henry brags that he will be chosen to take the Royal Train, but these plans are soon put to rest when Henry disturbs a painter and a paint pot falls onto him. Meanwhile, Thomas and Gordon apologize to the Fat Controller for being silly and he allows Gordon to pull the Royal Train. On the big day, Thomas gets the coaches ready and Edward clears the line in front. The Queen meets all the engines and talks personally to Thomas, Edward and Gordon, but the latter feels proudest of all.
Fact: The queen did indeed come to Sodor in 1953, and Henry did have a paint pot fall on him. However, he wasn't bragging about being the one most likely to pull the Royal Train. Gordon was always the choice for bringing the train to Knapford. Also, Thomas didn't shunt the coaches, Percy did.
Edward the Blue Engine
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Cows/A Cow on the Line
Fiction: Edward is pulling cattle trucks when some disgruntled cows run into the train and break a coupling. Edward does not realise until he gets home, causing Gordon and Henry to laugh at him. Gordon is pulling the express the next day when he is stopped by a cow on a bridge. Henry, both crews and the passengers try to move her, but to no avail. Henry's guard goes for help and a porter brings the cow's calf to the bridge to lure her away. Edward soon finds out and makes fun of the big engines.
Fact: This story is entirely factual.
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Bertie's Chase
Fiction: Edward is running late when Thomas' train fails to arrive. Bertie arrives with Thomas' passengers - Thomas' fireman was ill - and seeing Edward has left, chases him to Crosby, but misses him there too. Bertie's driver and the stationmaster make a plan and they finally catch up with him at Wellsworth, where Bertie explains the whole story to Edward. Edward apologises and leaves with his passengers safely on board.
Fact: Again, this story is entirely factual. Edward was working on the mainline that day due to Eagle's expired boiler ticket.
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Saved from Scrap
Fiction: Edward meets a traction engine named Trevor, who is due to be scrapped next week. Edward decides to find a home for Trevor and when he sees the Vicar, he persuades him to buy Trevor. The Vicar goes to the scrapyard and after seeing Trevor prove his worth, buys him and Trevor goes to live in the Vicarage Orchard.
Fact: Once again, an entirely factual story.
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Old Iron
Fiction: James gets cross with Edward's being late and calls him "old iron". The next day, James' driver is ill and while his fireman gets a "relief", two boys wander into the cab and start James. Edward chases after him and after a long chase, an inspector manages to hook James with a length of rope and James' fireman checks his speed. The Fat Controller sends Edward to the Works as a reward, the boys are caught by the police and disciplined, and James' driver recovers in the hospital.
Fact: There were several inaccuracies with this story. First, James never complained about Edward's lateness or called him "Old Iron"; in fact, he was sympathetic of Edward's condition, blaming it on the fact Edward hadn't received proper maintenance since before World War II. Second, the term "Old Iron" was a derogatory nickname made up by Archibald. Finally, although the chase did occur, it was under less dangerous circumstances, in that a shunter's pole and a noose weren't used to "lasso" James, but instead, Edward raced ahead of James and buffered in front of him, slowing him down before an inspector jumped into James' cab at Crosby and reset his controls to neutral, allowing James to stop himself. Afterwards, Edward went to Crovan's Gate Works and received a complete overhaul, including a new shape.
Four Little Engines
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Skarloey Remembers
Fiction: Edward meets his old friend Skarloey, a narrow-gauge engine. Skarloey talks to him about his friend, Rheneas, who is being repaired on the mainland, the two new engines, Sir Handel and Peter Sam, his coaches and his work. When Edward goes to the works for repairs, Skarloey dozes off in the sunshine.
Fact: Most of this story was factual, except for a few details. Sir Handel and Peter Sam were still Falcon and Stuart, respectively, but had nameplates reading "Sir Handel" and "Peter Sam" to commemorate the two men who helped rescued the Skarloey Railway from the brink.
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Sir Handel/A Bad Day for Sir Handel
Fiction: The two new engines have arrived. Peter Sam is good natured, but Sir Handel is in a bad temper. The next morning he insults the furious coaches by calling them cattle trucks, and they get vengeance by holding back on a hill. The Thin Controller scolds Sir Handel, and he behaves until he is sent to work at the quarry one day. He purposely derails himself, and when he is put back on the rails, he is sent to the shed in disgrace.
Fact: Most of this story was made up. Falcon was never so ill-behaved, having grown out of that after the incident on the Mountain Road in 1904. He never called the Skarloey Railway's coaches "cattle trucks" since the Mid-Sodor owned several four-wheelers. The incident where he supposedly derailed himself on purpose was because of his narrow trailing wheels. Falcon's first day on the SKR was relatively uneventful, and the stories of him behaving badly actually infuriated him.
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Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady
Fiction: While Sir Handel is left in the shed, Peter Sam has to do all the work himself. One day he has so much fun getting ready that he is late, and Henry threatens that he will leave without Peter Sam's passengers if it happens again. Peter Sam is so worried that at the lake he starts off without the Refreshment Lady. She is rather miffed, but bursts out laughing when she hears Peter Sam's story, and explains that Henry was joking. Peter Sam is furious, but Henry has wisely left.
Fact: Most of this story is factual, except Stuart never had to work the line alone. He was never late getting ready, but Henry thought he was late and threatened to leave if he was. Stuart did indeed leave the refreshment lady behind, though. Finally, Stuart was offended by Henry calling him "youngster", viewing it as a crack at his size and trying to point out that he's older than him, but Henry heard nothing of it.
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Old Faithful
Fiction: It is Market Day, and Peter Sam is away for maintenance, so Sir Handel has to take the coaches. They still do not trust him and when he has to stop suddenly they are bumped, so to pay him out they derail him at the points. Skarloey offers to take the train home, but a spring breaks and Skarloey tilts. Despite this, he braves the journey home, and the Owner sends him to be mended. Sir Handel then learns a lot from Skarloey about how to handle the coaches and hopes for him to come back soon.
Fact: Stuart was away for maintenance, and Falcon did pull the first passenger service of the day. The derailment was caused by an issue that was becoming all too familiar for the SKR: his narrow trailing wheels. The rest of the story is factual, but the engine at Crovan's Gate when Skarloey returned was Ruby, not James, and she voiced concerns about Skarloey's dilapidated condition.
Percy the Small Engine
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Percy and the Signal
Fiction: After playing jokes on Gordon and James, Percy decides to stay out of their way for a while, but when he is asked to take a train to Knapford he gets careless and goes over to tell them. Seizing their chance, they tell him about "backing signals", and as he stops for the signal outside Knapford, he is convinced that he is waiting for a "backing signal". He ends up making a fool of himself, and Gordon sees the whole episode.
Fact: This story was based on a trick Gordon played on Sandra during World War II. Unlike Percy, who was embarrassed, Sandra was infuriated and tried to attack Thomas in retaliation (simply because he was the most convenient target at the time) but was banished to the sidings with Archibald before she could.
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Duck Takes Charge
Fiction: The Fat Controller is getting a new engine to help Percy, but Gordon and James tell Percy that if he worked harder they would not need one. Percy, cross, works all day and is exhausted, but is happy when the new engine, Montague, known as Duck for his "waddle", arrives. They have a happy day together, but then Henry, Gordon and James order them about. Percy and Duck, in retaliation, block the entrance to the sheds. The Fat Controller comes and tells all five engines off. Percy is sent to work at Knapford, and Duck manages the workload alone.
Fact: Duck's actual arrival on the railway was uneventful, as the big engines were just glad to still have a station pilot at Knapford.
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Percy and Harold/Percy Proves a Point
Fiction: One day at the airfield, Percy meets a noisy helicopter, Harold, who says railways are slow and out-of-date. Percy, furious, is later taking some trucks to Knapford Harbour when he sees Harold in the air and decides to race him. At the harbor, Percy thinks he has lost, but his fireman sees Harold looking for a place to land. In congratulation, his crew and the workmen sing a song about the race.
Fact: Harold was much more haughty and was the one who tried racing Percy. He ultimately lost, and Percy never even noticed, humbling Harold.
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Percy's Promise
Fiction: Thomas is busy and asks Percy to take the Vicar and his Sunday School's children home from the Beach. Percy agrees, but it starts to rain heavily as it is time to leave. Percy stops in front of a flooded paddock, but cannot go back, as a bridge has collapsed. As he crosses the paddock, water sloshes into his fire and he stops. Percy struggles on, fueled by floorboards from Clarabel. After Harold drops some supplies for them, unfortunately landing on Percy's boiler, they make it to safety, and the Fat Controller congratulates the two.
Fact: This story was an amalgam of various instances of flooding between Toryreck and Elsbridge, a problem that wasn't rectified until a flood control project was carried out in 1974.
The Eight Famous Engines
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Percy Takes the Plunge
Fiction: At Barrow-in-Furness, Percy is telling some tank engines about the time he braved bad weather when Henry arrives. Henry tells the tank engines to go away, calling Percy silly for being egotistcal. Percy responds by reminding Henry of the time he stayed in a tunnel and runs off to Knapford. There he sees a board which says "Danger". Thomas tells him to obey it, but Percy is curious and persuades the trucks to push him past the sign. They do so but push him too far and cause Percy to fall into the sea. After being scolded by the Fat Controller, Percy is "fished out" and sent to the Works.
Fact: Percy once stated he would have to be crazy to go beyond the danger board. The incident was caused by a brake failure, and Percy, as a result, wasn't blamed.
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Gordon Goes Foreign
Fiction: When a foreign engine visits, a heated argument ensues between him, Gordon, and Duck over the name of London's big station. Gordon wants to go to London to prove the station is King's Cross but is not allowed to pass Barrow. However, when the engine taking the Express to the mainland derails, Gordon jumps at the chance to take the train and the next day the Fat Controller reads in the paper that Gordon received a hero's welcome. However, when he returns, Gordon is upset, having discovered that it was St. Pancras.
Fact: This story is entirely factual. However, the story doesn't give a name to the foreign engine. His name was Reginald (a name Victor Tanzig managed to find by pouring through BR records), and was, sadly, a victim of the Steam Holocaust.
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Double Header/Time for Trouble
Fiction: Gordon is exhausted after his trip to London, so James does his work while he rests. When Toby visits him on his way to the Works, James brags to him about his importance. When Toby later tries to get a drink at Killdane, the signalman, who is new to the line, tells him he has to clear the line, forcing Toby to struggle on to Kellsthorpe Road. However, Toby's tanks have been nearly empty to begin with, and he soon runs out of water. The fireman goes back down the line and asks James to push Toby to the Works. When James and Toby arrive at the station, some boys think Toby has been helping James, who, furious, disappears in a cloud of steam.
Fact: Because of the rotational system implemented on the express after Gordon's incident on the Loop Line in 1924, James did back-to-back days on the express, which didn't go to his smokebox; he had long since grown out of that phase. Toby becoming stranded between Killdane and Kellsthorpe Road is true, but James voluntarily pushed Toby to Crovan's Gate.
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The Fat Controller's Engines/Thomas and the Special Letter
Fiction: Thomas arrives at Knapford to see some foreign engines arrive, and Percy and Toby tell him the Fat Controller has something planned. At Tidmouth, the Fat Controller tells the engines they are going to England. The next day, Thomas is showing Jinty, one of the foreign engines, around the yard while he brags about his race. In an attempt to reenact the race, Thomas runs into some buffers and damages his front. He is repaired just in time for the trip, and the engines are adored by their English spectators
Fact: Aside from Jinty and Pug, the other six engines who came to Sodor were never defined. The other engines (all non-faceless) were an SECR C Class named Megan, an SR S15 named Harrison, an LNER J39 named Allison, a GWR 4574 Class named Benjamin, a BR 4MT named Belle, and Thomas' sister Jenny, who had previously visited Sodor during World War II. Because Thomas never had the race with Bertie, he didn't try recreating the race and smash into some buffers (or, as the TV series showed, smashed through some buffers, careened down a hill, and through a brick wall); Awdry added this to create some tension.
Duck and the Diesel Engine
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Domeless Engines/Gordon and the Famous Visitor
Fiction: City of Truro, the first engine to go more than 100 miles an hour in 1904, visits Sodor and has a lengthy conversation with Duck till late at night. Gordon is jealous of City of Truro's record, claiming that he is a domeless engine and not to be trusted. Gordon later tries to equal the record, but his dome becomes loose from the speed and is blown off at the viaduct. All his passengers laugh at him, and that night, someone jokes about the event - Gordon believes it is Duck.
Fact: The actual story is more mundane. For one, Gordon wasn't jealous of City of Truro (whose real name is Montgomery, as stated by Victor Tanzig), but was, in fact, in awe of him. He did indeed lose his dome at the Hawin Ab Viaduct, but as Victor Tanzig stated, it was a loose stone from a bridge that loosened his dome, not vibrations caused by Gordon trying to break Montgomery's record.
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Pop Goes the Diesel
Fiction: The engines are tired of Duck's talk about his Great Western heritage and are happy when a visitor comes. The visitor, a diesel shunter by the name of Diesel, claims he is "revolutionary," but Duck is unimpressed and tells him to shunt some trucks. Diesel attempts to take some rusty old vans away afterwards, but their brakes are on and all Diesel does is derail them. As he cleans up, the trucks start singing a rude parody of "Pop Goes the Weasel" called Pop Goes the Diesel, much to Diesel's annoyance.
Fact: First off, Duck never boasted about his heritage. Second, only Gordon, Henry, and James are taken by Diesel (who, in another Victor Tanzig fact, is really named Bruce); Thomas, Edward, Percy, Toby, Ruby, Yang, Kate, Neville, Dennis, Molly, and Belle were all suspicious of him. And as ensuing events would show, they had every right to be! Everything else in the story, including Diesel's mishap with the trucks and the song, are factual.
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Dirty Work/Diesel's Devious Deeds/Diesel's Devilish Deeds
Fiction: The trucks continue to tease Diesel, and Diesel believes that Duck made him look silly and plans to have him sent away by telling the trucks rude jokes about the big engines and attributing them to Duck. The trucks tell the engines, and when they find out they refuse Duck entry into the shed. The Fat Controller comes to stop the noise, and, after hearing all three sides of the story, kindly asks Duck to go to Wellsworth for a while. Duck does so, upset.
Fact: This story is true, but there was more to it. Diesel wanted Duck to be sent to another shed where he would certainly be scrapped, as he knew of the brewing storm on the mainland. It wasn't just Gordon, James, and Henry he made nicknames for, but other engines, too. These names were "Blue Puffball" for Thomas, "Old Iron" for Edward, "Green Caterpillar" for Percy, "Garden Shed on Wheels" for Toby, "Big Banana" for Molly, "Half-Pint" for Kate, "Blucifer" for Belle, "Little Black Riding Hood" for Ruby, and for Yang, a nickname I dare not repeat, but since she's painted brown, you can probably imagine what it was. Everyone except Gordon, James, and Henry saw through these lies. When confronting the engines at the sheds, Sir Charles Hatt could tell immediately that Diesel was lying, but he knew what would happen if he said anything: Gordon, James, and Henry would accuse him of siding with Duck, and go on strike again. And since there was still lingering tension from that strike, he played Xanatos Speed Chess on the spot, and pretended to side with Diesel by sending Duck to Wellsworth while Diesel was assigned to station piloting. Duck, believing he was being punished, went without argument, and Diesel believed his plot to dieselize Sodor was working.
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A Close Shave/A Close Shave for Duck
Fiction: Edward feels sorry for Duck about Diesel's lying about him and helps him settle into life at Wellsworth. Duck takes up a position as a banker, but one day a train breaks away and chases him down Gordon's Hill. Duck manages to slow down gradually, slowing the trucks down too in the process, but they are diverted into a siding stopping outside a barber's shop. Duck crashes into the wall, and the furious barber lathers his face with shaving cream. When the workmen come to pull Duck away the Fat Controller points out that if Duck had not done anything someone could have been badly hurt. The barber, repentant, rinses Duck's face. To add to his joy, the Fat Controller tells Duck that Diesel has been sent away and Duck is welcomed back after all the engines are sorry for believing Diesel's lies, and shunning Duck.
Fact: Most of this story is factual. There is one throwaway line that isn't true, though, stating that Gordon, James, and Henry said nothing to Duck when they passed Wellsworth. In truth, they shouted obscenities at him. What we'll focus on here is what happened while Duck was away.
Back at Knapford, another civil war was brewing, as the engines were divided over whether Duck was guilty or not. Gordon, James, and Henry were dead set in their beliefs, while everyone else wasn't convinced, especially Dennis, whom Diesel tried to sway to his side. This came to a head when Ruby and Yang confronted the three engines, devolving into an obscenity-laced shouting match as old wounds from the Strike of '34 were reopened, which didn't stop until Sir Charles Hatt defused the situation and called out Gordon, James, and Henry (especially James) for almost getting physical again, while sending Ruby and Yang to their shed to cool off.
Eventually, Diesel started telling lies about Henry, which told Sir Charles Hatt it was time to catch him. While plotting at Tidmouth Harbor, Diesel was confronted by Hatt, who told him off and sent him packing. Diesel, though, refused to leave, and began ranting about how the North Western Region was backwards, that steam locomotives were inferior, and that he would kill Hatt and make it look like an accident so a new, more progressive controller would take over.
Unfortunately for him, though, he was caught in the middle of a sting operation set up by the police, and Thomas, Percy, Ruby, and Yang emerged from their hiding spots. Diesel was taken away and served a full 30-day sentence at Rail Gate for intimidation of a human and conspiring to instigate the genocide of non-faceless steam locomotives by framing. After this incident, James developed his infamous blind hatred for diesel locomotives.
On a minor note, the engine that was pulling the train Duck nearly crashed into at Crosby was pulled by Belle; in the books, the engine was undefined, while in the TV series, James was pulling the train, as the staff didn't have the time or budget to portray Belle onscreen; ultimately, Belle wouldn't appear in the TV series until 2011, where HiT Entertainment depicted her as a firefighting engine with water cannons and a bell, as they deemed her "too boring" to be merchandised otherwise; it was this, along with other embellishments and misinformation created by HiT (namely the idea of Hiro being the oldest engine on Sodor, Misty Island being depicted as a death trap, the existence of the Vicarstown Dieselworks, and the outright omission of engines such as Bear, Patrick, Barry, Lily, and anything related to NWR Freight due to the series seemingly being stuck in the 1960s) that strained relations between the NWR and HiT Entertainment.
As a result, any merchandising of Belle sold on Sodor has the water cannons removed (for print media, specially-made books and apparel have the cannons omitted or photo-shopped out, while for toys, the toys are removed from the packaging, the cannons removed, rather crudely in some cases, and the packaging resealed for sale).
The Little Old Engine
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Trucks!/Trucks/Rusty Helps Peter Sam
Fiction: Peter Sam and Sir Handel are given buffers and a new diesel named Rusty arrives, but Sir Handel continues to act in his same old way. Gordon sees Sir Handel shunting and advises him to get out of work by pretending to be sick. Sir Handel does so next morning, and Peter Sam and Rusty take his trucks for him. Peter Sam later goes to the slate mines to collect more trucks. Some mistake him for Sir Handel and decide to play a trick on him. They snap their chain and run into him, cracking his funnel and denting his boiler. Peter Sam is rescued by Rusty and goes to the shed. Sir Handel apologises and the Thin Controller punishes him for his lying by making him do Peter Sam's work as well as his own. Sir Handel is then left wanting to give Gordon a piece of his mind.
Fact: Only part of this story is true. Falcon never pretended to be ill, or even accepted advice from Gordon. The accident at the slate quarry did happen, but it was caused by deferred maintenance that brought the entire quarry under scrutiny from the Ministry of Transport.
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Home at Last
Fiction: Peter Sam, still recovering, is delighted when Skarloey returns. They talk about the going-ons of the railway while Skarloey was away, including new coaches, and new engines such as Rusty and a bad-tempered steam locomotive named Duncan with strong language and rough manners. They are interrupted when Skarloey's crew arrive to tell him that Duncan has gotten stuck in a tunnel. Skarloey takes some workmen to pull Duncan out and takes his train home. The Thin Controller rebukes Duncan, who behaves for the rest of the evening.
Fact: Duncan can be a grouch, but only when he has valid reasons to be. Otherwise, he may as well be a workaholic who would run all night if he could. The incident at the tunnel was caused not by any "rock 'n' roll"; there actually WAS something wrong with the tunnel that Rusty and Mr. Hugh never caught. As a result, Duncan was never scolded or blamed (and nobody ever threatened to "cut him down to size", an incredibly subtle adult joke the TV series staff snuck in).
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Rock 'n' Roll
Fiction: Skarloey meets Rusty and compliments him on his work on the line. Rusty confides that the line before Cros-ny-Cuirn is dangerous and he is afraid Duncan will derail. Duncan overhears and insults Rusty. The next day, Rusty, who is still cross at Duncan, leaves him to get his own coaches. Duncan is late, and James tells him about the time he "supposedly" made Diesel leave single-handedly. Duncan is impressed and is so focused on sending Rusty packing that he comes off at the dangerous line. When Rusty hears, he grudgingly assists and after Duncan apologises for being rude, the two become friends.
Fact: The actual story is much more mundane. Duncan did derail on the bad bit, not because he ignored Rusty, but because nobody had told him. For this, Mr. Hugh took responsibility for not informing the engines.
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Little Old Twins
Fiction: Some men are coming to look at the line, and Peter Sam and Sir Handel remember that people did that on their old line and that it was later sold. The engines are miserable, until Peter Sam's driver tells them the men are producers from the BBC who will be filming the engines for a television documentary. Everyone is happy again, except Sir Handel, who tries to get out by playing sick again; the Thin Controller responds by simply asking his crew to take him apart to show the producers how an engine works. Peter Sam is given the honour of pulling the television equipment, and, after a circuit around the line, stops to film Skarloey making a speech. To everyone's surprise, Skarloey reveals that he has a twin, Talyllyn, and that he met him while being repaired.
Fact: The BBC did indeed film a documentary about the Skarloey Railway in 1959, as part of a series of documentaries about Sodor's railways. The only part of the story that isn't true is the part about Sir Handel, as Falcon was more than happy to assist. All parts of the documentary series about Sodor's railways were lost due to the BBCs junking policies at the time, but they were all found at a television relay site in Nigeria on October 11, 2013, along with nine episodes of Doctor Who, these being the remaining episodes of "The Enemy of the World", and episodes 2, 4, 5, and 6 of "The Web of Fear", both Second Doctor serials.
The Twin Engines
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"Hullo Twins!"
Fiction: The engines, dragged down by the amount of work they have, are pleased to hear a goods engine is arriving from Scotland. However, two engines arrive. The Fat Controller goes to meet the engines, attempting to sort the matter, but only manages to discover they have "lost their numbers", as they put it, and they have since named themselves Donald and Douglas. The Fat Controller orders for them to have numbers painted on them and puts them to work but is determined to find out which engine should not be here and send him back.
Fact: This story is entirely factual, except Donald and Douglas were their real names.
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The Missing Coach
Fiction: Donald and Douglas (now #9 and #10 respectively), before setting off to be shown around the yard by Duck, realise they have only numbers painted on their tenders. One afternoon, Douglas is shunting in the Yard and worries about being sent away, thus indicating that he is not the engine that was supposed to come here, and that Donald was. Unfortunately he ends up forgetting to shunt Thomas' Special Coach. To evade the angry complaints of the passengers, the twins decide to swap tenders so as to convince the Fat Controller that Donald has taken his goods train, but to no avail. The Fat Controller, not being fooled, reprimands Douglas severely.
Fact: This story is also entirely factual.
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Break Van/Donald and Douglas
Fiction: Under the threat of one of the twins being sent away, the twins behave fairly well, until a spiteful brake van causes trouble for Douglas. Donald soon puts the van right, until Donald crashes backwards into a signal box in a siding. The Fat Controller scolds him, despite deciding to send Douglas back and keep him, having upset his arrangements again, assigning his goods work to James in the meantime. With the brake van and the trucks sensing James' fury, they give him a hard time pulling his train. Eventually, Douglas has to help James up Gordon's Hill as a banker. The brake van holds back again, but gets its comeuppance after Douglas, while straining up the hill, accidentally crushes it. The Fat Controller comes to supervise the clean-up and has mixed feelings about Douglas staying.
Fact: This story, too, is entirely factual, but there's more to it. For one, the spiteful brake van's name, as stated by Victor Tanzig, was Dominic. For another, Donald wasn't blamed for the signal box crash, as Sir Charles Hatt rightly blamed the oily rails. Otherwise, everything else checks out.
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The Deputation
Fiction: Winter comes early, and Donald and Douglas ask to help clear the line. They manage to rescue Henry from a snowdrift, but they are still worried as it now looks like both of them will be sent back. The engines, upset over the possibility of the twins being sent back, under Edward's advice to Percy, organise a deputation, assigning Percy as their representative. Percy pleads with the Fat Controller, telling them that Donald and Douglas will be scrapped if they return to Scotland, but the Fat Controller has already made up his mind: he gives the twins a new coat of paint and nameplates, allowing them both to stay. The news is met with thunderous whistles and cheers of joy between the engines.
Fact: Once again, an entirely factual story, but again, there was more to it. Sir Charles Hatt was on the mainland attending a meeting with other controllers, where he learned many of them were scrapping non-faceless steam locomotives alive, and tried pressuring Hatt to do the same, singing the praises of diesels. Hatt defied them by choosing to keep both twins.
Branch Line Engines
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Thomas Comes to Breakfast
Fiction: When Thomas' driver jokes that Thomas does not need him anymore, Thomas misunderstands him and boasts to Percy and Toby that he does not need a driver. The next morning, after a careless cleaner fiddles with Thomas' controls, Thomas successfully moves by himself, but cannot stop and runs into the stationmaster's house as he and his family sit down for breakfast. The stationmaster shuts off steam and his wife blames Thomas for ruining their breakfast, making Thomas feel sad. Donald and Douglas pull him out and Thomas is sent to the Works.
Fact: First off, Thomas knew his driver was joking. His conversation with Percy and Toby wasn't him boasting, but was actually much more mundane, being about the imminent production of the Deltic and the prospect of full dieselization on Sodor. A careless cleaner was indeed responsible for making Thomas go off, but, as was once said in an old SiF parody, he moved Thomas' controls to make it look like he did his job. Because non-faceless vehicles are stripped of the ability to control themselves if their controls are moved from neutral, Thomas started off on his own. Upon crashing into the stationmaster's house, his wife did indeed yell at Thomas for ruining their breakfast; Thomas didn't notice the plaster falling on him after she slammed the door shut because he was pondering the wife's priorities, as any sane person would. Percy was the one who pulled Thomas out, as Donald and Douglas were too busy. Finally, while The Fat Controller completely and unfairly blamed Thomas (either that, or he knew the cleaner was at fault, but saw Thomas as a convenient scapegoat so he wouldn't have to waste time hunting the cleaner down), Sir Charles Hatt told Thomas he would have to be insane to blame him. The cleaner was properly blamed, fired, and handed over to the police and thrown in jail on charges of destruction of property and reckless endangerment. Finally, Sir Charles Hatt made it very clear he didn't want to use a railcar as a substitute, but BR was giving him no choice, forcing him to test an experimental single-car version of what would later be classified under TOPS as the Class 101. Not mentioned in the story is the fact Kate did Thomas' passenger runs that day, and Ruby took Thomas to the Steamworks.
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Daisy
Fiction: Thomas' temporary replacement, a snobby diesel railcar named Daisy, arrives, and Percy and Toby show her around. She refuses to sleep in the engine shed, but finds the carriage shed good, except for some "rubbish" (Henrietta, Annie and Clarabel). Percy and Toby are tired after staying up late to cheer the furious coaches up, while Daisy is bright and cheerful. She is preparing for her first train when she realizes a milk van is about to be coupled to her and refuses to pull it, saying it is "bad for her swerves." Daisy is lying, but this is not known to the crew and so the van is taken away. Daisy, satisfied, realizes this allows her to do whatever she wants.
Fact: This story is factual, although for years, it was debated what Daisy meant by "swerves". On a minor note, Elsie was also in the carriage shed and felt insulted, too.
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Bulls Eyes
Fiction: Daisy makes fun of Toby's cowcatchers and sideplates, saying he is scared of getting hurt. Toby tells her they are for stopping him from hurting animals if they stray on the line, but Daisy says that animals will move anyway if you "toot and look them in the eye." Later, Daisy is asked to shoo a bull called Champion to his owner, but he is too busy eating grass to notice. An exasperated Daisy goes back to Elsbridge, and Toby "shoos" Champion for her. That evening, Daisy sees some boys enjoying some sweets called "bull's-eyes" and gets huffy.
Fact: This story is completely factual.
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Percy's Predicament
Fiction: Daisy has neglected to take the milk again and Percy is in a bad mood. Toby decides to take the van for him so as to let Percy take his trucks from the quarry. Percy speaks rudely to the trucks, and they plan revenge. As they slow down at a sign to "pin down" brakes, the trucks barge forward and push Percy down the line and into a train of stone trucks. That evening, the Fat Controller scolds Percy, and Daisy too for being lazy, but gives her a second chance for her work after Percy's accident. Thomas comes home the next day, Percy is sent to be mended, and Toby teaches Daisy the finer points of branch line life.
Fact: Most of this story was exaggerated to fit Awdry's narrative. For one, when Percy and Toby swapped jobs, Percy was hesitant, as he was unaware the law banning engines lacking cowcatchers and sideplates from running on the Anopha Tramway had been repealed before Thomas' run-in with the cop. Percy never bossed the trucks around, marshaling his train with little fuss; one fact not mentioned in any version of the story is that Percy had noticed a diesel fuel stand being erected; Awdry excluded this because Mavis wouldn't arrive for another three weeks. The crash, meanwhile, was caused by the trucks being loaded beyond the safe limits, and the trucks, all of which were non-faceless, actually tried to help Percy stop, but in a rather bizarre set of circumstances, all of the trucks' brakes failed, and the front bufferbeam on the brake van was ripped away when its brakes couldn't take the strain anymore. The crash into the brake van in the yard did happen, but Percy's driver and fireman suffered injuries while jumping out of a moving vehicle. Sir Charles Hatt didn't blame Percy, but did make the "awkward predicament" comment. The rest of the story is factual, including Daisy's scolding and second chance, but not included was the fact that Thomas was sympathetic to Percy's plight.
Gallant Old Engine
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Special Funnel
Fiction: Peter Sam's funnel is still loose after his accident with the Slate Trucks, and he longs for his new one. When winter is approaching, a washout sweeps a bridge away. Rusty and the workmen manage to repair it by the next market day, during which time the weather becomes frosty. Peter Sam, who is taking the passenger train, has his funnel knocked off by an icicle in the tunnel. His crew replace it with a drainpipe, until his new funnel, a "Giesl ejector", arrives. Although the engines tease him about its design at first (Sir Handel and Duncan continually ask him why he sat on it), the engines soon become jealous of it, as it allows Peter Sam to work more easily than ever.
Fact: Stuart's funnel had yet to be replaced because the railway was still coming out of its financial crisis. The incident with the icicle did happen, but none of the engines gave him grief for it, instead expressing concern about low-hanging icicles potentially causing more damage and possibly injuring or killing someone. Neither did they make fun of him or get jealous once he received his Giesl ejector, chosen because Mr. Hugh had read performance figures regarding Giesls on a faceless Battle of Britain class locomotive.
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Steam Roller
Fiction: Sir Handel is always slipping between the rails, so he is given new wheels with broad tyres. The engines nickname him "a steamroller", until Skarloey tells him about George, the anti-railway steamroller working near the line. The next day, Sir Handel is taking a special train when he sees George rolling home. Sir Handel tries to pass, but George refuses and eventually they crash. Rusty and Mr. Hugh arrive to clear the mess, and next day, after a fence is put up to separate the road and rail, George leaves. Sir Handel thinks he made George go away, and is more conceited than ever - at least until some boys start talking about the "race".
Fact: Falcon slipping between the rails was because of subtle gauge differences between the MSR and SKR. He never boasted about them, and as a result, the other engines never tried teaching him a lesson. George, meanwhile, is pretty much the same in real-life, desiring to rip up railways and replace them with roads because he saw railways as obsolete. The "race" was, like with Thomas and Bertie, one-sided, and George crashing into Falcon's train was malicious intent instead of an accident. For this, George was given local confinement.
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Passengers and Polish
Fiction: Nancy, the guard's daughter, is giving Skarloey a polish when Duncan asks if he can get polished too. Nancy does not have the time, however, and Duncan starts to sulk. Later that day, one of Skarloey's coaches derails and Duncan is sent to take the passengers home. He arrives in time for his own train, and is so annoyed that he doesn't even try to build up steam, and he eventually stops right on the viaduct. Skarloey comes to take him to the top station, but the passengers are furious at the delay and say it is a bad railway. Duncan, however, does not care.
Fact: Nancy is a real person, now living in a cottage near Cros-ny-Cuirn. Other than that, most of this story was exaggerated or embellished to fit Awdry's narrative. Duncan was never in a foul mood over not being polished, not that he cared for polish, seeing it as frivolous when there was work to be done. He did take workmen to rerail a coach, and did take Skarloey's train on, but the viaduct incident is an exaggeration. In the story, Duncan stopped out of protest for not getting polished, when in reality, he simply broke down, through no fault of his own, just random bad luck. Skarloey did take him the rest of the way to the top station at Skarloey (the location), and Duncan was never scolded.
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Gallant Old Engine
Fiction: Duncan is still complaining, so Skarloey tells him and Peter Sam the story of Rheneas…
The year before Peter Sam and Sir Handel came, the Skarloey Railway was facing hard times and was at a possibility of closing. Skarloey was tired, so Rheneas offered to do some of his work too. Then, one day, he was pulling a full train home when his valve gear jammed. The Thin Controller and Mr. Hugh managed to fix him so he could struggle to the next station. It was hard work, but he managed to get there. The passengers were so grateful that they promised to come back with all their friends. Duncan realizes he has been silly and thanks and apologizes to Skarloey.
The next day, Edward brings Rheneas back to the Skarloey Railway, and a huge celebration ensues. But Rheneas feels the happiest when he is with Skarloey.
Fact: As Duncan didn't need to be set straight, Skarloey didn't tell him the story to make him see sense, but because the other engines asked. Rheneas' plight, and the plight of the railway, are all true, and eerily echo events on the SKRs sister railway, the Talyllyn Railway. On a minor note, it was actually Ruby who brought Rheneas home, not Edward.
Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine
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Bluebells of England
Fiction: Percy is singing about bluebells when Douglas comes up and tells him that his song is daft. Percy is cross and tells him about the "Bluebells of England" and how the engines on the Other Railway suffer from the cruel-spirit of their controllers and how they are sent to the scrapyards to be cut up, causing Douglas to remember how he might have met the same fate if he had not escaped. Percy then goes on to inform Douglas about the Bluebell Railway, where steam engines are much safer and that their engine Stepney is coming to Sodor, when Stepney suddenly arrives and the two welcome him with a chorus of whistles.
Fact: This story is entirely factual...more than Awdry wanted it to be. In the foreword of the book, he set the record straight and said that British Railways controllers were NOT cruel, and were in fact supportive of the preservation movement. In reality, though, BR controllers were as cruel as Percy made them out to be, but Awdry didn't know until he noticed an illustration by Peter and Gunvor Edwards depicting two rusted non-faceless steam locomotives looking down in fear at a man with a cutter's torch. He knew something was wrong, and he aimed to find out what. This story was not adapted to television, and replaced by "Rusty to the Rescue", because Britt Allcroft thought "Bluebells of England" was too uneventful; this, of course, created the issue of the notion of the Skarloey Railway having trackage in Barrow.
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Stepney's Special/Thomas and Stepney
Fiction: After talking to Edward about the Bluebell Railway, Stepney goes to Tidmouth to help Duck. Thomas has just left with his last train when he is stopped so Stepney, with a V.I.P. in tow, can pass. Thomas is furious, but when Stepney explains the next morning that he was running a Special and flatters Thomas by complimenting his knowledge of branch line life, Thomas is happier and begins talking about his branch line.
Fact: Thomas never complained about being shunted, as he had been informed of a Special. The rest of the story is factual.
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Train Stops Play
Fiction: Percy takes pity on Stepney when he reveals he misses trucks and offers to share his train with him. Stepney later passes the Elsbridge Cricket Field when a batsman hits a six and the ball lands in one of his trucks. Stepney does not hear the cricketers shout, so four of them pile into an old car named Caroline and race after them. At Ffarquhar, they find the ball and as Caroline is exhausted, Stepney takes them all back with Caroline on a flatbed and stays to watch the match. After that, Caroline does not mind trains anymore.
Fact: This story is entirely factual. Caroline herself is now owned by the Norramby Road Museum.
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Bowled Out
Fiction: Stepney's stay is almost over, but in his place a rude diesel arrives and insults the engines, by boasting about how he is more up to date. Although the engines have no idea of what to do, the Diesel soon gets his just desserts when an Inspector's bowler hat lodges in his air intake. Duck and Stepney have to take his train and they reach Cronk in record time. Stepney leaves the next day in style, with the engines asking him to return and Donald and Douglas making everyone sing Auld Lang Syne, while the Diesel creeps away in disgrace.
Fact: The diesel in question was a non-faceless English Electric Type 4 (later designated under TOPS as the Class 50), numbered D261 (later 40 061 under TOPS), and named Matthew. Most of this story is true, but what wasn't shown was James and Molly making jokes at Matthew's expense. Matthew's life after Sodor was uneventful, eventually getting the Final Firing in 1983.
Mountain Engines
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Mountain Engine
Fiction: Sir Handel is grumpy and complains about the coaches' causing trouble for him. Rheneas tells him that he should be grateful that he does not work on a mountain railway. Sir Handel does not believe such a thing exists, and an argument ensues until Donald arrives with Culdee, a mountain engine. When Culdee wakes up, he tells the little engines about his line, and an adventure he had on his first day when he learned how to use his automatic brakes during a thrilling journey down a mountain.
Fact: Falcon's grumpy mood that day was caused by a passenger making racist comments towards a Japanese immigrant, and he wanted to teach said passenger a lesson. The rest of the story is true, except the automatic brakes don't exist, as the Culdee Fell Railway engines, being non-faceless, are completely in control.
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Bad Look-Out
Fiction: Duncan is in a bad mood because the Thin Controller says he kept a bad look out, so Skarloey and Rheneas change the subject of the conversation by asking Culdee about his coaches. The discussion soon drifts to Culdee's automatic brakes, and the story of Godred, an engine who held too much faith in his automatic brakes. Despite frequent discipline and investigation into his behavior, Godred continued in his way. Eventually, Godred fell off the tracks and down the mountainside. Since the manager had no money to repair Godred, he was sent to the back of the shed, where over time the drivers cannibalized Godred for spare parts to mend Culdee and the other engines. Sir Handel and Duncan are mortified and remain silent, while Skarloey and Rheneas do not mention that the tale was made up.
Fact: Duncan was in a bad mood because he saw the same racist passenger Falcon had seen, this time physically attacking a Slav and accusing her of being a communist spy. In that instance, though, said passenger was arrested, but Duncan was still infuriated that such people exist. The story of Godred is only a little true. Godred never kept a bad look-out, nor was he a pompous git. His tumble down the mountain was indeed a genuine accident, and Godred was so damaged, he had to be given the Final Firing.
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Danger Points
Fiction: Donald brings Culdee home, where he discovers that three new engines have arrived: Alaric, Eric and Lord Harry, the latter of whom is loud and impulsive. The next day, Culdee makes fun of Lord Harry's "super-heat" and Lord Harry determines to pay him out. Instead, he derails at the summit, preventing Wilfred from taking his "down" train. Lord Harry is subsequently rescued and sent to the back of the Shed in disgrace.
Fact: Lord Harry was always named Patrick, and was always a professional. This story is an amalgam of various incidents with the switch at the summit due to a faulty design that wasn't rectified until 1982.
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"Devil's Back"
Fiction: Lord Harry gets his name taken away, now being referred by his #6, and, after hearing Culdee's story of Godred, asks the Manager to be let out. The Manager readily agrees, but forbids him from pushing passenger trains, so #6 is kept taking supplies and workmen to Summit Hotel. One day, he is preparing to continue up Devil's Back, a difficult part of the line, after a message arrives about a group of injured climbers. Despite the strong wind, #6 perseveres and the leader of the climbers asks the Manager to rename #6 after a friend who helped him when he was injured. Nowadays, #6 is renamed Patrick and only takes risks when absolutely necessary.
Fact: This story is an amalgam of various rescue operations carried out on the mountain over the years, especially having to push "The Truck" (who's real name is Linda) up Devil's Back through a gale.
Very Old Engines
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Crosspatch
Fiction: Skarloey was built in 1864 and sent to Sodor on a ship the following year. After being lowered onto a flatbed using the ship's derricks, he was taken to Crovan's Gate by an ugly but kind engine named Neil. The people there weren't used to engines, and it was dark by the time he was on the rails. The next morning, he was told to take some trucks, but he wanted to pull coaches. The manager, Mr. Mack, and some workmen came and tried to make him steam, but he refused to do anything, day after day. Eventually, they got tired and covered him up with a tarpaulin.
Fact: In truth, Skarloey was eager to do any work, but his fire wouldn't start. Mr. Mack, who didn't understand non-faceless vehicles, covered Skarloey himself and fast-tracked #2's construction, only to find to his dismay that Rheneas was also non-faceless.
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Bucking Bronco
Fiction: At last, Mr. Mack came and Skarloey said sorry. Mr. Mack told him that Mr. Bobbie, an engineer who helped build Skarloey, had come, and Skarloey worked hard to finish the line before the inspector arrived. When Rheneas first arrived he was a sensible engine, unlike Skarloey, who was bouncy and excited. When Skarloey was told to pull the directors' train, Rheneas told him to be careful, but Skarloey scoffed at him and got Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice. The coaches had never met him before, and their leader, Agnes, did not trust him. When Skarloey began to bounce, Mr. Mack, who was riding on Skarloey, closed the regulator too quickly and the coaches bumped into each other. They bumped him back, and Mr. Mack was knocked into a bush. He rode in Beatrice for the remainder of the journey. The directors were cross, and told Rheneas to pull the inspector's train instead. The inspector was satisfied, but told the directors to give Skarloey an extra set of wheels...
Fact: Both engines were always sensible, as were the coaches. The incident described in the story did happen, but it was because Skarloey was rear-heavy, hence why a trailing pony truck was added.
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Stick-In-The-Mud
Fiction: When Skarloey returned with another pair of wheels and a cab, Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice were impressed and Skarloey got conceited. When he told Rheneas he should get a cab, Rheneas disagreed. Skarloey called him a stick-in-the-mud, and the argument went on until the two fell out. Then, one morning, Skarloey was taking the workmen to the quarry in the rain. When Rheneas was warming up, the guard arrived and told them Skarloey was stuck in a landslide beyond the tunnel. Rheneas refused to help at first, but went when reminded of the workmen and crew. Afterwards, Skarloey apologised, and they burst out laughing when they realised Skarloey was the stick-in-the-mud after all.
Fact: This story is an amalgam of various mudslides that occurred at Rheneas Tunnel until a retaining wall was finally built in 1984 as part of the general expansion of the railway as a whole.
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Ducks and Dukes
Fiction: Duck tells Peter Sam that there are no Dukes, having all been scrapped. Peter Sam, who remembered the Thin Controller said the Duke of Sodor was coming to Skarloey and Rheneas' hundredth birthday, is horrified, and when he tells the others, they argue over who is right. (Peter Sam may have been thinking of Duke from the Mid Sodor Railway, but Sir Handel's reaction is never revealed.) But the next day, the engines are happy when they wake up, for it's Skarloey and Rheneas' birthday. Later, Peter Sam takes the television train and films Rheneas. After Skarloey arrives and takes the Duke around the new loop line around the Lake, the Duke makes a speech, during which Peter Sam interrupts and asks him if he is real. The Duke tells him he is, and Rheneas makes a speech asking everyone to visit his and Skarloey's respective twin brothers, Dolgoch and Talyllyn.
Fact: This story is factual, but bears some elaboration: Duck thought Stuart was talking about the GWR 3252 Class, all of which were faceless engines and therefore not protected under Sentient Vehicle Act of 1865. Stuart, on the other hand, was referring to Duke of the Mid-Sodor Railway.
Main Line Engines
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The Diseasal
Fiction: Bill and Ben are tank engine twins that work at the China Clay Workings on Edward's Branch Line. One day they leave some trucks in a siding and leave for more, but return to find them all gone. Their drivers determine it was a "diseasel" that took them, and when Bill recalls a sign saying "coughs and sneezles spread diseasels", in his words, Ben blames him. Their drivers quiet them and formulate a plan. They find the diseasel on a siding, and manage to confuse him so as to make him giddy, but when Edward comes along he reprimands them and tells them to apologize to the diseasel, who calls himself BoCo. Edward sends them away, and he and BoCo joke about the twins.
Fact: This story is factual, but completely leaves out BoCo's origins. BoCo was a Metropolitan Vickers Type 2 (later BR Class 28) who came to Sodor at the behest of BR, not to try forcing diesels on Sir Charles Hatt as they had done with Diesel, Daisy, and Matthew, but because they were fed-up with the Metro-Vick Type 2's constant mechanical failures, so they dumped him on Charles Hatt to see if he could make him work. Unlike past visiting diesels, BoCo fit in right away, and as his class was being targeted for withdrawal, he felt a sort of kinship with the steam engines.
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Buzz, Buzz/James Goes Buzz Buzz
Fiction: Duck and BoCo are talking about Bill and Ben. Duck tells BoCo he has nicknamed them "The Bees", when James, who just arrived, claims he would simply blow smoke at bees to shoo them away. The next day, two porters are pulling a trolley with a beehive on top when it falls off and bees swarm out. They decide to rest on James' boiler, but when one burns its feet, it stings James on the nose, and James runs away. In the end, BoCo takes the Express, and that night the others talk about a red beehive on wheels.
Fact: This story was a complete fabrication, as James' first interaction with BoCo wouldn't pass muster with Egmont. What really happened was James was incensed by BoCo's very existence, and cussed him out and even threatened to shove him off the rails if he didn't leave. Appalled by what she heard, Ruby stepped in to defend BoCo, as the latter didn't want another engine to experience the same trauma she did during the Strike of '34. James did not take kindly to a steam engine being a "diesel apologist", and began relentlessly bullying Ruby, making sure not to get physical again or risk serving another 30-day sentence. It didn't stop until Tim (a Fowler 4F who had arrived on Sodor a week ago with his twin sister Chloe) put James in his place and reminded him that many failed diesel classes on the mainland were also being scrapped alive by controllers who were too impatient to iron out the issues. Not only did James stop bullying Ruby, it started a lasting relationship between Tim and Ruby, one that endures to this day.
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Wrong Road
Fiction: Although the big engines are forbidden to go on the branch lines because of their weight, Gordon claims he is forbidden because they are "vulgar", and leaves to take his late train. He misses his "path" after a lady with a large floppy green hat confounds the fireman into thinking the guard had waved his flag, and in the end Edward's train leaves ahead of Gordon. However, this creates a huge disruption as the Wellsworth signalman is not informed, and Gordon is left on a siding at Brendam. The next day, Bill and Ben come into the yard, and tease him by "mistaking" him for scrap and arguing about how to dispose of Gordon. Gordon thinks they are serious, and when BoCo arrives, he asks for help. BoCo sends the twins away with his trucks, and Gordon has had great respect for diesels ever since.
Fact: Gordon never called branch lines vulgar. Like, ever. The "wrong road" incident did happen, but it was caused by a rookie signalman who got the trains mixed up. As a result, Edward was routed to Maron and had to run the normal stopper, while Gordon was routed onto the Brendam Branch. The confrontation with Bill and Ben never happened, as there were much bigger issues, namely that Gordon's weight had taken out numerous rails along the branch, causing all services along the branch to be cancelled while repairs were carried out. Gordon had to wait at Brendam for several days until he could be sent to Knapford by ship.
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Edward's Exploit
Fiction: Edward reprimands Bill and Ben for what they did to Gordon, but told Gordon that he deserved it. He is later set to take some enthusiasts home, but finds it hard to move the train. After meeting up with Bill and Ben, Edward takes the enthusiasts away, but stops when a crank-pin breaks, battering his splashers and frame. His crew take both crank-pins off, and Edward manages to struggle home. Edward is sent to Crovan's Gate, and BoCo does his work so well that he single-handedly changes Donald and Douglas' opinion about diesels.
Fact: Aside from the first sentence in the above section, everything about this story is factual.
Small Railway Engines
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Ballast
Fiction: The new ballast is being laid in the track-bed. Donald and Douglas bring it from a line that starts at Tidmouth, and all they will say is "verra wee engines" bring it down from the hills. Duck is curious and asks to take some trucks along the line. There, he meets a small green engine called Rex, who tells him about the "chute" that loads his trucks. The next time Duck visits, Rex introduces him to two other engines, Bert and Mike. When Duck discovers that they do not have any passengers yet, he leaves, promising to bring some for them.
Fact: The events described took place in 1966, a year before the other stories. The text says that the engines came from a railway on the mainland that closed, but in truth, they were newly-built at Crovan's Gate Works using Ravenglass & Eskdale blueprints. The books also grossly misinterpret Mike, portraying him as a hothead who prefers freight over passengers. In real-life, while he is a bit of a grouch, he, like Duncan, only complains about things actually worth complaining about, such as racism, the Steam Holocaust, and the Soviet threat. He also does prefer freight over passengers, but still willingly pulls passenger trains. Above all else, though, Mike is a safety freak who won't hesitate to call out flagrant safety violations.
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Tit for Tat
Fiction: Bert's driver tells the engines that two clergymen are coming to take pictures of them and put them in a book. Bert thinks he will be physically stuck in a book, and is apprehensive, but cheers up when he meets them. However, he gets cross again when they do not wave at him while taking pictures, and the final straw is when they accidentally drench him with muddy water when they pass him in their car. Bert plans revenge, and at a hilly part, he creates steam, soaking his driver and the Fat Clergyman, who is riding in the cab. The Small Controller hears about what happened and sternly sends Bert to the shed. But later, after both parties makeup, Bert tells the others they will be in the book along with him.
Fact: This story is factual, but omits the real identities of the two clergymen, these being Wilbert Awdry himself, and his friend Teddy Boston.
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Mike's Whistle
Fiction: Duck's whistle is faulty after his crew used it to cook eggs, and Mike makes fun of him, saying "engines without whistles aren't proper engines at all". The others tease Mike about his whistle, and when he blows off steam he is chosen to take the passenger train. Mike is furious and is in a bad temper all day. When a cow strays onto the line, Mike tries to 'shoo' her away by whistling, but all that happens is that his whistle shoots off into the sky. Everyone tries looking for it, but to no avail, and they have to make the whistling noises for him. Mike is sent to work at the quarry for the rest of the day, and to top it off Bert and Rex tease him again in the shed.
Fact: Mike's statement about engines without whistles wasn't teasing, but genuine safety concerns. He also took the passenger train without fuss, and wasn't in a foul mood all day. His whistle shooting off into the sky wasn't from whistling all day, but because his driver, who was a relief, pulled the cord himself, and pulled it too hard. Mike, always a stickler for safety, refused to go any further without his whistle, so Rex had to double-head the train home. At the sheds, Mike thought the Small Controller would chew him out, and was surprised when he praised him for his devotion to the safety of his passengers and those at the line-side.
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Useful Railway
Fiction: After an encounter with a flock of sheep, Mike calls them silly and cannot understand why Rex calls them useful. The Small Controller arrives and tells them they are now arranging to take wool trains for the local farmers. Rex is chosen to take the first train. Rex is over-confident but gets his comeuppance when a tractor's load spills onto the line, derailing him. Bert and Mike tease him but say sorry when they come to take him home, and the Small Controller tells them their railway is more popular than ever.
Fact: Rex was never overconfident, and his accident with Willie and his tractor (which was depicted in illustrations as non-faceless, but was accurately depicted in the TV series as faceless; the fictional non-faceless version is named "Shane" in SiF's Extended Railway Series) wasn't karma, but just random bad luck.
Enterprising Engines
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Tenders for Henry
Fiction: The engines wrongly attribute Gordon's surly mood to boiler sludge from a dodgy water tower on the Mainland and matters are made worse when Gordon finds only one of his brothers is left in existence. The Fat Controller feels sorry for Gordon and arranges for his brother, Flying Scotsman, to visit, but Henry is jealous of Flying Scotsman's two tenders and claims he deserves another. Duck offers Henry six tenders. Henry is delighted and accepts, but is made to look like a fool when it is revealed they are full of boiler sludge.
Fact: The engines did initially tease Gordon, until they eventually realized something was very wrong. It is true that Flying Scotsman (whose real name is Abel) visited Sodor, but he did so with two other Gresley-built engines: an A4 named Silver Bullet (real name Spencer) owned by the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and a P2 from the London & Kent Despondos Railway (L&KDR, another part of BR that resisted full dieselization) named Heart of Etheria (real name Adora). Of these three, Abel didn't appear in the TV series until 2016, Spencer first appeared in season 7 in 2003 (the series depicted the Duke and Duchess as being from Boxford, not Kent; apparently, the TV series staff didn't know the Lambourne Valley Railway closed in 1973), and Adora never appeared in the TV series, but her and many of the other L&KDR engines served as inspiration for the 1980s series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra: Princess of Power, just as some of the NWR engines as Ruby, Yang, Weiss, and Blake served as the inspiration for the web animation RWBY.
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Super Rescue
Fiction: Two diesels, 7101 and 199, arrive. 7101 is friendly, but 199 is rude, saying diesels are more reliable than steam engines. The next day, Henry is rolling home tender-first, his regulator jammed and meets 199 with a train of oil-tankers at a signal box. 199, ironically, has failed and so does 7101 after his ejector leaks and he cannot pull his passenger train. Henry, with some help from 7101, still able to move, bravely takes 199, the oil-tankers and the passengers to the next station. "Flying Scotsman", to the delight of the passengers, takes the passenger train, while Donald takes the goods. 199 is sent away in disgrace for insulting the steam trains and Henry helps 7101 to the shed.
Fact: 7101 and 199 were actually Spencer and Adora's pilots, as they didn't have the coal and water capacity afforded to Abel by his two tenders. The famed "Super Rescue" actually took place on the Main Line Loop, not at Kellsthorpe Road. Otherwise, the story is factual, but doesn't show the point Henry failed or divulge 199's fate. 199's real name was never revealed (he was only referred to as 199 or "Spamcan"), which is Harry (no relation to the engine loaned to the NWR during WWII) and now owned by the aforementioned L Harry is now preserved and has mellowed out. Also not included in the story is the rest of the conversation between Henry and 7101 (whose real name actually IS Bear), revealing that mainland diesels are dehumanized and not allowed to use their real names because the controllers believed that it was too easy to be attached to a name, referring to the impending National Traction Plan that would rationalize the diesel classes and see many classes withdrawn wholesale; members of many of these classes made it to Sodor during what is informally referred to as the "First Diesel Holocaust".
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Escape
Fiction: Douglas has taken the "Midnight Goods" to the Other Railway and is preparing to return when a stranded steam engine, Oliver, asks for help. Douglas buffers up and the two crews scribble "Scrap" over Oliver. However, a diesel shouts out a warning and the foreman stops them. They manage to coax their way past and eventually reach the Works. A friendly watchman shows them where to hide Oliver, his coach Isabel, and his brake van Toad.
Fact: The real story is much more suspenseful. Instead of hiding in Isabel, Oliver's crew was so emaciated that they needed immediate medical attention. In addition, the foreman wasn't fooled, and ordered Douglas to return Oliver to the out-of-use siding, with plans to immediately scrap him alive.
I think I should take this time to address the true nature of the Steam Holocaust. In truth, it wasn't just because of blind patriotism on the part of BR controllers as mentioned in Bible 10, but the largest case of corruption in recorded history. Experiments on deceased non-faceless cars revealed that the essence of non-faceless vehicles, known as Spectra, could be used as an efficient energy source. Problem was, though, that the Final Firing made extracting it impossible, hence the live scrappings. Worse still, these live scrappings were sanctioned by the British Parliament, and even the United Nations itself, to supplant fossil fuels entirely. Non-faceless steam engines were scrapped alive, and their Spectra extracted, then the engines would be left to rot until such a time they could be cut up completely and melted down.
Anyway, a pair of faceless Class 17s were dispatched to take Douglas down, but a signalman managed to derail the two Claytons, and Barrow Scrapyard was soon swarmed by police. Days later, PM Harold Wilson discovered the true nature of Steam Holocaust, and not only ordered a massive corruption investigation that saw 80% of Parliament arrested, tried, and executed for what were essentially war crimes, he also threatened to pull the country out of the UN completely and go to war with the United States, who had committed similar actions with their own non-faceless steam locomotives, but managed some restraint, knowing that an internal war within NATO would be an instant victory for the Soviet Union in the ongoing Cold War, as Brezhnev would use such a war as definitive proof of the "evils" of capitalism.
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Little Western
Fiction: Douglas arrives in time to see Flying Scotsman off and tells the others his news. The Fat Controller overhears and enquirers about the fuss. Duck tells him they need another steam engine, but the Fat Controller gravely tells them they are rare to find. Douglas is about to interrupt when the Fat Controller reveals Oliver is being mended.
In the end, 7101 stays and is renamed "Bear" after the growling noises he sometimes makes, Oliver, Isabel and Toad are repainted, three new coaches are rescued from scrapping and given to Oliver and Duck and the Fat Controller re-opens the Little Western and asks Duck and Oliver to run it.
Fact: As mentioned before, 7101's name was ALWAYS Bear. It's also worth noting that Abel, Spencer and Adora left Sodor at least two weeks AFTER Oliver was rescued and restored, not the day after he was rescued as was implied in the book. Aside from those tidbits, this story is factual.
Oliver the Western Engine
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Donald's Duck
Fiction: The Fat Controller re-opens the Arlesburgh branch and asks Duck to run it for him. Duck is proud, and one night talks so much about his responsibility that Donald, at the end of his tether, mocks him by making quacking noises and suggesting that he can lay eggs. Duck, furious, makes a plan to get revenge, and his crew put a duckling in Donald's water tank. She pops out the next day at the water tower, and Donald realizes it was Duck's pay-back. The duck is tame and rides with Donald for a fair while until she gets off at Haultraugh. Donald and his crew, plotting a last ploy, place a nest box with an egg in it behind Duck's bunker. Duck acknowledges defeat, and nowadays the duck lives happily at Haultraugh.
Fact: This story is true, except it actually happened during the events of Enterprising Engines.
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Resource and Sagacity/Oliver Owns Up
Fiction: After Oliver was rescued, he and Isabel were repainted in Great Western colors, joined by another coach called Dulcie, who was also rescued and start working on the Arlesburgh branch. The big engines are amazed at Oliver's adventures and say approving things to him, making him over-confident from flattery, but Oliver meets his match after a load of disgruntled ballast trucks push him into the turntable well. After Duck, the Scottish Twins and the Fat Controller speak to him sternly, he is left feeling very silly.
Fact: Oliver wasn't flattered by the big engines' approval but offended. They didn't witness the horrors he had. Oliver's incident with the turntable well did happen, but it was because of an issue with his brakes that hadn't been caught at the Steamworks, the trucks having tried to help stop him.
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Toad Stands By
Fiction: After Oliver is mended and returns to the yard, the trucks, led by a wagon named S.C. Ruffey, sing a rude song about him. The others try to get them to shut up, but no avail. Toad makes a plan and asks Douglas if he can share it with Oliver. Duck is apprehensive at first, but Oliver feels he must make things right, and so it is arranged. Oliver lines the worst trucks up, with guidance from Toad, and starts. S.C. Ruffey, who is at the front, tells the others to hold back, and they do, but Oliver is so determined that he abruptly tears S.C. Ruffey apart. Although the Fat Controller attributes it to S.C. Ruffey's poor condition, he tells Oliver to keep it quiet. It is for a good reason, too, because the trucks are now so afraid Oliver will pull them apart that they never trouble him again.
Fact: It was only S.C. Ruffey (real name Franklin), Fred Pelhay (whose name just so happens to be Fred), Rickety (real name Rick), and U.L.P. (real name Masterson) who sang rude songs about Oliver. They tried to get the rest of the trucks to join in, but they refused. Eventually, fed up with their rudeness, the trucks began formulating a plan to get rid of Franklin. The incident seen in the story did happen, but it wasn't a plan by Toad to scare the trucks into submission. The TV series depicted Franklin being rebuilt, while the book depicted him in pieces yet still alive; in truth, Franklin died instantly upon breakup. The Railway Investigative Unit immediately pounced on the scene; the trucks involved were all given 30 days in Railgate for murder, while Oliver and Toad were immediately exonerated since they had no idea what the trucks were planning. Fred, Rick, and Masterson fell in line after witnessing the death of their leader.
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Bulgy
Fiction: During a Bank Holiday, Duck meets a cynical double-decker bus who holds a dogmatic opposition to railways. Oliver tells Duck that he should not be taken seriously and nicknames him Bulgy, but is worried when Bulgy's friend arrives, leaving Bulgy to take their passengers with the promise of a faster way home and the lie that he accepts railway tickets. Duck is crossly puffing home when he is stopped by a bridge where Bulgy has wedged underneath. Duck carefully makes it across and takes the passengers home. In the end, Bulgy ends up staying under the bridge until it is mended, but continues to lie, and eventually is turned into a henhouse.
Fact: Bulgy (which is indeed his real name) was so opposed to railways because he was an ardent supporter of the Beeching cuts, desiring more business for his fellow buses. Bulgy's friend was never named in any official media; his real name is unknown, but apparently, he was nicknamed "Bumpy" for his poor ride quality. Bulgy was indeed a "scarlet deceiver" who posed as a railway bus to steal Duck's passengers, and did get stuck under a bridge, but he didn't tell lies after being fished out from underneath it. Instead, one of the towing company employees was the owner of the farm next to the bridge and needed a new henhouse. So, he put Bulgy there and lied to Sodor Roadways that Bulgy had been damaged beyond repair. It only took Sodor Roadways three days to find Bulgy miserably sitting in the field. The employee was arrested for grand theft auto and vandalizing private property, while Bulgy was given back to Sodor Roadways. The entire experience changed Bulgy, and he became a mobile produce stand thereafter, living a much happier life unburdened by having to prove his worth vs. the railways.
Duke the Lost Engine
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Grandpuff
Fiction: Duke, Falcon and Stuart are three engines who live on the Mid Sodor Railway. Named after His Grace the Duke of Sodor, Duke is wise, but Falcon and Stuart are young and cheeky and often make fun of "Granpuff", as they affectionately call him. This goes on until Duke tells them the story of a reckless engine named Stanley, otherwise known as No. 2, who was rough and often derailed and was punished by being turned into a pumping engine. The three have many adventures together until their line closes. Falcon and Stuart are purchased and in due course wind up on the Skarloey Railway, where they are painted red and re-named Sir Handel and Peter Sam respectively, but Duke is not wanted and is sheltered in the Arlesdale shed. Duke, unaware that His Grace was killed in the war and that the current Duke does not know of his existence, goes to sleep...
Fact: Stuart was never cheeky, and Falcon grew out of his cheekiness following the Mountain Road incident. Stanley never appeared in the TV series, being replaced by a different engine named Smudger who was created by painting Rheneas' model; this was because the TV series staff didn't want to waste money building a model that would only appear onscreen for under a minute. The rest of the story is factual, except, as noted before, Falcon and Stuart were never renamed, the names Sir Handel and Peter Sam instead being nameplates meant to commemorate important people on the Skarloey Railway.
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Bulldog
Fiction: In the old days of the Mid Sodor Railway, when Sir Handel was blue and named Falcon, the Manager arranged for him to double-head with Duke to learn the mountain road. Falcon ignores Duke's warnings and when they reach a sharp part of the line, he derails and hangs dangerously over the edge. Duke holds back but is in need of more water to build up more steam. With the help of the passengers gathering water from a cottage, he gathers enough strength to pull Falcon back. Falcon is grateful, but Duke is modest and says he only did what he did because he did not want Falcon's paint spoilt if he rolled down the mountain.
Fact: This story is factual, and as mentioned above, it was this incident that caused Falcon to grow out of his cheeky ways.
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You Can't Win
Fiction: Duke is old, and Stuart jokes he may have to be kept in order. Duke merely laughs, but later his valves begin leaking and Falcon and Stuart come to the rescue. The cavalcade split up at Marthwaite, as Falcon takes Duke's passengers to catch their boat at Arlesburgh, while Stuart takes Falcon's train with Duke coupled in front. Duke and his driver, hearing Stuart's triumphant chortles, make a plan, and on the last hill, Duke gives a great effort. At Arlesdale, a boy inquires as to why there were two engines, to which his father replies Stuart needed assistance, and so Duke came to help.
Fact: This story is somewhat factual. Stuart never joked about having to keep Duke in order. Duke did indeed need assistance while pulling the "Picnic", but the rest of the journey to Arlesburgh was uneventful. Duke's supposed plan was Awdry's creation, meant to make the story more interesting.
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Sleeping Beauty
Fiction: His Grace finally learns of Duke from the engines and staff of the Skarloey Railway, and he in turn informs the Small Controller, whose railway is built on remnants from the Mid Sodor Railway. The Small Controller organizes a search party, consisting of himself and both the Thin and Fat Clergymen, and they enlist Rex, Bert and Mike to help them find Duke, promising to include them in the book if they are well-behaved. After a long, initially fruitless search, the Fat Clergyman crashes into Duke's shed, landing on his boiler. Duke is apprehensive but cheers up when he said that the Duke is being brought to meet him. Duke, to his dismay, is sent to Arlesburgh by lorry, but is happier to discover he is still popular, and Donald carries him to the Skarloey Railway on a flatbed, where he is greeted by a large crowd of admirers. Sir Handel and Peter Sam find him beside the shed and tease him by saying they can now keep him in order. Duke plays along and falls asleep happily in the sunshine.
Fact: First of all, the search party was actually larger, consisting of Fergus Duncan, Sir Charles Hatt, Peter Sam, Walter Richards, Wilbert Awdry, Teddy Boston, and numerous other men and women who went unnamed. They travelled to the area where the original Mid-Sodor Railway sheds were located at Arlesdale Green via the Arlesdale Railway, which was replaced by the Skarloey Railway in the TV series due to the fact the Arlesdale engines couldn't be built and still accommodate both a motor and an eye mechanism, hence why they didn't appear in the TV series until 2015, when they finally debuted in the special Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, and later three of the four stories from their debut book were adapted in the twentieth season (albeit with Thomas needlessly shoehorned in after Mattel received complaints from parents during the nineteenth season that secondary characters took too much focus away from Thomas). Boston did indeed fall through Duke's roof, and he was taken to Arlesburgh by road. However, it wasn't Donald who took Duke to Crovan's Gate, it was Chloe. Duke entered traffic on the Skarloey Railway in 1982 and is still in operation today.
Tramway Engines
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Ghost Train/Percy's Ghostly Trick
Fiction: Percy claims his driver saw a "ghost train" the previous night, but Thomas does not believe him, and Percy's driver confirms that the engine was on television. On his way home from working at the harbor all day, Percy crashes into a cart of lime that had become stuck at Crowe's Farm Crossing. When the signalman remarks that Percy looks like a ghost, Percy makes a plan and convinces Thomas he has crashed and returned as a ghost, scaring Thomas out of the shed.
Fact: Percy knew his driver was having him on because ghosts don't exist. The "ghost train" was actually part of a BBC documentary about paranormal activity on Sodor (one that, unlike the 1958 documentary series, wasn't junked and rediscovered). After Percy's crash with the lime cart, Percy actually began to feel very ill due to inhaling the lime (which is meant to be spread on fields before drilling new crops), and Toby actually thought he saw Percy's ghost. Rather than brush it off, Thomas thought Percy had been killed in an accident and was very distraught, experiencing flashbacks to when he heard that Emily had been sold off to Japanese scrappers. When Percy returned to the shed, the entire "Three Little Pigs" exchange wasn't part of Percy and Toby's trick, but was the ill Percy deliriously bidding entry, and Toby unconsciously saying "not by the smoke of my chimney chin-chin" in fear. Thomas dashed to get his evening train, while Toby, upon seeing Percy in the light, realized he was still alive, just covered in lime. Upon hearing about this next morning, Thomas thought Percy and Toby played an elaborate prank on him, and was a good sport about it, until he realized Percy wasn't faking.
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Woolly Bear
Fiction: Thomas is still annoyed at Percy and when Percy is delayed picking up hay bales, Thomas claims Percy is a "green caterpillar with red stripes". Percy, furious, resolves to be quick but is delayed when a crate of treacle falls on him. The worst is wiped off, but as Percy returns home, a gale whips up and he is covered in hay. Now Thomas has the last laugh with Toby.
Fact: Percy was laid up at the works so the lime he inhaled could be removed from his system, so Ruby was brought in to cover his trains. Thomas didn't make disparaging comments about her "rolling around in the hay", as the hay trains had been a staple of the Ffarquhar Branch since he first arrived in 1915. The incident with the treacle and hay did happen, but nobody was laughing, as Ruby was crying by the time, she arrived at Ffarquhar, believing people would make fun of her. After she arrived in tears, Thomas, who didn't find it funny to begin with, kept his mouth shut lest he say the wrong thing and have to face Tim's wrath. Speaking of whom, after Ruby was completely cleaned, Tim spent half the night consoling her.
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Mavis
Fiction: Mavis is a stuck-up diesel working at Anopha Quarry who loves rearranging the trucks in different sidings. This creates confusion and Toby is cross because the trucks are not in the places, he wants them. When Mavis sees Daisy, she tells her that diesels are better than steam engines, making Mavis prouder than ever. One day, Toby instructed Mavis on how to be careful on a certain spot of the level crossing, but Mavis was not keen to listen and as a result, the trucks hold her back on the level crossing and Toby has to come help.
Fact: This story took place when Mavis first arrived in 1962. Daisy didn't tell Mavis that diesels were better than steam engines, as she was horrified by the brewing Steam Holocaust on the mainland. The incident at the level crossing did happen, but only because of the frozen mud and heavy stone load, not because of the trucks holding her back.
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Toby's Tightrope
Fiction: After a stern talk with the manager, Mavis is restricted to the quarry for her incident. After a frost comes and goes, work increases, and Mavis manages to convince the manager to let her go as far as the crossing. She formulates a plan to go further down the line and asks the trucks to push her at the crossing, but when Toby comes, they decide to do it to him, and he ends up suspended over a raging torrent on a wrecked bridge with dangling rails. Mavis rescues him and even though it was her fault, she is forgiven and allowed to go down the line.
Fact: A lot of this story is untrue. Mavis was never restricted to the quarry, as Percy was still at the works following his predicament, and the "tightrope" incident was much, much darker. A pair of visiting Sentient Class 09 diesel shunters named Jasper and Horace lorded over Mavis, saying their class was superior to Mavis'. One day, they decided to prove their superiority over her and Toby by double heading a train whose length vastly exceeded safety limits. The combined weight of the train was enough to push them downhill, and the trucks, who greatly disliked the pair, made no attempt to help stop them. At the bridge, they managed to stop, and Horace was suspended over the rails. Jasper tried to pull him back, but the weight of the trucks was too much, and the rails gave way, sending Horace into the raging torrent. Jasper almost fell off, but he and the train were pulled to safety by a determined Mavis. Horace was found downstream; his driver was injured but alive, while Horace himself had practically been demolished by hitting several rocks, as well as the water pressure, but was somehow still alive. Both were grilled for their reckless actions, while Mavis was hailed as a hero and forgiven for the previous incident. After a 30-day stay in Railgate for reckless endangerment, Horace was converted into a cabless slug unit who was permanently coupled to Jasper, collectively becoming the first Class 13, and he and his brother gained disparaging nicknames from other engines: Splatter and Dodge. Both worked at Tinsley Marshalling Yard in Sheffield, before being given the Final Firing and scrapped in 1985.