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Fact vs. Fiction: Volume Two
Written by BNSF1995
Proofread, Corrected and Complied 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.
But, without further ado, let's begin. For Volume Two, we shall be discussing Books 27 – 42 of The Railway Series, written by Christopher Awdry.
Really Useful Engines
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Stop Thief!
Fiction: The guard tells Thomas' crew that the stationmaster's house was burgled the previous night and his gardening trophies and new car were stolen. Thomas is later puffing through the valley when he sees a car very much like the stationmaster's one and warns his crew, who identify the driver and passenger as the thieves. At the next signal box, they throw the fireman's lunch box, with a note inside, to a signalman. The thieves are stopped at a roadblock, the trophies and car are recovered undamaged and the Fat Controller arrives at Ffarquhar to congratulate Thomas and his crew.
Fact: This story is factual.
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Mind That Bike
Fiction: Tom Tipper the postman falls ill and when he recovers, he discovers that his van has been replaced with a bicycle. When he gets to Ffarquhar, Tom is asked to fill in some papers, so he props his bicycle carefully against the fence and asks Percy to keep an eye on it. A boy comes along and starts riding the bike just as Percy starts. The boy falls off and manages to get out of the way, but the bike is run over and destroyed. Luckily, all ends well as Tom is given his van again.
Fact: The reason Tom's van had been replaced with a bicycle was because of budget cuts within Sodor Mail, which was, at the time, fending off a takeover attempt from Royal Mail. The rest of the story is factual.
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Fish
Fiction: An extra load of fish needs to be transported in the Flying Kipper, but the only vans available are several old rusty ones. At Wellsworth, Henry calls for a banker, and Duck arrives to help him with his train. Going up Gordon's Hill, however, a tail-lamp falls off, and Duck drops behind. Henry soon slows down and Duck collides with the vans, denting his funnel and boiler.
Fact: The banker for the Flying Kipper that night was Chloe, not Duck. The story is factual, otherwise, but not mentioned was that the yardmaster at Knapford Harbour got in hot water for not having a brake van put on the rear.
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Triple-Header
Fiction: One day after pulling the Express, Gordon feels tired and Thomas replies by telling him to become a tank engine. Later, it is discovered that Gordon needs new tubes. Henry is told to pull the Express, but one day he gets sick too. Thomas, Percy, and Duck are the only engines available, so they are coupled up. On Gordon's Hill, Percy runs out of steam. They are unable to uncouple him, so they try to struggle to the Works. Duck breaks down just outside the station and Thomas, unable to take the train himself, stops. Gordon, who watched the whole scene from his siding, makes heavy breathing noises at Thomas.
Fact: The first part did not happen, as Thomas is, as mentioned many times in the past, not cheeky. The reason Thomas, Percy, and Duck had to triple-head the train was because James and Molly were needed on the stopping passenger services, Lizzie was in the works for inspection, and Ruby and Yang were needed on goods work. The rest of the story checks out.
James and the Diesel Engines
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Old Stuck-Up
Fiction: BoCo is showing a visiting diesel around the line. When the diesel finds he is to share the shed with steam locomotives, he is disgusted and insults them, leading James to nickname him "Old Stuck-Up". The diesel sleeps outside the shed and when he wakes up the next day, remembers he has to refuel and be cleaned. In the part of the shed where BoCo and Bear sleep is a cleaning stop. The diesel decides to use it, but goes forward too quickly, slips on the oily tracks and crashes into the back of the shed. After a stern talking to by the Fat Controller for insulting the North Western Railway, the diesel then goes home in disgrace.
Fact: This story is factual and takes place in mid-1983. "Old Stuck-Up" was a Class 40, 40 125, and his real name was Bartholomew (or Bart). He was given the Final Firing and scrapped in December of that year, as he had no other option after being withdrawn.
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Crossed Lines
Fiction: The engines are fed up with James' complaining about diesels having two cabs and boasting about his importance. He becomes worse than ever when he has to shunt a goods train one misty day. James has to whistle to alert the signalman to switch the points, but another engine whistles first and the confused signalman switches the points as a well wagon is going over them, causing it to go sideways into a signal, knocking it down in the process. Despite the fact that the accident was not James' fault, the Fat Controller speaks to him severely about it since it was an inconvenient loss.
Fact: The actual incident was much more mundane. James had long since grown out of boasting about his supposed importance, but still complained about diesels having two cabs, mainly because he was creeped out by their ability to move their faces to the other end "as if by magic". James also didn't complain about having to shunt, having learned his lesson after the Strike of '34. The incident with the well wagon did happen, but Sir Stephen Hatt (who had become controller of the North Western Region in 1983) did not speak severely to James at all.
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Fire-Engine
Fiction: During a discussion about paint one night, Henry remarks he is thankful he does not look like a fire-engine, like James, but James makes a crafty reply, and the joke turns to Henry. Henry, furious, broods overpaying James out and bangs around so much that the coupling on his tender breaks, causing him to be separated from his tender. Because they cannot get any more water, the crew is forced to throw out Henry's fire onto the line, but the sleepers start to catch fire. Edward comes to take Henry's train and tells the others later that day. Henry is given a temporary coupling to his tender and James notes that he has never made rude comments about fire engines since.
Fact: This story is factual.
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Deep Freeze
Fiction: One wintry day, James takes on too much water at Crovan's Gate, which makes the water overflow on his filler-cap and freeze it, causing his injector to fail. A diesel comes to the rescue and although James feels humiliated at first, he quickly befriends the diesel and has since never made fun of diesels.
Fact: This story is factual, except the identity of the "Works Diesel" was intentionally left vague. The engine who rescued James was Penny, but the illustration implied it was Geoff. This was because Penny specifically requested NOT to be depicted in any media in any form (this was why HiT Entertainment created Victor).
Great Little Engines
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Patience is a Virtue
Fiction: Sir Handel is delighted to have been chosen to visit the Talyllyn Railway but cannot leave until Duke's restoration has been completed. When summer comes, Sir Handel's trains become longer. One day at the waterfall there are not enough coaches and some passengers have to crowd in Beatrice. Sir Handel becomes impatient waiting for the guard to check all the tickets, and when he can finally go Sir Handel leaves without the guard. Luckily, a passenger presses Beatrice's emergency buzzer and Sir Handel realizes his mistake. Sir Handel collects the guard and races home, and arrives at Crovan's Gate on time, where the guard reminds him "patience is a virtue".
Fact: This story is 99% fiction. Falcon never went to the Talyllyn Railway, as the actual TR is much smaller than the Skarloey Railway. The incident depicted did happen, but it occurred because Falcon had a relief driver who was impatient and took control of him.
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Peter Sam and the Prickly Problem
Fiction: With Duke fully restored, Sir Handel leaves for the Talyllyn Railway. Meanwhile, men have been trimming bushes so the passengers can see the scenery, but Rusty does not have enough time to pick up the branches and so they remain where they are. One day, Peter Sam sees some branches on the line, and, not wanting to miss James' train, recklessly ploughs through. Unfortunately, they become jammed in his valve gear and although the worst is cut out Peter Sam's front feels very sore for several days afterwards.
Fact: This story is 100% factual.
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Pop-Special
Fiction: Some boy scouts are camping near the Skarloey Railway and the scoutmaster arranges for them to do work on the line. One sweltering day, Duncan is stopped by the scoutmaster; the scouts are in need of some soda and he is afraid they will become cross if they do not get some. The Refreshment Lady has run out of soda, but another tea-shop has enough to spare, and Duncan delivers it to the grateful scouts.
Fact: Again, this story is 100% factual.
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Sir Handel Comes Home
Fiction: Sir Handel returns from the Talyllyn Railway and tells the engines about his adventures. Some members of the royal family came to visit during his stay, and although Sir Handel did not get to pull their train he did get to pull a party of wedding guests. When Peter Sam talks about his incident with the branches, Sir Handel remembers a similar incident: he was puffing to Nant Gwernol when a fallen tree hit him in the face. Although his eye was not badly hurt, his crew made a huge fuss about it and even went so far as to bandage his eye and give him an eyepatch. Sir Handel loved his trip but is glad to be home.
Fact: Another completely-fictional story based on an incident on the Talyllyn Railway.
More About Thomas the Tank Engine
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Thomas, Percy, and the Coal
Fiction: Thomas brags that blue is the only proper colour for a Really Useful Engine. Next day, Percy is shunting when the door on a coal truck opens and coal dust covers Thomas. Thomas and Percy are furious at one another, and the argument gets worse and worse. Several days later, Percy goes to get a drink but collides with a coal bunker, much to Thomas' delight.
Fact: This story is 100% fictional, and the real Thomas and Percy were rather offended by their childish depiction.
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The Runaway
Fiction: One day, Thomas wakes up feeling ill, so Duck looks after his branch line while he is being mended. When Thomas returns from the Works, his brakes are left stiff. One day, a "relief" fireman forgets to put Thomas' brakes on and Thomas starts off. Although an inspector tries to stop Thomas at Dryaw, Thomas is going too fast and Harold takes the inspector to Toryreck. Annie and Clarabel hold back so the inspector can leap aboard and stop Thomas.
Fact: This is the one story in this book that is not fictional. In fact, it's pretty much seeped in fact.
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Better Late Than Never
Fiction: The arches on the Viaduct need strengthening and the big engines are late at Knapford to meet up with Thomas. One day, Bertie teases Thomas that he could beat him in a race - something Thomas vehemently denies. James later holds Thomas up, but just outside the tunnel, Thomas sees Bertie broken down. Thomas offers to help Bertie's passengers home, and the next day Bertie comes to Ffarquhar to thank Thomas.
Fact: The summer of 1982 did see the arches on the Hawin Ab Viaduct being strengthened to accommodate BR's newer, heavier rolling stock. Until they were strengthened, Mark 2 carriages were forbidden from running west of Cronk. Thomas never viewed the viaduct repairs as an "excuse for laziness", but rather, he was upset that BR had chosen the busy summer season to repair the viaduct, rather than the slow February months. The rest of the story is true.
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Drip Tank
Fiction: Percy wants to make amends with Thomas, but when he gets scratched by a branch, Thomas is rude and Percy decides against it. Later, Percy asks Toby what a drip is, having heard a boy call his friend one at the platform, but Thomas interrupts and calls Percy a drip. Thomas soon gets his comeuppance when his side rod snaps and punctures his water tank on his way home. When Percy goes to help him, Thomas feels ashamed and apologises to Percy, thus mending their friendship.
Fact: This story is not only 100% fictional, but controversial. As the term "drip" is considered offensive, not only did Britt Allcroft not adapt it for the television series (ironic, given that this book's purpose was to provide material for the TV series), Christopher Awdry was personally ashamed of it, and had to go to Sodor to apologize to Thomas and Percy when they threatened to go on strike over what they viewed as "malicious slander".
More to come in the near future...