Thomas the Tank Engine with Moving Eyes

Meet Thomas

Thomas is a blue six-wheeled (0-6-0 Tank) steam engine with the number 1 painted on his side tanks.  Thomas first appeared in 1946 in the 2nd book in Reverend Wilbert Awdry’s The Railway Series, entitled ‘Thomas the Tank Engine,’ and he is the principal character in the 4 stories contained in the book. Thomas’s best friends are Percy and Toby.  He works on a branch line with his coaches Annie and Clarabel.

All of the locomotives in The Railway Series are based on real historical engines; Thomas has a resemblance to the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway’s E2 class of 0-6-0 tank designed by Lawson Billinton in 1913.