The Railway Stories

The Railway Stories are a series of audio adaptations of The Railway Series books by Rev. W Awdry.

Original Recordings (Delysé)

The first stories were narrated by Johnny Morris and released in the early 1960's by the Delysé Recording Company. Each 7" (45rpm) vinyl record contained two stories, taken from the first eight books of The Railway Series.

The front of the record sleeve showed an original illustration from the story in the original book. While on the back, there was a list of the other recordings in "The Railway Engine Series", together with an introduction from the Rev. Awdry himself:

My father was a railway enthusiast and brought me up accordingly. Our home at Box, Wiltshire, was near the Great Western main line and listening to heavy freights clawing up the grade it was not hard to imagine train engine and banker talking to each other, and for me, steam engines developed personality.

So when my son caught measles at the age of three I told him these stories to amuse him. They were not written down at first, I made them up as I went along. But I had to tell them so often, carefully using the same words, that both he and I soon knew them by heart.

It was only later, at my wife's suggestion, that I wrote them down, so that other children besides our own might have pleasure from them too. (Rev. W. Awdry)

The label on the record was also quite distinctive, showing a smiling red engine on a blue/white background. The label was carefully designed so that the record player spindle fitted through the engine's 'nose'! No attempt had been made to make the engine look like one of those from the stories.

Record Details

Stories from Book 1 - The Three Railway Engines:

• DEL101 (196x) - 1. Edward's Day Out, 2. Edward and Gordon
• DEL102 (196x) - 1. The Sad Story of Henry, 2. Edward, Gordon and Henry

Stories from Book 2 - Thomas the Tank Engine:

• DEL103 (196x) - 1. Thomas and Gordon, 2. Thomas's Train
• DEL104 (196x) - 1. Thomas and the Trucks, 2. Thomas and the Breakdown Train

Stories from Book 3 - James the Red Engine:

• DEL114 (196x) - 1. James and the Top Hat, 2. James and the Bootlace
• DEL115 (196x) - 1. Troublesome Trucks, 2. James and the Express

Stories from Book 4 - Tank Engine Thomas Again:

• DEL137 (196x) - 1. Thomas and the Guard, 2. Thomas Goes Fishing
• DEL138 (196x) - 1. Thomas, Terence and the Snow, 2. Thomas and Bertie

Stories from Book 5 - Troublesome Engines :

• DEL142 (196x) - 1. Henry and the Elephant, 2. Tenders and Turntables
• DEL143 (196x) - 1. Trouble in the Shed, 2. Percy Runs Away

Stories from Book 6 - Henry the Green Engine:

• DEL150 (196x) - 1. Coal, 2. The Flying Kipper
• DEL151 (196x) - 1. Gordon's Whistle, 2. Henry's Sneeze

Stories from Book 7 - Toby the Tram Engine:

• DEL152 (196x) - 1. Toby and the Stout Gentleman, 2. Thomas in Trouble
• DEL153 (196x) - 1. Dirty Objects, 2. Mrs Kindley's Christmas

Stories from Book 8 - Gordon the Big Engine:

• DEL154 (196x) - 1. Off the Rails, 2. Leaves
• DEL155 (196x) - 1. Down the Mine, 2. Paint Pots and Queens

Later Releases (Decca)

In the 1970s the stories were released on 12" (33⅓rpm) vinyl albums by Decca Records as part of their "World of Children's Stories" series.

The albums were later released on audio cassette under the Argo label. (Recordings were produced by Peter Johnson ('Peterjohn Productions'); Kaye & Ward Ltd and Third Man Music were identified as owning the works.)

The first eight books were again narrated by Johnny Morris (perhaps Decca had become owners of the original Delysé recordings?). He was later replaced by Willie Rushton, who narrated Edward the Blue Engine through to Tramway Engines. The Johnny Morris LPs were identified as 'Volume 1' to 'Volume 4'; while the Willie Rushton recordings omitted any 'Volume' identity on the front cover. For clarity, the recording details below have been identified by volume numbers, regardless of whether these were shown on the sleeve.

Volume 1: DECCA MONO PA 270 (1972)

• Narrator: Johnny Morris

Side 1 (from Book 1: The Three Railway Engines)

1. Edward's Day Out
2. Edward and Gordon
3. The Sad Story of Henry
4. Edward, Gordon and Henry

Side 2 (from Book 2: Thomas the Tank Engine)

1. Thomas and Gordon
2. Thomas's Train
3. Thomas and the Trucks
4. Thomas and the Breakdown Train

Volume 2: DECCA MONO PA 271 (1972)

• Narrator: Johnny Morris

Side 1 (from Book 3: James the Red Engine)

1. James and the Top Hat
2. James and the Bootlace
3. Troublesome Trucks
4. James and the Express

Side 2 (from Book 4: Tank Engine Thomas Again)

1. Thomas and the Guard
2. Thomas Goes Fishing
3. Thomas, Terence and the Snow
4. Thomas and Bertie

Volume 3: DECCA MONO PA 272 (1972)

• Narrator: Johnny Morris

Side 1 (from Book 5: Troublesome Engines)

1. Henry and the Elephant
2. Tenders and Turntables
3. Trouble in the Shed
4. Percy Runs Away

Side 2 (from Book 6: Henry the Green Engine)

1. Coal
2. The Flying Kipper
3. Gordon’s Whistle
4. Henry’s Sneeze

(The book Henry the Green Engine was unique in the series by having five stories rather than four.
For the recording, it was the fourth story "Percy and the Trousers" which was omitted.)

Volume 4: DECCA MONO PA 273 (1972)

• Narrator: Johnny Morris

Side 1 (from Book 7: Toby the Tram Engine)

1. Toby and the Stout Gentleman
2. Thomas in Trouble
3. Dirty Objects
4. Mrs Kindley's Christmas

Side 2 (from Book 8: Gordon the Big Engine)

1. Off the Rails
2. Leaves
3. Down the Mine
4. Paint Pots and Queens

Volume 5: ARGO STEREO LP - SPA 559 (19xx), Cassette - KCSP 559 (1979)

• Narrator: William Rushton

Side 1 (from Book 9: Edward the Blue Engine)

1. Cows
2. Bertie's Chase
3. Saved from Scrap
4. Old Iron

Side 2 (from Book 10: Four Little Engines)

1. Skarloey Remembers
2. Sir Handel
3. Peter Sam & The Refreshment Lady
4. Old Faithful

Volume 6: ARGO STEREO LP - SPA 560 (19xx)

• Narrator: William Rushton

Side 1 (from Book 11: Percy the Small Engine)

Side 2 (from Book 12: The Eight Famous Engines)

Volume 7: ARGO STEREO LP - SPA 561 (19xx)

• Narrator: William Rushton

Side 1 (from Book 13: Duck and the Diesel Engine)

Side 2 (from Book 14: The Little Old Engine)

Current Release (BBC)

A new Railway Stories recording was released on CD by BBC Audiobooks in March 2006. It contained adaptations of the first three Railway Series books, and was narrated by Michael Angelis. The cover artwork featured a picture of Thomas from the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends TV series.

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Marks & Spencer - 'The Railway Stories' Books

In the 1980's, Octopus Books published several paperbacks containing stories from The Railway Series for Marks & Spencer, under their "St Michael" label. Unhelpfully (for the purposes of this article), the series was also titled: The Railway Stories.

Each book contained all the stories from three of The Railway Series books using the original text and illustrations. The book format was different from the original books: a more conventional 'portrait' shape, with a picture on each page above its text. The cover background was a distinctive 'brick' pattern. The Rev. W. Awdry was identified as author, but the preface to each book was omitted.

Curiously, only six of the first eight books of the series were covered; the two books omitted being the two specifically about Thomas. This choice could not have been influenced by the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends TV series, whose first season covered the same eight books, as the programme was not aired until two years later.

Two books were published:

• Vol 1 (1982)
  • The Three Railway Engines
  • James the Red Engine
  • Troublesome Engines

• Vol 2 (1982) - ISBN 0862730546
  • Henry the Green Engine
  • Toby the Tram Engine
  • Gordon the Big Engine

The books were available individually, or as a boxed set (of two).

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