Thomas and Gordon Off the Rails

by W. Awdry

4 New Look Thomas Storybooks! Following from the success of these fantastic storybooks, Egmont Books are re-launching these existing Thomas titles into a new format complete with a spine and embossed cover. Each title contains a story featuring Thomas and his friends which are ideal for parents and children to share together. Children will want to collect all 4, and they are key titles to have within the Thomas range.

24 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Wilbert Vere Awdry, OBE, better known as the Rev. W. Awdry, was an English clergyman, railway enthusiast and children's author, and creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, who starred in Awdry's acclaimed Railway Series.

The characters that would make Awdry famous, and the first stories featuring them, were invented in 1943 to amuse his son Christopher during a bout of measles. The first book (The Three Railway Engines) was published in 1945, and by the time Awdry stopped writing in 1972, The Railway Series numbered 26 books. Christopher subsequently added further books to the series.

Reviews

[Jack Kirby and the X-man · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stating the author is W. Awdry is stretching it a bit. He wrote Gordon the Big Engine which contained versions of these two stories. Then Britt Allcroft and David Mitton adapted the stories to become "Off The Rails" (Season 1, Episode 24) and "Down The Mine" (Season 1, Episode 25). These were both pretty good episodes. The story was then adapted, and siginficatly simplified to become this book.

Frankly I'd skip all the adaptions and simply read Gordon the Big Engine