RWS #5: Troublesome Engines

We now enter the 1950s with book five of the Railway Series!

THE OPINIONS, THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS IN THIS BLOG POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF ZACK WANZER, NOT THE THOMAS FANDOM IN GENERAL

(special thanks to the Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia for the images)

The Railway Series Book #5

Troublesome Engines

Written by The Rev. W. Awdry

Illustrated by C. Reginald Dalby

Published 1950

While Thomas may be enjoying himself on the Ffarquhar branchline, out on the mainline, things are not looking so good...

Dear Friends,

News from the Main Line has not been good. Sir Topham Hatt has been having trouble. A short while ago, he gave Henry a coat of green paint, but as soon as he got his old colour back again, Henry became conceited. Gordon and James, too, have been getting above themselves.

I am glad to say, however, that Sir Topham Hatt has, quite kindly but very firmly, put them in their place. And now the trains are running as usual.

I hope you will like meeting Percy. We shall be hearing more of him later.

The Author

Henry and the Elephant

Season 4, Episode 19

Ever since Thomas left to run his branchline, Henry, Gordon and James have been complaining about having to fetch their own coaches. After a circus comes to Sodor, Henry is sent to help clear a blockade in a tunnel, which turns out to be an elephant. When the elephant is fed by the workmen and given some water, Henry accidentally startles it, causing water to spray out all over him!

This should've stayed for season one because in the adaptation, Henry is in his new shape, the elephant incident was his reason to strike (I'll get to that in a bit), and Percy and Duck are already on Sodor. However, the way they filmed the elephant pushing the trucks and Henry out of the tunnel and the water spraying on Henry was fine work. I do like how Henry was repainted back to green, but more on that later. Definitely a good moral about taking care around animals; they're frightened of you as you are frightened of them. The adaptation is alright, but if was part of season one, then the rating would be higher.

RWS Rating: 8.5 out of 10
TV Series Rating: 7 out of 10

Tenders and Turntables

Season 1, Episode 15

A bad-tempered Gordon has trouble with a turntable, and is forced to pull his next train tender-first. James laughs at him, but gets his comeuppance when he spins out of control on the turntable. Fed up with being laughingstocks, the mainline engines vote for going on strike.

In the adaptation, because Henry and the Elephant wasn't made first, Henry had no reason to strike; he simply jumped the bandwagon. The rest of the adaptation is fine for the most part, and it's quite clever in the illustrations to show the effect that James was spinning. Same thing in the adaptation; they must've looped the footage and sped it up to show that he was spinning really fast.

RWS Rating: 8 out of 10
TV Series Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Trouble in the Shed

Season 1, Episode 16

When the big engines refuse to fetch their coaches themselves, Edward is called in to help, but when he's met with hostility, the Fat Controller brings in a new tank engine called Percy. After he shuts up the big engines in the shed, the Fat Controller has Thomas and Edward working the mainline while Percy runs the branchline.

If you don't know what the big engines mean by saying Edward had "black wheels", they mean that Edward was being a "blackleg", someone who continues to work during a strike. I think it's a bit hypocritical from James since HE has black wheels. It was also a good way to introduce Percy to Sodor; he's my third favorite character behind Thomas and Emily. The moral is also very good; do as you're told. Since both adaptation and story are of similar quality, I think they deserve the same rating.

RWS/TV Series Rating: 8 out of 10

Percy Runs Away

Season 1, Episode 17

The Fat Controller lets the big engines out when they promise to behave and do their work without question. Thomas goes for a run with Annie and Clarabel whilst Edward takes empty trucks to the quarry, leaving Percy alone. Unfortunately, his carelessness nearly results in a collision between him and Gordon, and the little green engine runs away before hitting a bank.

I've always liked Percy in the classic seasons; he could be a naive engine at times, but he wasn't stupid by trying to make friends with animals or looking for monsters outside of a specific location. Not much to say here other than it's a good closure to the book with an equally good moral; take care in strange places.

RWS/TV Series Rating: 8 out of 10

Stray Observations

Around the time the book was being written, there had been labor difficulties on British Railways. Although in the case of the book, the ENGINES were on strike, NOT the drivers and firemen.

In the second illustration of Henry and the Elephant, Henry was painted back in blue alongside Gordon. Which one is which, I wonder? Plus, some kids thought GORDON was painted green, and that must've been the straw that broke the camel's back for Awdry, as we'll see in the next book.

Is that Henry or is it Gordon's twin brother that we've never heard of?

Wilbert Awdry and his family can be seen watching Percy in the third illustration of Percy Runs Away. Are they time travelers or something?

What are you doing here, Christopher, Veronica, and Hilary? You're not supposed to be born until the 1940s, and your parents aren't meant to be married until 1938! Do you in a locomotive-shaped TARDIS or something?

Not more generic engines! Seriously, what are the workshop engines meant to be based upon? (See the illustration above for Trouble in the Shed.)

Overall

Another fairly good book on the whole. There are several oddities that can create minor distractions, and it was the first book to reflect on the real world; there's many more of that style to come.

Overall Book Rating: 8.1 out of 10

The Railway Series Scorecard

1. The Three Railway Engines: 8.4

2. Thomas the Tank Engine: 9
3. James the Red Engine: 7.5
4. Tank Engine Thomas Again: 9.5
5. Troublesome Engines: 8.1

Thomas and Friends Season 1 Scorecard

1. Thomas and Gordon: 9.5

2. Edward and Gordon: 8.5

3. The Sad Story of Henry: 8

4. Edward, Gordon and Henry: 9

5. Thomas' Train: 8.5

6. Thomas and the Trucks: 9

7. Thomas and the Breakdown Train: 9
8. James and the Coaches: 8.5
9. Troublesome Trucks: 9
10. James and the Express: 8.5
11. Thomas and the Guard: 9
12. Thomas Goes Fishing: 9.5
13. Thomas, Terence and the Snow: 9.5
14. Thomas and Bertie: 10
15. Tenders and Turntables: 7.5
16. Trouble in the Shed: 8
17. Percy Runs Away: 8

Thomas and Friends Season 4 Scorecard
19. Henry and the Elephant: 7