RWS #7: Toby the Tram Engine

Meh, don't much to do at the moment. How's about a review featuring Sodor's resident tram engine?

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 #7

Toby the Tram Engine

Written by The Rev. W. Awdry

Illustrated by C. Reginald Dalby

Published 1952

After Henry rose from the ashes of his Flying Kipper accident, he's settled down once more on Sodor and works without any major problem. Meanwhile, far in East Anglia, a little tram engine and his faithful coach are struggling through tough times when they lose work, but when Thomas runs into bother with a policeman, can they save the day?

Dear Friends,
Poor Thomas has been in trouble. So Sir Topham Hatt asked Toby to come and help run the Branch Line. Thomas and Toby are very good friends.

Toby is a funny little engine with a queer shape. He works very hard and we are fond of him. We hope you will like him, too.
The Author

Toby and the Stout Gentleman

Season 1, Episode 21

Far away from Sodor, a little tram engine called Toby and his coach Henrietta are visited by a stout gentleman and his family. Months after the family's visit, Toby's line closes down and he fears the worst... or does he?

Regardless if he's losing work to the road vehicles (in spite of having more accidents than he does) or the fact that his line is closing down, you'll always show sympathy for Toby and Henrietta. The adaptation reveals that the stout gentleman is, in fact, the Fat Controller, which kind of spoils the next story. It's a simple, emotional tale, but there's jolliness when... well, I'll get to that in a bit.

RWS/TV Series Rating: 9 out of 10

Thomas in Trouble

Season 1, Episode 22

On one of his runs to Anopha Quarry, Thomas has a run-in with a trivial policeman, who considers him too dangerous to run up to the quarry. When the Fat Controller gets involved, he considers giving Thomas sideplates and cowcatchers, but the tank engine objects, claiming he'd look like a tram engine, which gives the Fat Controller an idea to buy Toby and rescue him.

This should go without saying; do not cheek a police officer, or you'll be in more trouble than you already are. Thomas already did that so you don't have to. :P Okay, onto the actual story itself; here, it reveals who the stout gentleman was in the last story (although for TV, we already knew who he was) and it brought a happy ending for Toby and Henrietta, and a happy beginning to a new life. I do like the funny moments in the episode, particularly when the Fat Controller mutters "Bother that telephone!" and when the policeman shouts "Oi! You!" ("Hey, you!" in George Carlin's narration)

RWS/TV Series Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Dirty Objects

Season 1, Episode 23

James is rude to Toby and Henrietta by calling them "dirty objects", but when Toby makes a snide retort about his bootlace incident, James is infuriated and his anger leads to trouble when the trucks push him too fast and he crashes into tar wagons.

One word to sum it up perfectly; catharsis. James was rude to Toby by calling him a dirty object, and when he lost focus on the trucks, he became dirty himself. This also showed that even if Toby was old, he would stand no nonsense and hold his ground. Not going to bother with how Toby knew of James' incident; I guess it's possible he heard of it from another engine. It's a great story, and one of my season one favorites.

RWS/TV Series Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas

One rainy December morning, Thomas is on one of his passenger runs when his crew sees a dressing gown waving from the Kyndleys' cottage window. It turns out that a bedridden Mrs. Kyndley had seen a landslide up ahead and waved it out the window to warn Thomas and his crew. To thank her for her service, the Fat Controller sends her to Bournemouth to get better in the sunshine.

This is the very first story so far never to be adapted for television (a flashback does not count, for the record) and I can't really see why. A lot of people say it should be the season one finale. I don't agree; Paint Pots and Queens should be the season one finale, and I'll get to why later. As for Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas, I would see it as part one of a Christmas special whilst Thomas' Christmas Party would be part two. Onto the story itself, it's actually very good; just a shame there wasn't any snow. Well, then again, does every Christmas have to be white?

Rating: 9 out of 10

Stray Observations

Throughout Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas, Thomas has a straight running plate as opposed to having a front dip. What is that all about? No wonder Awdry chose to alter Thomas' shape...

The character of Toby is inspired by an actual J70 that Wilbert and Christopher saw at Yarmouth in the early 1950s. And because they got to ride in the cab of said engine, Toby became Christopher's favorite character in the books. Just a shame that he'd been trashed in the TV series...

Overall

Toby is another of my favorite characters (not in my Top 25, but I still like him) and this book is a great way to introduce him. Kind of fitting since he's the NWR's number seven, and this is book seven of the Railway Series. It hits emotion in the right ways, and it's definitely another of my favorite books.

Overall Book Rating: 9 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
6. Henry the Green Engine: 8.4
7. Toby the Tram Engine: 9

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
18. Coal: 9
19. The Flying Kipper: 10
20. Whistles and Sneezes: 9.5
21. Toby and the Stout Gentleman: 9
22. Thomas in Trouble: 8.5
23. Dirty Objects: 9.5