Home

Rev W. Awdry 1911-97 (Jottings made from a reading of The Thomas the Tank Engine Man Brian Sibley The Story of the Reverend W. Awdry and his Really Useful Engines 1995) In the Beginning was the Word, But there was also a tunnel at Box, Where a young child christened Wilbert Lay awake in his bedroom, dreaming Of steam-coal railway conversations Between sleek express and workaday tank engines. Twenty-odd years later, in wartime, Wilbert reprised this conceit With stories to Christopher, His measles-stricken son, in 1943; Stories jotted down on odd bits of paper, With a devoted father’s drawings too – A format that Margaret thought worthy Of seeking some sort of publication, But relentless wartime austerity, And a national shortage of paper, Resulted in a series of rejections, Until a new...