I was inspired by reading about Rev Awdry and the first two books in the Railway Series. How he eventually wrote the stories after telling them to Christopher, especially when he had measles etc; Thomas really first appears in the second book. Thomas to me, was/still is a great metaphor for how we have to bide our time for our chance to get in the team, get on the road/train/plane etc. To break free and be what we long and want to be in an Incredible String Band Gandhi type way
It’s written to the rhythm of the train in ‘From A Railway Carriage’ by R.L Stevenson (1885) which my grandmother used to read to me and which follows the poem; I’m sure you know it well).
Crispin
Thomas The Tank Legend
Thomas the legend where do we start ?
drove his blue train into the heart
Thomas the engine never will fade
how did he get here where was he made ?
the person who made him lived in this place
gave us a hero a smile on his face
to Awdry and Christopher trains were alive
characters breathing burning with life
Wilbert loved trains so did his son
when he had measles stories were spun
first there were Edward, Henry and Gordon
crowds on the platforms waiting there for them
children all waved whenever they saw them
railway enthusiasts loved and adored them
three railway engines* chugging along
pulling those coaches singing their song
huffing and puffing their smoke to the sky
rivers and fields went thundering by
Thomas was diff’rent Thomas had plans
Thomas was dreaming of racing the land
Thomas just longed to get out there one day
stuck at the station they kept him at bay
but Thomas was cheeky and painted in blue
did what they told him the way engines do
finally one day the moment arrived
Thomas the Tank Engine burst into life .,…..
2.
… endless adventures out on the tracks
off in the morning and all the way back
short stumpy boiler short stumpy funnel
six little wheels steam though the tunnel
past all the stations the guards and the porters
past all the grown ups their sons and their daughters
past all the villages past all the towns
past all the passengers waiting around
on past the trees on a long winding track
past all the places until he was back
back to the station back to his home
back to the place and the life that he’d known
when we’re all little it’s new and it’s true
longing and yearning of what we can do
there on the platform ready to go
dreaming of going to where we don’t know
to Awdry and Christopher trains were alive
characters breathing burning with life
’cause Wilbert loved trains and so did his son
when he had measles stories were spun
tales of an engine who fought to be free
longing for something like you and like me
taking his chance with his face on the train
something about him you cannot explain
smiling with joy as he climbed up the hill
and that’s why the children all love him now still
c Crispin Thomas April 2025 (*Three Railways Engines: First Thomas The Tank Engine book).
From A Railway Carriage
Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle,
All through the meadows the horses and cattle:
All of the sights of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick as the driving rain;
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle on by.
Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,
All by himself and gathering brambles;
Here is a boy who stands and gazes;
And there is the grass all covered in daisies
Here is a cart run away in the road
Lumping along with a man and his load;
And here is a mill and there is a river:
Each a glimpse and gone for ever!
Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle,
All through the meadows the horses and cattle:
Robert Louis Stevenson
From A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885)