When did Count István Tisza de Borosjenő et Szeged die?

Count István Tisza de Borosjenő et Szeged (archaically English: Stephen Tisza; 22 April 1861 – 31 October 1918) was a Hungarian politician, prime minister, political scientist and member of Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The prominent event in his life was Austria-Hungary's entry into the First World War when he was prime minister for the second time. He was later assassinated during the Aster Revolution on 31 October 1918 - the same day that Hungary terminated its political union with Austria. Tisza supported the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary and was representative of the then "liberal-conservative consent".

István Tisza

He had been a Member of Parliament since 1887 and had had abundant opportunities to see how the unyielding temper of the Emperor on the one hand, and the revolutionary spirit of the extremists on the other, were leading to a complete impasse. He himself supported the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. A social reactionary to the end, Tisza stubbornly opposed on principle the break-up of the large landed estates as well as even the most modest reform proposals that would have granted the suffrage to soldiers fighting at the front (before 1918 only 10% of the Hungarian population could vote and hold office). However, in economic affairs, he tended to be a modernizer who encouraged and supported industrialization and, in that respect, he was an opponent of anti-Semitism, which he feared could jeopardize Hungary's economic development. Among the Hungarian political leaders, Tisza was the most zealous adherent of Dualism and the partnership with Austria.

Tisza's role model was Otto von Bismarck. As an economist, he followed the concepts of the English historical school of economics, as a lawyer and political scientist, Tisza favored the societal and political development of England, which he considered as the "ideal way of development".

István Tisza was the son of Kálmán Tisza de Borosjenő, prime minister of Hungary between 1875–1890 from the Liberal Party. The Tiszas were originally a Calvinist untitled lower nobility (regarded as equivalent to the British gentry). His mother, Ilona Degenfeld-Schomburg, was a Hungarian-German aristocrat from Baden-Württemberg (born: Helene Johanna Josepha Mathilde Gräfin von Degenfeld-Schonburg).

The young Stephen raised in a puritanical and authoritarian Calvinist environment with high expectations. Stephen has studied at home until the age of twelve, then he entered the Calvinist Gymnasium (a college-preparatory school) of Debrecen. Tisza took legal studies in Budapest, international law in Heidelberg University, economics in Humboldt University of Berlin, where he received PHD, and political science in Oxford University, where he received a doctorate in political science.

He then took care of the family land at Bihar County and Geszt for five years. He won his first parliamentary electoral mandate in 1886 with the Liberal Party in Vízakna (Now: Ocna Sibiului, Romania), a Transylvanian electoral district, and he represented the district until 1892. He won his second seat in 1892 as representative of Újbánya district (Now: Nová Baňa, Slovakia). In 1896 he won the seat of Ugra district (Now: Ungra, Romania) and he became also a member of the economic committee of Hungarian parliament, where he plunged himself into the macroeconomic discussions.

In the 1890s he served a number of sinecures which provided extraordinary income, a common situation among prestigious European politicians of the time. He was the president of the Hungarian Industrial and Commercial Bank (Magyar Ipar- és Kereskedelmi Bank) and was a member of the boards of numerous joint-stock companies and industrial enterprises. Despite the financial crisis of the 1890s, under his control many of these enterprises became the fastest emerging companies of the realm, some of them became unavoidable enterprises in their own sectors. His instructions and rule transformed the mediocre Hungarian Industrial and Commercial Bank into the largest Bank of Hungary within a decade.

His uncle, the childless Lajos Tisza received the title of Count from Emperor Franz Joseph in 1897. However, Lajos Tisza conferred his new title on his nephew Stephen with the consent of the Monarch.

In this period he managed to get the remains of Francis II Rákóczi repatriated from Turkey and interred in the cathedral of Kassa, today Košice. The Parliament approved the increase of conscriptees. As the minister of Internal Affairs he aggressively silenced the railway workers strike in 1904. The organisers were arrested and the strikers were recruited into the army. The police crushed a Socialist gathering for peasants in Bihar, leaving 33 dead and several hundred wounded.

Tisza often used his influence in parliament to grant titles to wealthy Jewish families, especially successful industrialists and bankers, and set them and their success as an example for the people. Many families of young middle class were Jews or baptized Jews. Tisza often gathered influential men of Jewish extraction to advise him. He even offered many positions in his cabinet to Jews. His first appointment was Samu Hazai. Two years later he picked János Teleszky as minister of finance. The third Jewish member of his cabinet was János Harkányi, minister of trade. Tisza appointed Samu Hazai as Minister of War during his second premiere. They all served for the duration of Tisza's seven years in office. His philosemitic political attitude made him a target of anti-Semite politicians and political circles.

During the era, only 54.5% (1910 census) of the population of kingdom of Hungary considered themselves as Hungarians. Tisza's party (The Liberal Party of Hungary) urgently needed the support of minorities to maintain the majority of the party in the Hungarian parliament. The liberal party was the most popular political force in the electoral districts where the ethnic minorities represented the local majority. However his main political opponents (The nationalist Party of Independence and '48 and Catholic People's Party) could collect mandates only from the Hungarian majority electoral districts.

He passed a modification to the rules of the House of Parliament on 18 November 1904 to crush the obstruction of the opposition. In earlier era, the members of the parliament had unrestricted time to give speech or talk in the parliament.

From the first his ministry was exposed to the most unscrupulous opposition, exacerbated by the new and stringent rules of procedure which Tisza felt it his duty to introduce if any business were to be done. The motion for their introduction was made by the deputy Gábor Daniel, supported by the premier, and after scenes of unheard-of obstruction and violence (November 16–18) the speaker, in the midst of an ear-splitting tumult, declared that the new regulations had been adopted by the house, and produced a royal message suspending the session. But the Andrássy group, immediately afterwards, separated from the Liberal Party, and the rest of the year the Opposition made the legislation impossible. By January 1905 the situation had become ex lex or anarchical. Tisza stoutly stood by his rules, on the ground that this was a case in which the form must be sacrificed to the substance of parliamentary government.

Dezső Perczel, the President of the House, called for immediate voting on the modification. It is not clear what exactly happened, but some sources say that the Speaker of the House of Parliament waved a handkerchief, signalling for the governing party to vote "yes"; this act later became known as the "election by handkerchief", which became a large scandal and, as a consequence, Kálmán Széll and Gyula Andrássy left the Liberal Party and the opposition unified into the "Federal Opposition".
The political powers polarised and in new elections the 30 years of governing by the Liberal Party was ended, with the side effect that the party was dissolved.

After the defeat in the 1905 elections, Tisza only took part in the operations of the House of Parliament, staying away from political struggles. However, his political opponent the governing Independence and '48 Party was unable to withhold positions to protect the interests of Hungary so it resigned on 25 April 1909.

On 19 February 1910, Tisza established the National Party of Work (Nemzeti Munkapárt) which subsequently won the election of 1910. He did not desire to form a government, primarily due to his conflict with Franz Ferdinand who sought to centralise the Habsburg Monarchy with universal suffrage. Tisza opposed this initiative, as he believed that this would lead to the weakening of the Magyar supremacy over ethnic minorities in Hungary. In addition, he claimed "demagogues (i.e. Communists and agrarian socialist movements) would manipulate peasants with the majority of the votes to put in power such groups whose aims are against democracy, supported by the urban intellectuals". Tisza was supported by Franz Josef, but he feared a repeat of the faults of his first prime ministry and thus called for Károly Khuen-Héderváry to form the new government.

As Speaker of the House of Representatives from 22 May 1912 to 12 June 1913 Tisza supported the reform of the common Austro-Hungarian army to enhance the military power of the dual monarchy. The Hungarian side was fighting for more Hungarian interests (i.e. use of the Magyar language in the army). The Socialists strongly opposed his acts and organised a rebellion on 22 May 1912 (Blood-Red Thursday), calling for Tisza to resign as President of the House and calling for universal suffrage.

Tisza tried to solve the question of ethnic minorities based on a clerical approach (like the representation of Orthodox and Greek Catholic Church in The Upper House of the parliament).

He was convinced that the challenging foreign situation called for military preparation and he strongly pushed against opposition obstruction. He did not allow the opposition to speak up regarding rules of House of Parliament. Referring to an act of 1848, he called for the police force to force out numerous opposition representatives. He managed to pass the Act of Protection, resulting in the removal of some members of the opposition party.

As a result, Gyula Kovács, an opposition party representative, tried to assassinate Tisza in the Parliament Building on 7 June 1912. His shots missed and the marks are still visible in the Hungarian Parliament Building to this day. With his last shot Kovács shot himself, but he survived. Tisza then continued the session.

Tisza became prime minister again on 7 June 1913. During this period of international insecurity, he wanted to solidify the government. During this period, he appointed Baron Stephan Burián von Rajecz who planned to increase the prestige of the monarchy and to get parity with Germany but also to negotiate peace with the help of the Americans. He would fail in the latter, after Germany announced in 1916 that it intended to start full submarine warfare, leading the US to prepare for war.

Inspired by the Western European model, Tisza's cabinet introduced first time the legal category of defamation, libel and "scare-mongering" in the history of Hungarian journalism, thus the press became actionable before the courts. Journalists and newspapers had to pay compensations for the victims of defamation and libel. Despite these institutions and laws worked well in Western Europe and in the United States, the contemporary Hungarian newspapers and journalists considered it as the violation of the Freedom of Speech and the Freedom of Press.

A few days before the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, which resulted in World War I, Tisza supported a strong stand against Serbia. However, after the assassination he was against going to war against Serbia, a rare view in Austria-Hungary. He knew the army's strength, and he was afraid that with the increase of more Slavic territories the equilibrium inside the monarchy would be upset. Moreover, he was afraid that Romania would attack Transylvania. The loss of the alliance with the German Empire would have meant the end of Austria-Hungary as a Great Power, so he gave in and supported the war. He then became a relentless supporter of the war until its end.

Tisza believed Romania to be an enemy from the beginning. He was afraid that if Romania attacked Hungary then the Romanians in Transylvania would revolt against Hungary. In the end, 40,000 soldiers were moved to protect Transylvania.

During the war, the reformists became more and more powerful, but he continued to oppose them. At the time, Tisza was seen as forcing the continuation of the war and was losing a great deal of support. He opposed the ideas of the new Emperor, Karl I, and was asked to resign; he did so on 23 May 1917. However, he retained great political influence, and was able to delay the enactment of universal suffrage.

By late October 1918, the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, and the surrender of Germany, were imminent and there was nothing that foreign minister Burián (who was still in that role) could do to change the course of history.

Towards the end of the war, Tisza had wanted to convince the Serbs and Bosnians to achieve autonomy within Austria-Hungary. As a "homo regius" (“king's man”), he went to Sarajevo to attempt this, but without success.

It is clear that after the outbreak of World War I, all opposing sides pointed to the other side as the party guilty of initiating the greater war. The British newspaper “New Europe” printed a comment that Hungary was the only responsible party for the war, "“where Hungary′s responsibility is greater than Austria′s”" and that Tisza was the militaristic politician who dragged all sides into war. As a consequence the “Little Entente” took this view and pushed to punish Hungary at the end of the war. Later, the propaganda of these nations augmented and even invented Tisza's guilt, claiming that he took pains to point out in a report of 8 July that "there should at any rate be no question of the annihilation or annexation of Serbia, and that if Serbia gave way, Austria-Hungary must be content." According to recent findings these accusations are without merit.

The accusations are rooted in the common belief that Tisza carried out a policy of forced Magyarization towards the ethnic minorities in Hungary. His minority policy was (directly or indirectly) often confused with his radical nationalist political opponents (like the Party of Independence and '48.

Tisza opposed the expansion of the empire on the Balkan (see Bosnian crisis in 1908), because "the Dual Monarchy already had too many Slavs", which would further threaten the integrity of the Dual Monarchy.

In March 1914, Tisza wrote a memorandum to Emperor Francis Joseph. His letter had strongly apocalyptic predictive and embittered tone. He used exactly the hitherto unknown "Weltkrieg" (means World War) phrase in his letter.
"It is my firm conviction that Germany's two neighbors [Russia and France] are carefully proceeding with military preparations, but will not start the war so long as they have not attained a grouping of the Balkan states against us that confronts the monarchy with an attack from three sides and pins down the majority of our forces on our eastern and southern front."

On the day of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Tisza immediately traveled to Vienna where he met Minister of Foreign Affairs Count Berchtold and Army Commander Conrad von Hötzendorf. They proposed to solve the dispute with arms, attacking Serbia. Tisza proposed to give the government of Serbia time to take a stand as to whether it was involved in the organisation of the murder and proposed a peaceful resolution, arguing that the international situation would settle soon. Returning to Budapest, he wrote to Franz Joseph saying he would not take any responsibility for the armed conflict because there was no proof that Serbia had plotted the assassination. Tisza opposed a war with Serbia, stating (correctly, as it turned out) that any war with the Serbs was bound to trigger a war with Russia and hence a general European war. He thought that even a successful Austro-Hungarian war would be disastrous for the integrity of Kingdom of Hungary, where Hungary would be the next victim of Austrian politics. After a successful war against Serbia, Tisza adumbrated a possible Austrian military attack against Kingdom of Hungary, where the Austrians want to break up the territory of Hungary. He did not trust in the Italian alliance, due to the political aftermath of the Second Italian War of Independence. He felt the threat of Romania and Bulgaria after the Balkan wars and was afraid of Romanian attack from the east. He was also not sure about the stand of the Germans. Germany's stand was of ultimate importance due to the security of the state.
During a conversation between Franz Joseph and Conrad von Hötzendorf, Conrad asked, "If Germany's reply is that they are on our side, do we engage in war with Serbia?" The emperor replied, "Then yes", "But what if they reply differently?", "Then the Monarchy will be alone".

Kaiser Wilhelm II supported the war, promised to neutralize a Romanian attack, and put pressure on Sofia. After this, Tisza still sought a peaceful solution, but most of all he wanted to wait for the result of the official examination into the assassination. The only proposal of Tisza, which was accepted, was that the Monarchy should not annihilate Serbia completely in order to avoid Russian support for Serbia. The council finally addressed an ultimatum to the Serbian government and immediately started the mobilisation of troops.

After sending the ultimatum, his view changed. The ultimatum was obsolete within 48 hours, so Tisza wrote: "it was a difficult decision to take a stand to propose war, but now I am firmly convinced of its necessity" He was, however, still opposed to the annexation of Serbia to the Monarchy, but failed. On 4 August 1914 Russia, Germany, Britain and France also entered the war, enlarging it to a world war.

Tisza did not resign from the Prime Ministry, as he thought remaining in this position was the best way he could represent Hungarian interests inside Austria-Hungary, as he had connections in Vienna. Moreover, his resignation would have sent a message of weakness to the Entente at the outbreak of war.

His initial opposition to the conflict, only became public after the end of World War 1, on 17 October 1918, when he spoke in the Parliament. He said, "the Monarchy and the Hungarian nation were longing for peace all the way until there were proofs that the enemy was systematically trying to humiliate and destroy us as soon as possible (...) As we have found proofs that the Serbian government took part in organising the assassination, we could not but address an ultimatum to Serbia ... where we stipulated that the war is preventive."

The 57 years old Tisza joined to the 2nd Hussar Regiment of Hungary - which served on the Italian front - as a hussar colonel, and personally led his hussar units during the attacks.

Tisza at the front: "Tisza already felt the not too friendly atmosphere surrounding him at the first days of his joining up to the regiment and at first he tried to ease the general mood by informal behavior. (...) He has made an effort from the beginning to use an informal tone both with the staff of officers and -of course within the limits of the service regulations- with the rank and file. To better get to know each other with his fellow officers, every day he invited some young officers to his table, this way he tried to establish better personal relations with his environment. The troops had slowly started to recognize him as "tough to the upwards and humane to the downwards" kind of a commander. He distributed his tobacco provisions among the officers and he used his commander pay to improve the catering of the troops, and these of course left a good impression on everybody.
Tisza's paternalistic attitude towards his subordinates also manifested itself in civil law cases: he helped with his personal influence in getting done of those petitions what he considered fair, he interceded with notaries, judges, alispáns (deputy-lieutenants) for advancing the home affairs of his men, due to this both the officers and the troops more and more came to like and embrace him. Tisza himself also felt that the front service had been quite useful and productive since on the one hand he could personally experience the dangers of the battleground an on the other hand-at least he was thinking that way and there is a lot of truth in it-he could truly become familiar with the real nature of the simple, peasant origin soldiers. He wrote about it in this way in a letter to Archduke Joseph: «I’ve got to truly know the ordinary/common people now. This is the most extraordinary race of the world that can only be loved and respected. How unfortunate that the political intelligentia doesn’t do anything else, just corrupts this great and God-blessed people.«”

For many, he was the representative of the war policy in the Monarchy, so he was an assassination target. The fourth assassination attempt against him was successful.

The first attempt was made in the Hungarian parliament in 1912 by Gyula Kovács, an opposition politician. He shot two bullets, but missed Tisza. Kovács was arrested by the police, but he was acquitted by the court, the justification was "temporary insanity".

The second was made by a soldier when Tisza was returning from the front line during the war. The bullet missed him.

The third attempt came on 16 October 1918 when János Lékai, a member of the society Galilei-circle and an anti-military group led by Ottó Korvin, tried to kill Tisza while he was leaving the Hungarian Parliament, but the revolver malfunctioned and Tisza managed to flee. The assassin was sent to prison but was released after 15 days during the Chrysanthemum Revolution.

The fourth and successful attempt came on 31 October 1918, when soldiers broke into his home, the Róheim Villa in Budapest, Hermina út 35., (today the Villa is at nr. 45.) in front of his wife. Some sources suggest these were disgruntled deserters who blamed Tisza for having started the war.

Subsequently, Mihály Károlyi's government initiated an investigation but the identity of the killers was not confirmed at that time, although However, family members had identified individuals that they said were the killers. In the trial that followed the fall of the Communist regime and ended on 6 October 1921, Judge István Gadó established the guilt of Pál Kéri, who was exchanged with the Soviet Union; József Pogány, aka "John Pepper", who fled to Vienna, then Moscow and the USA; István Dobó; Tivadar Horváth Sanovics, who also fled; Sándor Hüttner, who died in a prison hospital in 1923; and Tibor Sztanykovszky, who was the only one to serve his 18-year sentence, being released in 1938.

Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist – who knew the two politicians personally, wrote about the assassination of István Tisza and the appointment of Mihály Károlyi as new prime minister of Hungary:

The detailed political views of Tisza about socialism atheism and class struggle, about parliamentarism and suffrage, about freedom of the press, about the question of nationality, about the land question, and about the Dual Monarchy and the world war: (by prof. Zoltán Maruzsa, Political scientist, ELTE University): http://tiszaistvan.hu/index.php/english

He married his first degree cousine, Ilona Tisza de Borosjenő. They had two children together.

His son, István died on November 5, 1918, five days after the death of the father.

István Tisza postage stamp was issued by Hungary on 1 July 1932 in the Famous Hungarians series.


When did Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends first air?

Thomas & Friends (originally known as Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends or simply Thomas the Tank Engine; also known as Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! in the twenty-second series) is a British children's television series. In the United Kingdom, it had its first broadcast on the ITV network in Great Britain in 1984. In the United States, it had its first broadcast on "Shining Time Station" in 1989. It is based on "The Railway Series" of books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry.

Thomas & Friends

These books follow the adventures of a group of anthropomorphised locomotives and road vehicles who live on the fictional Island of Sodor. The books were based on stories Wilbert told to entertain his son, Christopher, during his recovery from measles. Many of the stories from the first four series are based on events from Awdry's personal experience.

Before the airing of the first episode of "Thomas & Friends" in 1984, previous attempts had been made to adapt Awdry's stories for television, but not all attempts were successful. The first was in 1953, when the editor of the "Railway Series" books, Eric Marriott, was approached by the BBC, who wished to use live-action model trains to re-create two stories from Awdry's first book, "The Three Railway Engines".

The engines were portrayed by 00 gauge Hornby Dublo models and driven on authentic sets in the style of the original illustrations. The first episode, based on "The Sad Story of Henry", was broadcast live on the evening of Sunday 14 June 1953 from Lime Grove Studios. The live broadcast did not fare well. Reportedly, a failure to switch the points caused the model of Henry to derail and viewers of the live broadcast witnessed a human hand, said to be the one of a crew member, picking him up and placing him back on the rails. Models moved jerkily, and all effects and music had to be superimposed.

By 23 June, news of the broadcast hit the front pages of the "Daily Telegraph" and the "Daily Mail". Awdry himself branded the episode as "unprofessional", and the point-switching debacle as an "elementary mistake". As a result, the second episode scheduled for 28 June 1953 was put on hold, and then later cancelled. After the "Sad Story of Henry" fiasco, the BBC did attempt to rescue the project by offering to give Awdry and the "Railway Series" publishers greater creative control over the production of the episodes, but the publishers declined the offer, preferring to focus on publishing new books for the series.

Nearly twenty years later, the BBC incorporated Awdry's stories once again. Fourteen years before "Thomas and Friends" was aired, Ted Ray, sitting in a stationmaster's office, read out five "Railway Series" books between 20 September to 2 October 1970 on the popular television story-telling show "Jackanory".

In 1979, British television producer Britt Allcroft was producing a documentary on the Bluebell Railway, a heritage railway in Sussex which actually featured in the "Railway Series" book "Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine". As part of her research before filming, Allcroft read some books in "The Railway Series" and was highly entertained and impressed with the stories which Awdry had written, later remarking that "there was something in the stories that I felt I could develop that would connect with children. I saw a strong emotional content that would carry with little children's experiences with life."

Allcroft worked to convince Awdry that she could, with funding, convert the stories into a successful television show. Her efforts were successful, and she purchased the television rights from the publishers of "The Railway Series" at a cost of what was then £50,000 ($74,000 in U.S. dollars at the time). Allcroft still had to work to raise the money to finance production and, despite showing a keen interest, wanted a level of creative control which she did not want to forego. In the end, after several years of searching and having to place a second mortgage on her home, Allcroft raised sufficient funding from her local bank manager.

By 1981, Allcroft had secured the finances to produce the show, she started to assemble the crew, including producer and director David Mitton, also the founder of Clearwater Features Ltd.; crew member Steve Asquith; American-born producer Robert D. Cardona; and the selected team of composers and songwriters Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell.

The series started production in 1984 by Allcroft's production company, The Britt Allcroft Company; Clearwater Features Ltd. (Mitton and Cardona's company); and the ITV company Central Independent Television. The series was originally shot and produced with live action models at the Clearwater in house studio in Battersea, a suburb of London, for Series 1. It later relocated to Shepperton Studios, Middlesex, southwest of London for subsequent series. The use of moving models was seen at the time of the series' conception as an effective method of animating the stories. Locomotives and other vehicles were operated by radio control, while humans and animals were static figures. Stop-motion was occasionally employed for instances in which a human or animal character would move. Hand-drawn animation was used in Series 3 to create bees (as seen on James Goes Buzz Buzz).

The first series (1984) used stories from the first eight books, along with one specially written by the Rev. W. Awdry, "Thomas's Christmas Party". The second series (1986) used stories from Book No.9 ("Edward the Blue Engine") to Book No.30 ("More About Thomas the Tank Engine"). This book was unusual, as it was written specifically by Christopher Awdry to be adapted by the show. At that time, it was a contractual obligation that the series could only adapt stories that appeared in print. The series also used a story from a Thomas Annual, "Thomas and Trevor", and a specially written stand-alone story, "Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree". The second series was actually a 27-episode series, as a single (unaired) episode ("The Missing Coach") was in the process of being filmed, but despite being filmed it was never shown because Allcroft decided it was too confusing for young viewers. The production team went on to use "Thomas, Percy and the Coal" instead.

In between production of the second and third series, the production team were focused in producing two other television series: "Tugs", which ran for one series in 1989 for Television South (TVS); and the American television series "Shining Time Station", which repackaged "Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends" for the American television market from 1989 to 1996.

Just before production of series three, Clearwater closed on 31 December 1990, with The Britt Allcroft Company becoming the sole producer. Series three was broadcast in 1992 for Thames Television. It was made at a cost of £1.3 million (approximately $9.3.million in U.S. dollars at the time). The series was a combination of episodes derived from "The Railway Series", stories in the "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends" magazine (written by the series' current head writer, Andrew Brenner), and a couple of original stories by Allcroft and Mitton.

One of the primary reasons for diverging from the original books was that many of the stories not yet used featured large numbers of new characters, which would be expensive to produce. Another reason was that the producers wanted more stories about Thomas, the nominal main character. Awdry worried that the new stories would be unrealistic (see Henry the Green Engine for more details). Robert D. Cardona left as producer, while Britt Allcroft joined David Mitton as co-producer. Angus Wright took over as executive producer.

Series four was first released directly to video between 1994-1995 before its broadcast debut on Cartoon Network. The producers planned to introduce some new female characters, including motor car Caroline, Nancy, and The Refreshment Lady. Some commentators took this as a response to accusations of sexism levelled against the series two years earlier. In reality, these were not "new" characters, but creations of Awdry from the original "Railway Series" books. Series four was almost entirely based on "The Railway Series". The narrow gauge engines were introduced, and were the focus of a number of episodes. Only one original story ("Rusty to the Rescue", written by Allcroft and Mitton) was used, but this took certain elements of plot and dialogue from "Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine".

The fifth series (1998), also first released directly to video before its TV airings on Cartoon Network, was a radical shift, as all episodes were written by Allcroft and Mitton with no further stories being adapted from the "Railway Series". This series saw the introduction of new characters, such as Cranky, The Horrid Lorries and Old Slow Coach. It also focused on more dramatic and edgy plot-lines, with more severe accidents, than in the earlier seasons. After series 5, Angus Wright stepped down as executive producer. It was also the final season broadcast on Cartoon Network, as Nickelodeon UK would eventually acquire the broadcast rights to the show for it to air on their newly created Nick Jr. channel in 1999. CN continued to air older seasons until their broadcast rights fully expired in 2001.

"Thomas and the Magic Railroad" was released in July 2000 in the UK, Canada and the US. It featured new characters created by Allcroft, along with characters from the show that introduced "Thomas" to the U.S., "Shining Time Station". Despite high production values and the popularity of the show, the film was criticised by British reviewers who were unfamiliar with "Shining Time Station". The movie was well received by young children on both sides of the Atlantic, but made only $19.7 million at the box office, against a cost of The film was broadcast on BBC1 on 1 January 2004 and again on 29 December 2008.

The Britt Allcroft Company (which changed its name to Gullane Entertainment in 2000) was purchased by HiT Entertainment in September 2002, a company specialising in children's entertainment.

The sixth and seventh series continued to introduce action-packed storylines and new characters, and saw the introduction of a writing staff. The sixth series in 2002 was notable for its attempt to create a spin-off based on the successful "Bob the Builder" series. Two episodes introduced a group of construction machine characters known as "The Pack". The spin-off didn't materialise for some time. Eventually, in 2006, thirteen episodes were released straight to DVD as a collection called "On Site with Thomas". It was the first season broadcast on ITV since Season 3.

The fact that older sets were used and the episodes were shot on 35mm camera (as opposed to the digital camera used at the time of the episodes' release) suggest it was filmed some time before Series 8. In Series 7 (2003) the programme title was officially shortened to "Thomas & Friends", this name having been used on merchandise and video covers for three years previously. Phil Fehrle replaced Allcroft and Mitton as producer, though Mitton remained as the director. Executive producer Angus Wright was replaced by Peter Urie and Allcroft as executive producers for Series 6.

In 2003, Allcroft stepped down as executive producer, making Urie the sole executive producer for Gullane Entertainment, and Jocelyn Stevenson was the executive producer for HiT Entertainment.

The eighth series (2004) was the first released directly to VHS and DVD as four episodes in the US and six in the UK were released before airing on television on Nick Jr. in the UK and PBS in the US. It introduced a number of significant changes to the show. Many of the original founding team involved in the original show since 1984 left the production, notably Britt Allcroft, director and writer David Mitton, and original composers Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell. The latter two had been embroiled in a protracted legal dispute with HiT before their departure. Steve Asquith, who was part of the original production team since 1984, took over as director, while Simon Spencer replaced Phil Fehrle as producer.

A new theme song and incidental music were composed by Ed Welch and Robert Hartshorne, respectively. Episode runtime was increased to seven minutes. The series was produced using digital video camera, creating a somewhat different look for the show. Other changes included the additions of CGI educational sequences and transitions between stories. Executive producer Peter Urie also left, while Jocelyn Stevenson remained in her role as executive producer. Sam Barlow became the story executive, while Abi Grant and Paul Larson served as script editors. This series saw the adoption of a centralised cast, including Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby and Emily.

HiT Entertainment was itself then acquired by Apax Partners, a private equity company, in March 2005.

A straight-to-video film, "Calling All Engines!", was released shortly before Series 9 in 2005. While featuring characters from "Thomas and the Magic Railroad", it was not a direct sequel. It proved successful, which resulted in more direct-to-video specials being produced.

Series 9 (2005) and 10 (2006) saw the expansion of the supporting cast with new and old characters. From Series 9 the narrator would call out the episodes' names and from Series 11 the theme song was sung starting with the sound of a train whistle. Series 10 aired with twenty-eight episodes rather than the twenty-six of previous years. The eleventh series (2007) was filmed in high definition format. Twenty episodes aired in the original broadcast, while six were released directed to DVD as Engines and Escapades. Jocelyn Stevenson had stepped down as executive producer after Series 10, with Christopher Skala taking her place as executive producer for Series 11. Sharon Miller became the script editor from Series 9 to 11.

Series 12 (2008) saw the introduction of CGI effects (provided by HiT Entertainment's subsidiary Hot Animation), with the intent of producing the show entirely in CGI the following year. The traditional models and sets were still used, but with computer animated faces superimposed on the models to allow for changing facial expressions. Humans and animals were fully computer animated to allow for walking movement. Only twenty episodes were produced and broadcast (the U.S. broadcast featured six additional episodes from "Engines and Escapades"). Sharon Miller became the head writer, starting with Series 12.

HiT announced multiple changes to the show beginning in 2009. One new aspect was the introduction of live-action host segments to "Thomas"' home video releases. The host took the form of a character who worked on The Fat Controller's (Sir Topham Hatt's) railway, who would instruct viewers in craft projects. For the final 2 DVDs released for Season 12 in 2009, the host was named Mr. Arkwright, played by Robert Slate. In 2010, beginning with the DVD "Splish Splash Splosh", the host was named Mr. Perkins, played by Ben Forster, and has remained host until Forster died in 2017 after a battle with cancer and will be replaced by Mark Moraghan, who will play "Mr Evans" in the upcoming web series.

For budgetary reasons, the other major changes were a move to production in CGI, rather than using physical models, and the addition of a voice cast to support the established narrator. The DVD feature, "Hero of the Rails", was the first "Thomas & Friends" production to showcase these changes, and Series 13 was the first television series in the new format. The CGI animation for the series was provided by Nitrogen Studios of Vancouver.

In September 2010, Apax was preparing to sell off HiT Entertainment and its franchises, including Thomas – regarded as the single most valuable asset – in order to help clear HiT's debts, and in February 2012, sold the company, along with the Thomas properties, to "US toy giant", Mattel.

During production of Series 16 (2012), Sharon Miller stepped down as head writer, and Andrew Brenner, who had written some "Thomas" stories in the third series, assumed the role after serving as script editor for "Blue Mountain Mystery". Additionally, Sam Barlow stepped down as story executive after the sixteenth series, and the production of the CGI animation was moved from Nitrogen Studios (of Vancouver) to Arc Productions (of Toronto). "King of the Railway" and Series 17, both released during 2013, serve as the first special and series developed by the new animation and production teams respectively.

2014 saw "Tale of the Brave" and Series 18, the second special and series animated by Arc, respectively. 2015 saw "", a special coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the franchise, and "Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure"; Series 19 began airing that same year. 2016 saw some changes; longtime composers Robert and Peter Hartshorne, father and son team, left the series and Chris Renshaw and Oliver Davis took over. 2016 also saw "" and Series 20 began airing the same year. Series 20 was the last series of the show to air on PBS Kids; when Series 21 began airing in 2017, the American broadcast of the show was moved to Nick Jr., ending a period of almost 28 years of "Thomas & Friends" on American public television, 2017 also saw.

Thomas and Friends announced a twenty-second series with 26 Episodes with New Episodes among many other changes like: Edward, Henry and Toby being removed from the Steam Team to make room for 2 new steam locomotives named Nia (Africa) and Rebecca (UK), and the narrator has been replaced with Thomas talking to the audience (however, Mark Moraghan, the previous narrator has said that he will still work on the series).

Season 22 is set after Big World! Big Adventures! the Movie, which came out on 20 July 2018. It introduced gender-balanced and multicultural characters, and features a new theme tune. The season is split into two halves; the first half sees Thomas travelling around the world and visiting India, Australia, and China, while the second half takes place back on the Island of Sodor. The season is set to be released on Netflix, Amazon and Hulu in the late half of 2018.

The series has since been renewed for a 23rd season which recently started production and is set to debut in 2019.

Originally, narrating was used as the only voice in the series until 2008. Britt Allcroft thought it essential to convey the episode as a story that would be read from a book at home. Individual voice-over actors were given to both the UK and US dubs of the Series, following the switch to full CGI animation in 2009.

Over the history of the programme, the TV episodes and specials have been released for home viewing in a variety of compilations, formats and languages, by a variety of publishing houses.

Up until series 12, narration and dialogue were performed by a single storyteller. Starting from series 22 onwards, Thomas the Tank Engine himself takes over as the narrator.

The original live action models were filmed on an extensive model railway layout built at the studios. The models were built to the 1:32 scale, known in model railway circles as "Gauge 1". The locomotives used chassis made by Märklin with specially made bodies. Along with the moving-eye and eyelid mechanisms and clay faces, these bodies also included smoke generators. Coaches and trucks were made using Tenmille kits. Later models were constructed entirely from scratch. Some of the models from the sister television series "Tugs" were reused in later episodes of the series.

From Series 5 to 12, some larger-scale models were used for the narrow gauge characters, to more easily fit the complex mechanisms into them while retaining a sufficient level of detail. In Series 6, the characters known as "the Pack" (construction machines) were also constructed on a large scale, and larger models of Thomas and Percy were made to interact with them. In the ninth series, another larger Thomas model was built to the same scale as the narrow gauge engines to provide greater possibilities for interaction. It was joined by a large version of James in the tenth series. In 2009, some of these models were put on display in a special exhibit at Drayton Manor Theme Park's Thomas Land. Nitrogen Studios, who provided the animation for the series from series 12 to 16, also has some of the original models on display. Sadly, the original model of the character 'Duck' was broken while on display.

At the show's conception in 1984, live action model animation would not deliver lip sync, but show co-creator Britt Allcroft and model director David Mitton did not see this as an inhibition. About 20 years later however, with advancement in technology, the show saw the introduction of CGI by HIT Entertainment's subsidiary HOT Animation. At first this was used to generate smoke and other effects, but later, HIT (the current owners of "Thomas") announced its intent to introduce a fully CGI series in 2009. With Series 12, CGI by Nitrogen Studios was used to animate characters' faces and to make people and animals mobile within the stories. The following series (the show's 13th) saw a transition to full CGI animation.

Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell composed the show's original main title theme, incidental music and songs, which were used for series 1–7 comprising 182 episodes between 1984 and 2003. The instruments for Seasons 1-2 was the Roland Jupiter-6 and instrumentals for seasons 3-7 was the E-mu Proteus sound module.

In 2004, Robert Hartshorne took O'Donnell and Campbell's place as composer, while Ed Welch became the show's songwriter from Series 8 to "The Great Discovery", and Welch left after "The Great Discovery". Hartshorne took his place as songwriter from Series 12 and onwards. From "Day of the Diesels"/2011-2016, Robert's son Peter Hartshorne helped him with the music.

In 2016 the Hartshornes left the series and Chris Renshaw and Oliver Davis took their places.

Since series 12, there has been a head writer for the series. Prior to the introduction of a head writer, the script editor performed similar duties. Sharon Miller served as head writer from series 12–16 and stepped down after series 16 and was replaced by Andrew Brenner, who had written many "Thomas" stories for various magazines as well as his own original stories, several of which were later adapted for television episodes for Series 3 and Series 5, for which he had remained uncredited. Brenner had been a writer of several other children's animated series, such as "Angelina Ballerina", "Tractor Tom", "Fireman Sam", "The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers", "Spot", "Poppy Cat", and "Binka", as well as being the creator of "Caribou Kitchen", and "Humf" and writer for several magazines featuring children's characters such as "The Real Ghostbusters", "Fireman Sam", "Scooby-Doo", "Tom and Jerry", and Thomas's sister series "Tugs" and has written scripts and took over as head writer for Thomas for "King of the Railway" and onwards. Sharon Miller has also been the voice director since the second CGI animated film "Misty Island Rescue", and continues to work on the series in this capacity.
In the United Kingdom, "Thomas & Friends" was originally broadcast back and forth between ITV and Cartoon Network until 2006. Since then it has been broadcast on Channel 5's Milkshake! strand.

In the United States, the series had first appeared only as sequences on "Shining Time Station" during the program's run from 1989 to 1995 on PBS. The sequences of the series later aired in 1996 on "Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales". The series aired as "Storytime with Thomas" on Fox Family (now Freeform) from 1999 to 2001. When "Thomas & Friends" premiered as a stand-alone program on PBS Kids, it was first distributed from 2004 to 2007 by Connecticut Public Television, and then by WNET from 2008 to 2017, and Sprout 2005 to 2015. The rights to broadcast the series through PBS expired in December 2017, thus ending a period of almost 30 years of programming related to "Thomas & Friends" on American public television. Now it airs on Nick Jr. and Nickelodeon.

The program airs in Australia on ABC Kids and on FOUR in New Zealand. In Canada, it plays on TVO, Family Jr., Knowledge Kids, MBC 3 and Spacetoon in the Middle East, and e-Junior in the United Arab Emirates.

Common Sense Media rated the show a 4 out of 5 stars stating:

In the 2010s, "Thomas & Friends" became the subject of several internet memes, and was even the centerpiece of an article for "The New Yorker", which explored supposedly totalitarian subtexts present in the show.

Notes

"Thomas the Tank Engine" is a character created by the Rev. W. Awdry in "The Railway Series" of children's books, first published in the U.K. in 1945. In 1984 a television series called "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends" was made, adding to the popularity of the characters. It was first broadcast in the United States in 1989. John W. Lee founded the company "Learning Curve Toys" in November 1992 with a wooden railway system called "Thomas & Friends" based on the Thomas the Tank Engine characters. This made the wooden toy trains even more popular than before. Learning Curve introduced some new designs for the track surface, such as the "Clickety Clack" rails patented 1995 and the newer tracks in 2002 with a relief to supply better traction grip for battery powered four wheel drive trains patented in 1998.

Wooden toy train

Wooden toy trains are toy trains that run on a wooden track system with grooves to guide the wheels of the rolling stock. While the trains, tracks and scenery accessories are made mainly of wood, the engines and cars connect to each other using metal hooks or small magnets, and some use plastic wheels mounted on metal axles. Some trains are made to resemble anthropomorphical, fictional, and prototypical railroad equipment.

Marshal H. Larrabee II founded the Skaneateles Handicrafters in 1936. This toy company made wooden toy trains and wooden tracks. The gauge was very similar to that used by most companies today. However, the connections for the track pieces were of a different design than the jigsaw style "peg and hole" system used today. The trains were made of maple and were often left unpainted and unstained. They are compatible with many brands of modern wooden train track. Playskool took over the sales for Skaneateles Handicrafters in 1956. This company retained the design and track connecting system into the 1960s. Marshal H. Larrabee sold his company to the German-based Habermaaß GmbH in 1980. The company was renamed T.C. Timber and its products were manufactured in Skaneateles. The production line was closed in 2002.

The Jack-Built Toy Manufacturing Company marketed its own range of wooden toy trains under the brand name "Jack Built Snap Trains" around 1956 to 1962. These were manufactured in Japan and used a snap system to join pieces of rolling stock and tracks. Rolling stock from Jack Built Snap Trains and Skaneateles Handicrafters could ride on either manufacturer's tracks. However, individual pieces of rolling stock and track from the two brands could not be combined. This is because the coupling systems for the tracks and trains were different.

California-based Ben Orel filed U.S. patent #2847798 in 1956 and was granted the patent for his "snap coupling" system two years later. He describes how the track could be rotated to create a "rail" and a "road" side in U.S. patent #3013726 submitted in 1960 and granted in 1961. This is similar to the idea that Learning Curve later used for their "Thomas & Friends" range. He also submitted a patent for magnetic couplings in 1958. This patent was granted in 1960. It may have been the earliest attempt to use magnets with a wooden toy train system. Production stopped in the mid-1960s and the company disappeared from the toy market.

In 1957, BRIO, based in Osby in southern Sweden, introduced its wooden toy train system with wooden tracks in Europe. It may have been the first company to use the "peg and hole" system to connect the track pieces in mass production. The metal hook system for the rolling stock has since been replaced by magnetic connectors. BRIO was also one of the first companies to use beechwood for such products.

Another Swedish company that started producing a similar toy at about this time was Micki Leksaker in Gemla. It apparently produced its first wooden train sets for a Swedish department store in 1956, thus predating Brio by a year or two.

There was a long tradition of wooden toy-making along the mountain forests surrounding Bohemia. Seiffen made wooden figures and Christmas decorations and Blumenau (today a part of Olbernhau) created building blocks and construction sets. Mass production techniques for polishing and coloring wooden toys were established and perfected in the Bohemian areas. Some of the early sets exhibited train designs that were later used for wooden track trains. In 1949, Hermann Eichhorn, of the Eichhorn family that made the PEWESTI wooden toys in Steinach, Thuringia, founded his company for wooden toys in the Bavarian town of Egglham. In 1961, he started producing his version of a wooden track railway system. Eichhorn claims that his company is the first to have systematically used the "vario system" for the connectors. Eichhorn applied for a U.S. patent for a "battery powered toy train" in 1994. In 1997 the company had to be sold to the Simba-Dickie-Group, which moved production to Unhošť, near Prague in the Czech Republic. By 1998 the company was fully integrated into the Simba-Dickie-Group. In February 1999 two fires totally destroyed the old factory buildings in Egglham and consumed most of the company's archives and work models.

Heros (He+ros), the company of Hermann Rossberg of Lam in the Bavarian Forest near to the border of Bohemia, influenced train design in the Blumenau tradition. He too started a line of wooden trains in 1968 to the same gauge, using bright colors in his train designs. In the 1970s the company experimented with plastic tracks based on the peg and hole design of the wooden tracks, but soon returned to normal wooden tracks. In 2010 the company had to be sold to the Simba-Dickie-Group. The train lines where dropped and the focus shifted to wooden toy blocks and the constructor toy range while Eichhorn became the only supplier of toy trains on a wooden track system within the Simba-Dickie-Group.

With the popularity of the toy system rising due to the success of "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends", new markets outside of the traditional groups and countries were opened. While companies such as Mapple Landmark adjusted its existing line of "Name Trains" to the gauge of the vario system in 1993, others such as Whittle Shortline, established in 1997, started producing rolling stock based on the more realistic designs of existing American examples. While Brio and "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends" clearly favoured the steam engine era, Whittle Shortline expanded into heavy duty diesel engines of designs hardly known in Europe. In the product line "Trains of the World" shown in the Brio catalog of 1998, Brio presents several historic steam engines, such as the Mallard or the Flying Scotsman along with several modern high speed trains such as the Shinkansen, TGV or ICE. The only diesel unit is from the Santa Fe line. Another project based on real-life prototypes is the "New York City Subway Wooden Railway" by the company named "Munipals".

Other companies, such as Nilo and KidKraft, concentrated on related items like train tables, among other products. Suretrack sells its track securing clips, and Choo Choo Track & Toy Co., founded in 1999, has concentrated on producing and designing tracks and accessories.

Although the original push-along trains made mostly of wood still resemble the core idea of this system toy and as of 2006 form the base of all the involved companies' production lines, electronics have gained access to the wooden world. After introducing battery powered engines in the 1990s, remote control had been added by 2002, and so-called smart tracks introduced plastic parts to the wooden track pieces. In 2006 Brio even introduced a theme resembling electronic networking with some electronic gadgets. Altogether this has led to some new track designs allowing better traction for the self powered trains or means of communication between the tracks and trains using some magnetic or electronic gadget.

As with other toys, many wooden trains and track have been manufactured in China and other Asian countries in the twenty-first century. The lead paint problems of 2007 brought this to public awareness. Manufacturing in Asia goes back a lot further though: already in the 1950s the Snap-Trains of Ben Orel were made in Japan.

Probably the first major brand that was manufactured in China was the Chicago-based "Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway". Some of the design, such as the character faces and the spoked wheels, have stayed unique to the brand while other attributes, such as the modular build of the units with a rectangular single block chassis holding the wheels and individual buildup on top, have become widespread designs in China and elsewhere. Another major brand is Maxim. Starting with traditional rather plain and abstract designs, Maxim sold products under the name "Tumble Tree Wood" for retail stores. They have since adopted their current design with a winged number on their rolling stock. The main supplier is a factory in Dong Guan, China. The trains with the winged numbers are also sold by other brands such as Babalu in Germany. In 2004, Brio of Sweden moved most of their production to three factories in Guangdong Province, China. A more recent brand is Melissa & Doug that is also produced in China. Smaller projects were the short-lived ventures of Remus and Europlay.

A producer that has sold its products under very many brands including its own name is Mentari Massen, with its main factory founded in 1988 in Surabaya, Indonesia. Their items have been sold as sets or individually bundled under such brand names as elile, FunToys, Toytopia, The Toy Company, Bino, Snap on Tools and Bigjigs, as well as Mentari Toys or Mentari Group.

A quite prolific producer with its own clear design is Plantoys of Thailand. They have been making children's toys and furniture from rubber wood, which has since been adopted by other companies. They have a range of car and city related sets that could be used as accessories for the wooden toy train ranges of other producers. They had a joint venture with Brio in 2001–2002, being present in the Brio catalogs of the time. By 2007 they had started their own line of wooden trains, expanding it in 2008.

In 1985, Bigjigs Toys Ltd started out by selling a large range of wooden jigsaws. Then in the 1990s they moved into the wooden railway market with a small core range of wooden railway system items. In 2007 they re-launched their railway range under the brand Bigjigs Rail, in new blue sky and green hills packaging. There are, as of 2012, over 130 pieces in the Bigjigs Rail range including sets, track and a range of real life engines such as Mallard, Duchess of Hamilton and Bluebell.

Although the products of many companies are quite compatible with each other they may vary in make, the wood used and some basic measurements. Popular woods used and advertised thus are beech, maple and rubber tree.

Track grooves are 3 mm deep, 5 mm wide and have 20 mm between them. The tracks themselves are 40 mm wide and 12 mm high. To be kept on track the system can be reduced to a shallow groove 30 mm wide, as in some road systems or small ramps that allow the vehicle to get on or off the track from the floor, or to a middle section 20 mm wide and 3 mm high, as in some beginners tracks or double track road systems. Most modern track systems have a somewhat sophisticated profile with varying degrees of slanted sides for the grooves or rounded edges. In the imperial system the tracks have been described as having grooves an eighth of an inch deep, a quarter of an inch wide and with three quarters of an inch between them. The tracks themselves are one and a half inches wide and half an inch high. However, unlike other model railroading gauges, which have been formally defined by enthusiast groups such as the National Model Railroad Association or the Normen Europäischer Modellbahnen, there is no agreed gauge for wooden trains. The actual cross sectional profile of any given manufacturer's track is usually patented, compelling new manufacturers to alter their track design enough to allow compatibility with other brands without committing patent infringement.

Some track pieces such as curves and points have grooves on both sides so that they can be used from both sides. By flipping the piece around one can convert a left-hand curve or point to a right-handed one. Another possibility is to have the two grooves for trains on the one side and the single wide groove for roads on the other side. Ben Orel describes such a system in U.S. patent #3013726, which he submitted in 1960. Learning Curve made such tracks for their "Thomas the Tank Engine" theme.

When trying to document a layout with exact geometry one quickly notices that a lot of layouts one builds with real track do not work using a CAD system or some track layout program. This is due to the so-called "vario system" which allows some play when joining the tracks, so that with some wiggling around one can make layouts line up perfectly with no danger of derailing trains which do not use the exact geometry of the pieces. This is achieved by making the pegs somewhat smaller than the holes. Sometimes the round part of the hole is not an exact circle but rather an ellipse, allowing the tracks to connect with a small gap between them. Also, the neck gap does not have a sharp edge at the end of the track, but is carved round. This may have started as a production loss or to make it easier for small children to join the tracks. Some sources state that Eichhorn was the first to design connections using this system.

Though not all manufacturers use the same system for their track piece designs some principle standards have evolved, as the geometry involved with track systems tends to pose the same problems to everyone. The first question may be how to divide the circle. The standard for wooden tracks is eight pieces. The next important length is the diameter of the circle made of a line along the center of the tracks. This length is useful for figures such as an eight with the crossing at right angles, a simple L-figure, a bulge to one side or a spectacles or Mickey Mouse head, to name the simplest.

A division in two gives a handy piece of straight track. For the figure eight one could use two straight pieces to go underneath and a bridge made to the same length to cross over the other straights. If one wants a crossing on the same level, the diameter can be divided by three and a crossing piece made with straights of that length. Of course one can also produce pieces of a quarter diameter length to put to the left and right of a central bridge piece that is half the length of the diameter. As one can see, it is useful to determine the length of the straight tracks by dividing the diameter of the circle made by the curves. Brio uses lengths of half, quarter and eighth as well as a third and sixth.

To solve problems of offset produced by points that branch out at the same angle producing parallel tracks, it is also useful to design such points and switches so that one of the short straights can compensate the offset. An easy way to design points is by tracing a long and a curved track to the same piece using the same connecting point as the origin. Such a merged piece can thus serve as a curve for one branch and a straight for the other while using the same dimensions as the other pieces.

Several approaches have been made over time to add a road system to the railway tracks. The first and still most widely used level crossings use simple ramps that enable vehicles to cross the thick tracks from whatever underground the tracks are placed on. The simplest way to add roads to this existing solution is to provide a layout printed on a paper or plastic sheet or even a carpet that uses the dimensions of the wooden tracks. Some companies have made thin track pieces out of plastic or other materials that can be joined by some connecting system and have special crossover pieces to allow playing together with a wooden railway system. The next step seems to have been road track pieces of similar thickness as the railway tracks but using some other connecting design. Using the same "peg and hole" system as the railway tracks seems to have come later. The "Thomas the Tank Engine" theme from Learning Curve used track pieces that had the traditional railway design on one side and a new road design on the other using a design invented by Ben Orel in 1960. These roads had the same profile and measurements as the railway tracks, except that the part between the grooves was missing so that the road was a broad "groove" with sidings or curbs. The road vehicles and the railway rolling stock could be used interchangeable on both systems. Brio had introduced a track with wider grooves that was used for trains aimed at a younger age group. These used the same connection system as the other tracks and had the same distance between the grooves. This made it possible for the normal trains to run on the wider tracks. When these wide grooves have the same width as the "Thomas the Tank Engine" road pieces they can be used as a two way road. Other companies have since adopted this system.

Early sets such as of Skaneateles, Eichhorn and Brio all seem to have used rather simple and abstract designs. The pieces were not painted, so that trains and tracks had the same surface. The normal early trains had engines and wagons each carved from a single piece of wood and connected by hooks and eyes. Painted sets may have become common in the early 1970s, as did the use of magnets as connectors. Engines carved from a single block were commonly painted black in Europe with bright red funnels and wheels. The early trains made with construction sets and large pull-along trains may have influenced other early train designs that were built of several wood pieces ("cut broomstick design" among others). Normally each wooden piece had its own color, thus an engine, for example, could sport six different colors: one each for the base plate, the cylindrical boiler, the drivers cabin, the cabin roof, the funnels and the wheels. Sets with painted patterns seem to have become more popular in the late 1980s and 1990s. This may have been due to the success of the "Thomas the Tank Engine" series and the wish for more realistic real world designs.

As of 2007 there seem to be several design trends:

Train tables are a popular way to set up trains and railways, with fixed versions often placed in waiting rooms at hospitals, doctors' offices, or other places where some entertainment for children may be offered. This way they stay off the ground and it is not necessary to take apart the track after it is built! Wooden railway layouts based on the wTrak module standard have become part of model railroad shows in the United States - starting in the Pacific Northwest in 2009.

Early Skaneateles sets had rectangular supports that raised the track gradually. Due to the different connection system Skaneateles used at that time, tracks could be easily bent upwards at the connection point. The two-piece bridge with massive, self-supporting, ramps has been common since the 1960s. Provided with supports, this bridge could be easily elongated using normal straights. More modern bridge designs have used large amounts of plastic since the 1980s, reducing the amount of wood needed and thus producing lighter and cheaper designs. A sturdy basic bridge is the three-part bridge with the connections in the ramp section. Such designs seem to be aimed at the youngest players as they do not come apart easily. However, the design is not extendable. The two part bridge led to the development of some raised track pieces. First versions had viaduct-like designs or sported some sort of gadget like a drawbridge. Later ramps were track bent in an S-shape. As these were not self-supporting, new sorts of elevated track pieces were introduced. These consisted of a short piece of track raised by four legs. These supports were stackable and based on a square design, so that the direction could be changed by a right angle turn on the different levels.

Early buildings had windows and doors made by drawing lines in a single color on simple rectangular blocks. Sometimes they had slanted roofs made with another piece of wood, painted another color, stacked on top. A common early station design consisted of a simple platform with a roof on two or three supports along the longer axis. Later buildings have printed multicolor patterns. There have always been building sets that were similar to the popular wooden building blocks, allowing lots of individual designs. Since the 1990s building designs have become more sophisticated and interaction with the trains has increased. Learning Curve may have made this approach popular with many designs based on the story plots of the "Thomas the Tank" series, such as a grain loader accessory or a logging mill.

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends is a children's television series based on The Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry which was first broadcast in 1984. This article lists Thomas books in the Pictureback series.Introduces Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon and Sir Topham Hatt.
Introduces Proteus

List of Thomas the Tank Engine pictureback books

Thomas's on-screen appearances in the TV series were developed by Britt Allcroft. The first series of 26 stories premiered in October 1984 on the ITV Network in the UK, with former Beatles drummer/vocalist Ringo Starr as storyteller. The stories were featured as segments as part of Shining Time Station in the US beginning in 1989 with Starr as the show's Mr. Conductor character. From 1991 to 1993, George Carlin replaced Starr as both the storyteller and as Mr. Conductor for Shining Time Station. Carlin also told the Thomas stories for Shining Time Station in 1995.

Thomas the Tank Engine

Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional steam locomotive in "The Railway Series" books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher, published from 1945 on. He became the most popular character in the series, and is the title character in the accompanying television spin-off series "Thomas & Friends".

Thomas is a steam engine and has a number 1 painted on his side. All of the locomotives in The Railway Series were based on prototypical engines; Thomas has origins in the E2 Class designed by Lawson Billinton in 1913. Thomas first appeared in 1946 in the second book in the series, "Thomas the Tank Engine", and was the focus of the four short stories contained within. Thomas's best friends are Percy and Toby.

In 1979, British writer/producer Britt Allcroft came across the books, and arranged a deal to bring the stories to life as the TV series "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends" (later simplified to "Thomas & Friends"). The programme became an award-winning hit around the world, with a vast range of spin-off commercial products.

When Awdry created Thomas, the engine existed only as a wooden toy made for his son Christopher. This engine looked rather different from the character in the books and television series, and carried the letters NW on its side tanks. Awdry claimed that this stood for "No Where"; as the Railway Series and its backstory developed, however, the railway that Thomas and his friends worked on became known as the North Western Railway.

Thomas wasn't originally based on a prototype; rather, the initial stories were an accompaniment to the toy made for Christopher. After Awdry's wife encouraged him to publish the stories, the publisher of the second book in The Railway Series, "Thomas the Tank Engine", hired an illustrator named Reginald Payne. Awdry selected a real locomotive for Payne to work from to create authenticity: a Billinton designed 0-6-0 E2 Class of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. This may have been chosen simply because Awdry had a photograph to hand.

Thomas is one of half a dozen locomotives fitted with an extension to the front of the water tanks.
While the language used and the behaviours exhibited often closely resemble those of real locomotives there are some significant and artistic differences. For example, Thomas's wheels are driven by internal cylinders typical of such tank engines. The cranks and connecting rods are therefore not externally visible.

Awdry was unsatisfied with one detail of the illustration — the fact that the front end of his footplate featured a downward slope, which meant that his front and back buffers were at different levels. This was an illustrator's mistake that was perpetuated in subsequent books. The accident, in "Thomas Comes to Breakfast" was partly devised as a means of correcting this. Thomas has always been shown with a curved front buffer beam in the television series.

Unfortunately, despite creating the visual image of such an iconic character, Payne did not receive any credit for his work, and it is only since the publication of Brian Sibley's "The Thomas the Tank Engine Man" that he has started to receive major recognition. It had often been erroneously assumed that C. Reginald Dalby created the character, as he was responsible for illustrating books 3–11 and repainting the illustrations of books 1 and 2.

Thomas arrived on Sodor in 1915, when The Fat Controller bought the locomotive for a nominal sum to be a pilot engine at Vicarstown. After rescuing James in "Thomas & the Breakdown Train", he became a "Really Useful Engine" and was rewarded by being put in charge of the Ffarquhar branchline. Although Thomas is seen today on various heritage railways, the last of the LB&SCR E2 class was scrapped in 1963, however a proposed project has been announced to build a new one.

Despite becoming the most popular character in "The Railway Series", Thomas did not actually feature in the first book, "The Three Railway Engines" (namely Edward, Henry, and Gordon).

Thomas was described in the opening to "Thomas and Gordon", the first story in book number two, "Thomas the Tank Engine", as:

Thomas was used initially as a station pilot engine in the first three stories in book 2, but longed for more important jobs such as pulling the express train like Gordon; his inexperience prevented this. In the fourth story, "Thomas and the Breakdown Train", Thomas rescues James and is rewarded with his own branch line. He has remained in charge of the Ffarquhar branch ever since, with his two coaches Annie and Clarabel, and help from Percy and Toby. Thomas is generally depicted with a cheeky and even self-important personality. He believes that he should be more respected by the others, and he gets annoyed when he does not receive this respect. However, Percy and Toby are more than capable of standing up to him, and Annie and Clarabel often rebuke him.

In 1996 the Thomas stories were segments for "Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales", again featuring George Carlin. Alec Baldwin portrayed Mr. Conductor in "Thomas and the Magic Railroad", and narrated the series for the US from 1998 to 2003. Michael Angelis narrated the series from 1991 to 2012 in the UK, while Michael Brandon narrated the series from 2004 to 2012 in the US. As of 2013, the series is narrated by Mark Moraghan.

Thomas's personality was originally faithful to the character of the books. As the show branched away from the novels however, modifications were made. Thomas became noticeably less arrogant and self-absorbed, developing a more friendly, altruistic and happy go lucky (if still rather over-excitable) side. He also no longer appears to be limited to his branch line and seems to work all over Sodor. These changes in his personality and duties are a result of his "star" status. He is the most popular character in the series, and therefore he has the largest number of appearances, appearing in all of the DVD specials and the movie Thomas & the Magic Railroad.

From Hero of the Rails until Series 18, Thomas was voiced by Martin Sherman (US) and Ben Small (UK). From 2015 onwards, Thomas is voiced by John Hasler in the UK, and by Joseph May in the US.

In which is a retelling of Thomas's early days on Sodor, he is a bluish-green colour when he first arrives on Sodor, his tanks are lettered "LBSC" (for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway) with the number 70 on his bunker. The 70 is a reference to 2015 being the 70th anniversary for the Railway Series, while the LB&SCR E2 class were actually numbered from 100–109. The real life LBSC no. 70 is an A1 class.Thomas had his genesis, like Winnie-the-Pooh, in a toy for a small child, both coincidentally named Christopher. A wooden push-along toy from the early 1940s is the original Thomas made by the Reverend Awdry out of a piece of broomstick for his son Christopher. This engine looked rather different from the character in the books and television series and was based on an LNER Class J50 with smaller side tanks and splashers. He was painted blue with yellow lining and carried the letters NW on his side tanks.

Awdry claimed that this stood for "No Where", but later works would identify the railway Thomas and his friends worked on as the fictional North Western Railway. Christopher Awdry lost this model when he was in the US, although it was recreated for a sizzle promo for the 70th Anniversary. However, the Reverend was happy to endorse Payne's account that the locomotive was an LBSC E2, although the first Thomas on the Awdry's model railway, from Stuart Reidpath, lacked extended tanks. In the 1979 Thomas Annual, Awdry wrote:

"I bought Thomas in 1948 when I was writing "Tank Engine Thomas Again", and wanted to start modelling once more after a lapse of some twenty years. Thomas was one of Stewart Reidpath's standard models with a heavy, cast white metal body, and was fitted with his "Essar" chassis and motor. Stewart Reidpath is now dead, and his motors, let alone spare parts for them, have been unobtainable for years; but Thomas still keeps going! He is, as you might expect from his age, a temperamental old gentleman, and has to be driven very carefully indeed."

After Hornby produced the LBSC E2 tank in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Awdry gladly adapted one to take the role of Thomas on his layout, the Ffarquhar branch.

Despite Awdry's requests for models, to which Lines Brothers (later Triang-Hornby) responded with Meccano Percy in 1967, Hornby eventually adapted the tool to be Thomas when they started Railway Series models in the 1980s.

Thomas was the only fictional character included in the "Independent on Sunday's" 2009 "Happy List", recognised alongside 98 real-life adults and a therapy dog for making Britain a better and happier place.

Thomas has been referenced, featured and parodied in popular culture. In 1988, he was parodied on ITV's "Spitting Image" where he was portrayed as a drunk who went "completely off the rails." In 2009, he appeared in The Official BBC Children in Need Medley where he was voiced by Ringo Starr, who narrated the first two series of "Thomas and Friends". In the British comedy show "Bobby Davro's TV Weekly", a spoof was created titled "Thomas The Tanked Up Engine" involving Jeremy, the pink engine. Bobby Davro provided the narration by impersonating Ringo Starr.

In Cartoon Network's "MAD", Thomas the Tank Engine appears in "Thomas the Unstoppable Tank Engine," a crossover between "Thomas the Tank Engine" and "Unstoppable". A parody of Thomas the Tank Engine was in "Robot Chicken". The skit was called "Blow Some Steam." The narrator (Seth Green) spoke like Ringo Starr who was the first narrator for "Thomas and Friends". Thomas was voiced by Daniel Radcliffe.

A tank-themed version of Thomas appears as an amusement park prop in the 2015 anime feature "Girls und Panzer der Film".

The 2015 Marvel superhero film "Ant-Man" features a Bachmann HO scale model of Thomas. In the film's climactic battle, Ant-Man and Yellowjacket fight atop Thomas while in their insect sizes until Yellowjacket derails Thomas off the model train tracks and throws him onto a windowsill. An accident during the fight results in Thomas suddenly growing to the size of a real train and demolishing a large portion of Ant-Man's daughter's house before falling on top of a police car.