''The Railway Stories'' are a series of audio adaptations of

The Railway Series ''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. Twen ...

books by the Rev. W Awdry and his son

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

. Nearly all of the 42 books in the series have been recorded by one of five different narrators:

Johnny Morris Johnny or Johnnie Morris may refer to: * Johnnie Morris (actor) (1887–1969), American comedian and actor *Johnny Morris (television presenter) (1916–1999), British television presenter *Johnny Morris (footballer) (1923–2011), English football ...

, William Rushton,

Ted Robbins Edward Michael Robbins (born 11 August 1955) is an English comic, actor, television presenter and radio broadcaster. He has performed as a warm-up artist for numerous pre-recorded comedy shows that have been filmed before live studio audiences i ...

Michael Angelis Nicolas Michael Angelis (29 April 1944 – 30 May 2020) was an English actor. He was best known for his television roles as Chrissie Todd in ''Boys from the Blackstuff'', Martin Niarchos in '' G.B.H.'' and as a UK narrator of the British child ...

, and even the Rev. W. Awdry himself.

Rev. W. Awdry recordings

The first known audio adaptation was a 7" (33⅓rpm) EP narrated by the Rev. W. Awdry himself
see photo
, with "background effects taken from real engines". This record, released in 1957 by Chiltern Records of

Princes Risborough Princes Risborough () is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England, about south of Aylesbury and north west of High Wycombe. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns, the south end ...

, contained two stories – ''Edward's Day Out'' and ''Edward and Gordon'' – from the first book in the Railway Series: ''The Three Railway Engines''.

Johnny Morris recordings (Delysé)

The first widely available recordings were narrated by

and released in the early 1960s by the Delysé Recording Company. Each 7" (45rpm)

vinyl record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

contained two stories, taken from the first eleven books of The Railway Series. The recordings were released in

mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanese b ...

. The front of the record sleeve showed an original illustration from the story in the original book. While on the back, there was a list of the other recordings in "The Railway Engine Series" ic together with an introduction from the Rev. W. Awdry:''Reverse of record sleeve DEL155, Delysé Recording Co., 1966'' The label on the record was also quite distinctive, showing a smiling red engine on a blue/white background. The label was carefully designed so that the

record player A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

spindle fitted through the engine's 'nose'! No attempt had been made to make the engine look like one of those from the stories.

Record Details

Stories from Book 1 - ''The Three Railway Engines'':''List of "Other recordings in the Railway Engine Series" – reverse of record sleeve DEL155, Delysé Recording Co., 1966'' *DEL101 ( 196x) - 1. Edward's Day Out, 2. Edward and Gordon *DEL102 ( 196x) - 1. The Sad Story of Henry, 2. Edward, Gordon and Henry Stories from Book 2 - ''Thomas the Tank Engine'': *DEL103 (1961) - 1. Thomas and Gordon, 2. Thomas's Train *DEL104 ( 196x) - 1. Thomas and the Trucks, 2. Thomas and the Breakdown Train Stories from Book 3 - ''James the Red Engine'': *DEL114 ( 196x) - 1. James and the Top Hat, 2. James and the Bootlace *DEL115 ( 196x) - 1. Troublesome Trucks, 2. James and the Express Stories from Book 4 - ''Tank Engine Thomas Again'': *DEL137 (1964) - 1. Thomas and the Guard, 2. Thomas Goes Fishing *DEL138 ( 196x) - 1. Thomas, Terence and the Snow, 2. Thomas and Bertie Stories from Book 5 - ''Troublesome Engines'': *DEL142 ( 196x) - 1. Henry and the Elephant, 2. Tenders and Turntables *DEL143 ( 196x) - 1. Trouble in the Shed, 2. Percy Runs Away Stories from Book 6 - ''Henry the Green Engine'': *DEL150 ( 196x) - 1. Coal, 2. The Flying Kipper *DEL151 (1966) - 1. Gordon's Whistle, 2. Henry's Sneeze Stories from Book 7 - ''Toby the Tram Engine'': *DEL152 ( 196x) - 1. Toby and the Stout Gentleman, 2. Thomas in Trouble *DEL153 ( 196x) - 1. Dirty Objects, 2. Mrs Kindley's Christmas Stories from Book 8 - ''Gordon the Big Engine'': *DEL154 ( 196x) - 1. Off the Rails, 2. Leaves *DEL155 (1966) - 1. Down the Mine, 2. Paint Pots and Queens Stories from Book 9 - ''Edward the Blue Engine'': *DEL212 ( 196x) - 1. Cows!, 2. Berties' Chase *DEL213 ( 196x) - 1. Saved from Scrap, 2. Old Iron Stories from Book 10 - ''Four Little Engines'': *DEL214 ( 196x) - 1. Skarloey Remembers, 2. Sir Handel *DEL215 ( 196x) - 1. Peter, Sam and the Refreshment Lady, 2. Old Faithful Stories from Book 11 - ''Percy the Small Engine'': *DEL216 ( 196x) - 1. Percy and the Signal, 2. Duck Takes Charge *DEL217 ( 196x) - 1. Percy and Harold, 2. Percy's Promise

Decca and Argo recordings

In the 1970s the stories were released on 12" (33⅓rpm) vinyl albums by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

as part of their "World of Children's Stories" series. Each record contained the stories from two complete books, one book on each side. The sleeve notes included the same quote from Rev. W. Awdry (see Delysé recordings, above). The sleeve illustrations were taken directly from the artwork of the original books. The first eight books were again narrated by

. The original Delysé recordings were re-used. Decca was also the owner of the

Argo In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sour ...

label, renowned for its audiobooks and other non-music recordings. It was therefore a natural progression to extend the series on this label. New recordings were made for six further books from The Railway Series, starting with ''Edward the Blue Engine''. These stories were narrated by

Willie Rushton William George Rushton (18 August 1937 – 11 December 1996) was an English cartoonist, satirist, comedian, actor and performer who co-founded the satirical magazine ''Private Eye''. Early life Rushton was born 18 August 1937 in 3 Wilbraham Plac ...

and the gaps between the tracks included atmospheric (if not always accurate) steam or diesel sound effects. The albums were later released on audio cassette under the same labels. Recordings were produced by Peter Johnson ('Peter John Productions'); with Kaye & Ward Ltd and Third Man Music being identified as owners of the works. Subsequently, Willie Rushton also recorded the remaining books (up to no. 26 ''Tramway Engines'') on the Argo label. These recordings were never released on vinyl, only on audio cassette.

List of recordings

Individual books

The Johnny Morris albums were identified as 'Volume 1' to 'Volume 4'; while the Willie Rushton recordings omitted any 'Volume' identity on the front cover. For clarity, the recording details below have been identified by volume numbers, regardless of whether these were shown on the sleeve. Volume 1: DECCA MONO LP - PA 270 (1972), Cassette - KCPA 270 (19??) *Narrator:

Side 1 (from Book 1: ''The Three Railway Engines'') # Edward's Day Out # Edward and Gordon # The Sad Story of Henry # Edward, Gordon and Henry Side 2 (from Book 2: ''Thomas the Tank Engine'') # Thomas and Gordon # Thomas's Train # Thomas and the Trucks # Thomas and the Breakdown Train Volume 2: DECCA MONO LP - PA 271 (1972), Cassette - KCPA 271 (19??) *Narrator:

Side 1 (from Book 3: ''James the Red Engine'') # James and the Top Hat # James and the Bootlace # Troublesome Trucks # James and the Express Side 2 (from Book 4: ''Tank Engine Thomas Again'') # Thomas and the Guard # Thomas Goes Fishing # Thomas, Terence and the Snow # Thomas and Bertie Volume 3: DECCA MONO LP - PA 272 (1972), Cassette - KCPA 272 (19??) *Narrator:

Side 1 (from Book 5: ''Troublesome Engines'') # Henry and the Elephant # Tenders and Turntables # Trouble in the Shed # Percy Runs Away Side 2 (from Book 6: ''Henry the Green Engine'') # Coal # The Flying Kipper # Gordon’s Whistle # Henry’s Sneeze ''(The book ''Henry the Green Engine'' was unique in the series by having five stories rather than four.
For the recording, it was the fourth story "Percy and the Trousers" which was omitted.)'' Volume 4: DECCA MONO LP - PA 273 (1972), Cassette - KCPA 273 (19??) *Narrator:

Side 1 (from Book 7: ''Toby the Tram Engine'') # Toby and the Stout Gentleman # Thomas in Trouble # Dirty Objects # Mrs Kindley's Christmas Side 2 (from Book 8: ''Gordon the Big Engine'') # Off the Rails # Leaves # Down the Mine # Paint Pots and Queens Volume 5: ARGO STEREO LP - SPA 559 (1979) Cassette - KCSP 559 (1979) *Narrator: William Rushton Side 1 (from Book 9: ''Edward the Blue Engine'') # Cows # Bertie's Chase # Saved from Scrap # Old Iron Side 2 (from Book 10: ''Four Little Engines'') # Skarloey Remembers # Sir Handel # Peter Sam & The Refreshment Lady # Old Faithful Volume 6: ARGO STEREO LP - SPA 560 (1979), Cassette - KCSP 560 (1979) *Narrator: William Rushton Side 1 (from Book 11: ''Percy the Small Engine'') #Percy and the Signal #Duck Takes Charge #Percy and Harold #Percy’s Promise Side 2 (from Book 12: ''The Eight Famous Engines'') #Percy Takes the Plunge #Gordon Goes Foreign #Double Header #The Fat Controller’s Engines Volume 7: ARGO STEREO LP - SPA 561 (1979), Cassette - KCSP 561 (1979) *Narrator: William Rushton Side 1 (from Book 13: ''Duck and the Diesel Engine'') #Domeless Engines #Pop Goes The Diesel #Dirty Work #A Close Shave Side 2 (from Book 14: ''The Little Old Engine'') #Trucks #Home At Last #Rock 'n' Roll #Little Old Twins ''The case insert for the cassette version lists the story titles as being on 'Side 1' and 'Side 2', but the labels on the cassette itself are marked '5' and '6'. By comparison, the label on cassette KCSP 559 identifies the sides conventionally ('1' and '2'). ''

Compilations

In addition to the individual releases, the recordings were re-released together as compilations on the Argo label. The first compilations were released on two pairs of individually cased cassettes: one pair for the Johnny Morris stories, one pair for Willie Rushton's. The Willie Rushton compilation was released again after Decca's acquisition by

PolyGram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

in 1980, this time as a twin boxed set. The recordings were distributed exclusively by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, which was somewhat ironic as EMI was Decca's main competitor for several decades. In addition to the 'new' Argo logo, the EMI logo was displayed on the spine of the case sleeve. The sleeve artwork was a heavily cropped portion of the illustration from the earlier compilation. The picture was based on one from the original books, the artist being credited as "Quick on the Draw". Decca was shown as copyright holder; Kaye & Ward Ltd and Third Man Music were no longer mentioned in the sleeve notes First release:
The Railway Stories - ARGO - SAY 87/1 - two mono cassettes - (date unknown) * Narrator:

*Side 1 - ''The Three Railway Engines'' *Side 2 - ''Thomas the Tank Engine'' *Side 3 - ''James the Red Engine'': *Side 4 - ''Tank Engine Thomas Again'' ''These tapes were marked as 'a Delesé Production. The Railway Stories - ARGO - SAY 29 - two stereo cassettes - (1982) * Narrator: William Rushton * Tape content is the same as for the 'second release' tapes. ''The cassette label and case insert showed the title as "The Railway Stories", and named the narrator and original author. Apart from this, and the usual copyright data, they were completely devoid of any indication as to the content of the recordings or the people behind them. It is not known whether the cassettes were originally supplied in some form of additional outer case that better described their content.'' Second release:
The Railway Stories - ARGO 1058 - Double stereo cassette - (1982) * Narrator: William Rushton Sides One & Two – (tape 1 - individually labelled ARGO 1059): * Book 9: ''Edward the Blue Engine'' * Book 10: ''Four Little Engines'' * Book 11: ''Percy the Small Engine'' Sides Three & Four – (tape 2 - individually labelled ARGO 1060): * Book 12: ''The Eight Famous Engines'' * Book 13: ''Duck and the Diesel Engine'' * Book 14: ''The Little Old Engine'' More Railway Stories - ARGO xxxx - Double stereo cassette - (1983) * Narrator: William Rushton Sides One & Two – (tape 1 - individually labelled ARGO xxxx): * Book 15: ''The Twin Engines'' * Book 16: ''Branch Line Engines'' * Book 17: ''Gallant Old Engine'' Sides Three & Four – (tape 2 - individually labelled ARGO xxxx): * Book 18: ''Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine'' * Book 19: ''Mountain Engines'' * Book 20: ''Very Old Engines'' Further Railway Stories - ARGO xxxx - Double stereo cassette - (1984) * Narrator: William Rushton * Cover picture:

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, from "Super Rescue" Sides One & Two – (tape 1 - individually labelled ARGO xxxx): * Book 21: ''Main Line Engines'' * Book 22: ''Small Railway Engines'' * Book 23: ''Enterprising Engines'' Sides Three & Four – (tape 2 - individually labelled ARGO xxxx): * Book 24: ''Oliver the Western Engine'' * Book 25: ''Duke the Lost Engine'' * Book 26: ''Tramway Engines''

Ted Robbins recordings

In association with Reed-Tempo Publishing,

recorded most of the stories written by

Christopher Awdry Christopher Vere Awdry (born 2 July 1940) is an English author. He is best known for his contributions to ''The Railway Series'' of books featuring Thomas the Tank Engine, which was started by his late father, Wilbert Awdry (1911–1997). He has ...

. These were released in the 1990s by Egmont Books, on a series of four audio cassettes. In each case, the 'middle' book was split across the two sides of the cassette: ''Thomas and the Twins, and other stories'' (1994) ( ) * Book 33: '' Thomas and the Twins'' * Book 32: ''

Toby, Trucks and Trouble This article is a list of books in ''The Railway Series'', a British series of children's books written by both the Rev. W. Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry. The Rev. W. Awdry Era: 1945–1972 The first 26 books in the series were writt ...

'' * Book 30: '' More About Thomas the Tank Engine'' ''Gordon the High Speed Engine, and other stories'' (1994) ( ) * Book 31: '' Gordon the High Speed Engine'' * Book 36: '' Thomas Comes Home'' * Book 37: '' Henry and the Express'' ''Really Useful Engines, and other stories'' (1995) ( ) * Book 27: '' Really Useful Engines'' * Book 29: '' Great Little Engines'' * Book 38: ''

Wilbert the Forest Engine This article is a list of books in ''The Railway Series'', a British series of children's books written by both the Rev. W. Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry. The Rev. W. Awdry Era: 1945–1972 The first 26 books in the series were writte ...

'' ''James and the Diesel Engine, and other stories'' (1995) ( ) * Book 28: '' James and the Diesel Engines'' * Book 34: '' Jock the New Engine'' * Book 35: '' Thomas and the Great Railway Show'' A selection of the stories were later released for the

Early Learning Centre The Early Learning Centre (ELC) is a British retailer that sells toys aimed at younger children. It is part of The Entertainer (through its parent company TEAL Group Holdings). It was a subsidiary of Mothercare until 2019. History The origin ...

, under the title ''Storytime with Thomas the Tank Engine'': "10 classic railway stories with music and sound effects". There were two cassettes released, both using the same Ken Stott-style illustration, the second being labelled 'Volume 2'.

Michael Angelis recordings

The first new Railway Stories recording in over 10 years was released on CD by

BBC Audiobooks #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

in March 2006. It contained adaptations of the first three Railway Series books, and was narrated by

. So far, six such CDs have been released, each containing three volumes from the Railway Series. The CDs are more reflective of the ''

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

'' TV series than the Railway Series books. This is evident through the cover art, which uses promotional images from the recent series', the storytelling style, and the splicing of several of the songs from the TV series within the stories. The first volume of The Railway Stories that Angelis narrated (consisting of The Three Railway Engines, Thomas the Tank Engine, and James the Red Engine) is available for download at the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

as well. Angelis has also recorded a number of stories for the "Thomas & Friends Audio Range". Each book, which is of a similar form to those in the My Thomas Story Library range, is accompanied by a CD containing the story narrated by Angelis, with sound effects and music. Known subjects include: Thomas, Gordon, Henry, James, Toby, Bertie and Terence.

Other recordings

There have been other audiobooks containing stories from The Railway Series, although most of these are based on stories re-written for the

Thomas and Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

TV series.

Translations

At least one set of stories has been released in Wels
(Tomos A'r Goeden Nadolig)
Published by Cyhoeddiadau Mei in September 1988, it is , but no more is known about this recording.

References

External links

- Description of the merchandise spawned from The Railway Series before the advent of the TV series. Includes pictures of The Railway Stories vinyl singles and albums.
'123Oldies'
Johnny Morris Volumes 1 to 4 available on CD

{{DEFAULTSORT:Railway Stories, The The Railway Series Audiobooks by title or series