Thomas and Friends

The Thomas & Friends story began over 60 years ago in the sleepy countryside village of Box in Whiltshire, England. It is here, in a village nestled beside the Great Western Railway main line, that a young boy discovered his love of trains. That boy would become the Reverend W. Awdry, the creator of Thomas & Friends and the most famous tank engine in the world, Thomas. Many years later in 1940, when Wilbert was married, he found himself passing on his love of the railways to his son Christopher. In 1943 when Christopher was confined to his bed with measles, Wilbert decided he needed entertaining. Drawing on his childhood memories, he improvised stories about steam engines to amuse his son. And so Thomas and his friends came to life. At Thomas Wooden Railway, we’re proud to carry on the tradition of Thomas & Friends, and even prouder to do so in a way Rev. W. Awdry would wholeheartedly embrace.