The Railway Stories
The Railway Stories are a series of audio adaptations of The Railway Series books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher.
Nearly all 42 of the books in the series have been recorded by one of five different narrators: Johnny Morris, William Rushton, Ted Robbins, Michael Angelis, and even the Rev. W. Awdry himself.
Rev. W. Awdry recordings
The first known audio adaptation was a 7" EP narrated by the Rev. W. Awdry himself, with "background effects taken from real engines".This record, released in 1957 by Chiltern Records of Princes Risborough, 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 Johnny Morris and released in the early 1960s by the Delysé Recording Company. Each 7" vinyl record contained two stories, taken from the first eleven books of The Railway Series. The recordings were released in mono.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", together with an introduction from the Rev. W. Awdry:
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 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:- DEL101 - 1. Edward's Day Out, 2. Edward and Gordon
- DEL102 - 1. The Sad Story of Henry, 2. Edward, Gordon and Henry
- DEL103 - 1. Thomas and Gordon, 2. Thomas's Train
- DEL104 - 1. Thomas and the Trucks, 2. Thomas and the Breakdown Train
- DEL114 - 1. James and the Top Hat, 2. James and the Bootlace
- DEL115 - 1. Troublesome Trucks, 2. James and the Express
- DEL137 - 1. Thomas and the Guard, 2. Thomas Goes Fishing
- DEL138 - 1. Thomas, Terence and the Snow, 2. Thomas and Bertie
- DEL142 - 1. Henry and the Elephant, 2. Tenders and Turntables
- DEL143 - 1. Trouble in the Shed, 2. Percy Runs Away
- DEL150 - 1. Coal, 2. The Flying Kipper
- DEL151 - 1. Gordon's Whistle, 2. Henry's Sneeze
- DEL152 - 1. Toby and the Stout Gentleman, 2. Thomas in Trouble
- DEL153 - 1. Dirty Objects, 2. Mrs Kindley's Christmas
- DEL154 - 1. Off the Rails, 2. Leaves
- DEL155 - 1. Down the Mine, 2. Paint Pots and Queens
- DEL212 - 1. Cows!, 2. Berties' Chase
- DEL213 - 1. Saved from Scrap, 2. Old Iron
- DEL214 - 1. Skarloey Remembers, 2. Sir Handel
- DEL215 - 1. Peter, Sam and the Refreshment Lady, 2. Old Faithful
- DEL216 - 1. Percy and the Signal, 2. Duck Takes Charge
- DEL217 - 1. Percy and Harold, 2. Percy's Promise
Decca and Argo recordings
In the 1970s the stories were released on 12" vinyl albums by Decca Records 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. The sleeve illustrations were taken directly from the artwork of the original books.The first eight books were again narrated by Johnny Morris. The original Delysé recordings were re-used.
Decca was also the owner of the Argo 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 and the gaps between the tracks included atmospheric steam or diesel sound effects.
The albums were later released on audio cassette under the same labels. Recordings were produced by Peter Johnson ; with Kaye & Ward Ltd and Third Man Music being identified as owners of the works.
Subsequently, Willie Rushton also recorded the remaining books 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, Cassette - KCPA 270
- Narrator: Johnny Morris
- Edward's Day Out
- Edward and Gordon
- The Sad Story of Henry
- Edward, Gordon and Henry
- Thomas and Gordon
- Thomas's Train
- Thomas and the Trucks
- Thomas and the Breakdown Train
- Narrator: Johnny Morris
- James and the Top Hat
- James and the Bootlace
- Troublesome Trucks
- James and the Express
- Thomas and the Guard
- Thomas Goes Fishing
- Thomas, Terence and the Snow
- Thomas and Bertie
- Narrator: Johnny Morris
- Henry and the Elephant
- Tenders and Turntables
- Trouble in the Shed
- Percy Runs Away
- Coal
- The Flying Kipper
- Gordon’s Whistle
- Henry’s Sneeze
Volume 4: DECCA MONO LP - PA 273, Cassette - KCPA 273
- Narrator: Johnny Morris
- Toby and the Stout Gentleman
- Thomas in Trouble
- Dirty Objects
- Mrs Kindley's Christmas
- Off the Rails
- Leaves
- Down the Mine
- Paint Pots and Queens
- Narrator: William Rushton
- Cows
- Bertie's Chase
- Saved from Scrap
- Old Iron
- Skarloey Remembers
- Sir Handel
- Peter Sam & The Refreshment Lady
- Old Faithful
- Narrator: William Rushton
- Percy and the Signal
- Duck Takes Charge
- Percy and Harold
- Percy’s Promise
- Percy Takes the Plunge
- Gordon Goes Foreign
- Double Header
- The Fat Controller’s Engines
- Narrator: William Rushton
- Domeless Engines
- Pop Goes The Diesel
- Dirty Work
- A Close Shave
- Trucks
- Home At Last
- Rock 'n' Roll
- Little Old Twins
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 in 1980, this time as a twin boxed set. The recordings were distributed exclusively by EMI, 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 -
- Narrator: Johnny Morris
- Side 1 - The Three Railway Engines
- Side 2 - Thomas the Tank Engine
- Side 3 - James the Red Engine:
- Side 4 - Tank Engine Thomas Again
The Railway Stories - ARGO - SAY 29 - two stereo cassettes -
- Narrator: William Rushton
- Tape content is the same as for the 'second release' tapes.
Second release:
The Railway Stories - ARGO 1058 - Double stereo cassette -
- Narrator: William Rushton
- Book 9:
- Book 12:
- Narrator: William Rushton
- Book 15:
- Book 18:
- Narrator: William Rushton
- Cover picture: Henry, from "Super Rescue"
- Book 21:
- 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, Ted Robbins recorded most of the stories written by Christopher Awdry. 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
- Book 33: Thomas and the Twins
- Book 32: Toby, Trucks and Trouble
- Book 30: More About Thomas the Tank Engine
- Book 31: Gordon the High Speed Engine
- Book 36: Thomas Comes Home
- Book 37: Henry and the Express
- Book 27: Really Useful Engines
- Book 29: Great Little Engines
- Book 38: Wilbert the Forest Engine
- Book 28: James and the Diesel Engines
- Book 34: Jock the New Engine
- Book 35: Thomas and the Great Railway Show
Michael Angelis recordings
The first new Railway Stories recording in over 10 years was released on CD by BBC Audiobooks in March 2006. It contained adaptations of the first three Railway Series books, and was narrated by Michael Angelis. So far, six such CDs have been released, each containing three volumes from the Railway Series.The CDs are more reflective of the Thomas & Friends 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 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.