Thomas the Tank Engine

Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional steam locomotive in The Railway Series books by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher, published from 1945 on. Thomas became the most popular character in the series, and is the title character in the accompanying television spin-off series Thomas & Friends. All of the locomotives in The Railway Series were based on prototypical locomotives; Thomas has origins in the E2 Class designed by Lawson Billinton in 1913 and used on the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway. 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 the United States, there are seven traveling Thomas engines. One is a working steam locomotive transformed from Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal #15; the other six engines are dummies. All were built or rebuilt by the Strasburg Rail Road. The dummy engines are placed in a train with a steam or diesel locomotive operated as a pusher for th unpowered Thomas. Thomas's whistle is powered by the train's compressed air system. Two locomotives are narrow gauge; the other five are standard gauge. Both standard gauge and one narrow gauge replicas are transported from location to location by a flatbed truck. Thomas appears at "Day Out With Thomas" events hosted by tourist railroads and museums, in arrangement with HiT Entertainment. In September 2014, a full-scale unpowered replica of Percy was also built, and all Thomas locomotives had their original faces replaced with an animated face.