Toy train:Thomas & Friends Trackmaster: See-Inside Cars - Mail Cars

Railroad enthusiast Rev. Wilbert V. Awdry created the first Thomas the Tank Engine stories to entertain his son Christopher when the boy suffered a bout of measles. The Anglican clergyman was forced to write down the stories so he could retell them each time Christopher demanded that they be told exactly as he had heard them before. Encouraged by his wife to do something with the tales, Awdry found a publisher and, working with artist C. Reginald Dalby, produced The Three Railway Engines in 1946. Awdry wrote a book nearly each year, creating twenty-six books by 1973. In the early 1980s, son Christopher began to write his own Railway stories, eventually contributing 14 books to the series. In 1984, British television introduced an animated series of Thomas the Tank Engine and His Friends, later shortened to Thomas & Friends. The series appeared in the United States in 1989 as Shining Times Station on PBS. Part of the appeal of the brand is the narration by prominent actors and performers like ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, comedian George Carlin, and actors Alec Baldwin and Pierce Brosnan. Books, television, feature movies, and licensed toys and products of Thomas and his many friends have made the little engine enormously popular for several decades. Thomas has been produced in twenty-five languages and has appeared in more than 140 countries.