![]() Christopher christened the model engine Thomas. Instead, Awdry made a model of a tank engine from odds and ends, painted it blue and gave it to Christopher as a Christmas present. However, Christopher apparently wanted a model of Gordon but this could not be done. Previously in 1942, after the stories were written, Wilbert made Christopher a wooden model of Edward. Awdry, while happy to see his book in print, was disappointed in the illustrations by William Middleton. The book was an immediate commercial success, quickly selling out its initial print run of 22,500 copies and going through two more by the end of the year. While it was hoped this would speed up publication, the book was not published until 12 May, 1945. While Awdry was annoyed at the requests, since Ward had already rejected his drawings, he agreed and wrote "Edward, Gordon and Henry". In October, Ward wrote to say that the stories would be published as one book entitled The Three Railway Engines, but that he required rough sketches for his illustrator to base his pictures on and a fourth story to finish off the book. Her attempts to find a publisher were initially no more successful, as most were suffering paper shortages due to the Second World War, but in September 1943, Edmund Ward agreed to publish them, though refused to commit to a publication date, to Wilbert's annoyance. Barsley's attempts to find a publisher were unsuccessful, so he showed the stories to his agent, Edith Ray Gregorson, who liked them and agreed to pursue the matter further. At Margaret's insistence, Wilbert did so. Awdry was reluctant, but Margaret persisted and mentioned the stories in a letter to Wilbert's mother, Lucy, who replied that she knew the author Michael Barsley and asked that the stories be sent to her so she could forward them to him. Margaret Awdry also liked the stories and told her husband to get them published, as she felt they were better than most children's books in circulation. Christopher would constantly ask for the stories to be retold, even after he recovered and to ensure consistency between tellings, Wilbert wrote them down on the back of old church circulars. Eventually, Christopher began asking for more stories and Awdry obliged him with "Edward and Gordon" and "The Sad Story of Henry", the latter being inspired by another rhyme he was fond of. Through a series of questions and answers, the story of Edward's Day Out was created. Wilbert replied with the first to come to his head: Edward. One sad-looking engine appealed to Christopher, as it shared his mood and he asked what his name was. Wilbert subsequently drew a picture of several engines standing in a row based on the rhyme and for fun gave them faces with various expressions. Most of them eventually lost their entertainment value, but one that continually appealed to Christopher was the rhyme " Down by the Station". To prevent their son getting bored, Wilbert and his wife Margaret Awdry told him stories and nursery rhymes. In 1942, Wilbert's son Christopher had measles and was confined to bed. ![]() To him, the noise of the locomotives' exhaust almost sounded like dialogue - for example, the larger engine having trouble climbing the hills would appear to be saying, "I can't do it, I can't do it" and the smaller engine helping them would sound like it was saying, "I will do it! I will do it! I will do it!". He liked to watch trains on the Great Western Railway. There are no deliveries on Saturdays, Sundays or Bank Holidays.When Wilbert Awdry was a child, he was always interested in railways, much like his father. These times are an estimation, not a guarantee. These delivery times are the maximum delivery periods that a purchase can take to reach our customers. Standard Delivery: Free (2-4 working days) Express Delivery: £3.99 (reduced rate, 1-2 working days)Įxpress Delivery: Free (1-2 working days) Standard Delivery: £3.99 (2-4 working days) Express Delivery: £5.99 (1-2 working days) Standard Delivery: £1.99 (2-4 working days) If any items are missing from your delivery, please allow 2 working days for the rest of your order to arrive before contacting us at of our books are 100% brand new, unread and purchased directly from the publishers in bulk allowing us to pass the huge savings on to you! Items from our extended range section are dispatched separately. We sometimes split orders between multiple parcels. ![]() Please note orders are only processed Monday-Friday. The orders go into our warehouse to be picked, packed and consolidated into one parcel where appropriate. We aim to process and dispatch our orders within 24 hours.
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