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
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
The case insert for the cassette version lists the story titles as being on 'Side 1' and 'Side 2', but the labels on the cassette itself are marked '5' and '6'. By comparison, the label on cassette KCSP 559 identifies the sides conventionally. ''
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 -
These tapes were marked as 'a Delesé Production. The Railway Stories - ARGO - SAY 29 - two stereo cassettes -
Narrator: William Rushton
Tape content is the same as for the 'second release' tapes.
The cassette label and case insert showed the title as "The Railway Stories", and named the narrator and original author. Apart from this, and the usual copyright data, they were completely devoid of any indication as to the content of the recordings or the people behind them. It is not known whether the cassettes were originally supplied in some form of additional outer case that better described their content. Second release:
The Little Old EngineMore Railway Stories - ARGO xxxx - Double stereo cassette -
Narrator: William Rushton
Cover picture: Peter Sam, from "Special Funnel"
Sides One & Two - :
Book 15:
The Twin Engines
Book 16:
Branch Line Engines
Book 17:
Gallant Old EngineSides Three & Four - :
Book 18:
Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine
Book 19:
Mountain Engines
Book 20:
Very Old EnginesFurther Railway Stories - ARGO xxxx - Double stereo cassette -
Narrator: William Rushton
Cover picture: Henry, from "Super Rescue"
Sides One & Two - :
Book 21:
Main Line Engines
Book 22:
Small Railway Engines
Book 23:
Enterprising EnginesSides Three & Four' - :
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
A selection of the stories were later released for the Early Learning Centre, under the title Storytime with Thomas the Tank Engine: "10 classic railway stories with music and sound effects". There were two cassettes released, both using the same Ken Stott-style illustration, the second being labelled 'Volume 2'.
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 the Tank Engine and 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 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.
Other recordings
There have been other audiobooks containing stories from The Railway Series, although most of these are based on stories re-written for the Thomas and Friends TV series.
Translations
At least one set of stories has been released in Welsh . Published by Cyhoeddiadau Mei in September 1988, it is, but no more is known about this recording.
