The Reverend W. Awdry was a devoted pastor and family man, who adored trains. He started to tell stories about Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends in order to entertain his son Christopher. Those stories have now gone on to entertain generations of children around the world. A convinced pacifist, Awdry was thrown out of one curacy and denied another during World War II, because of his beliefs. He was a man of courage, who believed that you should live by certain rules. He built his imaginary world on the island of Sodor on these rules, and showed how those who transgressed them would...