The Rev.W.Awdry Record

The Rev.W.Awdry Record

In 1957, 12 years after the release of the first book in the Railway Series which was of course the Three Railway Engines, Chiltern Records LTD. released a 7in Long Playing single featuring the two first stories from the aforementioned book. This was the first and last time published recordings were released of the Rev.W.Awdry narrating his own stories. 

ThomasTankCollectables Archive 2014

The story telling was accompanied by steam engine sounds, which as you will hear are quite loud! The recording was only ever released on this record and not many copies of this record were made. The record was advertised in various merchandise of the time. Below is a fantastic advertisement featuring both the record and more prominently the press out model books of the late 1950s and 1960s. 

Jim Gratton - www.pegnsean.net

Sadly the record was not very successful and no other records were made, which is a shame, it would have nice to hear other stories told the way the author intended. An extract from the book "Sounds of the Railways and Their Recordings" released in 1981 explains why this particular record was not very successful. 

Sounds of the Railways and Their Recordings 1981

This mentions a small production run, suggesting that the record was not only produced on a small scale but also only produced in one year. All this makes this record very scarce and a fantastic addition to anyone's collection. We will be releasing both sides (unrestored) on our Youtbe channel and have already released a short video summarising the points discussed in more detail in this post. If you would still like to know more, head over to our OneDrive folder linked below, where you can find the pictures featured in this article and in our Youtube video. 

With thanks to The Railway Stories Collection for helping me find information about this record. You can head over to his channel to see his digitally remastered upload of this record. 

ThomasTankCollectables Rev.W.Awdry Record Video

ThomasTankCollectables OneDrive FolderDigitally remastered audio supplied by The Railway Stories Collection