- published: 01 Jul 2014
- views: 1654171
Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional steam locomotive in The Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher. He became the most popular character in the series, and the accompanying television spin-off series, Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends.
Thomas is a tank engine, painted blue with red lining, and displays the running number one. All of the locomotives in The Railway Series were based on prototypical engines; Thomas has origins in the E2 Class designed by Lawson Billinton in 1913.
Thomas first appeared in 1946 in the second book in the series, Thomas the Tank Engine, and was the focus of the four short stories contained within.
In 1979, the British writer/producer Britt Allcroft came across the books, and arranged a deal to bring the stories to life as Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (later simplified to Thomas and Friends). The programme became an award-winning hit around the world, with a vast range of spin-off commercial products.
When Awdry created Thomas, the engine existed only as a wooden toy made for his son Christopher. This engine looked rather different from the character in the books and television series, and carried the letters NW on its side tanks. Awdry claimed that this stood for "No Where"; as the Railway Series and its backstory developed, the railway Thomas and his friends worked on became known as the North Western Railway.
A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of pulling it behind it in a tender. It will most likely also have some kind of bunker (or oil tank) to hold the fuel. There are several different types of tank locomotive dependent upon the position and style of the water tanks and fuel bunkers. The most common type has tanks mounted either side of the boiler. This type originated about 1840 and quickly became popular for industrial tasks, and later for shunting and shorter distance main line duties. Tank locomotives have advantages and disadvantages compared to traditional tender locomotives.
The first tank locomotive was the Novelty that ran at the Rainhill Trials in 1829. It was an example of a Well Tank. However, the more common form of Side tank date from the 1840s; one of the first of which was supplied by George England and Co. of New Cross to the contractors building the Newhaven, Sussex branch line for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1848. In spite of the early belief that such locomotives were inherently unsafe, the idea quickly caught on, particularly for industrial use and five manufacturers exhibited designs at The Great Exhibition in 1851. These were E. B. Wilson and Company, William Fairbairn & Sons, George England, Kitson Thompson and Hewitson and William Bridges Adams. By the mid 1850s tank locomotives were to be found performing a variety of main line and industrial roles, particularly those involving shorter journeys or frequent changes in direction.
Richard Starkey, MBE (born 7 July 1940), better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He joined the Beatles in August 1962, taking the place of Pete Best. In addition to his drumming, Starr is featured on lead vocals on a number of successful Beatles songs (in particular, "With a Little Help from My Friends", "Yellow Submarine", and the Beatles version of "Act Naturally"). He is credited as a co-writer of the songs "What Goes On" and "Flying", and as the writer of "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden".
As drummer for the Beatles, Starr was musically creative, and his contribution to the band's music has received high praise from notable drummers in more recent times. Starr described himself as "your basic offbeat drummer with funny fills". Drummer Steve Smith said that Starr's popularity "brought forth a new paradigm" where "we started to see the drummer as an equal participant in the compositional aspect" and that Starr "composed unique, stylistic drum parts for The Beatles songs". In 2011, Starr was picked as the fifth-best drummer of all-time by Rolling Stone readers.
Actors: Jane Horrocks (actress), Peter Kay (writer), Peter Kay (actor), Keith Wickham (actor), Peter Kay (writer), Peter Kay (producer), Michael Maloney (actor), Neil Morrissey (actor), Yuri Lowenthal (actor), Frank Welker (actor), Bernard Cribbins (actor), Ringo Starr (actor), Casey Kasem (actor), Sean Hughes (actor), David Carling (actor),
Genres: Animation, Family, Music, Short,Actors: Maz Jobrani (producer), Anthony Begonia (producer), Alanna Ubach (actress), Dante Basco (producer), Tom Lenk (actor), Skyler Stone (actor), Jeffrey Gee Chin (miscellaneous crew), Assaf Cohen (actor), Vanessa Born (producer), Harry Du Young (producer), Aldis Hodge (actor), Aldis Hodge (actor), Michele Tedlis (miscellaneous crew), Russ Riggins (producer), Nic Cha Kim (producer),
Genres: Comedy,Everyone leaves. They all come back.
The engine roars and stays on track.
An endless cyle on a broken wheel.
Losing touch with is real.
No turning back.
Start, Stop, Repeat.
No end in sight.
The sun rises but there is no light.
Each new day just like the last.
The future fades into the past.
A race you run around a track
With each step forward bringing you back.
Habits formed, hard to break.
The life you live is the life you make.
Im no pwan,
And I wont play this game
The end result is always the same.
Break the cycle make my own way.
Tomorrow can be a better day.
Break the cycle.
No turning back.