The original Thomas The Tank Engine Books were written between 1945, and 1971 by Rev. W. Awdry. The storys in the book were seen on episodes of Shining Time Station. Depending on the episode, some episodes had two thomas episodes, while others only had one. In 1996, Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales aired, showing about five storys, and one song per episode. Thomas and Friends is still on American television today, but Shining Time Station has been yet to be remembered. Thomas The Tank Engine and his friends have appeared in a few movies, such as Thomas and The Magic railroad, Calling all Engines, and coming out soon is Thomas's newest movie "The Great Discovery." In the late eighties was when ERTL began making the very first Diecast Thomas and friends models. The diecast models were enjoyed by many kids all over the world, until Learning Curve came out with the Thomas The Tank Engine wooden railway in 1995, and ERTL models were becoming discontinued. The Thomas wooden railway became very popular and is still the most popular Thomas The Tank Engine Toy. Recently, Thomas The Tank Engine Take Along diecast models were introduced. Besides wooden and diecast models, Thomas The Tank Engine has come out with many different toys, and a very wide variety of Thomas videos and dvds, which together make up over 300 episodes.
