History YMMV / TheRailwaySeries

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: many ancillary books such as ''The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways'', magazine stories, or even the original artwork of the first two books are shared through-out the fandom due to the difficulty in accessing original copies. For those outside the UK, Christopher's stories can be this as well since they have not been published internationally as often as Wilbert's original books.

* FranchiseOriginalSin:
** A common criticism for ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' was how silly and unrealistic it got, especially in its later seasons. However, this was something that had existed in the books too, as although both Wilbert and Christopher Awdry did try to stick with realism as best as possible, beyond the obvious fact that the engines could talk and emote, some of the stories do occasionally break from reality at times and feature scenarios that were unrealistic, especially in the [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness earlier books]]. However, this wasn’t really considered a problem in the books, because many of the breaks tend to largely be [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality cases that don't detract from, if not enhance the stories]]. On top of this, the books kept a consistently grounded and down-to-earth tone that can ground and restrain the sillier elements and prevent it from being too over the top. The TV show, by contrast, lacked this restraint and would skew with reality more and more until it eventually abandoned any semblance of realism in its later seasons, leading to the aforementioned criticisms to pop up and quickly grow over time.
** One of the biggest criticisms that ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad'' received from fans is how Lady was a completely fictional engine with no real life basis. However, one of the most beloved characters in the books and TV show, Percy, is also a largely fictional engine with no real life basis, being a heavily hybridized mix of several steam engines instead of being based off a real class like the other engines. The reason why Percy tends to receive a pass over Lady in spite of this is that Percy is still depicted as a realistic and grounded engine in spite of lacking a specific real life basis (it helps that steam engines made for industrial use in real life were often unique and/or modified, so there is a real life precedent for this). Lady by contrast, is portrayed as an entirely supernatural and magical being, making her far more jarring and out of place compared to Percy.

* ExiledFromContinuity: the years of Christopher butting heads with the publisher didn't prevent him from writing ''other stories'' about talking trains ''outside'' The Railway Series. Hence leading to books such as ''[[https://www.corris.co.uk/shop/books-journals-etc/hugh-goes-sliding/ Hugh Goes Sliding]]'' written for The Corris Railway. There has been some debate on if these books really belong in The Railway Series or not, although the [[UncannyValley bizarre artwork]] of ''Hugh Goes Sliding'' certainly has many fans choosing to ignore the matter.

* BrokenBase: ''Mountain Engines''. An unnecessary entry since the Culdee Fell Railway and its engines never appear in another book, or a welcome glimpse into an obscure part of Sodor, with its limited spotlight adding to the mysterious aura of the railway?
** Clive Spong's art can be seen as BoringButPractical, combining the bright colors of Dalby with a more technical eye. Sure Kenny or the Edwards' had more dramatic scenes, but Spong often captured realistic railway locations well and the only book he illustrated for Rev. Awdry (spin-off entry ''Thomas's Christmas Party'') got the picky Reverend's praise for ''finally'' illustrating the train stations right.

** Because of AdaptationDisplacement, it is common for fans to assume that Thomas is the main protagonist here as he is in the show. While Thomas is indeed a protagonist, he is only one of several protagonists in the books, as opposed to being the main protagonist, as the books have an EnsembleCast with the engines sharing a roughly equal amount of focus (Thomas wasn't even in the first book). The fact that compilations would be titled "Thomas the Tank Engine" due to the show does not help.

** Because of AdaptationDisplacement, it is common for fans to assume that Thomas is the main protagonist as he is in the show. While Thomas is indeed a protagonist, he is only one of several protagonists in the books, as opposed to being the main protagonist, as the books have an EnsembleCast with multiple engines being the main protagonist. The fact that compilations would be titled "Thomas the Tank Engine" due to the show does not help.

* CommonKnowledge: The illustrations of ''Thomas the Tank Engine'' are often misattributed to C. Reginald Dalby, when in reality, the illustrations were originally done by Reginald Payne, not Dalby. It doesn’t help that Payne is often uncredited for his work on the book and that Dalby did go back and revise the illustrations in later editions of the book.

** "Henry's Sneeze" originally described the schoolboys covered in soot as "black as"...a word beginning with the letter "N". Thankfully this was changed in later editions and Awdry gave a public apology for including the slur.

** While the fourth Hatt to succeed Stephen Hatt is implied to be his first son Richard Hatt (given he has the name Topham like the current Fat Controller and the previous two), a common speculative theory that has popped up in more recent years is what if [[BreakingOldTrends Emily Helen (his only daughter) succeeded him instead, becoming the railway's first female controller]], and how would the engines react to such a massive shift in the status quo. Unsurprisingly several fan works, most notably ''Machinima/SodorTheEarlyYears'', have explored this idea in greater depth.

* FilmingLocationCameo: One of the illustrations for Duke the Lost Engine in "You Can't Win" depicts a real life location on the abandoned Ravenglass & Eskdale grade just outside the end of the modern day line at [[https://goo.gl/maps/wHt419BHYk1mghCg6 Dalegarth Station]]. The Ravenglass & Eskdale is a miniature railroad relaid over abandoned narrow gauge track, and was the inspiration for the Arlesdale Railway in the series. The cottages at Dalegarth are drawn in the background of "You Can't Win" as Stuart and Duke are passing by in the book's illustration.

* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight:
** Due to the show’s infamous shift away from the book's grounded roots and the numerous retools, it is common to for some fans to consider Wilbert and Christopher Awdry as being the only ones who can truly understand Thomas and what made it work, with many hating the show’s more recent seasons simply because they're not adhering to Awdry's vision as the earlier seasons did.
** Within the series itself, Christopher Awdry's books, while not regarded as being bad, are generally regarded as being inferior to his father's books. Due to ExecutiveMeddling hampering the books, preventing them from being ambitious and his books being drier and not having the witty writing of his father's.

* FilmingLocationCameo: One of the illustrations for [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/ttte/images/a/a3/YouCan%27tWin%21RS6.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20210805164557 Duke the Lost Engine]] depicts a real life location on the abandoned Ravenglass & Eskdale grade just outside the end of the line at [[https://goo.gl/maps/wHt419BHYk1mghCg6 Dalegarth Station]]. The Ravenglass & Eskdale is a miniature railroad relaid over abandoned narrow gauge track, just like the Arlesdale Railway in the series.

** While the fourth Hatt to succeed Stephen Hatt is implied to be his first son Richard (given he has the name Topham), a common speculative theory that has popped up in more recent years is what if [[BreakingOldTrends Emily Helen (his only daughter) succeeded him instead, becoming the railway's first female controller]]. Furthermore, how would the engines react to such a potentially massive shift in the status quo. Unsurprisingly several fan works, most notably ''Machinima/SodorTheEarlyYears'', have explored this idea in greater depth.

* {{Fanon}}: Thomas is interpreted by fans as being an experimental prototype based on the LBSC E2 basis as opposed to an actual E2, largely as a way to explain why Thomas seemingly lacks the problems his real life basis is infamous for having[[note]]The real life E2's suffered from a low coal supply and small side tankers (the latter of which was slightly rectified by a later upgrade), making them only useful for shunting and for small run freight trains[[/note]]. It helps that there is precedent for this in canon, as ''[[AllThereInTheManual The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways]]'' reveals several engines as being experimental prototypes.

* BrokenBase: ''Mountain Engines''. An unnecessary book since the Culdee Fell Railway and its engines never appear in another book, or a welcome glimpse into an obscure part of Sodor, with its limited spotlight adding to the mysterious aura of the railway?

* {{All There in the Manual}}: Several characters who are not mentioned in the books but were on Awdry's model railroad exist. Among them is [[https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/Bloomer Bloomer]] a vintage locomotive used on Thomas's branchline for enthusiast specials, and several [[https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/Other_Mid_Sodor_Railway_Engines Mid Sodor Railway locomotives]]. In the case of the Mid Sodor Railway, Awdry's need for having more locomotives on his model railroad than those mentioned in the books was for practical reasons; as the motors in small model trains at the time were often faulty, and when book characters like Falcon, Stuart or Duke failed Awdry needed a replacement to continue running the model layout at exhibitions... leading to very underdeveloped characters such as ''Tim'' or ''Jim'' being kept as spare locomotives for the job.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: A common criticism for ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' was how silly and unrealistic it got at times, to the point of breaking from reality entirely, especially in its later seasons. However, this was something that had existed in the books too, as although both Wilbert and Christopher Awdry did try to stick with reality as best as possible, beyond the obvious fact that the engines could talk and emote, some of the stories do occasionally play with and break from reality at times. However, this wasn’t really considered a problem in the books, because many of the breaks tends to largely be [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality things that don't detract from, if not enhance the story]]. On top of this, the series kept a consistently grounded and down-to-earth tone that manages to ground down and restrain even the sillier and less realistic elements of the books, preventing it from being the over the top. The TV show, by contrast, lacks this restraint and would skew reality more and more until it eventually abandoned any semblance of realism entirely in its later seasons, leading to the aforementioned criticisms to pop up and quickly grow over time.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: A common criticism for ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' (especially in later seasons) was how silly and unrealistic the scenarios got at times, on top of the show playing with reality for the sake of a story. However, this was something that existed in the books too, as although both Awdry's did try to stick with reality as best as possible, beyond the obvious fact that the engines could talk and emote, some of the stories do occasionally play with and stretch reality at times for the sake of a story. However, this wasn’t really a problem because a lot of these cases were either minor things that don't detract from the story or even [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality enhance the story]]. On top of this, the series kept a consistently grounded and down to earth tone that manages to ground down and restrain even the sillier and less realistic elements. The TV show, by contrast, lacks this restraint and would skew reality more and more until it abandon realism entirely in its later seasons, leading to the aforementioned criticisms to pop up and quickly grow over time.

*** For example, in ''Great Little Engines'' the central premise is that Sir Handel visit the Talyllyn Railway in Wales. Given how it was inspired by Prince Charles and Princess Diana vising the Talyllyn, and it is mentioned in the book, it would have been neat to see Sir Handel on the actual Talyllyn, and even see the story about how he got a black eye from a tree branch. Instead however, the stories focus on Peter Sam and Duncan being oddly OOC, with Sir Handel's adventure only being told via flashback.