Toby the Tram Engine is the seventh book of The Railway Series published in 1952. The four stories are:
- Toby and the Stout Gentleman: Toby is a tram engine who works a tramway with a coach named Henrietta. One day, a stout gentleman and his grandchildren notice Toby. Although Toby is offended when Bridget, the stout gentleman's granddaughter, calls him "electric", he cheers up after he gives them a ride and the stout gentleman thanks Toby. The family come for a fortnight, then leave. Months pass, and Toby's tramway closes down. But, next morning, Toby is woken with a surprise when his crew receive a letter from the stout gentleman.
- Thomas in Trouble: Thomas is bringing some trucks down from the quarry when he surprises a policeman, who tells him he is breaking the law by going across a public road without cowcatchers and sideplates. Thomas is upset, and the Fat Controller has to leave his breakfast to talk to the policeman, who tells him he cannot change the law. A comment by Thomas makes the Fat Controller remember his holiday, and a certain tram engine. A few days later, Toby arrives to help at the quarry, and after he scares the policeman he and Thomas become friends.
- Dirty Objects: James makes fun of Toby and Henrietta for having shabby paint. When Toby makes a snide comment about bootlaces, James huffs off to get a "slow goods" train. He bumps the trucks so badly they decide to pay him out. As he goes over Gordon's Hill, the trucks push him down into two tar wagons and Toby and Percy come to his aid. The Fat Controller congratulates Toby and Percy for their work, and promises Toby and Henrietta a new coat of paint.
- Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas: Mrs. Kyndley is an elderly lady who lives in a cottage near the line. Although she waves to Thomas every day as he passes, she falls ill and no longer has the energy to wave. One rainy December morning, Thomas is making his way up to Ffarquhar when a red dressing-gown waving from Mrs. Kyndley's window stops him. While the driver and a doctor go to see what the matter is, the fireman discovers that the gown was used to warn them about a landslide. The next day, Thomas, Toby, Henrietta, Annie and Clarabel and the Fat Controller go to the cottage to thank her. The Fat Controller offers her tickets to Bournemouth, where she can recover from her illness.
The book contains examples of:
- Artefact Title: Toby's mostly a side character in his own book; "Thomas in Trouble" follows Thomas and mostly serves as to how Toby got brought to the Fat Controller's railway, "Dirty Objects" is mostly about James, and "Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas" is primarily Thomas with Toby mostly appearing at the end.
- Break the Haughty: The troublesome trucks create trouble for a prideful James.
- Berserk Button:
- For Toby, being referred to as "electric".
- James gets angry when Toby reminds him of the bootlace incident.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The stout gentleman's grandson Stephen, who becomes the Fat Controller for Christopher Awdry's books.
- Cool Old Guy: Toby.
- The Dandy: James.
- Deadpan Snarker: Toby gives James a snarky reply about his red paint.Toby: Oh, so that's why you needed bootlaces, to be red-dy I suppose.
- Doomed Hometown: Toby's old tramway.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Thomas tells The Fat Controller that everyone will say that he’ll look like a tram if he wears his cowcatchers. The word "tram" gives The Fat Controller an idea...
- The Freelance Shame Squad: Percy and Toby tease James for being covered in tar.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Implied in the end of "Thomas in Trouble" where Thomas was said to be jealous of Toby, but then became friends with him.
- Have a Gay Old Time: In the foreword, Toby is described as having a "queer shape".
- Inspector Javert: The new policeman in "Thomas in Trouble", who enforces more obscure laws that nobody really cares about. (
Word of God states that he was later transferred to another patch after issuing parking fines to the vicar of Ffarquhar, the local quarry owner, the chief of the local Bench of Magistrates, and his own sergeant). - Ironic Echo:James: "I am a splendid engine. Ready for anything. You never see my paint dirty."(after the tar wagons crash)Toby: "It's James' shape. But James is a splendid red engine and you never see his paint dirty."
- Jerkass: James spends the beginning of Dirty Objects being an asshole to Toby, but the karma gods, embodied in the form of the Troublesome Trucks, are not mocked. In the mid-section, they send James crashing into tar wagons.
- Laser-Guided Karma: James crashing into tar wagons.
- Meaningful Name: Mrs. Kyndley ("kindly").
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Toby reminds James of the bootlace incident.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: The closing of Toby's tramway mirrors the closing of the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway in East Anglia, where Toby's real-life equivalents, the GER/LNER J70 steam trams, operated. The steam trams were retired and replaced by diesels a year after the book was published, with the line shutting down in 1966. Unlike Toby, they weren't as lucky.
- Shout-Out: "Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas" is this (intentionally or unintentionally) to a similar story in The Railway Children.
- Sticky Situation: James getting stuck in sticky tar.
- Time Skip: The events of this book takes place in 1951, which was 16 years after the events of Henry the Green Engine.
- Warts and All: The new policeman.
