Edward the Blue Engine is the ninth book of The Railway Series published in 1954. The four stories are:
- Cows: Edward is pulling some trucks when some disgruntled cows run into the train and break a coupling. Edward doesn't realise until he gets home, causing Gordon and Henry to laugh at him. Gordon is pulling a passenger train several days later when he is stopped by a cow on the viaduct. Henry, both crews and the passengers try to move her, but to no avail. Henry's guard goes for help and a porter leads the cow's calf to the bridge to lure her away. Edward soon finds out and makes fun of the big engines.
- Bertie's Chase: Thomas is late but Edward starts anyway. Bertie arrives with Thomas' passengers just as Edward leaves — Thomas' driver was ill — and, seeing he has left, chases him to Crosby, but misses him there too. Bertie's driver and the stationmaster make a plan, and they finally catch up with him at Wellsworth, where Bertie explains the whole story to Edward. Edward apologises and leaves.
- Saved from Scrap: Edward meets a traction engine named Trevor who is due to be scrapped next week. Edward decides to find a home for Trevor, and when he sees the Vicar, he persuades him to buy Trevor. The Vicar goes to the scrapyard, and, after seeing Trevor prove his worthiness, buys him, and Trevor goes to live in the Vicarage Orchard.
- Old Iron: Edward is late. James gets cross and calls him "old iron". The next day, James' driver is ill, and while his fireman gets a "relief", two boys wander into the cab and start James. Edward chases after him and after a long chase, an inspector manages to hook James with a length of rope, and James' fireman checks his speed. The Fat Controller sends Edward to the Works, the boys are caught and disciplined, and James' driver recovers in hospital.
The book contains examples of:
- Break the Haughty: This happens to Gordon and Henry after their encounter with a cow.
- Bully Hunter: Toby defends Edward against Gordon and Henry who tease him for the accident with the cows.
- Thomas and Percy also immediately stand up for Edward when James complains about him.
- Cool Old Guy: The first line in the book is that Edward is getting old, but even with worn bearings he's still very active and maintains a positive attitude towards his work and his colleagues, performing feats such as unknowingly racing a bus and catching up to a runaway James.
- A Day in the Limelight: Bertie gets one in "Bertie's Chase".
- Determinator: Bertie in his "limelight" episode. Also Edward in "Old Iron".
- Early-Installment Weirdness: "Bertie's Chase" begins with Edward getting tired of waiting for Thomas at the junction and leaving without his passengers. The following book would introduce the concept of guaranteed connections. Had this book been published later on, Edward more than likely would have been disciplined for leaving passengers behind.
- Feeling Their Age: In "Cows", it is stated that because Edward is getting old, his bearings are worn, causing him to clank. Keep in mind that worn bearings can be seen as the train equivalent to arthritis.
- Friend to All Children: Trevor.
- Jerkass: Gordon and Henry.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Since James had to wait for Edward's train in Old Iron, Edward being late results in James also being late, so you can see why he wouldn't be in the best of moods. Especially since the line "Late again!" implies that this isn't the first Edward has kept him waiting.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: James. Despite complaining about Edward for his lateness, he’s genuinely grateful to him for saving him, and was even said to have missed Edward more than his own driver, when Edward went away to be mended.
- Racing the Train: For Bertie, this is more of catching up with it to deliver its passengers.
- Runaway Engine: James thanks to the two boys.
- Time Skip: "Bertie's Chase" take place in 1948. The events of "Cows" take place in 1951. "Saved from Scrap" and "Old Iron" take place in 1952, right before Four Little Engines.
- Too Fast to Stop: After the boys mess with his controls, James enjoys moving fast, but as he goes faster and as he realizes he has no driver or fireman, his mood changes to fear.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story:
- "Cows" is based on two events. One, in South Africa, involved a herd of elephants charging and breaking a train on 28th November 1952 and the other involved a herd of cows blocking the line and leaving three passenger trains stranded for an hour and a half on Boxing Day, 1952.
- "Bertie's Chase" is based on an event which occurred in Ireland.
- "Saved from Scrap" is inspired by a traction engine owned by the Vicar of Magdalen, East Anglia, England.
- "Old Iron" is based on an event noted in Daily Express, later reprinted in The Railway Gazette, in which a runaway train in Alton, Illinois was rescued with a lasso.
