"My parents read stories about your railway to me as a child. There will never be anything like it anywhere."
—The Prince
Thomas and his Friends is the forty-second and final book of The Railway Series published in July 6th, 2011. This book focuses on the celebration of the Rev. W. Awdry's centenary.
- Thomas and the Swan: Pip and Emma arrive at the big station one day and the Fat Controller tells Thomas and Gordon that they will be running the express service to London. They soon become a success. One day, Thomas is leaving the station by the river, when he sees something white on the bridge ahead. He and his crew think that it is a newspaper, until Thomas sees a head and a long neck emerge from the bundle. After looking at it, Thomas' crew realize that it is a swan, which has broken a wing. They place the swan in Thomas' cab and take it to the top station where a vet takes it to his surgery. A few days later, they set the swan free. Thomas is congratulated for his rescue by the Fat Controller and the other engines.
- Buffer Bashing: Donald and Douglas are delivering ballast hoppers from the Arlesdale Railway to Tidmouth Yard for James, who's taking the trucks to a section of the mainline undergoing track maintenance. Donald moves into a siding one day, but the rails are slippery with frost and he finds himself brought to a stop by the buffers. Nobody is harmed, but the buffers are smashed to smithereens. The other engines tease Donald and tell him he should go into skating championships, but the Fat Controller doesn't mind, as he knows Donald couldn't help it. Three days later, James collects the final ballast train, while Douglas slides into the siding where workmen are just finishing painting the new buffers. Douglas' driver applies the brakes, but nothing happens and Douglas crashes straight through the new buffers. The foreman angrily splashes some red paint onto Douglas' nose, which the Fat Controller leaves on his nose as a reminder to be more careful in sidings.
- Gordon’s Fire Service: Gordon is taking a stopping train on the main line when he sees a red glow from under a bridge. A tractor's load of haybales had caught fire and the fire was beginning to spread to the grassy banks. Gordon's crew tries to put it out, but to no avail. Then Gordon has a wonderful idea: the hose inside his cab can be used! The driver and fireman quickly get to work and soon the fire is out. The fire engine soon arrives, but when they find the fire is already out, they praise Gordon for his quick thinking. Gordon is awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal for his bravery.
- Centenary: The engines are preparing to celebrate the centenary of the Thin Clergyman. James is chosen to go and collect the bust of the Thin Clergyman from the Mainland. He collects the bust safely and has just gone through Henry's Tunnel on his return journey when the tunnel collapses, cutting off Sodor from the Mainland! Henry and the Scottish Twins are sent to repair the tunnel. Meanwhile however, all trains have to stop at Crovan's Gate whilst Bertie and his friends bring the passengers to and from the Mainland. At Ffarquhar Sheds, Percy tells Toby that the Thin Clergyman is "broken" until Thomas explains what a bust actually is. Soon Pip and Emma, who were stranded on the Mainland, are cleared as the first train to travel through the repaired tunnel. At Tidmouth station, out of Pip and Emma's coaches steps Prince Charles. He unveils the Thin Clergyman's bust and proudly declares, "There will never be anything like it anywhere".
This book contains examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Donald laughs about the teasing from the other engines over the buffer incident.
- Character Development: Gordon is taken off express work due to the arrival of Pip and Emma. Instead of reacting negatively, he gracefully accepts the decision due to his age catching up to him and the Intercity pair being built to do the job more productively. He's still grandiose, but he's finally learned a level of humility.
- Disneyfication: "Thomas and the Swan" is actually based off of the 1992 annual "Thomas and the Swans". In the annual, Thomas encounters the hurt swan who turns out to be angry and scares him. In this story, Thomas encounters the hurt swan and he rescues it.
- Downer Ending: For Douglas, he gets reprimanded by the Fat Controller for crashing the new buffers and leaves the paint on his nose as a reminder to be more careful on sidings.
- The End: The final story ends with this, which was never done in the other books. Justified in that this is the last book as Christopher Awdry is finished writing anymore books.
- Grand Finale: The last book of the series.
- Misplaced Retribution: Donald crashes into some buffers, but the Fat Controller knew it wasn't his fault since he couldn't stop in time. But when Douglas does the same, the Fat Controller scolds him.
- Mythology Gag: The book's title is no doubt a nod to the books' iconic adaptation, Thomas & Friends.
