DVD Review: A Day On Awdry's Railway

Back in June I said that 'Animal Adventures' was going to be my last DVD to review and then a few days later from the Talyllyn [Taly-k-yn] Railway's twitter page, this took me by surprise and to be honest this made me more excited compare to the DVDs that Mattel Creations had released this year. With it being the 110th birthday of the Rev.W.Awdry this year and the fact that the Talyllyn Railway has a special place within the Awdry family and the world of Thomas, a special DVD, by the railway, had been complied of his Ffarquhar layout, which is now proudly on display at the Narrow Gauge Museum at the Talyllyn Railway in Wales. So let's take a dive into it. But first:

 THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANDOM

A DAY ON AWDRY'S RAILWAY

Told by

The Rev.W.Awdry

Special Features

Awdry Interview

Release Date

17/08/21

Distrubited by

Rheilffordd Talyllyn Railway 

PRESENTATION

The main feature of the DVD is the 'Timetable sequence' made by the Rev.W.Awdry of Thomas' branch line, the MK.2 layout, which was made for exhibition purposes, which is a common thing in railway modelling for those who want to have an accurate working railway. The three sequences are a morning, afternoon and night sequence featuring the original models created by Awdry himself back in his lifetime. His Thomas model was exactly how it was created in 1948. The timetable, judging from the rare pictures shown in the presentation, was done around 1973. The Rev's timetable, written out by *Luci/Chara on twitter, can be found here via a link.

Their was some interesting subtle comedic moments within the sequence such as Mavis showing off Daisy with her work and Percy saying, although censored, some very colourful words about Mavis' shunting up at the quarry, and yes this is canon to the Railway Series, Percy swears! Their were other interesting things too such as the observation saloon coaches being used for enthusiast specials, which is hauled by Stepney in the DVD. However they are often pulled by Bloomer, an engine that Awdry created but is only seen in model form, who was the Fat Controller's contribution to the Stockton & Darlington Railway's 150th in 1975. 

Bloomer's basis is the LNWR 'Bloomer' class locomotive designed by

James McConnell in 1851. His backstory can be seen here.

Bloomer was mentioned in Awdry's 'History of Sodor' lecture about the 'Railways of Sodor' lecture that the Talyllyn Railway had hosted during their Awdry Extravaganza event that they'd held back in August 2021, which was presented by British Railway Historian, TV presenter and Railway Series fan, Tim Dunn. You can buy the lecture's live stream on the railway's website for about £5.00 and you can get the stuff that was shown at the lecture as well. That's about $6.90USD and $9.41AUD and it would be worth it if you're a Railway Series or Thomas fan and not only that but you will be helping out the railway, especially in the times of COVID-19. 

This happened to Skarloey, which happened to Talyllyn. He was placed on a haulage wagon

so that it could run on standard gauge rails.

I'd watched the lecture via live stream back in August and, while condense, it was amazing to hear so much of what Awdry had written such as Neil being saved from the cutter's torch, Bloomer and Skarloey running on standard gauge tracks in a haulage wagon when Neil was all worned out, yes Awdry had written that! Hopefully one day we see all of these lecture notes being compiled into one huge book, kind of like the Rev.W.Awdry and George Awdry's Sodor book from 1987. Their is so much more detail about Sodor and its railway that I would love to see.

Their was one akward bit and that was the sequence when Mavis took the milk van to collect her trucks in the third sequence, however Luke Ryan, a volunteer of the Talyllyn Railway and well-known Awdry expert, had stated that Mavis' sequence was written in the timetable however they didn't have the tape that include that. I was little preplexed by that but I'm glad that it's all cleared up and I would let it slide.

The whole presentation was well done and it was filmed really well with the angles and locations and it really gave such immersiveness that it feels like you are watching a real working railway with Awdry narrating it along with two other people, their names however aren't known but it's been said that they were friends of Awdry. That to me is the magic of model railways. They give you this creative little world that you're in control over. It is more fun when you don't have a timetable but I can see the fun in all that after watching this DVD. 

This DVD is worth the money and, as I said for the lecture, the money goes back into helping out the railway which has a close connection to the Awdry family and the Thomas world. Probably the best Thomas DVD that came out this year.

SPECIAL FEATURES

The DVD has one special feature which is an audio interview of the Rev.W.Awdry about the creation of Thomas and the Railway Series books, how he came up with the Island of Sodor and his model railway. He even added about how the carriages were always female and that Daisy was technically a coach. Although it's kinda strange since Mavis is a female engine and she isn't a coach. However the short interview was interesting and the rare never-before-seen pictures were interesting too of Awdry's railway modelling over the years. 

OVERALL

As I said before, this is the best Thomas DVD that came out this year. The other two while OK at best weren't really the best and although 'All Engines Go!' will be getting DVDs, especially in the US since their hadn't been a new release over their since 2019, however I won't be reviewing them and I hadn't planned on reviewing them since I don't want to waste my money on something that people, outside the fandom, are already hating on. I believe I heard that the Talyllyn are going to make more copies of these Awdry Railway DVDs, though I can't find the tweet that supported that.

I hope more copies are being made because I think Thomas fans will enjoy this DVD. It's simple but it had great charm and it's great to see that despite Mattel's Thomas reboot exisiting, a well known narrow gauge railway is keeping Awdry's legacy alive. 

Thier is more ways to enjoy everything Awdry. If you have twitter you can follow 'The Awdry Study' which would, at times, showcase some rarity once owned by Awdry or as I had mentioned earlier, you can buy the History of Sodor lecture on the railway's shop website. 

This would be my last DVD review and probably my last post for a while until December with my final retrospective post of the DVDs that I had reviewed during the year, despite it being three releases this year. I had fun reviewing these in the past nine years but sometimes all good things have to come to an end. I did say I might re-review the BWBA movie and the series that came alongside with it. But I just can't make any promise to do so. I might as well make a post in regards to the Marc Forster movie, whenever that comes out, since that would be worth something to review. 

Thank you so much for reading these past DVD reviews, even if you agree or disagree with the things I'd said I'm happy that you had taken your time to read them. I will keep this blog up though as I have no plans on closing it down. 

OVERALL RATING

10/10