Located on the imaginary island of Sodor, a place where every vehicle has its own characteristics, Thomas, a tank engine, and his friends face exciting adventures.
Thomas the Tank Engine is an anthropomorphised fictional tank locomotive in the British Railway Series books by Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher, published from 1945. He became the most popular and famous character in the series, and is the titular protagonist in the accompanying television adaptation series Thomas & Friends[2] and its reboot Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go.

Thomas is a blue steam engine and has a number 1 painted on his side. All of the vehicles in The Railway Series were based on prototypical engines; Thomas's basis is the LB&SCR E2 class.[3] Thomas first appeared in 1946 in the second book in the series, Thomas the Tank Engine, and was the focus of the four short stories contained within.