Heartwarming / The Railway Series

Books written by the Rev. W. Awdry

The Three Railway Engines

• "Edward, Gordon, and Henry":
  • After being stuck in a tunnel for a while, Henry is finally let out after The Fat Controller asks him to pull the heavy Express.
  • In the ending, Edward and Henry take Gordon back to the Sheds, thus cementing the three's friendship.
  • To further emphasize the three's friendship, Henry asks to be given blue paint just like his friends.

Thomas the Tank Engine

• "Thomas and the Trucks":
  • Thomas complained about his position in shunting coaches for the big engines. While the other engines didn't care, Edward was the only engine who sympathized with Thomas and kindly offered to switch jobs with him, making Thomas pleased.
  • Thomas' first meeting with the Fat Controller in the ending. After his mishap with some mischievous trucks, the Fat Controller bluntly asks what he's doing in the Yard and why he was travelling so fast. An intimidated Thomas whimpers his problem. Instead of punishing Thomas, The Fat Controller decides Thomas needs experience and puts him to work with trucks for the next few days, assuring him that this will make him "a really useful engine".
• "Thomas and the Breakdown Train":
  • Following up from the previous story, The Fat Controller is cheerfully encouraging Thomas, who is now much more confident and competent in handling trucks (which would come in handy later on).
  • Then after saving James, the Fat Controller commends Thomas for his work and rewards him with two coaches named Annie and Clarabel and his own Branch Line, making Thomas as happy as he can be. Even Gordon, who doesn't think too highly of anyone, whistles at Thomas as he passes by at the station, with Thomas whistling in return.
• The foreword is also heartwarming, and the most iconic of all the forewords:
  Dear Christopher,
  Here is your friend, Thomas the Tank Engine. He wanted to come out of his station yard and see the world. These stories tell you how he did it.
  I hope you will like them because you helped me to make them.
  Your Loving Daddy

James the Red Engine

• In "Troublesome Trucks", there's James sincerely apologizing to the Fat Controller for causing trouble with the coaches, prompting the Fat Controller to forgive him and let him out of the sheds to pull some trucks. It gets better in the end of the episode where the Fat Controller reveals himself after James finishes the arduous job. James is worried he's in trouble again, but the Fat Controller smiles and commends James for dealing with the trucks and allows him to keep his red paint, signaling that James is already on good terms with him.
• In "James And The Express", after Gordon suffers a mishap, James is left to pull the Express in his place. Rather than the usual formula with the pompous engine humiliated and upset, Gordon is revealed to be impressed with James' work and encourages him to keep up the good work. The narration explains that James pulls the Express to give Gordon a rest every once in a while and the two cement their Vitriolic Best Buds relationship.

Troublesome Engines

• "Percy Runs Away":
  • Despite the Fat Controller scolding Gordon, Henry, and James for their strike in "Trouble in the Shed", he allowed them out of the Sheds under the condition that they change their behavior. The big engines agree to do so.
  • Gordon comes to Percy's rescue and praises Percy for preventing a nasty accident. Considering that Percy had been cheeky to Gordon earlier and that Gordon was previously in disgrace following the strike, this resulted in both engines redeeming themselves and becoming friends.

Henry the Green Engine

• "The Flying Kipper":
  • Henry returns from Crewe and is greeted with a warm welcome back from the people at the station and is cheered for his new shape.
  • Henry pulling the Flying Kipper itself is massively heartwarming on its own, after the Fat Controller promised him to pull the Express as a reward if he did the job well, despite his near-fatal accident. In the ending scene of the episode, after being given his new shape, he gets to pull the Express after all.
• "Gordon's Whistle": After Henry is hurt after Gordon ranting badly about him, Percy sympathizes with him and tells him that he was happy to see him and loved hearing his whistling.

Gordon the Big Engine

• In "Down The Mine", Thomas and Gordon "formed an alliance" after learning how they are in disgrace for their misbehavior (Gordon falling into the ditch and Thomas falling down the mine).
  • Not only that, but the alliance lasts through-out later books. Although Thomas and Gordon sometimes have their differences, its clear the two are still loyal friends with Thomas arguably caring more for Gordon than he does his fellow Branch Line Engines Percy and Toby!
• In "Paint Pots and Queens", the two vouch for each other to the Fat Controller. Gordon asks if Thomas can run his Branch Line again while Thomas asks if Gordon can pull coaches again.

Duck and the Diesel Engine

• "A Close Shave":
  • At the start of the episode, Duck tells Edward about Diesel telling lies about him turning the other engines against him. Edward, being the kind engine, assures Duck he's not a horrid engine and The Fat Controller knows it too.
  • After Duck stopped 20 runaway trucks from hurting passengers by crashing into a barber shop, the barber yells at him without knowing the scenario. When the Fat Controller explains what happened, the barber is immediately sympathetic.
  Barber: I'm sorry. I didn't know you were being a brave engine.
  Duck: That's alright, sir. I didn't know that either.
  • Along with Duck being told by the Fat Controller that he can come home, he rolls into the Shed, greeted by whistles of all the other engines.

The Twin Engines

• "The Missing Coach": A small one, but it's comforting to know that after the last potential newcomer on trial, Duck actually hits it off right away with the twins.
• "The Deputation": How all the engines jump to Donald and Douglas' defense in the last story, despite their accidents. The two aren't officially part of the Railway yet, but it still sends a warm feeling into your heart. And the ending where all of the engines whistle for joy, is a grand payoff.

Branch Line Engines

• "Percy's Predicament": A short but memorable moment at the end was when Thomas returned from being mended. Annie and Clarabel are overjoyed to see him again.

Main Line Engines

• In "Buzz, Buzz", Duck's dislike for diesels was remedied after BoCo came to the Sheds and revealed that he was a friend of Edward.
• "Edward's Exploit":
  • Edward, who's often mocked for being the oldest engine, uses everything in him to pull a train after a serious breakdown. He shows up late at the Big Station, but the passengers are so proud of him that they give him a round of applause.
  • There's also Donald and Douglas being the last of the engines to accept BoCo into the family.

Enterprising Engines

• "Super Rescue": D7101 apologises to Henry for the repeated problems him and his prejudiced counterpart, D199, has caused. Henry tells him not to worry about it, he at least stuck up for them and a break down can happen to any engine, what with his own jammed regulator.
• "Escape": Douglas didn't hesitate for a moment after hearing Oliver's story about being in the scrapyard, and sets about to smuggle them to Sodor. Made more heartwarming when you realise Douglas is following in his older twin's footsteps.

Oliver The Western Engine

• "Donald's Duck": Donald instantly taking to little Dilly, even after discovering it was a prank by Duck. In one of the TV show's music videos, Donald even calls Dilly his 'Quackerroo'.

Duke The Lost Engine

• "Granpuff" is this, and a Tearjerker rolled into one. The bond between Falcon, Stuart and Duke is beautiful, a mix of the mentor/student and father/son relationship. Which makes their separation even more depressing, and they were like this for twenty-two years!
• Sleeping Beauty is a fantastic payoff for the whole SkR arc. Duke is found and sent to the SkR and reunited with Sir Handel and Peter Sam, and their bond hasn't changed at all.

Books written by Christopher Awdry

James and the Diesel Engines

• In "Deep Freeze", James becomes more accepting of diesels after one of them, The Works Diesel, had helped him after his injector fails.

More About Thomas the Tank Engine

• "Drip Tank": In the ending, there's Thomas apologizing to Percy for his rude behavior towards him throughout the start of the book, especially when he called him a drip. Even more heartwarming when he asks that both of them can be friends again, which makes Percy happy.

Thomas and the Twins

• "Down the Drain": In the ending, Bill and Ben become more respectful to Thomas after he pulled Ben out of The Drain.

Thomas and his Friends

• In "Thomas and the Swan", it is revealed the Fat Controller has permanently bought Pip and Emma to take over Express duties. In an understated but still moving moment, Gordon, rather than throwing a hissy fit, accepts the change gracefully, showing how he has matured throughout the books.
• Gordon ends up getting some vindication in "Gordon's Fire Service" where he manages to stop a countryside fire, and is awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal.

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