References in Popular Culture
Satirical magazine Private Eye produced a book Thomas the Privatised Tank Engine, written in the style of The Railway Series. The stories were strongly critical of private railway companies and the Government of John Major, and covered subjects such as the Channel Tunnel, London Underground, transport of radioactive waste and the perceived dangerous state of the railways.
Andrew Lloyd Webber wanted to produce a musical based on The Railway Series, but Awdry couldn't give Lloyd Webber the control he wanted. Lloyd Webber would go on to compose Starlight Express, and create The Really Useful Group, a name inspired by the catchphrase "Really Useful Engines".
Read more about this topic: The Railway Series
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