UNDER CONSTRUCTION
The Thomas the Tank Engine universe was the brainchild of an Anglican minister, the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, who in 1942 began spinning stories about trains to amuse his son Christopher, who had come down with the measles. The first volume in Awdry's “The Railway Series” was published in 1945.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbit-holes/the-repressive-authoritarian-soul-of-thomas-the-tank-engine-and-friends#:~:text=The%20Thomas%20the%20Tank%20Engine,Series%E2%80%9D%20was%20published%20in%201945.