Wooden toy train
"Thomas the Tank Engine" is a character created by the Rev. W. Awdry in "The Railway Series" of children's books, first published in the U.K. in 1945. In 1984 a television series called "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends" was made, adding to the popularity of the characters. It was first broadcast in the United States in 1989. John W. Lee founded the company "Learning Curve Toys" in November 1992 with a wooden railway system called "Thomas & Friends" based on the Thomas the Tank Engine characters. This made the wooden toy trains even more popular than before. Learning Curve introduced some new designs for the track surface, such as the "Clickety Clack" rails patented 1995 and the newer tracks in 2002 with a relief to supply better traction grip for battery powered four wheel drive trains patented in 1998.
List of people and animals from Thomas &amp; Friends
The Sodor Brass Band are musicians featured in the Thomas and Friends TV Series. They came to the Island of Sodor to play music around the island. Edward the Blue Engine was sent to collect them, but he had an accident, and Bertie the Bus was going to take them, but he got stuck in mud, so Edward ended up taking them. The engines enjoy their tunes, and they play wherever they are needed. They have had many surprises on Sodor, an example of a time when they were to play at Lady Hatt's birthday party, but Thomas the Tank Engine left the tuba player behind. They also play music for the Sodor Circus, recently visiting Sodor.