She discovered the character in a series of 1940s children's books and thought Ringo Starr would make a great Mr. Conductor ...

Thomas, Ontario. After the show, Jumbo and a small elephant called Tom Thumb were being loaded into a circus boxcar when an unscheduled freight train came hurtling down the tracks towards them.

The beloved blue locomotive was first imagined in the 1940s — he starred in stories Rev. Wilbert Awdry told his son. Allcroft ...