Bad Days for Thomasand his Friends

Hello everyone, My engineswanted everyoneto be told how touse the railwaysafely.

Recently children were doing naughty

things on the railwayand upsetting me,

Policeman Len, Thomas and all his friends.

Please ask your teacher to look onthe back page for more informationon how to use the railway safely.

Happy travelling

The Fat Controller

Written by Christopher Awdry Illustrated by David Anderson

TRACKOFF

Ouch!

That hurt!

One morning Thomas the Tank Engine saw some children hiding in a bush near

the railway line. He suddenly felt a sharp pain.

A stone thrown by a child had hit him.

1

Later that morning, Policeman Len went withDaisy the diesel railcar on her next trip, to catch

the child who threw the stone at Thomas.

"LOOK OUT!" Daisysuddenly shouted."There's something on the line!"

2

3

"Well done Daisy," her driversaid, as he slowed down.

There in the middle of thetrack was an old

shopping trolley fullof stones and wood.

4

Just then Policeman Len saw somechildren running away.

He caught them before theyescaped through a hole

they had made in the fence.

5

"We thought it was Toby the tramengine," the children said. " We wantedto see if he could push the trolley."

Policeman Len looked very cross. "You could have been killed or

caused a bad accident," he said.

6

"You are in a lot of trouble!"said Policeman Len.

"You made a hole inthe fence, put a trolleyon the line and threw

a stone at Thomas."

Daisy never saw the children nearthe railway line again.

The children must have learnedtheir lesson.

7

That afternoonAndrew was riding his bike near the railwaywith his dog called Lucy.

He thought it would be fun to ride down therailway line on his bike.

Suddenly Andrew’sbike got stuck.

Then he heardthe sound of a train. "HELP!" he shouted.

Thomas was coming out of

the tunnel.

Lucy ran towards him barking loudly.

HELP!

Lucy heard Andrew's cry.

8

9

Thomas was feeling happyas his train was on time.Suddenly a small dogappeared in front of him.

Thomas slowed down. He saw Andrew and his bike.

He just missed Andrew but hit the bike.

He just missed Andrew but hit the bike.

10

The driver took Andrew and Lucy toPoliceman Len’s office.

"Thomas only stopped in time thanks toLucy's warning," said Policeman Len.

Andrew learned his lesson and he neverplayed on the railways again.

You are a very

lucky boy!

11

At teatime Thomas told hisfriends about what hadhappened that day.

"Some children do not think before they do things,"

he said. " Do you remember that little girlAlysha? The wind blew her hat on to the

wires of the railway thatworks by electricity."

12

Thomas said, "She tried touse a tree branch to get itback, but she dropped thebranch. There was a loud

BANG and a bright blue flash of electricity.

She could have been killed!"

Thomas sighed, "I wishchildren would take noticeof the warning signs."

Danger�Overhead�live wires

13

That night Annie and Clarabel wereasleep in their shed.

Annie woke up when she heard footsteps.She then heard a hissing noise and felt acoolness on her side.

"What's that?" said Clarabel, as her sidefelt cool too.

It was the end of a bad day for Thomas and his friends.

Policeman Len arrived."Stay where you are!" he shouted, as he grabbed one boy.

Another boy had slipped and hurt hisankle. "That will teach you not to donaughty things in dangerous places," said Policeman Len.

14

Trespass

Children as young as five yearsold have been caught trespassingon the railways playing games of'chicken' in front of high-speedtrains. If the driver puts on hisbrakes when a train is travellingat 125 mph, it takes up to 2000metres (11/4 miles) for the trainto stop.

Pages 1, 4, 7, 13

It's not worth it!

British Transport Police may visit theparents of young children who havebeen caught trespassing on therailways or committing criminaldamage. Older children may beprosecuted.

The transport police, in partnershipwith the railway industry, makeregular patrols and use securitycameras, helicopters and otherinitiatives to catch anyonecommitting acts of railway crime.

Please remember what happened toThomas, his friends and the children in the story.

PLAY SAFE, STAY SAFE!

Vandalism

Each year there are thousands ofreported incidents of objectsbeing placed on railway tracks,thrown at trains or dangled frombridges in front of trains. Most ofthese crimes are committed byyoung people - children as youngas five years old have beencaught putting objects on thetracks.

Pages 1, 4

Electricity Dangers

Many rail routes are electrifiedwith overhead power linescarrying 25,000 volts or with alive rail on the ground carrying750 volts. These do not have to beactually touched for children tobe badly maimed, burned orkilled - electricity at high voltagescan ‘jump’ across gaps.

Page 11

Graffiti

Spraying paint on trains orrailway property is not onlyunsightly and costly to removebut such activity often involvestrespass and leads to moreserious criminal behaviour.Painting over railway warningsigns can result in innocent livesbeing lost if the message cannotbe read.

Page 13

The Track Off education campaign is funded by Rail Safety and Standards Boardon behalf of the rail industry and associated organisations

Written by Christopher Awdry

Illustrated by David Anderson

Designed by Graphic Ad

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends

Based on The Railway Series by The Rev W Awdry© Gullane (Thomas) Limited 2001www.thomasthetankengine.com

Message for teachers

Railways can be dangerous places ifthey are not used properly.

We hope that this book will help to stop any of your pupils being killed or injured on the railways because of their misbehaviour or ignorance.

Charlie the Crow appears oncertain pages in the story

observing instances ofdangerous behaviour on ornear the railway.

He gives informationrelevant to the activity he sees.

You can use this to reinforce themessages in the story.

Thank you for your help.

The Fat Controller

TRACKOFF

PI-10 11/07