'Thomas the Tank Engine' railway wins awardPublished1 November 2011Image caption, Here's the Talyllyn Railway in Wales - it was the inspiration for the Thomas the Tank Engine books and now it's won an Engineering Heritage Award recognising its important part in British engineering history!Image caption, The railway was built back in 1866 but is still running today. Some of the trains get dressed up to look like characters from the books.Image caption, It was originally made to carry slate and passengers around Wales. All the original trains and carriages are still there and visitors can take a ride on them.Image caption, The railway is run entirely by volunteers and it's taken a lot of hard work to keep the it open. In 1952 Reverend Wilbert Awdry joined the railway and during his time there he started writing the Thomas the Tank Engine books.