I heard a great interview with Christopher Awdry on NPR's All Things Considered last evening. Christopher, now 70, is the son of Rev. Wilbert Awdry who created Thomas and his stories in 1942 for his son who was sick in bed with the measles. You can read, listen or download a podcast of the interview here (6 minutes):
Full Steam Ahead: Thomas The Tank Engine Turns 65 (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129628790)
(http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2010/09/03/thomascgi_custom.jpg?t=1283537132&s=2)
Love how they put the thomas episode "Off the Rails" on that site. :P