Dryaw

Dryaw is a village and station on Thomas' Branch Line.

The Railway Series
The village began as a worker village for the staff of A. W. Dry & Co., a company working on reclaiming tidal land from the sea. The hutments built by A. W. Dry for his work-people behind the first reclamation bank were rebuilt in permanent form as brick or stone cottages when footings became firm enough to support them. These formed the nucleus of a village. As work went on more and more land to the west was drained and settled, mostly in plots of one or two acres. The soil, when leached of salt, proved fertile and now supports prosperous market gardens.

A Heliport belonging to the Coastguard Service is near the east bank of the river.

Dryaw has two railway stations. The old one on the Harbour Line is now a Goods Depot with a staff of two responsible to the Stationmaster of Elsbridge. It is near the village centre, ironically making it better suited for passenger trains. Workmen's trains stop here as do most goods trains, and it is not unknown for Goods Guard's to have a van full of passengers on market days for Elsbridge or Rockface as the case may be. The Passenger station is on the Main Branch, inconveniently away from the village. It is unstaffed, has a good car park, and a service of 7 trains a day each way is provided.

Thomas & Friends
In the television series, Dryaw appeared in almost every series until the switch to CGI Series, before returning in the seventeenth series. It is depicted as being next to airfield, and consists of two platforms connected by a footbridge, with the western platform having a station building. Since the nineteenth series episode Reds vs. Blues, Dryaw FC has been (inconsistently) located on the eastern side of the station.

The Railway Series

 * Thomas Comes Home - Thomas Comes Home  (mentioned)
 * Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines - Rabbits

Companion Volumes

 * 1987 - Thomas and the Evil Diesel
 * 1992 - Thomas and the Hurricane

Trivia

 * The name "Dryaw" is an anagram of "Awdry".
 * The station building and platform of Dryaw are currently on display at Drayton Manor.
 * In the television series, Tiger Moth and the Biplane live at the nearby airfield. Harold and Butch were also based at the airfield, but they have since been relocated to the Berk Search and Rescue Centre upon its opening.
 * Dryaw has had numerous modifications throughout the years:
 * Series 6:
 * The station roof becomes much steeper.
 * The pedestrian footbridge no longer has an arch in the middle.
 * Series 17:
 * The footbridge is reverted back to its original form.
 * A station clock stand is added.
 * Series 19:
 * Dryaw FC is moved closer to the station.
 * A dirt path and stairs down from the platform are added, leading to the stadium.

Merchandise

 * Hornby  (discontinued)
 * Bachmann  (corrugated hut)
 * Motor Road and Rail  (discontinued)
 * ERTL  (named stationhouse; discontinued)
 * Mini Mini Plarail  (discontinued)