Sammy the Shunter
Sammy the Shunter is a fictional steam locomotive character created by Eileen Gibb, featuring in a series of children's books published in the 1940s and 1950s.
Description[edit]
Sammy the Shunter is a 2-4-2T locomotive, painted red with green wheels and a yellow dome who lives in the fictional town of Sleeping Sunbury in England. The various books tell of Sammy's adventures all over the world.
Characters[edit]
- Sammy is the main character throughout the books. He is a friendly 2-4-2T steam shunter painted red with green wheels, yellow buffers, blue running plates and yellow lining with his nameplate on his sides in yellow. In the first book, Sammy used to be a rusty colour and had a number 109846 before being repainted.
- Mr. Buffin is Sammy's driver. He is a kind old man who is seen with Sammy on his adventures. It is mentioned in "Sammy Gets Streamlined" that he was meant to drive the Flying Scotsman but things had gone wrong. Mr. Buffin has a fear of wild animals.
- Mr. Plum is the stationmaster of Sleeping Sunbury station. Mr. Plum is a strict man with a short temper who addressed Sammy by his number in the earlier books, but has a kinder side.
Books[edit]
Sammy the Shunter appears in various books. They are mostly nearly 30 pages long, though Sammy the Shunter Bumper Book is closer to 60 pages.
- Gibb, Eileen (1949). Sammy Gets Streamlined. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 560539886. Search this book on
- Gibb, Eileen (December 1949). Sammy Gets Streamlined. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 663900963. Search this book on
- Gibb, Eileen (September 1950). Sammy Goes to the Circus. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 30180291. Search this book on
- Gibb, Eileen (1951). Sammy Goes to Sea. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 810754930. Search this book on
- Gibb, Eileen (November 1951). Sammy Goes to America. London: Ian Allan. Search this book on
- Gibb, Eileen (August 1952). Sammy Goes to Fairyland. London: Ian Allan. Search this book on
- Gibb, Eileen (November 1952). Sammy Meets Father Christmas. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 30191217. Search this book on
- Gibb, Eileen (February 1953). Billy and the Robbers. Hampton Court: Ian Allan. Search this book on [1]
- Gibb, Eileen (May 1953). Billy Goes Exploring. Hampton Court: Ian Allan. Search this book on .[1]
- Gibb, Eileen (July 1953). Sammy Goes to School. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 30169720. Search this book on [2]
- Gibb, Eileen (February 1954). Sammy Sees the Doctor. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 810754935. Search this book on [2]
- Gibb, Eileen (June 1954). Sammy and the Old Engines. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 30168960. Search this book on
- Gibb, Eileen (October 1954). Sammy the Shunter Bumper Book. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 560539851. Search this book on
- Gibb, Eileen (June 1955). Sammy Joins the Scouts. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 663899396. Search this book on
- Gibb, Eileen (1957). Sammy Goes to the Pole. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 663899440. Search this book on
- Gibb, Eileen (1959). Tubby the Odd-Job Engine. London: Hulton Press. OCLC 753005221. Search this book on
- Gibb, Eileen (1965). Sammy Saves a Railway Line. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 30269535. Search this book on
Sammy the Shunter also appears in the stories "The Holiday Train" and "Sammy on the Christmas Tree, featured in:-
- My Trains Book. London: Ian Allan. 1953. Search this book on
Successor[edit]
The stories of Thomas the Tank Engine superceded those of Sammy the Shunter, with many people attending Thomas events in America and the United Kingdom and leading one American museum director to and his staff to nickname Thomas "Thomas the bank engine" due to the amount of revenue generated.[3][lower-alpha 1]
Exhibitions[edit]
Sammy the Shunter was demonstrated in an O gauge layout at Railwayland, Scarborough and Brighton by Harold Elliot, Eliiot being known for his hilarious antics while demonstrating.[4][5]
Author[edit]
The author, Eileen Mabel Gibb wrote the Sammy series of books using the name Eileen Gibb as opposed to her married name of Holder. Gibb was born on 3 August 1911 to parents Benjamin and Mabel in Croydon, Surrey. During the Second World War Gibb was secretary to the art historian and National Gallery director Kenneth Clark, and this introduced her to a wide variety of friends in artistic and writing circles including Henry Moore, Stanley Spencer and Philip Larkin. Gibb married John Terrance Holder in 1942 and became a member of a family with an enthusiasm for railways, her father in-law John Alexander Holder being a brewer, founder director of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway and owner of Broome House, Broome, Worcestershire with its own miniature railway that was later to move to Keeping House, Beaulieu, Hampshire. Her husband worked for the railway publisher Ian Allan. Gibb had two children, her daughter commenting: ""I think this exposure to so much railway stuff must have fired mum's imagination to produce her stories". Other work including contribution to the Robin magazine including Tubby the Odd-job Engine. Gibb ceased writing around 1969 but maintained an interest in artistic projects until her death in 2003.[6][unreliable source?][7]
References[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ The first Sammy books were in 1949 however the first Thomas books were earlier in 1946.
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Billy the Bus series of books
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sammy Rhymes series of books
- ↑ Garnett (2005), p. 250.
- ↑ RM (1961), pp. 246–247.
- ↑ Emerson (2016), Ch. 10: Empire Building.
- ↑ Holland (2014).
- ↑ Sunday Mercury (2012).
Sources[edit]
- Emerson, John (2016). Modelling Railways in 0 Gauge. Crowood Press. ISBN 9781785002557. OCLC 953598864. Search this book on
- Garnett, A. F. (5 September 2005). Steel Wheels: The Evolution of the Railways and How They Stimulated and Excited Engineers, Architects, Artists, Writers, Muscians and Travellers. Waldenbury: Cannwood. ISBN 9780955025709. OCLC 569433118. Search this book on
- Holland, Steve (28 June 2014). "Eileen Gibb". Bear Alley. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - Sunday Mercury (23 October 2012) [2009]. "Train buff's house just the ticket for retired guests". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - RM (October 1961). "Introducing "Sammy the Shunter"". Railway Modeller.
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