Rail travel has sparked the creation of many iconic fictional trains, from talking locomotives and animated characters to those with quirky catering - and even a few you’d want to avoid boarding! Many of these trains, like Thomas the Tank Engine and Ivor the Engine, are aimed at children, but there are also plenty that adults can enjoy.
Fictional trains in film, TV, and literature
Fictional trains appear across literature, TV, and film, from beloved characters in children’s shows to massive vehicles featured in Sci-Fi novels. Below, we explore some of our favourite trains from books, TV and film.
1. Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas is perhaps the most famous fictional train, a cheerful blue engine that chugs around the island of Sodor. He, along with his fellow engines, carries out various duties under the watchful eye of the Fat Controller.
The Railway Series, created by Rev W Awdry for his son Christopher during his measles recovery, initially launched in 1945 with 26 books, and was later expanded with 16 more written by Christopher between 1983 and 2011. Surprisingly, Thomas doesn’t appear in the very first book, The Three Railway Engines.
The stories also inspired the long-running TV series Thomas & Friends. The series was originally narrated by Ringo Starr and ran for 24 seasons between 1984 and 2021. Later, Mattel Television introduced Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go which featured 2D animation. Thomas remains hugely popular today and there’s even a Thomas Land located at Drayton Manor.
2. The Polar Express
The 2004 holiday classic The Polar Express features Tom Hanks voicing multiple characters. Set on Christmas Eve, the train embarks on a magical journey to the North Pole. In the film, the little boy picks a bell from the reindeer’s harness as his gift. He later discovers that only those who believe in Father Christmas can hear it ring.
The fictional train is based on the real-life Pere Marquette 1225 locomotive. Its number, 1225, coincidentally is December 25th, Christmas Day. Originally a 1985 picture book by Chris Van Allsburg, The Polar Express remains a holiday favourite.
3. The Hogwarts Express
The Hogwarts Express transports young wizards and witches to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
The iconic train departs from Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross station, where Harry and his friends have to run through a brick wall between platforms 9 and 10 to reach the platform.
The films brought this magical journey to life using a 1937 GWR 4900 5972 Olton Hall steam engine, which was painted and remanded with Hogwarts Castle nameplates for its role. Today, fans can see the very same locomotive at Harry Potter World, where it has been part of the Platform 9¾ exhibit since 2015.
4. Ivor the Engine
Created by Oliver Postgate, known for other beloved children’s series including Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog, and The Clangers, Ivor the Engine first aired in 1959.
Ivor, a steam engine, lives “in the top left-hand corner of Wales” working for The Merioneth and Llantisilly Rail Traction Company Limited. He is accompanied by various characters including driver Jones the Steam, stationmaster Dai Station and, more unconventionally, Idris the Dragon.
Originally in black and white, the series used stop-motion animation with cardboard cut-outs. The show later switched to colour, and in 2010, two years after Postgate’s death, 24 reels of Ivor the Engine episodes were discovered in a converted pig shed in Kent, where they had remained unseen since 1969.
5. Nightsleeper
Not every fictional train story is made for kids, and Nightsleeper proves just that. The six-part BBC thriller premiered in September 2024, and takes place in real-time aboard the fictional “Heart of Britain", an overnight service from Glasgow to London. The drama begins with a hijacking, and the tensions escalate throughout the journey.
To bring the setting to life, the production team constructed a highly realistic train replica, including a full roof. The set was so convincing that some actors reported feeling motion sickness during filming, despite never actually leaving the warehouse in Glasgow.
6. Railhead Trilogy
Philip Reeve’s Railhead trilogy takes passengers across the galaxy. These self-aware trains, capable of thinking, feeling and repairing themselves, navigate the cosmos using K-gates - portals that connect distant worlds.
The series follows Zen Starling, a petty thief who is recruited for a high-stakes heist that takes him across a vast network of worlds.
Across three books, Railhead, Black Light Express, and Station Zero, readers can journey through a universe where trains have become more than transport.
7. Snowpiercer
Snowpiercer tells the story of humanity’s last survivors, aboard a massive, never stopping train after a climate disaster renders Earth as frozen wasteland.
Based on the 1982 French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, the story explores the strict class system aboard the train, where the wealthy live in luxury at the front, and the impoverished are crammed into the tail.
In 2013, the story was adapted by Bong Joon-ho into a sci-fi thriller. In 2020, Snowpiercer returned as a four-season TV series, expanding on the train’s hidden secrets and power struggles. Across all adaptations, it remains a chilling vision of survival on the rails, just not the kind you’d want a ticket for.
