Volume four of Adventures on Rails contains twenty-four stories which were released between 9 January 2022 and 25 December 2022.
This volume follows the continuity of The New Adventures on Rails which consists of volumes one (2019), two (2020), and three (2021).
The finale and 100th story of the series overall leads into volume five (2023). This will be followed by volume six starting January 2024.
Stories and release dates
- As the Deer Longs - 9 January 2022.
- The Waiting - 23 January 2022.
- Toby and the Whistling Woods - 6 February 2022.
- Ryan Helps Out - 27 February 2022.
- The Bridge - 27 March 2022.
- Edward and the Special Train - 17 April 2022.
- Thomas and the Storyteller - 15 May 2022.
- Mark of Distinction - 22 May 2022.
- Market Day - 29 May 2022.
- Percy's New Dome - 5 June 2022.
- Percy and the Special Truck - 12 June 2022.
- The Trouble with the Hay - 26 June 2022.
- Special Holiday - 3 July 2022.
- Just Passing Through - 17 July 2022.
- Coughs and Sneezes - 7 August 2022.
- Time for a Story - 21 August 2022.
- Popstar - 4 September 2022.
- The Rain Trials - 25 September 2022.
- Hidden at the Headlands - 2 October 2022.
- The Lonely Brakevan - 23 October 2022.
- Percy and the Level crossings - 6 November 2022.
- Daisy and the Carollers - 27 November 2022.
- The Worst Winter of All - 4 December 2022.
- Gordon and the Railtour - 25 December 2022.
Characters
- Thomas
- Edward
- Henry
- Gordon
- James
- Percy
- Toby
- Duck
- Donald and Douglas
- Oliver
- Bill and Ben
- Emily
- Molly
- Dodger
- David
- Jenna
- Jessie
- Ryan
- Pug
- Marion
- Skarloey
- Rheneas
- Sir Handel
- Peter Sam
- Duncan
- Ivo Hugh
- Duke
- Victor
- Luke
- Rex
- Mike
- Bert
- Jock
- Diesel
- Daisy
- BoCo
- Bear
- Mavis
- The Works Diesel
- Pip and Emma
- Salty
- Paxton
- Norman
- Timothy
- Rusty
- Fred
- Frank
- Annie and Clarabel
- Henrietta
- Isabel and Dulcie
- Alice and Mirabel
- Victoria
- Toad
- Agnes, Ruth, Jemima, Lucy and Beatrice
- Terence
- Bertie
- Kevin
- Cranky
- Sir Topham Hatt
- The Thin Controller
- Emily Hatt
- Liza
- The Small Controller (mentioned)
- Queen Elizabeth II (mentioned)
Trivia
- The volume was formally announced on 12 December 2021 along with specific details.
- This volume will be split into two parts. The first will be classified as volume IV-A, and will feature six stories which are ideas that have been postponed or set in a different time period. These six stories will be released between January and April sparingly. Volume IV-B will begin in May 2022, and from there, all the major changes and arcs will resume in the remaining eighteen stories. There will also be more original stories and more regular releases. The reason for this is to help the Writer balance schoolwork and other activities whilst still being able to release stories. This will also allow for some older ideas to be fulfilled and then segue-way into more original stories.
- Since there are twenty-four stories planned, the finale will also be the one-hundredth episode of the series. The Writer has mentioned that this volume may end on a cliff-hanger though a volume five has not been planned nor confirmed yet. Later on, the Writer did confirm that the final episode will tie into the beginning of the next volume.
- After a lack of appearances in volume three, the Skarloey Railway and its engines will have roles in this volume. There will also be a good amount of Percy centric stories.
- There are two re-writes planned for volume four. The first which will be released during volume IV-A, and the other at the beginning of IV-B.
- It should be worth noting that this split in the production of volume four is somewhat similar to that of series three of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends where sixteen episodes were produced in one block and the remaining ten in another. A more related example though would be the first six episodes of series six which have some differences to the rest of series six.