Andrew Lloyd Webber first became interested in adapting Reverend W. Aubry’s Thomas the Tank Engine stories in 1974.  A pilot episode for a proposed television series was produced but ultimately not picked up.  But the Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat composer didn’t give up on the idea of musicalizing a story with trains.  He took a step towards that goal with the 1977 single “Engine of Love” for American singer Earl Jordan, and then developed an animated spin on the Cinderella story with trains.  That project never…