The no faces off Sodor thing was only an explanation for his model railways really, it doesn't really apply in the books - especially when we regularly see engines with faces at Barrow, in London and other places in the UK.
Ima be real guys….. i don’t really have a problem with the Faces only on Sodor due to the magic tunnel thing. The entirety of the original show was Magical since TATMR What’s been described matches up with Awdry’s first explanation on why the engines were alive.