Do you ever wonder how your mind works, or whether you think in the same way that other people do. I'm absolutely certain that Robbie's brain works differently - goodness knows what goes on in his head! I used to read the Beezer when I was younger and they had cartoon characters called the Numbskulls who managed the various departments in their man's head. Their antics were always very funny and they often got their human into very embarrassing predicaments. Now that could explain a lot, maybe Robbie has little men in his head!
Anyway, back to the point. Yesterday I was busy working when suddenly I found myself thinking that Rev Awdry (creator of Thomas The Tank Engine) was extremely sexist. Why were all the engines male? Why were the subservient characters and carriages female? and why did he choose such dreadful female names? I wondered what train of thought could possibly have caused those particular thoughts to pop into my head, and I tried hard to think backwards. I had written my blog article much earlier in the day and I had included a photo of the Class 20 from Robbie's trip. I'd noticed that it had a 'face', somehow it reminded me of a character I had seen before, but I couldn't remember who or where. Even when I closed my eyes tightly I couldn't quite make the link so I moved on to other things, but my brain must have continued to work away at the problem. I wrote my other blog about the books I have read and I made a mental note that I still needed to write about the railway history book that I bought last week. After that I got on with my real work and didn't give another conscious thought to trains or books. At lunchtime I was working on something completely unrelated when up popped my thoughts about Rev Awdry and his engine characters. I presume my earlier observation of a 'train with a face' had combined with my thoughts about books and my brain had wandered off at a tangent.
I guess the answer is that the Railway Stories of Rev Awdry are sexist because they reflect the time that they were written when matters of gender, class and even race were treated very differently. I don't know why he chose such dreadful female names, but perhaps it was his revenge on the world for lumbering him with a name like Wilbert! I loved those stories when I was a child and my own children loved Thomas too. I am so glad that times have changed and I it is nice that Thomas has adapted to the modern world.
Eventually I remembered who the Class 20 looked like, it was Rodney Copperbottom from the film Robots. See what you think.
Robbie returned surprisingly early from his day at the diesel gala. He was triumphant about making a 2 minute connection at Birmingham New Street on the way home. I am not sure how he got from platform 3 to platform 11 in two minutes, but at least he was home earlier than anticipated. He took the video at lunchtime, the sound is good but he managed to get a whole load of weird people in the shot.
Guess what we were doing in bed this morning? It's OK Richard, this is quite safe to read. We were finding out about the history of horse transport by rail. I had stolen Robbie's Model Rail magazine, because there was a long article about horse boxes and horse transport by rail. I like Model Rail because you can learn loads that perhaps wouldn't get a mention elsewhere, but it matters to modellers because they want to be as accurate as possible. I was surprised to find that horseboxes were usually incorporated into passenger services rather than freight services, where they would be positioned at the head of the train next to the engine. If four or more horseboxes were required a special could be run with just horseboxes and a passenger brake.
I was quite surprised at the extent of horse traffic on the railways. I had thought of the Race traffic, but there was also military movements, hunt specials, theatrical specials and general traffic. My favourite film from the British Transport Film Collection is Farmer Moving South because I love the way the special train is made up, I could watch that film over and over again!
When 'Sleeping Beauty' woke up and realised he wasn't going to be able to wrestle his magazine from me until I had read it from cover to cover he decided to distract me with other book's. Out came a book of plans, it was A Pictorial Record of Great Western Coaches (part 2) to be precise. It was really interesting with line drawings showing the layout of the horseboxes, there was even a specially strengthened version for Elephants! In the end Robbie gave up and plodded of to make a cup of tea because I wouldn't relinquish the magazine and I had swiped the book as well.
It isn't often that Robbie is unable to answer a question, but when I asked him what a clerestory carriage was he just showed me some pictures. I had to search the internet to find that it is a passenger vehicle incorporating a raised central roof portion in order to enhance headroom, lighting and ventilation. On the subject of questions I was looking at Class 20's this morning; why are they so weird? Nose first it looks like an alien and cab end first it looks really scary. I certainly wouldn't want to meet that on a dark night!
On the subject of dark nights, I had the strangest dream about Robbie last night. In my dream he arrived in the cab of a train and jumped out and killed an alligator in Morrison's car park. Oddly enough they do have a bit of a drainage problem in the car park, but I have absolutely no idea why I should have been thinking about Alligators! Anyway Robbie would have run a mile, he is even scared of the guinea pig.
ering him with a name like Wilbert! I loved those stories when I was a child and my own children loved Thomas too. I am so glad that times have changed and I it is nice that Thomas has adapted to the modern world.
