Subject:
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Re: New Thomas Duplo Trains
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Fri, 23 Feb 2007 20:50:27 GMT
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Viewed:
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4806 times
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In lugnet.trains, Ted Godwin wrote:
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In lugnet.trains, Mark Bellis wrote:
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I agree absolutely. I prefer to stick to the characters in the original 26
books by Rev. W Awdry and the 14 by his son Christopher Awdry. Those
stories were closely based on real events on real railways, making the more
modern tales look ridiculous. It’s a shame many younger kids don’t know the
difference. I learned a lot about railways from reading those books.
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I don’t understand your (plural) objections.
To take an example: there seems to be an objection to Spencer but he is based
on Mallard a real
engine on a real railway from 1938 - 1963. That would teach that steam
engines continued to evolve and be used in real-life applications into the
mid 20th century. Is that a bad lesson to learn?
Is everyone objecting to the poor stories or do people have a cut-off date in
mind (ie: 1899 or whatever) when they think of Thomas? I personally find a
lot of the newer more PC stores just boring and pointless but that is about
the writing not the characters being used.
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I found Spencer a poor substitute, considering that Mallard was featured in the
original books, in the story of Thomas’ visit to the National Railway Museum in
York, UK. Yes, there were A4s in silver streamlined livery, but the name could
have been closer to the name of a real engine of the type.
For instance, Edward could well be a play on words because the 4-4-0 locos on
which he is based were bound for Edinburgh, literally Ed’-ward travel. It’s a
shame Rev W Awdry isn’t still around to explain his choice of names. It would
be interesting to find out how he chose them. I would have to research whether
there are similar links for the other main line engines. Quite often the
numbers chosen for the diesels were one after the end of a series - for instance
“Bear”, the Class 35 ‘Hymek’ diesel, is numbered D7101, where the range of real
engine numbers was D7000 to D7100. I feel that there being more detail the more
you look gives the original stories more depth. Maybe it’s just because it’s
closely based on British railway practice that I cherish those details so much
as a Brit? It is part of the Romance of the Railways.
The engines on the “Skarloey” railway are in direct parallel to those on the
Tal-y-llyn railway in Wales. The first two engines are named after places on
the line, the next two after the then owner and manager. Rusty has the same
name in the stories as in real life, Duncan is quite similar to the real
Douglas, and Ivo Hugh is again a parallel name to the real chief engineer Tom
Rolt.
However, what’s worse is a diesel with a digger bucket over its head, which is
one of the toys I’ve seen in shops at preserved steam railways in the UK.
Totally unrealistic.
I also miss the moral dimension in the commercial stories, the question of
whether that’s just a reflection on the development of society is a whole debate
on its own! The originals were written from father to son. I’d be tempted to
assume that the commercial aspect alone was enough to remove the morality
(though that would be too rash a generalisation), but the way a father can put
across the morality in way the son would be willing to listen to shows real
talent. It’s a shame that these days some people might think that was just
manipulation.
I think the lesson that steamers and diesels can be friends is a good one - it
could be thought of as a novel way to promote friendship and tolerance across
wide boundaries and discourage racism.
Mark
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: New Thomas Duplo Trains
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| (...) I don't understand your (plural) objections. To take an example: there seems to be an objection to Spencer but he is based on (URL) Mallard> a real engine on a real railway from 1938 - 1963. That would teach that steam engines continued to (...) (18 years ago, 23-Feb-07, to lugnet.trains, FTX)
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