Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/09/10/why-else-would-a-grown-man-pla.html
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Have you never seen Thomas the Tank Engine?
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I firmly believe Sir Topham Hatt is up to no good.
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Neil Young once said something like ‘For someone who is just a cog in a machine at his day job, playing with trains is him finally having an effect on the world he otherwise has no control over. He gets to create this little world in his basement, design everything, and watch it run.’ (I can’t remember the exact quote, but that’s the gist of it.)
I personally have no use for model trains, but I wouldn’t fault anyone for being fascinated by them.
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Probably my favorite part of that show.
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The original TtTE series was a model train builders wet dream. They could probably pay the set builders with cat food. But it was the crashes that really surprised me. Well, that and George Carlin.
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Awww, thanks for this: the train-wreck scenes (and Lurch playing the harpsichord) were personal favorites for me when watching the TV show. When they did the live-action movie in 1991, they didn’t skimp on the train-wreck scene, and Barry Sonnenfeld got in on the fun by making himself be the passenger on the train as it speeds by a gleeful Gomez. My apologies for the crappy quality link, it was the only one I could find.
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Pretty much why I watched the show.
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I think that show (and the books it was based on, presumably) had this deep insight into what makes children (esp. rambunctious, can’t sit still types) tick. Being a “really useful engine” is the highest value. I feel like so many of us just want to feel like we matter, even if in some small way. Which seems to link well with Neil Young’s take provided by @generic_name above.
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In before someone complains about mixed scales (buildings/decor vs trains/track) on that setup.
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This also explains a lot of the behavior of network admins…
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But not before a complaint about reusing the footage! Many of those scenes were reusing explosions.
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I preferred Ivor the Engine
But Oliver Postgate had a very different view of the world than Rev. W. Awdry had.
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I think model railroads appeal to the same “recreating the world in miniature” that dollhouses and maps do.
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They built a pretty amazing model train for the final action sequence in Back to the Future III since they couldn’t very well afford to destroy an actual vintage locomotive and this was in the days before they could fake it with CGI.
Sure would have been disappointing if they hadn’t got the shot on the first take.
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C’mon.
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Heck, I remember Supertrain
http://nbc_supertrain.tripod.com/id2.html
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Buster Keaton used a real train…
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